The western district was gone.
What once held academy buildings and training halls had become a crater swallowed by darkness and broken stone.
Rain poured endlessly from the sky above Eryndor Academy while black lightning cracked through the clouds like the heavens themselves were splitting apart.
Students watched from distant dormitory windows in fear.
Nobody understood what was happening anymore.
Only one thing was clear.
Something beneath the academy had awakened.
And its center—
was Zeal Greyhound.
Deep below the ruins of the Black Archive, Zeal stood motionless on shattered stone suspended above the abyss.
The dragons surrounding him remained bowed.
Dozens of ancient creatures.
Monsters powerful enough to erase armies.
Kneeling.
The black scales across Zeal's body continued spreading slowly beneath the flickering gold light in his eyes.
But unlike before—
he was still conscious.
Barely.
The black pulse inside his chest had become steady now.
No longer random.
No longer chaotic.
Like something inside him had stopped sleeping.
Across the abyss, the Devourer slowly rose higher from the darkness.
Massive chains dragged across its body as ancient seals cracked apart one after another.
Its appearance alone distorted the air around it.
Black scales.
Towering horns.
Eyes darker than the void itself.
And yet—
the thing staring at Zeal looked almost human compared to the pressure it carried.
The black dragon lowered its head again.
"The prison is failing."
The Devourer ignored it completely.
Its attention never left Zeal.
"You sealed us."
Its voice echoed through the abyss calmly.
"And then abandoned us."
Fragments of memory slammed into Zeal again.
A battlefield beneath a crimson sky.
Dragons chained by golden pillars.
Cities collapsing into ash.
And himself—
standing alone before countless monsters while black flames consumed the world behind him.
Then another memory surfaced.
Different this time.
Quieter.
The silver-haired woman again.
Standing beside him beneath falling snow.
Her hand against his chest.
Tears in her eyes.
"If you do this… they'll hate you forever."
Then his own voice answered.
"As long as they survive."
The memory shattered instantly.
Zeal staggered slightly.
Kyle's voice echoed from above the ruins.
"ZEAL!"
Zeal looked upward faintly.
Far above the abyss, Kyle, Chloe, and Lucius stood near the edge of the destroyed archive floor.
Kyle looked terrified.
Chloe looked worried.
Lucius looked ready to fight the world itself.
And somehow—
seeing them grounded Zeal more than the visions did.
The Devourer noticed.
Its black eyes narrowed slightly.
"Even now… you cling to humans."
Lucius immediately stepped forward.
Lightning exploded around him.
CRACK—BOOOOM.
"And what if he does?"
The abyss trembled.
The Devourer slowly shifted its gaze toward Lucius.
The pressure became heavier instantly.
Like the creature's attention alone could crush mountains.
Kyle nearly collapsed.
"…Why does every ancient monster stare at people like they owe it money?"
Lucius ignored him completely.
Lightning crackled violently around his body while he stared directly into the abyss.
The Devourer studied him silently.
Then laughed softly.
Not mockingly.
Almost disappointed.
"The lightning bloodline still survives."
Lucius' eyes narrowed.
"You know my family?"
"I know the traitors who helped chain this world."
That sentence changed the atmosphere immediately.
Even Chloe looked stunned.
Lucius' lightning flickered slightly.
"…What?"
The Devourer's voice echoed again.
"The great noble families were created to maintain the seal."
Silence.
Rain hammered the ruins overhead.
The black dragon slowly lowered its massive head.
"The false system was built after the First Age ended."
Zeal's chest tightened.
Because deep inside—
he already knew it was true.
The academy.
The rankings.
The noble houses.
The authority system.
All of it.
Built after the war he couldn't fully remember.
Built to contain something.
Or someone.
The Devourer stared at Zeal again.
"You created this cage."
The black pulse inside Zeal reacted violently.
THUMP.
The abyss shook.
Far above the ruins, the academy barriers cracked further.
Students screamed as black lightning spread through the sky like spiderwebs.
Inside the capital of Astravia—
alarms began ringing.
Something ancient was returning.
Back beneath the academy—
Lucius stepped forward again.
"No."
Lightning exploded harder around him.
"You're lying."
The Devourer tilted its head slightly.
"Because the truth frightens you?"
Lucius didn't answer.
But for the first time since entering the academy—
uncertainty appeared in his eyes.
The Devourer slowly rose higher from the abyss.
More broken chains dragged behind it.
Its full body still couldn't be seen.
It was too massive.
Too deep.
And yet every creature beneath the academy trembled in fear of it.
Even the dragons.
Then suddenly—
the black-scaled book Chloe carried began glowing violently.
The ancient pages flipped rapidly on their own.
Smoke spiraled around Chloe instinctively as she tried holding onto it.
"What's happening?!"
The book stopped suddenly.
One page opened by itself.
A drawing appeared across the ancient paper.
A king seated upon a throne made of chains.
Black dragons kneeling around him.
And below the image—
words slowly burned themselves into the page.
The Monarch who betrayed eternity.
Zeal's eyes widened slightly.
The Devourer smiled.
"That is how history remembers you."
"No," the black dragon suddenly growled.
The abyss went silent.
Even the Devourer slowly turned toward it.
The dragon lowered itself painfully against the broken chains around its body.
Then spoke quietly.
"History remembers only what survived."
The Devourer's smile disappeared.
For the first time—
tension spread through the abyss.
The black dragon lifted its ancient eyes toward Zeal.
"You did not betray us."
A pause.
Then:
"You saved the world from us."
Silence.
The words hit harder than any attack.
Kyle blinked slowly.
"…Okay, NOW I'm confused."
Zeal stared at the dragon.
And somehow—
he felt the truth in its voice.
Another memory surfaced immediately.
The war.
The destruction.
Dragons falling from the sky corrupted by black flames.
The Devourer consuming entire cities.
And himself—
creating the chains.
Not to imprison innocent creatures.
To stop the end of the world.
The Devourer's eyes darkened.
"You speak too much."
BOOOOOOM.
Invisible force slammed into the black dragon instantly.
Ancient scales shattered.
The dragon roared in pain as it crashed deeper into the abyss wall.
Chloe flinched.
Kyle looked horrified.
Lucius immediately raised lightning around himself.
The Devourer slowly looked back toward Zeal.
"Look what humanity made you become."
The black pulse inside Zeal became unstable again.
The scales spread farther up his face.
His left eye flickered black once more.
And suddenly—
the whispers returned.
Thousands of voices.
Calling him.
Remembering him.
Begging him to return.
Zeal grabbed his head hard.
"…Stop…"
The abyss shook violently.
The dragons lowered themselves further.
The Devourer smiled again.
"You cannot run forever, Monarch."
Lucius immediately moved.
Lightning exploded downward through the abyss as he placed himself directly between Zeal and the Devourer.
CRACK—BOOOOOOM.
The blast lit the entire crater blue-white.
"You talk too much."
The Devourer stared at him silently.
Lucius' voice turned colder.
"I don't care who he was."
Lightning surged violently around him.
"He's still Zeal."
For a moment—
everything became still.
The whispers weakened.
The pressure around Zeal stabilized slightly.
And deep inside—
something ancient hesitated.
The Devourer noticed immediately.
Its expression darkened for the first time.
"Interesting."
Then—
another presence appeared.
A new pressure descended over the ruins.
Sharp.
Heavy.
Controlled.
Everyone looked upward instantly.
A man dressed in white military armor stood above the crater edge beneath the storm.
Silver hair.
Golden eyes.
A long black coat moved behind him in the rain.
The academy instructors nearby immediately lowered their heads.
Even Vael.
Because everyone recognized him.
One of the strongest enforcers in Astravia.
The White Fang of the Capital.
Commander Cain Valdris.
Cain stared silently into the abyss.
Then his eyes landed on Zeal.
Not shocked.
Not afraid.
Like he had expected this all along.
The Devourer growled deeply.
"So the watchdogs finally arrive."
Cain slowly drew the black sword resting at his side.
The blade itself hummed with ancient runes.
Then calmly—
he pointed it toward the abyss.
"Release the boy."
The Devourer laughed.
And the world beneath the academy trembled.
END OF CHAPTER 17Next Time on Path of the Calamity Monarch…The White Fang enters the battle beneath the academy.
Zeal finally learns who Cain Valdris really is.
The Devourer reveals the hidden truth behind the First Age war.
And deep inside Zeal's memories… someone begins waking up.