Pain. That was the first thing Azrael Kaelthorne felt when he woke up. A deep, throbbing ache spread through his body as if every muscle had been torn apart and stitched back together. His breath was ragged, his vision blurry, and his head pounded like a war drum.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—ornate, high, and adorned with golden chandeliers. The scent of expensive perfume and polished wood filled the air. This wasn't his dingy apartment. This wasn't his world.
He clenched his fists as memories flooded in—his past life, his despair, his suicide… and then, the story.
"This is insane." His voice was hoarse, almost foreign to his own ears.
Azrael Kaelthorne.
A high-ranking noble, bastard child, and the first major villain of the novel "Moon's Fated Sovereign." A character fated to die in nine months at the hands of the world's true protagonist—Elaris Velmira, the sole heir of the empire.
His mind raced. He knew this story. He had read every chapter, laughed at the arrogant villain's downfall, cheered for the protagonist's rise. But now?
Now, he was that villain.
Azrael sat up, his body sluggish yet strangely light. His hands, once weak and trembling in his old life, now carried the roughness of someone who had trained before. He could feel it—this body wasn't strong, but it had potential. It should have been even stronger… if not for the curse.
Yes. He remembered now.
The Kaelthorne family specialized in magic swordsmen, warriors who wielded both Aura and Mana. Azrael was supposed to be the greatest among them, a prodigy even more talented than his legitimate siblings. But his stepmother, Lady Morganna Asrock-Kaelthorne, saw him as a threat.
So, she cursed him. A sealing spell, making him appear talentless, weak, worthless. A pawn to be sacrificed.
And in this world, weakness meant death.
Azrael exhaled sharply. "I have less than a year before I'm killed."
He clenched his jaw, but before he could process further—
[Ding!]
A mechanical chime echoed in his head, followed by a translucent blue screen appearing before his eyes.
—
[Abyssal Crown System Activated]
Welcome, Azrael Kaelthorne. Your fate is sealed, but your destiny is yours to carve.
Quest: Survive until the Final Duel (Time Limit: 9 Months)
Reward: ???
—
His breath caught. He knew about the System—it was never mentioned in the novel, meaning this was something new. Something that shouldn't exist.
But it was his only chance.
A second notification popped up.
—
Curse detected. Removing Sealing Spell…
True potential restored.
—
Power surged through his body, like chains snapping apart. His sluggish limbs felt lighter, his senses sharper. His Aura, which had been stagnant at Level 1, pulsed faintly, and his mana heart, once suffocated, now swirled with two full cycles.
Azrael let out a slow breath. He wasn't weak. He had never been weak.
But strength alone wasn't enough.
If he wanted to survive, he had to be stronger than Elaris Velmira—the fated strongest.
And to do that, he had to follow the System's guidance, no matter what it took.
Even if he had no idea what its true goal really was.
—
End of Chapter 1