In the ancient continent of Aflocia, where bloodlines of power determine worth and the strong devour the weak, Garfield Van Turner was born into one of the most prestigious clans. Once hailed as a prodigy and praised as the next patriarch, Garfield’s fate took a cruel turn. His immense pool of mana—far greater than any other Van Turner—became both his curse and his chain. His body slowly broke under the crushing weight of it, his talents shattered one by one, until he could wield nothing. From the pride of the family, he became its disgrace.

Despised by his father, overshadowed by his prodigious sister Rose, and mocked by the heirs of other wives, Garfield’s life collapsed entirely after the death of his mother. In the shadow of the Turner mansion’s endless expectations, his name became synonymous with failure.

But fate had already chosen him for another path.

In the cold stillness of a training hall, Garfield encountered a mysterious Being—an ancient entity with power so suffocating it warped reality itself. The Being called him child of endless mana, yet unable to use it, and extended to him a cryptic blessing. This moment ignited the spark of his descent into darkness.

Cast away, Garfield abandoned the academy and sought self-discovery. His journey led him to Louzvel, where he shocked the world by slaying a dragon through sheer manipulation of mana. The feat earned him the title of Duke, brought him into the presence of King Athur Louzvel, and gave him access to the legendary Holy Internal Rein Library. Yet power breeds enemies. Betrayed and framed, Garfield was stripped of his status and sent as a slave to the Northern Continent.

Chains could not shatter his ambition. In frostbitten pits, Garfield began his forbidden research—twisting man and monster into grotesque hybrids. Bought by the calculating Earl of Grantham, Garfield perfected his craft in secrecy, creating a dragon–human hybrid from the Earl’s own son. When the manor burned, Garfield vanished into exile.

Haunted and relentless, he carved a new base beneath a ruined temple, until his existence was uncovered by holy orders and hunters. Weakened but unbroken, he fled into the desert, where monstrous serpents and scorpions fell before his fiery wrath. There, amid the endless sands, he discovered whispers of an ancient ruin—the Tomb of Suffering.

Its true name: Tomb Maizel.

Within the tomb’s walls lie secrets of the Forgotten Sons, thirteen direct descendants of the Forgotten God, a deity erased from all memory. Maizel, the Seventh Son, left behind a labyrinth of trials and forbidden knowledge. But the Being that follows Garfield grows strange, its voice glitching when speaking of this Forgotten God—hinting at a truth so terrible that even divine remnants dare not utter it.

As Garfield delves deeper into Tomb Maizel, torn between his cursed bloodline and his cold ambition, he inches closer to the truth of fate itself—and to the throne the world has forgotten.

The silence of Tomb Maizel had always been oppressive, but as Garfield descended deeper, the weight of history pressed harder against his chest. He carried no torch; the walls themselves glowed faintly with phosphorescent veins, like the arteries of some colossal corpse. The air thickened. Each step echoed as though he was trespassing on forbidden ground.


He passed chamber after chamber of stone coffins—thirteen rows in all, some shattered, some pristine, each bearing glyphs he could not yet read. The Being lingered at his side, a formless shadow, its voice threading into his mind like smoke.


"These coffins belong to the Architects' chosen. Do not ask more, child."


Garfield narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He already knew enough: when the Being skipped details, it meant those details mattered most.


At last, the tunnel widened into a vast hall where a single mural stretched across the wall. It depicted thirteen radiant figures, cloaked in symbols, each one holding a sphere of light. But there was a space at the end of the mural—an empty niche, erased or unfinished. His eyes lingered there. Something about it gnawed at him.


And then—words carved beneath, a language alien to him. Garfield reached out, fingers brushing the stone. For a moment, a sting shot through his veins, mana reacting to the inscription.


 "Step back. This is not for mortal eyes."


But Garfield did not. He pressed harder, and the glyphs glowed faintly. A pulse entered his head, flooding him with fragments of meaning—words not of this world. He staggered, nearly falling. Blood trickled from his nose.


And then the Being intervened, speaking slowly:


 "These are the Laws of the Architects. I will translate, though only what you need."


The translation was clipped, incomplete. But Garfield caught enough: "Thirteen pillars… guardians of balance… linked to gods above…"


And beneath all, one scratched-out line: "Fourteenth, the one erased."


His gaze lingered on that emptiness, his mind sharpening like a blade.


"Forget the fourteenth. It does not exist."


But Garfield smirked, ignoring the warning. Deep inside, he knew—whatever was erased held the key to power beyond anything the Architects had ever meant mortals to touch.


Chapter 10 - The Depths Awaken