The world burned while the boy screamed.
Liam's throat was raw, his fists clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. His family's cottage—his home—lay in ruins. Flames crackled around charred wood and collapsed beams. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of blood.
His mother's lifeless eyes stared at the sky, her body twisted unnaturally among the ruins. His little sister's small hand protruded from beneath a beam, unmoving. His father… gods, there wasn't enough left of him to mourn properly.
Liam dropped to his knees, trembling. "Why… why them?" His voice was hoarse, broken. "Why not me?"
The wind whispered cruelly, carrying the lingering screams of the massacre. Shadows shifted in the dying light. The attackers had vanished as quickly as they came—hooded figures cloaked in crimson, eyes glowing with unholy fire. A demon cult. He had heard of them only in rumors. Now, he had seen their work up close.
He dug his nails deeper into his skin until his vision blurred. The pain couldn't drown out the hollow ache in his chest. He wanted to scream, but no sound came. Just silence. Silence and the crackling fire.
Then… something stirred.
A flicker of gold light pulsed from beneath the blackened earth. Liam blinked. A glowing circle etched with celestial symbols formed beneath him, rotating slowly like the eye of a god opening to gaze upon the world.
[God System Detected]
Initializing…
Host: Liam Carson
Designation: Chosen of Divinity
Access Granted.
Liam staggered back, eyes wide. The light flooded his vision, and a new screen shimmered in the air before him, translucent but clear.
GOD SYSTEM INTERFACE – LEVEL 1
Abilities Unlocked:
• Create [Locked]
• Enhance [Locked]
• Destroy [Unlocked – Tier 1]
Faith Points: 0
Followers: 0
Divine Presence: Dormant
He fell onto his back, heart hammering. This was madness. A hallucination born from trauma. But the interface remained. No matter where he looked, it hovered, waiting.
And then a voice spoke. Soft. Female. Not entirely human.
"You have been chosen, Liam."
He turned his head and saw her—a glowing figure, ethereal and shifting like mist. Her eyes glowed silver, her hair flowing like ink in water. She looked neither old nor young, neither mortal nor divine.
"Wh-What are you?" he rasped.
"I am your Spirit Guide. Born from the will of the God System. I exist to guide your ascension."
"Ascension?"
"To godhood," she said simply. "But only if you survive."
He laughed. It was a dry, bitter sound. "Everyone I loved is dead. And you think I care about surviving?"
"Not yet," she said. "But you will. When you understand what you can become. When you understand what they took from you. And when you realize what you can take back."
The flames behind him died down, and for the first time, the quiet felt… unnatural. Too still. Too wrong.
"Why me?" Liam whispered. "Why did this system choose me?"
Her expression softened. "Because you have nothing left to lose."
Liam's fists tightened. His eyes burned—not from smoke, but fury.
The cult thought they had ended something. But they had only awakened it.
He looked at the interface again. Destroy – Tier 1. A glowing cursor blinked next to it.
"What can I destroy?" he asked quietly.
The spirit smiled. "Start with the past… and end with your enemies."
And so began the first step.
From the ashes of one boy's pain, something ancient stirred. A god—not of light, not of salvation. But a god of vengeance.
And the world would learn to fear his name.
[End of Chapter 1]