The memory still haunted Timi every night.
Life afterward had become unimaginably cruel. Food became currency. Medicine became priceless. Trust became a luxury.
Fortunately, the three siblings eventually reached one of humanity's fortified settlements. It wasn't paradise. Far from it. But at least they survived.
Over the following months, Timi gradually adapted to the new world. The timid middle school student disappeared. In his place stood someone capable of killing monsters without trembling, even if they were only weaker ones.
Humanity's greatest turning point came several months after the apocalypse. Researchers discovered something astonishing. Within the bodies of certain demons existed an unusual biological substance.
After countless failed experiments, someone finally managed to refine it into a serum. Those who survived the injection awakened extraordinary abilities.
Superhuman strength. Elemental control. Enhanced senses. Regeneration. Various powers appeared. Those individuals became known as Espers. They were the reason humanity still existed. Without them, Earth would likely have fallen within months.
There was another method as well. Some people discovered that consuming specially prepared monster flesh occasionally produced similar effects. The success rate was dramatically lower, but it was significantly safer.
The serum was different. Its success rate was terrifyingly low. Many people simply died. Others mutated into monsters themselves.
Timi had been offered the serum more than once. Each time, he refused. Not because he lacked courage, but because he lacked the luxury of risking his life.
If he died, who would protect his sisters? He had already witnessed what happened to orphaned children inside the settlements.
The thought alone was enough to make him reject every offer. He would rather remain ordinary than gamble his sisters' future on uncertain odds.
Only one year had passed since the apocalypse. Yet Timi had seen enough.
He had seen people murder one another over a loaf of bread. Watched powerful Espers abuse those too weak to resist. Witnessed settlements abandon thousands simply because there wasn't enough food.
The apocalypse hadn't merely revealed monsters. It had revealed humanity as well.
Because of that, Timi trusted very few people. Perhaps no one, besides his sisters.
Not even the so-called Prophets.
Those mysterious individuals had appeared several months after the pillars among various human survivor groups.
Unlike Espers, their powers seemed different. Stranger.
They claimed to receive revelations from divine beings. They healed and performed miracles. Some possessed abilities surpassing even high-ranking Espers. But every single one preached the same message.
"Worship. Worship the true gods. Only faith can save humanity."
Timi never believed them. For some reason, he felt these so-called divine beings might be no better than the demons themselves.
Fortunately, humanity's luck finally seemed to be changing.
Two months ago, an entirely new group of people began appearing among the survivors. Unlike Espers, these individuals possessed powers that were fundamentally different. And far stronger.
Unfortunately, for ordinary people, almost nothing was known about them. Rumors spread every single day, and none could be confirmed. The only thing everyone agreed upon was that they were helping humanity.
Many of the larger settlements that had been on the verge of collapse had managed to survive because these mysterious individuals suddenly intervened.
For a while, hope slowly returned.
Five days ago, Timi's own life had completely changed. He had become one of the chosen as well.
A strange translucent screen had appeared before his eyes. From that day onward, Timi discovered he could enter an entirely different world. A world unlike Earth.
Unfortunately, only he could enter, and he could not bring his sisters. Because of that, no matter how miraculous the new world was, his time there remained limited. He could never abandon his sisters for long.
Fortunately, his System wasn't limited to that mysterious world. The demons invading Earth also granted experience points. Timi's strength increased every single day.
His second greatest fortune was the talent he had awakened alongside the System.
[Talent: Devour]
Unfortunately, his system gave no descriptions. Just a single name.
Fortunately, his System didn't stop him from experimenting. Through several attempts, Timi discovered what the talent actually did. Its ability wasn't as simple as swallowing things. Rather, it extracted something from a target.
Not everything possessed something worth taking. A rock remained just a rock. An ordinary tree rarely yielded anything. But creatures, especially supernatural creatures, were different.
Demons were by far the best examples. After killing one, Timi could activate Devour on its corpse. Most of the time, tiny streams of energy entered his body. Then a notification would appear.
[Strength +0.1] [Agility +0.2] [Constitution +0.1]
There was no pattern. The attributes obtained seemed completely random. But every successful absorption permanently strengthened him. It was because of this that his physical abilities had increased so rapidly within only five days.
That wasn't the most unbelievable part.
Very occasionally, instead of attribute points, something else appeared. A skill. The probability was absurdly low. But it existed. To date, Timi had only obtained three. The third situation was by far the most valuable experience.
It had belonged to a particularly troublesome demon. Unlike the other monsters that charged directly into settlements, that creature never appeared openly. It hid and silently slaughtered people one after another.
Fortunately, its actual combat ability wasn't particularly high. After tracking it for an entire day, Timi had finally managed to kill it. When he activated Devour, something unexpected happened.
Instead of attribute points, he had obtained a bloodline he could integrate into his body.
The System had called it an Extraordinary Grade Shadow Demon Bloodline. He didn't know what grade meant, but the effect of the bloodline made it clear it was something valuable.
As for the skill, it was called Presence Concealment. Once activated, his presence diminished dramatically. His footsteps. His breathing.
Even the instinctive awareness living creatures possessed toward nearby enemies became blurred.
However, Timi could tell its true power came from the bloodline supporting it. Together with his class, his strength had grown by leaps and bounds thanks to his talent and no level ten creature had ever been able to match him.
This had all been the case until he met a girl.
A girl who called herself Lily.
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