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Chapter 9: The Shadow Between Stars
The night winds howled over the spires of Thalrion, the capital of the Milon Empire. Beneath the floating arenas and golden towers, the city never truly slept. Merchants whispered in alleys, spies slipped through noble corridors, and unseen eyes watched the tournament's rising stars.
One such star now moved in darkness.
Suzan, cloaked in black, made his way through a sealed corridor beneath the Colosseum—an area forbidden even to noble heirs. He had broken the runic lock with his Dark Soul's spectral threads, silent and unnoticed.
> [Alert: Foreign System Signature – Stable. Tracing Source… Nearby.]
The System had warned him twice in the last day. Someone else in the tournament possessed a System—a relic not born of soul or nature, but of a higher plane.
He needed to know who.
He had a name.
> Xerian Hallow.
---
The underground chamber pulsed with dormant power.
Suzan stepped carefully into a room shaped like a star, the stone walls etched with ancient markings. In the center stood a crystal pillar with veins of obsidian and light. His eyes widened. The structure resonated with his very soul—his Devourer Soul System buzzed wildly.
> [System Interface Detected – Archive Fragment Recovered.]
A rush of information flooded his mind. Images. Sounds. Truths long buried.
---
LORE UNLOCKED – THE GATE OF ETERNAL DEVOUR
> Long ago, before the rise of the current Empires, the world was ruled by an order of god-like beings known as the Eternals. These beings discovered a cosmic anomaly—an infinite pit of energy that devoured souls, systems, and even stars. They named it the Devourer Core.
> Terrified by its power, they sealed the Devourer beneath the strongest empire of the age—what would one day become the Milon Empire. A child born with the ability to awaken the Devourer was called the Heir of Void.
> The Heir was not born… he was chosen through reincarnation. Only the bearer of dual Martial Souls and the Devourer System could unseal the Gate.
Suzan staggered back, breathing hard. His heart pounded.
> They sealed it beneath the empire… beneath my own family…?
---
"Fascinating, isn't it?"
A voice echoed from the shadows.
Suzan turned, his sword already forming in his hand.
From the far wall, a figure stepped forward—tall, lean, and cloaked in flowing silver robes. A smooth white mask covered his face, marked with a single black crescent.
> Xerian Hallow.
"I had hoped we'd meet here, Suzan Elvador," Xerian said softly. "The moment I sensed your Devourer System, I knew you were like me."
Suzan's eyes narrowed. "You… have a System too?"
Xerian nodded. "Indeed. Mine is the Watcher System. I don't devour… I observe. Record. Wait."
Suzan circled slowly, sword still raised. "Why are you in this chamber?"
"To remember," Xerian replied. "This place is a fragment of the first Gate. One of many. You've felt it, haven't you? The Gate calling to you."
"…Why?"
"Because you're not just a reincarnated soul," Xerian said. "You are the Key. When you reach 9-Star… the Gate will begin to open."
Suzan's grip tightened. "And what happens when it opens?"
Xerian paused.
> "The world ends."
---
A sharp pressure surged through the floor—a powerful soul aura was rising fast, accompanied by burning light.
"Found you," came a voice from the stairwell.
Suzan turned in time to see a gold-armored warrior descend, flames spiraling from his Martial Soul—a lion made of pure solar fire.
> "Prince Darius Vael," Xerian muttered. "Selene's hound."
Suzan's instincts flared. He didn't recognize this prince, but the soul pressure he emitted was immense—easily 7-Star, possibly higher.
"You're not allowed down here," Darius said, drawing a spear bathed in divine flames. "The Empire's bloodline heir consorting with a masked freak in a forbidden chamber? How treasonous."
"Leave," Suzan said, stepping forward.
Darius sneered. "Or what?"
> [System Boost: Enemy Power Detected – 7-Star Rank.]
[Shadow Chain: Active]
[Sword Soul: Ready – Edge of Void Charged]
Suzan vanished in a flicker of darkness.
Darius barely reacted in time—blocking a downward cleave that cracked the air. The arena shook.
The Sword Soul in Suzan's hand shimmered with cosmic light—its edge thinner than thought, sharper than reality.
Xerian stepped back, watching. "Be careful, Darius. If he truly unlocks the Gate, not even gods can stop him."
---
The battle was short and brutal.
Suzan unleashed both his souls simultaneously for the first time—his Dark Soul summoned a horde of spectral beasts, while his Sword Soul sliced through Darius's flames like paper. The arena chamber shattered around them, warding runes failed, and parts of the ceiling collapsed.
When the dust settled, Suzan stood over a bloodied Darius.
> [Kill Threshold met.]
[Absorb or spare target?]
Suzan hesitated.
Then stepped back.
"I'm not your enemy," he muttered. "Yet."
---
Later that night, as Suzan returned to his room in silence, he looked up at the stars.
The sky above Thalrion seemed… wrong.
One of the stars was moving.
> "Watcher System…" he whispered. "He wasn't lying."
The system pinged again.
> [Gate of Eternal Devour – 1st Seal: Unlocked.]
[Devour Path Awakened: One of Three Keys Active.]
Suzan's fate was no longer just about vengeance.
It was about survival.
It was about truth.
It was about deciding whether to open the Gate and embrace the void—or destroy it before it destroyed the world.
And somewhere, far beneath the capital, something ancient stirred.
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Next: Chapter 10 – Bloodlines and Betrayals