For the rest of his life, Aiden would remember three things about the moment his transformation began.
The first was the pain.
The second was the silence.
And the third was the look on Marcus Vale’s face.
The Guild Master of Eclipse had once fought an Elder Dragon in the Siberian Gates and walked away with nothing more than a broken arm and a story he refused to tell in public.
He was a man who had spent decades staring down humanity’s worst nightmares.
At that moment, Marcus Vale looked afraid.
That was somehow more terrifying than the black scales crawling across Aiden’s arm.
“Oh, no,” Aiden said, taking a step backward.
“No, no, no.
This is not happening.” The scales disagreed.
They spread from his fingertips to his elbow in a matter of seconds, smooth and black like polished obsidian.
He could feel them moving beneath his skin, reshaping bone and muscle with horrifying efficiency.
Emma pointed at him from the orphanage steps.
“I knew it!” “THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO FEEL VINDICATED!” The Voidspawn remained kneeling in the middle of the courtyard, its massive body trembling.
«THE KING AWAKENS.» “I am not your king!” «DENIAL IS THE FIRST STEP OF ASCENSION.» “Who told you that?” «WE HAVE A BOOK.» “There’s a book?!” The Primordial Chimera’s laughter echoed through his mind.
IT IS A VERY GOOD BOOK.
“Please stop encouraging them.” Marcus slowly climbed to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Aiden.” “Yeah?” “What exactly is happening?” “I was hoping you could tell me.” “That makes two of us.” The pain intensified.
Aiden fell to one knee as another wave passed through his body.
It felt as though something ancient had wrapped itself around his skeleton and decided that evolution was an immediate priority.
THUMP.
YOUR BODY IS ADAPTING.
“I DIDN’T ASK IT TO!” YOU WILL EVENTUALLY.
“I’M GOING TO SURPRISE YOU HERE AND SAY I PROBABLY WON’T.” Sophia had gone completely pale.
“The scales…” she whispered.
“They’re identical.” “Identical to what?” She looked at him with an expression usually reserved for people who had just seen a ghost.
“The murals in the First Ruins.” That wasn’t reassuring.
The Voidspawn slowly rose to its full height.
«THE ASCENSION MUST CONTINUE.» “No, I think we’re actually going to stop it there.” The creature raised its massive blade.
Marcus immediately stepped between them.
“Enough.” The Voidspawn attacked.
Marcus met the strike head-on, but this time, the impact was different.
The moment their weapons collided, a shockwave erupted across the courtyard, tearing chunks of concrete from the ground.
Aiden watched in horror as Marcus was forced backward.
Impossible.
Marcus Vale was an S-Rank.
The strongest Hunters in existence weren’t supposed to lose.
THEY ARE WEAK.
The Primordial Chimera’s voice carried neither arrogance nor contempt.
Merely fact.
THEY WERE BORN YESTERDAY.
“Yesterday?” BY MY STANDARDS.
“…Right.” The Voidspawn swung again.
This time, Theodore intercepted the attack, his body surrounded by silver light.
“Boy!” he shouted.
“Can you control it?” Aiden looked down at his arm.
The scales had stopped spreading, but they showed no signs of disappearing.
“No!” “Excellent!” “HOW IS THAT EXCELLENT?!” “It means you’re still conscious!” That was admittedly a good point.
Then the Voidspawn’s eyes shifted.
Not toward Marcus.
Not toward Theodore.
Toward the orphanage.
Toward the children.
Aiden felt his stomach drop.
“No.” The creature moved.
Everything happened at once.
Marcus was too far away.
Theodore was recovering from his previous attack.
Mrs.
Palmer instinctively stepped in front of the children despite being armed with nothing more than a fireplace poker.
And Emma— Emma waved.
“Hi.” The monster froze.
«SMALL HUMAN.» “Emma, please stop talking to the eldritch abomination.” “Why?” “Because that’s generally considered good survival advice!” The Voidspawn tilted its head.
«YOU ARE SMALL.» “I get that a lot.” Aiden wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
Then the creature raised its blade.
And something inside him broke.
There was no warning.
No dramatic realization.
No speech about protecting his loved ones.
One moment, Aiden was standing twenty meters away.
The next, he was between the monster and the orphanage.
The world slowed.
He could hear every raindrop striking the ground.
Every heartbeat.
Every breath.
The Voidspawn’s blade descended.
Instinct took over.
Aiden raised his transformed arm.
The blade struck his scales.
CLANG.
Silence.
The courtyard froze.
The attack that had sent an S-Rank Hunter flying had failed to leave so much as a scratch.
“Oh.” There was that word again.
The Voidspawn’s six eyes widened.
«IMPOSSIBLE.» “That seems to happen around me a lot.” Then came the realization.
He had stopped it.
Not through skill.
Not through luck.
Through strength.
Raw, impossible strength.
A notification appeared before his eyes.
«ADAPTIVE BODY ACTIVATED.
FIRST THREAT ANALYSIS COMPLETE.
ACQUIRED TRAIT: VOID RESISTANCE (LOW)» “Oh, come on.” Marcus blinked.
“Did you just speak to yourself?” “I think my body has subtitles now.” Before anyone could respond, another notification appeared.
«HOST HAS RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.
ADAPTATION IN PROGRESS.» “What damage?
I’m fine!” «PAIN HAS BEEN REGISTERED.
EVOLUTION IS MANDATORY.» “I would like to file a complaint.” «COMPLAINT DENIED.» The Primordial Chimera sounded suspiciously amused.
The Voidspawn roared and attacked again.
This time, Aiden’s body moved on its own.
He ducked beneath the strike.
Stepped forward.
And punched the creature in the chest.
The resulting explosion shattered every remaining window within fifty meters.
The four-meter-tall monster left the ground.
Then continued leaving the ground.
Then crashed through three separate buildings before finally stopping.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Aiden slowly looked down at his hand.
“…I did not know I could do that.” Neither did anyone else.
Emma was the first to recover.
“THAT WAS AWESOME!” “THANK YOU, BUT I HAVE QUESTIONS!” The Voidspawn emerged from the rubble moments later.
Its chest had caved inward.
And then— It began healing.
Of course it did.
«THE KING GROWS STRONGER.» “I am rapidly becoming less comfortable with that sentence.” But the creature wasn’t looking at him anymore.
It was looking behind him.
Everyone was.
Aiden slowly turned around.
The silhouette was back.
Towering over the city.
The outline of an enormous beast visible only for an instant.
Countless eyes.
Massive wings.
A crown of black flame.
This time, however, it was clearer.
And one of its eyes was open.
Watching him.
The Primordial Chimera spoke softly.
YOU SEE ME NOW.
“No.” YOU CANNOT DENY ME FOREVER.
“Watch me.” Somewhere, he could feel the creature smiling.
Then the pain returned.
Aiden screamed as his right arm changed further.
The scales spread to his shoulder.
His fingers lengthened into claws.
And from beneath the skin of his forehead, something began pushing outward.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Crack.
A small black horn emerged from the right side of his head.
The entire city went silent.
Sophia Evernight looked as though she might faint.
Theodore Ashbourne began laughing.
Marcus Vale looked like a man reconsidering every life choice that had brought him to this moment.
And Aiden— Aiden simply touched the horn and sighed.
“I don’t suppose this comes off?” NO.
“Of course not.” High above New Haven, the black Gate trembled.
For the first time in thousands of years, the Primordial Chimera’s vessel had begun to awaken.
And somewhere deep within the endless Void, ancient beings stirred from their slumber.
The King had taken his first step.
And the world would never be the same again.