Kael sat alone in his dimly lit quarters, the unadorned leather-bound codex resting in his lap.
The moment his fingers brushed the cover, the book responded.
It levitated slowly from his lap, radiating a bright yet ominous dark light.
Kael stood up, his calm expression shifting to panic as he reached for it.
The codex dodged his hands playfully, floating higher.
“Shit — what cursed thing is this?” he muttered, chasing it around the room.
The book finally floated above him.
Its pages fluttered open on their own, glowing with swirling purple-black light.
Ink-like shadows danced across the blank parchment, forming elegant, shifting runes.
A low, sultry, feminine voice echoed directly inside his mind — smooth as velvet, ancient, and dripping with lazy amusement.
“Mmm… yaaawn~ Finally. Some sick little bastard has awakened me.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
He looked left and right, but the room was empty except for the now-transformed codex — its cover had shifted to a deep, living dark purple.
The book rotated around him slowly, as if scanning every inch of his being.
“Hmm… a weakling who has only just awakened. No divine physique, no forbidden bloodline… How in the nine hells did a kid like you manage to wake me up?”
Kael took a cautious step back.
“You can talk…”
“I can do a lot more than talk, darling. I could kill you, too, if I felt like it. Want to test me?” The voice sounded almost playful.
Kael’s lips twitched.
“Who are you?”
“First things first — tell me how you opened me, little one.”
Kael opened his palm.
Murky, dark mana flickered to life like black fire.
The book immediately drifted closer.
It hovered silently for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Hahaha! This weakling actually carries a Ruination Core… What are the chances? A true Ruination Core in a pathetic little lower realm like this… How wonderfully lucky~.”
Kael frowned, confused.
“Ruination…? What is that?”
The living codex floated lazily in front of him, its pages fluttering with excitement.
“My name is Norathyx Nulla… but you may call me Nora, my little Dark Goose. I have waited eons for one who carries true emptiness within. And here you are… so delightfully broken and hungry.”
A shadowy, ethereal female silhouette faintly manifested above the pages — beautiful, with void-black skin, glowing purple eyes, and tendrils of darkness curling around her form.
She leaned in closer, her voice turning teasing and affectionate.
“Ummm~ I can already smell it on you. That wonderful scent of corruption. You’ve already started ruining someone, haven’t you, darling? Tell me… did she break yet?”
Kael’s lips curved into a slow, predatory smile.
“It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
The codex’s pages fluttered excitedly, as if laughing with him.
Before Kael could respond, the shadowy silhouette drifted forward without warning and pressed its lips against his in a sudden, burning kiss.
Kael stiffened.
A surge of dark, electric energy flooded through him, but he didn’t pull away.
He let it happen.
“Umm~” Nora’s voice purred inside his mind as the kiss deepened for a brief moment.
“Let me see your little memories…”
Images flashed through Kael’s head — years of isolation, mockery, his mother’s contempt, Aurora’s avoidance, the day the curse struck Elarion, the first purification, and the second one that had just happened.
Tendrils of darkness curled playfully around Kael’s wrist like a lover’s caress.
“Haha… the irony. Everyone mocked you as the Void Prince, and you really are a Void Prince. A Light-blessed hero and his Heavenly-blessed heroines… Everything fits so perfectly now.”
She floated closer, eyes half-lidded with dark delight.
“Let me explain what you are, darling. What you truly carry inside that empty little core of yours.”
Her voice dropped into a sultry, intimate whisper.
“A Ruination Core is not a normal mana core. It is a void. A black hole. A hungry abyss that does not absorb mana like the pathetic little sparks most mortals possess. No… it devours. It corrupts. It twists everything it touches into fuel for its own growth.”
She hovered right in front of Kael’s face, tendrils brushing his cheek.
“Every time you break someone — every tear, every moan of unwilling pleasure, every piece of pride you crush beneath your cock — your core drinks it in. Shame. Despair. Jealousy. Even their twisted love. All of it becomes power. The more corrupted they become, the stronger you grow. That is why your first time with dear Aurora gave you so little… and today gave you so much more.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed with sharp interest.
“So the more I ruin them… the faster I rise?”
“Exactly,” Nora purred, clearly pleased.
“Most cores are limited by talent, bloodline, or training. Yours has no limit. The only ceiling is how thoroughly you can break the ones around you. Especially the hero’s precious women. Their divine-touched bodies and pure hearts… mmm~ they will be the finest feast for your core.”
Her shadowy form shivered with excitement.
“But be careful, Love. A Ruination Core is as dangerous as it is powerful. If you let it starve, it will consume you from within. If you feed it too recklessly, the darkness may consume your mind before your body catches up. Balance is key… and I will help you maintain it.”
Kael stared at the floating book, a dark, satisfied smile spreading across his face.
“So I was never broken,” he whispered.
“I was simply… waiting.”
“Precisely,” Nora laughed softly, her voice like silk and sin.
“Now tell me, darling… where should we start? Shall we obtain a physique that makes others crave your touch? Or perhaps some forbidden spells to summon willing whores from Hell?”
________
The next day, Elarion couldn’t sleep at all.
He spent the entire night tossing and turning, images of the auction, Aurora’s broken moans, and Baron William and Lady Nadia standing collared on stage replaying endlessly in his mind.
When the first light of dawn crept through the windows, he finally gave up and decided to meditate in the main hall, hoping the familiar quiet space would help calm the storm inside him.
As he walked through the corridors toward the hall, he noticed an unusual gathering.
Servants and guards stood around a small group of strangers in the center of the room.
Elarion’s brow furrowed in confusion.
He moved closer.
Then his eyes landed on a familiar face — Baron William, looking defeated and exhausted, shoulders slumped in a way Elarion had never seen before.
“Uncle…!” Elarion shouted, rushing forward.
William turned toward him.
A difficult, pained smile crossed his face as he opened his arms.
Elarion crashed into him, hugging the older man tightly.
“Uncle, what the hell happened?” Elarion’s voice cracked with emotion.
“Why didn’t you contact me all this time?”
Nadia stepped closer, her hand gently patting Elarion’s back with the same warmth she had always shown him.
Even now, she treated him like her own son.
Aurora, Astrid, Charlotte, and Morgana quietly left the room to give them space.
Elarion pulled back slightly and turned to Nadia.
His eyes flinched at the black slave collar locked around her neck.
His heart twisted painfully.
“Aunty… forgive me,” he whispered, voice thick with guilt.
Nadia laughed softly, though it sounded strained.
She patted his head as she used to when he was a boy.
“What wrong did you do, child? It’s not your fault… It’s our cursed fate.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
William and Nadia exchanged a heavy glance before they began to explain everything.
For many long years, they had desperately longed for a child.
After countless failed attempts, they finally had a son — a boy ten years younger than Elarion.
But the child was born with a rare, incurable illness.
No matter what they tried, no healer in the empire could help him.
In their desperation, they searched everywhere for aid, but no one stepped forward.
Just when all hope seemed lost, an old seer approached them with a prophecy: they must place their child into the sacred lake near their territory.
With nothing left to lose, they followed the seer’s words.
The lake devoured their son.
He was never seen again.
For two agonizing months, William searched every corner of the land, but found no trace of the boy.
Then the truth came out — the lake was no holy site.
It was a hidden breeding ground for an Overlord Demon.
Duke Neil seized the opportunity.
He branded William and Nadia as heretics who had willingly sacrificed their child to demons.
Under imperial law, he had every right to claim them as slaves.
Elarion listened in stunned silence, his fists clenched so tightly his nails drew blood.
The people who had treated him like family — the only nobles who had supported him before he became the hero — had suffered this fate while he was too weak and distracted by his own curse to notice.
Elarion pulled back slightly, his voice thick with confusion and pain.
“Then why didn’t you contact me? I could have helped you find my Little brother… I could have done something.”
William and Nadia’s faces turned difficult.
William looked down for a moment before speaking, his voice heavy.
“For one… we didn’t want to disturb you while you were fighting for the entire world.
How could we ask you to drop everything for our own problems?” He hesitated, then added quietly, “And second… we’ve been hearing rumors in the noble circles…”
Elarion’s face twisted with shame.
“Did you hear that I’ve become weak?”
Nadia shot her husband a quick glare for his bluntness, then softened her expression as she looked at Elarion.
“Of course, we didn’t believe it, child. We thought you must have been occupied with important obligations…”
Elarion looked down, his fists clenching at his sides.
This curse again… How much more will I lose because of you?
He lifted his head, eyes filled with resolve.
“Uncle William, forgive me for not being there when you needed me. You were the reason I even reached this far. I will right my wrongs. First, I will remove that slave status from both of you… And then I will find your child. I promise.”
William gripped his thighs tightly, clearly reluctant to impose, but the desperation in his eyes was plain.
Every day without his son had chipped away at his hope.
“Elarion… we don’t care about ourselves anymore. But I will be eternally grateful if you can help me find my son. Please…”
Nadia’s eyes filled with silent tears.
She could still remember her son’s innocent smile, the way he used to say he would protect her once he was cured.
Elarion stood up, determination hardening his features.
“I forgot to ask… Uncle, how did you come here? I was thinking of visiting you myself, but I assumed the guards would have stopped you.”
Even nobles couldn’t enter this private wing without passing through Royal Guards and Church personnel.
William and Nadia exchanged a confused glance.
William spoke first.
“Don’t you know? I thought you ordered it. Prince Kael brought us here… saying we will stay from now on.”
Elarion froze.
“Wha…t?”