The chamber was impossibly vast.The air inside was still, heavy, almost syrup-thick. Sound didn't echo here—it was eaten. Even Kael, usually flippant in the face of death, said nothing.Their boots crunched softly over obsidian tiles veined with veins of pulsing blue light, like frozen lightning trapped beneath glass.Leonis paused.At the center of the room was a monolithic slab, rising ten feet high and carved from a single piece of midnight-black stone. On it: chains. Runes. And something underneath—a figure laid in repose, perfectly still, arms crossed over a chest bound in gold bands.Its skin was pale gray, almost stone. But not stone.And its chest… rose and fell.Just once.Kael hissed, "It's breathing."Leonis stepped closer. The Revenant System whispered in his mind like wind through hollow bone."Subject identified: Alpha-Class Revenant."
"Designation: 'The First.'"
"Warning: Soul state unstable. Seal integrity: compromised."Kael tilted his head. "That's the First? That corpse has a heartbeat.""It's not dead," Leonis said softly. "It's sealed."Kael looked around, eyes tracking the walls.The entire tomb pulsed now—like it had a pulse. A heartbeat. Each second, light ran through the cracks like veins under skin."Host must activate sigil to proceed," the System intoned.Leonis glanced at the stone altar before the slab. A basin. Bone-white, shaped like cupped hands.He didn't hesitate. He sliced his palm again and let blood drip into the bowl.The tomb shuddered.The chains over the First vibrated, resonating with a deep sound—like a note struck from the core of the world."Revenant-Class Signature: Confirmed."
"Awaiting secondary activation."Leonis froze. "Secondary?"He looked at Kael.Kael took a step back. "No."Leonis nodded toward the altar. "It's asking for you.""I'm not part of your curse, prince.""You lit the glyphs. You triggered the seal.""That doesn't mean I'm one of you."Leonis didn't move. "Maybe not. But it recognizes you. Which means you're more than you claim."Kael's eyes flicked to the slab. The breathing body. The chains that hummed like harps strung with thunder.He said nothing for a long moment.Then: "If this kills me, you better resurrect me too."He cut his palm and let the blood fall.The tomb reacted violently.The entire chamber howled—not sound, not wind, but memory screaming into form.The chains over the First writhed. The runes burned white. The floor cracked. The air warped.Leonis staggered as a pulse of force slammed into his chest. Kael fell to his knees, clutching his head.Then the light dimmed.And the First opened its eyes.They were empty.No iris. No sclera.Just raw light—silver and violet and unnatural.Leonis took a step forward.The First did not move, but a voice emerged—not from its mouth but from the space around it."Two sparks... from shattered bloodlines."
"One forged in betrayal. One born of exile."
"You come seeking power... but awaken more."Kael groaned, "I liked it better when it didn't talk."Leonis's heart pounded. "What are you?"The voice ignored him."The seal breaks. The system fractures. The gods grow restless."
"You are their end… or their beginning."The light flared——and poured outward.Not physically.Not fire. Not wind.Memory.Leonis fell backward, vision erupting with images:A sky burning violet as gods descended in gold chariots.
Mortal armies kneeling before false stars.
Experiments—bodies stitched together, souls branded like cattle.
The First, standing alone, screaming into a divine void.
"They made me first," the voice whispered. "And they tried to forget me."Leonis gasped. "Show me more.""No."The light vanished.And the First slumped back.But something remained behind.A single shard of bone-white crystal rose from the slab—glowing with faint silver.Leonis reached for it."System Integration: New Class Module available."
"Do you wish to absorb: 'God-Eater Protocol Alpha'?"Kael sat up, bleeding from the nose."You're about to make this worse, aren't you?"Leonis closed his hand around the shard."Integration accepted."Pain shot through his arm like molten needles. His skin split, then healed, then glowed—briefly marked with foreign runes."New Class Path Unlocked: Revenant Ascension – Tier II: God-Eater."Leonis collapsed to one knee.Breathing. Still breathing.But changed.Kael watched him, something in his expression unreadable. "You're not the same anymore."Leonis nodded slowly."I'm not anything anymore."