The bells of St. Aldwyn's Cathedral rang in the distance.
Their sound drifted across the grey London skyline, dull and heavy, like a funeral hymn that never truly ended.
Inside a neglected townhouse near Ravenshollow Square, Edmund Ashcroft stood motionless by the window. Rain streaked down the glass, blurring the city beyond into a wash of shadows and light.
Ashcroft.
A name few remembered anymore.
Once, the Ashcroft family had been whispered about in private rooms and behind closed doors. They were never loud. Never public. Power had flowed through them quietly, embedded in banks, law firms, old trusts, and discreet political circles.
They shaped outcomes without appearing in history books.
And now they were finished.
Edmund lowered his gaze to the documents spread across the desk behind him. Legal notices stamped in red. Bank statements showing numbers that bled downward. Property seizure orders signed with chilling finality.
There was nothing left to argue.
Ravenshollow House would be repossessed within weeks.
The last Ashcroft property in England.
His parents had died two years ago.
Officially, it was a tragic accident. A private plane malfunction over the Channel. No bodies recovered. No questions answered.
The family lawyers advised silence. The remaining partners withdrew overnight. Old friends suddenly became strangers.
At twenty one, Edmund inherited a corpse of an empire.
He tried everything.
Selling art. Liquidating trusts. Pleading with institutions that once owed his family favors. Each attempt ended the same way.
Doors closed.
Phones stopped ringing.
The Ashcrofts were no longer untouchable.
Edmund sank into the leather chair behind the desk, rubbing his eyes. The room smelled of dust and old paper. A place that had not known warmth in years.
"So this is how it ends," he whispered.
No dramatic downfall. No public scandal. Just quiet erasure.
His gaze drifted to the locked cabinet in the corner of the room.
His father had forbidden him from opening it.
Ever.
Even on his deathbed, the warning had been clear.
When everything is gone, only then will you understand.
Edmund scoffed.
"Understand what" he muttered.
Understanding did not pay debts.
The clock on the wall ticked loudly, each second a reminder that time had run out.
Suddenly, a sharp pressure gripped his chest.
Edmund froze.
The room felt heavier, as if the air itself had thickened. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as dizziness washed over him.
"What is happening…"
His vision blurred.
Memories he had never lived forced their way into his mind. Candlelit meetings beneath stone halls. Oaths spoken in forgotten tongues. Contracts written not on paper, but on blood and intent.
He gasped and staggered forward, collapsing to his knees.
The locked cabinet creaked.
A deep, unnatural hum filled the room.
Edmund's breathing grew frantic as pain flared behind his eyes. It felt as if something inside him was waking up after centuries of sleep.
"This… this is insane…"
His strength failed him. Darkness crept in from the edges of his vision as his body gave out.
Just before losing consciousness, despair crushed his thoughts.
Everything is over.
The Ashcrofts are finished.
The moment that thought settled fully in his mind, something answered.
[ Threshold Reached ]
A voice echoed in the void. Cold. Precise.
[ Bloodline Confirmation Complete ]
[ Last Registered Heir Detected ]
Edmund's eyes snapped open.
[ Hidden Covenant System Initializing ]
[ Family Assets at Zero ]
[ Reputation Nullified ]
[ External Protection Removed ]
[ Awakening Condition Satisfied ]
Edmund lay on the floor, rain still tapping against the window.
"…A system," he whispered hoarsely.
The voice continued.
[ Host Edmund Ashcroft ]
[ Status Last Heir Confirmed ]
[ Covenant Authority Transferred ]
[ Phase One Survival ]
[ Phase Two Restoration ]
A strange calm washed over him.
For the first time since his parents' death, the suffocating weight on his chest eased.
Edmund let out a slow breath.
"So this is what you meant," he said quietly, thinking of his father. "When everything is gone."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"If the world thinks the Ashcrofts are finished," he murmured, "then it won't see us coming."
The rain outside grew heavier.
And deep beneath Ravenshollow Square, something ancient stirred.