Kael stared at the unconscious woman for a moment before letting go, her body collapsing onto the cold floor with a dull thud. He exhaled, ready to turn away, when suddenly a strange sensation washed over him.

The mana inside the limped woman along with life force coagulated over his palms but he felt a restriction because of which the mana drawn dispersed.

"Huh... this… Devour?"

His sharp eyes widened, shifting from bewilderment to shock. Raising his hand, he tried to manipulate the mana within him, only to feel his energy flow blocked. It was as if his entire body was rejecting mana.

His fingers clenched tightly. A clogged meridian with a body unsuited for mana flow.

A normal person might have panicked, but Kael remained eerily calm.

"Tch. Not like there's no cure for this."

If a person with overwhelming mana flooded his body, the clogged pores would unlock. He had seen it before. He knew it was possible.

Still, something felt off.

He frowned wondering if the earlier sensation was him hallucinating.

"Is this my imagination? Because I shouldn't be able to feel it at all."

"I wish I had a stat skill like my world."

A faint light flickered before his eyes, and a screen blinked into existence.

---

Name: Kael Veydrin

Species: Human Lv[Unawakened]

Pathway:None[Unawakened]

Rank: F-

[Stats]

Strength: 0.67

Agility: 0.45

Constitution: 0.59

Vitality: 0.51

Mana:0

[Talents/Blessing]

Devour [F+]

Comprehension [F+]

[Titles]

Embarrassment of Veydrin

[Skills Slot]

None

Kael's breath hitched. His entire body stiffened.

"What?"

His mind struggled to grasp reality.

"No, this can't be real… This is a joke."

"A joke, right?"

He slapped himself hard. But the screen remained, its text glowing in front of him.

Slowly, his expression shifted.

Comprehension… Devour.

The two talents that had once defined him.

A chuckle escaped his lips. A dark, quiet sound that grew louder with each breath.

His past self was born weak and talentless, so he had turned to science and warfare. He had experimented, studied, and fought. He had created ways to strengthen the body by absorbing mana from the surroundings. It was painful. It was slow. But it worked.

And then came the Goddess's blessing.

Comprehension [SSS Rank]—a talent that allowed him to master any fighting technique with ridiculous ease. This was blessed to him by the Goddess in exchange for his service of helping humans by spying on Demons.

Then came Devour [SSS Rank]. By offering a fragment of his soul to demons and rising in their ranks, he had gained the ability to consume life force and grow stronger.

There are two types of talents. One you are born with and another one which you were granted or blessed by Gods and Goddess.

As they bestow it they can take it anytime.

Knowing that this was the thing he was granted with, when he got stronger, he severed the divinity behind the skills linked with respective Gods and converted it to a growth type of skills of his own.

The stat screen looked similar to past life except for the species which was depicted as Human instead of demonic human.

Now, looking at his pathetic stats but glorious talents, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"It seems I'm not as helpless as I thought."

His laughter abruptly stopped. Footsteps.

They were getting closer.

Kael's sharp gaze flickered to the unconscious woman on the floor. A cruel, calculating smile curved his lips.

Without hesitation, he punched the side mirror, shattering it into sharp jagged shards. Picking up a piece, he drew a deep gash across his chest, blood dripping onto the floor.

Then, without mercy, he kicked the maid's body.

"Wake up."

His voice was calm, chilling, unshaken.

"It's time to act."

...…

TAP! TAP! TAP!

Regalina's hurried footsteps echoed through the silent halls as she rushed forward, her face painted with a perfect mask of panic and distress.

"Master, you need to hurry!" she gasped, clinging to her dramatic performance. "Young Master is molesting the maid I sent to assist him!"

She led the group forward. Two guards walked at the front, but the true storm followed behind them.

At the center was Grand Duke Ruth Veydrin, a man whose presence alone was enough to send a chill through the air. His aura was sharp, merciless cold like a frozen blade. His face, framed by ashen gray hair, held no emotion, only an eternal, unreadable stare. His silver eyes were like dead stars, devoid of warmth, reflecting nothing but absolute indifference.

Beside him walked Rami, his loyal butler. A man of few words, Rami bowed his head slightly, his expression as still as a statue.

Trailing behind them was Adele Veydrin, the eldest daughter of the family. Her striking purple hair swayed as she walked, but it did little to soften her expression twisted with disgust and self-righteous fury.

The moment Regalina spoke, Adele's face contorted in outrage.

"That beast." Her voice rang with pure venom.

"It's not enough for him to molest Elara and get beaten.Now he dares to lay hands on a mere maid in the middle of the night!"

Her anger flared higher.

"He is a curse,a damned scourge tainting the name of the Veydrin!" she spat, her eyes narrowing at her father. "Father, you've been far too lenient on him!"

Grand Duke Ruth said nothing. He simply picked up his pace.

His boots struck the floor hard, each step carrying an invisible pressure that made the air feel heavier. His face remained unreadable, but his cold aura grew stronger—darker.

As they approached Kael's quarters, Rami's brows furrowed slightly. He could hear nothing.

No screams nor any cries.

The silence was wrong.

Regalina, noticing the change, quickly offered an explanation.

"He must have finished." Her voice was steady, but something about the way she spoke held an odd satisfaction.

Ruth didn't wait. He stepped forward and slammed the door open.

The room was completely vacant.A heavy silence hung in the air.

Slowly, Ruth turned his head toward Regalina. His piercing gaze settled on her, cold and unblinking.

Regalina's expression faltered. Her breath hitched, and she stumbled over her words.

"H-He… He must be somewhere else."

"Yes! He might have dragged her—"

"Stop."

Ruth's voice was quiet but the sheer authority in it made everything freeze.

His eyes swept the room once before he turned toward the bathroom. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open.

And then..

Elara and Rami both gasped while Regalina screamed in terror.

"ARGHHHH! DEMON!"

She staggered back, her body trembling uncontrollably as her perfect mask shattered. Her mind screamed at her to look away, but she couldn't.

Because inside…

The person in the talk was sitting casually on the edge of the tub, his entire body drenched in blood.

His legs rested on a kneeling woman's head who seemed to have been knocked out having a deformed cracked head.

The maid's arm was missing.

Her head was crushed deformed beyond recognition.

Blood poured freely from the torn flesh of her shoulder, pooling onto the floor, the raw wound looking as if it had been ripped apart with sheer brute force.

And amidst it all,Kael smiled.

Not a normal smile, not a cruel one but a genuine one.

Like a man who had just finished a delightful meal.

Slowly, he clapped.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

His silvery eyes gleamed with madness as he turned his gaze toward the intruders.

"Why so late?" he asked, his voice eerily calm.

He tilted his head, his grin widening as he gestured at the scene around him.

"I've already finished my job."

His laughter was soft, almost like a whisper.

Then, his lips curled wider.

"And I have been waiting for you."