Inside a grand hall with ancient and grand decoration, several people were present.
In the head of the hall was a high chair; seated there was a middle-aged man with white hair and a solemn demeanor.
Behind the high chair stood ten beautiful women, and below the high chair on the sides stood the young children from the special table. Jaon was also at the end of the line.
"Hmm, my children, you should all know why I called all of you here." The middle-aged man in the high chair said.
"Yes, Father," all of them responded as one and fell silent.
"The day of the Awakening Ceremony has come again. This year, there are three of you who have already turned 16 and will participate in the ceremony."
"12 heir, 13 heir, and …14 heir step forward." The man solemnly said.
Three youth, two male and one female, step forward. Their characteristic trail seems identical and seems to share the same age.
The 12th heir was a young man with white hair, round eyes, and a healthy frame. His ice-like pupils hid some calculation.
The 13th was a young, pretty girl with long white hair, with a proud demeanor; she stood straight like a spear, both confident and charming.
Lastly, the 14th heir was also a young man; he had pale, shoulder-length hair, a modest expression, and his body frame was a bit thin.
They knelt in front of the man and waited.
Glazing from above at his three youngest children, his glaze settle on Joan a bit longer before commanding, "Show me your right hand."
The three did as they were told, extending their hand. Joan felt his heart skip a beat, but did as he was told.
On the back of the first two hands was a back sword mark that radiated an unknown mystery; its faint dark glow was magical. But on the last hand belonging to Joan, there was nothing.
"Very good 12 and 13." The man seems to smile on the inside despite his solemn mood.
"Father, we will definitely make you and the family proud," 12th; the boy said.
"The name of the Apocalypse shall resound across the First Floor of Paradise." 13th; the girl followed.
The man nodded in approval at his son and daughter, but his mood quickly turned sour, with disappointment visible in his eyes as he looked at the last hand.
He fell silent for some time before saying,
"14th. Every heir of the Apocalypse House manifests the visage of the path that runs in their blood since ancient times in the form of a noble emblem before their 16th birthday… Although you have that blood, your inability to manifest the emblem shows you're unworthy of being a noble heir of the Apocalypse."
"Therefore, according to the long tradition, you shall be stripped of your status here. –All the perks you received, every privilege you had, your marriage arrangement, will all become void."
As soon as he finished saying, all the other children, and even the mistress beside the man, had eyes filled with pity.
Joan the 14th heir, clenched his hands but remained still.
"Come in, daughter of the Crimson House."
The grand door of the hall opened.
A woman with jet-black ponytail and eyes as red as blood walked in unhurriedly. She stopped close to the three kneeling youth, beside Joan, and bowed slightly. She was the woman who sat with Ace in the cafeteria!
"Due to an unforeseen circumstance, your engagement with the 14th heir will be canceled. But the House of Apocalypse still wants to have some connection with the House of Crimson, so, if you don't have a problem, you may select one of my sons as your new fiancée."
The kneeling 12th heir couldn't help but steal a glance at the newly arrived woman, somewhat expectantly.
The blood-like, indifferent eyes of the woman flickered slightly, but she remained dignified and composed before saying, "Lord Apocalypse, that wouldn't be necessary. I just received word from my father to return to the house."
The man on the throne fell silent, his cold, indifferent eyes remained still for a moment. He slowly got up and walked down, heading toward her, but he didn't stop when he reached her; instead, he headed for the door, leaving a trail of words.
"Is that so…
Since this whole charade was created by my former wife, I let that slide. All are dismissed!"
…
The next day.
Light of the first dawn passes inside a modest room that contains only a bed, a table, and a chair.
The light fell on the face of a sleeping youth who had shoulder-length pale hair and a face that looked modest.
The youth was woken up as his eyelids fluttered open, revealing his pale eyes.
'Its morning…' he thought sleepily, but thinking of the event that transpired yesterday, he went back to sleep.
…
"Today is the awakening day. Are you sure you want to go back to sleep?" a voice came from beside the bed.
On the chair sat a young man of similar age; he leaned casually on the table, looking at the sleeping youth, mischievous in his eyes.
..
…
"!!!"
The sleeping youth flung the blanket covering him and jumped out of the bed in panic.
"You bastard, what time is it? Why don't you wake me up sooner?!" He looked at the young man with red hair and a mischievous face in grievance and shouted.
"Relax, Joan, it's still early," the person said, sounding relaxed, "I couldn't sleep last night due to nervousness, so I came here early just to mess with you."
The eyelids of the young man named Joan twitched; he glared at the only friend he had made since transmigrating into this world in hopelessness.
That's right. He didn't belong to this world and was actually from the 23rd apocalyptic century of Earth.
During life in his previous world, an apocalypse descended that made the earth crack, the sun vanish, and the oceans boil. The people of Earth, facing extinction, escaped to outer space to save themselves from the disaster, but Joan wasn't one of them. He died on Earth, unable to afford the ticket to salvation.
Or that's what he thought…
Until a year ago, he had woken up in the body of a boy named Joan, who also died due to an accident in the world called the Fallenlight, a fantastical mediaeval world. But his joy was short-lived, because the world was also infested with an apocalypse, except worse– because there were actually monsters in it!
"It's indeed early for the Awakening Ceremony, so it's fine, but what about breakfast?" Joan, glaring at him, said patiently, continuing. "You should know that after the ceremony, those awakened will be sent to Paradise, and we can't afford to be transported there in an unoptimal state."
The red-haired youth paused slightly, his face dazed, before turning pale.
"Fu*k, that's right! Let's go, Joan! Hurry!!"
'What an airhead.' Joan, seeing the youth hurried away from the room, quickly washed his face with some water and followed after the youth.