ChrisLingayo

Lumberling, a 42-year-old civil engineer, grew numb to the monotonous rhythm of modern life. Hoping to rekindle his sense of wonder, he set out on a solitary nature trip, only to stumble upon an ancient, forgotten pyramid. A strange red light burst forth, killing him instantly… and binding itself to his soul.

Cast adrift in the void, his soul found no rest, until he awoke in the body of a young foot soldier, bleeding and broken on a war-torn battlefield in a world not his own.

Determined not to die again, Lumberling fights to survive in this brutal new realm where knights clash with monsters, kingdoms rise and fall, and mysterious powers shape the fate of nations.

Armed with a strange ability to devour the essence of those he slays, he begins to carve out a new path, one forged by blood, strength, and sheer will.

But power alone may not be enough. In a world where danger lurks in every shadow, and ancient forces stir in the dark, can a lost soul rise above fate… or will he be consumed by the very essence he seeks to control?

The Devouring Knight

Chapter 85: No Cheers, Only Change

The village, once foreign to human eyes, now thrived with seamless cooperation. Fields bore crops. Houses rose faster than ever. And every morning, the rhythm of drills, forging, and meditation filled the air like song.

Beneath the old ironroot tree at the village's edge, three figures sat motionless, two goblins and one kobold. The breeze rustled the leaves, but they didn't stir. For three days and three nights, they neither ate nor drank, their breaths shallow, their eyes closed, as if locked in some inner trial.

Some of the younger goblins whispered about it as they passed.

"Are they dead?" one asked on the second day.

"No," said an older hunter. "They're searching."

On the dawn of the fourth day, a crack echoed like a snapped branch.