NOVPUB
Chapter 45 - Balance in Chaos
The unknown light descended like a gentle hand upon a raging storm.
Where the Eternal Hunger had gnawed at his soul with an icy void, like frostbite eating through bone and the Wild Heart had burned with untamed fury—the light brought neither heat nor cold. Only equilibrium.
For the first time since the chaos began, Renard felt a moment of clarity pierce through the symphony of agony.
Now!
This was his chance. Perhaps his only chance, and he knew he had to act before the mysterious power could vanish.
With the precision of someone who had spent decades mastering the flow of essence, Renard seized control. The mind of the Beast Sovereign, trapped in this young body, recalled every technique he had learned through blood and suffering—every circulation method carved into his memory through countless battles.
He started using the Wild Heart Style, the very technique he had created in his previous life. The essence that was suppressing the two rampaging powers—he began to wrestle control over it, pulling it into familiar patterns.
Slowly, bit by bit, he took control of the foreign essence and circulated it through his whole body. The essence, though alien in nature, didn't fight against his guidance. Rather, it seemed to help him, flowing like water finding its course.
Renard seized that advantage with both hands.
Circulation. Control. Balance.
He began to guide his essence along pathways he had deliberately kept blocked—meridians he had refused to open because advancing to the Essence Zone would have revealed his awakened state too early.
The energies of the two forces that had been rampaging through his body like twin hurricanes suddenly found direction, flowing through channels he carved with practiced expertise.
'I can't reveal all my cards yet, but I can't die here either.'
The essence flowed from his core outward, blazing trails through his meridians like liquid fire. Each pathway he opened sent waves of power coursing through his limbs, his bones, his very blood.
His young body trembled under the sudden influx of controlled power—muscles that had been torn by conflicting forces now reinforced by purposeful energy.
The network he was building was a masterpiece of cultivation—strong enough to contain the warring powers, intricate enough to keep them separated, yet flexible enough to allow growth.
The Eternal Hunger, sensing the sudden order being imposed, writhed against his control like a primordial serpent being caged. Its whispers grew more desperate, more insistent, clawing at the barriers he was constructing.
Child of Misfortune, you cannot contain what devours all. I am the void that swallows stars, the hunger that outlasts gods.
But Renard's will was not weak enough to give in to the hungry darkness, which was being suppressed by the external power. He pressed forward, his will like iron forged in the fires of countless battles.
The power might be ancient, but it was being suppressed by an external force—and a suppressed predator, no matter how dangerous, could still be caged by one who knew how.
The Wild Heart proved equally resistant, but in a different way. Where the Eternal Hunger whispered of annihilation, the white wolf roared its defiance. It snarled and clawed at the boundaries he was creating, its divine flames licking at the edges of his consciousness like a wildfire testing a firebreak.
You would cage the divine? You dare attempt to leash the untamed spirit ?
"I would survive," Renard whispered into the void of his own mind, his mental voice carrying the weight of absolute conviction.
"And I would do anything to make sure of it."
The battle within his soul was like watching two forces of nature collide in slow motion. Lightning against tsunami. Fire against ice.
Yet gradually, painfully, the two forces began to settle into the framework he had built.
They did not merge—they were too fundamentally opposed for that, like trying to mix oil and water. But he was containing them within a delicate balance where they could keep each other in check, like two apex predators sharing the same territory through mutual wariness rather than cooperation.
The mysterious light that had given him this opportunity began to fade, its work complete. The foundation was set, trembling but holding.
Yet even as Renard felt control returning—his breathing steadying, his heartbeat slowing from its frantic pace—a cold realization settled in his chest like a stone.
'This is temporary.'
The Eternal Hunger was a primordial force, ancient beyond mortal comprehension. The Wild Heart, now awakened at Royal rank, possessed divine authority that came with the backing of celestial power. These weren't abilities he could truly control—they were forces he was barely containing.
Even if he somehow mastered the Wild Heart, the Eternal Hunger existed in a realm of power he wasn't even aware of. It was only being kept in check because of mysterious shackles he didn't understand.
His current strength—even combined with all his knowledge and experience from his previous life—wasn't enough to truly master either power.
'If I want to control Eternal Hunger fully, I need to surpass what I achieved in my past life. And to do that...'
His thoughts turned to the Wild Heart. The white wolf was magnificent, terrible, and proud. It would not be caged forever—divine spirits never stayed bound for long. To truly command both powers, he would need to become something greater than the Beast Sovereign had ever been.
The system's familiar blue text materialized before his fading vision, its appearance both comforting and ominous.
[You have awakened a new Blood Crest - Wild Heart (Royal)]
Another message appeared beneath it, then another— notifications that seemed to pulse with importance. But before Renard could focus on the words, exhaustion crashed over him like a tidal wave.
The mental strain of controlling two rampaging Blood Crests, the physical toll of forcibly establishing essence pathways throughout his young body, the sheer spiritual weight of what he had just accomplished—it all came due at once, like a debt collector demanding immediate payment.
'Not now... I need to see those messages...'
But darkness was already claiming him, pulling him down into the depths of unconsciousness with inexorable force. His last coherent thought was a mixture of triumph and deep concern.
He had survived. He had gained control... barely.
But the real challenge was just beginning. And next time, he might not have a mysterious light to save him.
The chamber around him erupted in chaos as his body went limp—healers shouting orders, nobles whispering among themselves, the Patriarch rising from his throne. But Renard heard none of it. He was already falling into the embrace of merciful darkness, where neither hunger nor wildness could reach him.
For now.
一一✽✽✽一一
