Death Heir's Devouring System
Chapter 37: Buried in Silver Ash

Chapter 37: Buried in Silver Ash

Azrael felt it, deep in his very soul. The countless injuries he had accumulated began to close at an unnatural rate. His arm began to grow back at unparalleled speed, every trace of exhaustion disappeared from his body, something even the strongest healing potions were unable to achieve.

[Body reconstruction completed.]

[You have challenged the Abyss.]

[Your most loyal follower awaits your return.]

The words echoed in his mind. A second later, he felt his body again. He wasn’t in some incomprehensible form—he was whole.

His chest strained, trying to breathe, but something stopped him. An immovable weight pressed down on him, forcing him to hold his breath.

Veins bulged under his skin as he fought to move. His strength was there, but his movements were sluggish.

Tiny particles brushed against his body, entered his nose, and slid beneath his fingernails, mimicking an eerie sensation of something crawling beneath his skin.

’Sand?’ A second later the realization hit him.

’Troublesome,’ he thought, trying not to give in to panic. The worst thing that he could do was panic.

He couldn’t open his eyes. That left him only his hearing. Forcing his pounding heart to calm, he listened.

’There!’

His body sprang into action the second he heard the faintest trace of sound. Without hesitation, he began to move towards the source, hoping he wasn’t going deeper underground.

Moving through sand wasn’t like swimming—it was harder. He not only didn’t know where he was going, couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe. But the one thing no one ever mentioned was the heat. Beneath the mounds of sand, his body heated up like a furnace, threatening to boil him alive if he wasn’t fast enough.

’But seriously, I had to be buried in sand? Anything sounds better than that—even being dropped in the middle of the ocean! At least there I’d be able to see where I’m going!’

His limbs slowed, and his face got redder. A powerful headache hit him, forcing him to grit his teeth. His oxygen was about to run out.

Just before everything went black, his hand burst through the surface. A second later he came out of the ground like a reanimated corpse. His mouth opened wide as he took hoarse, ragged breaths.

Opening his eyes, he examined the sand he had been buried beneath. It wasn’t golden in color like normal sand should have been, its hue was silver... almost as if it weren’t sand at all, but ash. However, Azrael wasn’t mistaken—the composition was the same as sand, just the color was different from what it should have been.

After this his gaze went to his body, noticing his perfect condition, every single injury he had received when running toward the Rift was gone. His arm was healed and working as intended.

"Sadly, the uniform is ruined," he sighed in disappointment. The pristine attire was gone, it was now reduced to nothing more than a bloody rag soaked in his own and monster’s blood.

Not wanting to risk anything tracking him by scent, he stripped and threw the remnants far away. At the same time, his eyes scanned the area.

"A desert," he muttered, his hand tightening into a fist. This wasn’t where he expected to be teleported after entering the Rift... But it wasn’t the worst outcome either.

The desert was mostly empty. The uneven terrain and dunes made it hard for anything to sneak up on him. There was no sign of buildings or civilians anywhere... except for a massive tower rising in the distance. He recalled that he thought the walls of the Moon Breakers’ base had been tall—but this tower soared at least ten times higher.

"The problem is, I won’t be able to hide if something does show up."

He shook his head. After making sure there was nothing that could threaten him, he opened his System interface.

His eyes halted at his Purity.

Purity Progression: [100/100]

[The Divine power in your soul has reached full saturation.]

[Evolution is available.]

His jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth.

"Champion Frederick," he muttered, eyes blazing with fury.

"I will not forget your sacrifice."

Without hesitation, he focused on the Evolution option.

[Evolution commencing...]

The words echoed in his head, but he was in too much pain to hear them.

A shockwave passed through his entire being, not just his body and mind. Even his soul wasn’t being spared.

He was being torn apart thousands of times per second, reassembled, only to be torn apart again.

His mouth opened as black matter spewed from it. It seeped from his pores as well, releasing the impurity that had been hidden in him all this time.

He collapsed to his knees, gasping, feeling like something was being squeezed out of him, a piece of his very self.

The black matter didn’t stop, it only intensified. Yet beneath it, something miraculous began to take place.

His skin became fairer. His bones thickened. His hair turned whiter than snow itself. His eyes sharpened with the clarity of an owl’s gaze. His lips became fuller, his ears more sensitive, and even his jawline grew sharper.

Azrael was being torn apart by constant neverending agony and euphoria.

After what felt like an eternity, his body stopped struggling.

[Evolution complete.]

He took a shaky breath, rising to his two feet. He looked down, studying his naked body.

"Gods," he muttered in awe.

"This power... so this is what it means to Rank up."

The change wasn’t just external, what had happened internally was a magnitude more significant. His soul felt lighter, more Divine, like he could do no wrong.

He turned to his System once more.

Purity Rank: [Blessed]

Purity Progression: [0/100]

Purity Description: [Blessed by the gods themselves. The Divinity resonating within your soul is meant to rival and triumph over Corruption.]

He stared for a few long seconds at the words, he was Chosen no more. No, he was something greater, mightier. He was Blessed.

He shook his head. "There’s no time to daydream about this."

Even if Azrael had managed to achieve a Rank up, that didn’t mean he was satisfied. This was just the first step he would have to take in order to reach the top of the hierarchy. He would need more power to skin alive those that had dared to attack the Moon Breakers and even more power to devour the moon itself.

His gaze stopped at the towering structure that seemed to reach the clouds, and he began to jog in that direction. Hoping he could find other System Users in the area—which would make his survival significantly easier.

His senses were calm. His nose didn’t pick up the scent of death, nor did his eyes spot anything that could threaten him. Still, just in case something decided to crawl out of the sand and attack, he kept one eye on his surroundings while the other remained fixed on his System.

In an unfamiliar, unknown world brimming with threats of all kinds, each capable of ending his very existence, he was going to use every single thing he could to ensure his survival.

Thankfully, due to the sacrifice of one passionate teacher, his chances were higher than they would’ve been otherwise.

"Now... let’s see what items Champion Frederick entrusted me with."