'How troublesome..'
All he wanted was to arrive at his household and feast on some fresh flesh.
After arriving in front of the Delsin Mansion gates, he stopped. The guards, seeing him, panicked, and one of them rushed inside the palace while yelling, "The young lord… the young lord has returned!" The news spread like wildfire.
The gates opened, and heavily armored knights wearing the sigil of the Delsin's Family rushed out. Soon, over 1000 knights surrounded the Ghoul.
But the Ghoul didn't act. He stared at the clear sky.
'How troublesome..'
His eyes had a solemn look, but it was not due to the massive number of knights surrounding him, but because he was too far away from the Demonic Woods. That place was not only a prison for him, but also a seal.
Once a vow was made — to protect the eggs. When the Ghoul made this vow, he sealed all his traits that he deemed unnecessary in the Demonic Woods. But now, he was too far away from the Demonic Woods.
"My curse… It's returning."
The Great One was once a creature of unparalleled strength and intelligence. But his intelligence was too malevolent. So much so that the Ghoul knew one day he would covet the eggs for himself. He knew he would break his vow. So he sealed the parts of himself. The part that was once known as "The Trickster," or once feared across the land as "The Personification of Evil."
The Great One who once roamed the world, spreading chaos—the being once hailed as the Personification of Evil—was stirring within him. The one who lived only for his own pleasure, who found amusement in destruction. Now, those parts were resurfacing.
The Ghoul is prideful, strong, and a guardian. He didn't care or give much importance to Zul, a mere human's, memories. The Trickster, however, was different. It saw a different picture in Zul's memories.
Zul Amon Delsin, third born of one of the Great Five Families--Delsin, Hartelles, Lindone, Grahamas, Humes. The Delsin family was considered the wealthiest, while the Grahamas family, which was the ruling family as the current seat of the Emperor was held by Luther Grahamas, was considered the strongest.
Ten years ago, Zul's two brothers had accompanied the princess to the Demonic Woods. They died there, leaving only Zul as the legitimate heir. Soon after, his parents were murdered at the hands of Warlock Kaelis Moonscythe. At the age of 10, Zul lost everything. His distant relatives and cousins coveted his wealth, hence Zul regularly encountered assassination attempts. But he survived every time.
The knights made a way, and a girl revealed herself. Her eyes and hair revealed a shade of onyx, while she donned a black shirt and pants. "Why have you returned?" she asked coldly, as she strolled near Zul.
This was not how her voice was supposed to be. In Zul's memories, her voice was supposed to be kind and carrying. She was Zul's hope after all, as she always protected him from all of the assassins. She was Zul's illegitimate elder sister. Zul was naive.
But nothing escapes the eyes of -- the Trickster. It pieced together the fragments of Zul's memories. If Zul died at a young age, his wealth would be divided among the branch families. Thus, she played her role perfectly, bidding for time.
The Delsin family, left without a proper successor, struggled. Especially more, after the Emperor Luther Grahamas set his sights on the Delson roft mana mines. The very thing that made Delsin family the wealthiest.
To preserve his parents' legacy and prevent his sister's death, Zul had chosen to enter the Demonic Woods.
"Why have you returned?" she asked again, her voice was steady, but he could tell she had many questions.
Zul looked at her with eyes that revealed no expression.
"Answer me." She stepped closer, her gaze fixed on him. To her, Zul had always been a kind-hearted, weak boy—one who should never have been able to return from the Demonic Forest. But now the look in his eyes had changed.
"Oh, dear sister," Zul said with a smile. "I have come to claim your love." The Ghoul would never utter such words. But the one speaking was not the Ghoul.
Tears welled in his eyes as he moved forward, embracing her in a sudden hug. Before she could react, he kissed her.
No one expected it.
No one even considered it.
Zul was weak. Zul was kind.
No one was on guard.
Then—
Blood splattered.
In the place of her head was remaining only splattered flesh and bones. Her black hair got dyed red with her own blood. Zul chewed on her flesh with delight.
The knights froze, seeing what had happened. Their face frowned in horror. "Attack!" The sound of the blades being drawn out echoed across the gates.
Zul grinned as he dropped his sister's corpse.
"The feast begins."
Soon, the gates collapsed.
The knights were strong. The swords they carried were long and could wield fire.
But the Ghoul was stronger. His teeth shattered the knights' swords. Its arms morphed into claws, piercing through their armor with ease. One by one, the knights fell. Chaos spread like wildfire.
Then the Royal Army arrived. Led by Sorcerer Roth Grahamas. They had come in pursuit of Zul, as they received a report that Zul had returned from the Demonic Woods and killed Greyson and the knights under him.
But the sight in front of them was beyond Roth's wildest expectation.
"What… what am I seeing?" The sorcerer stared in horror at the courtyard, where a pool of blood had formed from the corpses of the fallen knights.
"Zul?! No… Zul was never this strong! He must be possessed!"
The battle had raged for over two hours. The palace was no more, only broken bricks.. Desperate knights, fearing for their lives, unleashed high-tier spells—yet none could strike Zul. Instead, the servants fell victim to the large-scale spells.
He was in a state of pure ecstasy.
With two stolen blades in hand, he danced through the battlefield. The more he devoured, the stronger he became. His eyes burned red with hunger.
Five sorcerers surrounded the remains of the palace, chanting in unison—a massive barrier formed around them.
"May the Lord bless us with His Light!"
A crushing force descended.
Zul fell to his knees.
Several swords impaled his body, and the divine light bore down upon him. Blood dripped from his mouth as his gaze drifted toward the dragon's eggs.
"Yes… If I consume them, I'll gain enough power to kill them all."
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"Yes… I need to eat the eggs."
His hand reached for the pouch at his waist—but before he could grasp the eggs, his other hand stopped him.
"No… How dare you?!"
Rage flared in his eyes.
Deep within Zul's soul essence, a battle raged.
A towering, 12-foot Ghoul, clad in red and white armor, loomed over a writhing entity—a being with no fixed body, spreading endlessly with countless blood-red eyes.
The Ghoul's voice was silent, yet the weight it carried stirred the wirth
"You dare covet the eggs?!"
The entity laughed—a twisted, mocking sound.
"You? A mere Ghoul? You exist merely because of my desire to protect the eggs. I don't even remember why I made such a foolish vow. And you think you can suppress me?"
The darkness seethed, its many eyes narrowing.
"I am the Great One. I brought chaos into this world, not you."
The Ghoul's eyes met the countless eyes.
"Silence!"
His voice echoed like a war drum.
"I am a Guardian. The one who walked these lands before time knew its name. And you? You are nothing more than a lingering shadow of what once was."
Zul's hand trembled.
Then—without hesitation—he wrenched a sword from his impaled body and plunged it into his own heart.
[Your heart has stopped beating.]
[Condition Met.]
[End of Cycle #1.]
"Stop right there!"
A knight in his early thirties, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, shouted. His name was Greysen Lindone.
Slash!
The knights drew their blades, surrounding the Ghoul. Greysen stepped forward, his sword gleaming as he leveled it near the Ghoul's neck.
"Why have you returned?" Greysen demanded. Then, narrowing his eyes, he added, "No matter. You're the first to ever return from the Demonic Woods. You shall be questioned under—"
The Ghoul clenched his fists.
He had thought of himself as nothing more than a guardian, so why—why was the lingering darkness still there?
The Ghoul in the Demonic Forest had been a predator, a being driven only by hunger and the instinct to protect the dragon eggs. But the darkness within him was different. It was not mere hunger—it was a curse—a cunning trickster.
Once, the Ghoul had been a Great One, a harbinger of chaos. But after, he had taken a vow. In doing so, he used his power to seal every part of himself—except the fragment that would protect the egg.
He was simple-minded. That was why he had left the forest to guard the egg without much thought.
The Trickster, however, was different.
"It's cunning," he murmured.
In mere moments, it had already devised a plan. The battle in the palace had not been meaningless.
After stepping 500 paces beyond the forest, all his abilities had been sealed. He had been given a choice—he could retain only two.
The first skill he had kept was
A 9th Circle Skill, it allowed him to embed a task within himself and repeat a cycle indefinitely until the task was fulfilled.
But something was amiss.
He should not have respawned here. He should have been sent back to the point where his abilities were sealed—where he had been given his two skill choices.
Yet here he was, standing before the gate once more.
"You dare ignore me?"
A voice broke through his thoughts.
"What's my name?" The owner of the blood-red eyes asked.
The Ghoul took the same actions as before.
He killed the man and left.
Then, he arrived at the place where his abilities had been sealed.
This time, there was no warning.
His powers had already been sealed upon respawning.
"A higher being is interfering," he realized.
Something was wrong.
This time, he did not head toward the Delsin Palace.
Instead, he changed course.
He was not hungry this time.
With his power sealed, the Ghoul's insatiable hunger was fading, and in its place, he was regaining something else.
Rational intelligence.
"Why did the battle happen?"
No, the Trickster had enjoyed the battle—but it had served a greater purpose.
It was a test.
A way to gauge the strength of the Delsin knights.
It had anticipated the royal army's arrival, using the chaos to assess their power. And now, it had the answer.
They were strong.
Currently, Zul is not.
The only reason he had lasted so long in the battle was the surprise trick he had used—consuming his sister's flesh.
She was strong, and her bloodline had granted him immense power. After that, he continued to feast on the knights, growing stronger with each kill.
As a ghoul, his innate ability allowed him to absorb the strength of those he devoured.
But this time, he could not rely on the same tactics.
It was too risky for the dragon's egg.
In truth, even the previous battle had been avoidable. It had only happened because the lingering darkness within him had begun acting on its own, beyond his awareness.
They were the same—yet different.
One had a purpose: to protect the egg until it hatched.
The other was pure chaos.
Even now, the Ghoul had only managed to piece together Zul's memories thanks to the Trickster's cunning intelligence.
And the plan to save Zul?
That, too, had been devised by the Trickster.
Now, the Ghoul moved with a clear destination in mind.
Vaelarths. Academy of Sorcerers.