(Lord Cedric Vaelthorne's POV)
The ritual chamber was silent, but Cedric felt the shift in the air.
He had stood through countless awakenings, seen warriors rise and fall, watched nobles and commoners alike reveal their fates within these sacred runes.
But this?
This was different.
This was his son.
And Alistair had just rejected their Goddess.
---
A Memory of the Past
Cedric Vaelthorne had never been a man of sentiment.
Duty had ruled him from the moment he was born—his path carved by steel, strategy, and the expectations of a noble heir.
Marriage, too, had been a duty.
Or so he had believed.
Until Seraphina.
She had been the only person to shake his foundation, to unravel the unyielding walls he had built around himself.
She had been strong.
Not just in magic, not just in battle, but in will.
Where others bowed before his authority, she had stood as his equal.
Her wisdom had softened his sharp edges. Her presence had made the empty halls of House Vaelthorne feel like more than just a fortress.
She had given him heirs.
A son, born with his ruthlessness and her fire.
A daughter, carrying her warmth and unwavering belief in light.
For the first time in his life, Cedric had allowed himself to believe in peace.
And then—it was taken from him.
His wife had been slaughtered.
His children had been forced to watch.
And the boy he had once called his son had changed.
Alistair had not wept.
He had not grieved.
Instead, he had hardened.
He had buried his weakness beneath relentless training, brutal discipline, and a terrifying obsession with power.
The warmth his mother had left behind was erased, replaced by something that even Cedric could not fully recognize.
Perhaps that was why he had remarried.
Not for love. Not even for necessity.
But because he had needed to restore stability to House Vaelthorne.
He had needed someone to watch over Elaine, to ensure that she did not follow the dark path Alistair had chosen.
Lady Evelyn was a noblewoman of impeccable bloodline, an ally to the family's interests. A calculated choice.
But she was not Seraphina.
And she never would be.
---
The Breaking of Fate
Cedric's sharp emerald eyes remained locked onto the ritual circle, watching as Alistair made his decision.
He had known—suspected—that his son would be powerful.
He had trained him himself. He had seen his monstrous discipline, his raw, unnatural potential.
But he had never once considered the possibility that Alistair would reject their Goddess.
That he would turn away from Artemis, the deity who had watched over House Vaelthorne for centuries.
That he would embrace darkness instead.
The divine energy around the chamber shifted violently.
The once gentle moonlight that had gathered above the circle flickered, dimmed, and vanished.
In its place—a void.
A ravenous abyss, one that pulsed with something ancient, something insatiable.
Cedric's entire body tensed as he felt it.
A presence unlike anything the Vaelthorne family had ever known.
And then—the runes darkened.
Alistair had chosen.
The Ever-Hungry Maw.
A Demon Constellation.
A force of devouring hunger, gluttony beyond mortal comprehension.
A monstrosity.
His son had not only rejected the light.
He had embraced the abyss.
---
The Goddess's Final Mercy
Cedric did not move.
He did not speak.
But in that moment, he knew that House Vaelthorne's fate had changed forever.
And then—
Another shift.
A second wave of divine power.
This one was not dark, not devouring.
It was silver, radiant, untouched by corruption.
His eyes snapped to Elaine.
The light that had abandoned Alistair now surrounded her.
Artemis—the very Goddess that his son had turned away from—had made her choice.
[The Goddess of the Moon Hunt has chosen Elaine Vaelthorne as her Avatar.]
Elaine gasped, her small frame trembling as the divine energy embraced her, sealing her fate as a Champion of Light.
Cedric inhaled deeply.
It was a mercy.
A final act of kindness from their forsaken Goddess.
Even if Alistair had fallen, House Vaelthorne would not be abandoned.
His daughter would bear their Goddess's will.
His daughter would uphold their legacy.
And his son—
His son was now something else entirely.
---
A Father's Judgment
The light faded, and the ritual was complete.
Elaine stood in quiet shock, her breathing uneven as she processed what had happened.
But Alistair—
Alistair merely opened his eyes.
And what Cedric saw chilled him.
There was no regret.
No hesitation.
Only cold certainty.
A monster had been born today.
And for the first time in years, Cedric felt something dangerous stirring inside him.
Fear.
Not for Alistair.
But for the world.
Because now, there was nothing that could stand in his way.
And Cedric knew, without a shadow of a doubt—
His son would devour everything.
---