"ARGHH!" A boy violently woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. One would think, he might have had a nightmare.

One would be mistaken.

Jettard Brandr frantically looked around the room, as if looking at it for the first time. He then climbed out of his fluffy mattress, and stood in front of the mirror.

"HAHAHAHA! I did it! I'm back!" The boy laughed maniacally. His hands wouldn't stop touching his face. As if a narcissist admiring his own complexion.

In fact, the reality is much more disturbing. Jet had just gone through something no mortal have ever experienced before. He had been to hell, and back.

That's right. Jet had died, and went to hell. And if not for the Devil needed him to save Hell along with the rest of the world from being destroyed, he might've stayed there for eternity.

Just then, Jet noticed a white crow knocking on the glass of his window with its white beak. Reluctantly, Jet went and opened the window. The white crow rushed in and landed on Jet's bed

Jet hesitantly approached the crow.

"Are...are you Lilith?" He asked the crow. Waiting as if an animal could reply him with normal human words.

Surprisingly, the white crow did answered. In human language. "Greetings, young Lord Jettard. Congratulations for passing the test of the Kronos Vine, and for your reincarnation."

"Hahahaha, yearghh!" Jet seemed very happy. Like a child receiving the toy he had dreamt of.

Indeed, compared to the child, what Jet received was much more valuable. He had a second chance at life. And after fucking it up so badly, this is the best present he had ever received.

More over, it did not come cheap. As part of the test, as well as the Devil Lightbringer punishment for him, he had to climb the Sin Mountain. He had to fight countless demons, with his bare hands. Who knows how many time he died and was brought back to life?

And that's not counting the emotional pain of facing your guilt. Which, according to Jet, is a thousand times more painful than the physical one.

"So...why are you here, Lilith? Am I still on the list of Hell?"

The white crow chuckled. "Silly boy. I am here on behalf of the King of Hell, Lord Lightbringer. He wanted to remind you not to waste this chance. For there won't be another."

"Pfftt, yeah right. After all that suffering, I'm gonna waste my time again. All those years in hell, you lot are still the best jokester."

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

The crow waved his left wings, as if dismissing Jet's candid reply. "Also, he wanted to remind you about your power. Remember. You now also possessed a core."

"Oh right. Let me check on that Deathwish core." Jet innediately sat crossed leg on the floor, facing Lilith.

The Deathwish core. Unlike the mana core or the arma core that exists here, a Deathwish core was special. Only Holy Beasts possessed such core. And this one, was extra special.

This one belongs to the Beast God, the Holy Dragon Kamiryu.

Jet took a deep inhale. And control his exhale to be as slow as possible. Giving all his attention to his heart.

Initially, nothing happened. Snowstorm are beginning to rage outside, yet inside was toasty warm. Silence. Silence in the room.

And then he felt it. His heart, it began to pump faster. Faster and faster, that Jet felt his whole body was aching in pain.

Time went past, and the pain was growing. Jet was barely hanging on to a mere sliver of his consciousness. He was on the verge of passing out. Or, more precisely, he was on the verge of death.

Luckily, one breath away from his last, the Deathwish core in his heart finally came to life. Energy course through his veins. He felt more alive than ever.

"Fuh. Thank God Kamiryu's sacrifice was not in vain." Tired, yet his lips still managed a smile.

"Cehh," the white crow clicked her tongue, "why would you thank Allfather for. That egotistical lion had nothing to do with this."

"Hehe, sorry. It's just a figure of speech. Anyway, I'll make sure to stop the end of the world this time. Tell Lightbringer not to worry. The next time I'm in hell, I will be the hero instead of the villain."

"See that you do." Lilith was about to fly out when she turned back towards Jet. "By the way, Lord Lightbringer also said that all animals inherit the Deathwish core, albeit a lot less powerful. Thus, it may serve you well to go hunting sometimes."

Jet looked through the window. Towards the forest. He remembered that there's quite a few beasts in there. "Tell the Devil thank you. And that I shall heed his advice immediately."

"Urghh, I hate that name. Farewell then." The white crow exit through the window, and disappeared through the snowstorm.

Jet did not close the window. Instead, he changed into his training gear. He put his kopesh on his left side, put on a thick jacket, and went right through the window.

Jet is going hunting. Per the Devil's instructions.

###

"What the hell is this?!" Duchess Loina exclaimed as she and her husband joined the large dining table.

Even Duke Aelius was speechless. It's not like he'd never seen this kind of banquet before. He had been to every events held either by King Zander, or his fellow Dukes. So, this kind of scenery wasn't alien to him.

However, the keyword here is events. Such fanciful monstrosity of a feast was usually held for a special occasion. Not a normal December morning. Does Chef Angus wanted to celebrate the snowstorm or something?

"You seem rather...excited, Master Angus. Does something good happened?" Aelius carefully asked.

"You bet your ass, Your Grace. It finally happened. Lord Jet's barbarian bloodline has finally awakened."

Aelius and Loina looked at each, perplexed. Their son, the bookworm, is a barbarian? The son who would run away everytime they wanted to teach him swordfighting?

"What do you mean, Angus? The Jet you are talking about...could it be my beloved Jettard?" Loina asked.

"How many sons do you have named Jet? Of course it's him. This morning, he brought over two Zap Boar."

"What?! My son did that?" Aelius could not believe it.

Loina wanted to be happy, yet was very sceptical. "Could it be that... He bought it from some soldiers instead?"

Just then, a yawning Jet entered the dining hall. The butler Quidel followed closely behind. Reprimanded him for sleeping during meal time.

Angus grabbed Jet's hand, and dragged him to his parents. "The kid's here. You asked him yourself."

Aelius kneeled and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Jet, urmm...did you...did you really go out and hunt those...those Zap Boar?"

Jet smiled proudly. Like a good he is. "I sure did, father. I killed two. One for us, and one for the servants."

"Urmmm.... that's.... that's brilliant. But urm...how could you suddenly be this strong?"

Jet had prepared a response for that. "Oh, I have secretly been training father. And, in order to test myself, I went and fought those two Zap Boars."

"Test? What test?" Loina interjected.

"Oh right, that's another thing. Ehem." Jet cleared his throat. "Father, mother. From this day forward, I will be training with the soldiers at Husky Fortress."

And so, that morning, three people of the Brandrs ate breakfast together in silence. And when I say three people, it was actually one twelve year old boy who was hungrily wolfing down the meat. The parents was downing chalice after chalice of wine. Unable to process what had suddenly happened.

There's a tiny whisper in Aelius's mind to call his older sister Nerine to examine Jet's head. And the thought lingers.