Stray Cat Strut - SCS Fanfiction Contest Winner: Havoc, by Kenny Celican

They took his name, stole his life, and fed on his pain. But they made one mistake—they let him live.Betrayed by his own blood and sold into slavery, Prince Oliver Von Rich lost everything—his title, his freedom, and his future. For years, his captors in the Somaran Empire bled him dry, using his Royal bloodline as fuel for their Aether.But when they sought King Solomon’s Staff—a relic said to grant any wish—Oliver rebelled. Left beaten and dying, his blood soaked the ancient artifact… and awakened it.Dragged back in time to the eve of his kingdom’s fall, Oliver is no longer a helpless prince. With the scars of his past and knowledge of what’s to come, he’ll rewrite fate—even if it means becoming a monster.To destroy the empire that broke him, Oliver must embrace the cursed power of the most vile demon known to man.

Jian Huan found herself transported into a xianxia novel as the fiancee of the main antagonist.Feeling her empty wallet, she recalled the pitiful fate of the original owner of the body who stubbornly refused to annul the marriage. Without hesitation, she took the marriage contract and went to the antagonist for a friendly negotiation.At this moment, Shen Jizhi, the future scourge of the cultivation world, was still a righteous disciple. He silently looked at the marriage contract with a cold expression, asking, “How can I get you to annul this marriage?”“One hundred thousand spirit stones,” Jian Huan held up ten fingers, “as long as you pay one hundred thousand spirit stones, our marriage will be void.”Shen Jizhi fell into silence for a moment. “Is there nothing else you want me to do?”Jian Huan shook her head. “None.”Shen Jizhi asked sternly, “You will only accept this condition?”Without hesitation, Jian Huan replied, “Yes.”Shen Jizhi’s tone turned harsh. “Then there’s no annulment.”Jian Huan was confused. “?”Shen Jizhi looked at her and said, “I won’t annul the marriage. We can get married whenever you want.”He bid farewell. “I have other matters to attend to. Goodbye.”Jian Huan exclaimed, “???”

A firefighter in her previous life, Li Jing’er transmigrated back to ancient times and became the wife of the second son of a farmer. A month after Li Jing’er married into the family, her husband left to join the army.

Then news arrived that her husband was killed in battle but the compensation paid by the imperial court was snatched away by her greedy in-laws. Forced into a corner, she planned an escape, severed family ties, and left with her six-month-old baby daughter.

Joining the flow of refugees escaping from disaster and war, she picked up several lost and abandoned children along the way and tried to start a new life.

Then out of the blue, her deceased husband appeared…

- Description from Novelupdates

In a world ruled by false gods, two souls must rise beyond death to shatter divinity itself.When Raphaeldor and Leonatus awaken in the mystical world of Elyndra, they are not ordinary men—they are reincarnated souls, chosen by a forgotten prophecy to challenge the divine order. In this realm where aura and mana shape the very fabric of life, power is worshipped and truth is buried beneath centuries of myth.Guided only by a mysterious being known as the Pathmaker, the two must walk a perilous path of growth, conflict, and awakening. As they ascend through the ranks of strength and unravel the mysteries of Elyndra, they discover a harrowing truth: the so-called gods are nothing more than mortals who transcended and seized divinity for themselves, bending the world to their will.With divine thrones looming and the fate of creation in the balance, Raphaeldor and Leonatus must decide whether to accept the lies that shaped the world—or to defy the heavens, expose the deception, and uncover the will of the true God who lies beyond the veil of eternity.The journey of the transcendent begins.The odyssey of truth awaits.