"Even gods will kneel or burn."
---
Aftermath – The World in Collapse
Faith was broken.
Across the Earth and every Tower hub, temples stood abandoned. Statues wept black tears. Divine miracles flickered and vanished. Clerics failed their healing rituals. Believers fell to their knees and heard—nothing.
The gods had gone silent.
And still, the world couldn't look away from the broadcast: Seraph Azriel, still alive, chained and mutilated, whispering Jin's gospel over and over through broken lips.
> "There is no salvation… There are no gods… There is only Hollow…"
A sigil of plague and fire marked her forehead.
A message carved in agony.
The Tower shivered.
And Jin? He was already moving upward.
---
Tower Floor 18 – The Halls of Divine Inheritance
A forbidden place.
Here, the chosen of gods were born. Blessed weapons forged in forgotten suns rested in sanctified vaults. Souls deemed worthy ascended into demi-gods.
Only those anointed were allowed to enter.
Jin broke the doors open with one hand.
Inside, dozens of Chosen—elite champions of gods—waited. They'd seen what he did to the Seraphs. They came prepared.
Holy barriers flared.
Divine armor activated.
One stepped forward—Elias Dawnbrand, the Golden Fist of the Sun God.
> "Your evil ends here, Hollow."
> "You face the divine now."
Jin removed his plague mask.
And grinned.
> "Good."
> "I'm here to burn the divine."
He unleashed Ashen Dominion.
The entire floor darkened.
Flames turned black.
Light wept. Time bled. Sound warped.
The divine could no longer heal. Their buffs collapsed. Their minds trembled beneath the weight of Despair Echoes.
> [New Skill Activated – Soul Rendering Field] – Within this zone, divine protection is stripped – Every breath costs soul vitality – Death leaves behind corrupted relics
The fight was not a battle.
It was a massacre.
Elias threw the first punch—a solar flare shaped like a god's hand.
Jin let it hit.
Then grabbed Elias by the throat and tore out his soul.
In front of everyone.
The other Chosen screamed.
Some ran.
He hunted them.
One by one.
Breaking bones into powder. Impaling holy knights on the weapons of their comrades. Ripping halos and shoving them down their wearers' throats.
He bisected a priestess vertically, her blood forming a perfect spiral as her screams echoed against the sanctum walls.
He crushed one blessed archer beneath a sacred altar and whispered to her broken body, "Pray now."
Another tried to blind him with divine light.
Jin devoured the light. Made it bleed.
He smashed the Chosen's jaw off with a god-killer mace, then forced him to watch his own death reflected in a cursed mirror.
> "This is divine inheritance?"
> "Then let me inherit your ashes."
---
System Alert
> [Divine Sanctum Breached]
> [Number of Divine Relics Corrupted: 17]
> [Godslayer Progress: 91%]
> [New Passive Unlocked – Relic Devourer] – You can absorb corrupted divine weapons – Gain traits and resistances based on their origins
> [New Trait Acquired – Sun God's Wrath] – Immunity to all holy fire – +100% damage vs celestial light
> [New Skill Acquired – Unholy Manifestation] – For every corrupted relic consumed, gain a stackable aura of blasphemy – Enemies of divine alignment suffer sanity degradation and skill breakdown – Stacks: 17
---
The Vault – Last Defense
From the back of the sanctum, a gate opened.
A monstrous champion emerged, wearing a suit of living relics—his body fused with a thousand divine runes.
Paladin-Sovereign Malrik, Archguardian of Legacy.
Ten meters tall. Covered in lightsteel. Voice like a choir of gods.
> "YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR."
> "I AM THE LAST WALL."
Jin walked through a sea of fire and bone to meet him.
> "Then I'll tear the wall down too."
Malrik struck.
The impact cracked the entire floor.
Jin was sent flying through five pillars, his body breaking with each crash.
For a moment, silence.
Then laughter.
Jin stood, healing midair, his smile wide.
> "Yes. A challenge."
He activated Collapse Seed: Proto Core—a modified seed forged from divine blood.
He implanted it in Malrik's chest.
The Paladin screamed.
His armor melted inward. The runes rebelled. Divine voices inside his body began to weep.
> "You carry the legacy of gods?" Jin whispered. "Then die with their screams inside you."
The Collapse Seed detonated from within.
Malrik imploded.
Leaving only a ruin of fractured relics and divine screams echoing in the dust.
---
End of Floor 18
Jin stood in the ruins of the sanctum.
A hundred holy corpses burned around him.
He placed a stolen crown atop the pile.
And left behind a single message carved into the floor:
> "Not chosen. Cursed."
A final system echo rang out.
> [Godslayer Progress: 94%]
---