The first thing Drake heard that morning was screaming. The sharp cries echoed through the narrow alleyways of the Lower Quarter long before the sun fully rose above Ashveil City. Somewhere beyond the cracked stone buildings, merchants were already shouting prices while carriage wheels rattled over uneven roads. The city was awake, alive with anticipation, because today was not an ordinary day.Today was the Day of Summoning. For most people, it was a celebration. For Drake Valemorn, it felt like an execution. Another crash thundered from downstairs, followed by the furious voice of his landlord.“If you cannot pay by tonight, then get out! I’m done tolerating dead weight!”Drake slowly opened his eyes to the damp ceiling above him. Rainwater stains stretched across the wood as diseased veins, and cold air slipped through cracks in the walls of the tiny attic room he rented above a butcher’s shop. The smell of blood and spoiled meat drifted upward every morning without fail.He stared

The heavens did not crack quietly. The moment the name “Azhareth” left the chained beast’s mouth, a deafening explosion thundered across Ashveil City with enough force to shake towers, collapse windows, and silence every living creature within the Grand Summoning Plaza. Dark clouds twisted violently above the arena.Golden lightning erupted through the sky like enormous veins spreading across the firmament itself, illuminating the city beneath flashes of blinding radiance. The pressure descending from above became so overwhelming that thousands of spectators collapsed instinctively to their knees.Even the spirit beasts throughout the arena reacted in terror. Wolves whimpered. Serpents coiled tightly against the ground. Winged beasts crashed from the air as though the heavens themselves had suddenly become forbidden territory. At the centre of the destruction, Drake stood frozen inside the blazing Pact Formation Circle while ancient symbols spiralled around his body. Pain surged throu

The executioners attacked before the people of Ashveil fully understood they had already been sentenced to die. Golden spears descended from the towers surrounding the Grand Summoning Plaza, tearing through the sky like falling stars. The weapons carried enough spirit energy to vaporise stone on contact, and their targets were unmistakably clear.Drake.Azhareth.And anyone standing too close to them. The first spear struck the shattered arena floor beside Lyra, detonating with catastrophic force. Broken stone exploded outward while the shockwave hurled dozens of fleeing spectators through the air.Screams immediately swallowed the plaza. Parents grabbed their children and ran blindly through collapsing streets. Nobles abandoned dignity in favour of survival. Even trained Beast Tamers struggled to control panicked summons as terror spread throughout the city.The Heavenly Lock continued glowing above Ashveil like a massive prison cage forged from divine light. Nobody could escape. Drake

The ground split apart beneath the Grand Summoning Plaza. The crack appeared without warning, slicing through the shattered arena floor like a gigantic wound opening across the heart of Ashveil City. Stone collapsed inward. Ancient pillars crumbled. Hundreds of spectators who had not yet escaped screamed as they stumbled away from the widening abyss.A violent shockwave erupted from below. The chained wolf immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Grand Elder Varis's face drained of colour. Even Azhareth's golden eyes narrowed dangerously. Drake felt it too. Whatever was awakening beneath the city felt fundamentally different from the other prison beasts.The chained wolf carried anger. The imprisoned serpent carried resentment. The reptilian giant carried hatred. But the thing beneath the deepest chamber felt utterly alien. It did not radiate rage. It radiated hunger. An endless, bottomless hunger that seemed capable of swallowing the world itself. Another laugh echoed upward from

Conflict erupted the instant the golden eye opened beyond the shattered heavens. The Devourer attacked first. A deafening roar burst from its countless mouths as a tide of crimson darkness surged upward toward the fractured sky. Entire sections of Ashveil trembled beneath the force of the attack. Buildings collapsed. Ancient walls cracked. The remaining fragments of the Heavenly Lock flickered wildly as though reality itself could no longer endure the pressure gathering above the city.For the first time since its awakening, the Devourer no longer looked interested in humanity. Its full attention belonged to the being beyond the heavens. The gigantic golden eye gazed downward without emotion. It did not blink. It did not move. Yet the mere act of its observation caused every living creature below to feel an overwhelming pressure pressing upon their souls.Drake nearly dropped to one knee. Around him, Beast Tamers collapsed. Spirit beasts whimpered. Several executioners lost consciousn