The moment I returned to my courtyard, I felt it.
Kael's thread had changed.
Not shattered.
Not severed.
But… lighter.
As if something that had always been pulling on it had suddenly gone missing.
I sat down slowly, resting my elbows on my knees, eyes half-lidded as I followed the ripples of cause and effect spreading through the empire.
One man, suddenly unimportant.
One hero, suddenly… less supported.
Heaven never noticed small losses.
But protagonists did.
[Abyssal Sovereign Fate Devourer]
Supporting Fate Removed
Kael Veyl – Stability Reduced by 6%
Only six percent.
I smiled.
That was enough to make him feel it.
Seraphina stood nearby, arms crossed tightly. I could feel her unease through the thin thread connecting us—not fear of me, but fear of what I was becoming.
"What happens to him now?" she asked quietly.
"Riven?" I shrugged. "He will live a long, painfully normal life."
Her lips pressed together. "You destroyed his future."
"No," I corrected. "I returned it to the world."
I leaned back, staring at the clouds.
"He was never meant to be important. Heaven borrowed him."
Kael — distant, faint POV
Something was wrong.
I knew it in my bones.
Riven hadn't shown up to our meeting.
He was never late.
I reached out with my spiritual sense—nothing. No bond. No echo.
It was like he had been… erased from my story.
"Azrael," I whispered.
The name felt heavier every time I said it.
Me — Azrael
Good.
Let him feel the hollow.
Let him realize that his shining path was never self-sustaining.
I stood up, black robes stirring around me like shadows.
"One thread gone," I murmured. "So many left."
Seraphina met my gaze. "And when you reach him?"
I smiled.
"When I reach him, there won't be anything left to take."Night settled over the capital like a velvet curtain, dimming the lanterns and drowning the palace in silver moonlight. From the highest balcony of my wing, I watched the city breathe.
Every street below was a vein.
Every cultivator a pulse.
Every destiny a thread.
And Kael Veyl was the brightest knot in the entire tapestry.
I rested my chin on my hand, crimson eyes glinting. For the first time since transmigrating into this doomed villain's body, I felt… entertained.
Seraphina remained behind me, her long silver hair falling down her back like liquid moonlight. Her emerald eyes were fixed on me—not in fear, not in worship.
In conflict.
"You enjoy this," she said.
"I enjoy order," I replied. "Heaven chose Kael. I choose my family. The two can't coexist."
She swallowed. "You're changing."
I smiled softly.
"No. I'm becoming honest."
Somewhere far away — Kael
The sect courtyard was filled with people.
Yet I had never felt so alone.
Riven should have been here.
Jade should have been laughing.
The air felt… thinner.
Like a story missing pages.
I clenched my fists. "Azrael Drakaryx…"
The name was a curse on my tongue.
Back to me
[Abyssal Sovereign Fate Devourer]
Target Network Updated
Remaining High-Value Supports: 6
Estimated Collapse of Protagonist Path if Removed: 61%
Six people.
Six pillars holding up Kael's destiny.
I didn't need to fight him.
I just needed to… isolate him.
Seraphina stepped closer. I felt her presence behind me, warm, conflicted, loyal.
"You're planning something worse than killing him, aren't you?" she whispered.
I turned my head slightly, just enough for her to see the corner of my smile.
"I'm planning to make him… irrelevant."
The dragon blood inside me stirred, ancient and cruel.
Somewhere, Kael's story was beginning to rot.
And I was the fungus.The night wind brushed my face as I stood there, feeling the slow churn of destiny around me.
Heaven didn't scream when I took Riven.
It twitched.
That told me everything I needed to know.
I raised my hand and let a faint dragon-scale pattern shimmer across my skin before fading again. My bloodline hummed with anticipation, ancient hunger echoing in my bones.
Not for flesh.
For stories.
"Seraphina," I said softly, "do you know why villains always lose?"
She shook her head.
"Because they challenge heroes head-on. They make noise. They draw attention."
I lowered my hand, looking into her emerald eyes.
"I don't want to fight Kael. I want to outlive his relevance."
She exhaled slowly, as if realizing the depth of what that meant.
Somewhere else — Kael
I knelt alone in my cultivation room, sweat dripping from my jaw as I forced my Qi to circulate.
It felt wrong.
The energy that had always flowed so easily through me now stuttered, like a broken rhythm.
"Why…" I whispered.
My heart was heavy for a reason I couldn't explain.
Me — Azrael
The system pulsed.
[Abyssal Sovereign Fate Devourer]
Protagonist Awareness Rising
Recommended Action: Continue Peripheral Fate Harvesting
Perfect.
I smiled.
"I'll take everything around him," I murmured, "until he's standing alone in a story that no longer cares."
Seraphina watched me in silence.
In her eyes, I saw the beginning of something dangerous.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
But… devotion.
And that, more than any stolen fate, was power.