The Beginning After the End (2)

The Heavenly Archives burned!

After beheading Lucia Arcane, famously known as "the Living Grimoire," the Demon army led by Renard set the Heavenly Archives aflame. 

The ancient citadel of knowledge, humanity's most sacred repository of wisdom, crumbled before their might. Countless tomes and scroll with centuries of accumulated knowledge turned to ash under his watch.

As the seventh commander of the demon forces, Renard had the honor of witnessing this spectacle from front lines. 

The walls that had protected the empire's most precious secrets for generations now fell, stone by stone. The Heavenly Archives, which kept the entire recorded history of the Astralis Continent and the so-called 'cherished heritage' of the Seven Houses, went up in flames.

Renard watched with cold satisfaction as fire devoured shelf after shelf, hall after hall. It was one of the rarest occasions when his lips curved up.

But amidst the destruction, Renard discovered something extraordinary.

Within those burning walls lay proof that there weren't just seven houses as they claimed, or even eight counting his fallen House Grim. There was evidence of a ninth—the House of Weaver.

The discovery had shaken him to his core. His house hadn't been the first to fall prey to the schemes of great houses, they had already buried one family in the depths of history. 

After learning this, Renard searched frantically for any remaining trace of the Weaver's bloodline, only to find Klean, who had already become the loyal dog of the so-called great houses. The irony was bitter—the hero of humanity, defending those who had destroyed his own legacy.

But the Archives held one more secret.

In a chamber at its very heart stood a stone slab, etched with words in Aethrion, the oldest known language of Astralis—often called the God's Tongue. 

kulīnabhūmau viśvāsaghāto 

yadā vikāsyati raktadhārā | 

navāṅgabhinnaṃ saṃyojayanti 

prācīnatṛṣṇā raktavāhinīṣu ||

punarutthāsyati sarvabhakṣaḥ 

mṛtyoḥ paścāt kālaviparyayeṇa | 

rājanyapāpaṃ bhakṣayiṣyati 

yāvat sarvaṃ ṛṇamocanaṃ syāt ||

Few could still read these ancient runes, and translating them had proved extremely challenging. Yet something about those words had drawn him in, compelling him to decipher their meaning.

After trying his best, all Renard could translate was only one word from the whole scripture.

Sarvabhakṣaḥ, Which means All-Devourer!

That had been his first and last encounter with the entity known as the Devourer. After that Renard had searched extensively, but no matter where he looked or which sources he consulted, he found nothing more. It was as if all information about the Devourer had been purposefully erased from history.

The mystery had troubled him greatly, but he had other concerns. Leading the demon army against the Seven Houses had consumed all his attention, and eventually, thoughts of the Devourer had faded….until now, when he saw those same words once again!

[Initiating the Devourer's Legacy]

The words appeared before him in burning blue flames, speaking of the same entity he'd discovered so long ago.

'Devourer…!!'

He was about to speak when his sister's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Are you okay, brother? Did something happen?" Her voice carried genuine concern as she gently backed off and looked at his face with worry.

Renard' thoughts stopped as he looked at Aria's' worried face. 

He had so much he wanted to tell her. But his mind was in disarray, thoughts spinning like leaves in a storm. He needed time to sort through everything, to plan his next move carefully.

"It seems I am tired," he managed to say, forcing himself to look away from her concerned gaze. "Let's camp here for today."

✽✽✽

"Stop the carriage," Renard called out, his voice loud enough and carrying the authority. Even though he was just fourteen years old - he was one of the heirs to the House Grim and the young lord of Taira Castle, even young - his words carried enough authority to command such things.

Sure enough, the driver pulled on the reins, and the carriage came to a gentle halt. But Renard could also see confusion on the faces of their escorts.

"Young Master Renard?" One of the knights approached, concern evident in his voice. "Is everything alright?"

"We'll camp here for today," Renard declared without any explanation.

Opening the carriage door, he helped Aria step down from the carriage and his eyes swept over their escorts, studying each face carefully. 

There were a total of nine individuals in the group, including himself and Aria. There were two maids who attended them, four knights on horseback who were in charge of their security, and the carriage driver himself. 

'Who..?'

Among these familiar faces, someone had betrayed them in his past life. Someone had sold them out to their enemies, leading to that fatal ambush. 

But who?

He was sure because this was supposed to be a personal travel journey that wasn't known to everyone. Only those in the escort and few family members were aware of this as this was a trip to their maternal grandfather's birthday party.

Renard watched as the two maids immediately began fussing over Aria, helping her smooth her dress and offering her water. The knights exchanged glances but began setting up a temporary camp without any retorts. The driver also moved to secure the horses.

Everything seemed normal. 

Too normal. Just like last time.

"Brother, are you sure you're okay?" Aria whispered, tugging at his sleeve. "You're acting strange."

Renard looked at her, forcing a smile. "Just tired from the journey, that's all." 

He patted her head gently. "Why don't you help the maids set up? I need a moment alone."

As Aria skipped off to help the maids, Renard walked to a secluded spot behind some trees, where he couldn't be observed. His heart was racing – not from fear, but from anticipation. He needed to understand what was happening, what is this Devourer's Legacy?

Looking around one final time to ensure he was alone, Renard whispered to the empty air.

"Show me," he whispered. "Show me what you are, Devourer's Legacy."

As if waiting for his command, words appeared in his sight once again, but this time, they showed something different.

[Initiating the Devourer's Legacy]

And it didn't stop there this time.

[You have been chosen as the Devourer's Heir] 

[You have acquired the Fragment of Time]

[The Fragment of Time has been Consumed] 

[You have regressed to the Point of Regret]

"The Point of Regret...?" Renard muttered reading the words floating in front of him.

It was a fancy way to describe a period, but as he thought about it, it made perfect sense. This truly was the point where his regrets began.

At this time, Renard had everything one could dream of - a loving mother, a whole castle as his home, his cute little sister, enough wealth that he could live the rest of his life in comfort. Yet from this point forward, he would begin to lose everything, one precious piece at a time starting from the death of his sister.

His hands clenched into fists. 

'Not this time.'

Now that he knew what to do, things would be different.

Nonetheless, the strange messages weren't finished with their revelations yet.

[Some of the Devourer's Powers has been Inherited] 

[You have awakened Primordial Blood Crest - Eternal Hunger]

Renard's eyes widened seeing those words. 

"A blood crest?" he whispered in confusion. "...and what do you mean by Primordial?"

Of course Renard knew what Blood Crest was. Everyone on reaching the age of fifteen is fed the Essence of Providence. And that would trigger an awakening, which would awaken the latent power inside the individual.

The people called it the Blood Crest and based on that crest, an individual would obtain abilities as they get stronger. It wasn't only limited to Humans - Beast, Demons and every living being under the heavens had potential to awaken the blood crests, it just varied depending on their bloodline and potential.

But what Renard didn't understand was the part of 'Primordial'. 

There were different types of Blood crests. From common to Royal, they were classified based on their usage and importance, but this was the first time Renard has learned about the Primordial Crest.

The words didn't say anything else and it seemed Renard's question would not be answered that easily.

Anyway, there was also another question in his mind.

'How?'

To awaken a blood crest - one must be at the age of fifteen or higher and also a catalyst - the Essence of Providence as the people called it must be present. Renard still had two month left before he turned fifteen and neither had he had any catalyst, then how did he awaken?

'Wait a minute…'

The message spoke about something called the Fragment of time. When Renard thought about 'time', there was one thing that came to his mind - Durandal, the indestructible sword of the Hero Klean. A sword that is said to have the power to sever the time itself.

'Don't tell me, I regressed because of it?'

Was he regressed because he was pierced by Durandal? 

A dry laugh bubbled up inside Renard as he thought about it. The irony - the exact thing that killed him has triggered a fortuitous encounter for him. How would the seven houses react if they know about this?

Though Renard wasn't exactly sure if that is what happened, the sword really seemed to have some connection to this mystery. For now, Renard decided to place the matter aside as a more important thing was at hand.

"Providence State"

Renard muttered and in response, runes of providence appeared in front of him.

[Providence State]

 [Name: Renard Grim]

 [Age: 14 ]

 [Gender: Male]

 [Zone: Awakened Zone]

 [Title: Devourer's Heir]

 [Blood Crest: Eternal Hunger]

 [Crest-Rank: Primordial]

 [Crest Abilities: Devour(F) | Prajna (F)]

"It really works…"

Renard said, looking at the words in disbelief. 

Providence State was a kind of a support system which helps the individual to know about themselves. It is said that Providence is the gift of Gods, but no one knows how true that is, Renard himself never believed in gods, so that was a mystery even for him.

Anyway, Renard looked at his Providence State. Even though he is nearing 15, the age is still shown as 14, that means that the status only calculates a lower limit. 

The Zone showed him to be in the Awakened Zone, which was also a change from his previous life as he was still unawakened at this time.…!

There was also a title which said - Devourer's Heir. He tried to concentrate on it but nothing happened. So, he decided to leave it for now and moved down to the important part.

His blood crest - it was right there.

"Eternal Hunger!"

The name in itself sounded amazing. 

Renard also had awakened a crest in his past life - It was called, 'Wild Heart'. A crest that gave him the ability to tame beasts and other miraculous abilities, it was something he inherited from the Bloodline of House Grim.

When Renard awakened, his bloodline was ranked as Legendary - one tier below the Grim family's Royal bloodline, which granted them the powerful Beast Commander crest.

Through sheer determination, Renard had managed to evolve his own blood crest to the royal rank, transforming it into the Beast Sovereign.

That power had served him well in his quest for vengeance. Yet even with a Royal-ranked crest, he has failed to achieve his goals. But now, seeing something unexpected before him, hope flared up in Renard's heart.

He concentrated on the part and a detailed description popped up.

[Blood Crest: Eternal Hunger]

[A power so deep that neither light nor darkness, power nor life can escape its grasp, for its appetite is endless and absolute.]

Ominous!

That's one word Renard thought reading the crest description. But it didn't help, so he moved onto the abilities, hoping to see something.

[Devour]

[Rank: F]

[The Forbidden art of Devouring - a power that transforms theft into transcendence. It does not simply take, it makes what it steals eternally its own.]

'Huh?'

Renard looked at the description spellbound. There were two words that made him shudder.

'Forbidden' and 'Transcendence' - With the extensive knowledge that he had accumulated in his past life - Renard realized that this ability must be more amazing than it looks. And that wasn't the end either, there was a single line that hovered beneath.

[Current Slot: 0/1]

What did the slots mean? Renard didn't know but he would find out soon, he then looked at his next ability.

[Prajna]

[Rank: F]

He was about to read the description of the skill when it happened. 

"Arhhhh....!"

Aria's scream erupted from the campsite!

一一✽✽✽一一