There is a truth buried beneath humanity’s pain—older than memory, older than the stars.

Long ago, something cracked in the world.
And through that crack, they came.

Devourers.
Not beasts. Not gods. But ancient forces that feed on what we hold most sacred—our emotions.
Fear. Rage. Grief. Regret.
These are not weaknesses. They are currency. And we’ve been feeding them for centuries, without ever knowing.

With every heartbreak, they grow stronger.
With every war, they become bolder.
They are not trying to kill humanity.
They are trying to hollow it out.

But the balance was never meant to be so one-sided.
There exists a rare thread in the tapestry—neither prey nor predator. A paradox. A scar where feeling should be. A soul unclaimed.

Kael.

No memories. No emotions. No ties to the forces that hunger.
He is the one thing the Devourers cannot taste—and the one thing they fear.

As the veil between the world of men and monsters begins to tear, Kael becomes the quiet fulcrum of everything to come.
Not because he chooses to be.
But because he already was.

In his silence lies the answer to humanity’s survival... or its final offering.

And when the truth finally wakes—when the world remembers what it was never meant to know—it will beg to feel nothing ever again.

“The Devourers rise when we break.
But Kael… he was already broken

The silence in the cell was heavier than any threat.


Kael turned away from the disloyal agents without a word. No flashy display of power. No dramatic confrontation. Just… deliberate dismissal.


His footsteps echoed as he walked through the corridor.


The lead agent's finger hovered over the trigger on his wristband, blinking red with a direct line to the explosive rig beneath Aria's chair.


Kael had spoken with such hollow conviction that pulling the trigger felt pointless. Empty. Dangerous.


"…Let her go," one of them muttered, the words bitter and low.


They hesitated, but then unlatched the door and stepped back.


Aria stood slowly, rubbing her wrists. She didn't thank them. Didn't even look at them.


Instead, she rolled her neck once and muttered, "Shouldn't have underestimated me."


Then without warning, she whipped around and drove her elbow into the nearest agent's throat.


Before the others could react, she spun on her heel and kicked another in the chest, sending him backward into the wall. Then she sprinted past them, ducking under a flailing arm and bolting into the hallway.


One of them gave chase. For five seconds.


A metal crate slammed into his knee as she kicked it mid-run.


Then nothing but the sound of her boots pounding the floor as she chased after Kael.


The sky had darkened. A faint drizzle coated the cracked pavement in soft sheen. Kael was walking ahead, never looking back, hands at his sides, as if he hadn't just shrugged off a hostage situation.


Aria caught up, breathing hard. She looked at him—searching for something in his expression, anything. But his face was unreadable.


"You… You just left me," she said. "Like I didn't matter."


"There was no logic in responding to threats. They were not going to kill you."


Her voice cracked. "And what if you were wrong?"


Those two words cut deeper than any weapon.


Aria looked at him like she didn't recognize him anymore.


Her shoulders slumped. "You really don't feel anything, do you?"


The rain picked up slightly, tapping against metal and glass all around them.


Aria stood there, eyes dim, watching him walk ahead again—this time slower, but without pause. Without hesitation.


Chapter 22 - out of reach