A Pawn's Passage - Chapter 26: Returning to an Old Home

In humanity’s final war against the Demon Lord, the strongest heroes fell—not by the enemy’s hand, but by their own, twisted into madness by a cruel illusion. Betrayal. Bloodshed. Despair… and then, silence.Only one person remained: Riley—the weakest warrior of them all. Powerless. Ignored. Forgotten.But he saw through the Demon Lord’s deception. The tyrant was on the brink of death—so weak even a fly could’ve finished him off.And Riley did just that, drawing every last ounce of strength to bite off the demon’s head.Victory? Not quite. A final, desperate strike from the Demon Lord pierced him from behind, killing him instantly.But fate wasn’t done with him yet.Riley awoke ten years in the past—when the online game [Apocalypse] was launched. Before demons descended. Before monsters overran the world.And this time, he wasn’t starting from nothing. He had a decade of experience—and a second chance.Even more shocking, he didn’t awaken his old D-rank Strength Boost talent. This time, he received something far more terrifying: an SSS-Rank Gluttony talent!He could now devour anything—monsters, items, talents, even traits—and gain their power.Ding![You have devoured: Iron Fang Wolf][Acquired: +4 Strength, +2 Agility, Skill: Bite (F-rank)][You have devoured: Goblin ShamanAcquired: +8 Intelligence, Skill: Mana Bolt (E-rank), Talent: Minor Spellcasting Efficiency][You have devoured: Flaming Salamander Drake][Acquired: +22 Endurance, Trait: Dragon’s Resilience, Skill: Flame Breath (C-rank)]Now, there is no demon, no god, no monster who will stand in his way. He will devour everything—and save the world.But the power of Gluttony was a double edged sword. If he wasn’t careful… he could be the one getting consumed.

Three Souls lay in one body,

One soul belonging to a man who had reached the peak, the strongest there ever was, the one who had the talent to do so. Yet he suffered because of his talent. His soul shone as bright as a galaxy once, but now is but a sun. His talents made him the envy of all.

And He lost it all.

The Second soul belonged to a man soon to be the richest in the world.

A man who had his face charred, a man who seemingly had every odd placed against him from the very beginning.

He went against the family that abused him and triumphed over them. Yet he was left broken inside, He craved a release, and the first soul brought him that release.

And he became a psychopath that scared the manifestation of evil itself.

And the Third?

The child born from their souls was anything but ordinary. Cursed with a fate no one wanted. Cursed with the fact that the Universe wanted him dead.

He was born from Chaos And Ice and a fraction of light, Yet manipulated Space.

His abilities were so powerful they were harmful to his body.

His talent is as infinite as the boundless cosmos.

His enemies were greater than one could count.

His luck is worse than shit.

And Yet, he continued to fight. Despite whatever was thrown at him, he would brute force through it or outsmart it, befitting the other two above.

He continued to fight, not believing in the bullshit that was destiny.

Here martial arts are no longer intangible legends. They have been passed on from generation to generation and from century to century. After the confrontation with science and technology, they have completely integrated into modern society and all kinds of martial arts competitions are taking place across the country as superiority among scholars are hard to reach a consensus but not as difficult among martial artists!

“Darling, I love you…” He was the heir to the consortium and she had just divorced. The day she was divorced, she was kidnapped and forced to be the doctor in charge of his case. To add insult to injury, this man would sleepwalk to her bed every two to three days… another headache!