Chapter 6 – The Law of Predation

The silence in the chamber was suffocating.

Raizen stood motionless, his golden eyes locked on the emblem in his palm.

A relic of his family's past. A symbol of their secrets.

"Before your family fell, they were trying to break the cycle."

Kailas' words echoed in his mind, unraveling the assumptions he had carried for years. He had believed his parents had been executed for power struggles among the nobility.

But the truth was far more dangerous.

This was not about power alone.

It was about something older. Something woven into the very fabric of the world itself.

Raizen's fingers closed around the emblem as a low, unnatural whisper slithered through his thoughts.

"Devour… or be devoured."

The hunger had always been there—lurking beneath his skin. It had first surfaced when he killed the guards. But now, after his encounter with Kailas, it was growing louder.

A pulse of dark energy radiated from within his chest, invisible to the naked eye but thrumming beneath his skin like a second heartbeat.

He needed answers.

And there was only one place to get them.

The Forbidden Archives – A City Beneath the City

The moon was a pale sliver in the sky by the time Raizen reached his destination.

Deep beneath the capital, past the ruins of ancient tunnels long abandoned by the kingdom, lay the Forbidden Archives. A place spoken of only in whispers—a burial ground of lost knowledge.

The entrance was carved into the remains of an ancient temple, its stone eroded by time. Strange glyphs glowed faintly along the walls, remnants of a language that no one dared to speak.

Raizen ran his fingers along the cold surface.

The glyphs felt alive.

Something inside him stirred—recognition.

He had never seen this language before.

And yet…

His body knew it.

A sharp pain lanced through his skull, memories flickering just beyond reach. He pressed his palm against the wall, whispering the first word that surfaced in his mind.

"Shiral'kath."

The stone shuddered.

A low, grating sound echoed through the ruins as the entrance slid open, revealing a descending staircase.

Raizen's heart pounded.

This was not just forgotten history.

This was something his bloodline was tied to.

He stepped forward, the darkness swallowing him whole.

The Truth of the Law

The Forbidden Archives were vast—an endless labyrinth of ancient texts, crumbling stone shelves, and remnants of long-extinct civilizations. The air was thick with dust and the scent of parchment long left untouched.

Raizen moved carefully, tracing his fingers along the spines of books, searching for anything that might explain what was happening to him.

Minutes passed. Then hours.

And then—he found it.

A book bound in dark leather, its pages filled with the same glyphs from the entrance. But unlike the others, this one responded to him.

As his fingers brushed the cover, the symbols shifted, rearranging themselves into words he could understand.

The Law of Predation.

Raizen's breath hitched.

Slowly, he turned the pages.

The First Predators....

"The world does not belong to the strongest. Nor to the wisest. Nor to the most righteous."

"It belongs to those who consume."

"This is the Law of Predation—an eternal cycle where the weak are devoured, and the strong take their place. This is not a metaphor. It is the foundation upon which all power is built."

Raizen's hands tightened on the book as a creeping dread settled over him.

This wasn't just about strength.

This was a system.

A system that had existed long before kings and empires.

A system his family had tried to break.

His eyes flicked to the next passage.

The Devourers........

"Those who awaken to the Law are no longer bound by mortal limits. Their power does not grow through training or bloodlines alone. Instead, they consume."

"Every life taken is absorbed. Every skill, every fragment of strength—it becomes their own. Their bodies change, adapting, evolving. They become something beyond human."

Raizen felt his breath hitch.

His hands trembled as he recalled the moment he killed the guards.

The sensation that had surged through him.

It had not just been a rush of power.

It had been an assimilation.

He had taken something from them.

And now, it was his.

His gaze locked onto the final passage.

The Cycle Cannot Be Broken....

"Many have tried to escape the Law. Many have sought to rewrite the rules."

"They have all failed."

"To fight against the Law is to invite destruction. The cycle is eternal. It will not end."

"Devour… or be devoured."

The book snapped shut.

Raizen's entire body was tensed.

His family had been trying to break this system.

That's why they were eliminated.

That's why his parents had never told him the truth.

Because the moment he awakened to this knowledge—he would be hunted.

A slow breath left his lips.

For the first time, he understood.

He was no longer just a survivor.

He was now a participant in a system far older than himself.

And there was only one rule.

Devour… or be devoured.

The Awakening.....

A deep pulse of energy rippled through him.

The hunger inside him surged, no longer a mere whisper but a roaring tide.

He exhaled sharply, closing his eyes.

He could feel it now.

The stolen power from the men he had killed—their strength, their reflexes, their instincts. It was all inside him, merging into something new.

Something stronger.

His body was no longer just his own.

It was an evolving weapon.

And for the first time, he wasn't afraid.

He was ready.

Raizen opened his eyes.

The golden hue had deepened—glowing faintly in the darkness.

His lips curled into a smirk.

If the world ran on this system, then fine.

He would not fight it.

He would master it.

And then…

He would rewrite the rules himself.

To be continued...