Chapter 18: Painting #1199800889870076

I melted off into the blissful heaven made by lady's sleep's weaving needles.

My awakening that day wasn't as graceful as usual, the sunlight didn't lightly grace my face and tickle me awake, instead, I was ripped out of Lady Slumber's arms by the most gut-wrenching cries.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

'Who is that-' In the middle of that thought, I realized the voice belonged to my mother, and my heart was gripped by the dreadful feeling that something wasn't right, I didn't even bother to put on a shirt as I dashed out of my room and through the mansion.

I couldn't find anything no matter where I looked until I reached the small temple at the back of the mansion and found a large gathering of people at its door.

I leaped past them and finally reached the crux of the tragedy. Julius, Cedric, my siblings, and my father were gathered around with tear-covered faces. On the ground, my mother and Elle wailed as they held Mother Serena in their arms.

Once I saw the lifeless eyes of Mother Serena, I was lost.

"Cas…Cassi…BIG BROTHER!"

"What?! Where am I?!" I snapped awake upon hearing Elle's call.

"You're up, big brother!" Elle hugged me and started crying.

"What's wrong, Elle?"

"Mother Serena, we put her to rest! And you were passed out, so I thought you were also…"

"Mother Serena…" I was flooded with endless memories.

"Elle, go help your eldest sister, I need to talk to Cassian," My mother walked in.

"Yes, mother…" Elle unwillingly left the room as my mother sat down.

I felt uncomfortable as if the air was too heavy to breathe and the sky was about to fall down.

"What happened?"

"We don't know her soul just left her body, not quite a natural passing but as close as can be. Little Cedric said he saw someone but he was asleep so nothing is confirmed.." my mother explained.

'She knew…?' I asked myself.

"She would have wanted you to have this," My mother handed me a necklace with the eye symbol, the same one that was hanging above the altar in the temple. Soon after my mother left.

I could tell the entire family was still dealing with the tragedy when I saw the sadness hanging above my mother's shoulders.

I stored the necklace in my inventory.

"What is this?" I noticed something strange in my inventory.

Titled [Painting #1199800889870076], it showed a bright purple sunflower being ripped out of the ground by a shadowy dark hand.

'This…it was a vision as well…?'

I was filled with grief and dread but I couldn't cry. Even if I wanted to, my first life didn't allow room for the expression of grief.

I picked myself up and went to find my father in his office.

"Cassian, it's good that you're up," My father looked tired, a tiredness of the soul I recognized far too well.

"…I need to learn about our family, father,"

It was time I stopped being a stranger in my new family, once I saw Mother Serena's body, I knew I had found a place where I truly belonged and I needed to settle in.

From the novel, I knew only their future, that they were eventually corrupted by the [Star Sealers] and fought against the main character.

"I'll tell you everything, starting a thousand years ago when our ancestor saved a family from demons, and they joined our family as a separate branch. With the union of our families, a new tradition started where the heir of the Godrend family would become the Fellsword heir's shadow and protect him for life. Your uncle Julius, my shadow, is a brother to me and I'm sure Cedric will be a brother to you as well, so make sure to treat him well. Even more, now that Serena has left us…" he replied.

"I'm sure he'll be a brother to me,"

"The real story of our family has to do with sealing demons and hunting devils but is mostly lost and fragmented since we come from the [True Continent], but I'll tell you what I know from our recorded history."

My father took a deep breath.

"In the far off [True Continent] that covers most of the world, our ancestor was a powerful and well-known [Demon Hunter] and [Sword-God] as well as one of the earliest pioneers from the True Continent to this continent, was after his arrival he lived in this area with his family and chose a name to fit this continent's language without erasing his origins, that's how the name Fellsword came to be ."

"Oh!"

"While living here he had a chance encounter and became friends with the founder of the first empire on this continent, its first king, and the strongest man of his time, Kalum Von Gale. The rest is lost to history, however."

"I've heard of him."

He continued, his expression filled with reverence.

"Some time later the emperor granted those who fought alongside him positions, our ancestor who was the strongest after the emperor was named [Archduke] and granted the largest palace among the noble families."

"An Archduke? The largest Palace? How come we're only a duchal family now? And why are we in such a backwater rural area a thousand miles from the royal capital?."

"That is also unknown."

"There's really not much information."

"At some point, our ancestor disappeared and was never seen again, his offspring continued the legacy but we could never claim our position of Archduke family because the sword that proved our status was never found. In the end, after the empire was split into three kingdoms, the king granted us the title of Duchal family."

"Was our Ancestor ever found again?"I asked.

"*Sigh* brace yourself and follow me."

I was flabbergasted as my father opened a hidden door in a bookshelf behind him. A set of stairs leading deep down into the ground was revealed and we went in.

After a short descent we reached a large but pitch black space.

"Father, what is this place?"

"One second. Light the torches with your magic"

I used the 1st-circle magic [Sparnum] and the torches around the room were lit.

"Woah!"

The room was enormous, filled with loose chains from the ceiling to the ground and the walls, the floor was covered by a thick red liquid.

"What is this liquid?"

"It's blood." my father answered.

"Blood? But such an amount is insane,"

"No, it's that being's blood." he pointed his hand up while looking down and when I followed his finger I almost fainted. There was an enormous being with pitch black skin, teeth and claws, in the darkness its full shape was hidden and only its bright red eyes were clear as they swirled and burned with a fiery red.

"Avoid its eyes or you'll fall prey to it!" my father shouted.

"I don't feel anything from looking at them."

I looked away from the eyes and noticed something stuck among its teeth, a dark blue sword with golden etchings on it and hanging from a chain attached to the sword was the body of a man in torn clothes.

"Is tha-"

"That unknown corpse is said to be our ancestor, Cassian Longinus Fellsword. He sealed the demon well so it cannot harm us."

[Your Devil-Devourer Physique is responding to a target that can be devoured!]

[If you want to devour It, Its name Is required.]

I looked to my father quickly.

"Father, what is a devil-devourer physique?"

"Huh?! How did you know about the unique body our ancestor had?"

I was blunt.

"I have it."

My father almost fainted.

"Ha…hah my son, you're really too much, a great genius and the first in our family to have the [Devil-Devourer Physique] since the ancestor!"

"Not so much a genius, i've already hit an unbreakable wall already."

"Huh? You've reached the natural law's wall already? That should take you 2 decades though, is it in the sword or magic?"

"Both."

"Hmm? I'm afraid no one can help you with that, enlightenment can come at anytime so just focus on mastering what you already have, it is also said that the longer you remain in the wall the stronger you'll become after you breakthrough. Right, what exactly are you stuck at?"

"5th-Circle in magic and Expert-Rank in the sword."

My father almost fainted once again.

"I really shouldn't be surprised anymore, i'll just move on, the unique body you have allows you to seal and devour demons and devils, our ancestor's manuscript should contain the techniques but that's also on his body."

"I have an idea but you'll have to close your eyes, father."

"Hmm..alright I'll trust you once again. Just don't try to agitate the demon or there's no telling what could happen "

My father turned around and closed his eyes.

"System Eye!"

A panel with demon's information appeared to me.

NAME:Iglak Moran

LEVEL:185

AGE:6409 Years.

DEMONIC ARTS:7th-Ring

STATS(Reduced Due To A Seal):

Physique-1200

Energy-3000

Demonic Origin-600

Hypnosis-4025

Power-625

Skill:None

Info:A demon sealed by a legendary God-Level Demon Hunter. Currently weak due to seal. Can be devoured.

"I can definitely do it!"

I leapt onto the wall opposite to it and held a chain.

"That was strange. I moved faster than I intended without realizing it, I seem to not have full control over my body yet. Let's finish fast and not risk getting hurt!"

I leapt off of the wall and moved with extreme speed towards the chain that held the ancestor.

Instantly, I used my Aura covered hand to break the chain and grabbed at the sword in the demon's teeth.

"Almos-"

In that instant it blinked and something hit my chest with the power and speed of a meteor and the sharpness of a sword.