Heir Of The Celestial Throne & The Blooming Empress - Chapter 22: The Twin Trials of Fate

DING![Ist Skill Devour Successful]______“They say a man's skills are honed over a lifetime, but what if he could devour them all in an instant?”Ryuen Takeru, a skilled, retired assassin, decides to pursue a better job that would keep him away from the dark life he once led.However, after a while, that peace was shattered when an unexpected train ride derailed reality itself, throwing him into a world and a life he had always hated.A world teetering on the brink of ruin, destroyed by an apocalypse as a result of the unending war between multiple races.Unfortunately, the post-apocalypse had already begun.Ryuen finds himself captured, exchanged, and made to serve kings of different nations.Yet fate had more in store for him.A devastating twist, capable of destroying or elevating him—the one thing he had overlooked as normal until the moment he was informed.A curse.Possible reincarnation?[Skill Devourer Activated: Plunder, Consume, Adapt, Evolve.]Nevertheless, for everything given, something must be taken—or perhaps sacrificed.

When an S-class elite assassin-raised captain of a special ops suicide squad comes home from a high-stakes Africa mission, he finds himself offered something that could potentially set him up for life- a curious assignment that he could use to finally exit his days of war and slaughter.

Then placed into a high-school setting, Lin Yi is tasked by the chairman of a top-tier multi-billion company with bodyguard duty for non-other than his own daughter, a certain little Miss of said high-school.

His enemies, once ranging from drug lords, mafia bosses, political figures, and national leaders, are soon replaced with spoiled kids who happen to have rich papas and mamas, and Lin Yi finds his intense expertise and high-threat skillset misused, and very underwhelmed…

But he does get a harem cast as diverse as his old enemies, so Lin Yi decides that, for the sake of messing around with girls as an invincible entity in a down-leveled environment, leaving his bloody and death-filled war days behind is something he’d definitely want to strive for.

- Description from Novelupdates

When Demon Lord, Syryn Nigh'hart, found that he had gone back in time and turned into his child self, he had assumed to do better with his second life. Commit smaller crimes, keep away from burning villages and inciting other demons, contribute to society, abide by most laws, you know? But then the hero, his old friend, had to fall in love with him and ruin his plans.

Goddess, I cannot take responsibility for your champion, Rowan Windwalker, getting bent. Please don't strike me down!

#Gold Tier winner of WPC (forgot the contest number)#y'all this shit gay so don't go walking in expecting it to not have men sucking faces#N̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶r̶e̶m̶(my dumb self thought harem means mc marries many lovers)#Reformed and immature demon lord (but he's nice now okay. He isn't psycho.) #Hero is an extremely patient man for putting up with the demon lord's nonsense # MULTIPLE POTENTIAL LOVE INTERESTS #Slow Romance#Slow like you have to wait for around 40 chapters (smut too) before it starts #Patience is needed #Lots of it#alternate day updates because I have to study#english is neither my first nor second language so bear with me#The cat is not the ML ಥ‿ಥ some of you are getting the wrong idea.

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.