The military searchlights speared my eyes like blades, as though determined to burn my retinas to a crisp.
It was Thursday night, precisely midnight, on May 27th, in the 341st year of the Era of Nothingness. I was in an open field just outside the Northern Gate of Tianjing City.
The cold night air bit at my skin, carrying a faint smell of gunpowder and a palpable tension you could cut with a knife.
Right in front of me, a line of military council members in their stiff uniforms and ice-cold faces stared me down, as if I were the most disgusting plague upon the world.
My hands and feet were bound by cold steel chains, anchoring me to this execution pole in the crowded expanse of the field.
Thousands of fully armed soldiers surrounded me, their gun muzzles pointed straight at my chest.
The night wind howled, carrying whispers of fear and hatred from the distant crowd, separated by iron barricades.
"Societal trash!" someone yelled, their voice dripping with pure disgust.
"Murderer!" another chimed in, a venomous sneer in their tone.
"Die, you monster!" a woman shrieked, her voice shrill with hatred.
Laughter erupted from the masses, a sickening symphony of joy and mockery.
"Murderer?" I gave a small smile, one that didn't reach my eyes.
What do any of them know about murderers? They were the ones who killed me first. Not my life, not my soul, but everything that made me human. Look at them, celebrating my death. Fools.
...
Back then, I was a different man. Not this Chen Mo, tied to an execution pole. My real name... that name died the very night my house was burned to the ground, with my parents inside.
I was a foolish idealist, believing in good, in justice, and in all those sweet promises about a fair destiny. I remember, I used to dream of changing the world. Fixing what was broken, protecting the weak.
I worked relentlessly, built a life, a career I was proud of, a home filled with warmth and laughter. I believed in the system, in people I thought were 'good'. My love, my sole source of joy, was the center of it all.
Then, destiny itself didn't just slap me. It kicked me, spat on me, and then burned everything I had like trash. They took it all. My reputation, my life's work, the love and affection I cherished, my very future.
I saw with my own eyes how the people I trusted truly stabbed me in the back. How the people I thought were 'friends' danced all over my destruction.
They took my love from me, twisting her beautiful soul into a tool for their own cruelty. The system I defended rotted from the inside, and when I tried to expose it, they twisted the facts, called me a monster, a traitor, and a criminal.
They burned away my dreams, my memories, and everything I had built my life on, leaving only ash.
From that moment on, something inside me died. That goodness, that trust, all of my hope... it all shattered. I took a new name, Chen Mo, a name to be a ghost, a weapon, a curse. All that was left were the burning embers of revenge, a fire they could never extinguish.
I lived in the shadows, using fake IDs as though they were spare clothes. I became a ghost moving among people, planning, manipulating, and getting my revenge my own way without mercy.
I no longer cared about morals or ethics. If something brought me closer to my goal, I'd do it without hesitation. I exposed their rottenness, trashed reputations, and brought down power, one by one.
I played with their minds, twisted their realities, and made them suspect each other until they completely unraveled from within.
Eventually, this game ended. They managed to corner me, not because I messed up, but because I let them. I wanted to see their faces when they thought they'd won. I wanted to see their hollow victory.
...
"Chen Mo, you've been sentenced to death for unforgivable crimes against humanity!" a general's voice boomed through the speakers. His face was full of satisfaction, almost gleeful.
I just smiled. That smile wasn't about regretting anything or being scared. It was a smile full of burning determination, a little crazy, and utterly satisfied. The fire in my eyes wasn't going out.
I looked up, staring at the starry night sky, as if talking to something far above. My voice, though hoarse and muffled by the chains, was clear to the soldiers nearest me.
"If the world betrays me, I'll get it back a hundred thousand times over," I whispered, my tone utterly threatening and shaking them.
"Oh, God... are you there? Hahaha, I want to meet you!"
My rasping laugh filled the air, sickening to them, but for me, it was the sound of victory. Some soldiers shivered, subconsciously recoiling. In the distant crowd, whispers of fear mingled with anger.
Some glared with pure hatred, while others were rendered silent, unnerved by my audacious defiance in the face of death. Even that arrogant general frowned, a little annoyed by my last challenge.
"I'll kill anyone, even a god! If I die, I'll just be a little bummed out by how scared the gods are... hahaha!"
The laugh suddenly cut off, interrupted by the general's sharp command. "FIRE!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Crack! Splat! Ugh! A barrage of hot lead ripped through my stomach. The pain that should have crippled me registered only as searing sparks. My skin tore, ribs fractured, and hot, slick liquid splattered out of my gut, spreading everywhere.
Ah, here it is. Blood. And... a whole lot of my guts seemed eager to greet the world.
Fresh blood spurted, staining my white shirt dark red, some splashes even hitting the general's face right in front of me. His eyes went wide for a second; he wasn't surprised by the spray, he smiled in satisfaction, but quickly regained his composure, his face going blank again.
Good, I thought, let the taste of my demise dance in your eyes, on your skin, and fester in your mind.
Among the soldiers, some looked away, some were very pleased, but most stayed straight, trained to handle gruesome stuff. In the crowd, the screams grew louder, some people cursed and laughed, while others stared with wide eyes, truly delighted by the cruelty they had just seen.
My vision started blurring, sounds disappeared, and consciousness just faded, pulling me into total emptiness.
...
Darkness.
Silence.
Then, suddenly, a shock that shook my soul right to its core.
I jolted awake, gasping for air. My eyes opened, but all I saw was a super dark abyss above me and the strong smell of wet dirt. I felt cold rocks and sharp gravel under my back. An unbearable, brutal pain scraped and gouged at my guts.
"I'm... alive? How is that even possible?"
I tried to move my hand, my fingers hovering over my stomach. They touched something sticky and wet. I reached in, and what I felt was a horrific, gaping hole, as though my stomach had been violently stabbed and torn open. Fresh blood soaked my hand. No surprise. Just cold analysis.
Flashes of old memories came to me: my own body, once full of stitches from wounds I treated myself, experiments I did, or the fallout from my dangerous plans. I was no stranger to gruesome injuries.
But this... this isn't my body. This is someone else's.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in my head, not one you hear with your ears, but a direct impression on my soul. A voice full of arrogance and endless power.
"Hahaha, are you challenging me, you dust creature? You couldn't even defend yourself, how foolish to talk such nonsense, ARROGANT! If you are strong enough to fight me, let's see how much grit you have, I'll stomp you into the ground, HAHAHA."
That voice... the voice of the god I challenged.
I felt a wave of anger, madness, and pure happiness all at once. A wide, terrifying smile was plastered on my face, now covered in blood and dirt.
"Hahaha! Good! GOOD! You're actually rather promising, God. Are you happy to have moved me into this new, dead body?" I whispered, my voice hoarse but full of burning determination.
"Just you wait. I'm coming for you."
I tried to get up, pain stabbing with every move. This body was weak, pathetically weak. Even weaker than I could have imagined. But my determination, my ambition, and my hatred were stronger than ever now.
I got a second chance, and I'm going to use it to destroy those who betrayed me, even if it means tearing down the heavens themselves.
I was at the bottom of an abyss. Dark, cold, profoundly desolate, and alone. But for Chen Mo, this was just the start.
The beginning of my thousandfold revenge, a journey to become the Heaven Defying God Slayer. I carved that name into my heart, a name that's going to be a terror to the gods.