The world still trembled.
The golden sigil on Ryuxian's chest pulsed, its light flickering like a dying star. The veins beneath his skin glowed black, spiraling across his body like cracks in fragile glass. He gasped, the raw energy still coursing through him, yet his body—his very soul—felt on the verge of shattering.
The whispers had not stopped.
"You are no longer one of them."
The voice echoed in his skull, distant yet deafening. It was not a voice of comfort, nor was it a command. It was a simple, undeniable truth. The moment he had unleashed his killing move—the moment he had become a predator—something ancient had stirred, and now, it refused to let him go.
The sky above the training ground was split. Fractured. As if reality itself had recoiled from what had just been born.
Ryuxian knelt on the cracked earth, his breath ragged, his vision unsteady. The whispers faded, but the weight of the sigil did not. He could still feel it—like a second heart, beating within him.
And then—
A slow clap.
Lynx stood at the edge of the ruined battlefield, his arms crossed, a slow, amused smile on his lips. His silver eyes gleamed, not with concern, but with something else. Something dangerously close to satisfaction.
"You've finally done it," he said.
Ryuxian forced himself to his feet, his legs unsteady but unwilling to fail him. He met Lynx's gaze, but the usual challenge wasn't there. Instead, it was calculation.
"You knew this would happen." Ryuxian's voice was hoarse, but steady.
Lynx tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "I suspected."
"Then why didn't you warn me?"
A chuckle. "Would you have listened?"
Ryuxian clenched his fists. The remnants of his power still surged beneath his skin, barely restrained. He felt… different. Lighter. Sharper. Like the world around him had lost its weight, and now, he was the only thing holding himself down.
He took a step forward—
And the air cracked beneath his feet.
A distortion rippled outward, the very fabric of reality bending under his presence. Lynx raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Ryuxian stared at the ground, stunned. He hadn't even tried to summon his power. And yet, the world reacted to him as if he were something unnatural.
"Because you are."
The whisper returned.
His hands trembled. He could still feel the moment he had killed that monster—not just defeated it, but erased it from existence. It had felt effortless. Right.
That was the part that disturbed him the most.
Lynx sighed, stepping closer. "You'll need time to adjust," he said. "But we don't have time, do we?"
Ryuxian looked up, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"
Lynx turned his gaze to the sky. "You felt it, didn't you? The moment you awakened, it wasn't just power you released. It was a signal."
The words settled in Ryuxian's chest like ice.
A signal.
To who?
To what?
Before he could ask, a new presence descended.
The sky, already fractured, split further—a black void ripping through the heavens. A presence unlike anything Ryuxian had ever felt before pushed into reality, suffocating in its intensity.
And from that void—
A voice, deep and ancient.
"At last, you awaken, child of the forgotten."
The golden eyes, the ones he had seen in the abyss—they were here now. Staring down at him from the fractured sky.
And Ryuxian knew, without a doubt—
The forgotten god had come.
The world blurred as Ryuxian was yanked upward, his body weightless in the crushing force of the forgotten god's will. The shattered sky stretched above him, an endless abyss swallowing the heavens. His body twisted midair, pulled higher, until he hung in the vast emptiness, staring into the golden eyes of the entity that had called to him.
A pressure unlike anything he had felt before coiled around his soul, analyzing him.
His muscles locked, his veins burned, and the golden sigil on his chest pulsed violently—black and gold serpentine markings spreading across his skin.
"You are the serpent."
The voice was neither kind nor cruel—just curious.
The force around him tightened. His very essence was being examined, dissected, understood on a level beyond human comprehension. His body felt stretched thin, like he could unravel at any moment.
Then—
He was thrown.
The void spat him out like discarded prey.
He plummeted. The fractured sky became a streaking blur as the earth rushed toward him, the force of gravity doubling, tripling—threatening to crush him on impact. His instincts screamed. At the last second, his body moved on its own, twisting in midair as black and gold energy coiled around him.
BOOM!
The ground cratered beneath him as he landed. Dust and debris shot into the air, obscuring everything. He groaned, his limbs aching, but his power still humming beneath his skin.
And then—
The voice echoed one last time.
"Interesting."
Then, silence. The presence withdrew, vanishing beyond the shattered sky.
Ryuxian's breaths were ragged. His body still thrummed with something new, something deeper than before. And then—
A sudden surge.
His core burned. His vision blurred. The golden sigil pulsed, expanding, unraveling into something far more primal.
Nyx's voice rang in his mind, calm yet carrying an unmistakable weight.
"Your Nyx has been upgraded."
Ryuxian gritted his teeth as the changes took hold. His strength surged, his senses sharpened, and something deep inside him shifted. He felt… unstoppable.
"Your power has been analyzed and classified. It is exceedingly rare. One of the celestial-grade abilities."
Ryuxian swallowed. "What… what is it?"
Nyx's voice was steady.
"You are the Serpent."
"You have obtained Devouring Tyrant."
A shiver ran through him. "And what the hell does that mean?"
"It allows you to swallow anything, anyone, anywhere. You possess a black void within your own mouth—capable of consuming artifacts, books, maps, secrets… even people."
"And in return, you will inherit their power accordingly."
"You are now a predator. A full-fledged serpent."
Ryuxian's breath caught in his throat. A predator?
His body tensed. A horrible realization struck him.
"My human form."
His mind raced. What if he had lost it? What if he was now permanently something else?
His eyes widened in panic. "What about my appearance?! My eye color?!"
Nyx hesitated for a moment before replying, almost amused.
"Nothing has changed much. You can shift between predator and human at will."
Ryuxian sighed in relief—
"Except."
He froze. "Except…?"
Nyx's voice slowed.
"Your eyes. Nothing much… just a sparkle of golden hue."
Ryuxian stiffened.
Then—he groaned dramatically, his usual goofiness slipping through the cracks. "WHY?! I liked my eye color!"
Nyx was silent. Then, as if to taunt him—
"It suits you."
He sighed in defeat, rubbing his temples. "Fine. But…" His voice turned serious. "Can people see me as a serpent?"
Nyx paused. Processing. Then—
"Nope. As long as you keep your composure, nothing will happen."
Ryuxian exhaled. Good. That was one problem off the list.
Then, from the dust and rubble—
Lynx appeared.
His silver eyes gleamed with quiet amusement as he walked toward Ryuxian, stepping over the fractured ground. "So… that was something."
Ryuxian scowled. "You knew I would get something out of this, didn't you?"
Lynx shrugged, crouching beside him. "Not exactly."
"Then what?"
Lynx exhaled, his expression unreadable. "You're different. Right?"
Ryuxian narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Lynx studied him, then finally spoke.
"Your soul. It has different colors."
Ryuxian stiffened. "…What?"
Lynx's gaze was distant, almost thoughtful. "I've never seen anything like it. It's like… sky colors in spring."
Something cold settled in Ryuxian's chest. He wanted to ask more, but something told him now wasn't the time.
So he didn't.
Instead, they stood.
Dusting themselves off, they made their way through the valley. The ruined battlefield behind them, the fractured sky above slowly repairing itself.
And at the end of the valley—
The Tower loomed.
Waiting.
The air still crackled with residual energy, faint echoes of the god's departure lingering like a distant storm. Ryuxian stood in the middle of the crater he had created, dust swirling around him in slow, ghostly tendrils. His body ached—not from pain, but from the sheer force of what had just awakened inside him.
He exhaled sharply, his breath unsteady. The golden hue in his eyes shimmered faintly, an undeniable mark of the change that had taken root within him. It was subtle, yet it felt permanent—a reminder that he was no longer just Ryuxian.
A predator.
He flexed his fingers, feeling the energy coil beneath his skin like a waiting beast. The Devouring Tyrant pulsed within him, its hunger a quiet whisper in the back of his mind. It wasn't just power—it was instinct, raw and relentless. A need to consume, to assimilate, to grow.
His gaze flickered to Lynx, who stood a short distance away, arms crossed, his silver eyes cool and unreadable.
"So." Ryuxian's voice came rough, as if he had been screaming. "What now?"
Lynx tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the ruined training ground before shifting to the dark structure looming in the distance.
"Now, we face the Tower."
Ryuxian followed his gaze. Against the fractured sky, the Tower stood like an unmoving shadow, its dark silhouette a silent challenge. A sense of foreboding crept through him, coiling tight in his stomach.
He tore his eyes away and glanced down at his hands—at the lingering black and gold energy. "And what about this?" He gestured to himself, the unease creeping into his voice. "What about the serpent inside me?"
Lynx's lips barely curved, something like amusement flickering in his gaze. "You'll learn to control it. You always do."
Ryuxian scoffed. "Easy for you to say." He hesitated, then frowned. "You knew, didn't you? That this would happen."
Lynx's expression remained unreadable. "I knew you had the potential. Whether or not you awakened it… was up to you."
Ryuxian clenched his fists, the swirling hunger inside him pressing against his ribs like a second heartbeat. "And the god? Was that part of your plan too?"
Lynx let out a quiet chuckle. "Even I don't control the gods, Ryuxian. They act on their own accord. Especially one that has been forgotten."
A chill ran down Ryuxian's spine. Forgotten gods. Ancient, unseen, watching from the void. And now, one of them had taken interest in him.
He exhaled and turned his attention back to the Tower.
"We need to move," he muttered, forcing the unease aside. "We don't know what's waiting for us inside."
As they walked, Ryuxian focused inward, trying to understand the force he had awakened. He could feel it—something deep, vast, endless—a void that wasn't just inside him, but a part of him.
He swallowed. "Nyx."
The voice answered immediately, calm and unwavering.
"Yes?"
"This… Devouring Tyrant," he murmured, his voice barely audible. "Tell me more."
"You already know the basics," Nyx replied. "It is not simply about devouring. It is assimilation. When you consume something, you do not just destroy it. You absorb it. Knowledge, power, existence itself."
Ryuxian's breath caught. "That means… If I swallowed a book, I'd know everything in it?"
"Yes."
"What if I swallowed a person?"
Silence.
Then, Nyx answered carefully, "You would inherit what they were."
A shiver crawled down his spine. "That's… terrifying."
Nyx remained silent.
Ryuxian pressed his lips together, forcing the thought away. He turned his attention back to the path ahead, feeling the Tower's shadow grow larger as they approached.
Lynx walked beside him, saying nothing, but Ryuxian could feel his gaze flicker toward him more than once. Finally, he spoke.
"How did you know I'd gain something?" Ryuxian asked.
Lynx didn't hesitate. "Because you're different."
"…Different?"
Lynx's silver eyes met his, unreadable as ever. "Your soul," he said simply. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen. The color of the sky in spring."
Ryuxian stiffened. His soul? What the hell did that mean? But Lynx offered nothing more, and Ryuxian didn't press further.
They reached the valley's edge, where the jagged cliffs gave way to the Tower's entrance. The structure loomed before them, its dark stone absorbing the light, casting an unnatural shadow across the land.
A heavy silence hung between them.
Lynx turned to him. "Ready?"
Ryuxian flexed his fingers. The hunger still burned inside him, coiled and waiting. But beneath it all, his heart remained steady. He was no longer just Ryuxian.
He was the Serpent.
And the Tower was his next prey.