Kael's mouth opened, but no words came through. His mind screamed—this was the master from the journal, Xuanyan Qiu. A fragment of his soul, sealed in the journal's first page? Or something more?
The monk's frail frame seemed to sag, his shoulders bowing under an unseen burden. "We burned the heavens and drowned the earth to delay your awakening," he said, his voice trembling with grief. "Yet here you stand, unchained once more. Not as a beast… but as a man."
Kael's heart pounded, his silver eyes wide, dumbstruck. 'Beast? Me?' The monk's words were a hammer, each one cracking his disbelief. The realm pulsed, the mist swirling, and Kael's bloodline thrummed as if recognizing its own truth.
The monk's gaze softened, searching Kael's face, his ancient eyes glinting with faint hope. "Tell me, Devourer," he said, his voice steady now, "will you end what we died protecting? Or will you finish the feast we feared to begin?"
