The Eighth Heir

The Eighth Son

Thunder rolled across the morning sky.
A second later, the roar of a monstrous beast shook the entire Valerius estate.
Aurelian Valerius looked up.
A massive black dragon soared above the ancient manor, its enormous wings covering the morning sun as it circled the estate.
Its scales glistened like polished obsidian.
Its eyes burned crimson.
Aurelian sighed.
"He's doing it again."
BOOM!
Something crashed through the wall beside him.
Stone exploded across the training hall.
Aurelian barely moved.
A young man emerged from the dust.
Blood ran down the side of his face, but he was smiling.
"Again."
Aurelian stared at him.
"You've already lost three times."
The young man cracked his neck.
"So?"
"You've destroyed half the training hall."
"Then I'll destroy the other half."
He charged.
Aurelian raised one hand.
A golden barrier appeared between them.
The young man's fist struck it.
BOOM!
The entire hall trembled.
Cracks spread across the floor.
Aurelian's eyes narrowed.
The barrier shattered.
The young man disappeared.
Aurelian turned.
Too late.
A fist was already coming toward his face.
He ducked.
The punch passed over his head.
Aurelian swept his leg.
The attacker jumped over it and spun through the air.
Their fists collided.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The shockwaves shook the walls.
Then the young man caught Aurelian's wrist.
"Got you."
Aurelian smiled.
"Did you?"
The air suddenly compressed.
A violent force exploded from Aurelian's body.
The young man was thrown across the hall and crashed through another wall.
Silence followed.
Aurelian lowered his hand.
Then a voice came from behind him.
"Enough."
Aurelian turned.
A tall man stood at the entrance.
His black coat moved gently in the wind.
His expression was calm.
His presence was not.
The moment he stepped inside, the air became heavy.
Broken pieces of stone began floating around him.
The young man who had crashed through the wall slowly stood.
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Luceran."
The eldest brother looked at him.
"Severian."
Severian grinned.
"You came at the right time."
Luceran looked around the destroyed training hall.
"You've been fighting for twelve minutes."
Severian shrugged.
"And?"
"There are three fewer walls."
"They were weak."
"They were reinforced with divine steel."
Severian smiled.
"Then they were very weak."
Aurelian laughed.
Luceran slowly turned toward him.
"You encourage him."
"I don't think anyone can stop him."
"True."
The pressure in the room disappeared.
The floating stones dropped.
This was House Valerius.
One of the oldest supernatural families in the world.
To ordinary humanity, the Valerius family was an ancient dynasty of enormous wealth and influence.
Their companies controlled industries across several countries.
Their name appeared in politics, finance, technology, and international affairs.
But that was only the surface.
The real Valerius family existed in a world ordinary humans knew nothing about.
A world of awakened warriors.
Ancient bloodlines.
Supernatural beasts.
Divine beings.
And families that had carried supernatural power through their blood for thousands of years.
They were known as the Ancient Houses.
There were many of them.
Some carried the blood of dragons.
Others inherited celestial power.
Some were connected to ancient spirits, divine beasts, death, shadows, or forgotten gods.
Their strength was generally measured through stages.
Awakened.
Bloodbound.
Ascendant.
Demigod.
Divine.
High Divine.
And beyond those stages existed beings that humanity could barely comprehend.
Primordials.
But among the Ancient Houses, House Valerius stood apart.
Their power did not originate from a god.
Their ancestors had discovered something far older.
The Aetherion.
An ancient force believed to have existed before the gods themselves.
Nobody knew its true nature.
Some records called it the first power.
Others called it the source from which the laws of existence were born.
Whatever the truth was, a fragment of that power had entered the bloodline of House Valerius thousands of years ago.
And every generation produced descendants with different manifestations of supernatural power.
The current generation was considered extraordinary.
Especially the eight sons.
The eldest stood at the front of the family.
LUCERAN VALERIUS - FIRST SON
Age thirty-one.
The strongest authority among the eight brothers.
Luceran possessed Celestial Dominion.
Within his domain, gravity, pressure, movement, and even supernatural energy could be controlled.
He could crush an enemy without touching them.
Slow their movements.
Increase their weight.
Suppress their abilities.
Or turn the entire battlefield into his territory.
Luceran rarely needed to raise his voice.
His power spoke for him.
SEVERIAN VALERIUS - SECOND SON
Age twenty-nine.
The family's War Prince.
Severian lived for battle.
His ability was Divine War.
The longer he fought, the stronger he became.
His body adapted to attacks.
His resistance increased.
His fighting instincts sharpened.
The more difficult the opponent, the more dangerous Severian became.
He was loud, aggressive, competitive, and completely fearless.
If Luceran represented control, Severian represented war.
MALRIC VALERIUS - THIRD SON
Age twenty-seven.
The Veiled Prince.
Malric possessed Shadow Sovereignty.
He could move through shadows, conceal his presence, create shadow copies, manipulate darkness, and attack from places his enemies couldn't see.
Unlike Severian, Malric rarely fought openly.
He preferred manipulation.
Information.
Poison.
Deception.
And betrayal.
He smiled often.
But nobody in the family trusted that smile completely.
CASSIAN VALERIUS - FOURTH SON
Age twenty-five.
The Beast King.
Cassian possessed Primal Sovereignty.
He could communicate with supernatural beasts and dominate creatures far stronger than ordinary humans.
He could also absorb certain traits from supernatural creatures he defeated.
Cassian was wild, arrogant, and fearless.
He hated being confined inside the estate.
If given the choice between a luxurious mansion and a dangerous forest filled with monsters, he would choose the forest without hesitation.
DARIUS VALERIUS - FIFTH SON
Age twenty-three.
The Blood Prince.
Darius possessed Crimson Authority.
Blood was his weapon.
He could manipulate his own blood, control spilled blood, track living beings through it, and use it to attack or restrict his enemies.
Darius was cold.
Quiet.
And disturbingly calm around death.
He didn't enjoy killing.
He simply didn't see killing as something worth feeling guilty about.
ORION VALERIUS - SIXTH SON
Age twenty-one.
The Astral Prince.
Orion possessed Astral Authority.
He could distort space.
Shorten distances.
Create barriers.
Open temporary spatial rifts.
And teleport himself across the battlefield.
Orion was different from his brothers.
He cared less about ruling the family and more about understanding the universe.
He spent most of his time studying ancient artifacts, celestial phenomena, and forbidden knowledge.
LUCIVAR VALERIUS - SEVENTH SON
Age nineteen.
The Soul Prince.
Lucivar possessed Soul Dominion.
He could sense souls.
Strengthen his own spiritual energy.
Damage the souls of others.
Communicate with spirits.
And, under certain conditions, separate consciousness from the body.
Lucivar was quiet and gentle.
Almost innocent.
But there was something unsettling about how calmly he could speak about death.
Then there was the youngest.
The eighth son.
The one everyone underestimated.
AURELIAN VALERIUS - EIGHTH SON
Age eighteen.
Aurelian was the youngest member of House Valerius.
Unlike his brothers, he had never displayed overwhelming power.
He was talented.
He was intelligent.
He was physically capable.
But compared to his brothers, he was considered incomplete.
His true ability had yet to awaken.
And despite being born into one of the most powerful families on Earth, Aurelian had never cared much about status.
He loved his brothers.
Even Severian's endless challenges.
Even Malric's suspicious jokes.
Even Cassian's habit of dragging him into dangerous forests.
Even Darius's coldness.
Even Orion's endless lectures about ancient civilizations.
Even Lucivar's strange fascination with souls.
And especially Luceran.
To Aurelian, Luceran had always been more than his eldest brother.
He had been a protector.
Almost a second father.
Aurelian never imagined that one day he would become his greatest enemy.
Not yet.
For now, they were simply brothers.
Eight sons.
One family.
One bloodline.
Aurelian looked around the training hall.
"Where are the others?"
Luceran's expression changed.
"They're waiting."
Aurelian frowned.
"All of them?"
"All seven."
"Why?"
Luceran didn't answer immediately.
Then he said,
"The Divine Council has arrived."
Aurelian froze.
Severian's smile disappeared.
Even Cassian, who normally cared about nothing except fighting and beasts, became serious.
The Divine Council did not visit the mortal world without reason.
And when they did...
entire bloodlines paid attention.
Luceran turned.
"Father ordered everyone to the Grand Hall."
The brothers left the training grounds.
As they crossed the estate, Aurelian noticed something unusual.
The guards were nervous.
The family elders were whispering.
Even the ancient beasts surrounding the estate had gone silent.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
When the Grand Hall doors opened, the eight brothers entered together.
Their father stood at the far end of the chamber.
Behind him were the elders of House Valerius.
But everyone was looking toward the center of the room.
Seven figures stood there.
The Divine Council.
They looked human.
But Aurelian could feel the immense power hidden beneath their appearances.
The woman standing at the front wore white robes covered in golden symbols.
Her eyes settled on the eight brothers.
She was a god.
Not a powerful Awakened.
Not a Demigod.
A true divine being.
Beside her stood a man with silver eyes and a black crown.
Another looked like an elderly scholar.
Another appeared to be a young woman.
Their appearances were deceiving.
They had existed for centuries.
Some for millennia.
The woman stepped forward.
"House Valerius."
Aurelian's father bowed slightly.
"You honor our house with your presence."
"We have come with a decree from the Divine Order."
The room became silent.
Aurelian looked at his brothers.
Severian crossed his arms.
Malric watched the council carefully.
Darius's eyes narrowed.
Orion stopped moving completely.
Lucivar glanced at Aurelian.
Cassian looked impatient.
Luceran remained perfectly still.
The Divine Council leader raised one hand.
Golden light appeared above her palm.
An ancient symbol formed in the air.
Aurelian's breath caught.
He recognized it.
The symbol had appeared in one of the oldest forbidden books in the Valerius library.
The Divine Throne.
The highest authority within the Divine Order.
A throne that had remained without a true successor for thousands of years.
The golden symbol expanded.
Then the woman spoke.
"For thousands of years, the Divine Throne has waited for its rightful heir."
Nobody moved.
"We searched among the divine bloodlines."
The symbol pulsed.
"Among the Ancient Houses."
Another pulse.
"Among the descendants of gods."
The light suddenly turned toward Aurelian.
His heart stopped.
The entire hall became silent.
The woman looked directly at him.
"We have found the one."
Aurelian slowly pointed toward himself.
"Me?"
The woman nodded.
"The Divine Order recognizes Aurelian Valerius as the rightful heir to the Divine Throne."
The words echoed through the chamber.
Nobody spoke.
Aurelian couldn't breathe.
He looked at his brothers.
Severian stared at him.
Cassian's hands slowly tightened.
Darius's expression became unreadable.
Orion looked genuinely shocked.
Malric's smile was completely gone.
Lucivar looked confused.
And Luceran...
Aurelian stared at his eldest brother.
For the first time in his life, he saw something unfamiliar in Luceran's eyes.
Not pride.
Not happiness.
Not anger.
Fear.
Then the symbol of the Divine Throne appeared behind Aurelian.
A wave of golden energy erupted through the chamber.
Aurelian's body trembled.
Something deep within his soul answered the throne.
Something ancient.
Something powerful.
Something that had been waiting for him since the moment he was born.
The Divine Council leader spoke one final time.
"From this day forward..."
The golden light illuminated the entire hall.
"...Aurelian Valerius shall be known as the Eighth Heir."
Aurelian stared at the throne's symbol.
He should have been celebrating.
Instead, a strange chill crawled down his spine.
Because somewhere in that room...
seven brothers had just realized something.
The future they had imagined for themselves...
had changed.
And none of them knew yet how much blood that change would require.