Dev leaned against the library shelf with his arms folded, his posture relaxed yet his presence sharp, his gaze fixed upon his great-great-great grandfather, Zephryn, the founder of the Ravenclaw family, who stood before the bound angel Raphael and drove his fist again and again into the same precise point on the angel's chest, each strike measured, each impact carrying a terrifying intent, as Raphael screamed in unrestrained agony while the golden veins beneath his skin pulsed violently, shifting and trembling as if they were living entities trying to escape his divine body.
Ruby sat to the side along with Kai, Chiru, Vaal, Karn, Sethr, and Rehx, all of them silently watching the brutal beating of the angel, their eyes fixed, their breaths slow, their minds caught in a strange contradiction.
Chiru said, "Do you feel something satisfying while watching that angel being beaten like that?"
Kai replied, "I do not know, but there is a sensation inside me, something calm, something that should not exist while witnessing such brutality."
Chiru turned to the others, seeking confirmation.
Chiru said, "What about all of you?"
One by one, each of them gave the same answer, their voices uncertain yet aligned.
They said, "We feel it too."
A strange silence fell over them as confusion deepened, because what they were experiencing defied reason, defied morality, defied instinct.
Ruby, however, remained in utter shock, her body stiff, her thoughts fractured, as she witnessed something that should have never been possible, an angel, a being born with power beyond comprehension, being beaten mercilessly by nothing more than a will left behind by the dead.
Ruby said, "This is impossible… this is complete nonsense…"
She struck her own head as if trying to wake herself from a dream, yet the world did not shatter, and the reality before her remained intact, crushing her disbelief.
Dev stood there in composed silence, leaning in style against the bookshelf, his black hair slightly falling over his eyes, his white shirt torn in multiple places from where the old man's will had stabbed him as a sacrifice for the angel, and through those torn openings, the glowing green symbol on his chest was clearly visible, a mechanism that pulsed rhythmically, intricate and unnatural, as if time itself was breathing through it.
Dev lowered his gaze toward the symbol, studying it carefully.
Dev asked, "Grandfather, what is this strange symbol on my chest?"
Zephryn did not stop beating the angel, his breathing heavy yet controlled, his fists continuing their relentless assault as he answered without even glancing back.
Zephryn said, "It is your remaining time, and after four and a half hours, you will die again."
Dev remained calm, unaffected, as if death had already become something distant to him.
Dev asked, "Then how can I live again?"
Zephryn replied, his tone flat yet filled with purpose.
Zephryn said, "What do you think I am doing here, lad?"
Dev answered immediately.
Dev said, "Torturing an angel."
Zephryn's lips curved faintly as another strike landed.
Zephryn said, "No, lad, I am extracting his veins, there are approximately one thousand and thirty-five within his body, and I require three hundred and three, so I strike continuously to loosen them, to shake them free from their fixed structure, and then I cut them out while they are still alive and connected."
Dev's expression shifted slightly, a trace of disturbance surfacing.
Dev said, "You are planning to attach an angel's veins to my body…"
Zephryn continued without pause.
Zephryn said, "An angel's body is born complete, they do not require fragments or bloodlines, their bodies are tightly bound and perfect, so we break that perfection, we loosen it through force, and we extract what we need… a simple and efficient method."
Dev's tone turned serious, his eyes sharpening.
Dev said, "Bringing the Fate Breaker sword from the gates to me, entering the hollow ghost region… was everything that happened until now part of your plan?"
Zephryn stopped mid-strike, the silence that followed carrying more weight than the violence before it, his will standing still for a moment before he spoke.
Zephryn said, "Yes, I sent your grandfather into the gates because it was the only hope left for you, those gates belong to the era of the first humans, even I do not know what lies within them, and everything that followed was my plan, Ruby seeing you at the entrance, you seeing the palace, and most importantly, the visions choosing you as the successor of time, also known as the succor of time."
His tone shifted, pride seeping into every word.
Zephryn said, "Your every step was calculated… every movement, every encounter… all of it."
He paused briefly.
Zephryn said, "But one thing was not counted."
His voice carried a subtle pride.
Zephryn said, "You realizing that someone was manipulating you from the background."
Dev's eyes narrowed slightly.
Dev asked, "Who is 'Nobody'?"
Before Zephryn could even form a response, Dev's voice sharpened, cold and pressing, as he spoke again, "Do not dodge this question, because every single time I bring up that name, you twist the answer into another question, and I will not allow that again."
The words had barely settled when the change began.
The moment the question left his lips, Zephryn's form trembled violently, and in that instant, a spear pierced through his will, distorting his presence.
Zephryn said in a grave tone, "No matter what you do in the future, do not speak that name casually, 'Nobody' is not just a name, it is an existence that shook the fragment world to its core, we do not know whether he is alive or dead, we only know that he calls himself Nobody, and he gave you a gift… loyal soldiers… so use them, and do not ask further."
He continued, his voice steady yet cautious.
Zephryn said, "If fate allows you to meet him, then you may ask him yourself, because even I did not know that palace existed within the hollow world, it was nothing more than a feeling that guided me to look in that direction, and when I saw it, I tried to enter, but I could not, and a message appeared… 'Send Dev Ravenclaw down.'"
His expression darkened slightly.
Zephryn said, "The name attached to that command… was Nobody… and I obeyed."
Dev's face tightened slightly as realization began to settle.
Zephryn said, "When you entered, I was somehow summoned near you, and I guided you, I fought for you, I kept you alive, because you did not know how to fight, yet you stood against an endless army, and you wonder how… it was because I was injecting experience into you, guiding your movements, shaping your instincts."
Dev's breathing slowed.
Zephryn said, "And in the end, you obtained blood and death energy… and six soldiers."
Dev spoke slowly, his voice heavy with realization.
Dev said, "I did not die a second time… I only died once…"
His mind, once clouded, now cleared as every disconnected event began to align, every missing piece falling into place, forming a single terrifying truth.
Dev said, "Everything… was manipulated…"
Zephryn did not deny it.
Zephryn resumed beating the angel, his fists crashing down once more as Raphael's screams echoed, weaker now, broken, as divine arrogance was crushed into silence.
Time passed.
Zephryn finally stopped and observed the angel's body, where the bruises had turned deep purple, forming precise linear patterns that revealed the positions of the golden veins beneath the flesh.
Zephryn said, "Now is the correct time."
He gestured toward the prepared materials.
Zephryn said, "We have everything needed… the golden veins of an angel, the soul of a class eight fragment, extracted from a fragment of the same level, your blood as the successor of time, the blood of the previous time wielder, dragon blood… and the most important ingredients ."
The blood of the first human and the last ingredient ..... it can wait
His gaze shifted toward Ruby and smiled
He reached into his green suit and drew out a brown blade, its surface dull yet heavy with intent.
Zephryn glanced at Raphael.
Zephryn said, "I forged this blade specifically for you… it is made from the ashes of your fallen brother."
Raphael's eyes burned with hatred, yet no words escaped him, his voice broken by the torment.
Zephryn lifted Raphael and placed him onto a floating stretcher, then began cutting into his body, deep and precise, tearing through flesh until the golden veins beneath were exposed, shining with a blinding light that pulsed with divine energy.
Raphael's body convulsed violently, his head shaking, his limbs trembling, his screams reduced to broken fragments of sound as pain consumed him entirely.
Zephryn carved along each bruised line, opening deep cuts, revealing the glowing veins beneath, yet no blood flowed.
Dev stepped closer, watching intently.
Dev asked, "Grandfather, why is there no blood flowing out?"
Zephryn replied calmly.
Zephryn said, "They are angels, they do not possess red blood like humans, their blood is white and flows within their veins, and since I have not cut the veins yet, there is no bleeding."
He continued cutting, opening path after path, exposing the network completely.
Zephryn said, "Once I remove the veins, the blood will flow, and he may die… unless his will is strong enough."
He leaned close to Raphael's face, his tone curling into something cold and ruthless.
Zephryn said, "If you are fortunate… you might survive."
Then, without hesitation, he drove his fingers into the exposed flesh, gripping the thin golden veins, and began pulling them out slowly, deliberately, as Raphael's eyes bulged, his body trembling uncontrollably.
At the precise moment, Zephryn pulled one fully free.
Raphael's right eye went dark.
Zephryn did not stop.
He continued extracting, one after another, until all three hundred and three veins were removed, placing them into a bowl where they shimmered with blinding golden light.
For a moment, there was no blood.
Then suddenly
White blood began to pour from the angel's body.
Zephryn said, "Take another bowl, lad, collect it, it will be useful if used correctly."
Dev moved without hesitation, picking up a bowl and collecting the flowing white blood with steady hands.
Time passed.
After thirty minutes, the extraction was complete.
Zephryn took out a healing fragment and used it on Raphael, whose torn body slowly began to mend, just enough to keep him alive.
The angel fell unconscious, his body limp, his existence reduced to exhaustion.
The bowls sat beside them, one filled with shimmering golden veins, the other with white blood.
Zephryn kicked Raphael off the stretcher without a second glance
Zephryn said, "Now, lie down."
Dev stepped forward and lay upon the stretcher without resistance.
Zephryn said, "I am going to attach these veins into your body, not just on the surface but into every part of you, into your flesh, your nerves, and your very core, so that they replace what you are now and become the foundation of your existence, and most importantly, I will bind them into your eyes, because this process is not simply to strengthen you, it is to transform you into a vessel capable of holding blood soul of time itself within you, a body that will not break under its flow but endure it, contain it, and allow it to exist inside you without destroying you."
He continued, his voice steady.
Zephryn said, "Human veins cannot contain the flow of time, so we use the golden veins of an angel, through them, your body will endure it."
Once the veins are fully attached and your body has accepted them, we will begin the next stage, the blood soul creation , all the ingredient are ready expect ..
He paused, then spoke the final condition.
Zephryn said, "The last ingredient… is a true heart, the heart of someone who wishes for you to live, a heart driven by will, by fire, by sacrifice…"
His gaze shifted toward Ruby.
Zephryn said, "And that person… is here."
Silence fell.
Zephryn asked, "Is it not, Ruby?"