--- Kael ducked behind a shattered wall, heart hammering against his ribs. The warding generator's violet light seemed pathetically dim against the Purifier's blinding radiance. 60 minutes became zero. The hunt was over. The execution had begun. He had **35 XP**, a stolen dagger, a sanity meter screaming towards oblivion, and a fallen god's ghost whispering desperate, bloody strategies in his ear. The War God's path demanded everything. Survival demanded more.
The Purifier's wings of searing light cast long, jagged shadows across the ruins as it descended. Kael's breath came in ragged gasps, his fingers tightening around the scavenger's dagger. **42 Sanity.** The System's voice was a blade of ice in his skull:
> **SYSTEM:** *"THREAT ASSESSMENT: SERAPHIM-CLASS PURIFIER (LIGHTBRINGER ELITE)."*
> *"ABILITY: [DAWN'S JUDGMENT] – HOLY FIRE CONJURATION (TIER: DEMIGOD)."*
> *"COMBAT PROBABILITY: USER SURVIVAL RATE: 0.3%."*
> *"RECOMMENDATION: FLEE TOWARDS GODFALL CRATER. EXPLOIT BEAST TERRITORIALITY."*
Kael didn't hesitate. He bolted, the Wrath-Band fragment burning against his thigh. Behind him, the Purifier's voice boomed like a cathedral bell:
***"YOU CRAWL LIKE A ROACH, ABOMINATION. BUT EVEN ROACHES BURN."***
A beam of golden fire lanced past, vaporizing stone where Kael had been half a second prior. His **Agility 9** saved him—barely. The crater loomed ahead, a yawning pit where the War God had supposedly fallen centuries ago. The air here reeked of ozone and old blood. The System tagged the shifting shadows at its rim:
> **[BEAST DETECTED: ASHEN VULTURE (TIER: INTERMEDIATE).]**
> **[BEAST DETECTED: BLOODSCALE SERPENT (TIER: ADVANCED).]**
> **[WARNING: KING-TIER PRESENCE DEEP IN CRATER.]**
Kael hurled himself into the crater's maze of shattered pillars just as another blast of holy fire turned the entrance to molten slag. The Purifier wouldn't follow recklessly—even a Seraphim feared the beasts here.
The whispers surged. The Wrath-Band pulsed. His vision swam with phantom blood. **Sanity: 40/100.**
> **SYSTEM:** *"SANITY CRITICAL. PSYCHOTIC EPISODE IMMINENT."*
> *"WARNING: REASONING IMPAIRED. COMBAT INSTINCT ENHANCED."*
A Bloodscale Serpent, thick as a tree trunk and armored in crimson plates, slithered from the shadows. Its maw dripped venom that hissed against stone. Kael **should've** strategized. **Should've** used terrain. But the whispers screamed—*KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT*—and he obeyed.
**"Wrath-Surge: Strength!"**
> *"STR: 13 → 26."*
> *"SANITY DRAIN: -10. SANITY: 30/100."*
The world narrowed to red. He **leaped**, dagger aimed for the serpent's eye. The beast struck faster, fangs grazing his arm. Pain flared—then vanished beneath the surge's numb fury. He landed on its skull, stabbing down. The dagger snapped against its scales. The serpent **thrashed**, slamming him into a pillar. Bones cracked. **Endurance 8** kept him conscious. Barely.
> **SYSTEM:** *"XP GAINED: +15 (ADVANCED BEAST WOUNDED)."*
The serpent coiled to strike again—when a **King-Tier** roar shook the crater. The Bloodscale froze, then **fled**. Kael turned, grinning through bloodied teeth.
A **Stormfang Wyvern** (Tier: King) perched above, lightning crackling between its fangs. The Purifier, hovering at the crater's edge, hesitated. Even it feared a King.
Kael's broken mind saw only prey. He **charged**.
The Wyvern's tail smashed him into the ground. **Sanity: 20/100.** The System blared warnings, but Kael was gone—lost in the War God's ghost-memory of battle. He crawled towards the Wyvern's nest, where a **pulsing crystal** glowed amidst bones.
The Purifier took its chance. A beam of holy fire **incinerated** the Wyvern's wing. The beast shrieked, retaliating with a stormbolt that sent the Seraphim crashing into the ruins.
Kael reached the crystal. The System **screamed**:
> **"[GODSHARD: WAR GOD'S TEAR] DETECTED."**
> *"EFFECT: FULL SANITY RESTORATION + TEMPORARY STAT BOOST."*
> *"WARNING: CONSUMPTION TRIGGERS [GOD'S MARK] – MAKES USER TARGET FOR HIGHER-TIER BEASTS."*
He **crushed** it in his palm.
Light **exploded**. Sanity **rebuilt itself**. The whispers **vanished**.
> **SANITY: 100/100.**
> **TEMPORARY BUFF: [GOD'S RAGE] – STR/AGI/END +5 (DURATION: 1 HOUR).**
> **DEBUFF ADDED: [GOD'S MARK] – BEAST AGGRO RADIUS INCREASED 300%.**
Clarity returned. The Wyvern and Purifier still dueled above. The System calculated:
> **"XP GAINED: +25 (KING-TIER DISTRACTION). TOTAL XP: 60/200."**
> **"WP GAINED: +30 (NEAR-DEATH RESOLVE). TOTAL WP: 55."**
Kael **ran**, not west—not yet—but deeper into the ruins. The city could wait. The War God's path demanded **strength** first. And the mark on his soul now called beasts **to him**. Hunting grounds wouldn't be hard to find.
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