The New York Safe Zone was a fortress of irony. Built into the carcass of the Grand Central Terminal, it was shielded by a shimmering blue dome—a "Gift from the Gods" that kept the lower-tier monsters at bay, while the humans inside were slowly processed into laborers and playthings for the higher-tier Apostles.
Su Chen sat in the back of the Iron Blood SUV, his head bowed, clutching a tattered backpack. To the guards, he was just another traumatized survivor. In reality, his mind was a chaotic forge.
Inside his backpack, the sacrificial dagger was pulsing. It had consumed Ares' blood, and now the cold steel was turning into something organic. The hilt felt like bone; the blade was warm and wet. It was hungry.
"Quiet," Su Chen commanded it through his thoughts. The blade stilled, but the craving remained.
The Audit
"Name: Su Chen. Class: Holy Priest. Level: 3."
A woman with silver-rimmed glasses and a cold, bureaucratic gaze looked him over. She was a [Soul Evaluator], a specialized class meant to sniff out spies and hidden threats.
"Your mana signature is unusually stable for someone who just survived a God-Fall event," she noted, her eyes narrowing behind her lenses.
Su Chen didn't look up. He let his shoulders tremble. "I... I just kept praying. The light was so bright... I thought I was already dead."
He pushed the [Divine Resonance] to its limit. He didn't just mimic light; he channeled the echo of the Saintess Seed he had ripped from Lin Xia. It was a pure, unadulterated essence of the Pantheon's own energy.
The Evaluator's device dinged. [Result: Pure Alignment].
"He's a 'Blessed One'," she sighed, her suspicion melting into a strange kind of pity. "A rare find. We're short on healers in the infirmary. Take him to Sector 7. The Guild Leader's daughter needs a stable mana donor."
Su Chen was led away, but as he passed the Evaluator, his [God's Eye] flickered.
Above her head, a timer ticked: 12:14:03.
Twelve hours. In twelve hours, this woman would be dead. He wondered if it was a monster attack or if she simply crossed the wrong person. He didn't care—he was just calculating the potential "retrieval" value of her soul.
Sector 7: The Gilded Cage
Sector 7 was a world away from the grime of the ruins. Here, there was electricity, clean water, and silk sheets.
"Here's the deal, kid," the Captain who brought him in said, leaning against the doorframe of a lavish medical suite. "The Young Miss was injured during the Ares descent. Her soul is cracked. Standard potions aren't working. You're going to sit here and channel your 'Blessed' mana into her for four hours a day. Do that, and you eat steak. Fail, and you're back in the pits. Got it?"
"I'll do my best," Su Chen whispered.
The Captain laughed and slammed the door.
Su Chen turned to the bed. A young woman, perhaps nineteen, lay there. Her skin was translucent, and her chest barely rose. She was Li Miaomiao, daughter of the Iron Blood Guild Leader.
He walked to her bedside. He didn't see a girl. He saw a buffet.
Above her head, her timer was a chaotic mess of red numbers, jumping from 02:00:00 to 48:00:00 and back. Her soul wasn't just "cracked"—it was being eaten by a curse.
"You're a mess," Su Chen said, his voice dropping the "frightened survivor" act.
He placed his hand on her forehead. Instead of healing her, he felt the [Fractured Soul of Ares] within him roar. The 0.1% of the War God's power didn't want to heal; it wanted to conquer.
[SYSTEM: Hidden Interaction Detected.]
[Target is afflicted by: 'Void Parasite'.]
[Would you like to 'Retrieve' the curse?]
Su Chen's eyes glowed with a cold, predatory light. "If I take the curse, I get the XP. If I save the girl, I get the Guild's protection."
He reached into his backpack and pulled out the bone-like dagger. The weapon began to salivate, a dark, viscous shadow dripping from the tip.
"Time to eat," Su Chen hissed.
He didn't stab her. He hovered the blade over her heart, and the shadow-tendrils of the curse began to be sucked into the dagger like ink into a sponge.
[You have retrieved: 'Void Essence' (Level 1)!]
[The God-Slayer's Blade is evolving...]
[Your Level has increased: Level 1 -> Level 4!]
As the power surged through him, Su Chen felt his muscles density increase, his senses expanding until he could hear the heartbeats of the guards in the hallway. He wasn't just a survivor anymore. He was a parasite inside the heart of the world's largest sanctuary.