The silence that followed the fall of a God was louder than the explosion itself.
In the center of the crater, Su Chen knelt, his lungs burning like they were filled with molten lead. The silver in his hair flickered like dying embers, a side effect of the divine energy forcing its way into his mortal veins. In his right hand, he clutched a pulsating, crystalline heart—the [Fractured Soul of Ares]. It throbbed with a rhythmic, golden light, synchronized with his own heartbeat.
A glitching voice echoed in his mind, no longer the cold mechanical tone of the System, but something deeper, more ancient.
"Warning... Mortal vessel insufficient. Sealing 99.9% of Godhood to prevent soul collapse."
"Only 0.1%?" Su Chen coughed up a mouthful of gold-flecked blood, a savage smile twisting his lips. He could feel a terrifying strength coiling in his muscles, a predatory instinct that made the ruins of New York look like a mere playground. "Even a drop of the ocean is enough to drown a desert."
The Aftermath
"No... this is impossible..."
A trembling voice broke the silence. Su Chen turned his head. Ten meters away, Lin Xia was crawling through the dust. Her white Saintess robes were shredded, and the golden "blessing" she had traded Su Chen's life for had turned into a withered, gray mark on her forehead.
The Pantheon System had rejected her. Because the God who was supposed to crown her was dead.
"The sacrifice... the ritual said I would become a Queen," she whimpered, staring at Su Chen as if he were a monster from the deep abyss. "Su Chen, listen to me... it was the System! The System forced me to—"
"The System didn't hold the knife, Lin Xia," Su Chen interrupted. His voice was calm, which was far more terrifying than rage.
He narrowed his eyes, and a new vision took hold. Above Lin Xia's head, a flickering red timer appeared in the air, ticking down with merciless precision: 00:05:42.
The [God's Eye]. He could now see the expiry date of every living soul.
"You have five minutes and forty-two seconds of life left," Su Chen said, walking toward her. Each step left a charred, glowing footprint on the concrete. "In this life, I won't kill you. Not yet."
He reached out and grabbed her throat. But instead of crushing it, he triggered his new innate hunger. [Soul Devour].
Lin Xia screamed as a pale white light was ripped from her chest. It was the 'Saintess Seed'—the very potential she had betrayed him for. Su Chen absorbed it into his own soul, feeling his senses sharpen even further. She collapsed, her skin aging and wrinkling rapidly as her stolen future was stripped away. She wasn't dead, but she was now less than a commoner—a hollow shell in a world that devoured the weak.
The Global Tremor
As Su Chen stood among the ruins, the sky suddenly turned deep crimson. A series of massive, runic notifications burned themselves into the clouds, visible to every human survivor on Earth.
[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]
[The 'God of War', Ares, has been removed from the Pantheon.]
[Status: DECEASED.]
[Slayer Identity: Unknown.]
[The First Great Hunt has begun.]
[All Apostles are ordered to locate the 'God-Slayer'. Reward: Immediate Ascension.]
Su Chen looked at the sky. He could feel thousands of gazes from the stars shifting, narrowing, and focusing on the coordinates where he stood. The "Players" in the sky were angry. A pawn had just eaten their King.
"The Hunt?" Su Chen gripped the hilt of his broken dagger. The 0.1% of Ares' power surged through his veins, making his skin glow with a faint, metallic luster.
"Let them come. I've already tasted the blood of a God. A few more won't hurt."