The air was thick with the scent of scorched stone and godly blood. The sky, once blue and divine, now cracked open in shades of dark crimson and suffocating black. It was as if the heavens themselves were bleeding, mourning, and screaming all at once.
High above the shattered temple ruins of Velaris, a lone figure stood at the edge of the godly altar, his dark cloak swaying in the wind like the wings of a fallen angel. His eyes, obsidian with glimmers of unholy red, were fixed coldly on the figure before him—on his knees, trembling, and barely breathing.
A God.
One of the Ten.
The Divine Arbiter, once worshipped by millions as the Judge of All Souls, was now nothing more than a battered husk of fear and regret. His once-shimmering golden robes were torn and soaked in blood. His halo flickered weakly above his head, cracked like glass, humming with dying divinity.
"Please," the god whispered, voice quivering like a child who had finally understood the consequences of their cruelty. "Ren Akuma... forgive me. I-I didn't know... I was only following the order of the Higher Edict—"
Ren Akuma took a step forward, his boots crushing the fragments of ancient relics and bones beneath him.
"Higher Edict?" Ren echoed, his voice calm but soaked in venom. "Was it the Higher Edict that made you laugh... while my daughter burned alive?"
The god's head snapped up, his eyes wide with panic.
"No! I—I didn't—"
"Don't lie to me."
The god flinched. Ren's voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It carried the weight of the dead. The kind of voice that made even the air freeze in fear. The kind of voice that the gods themselves now whispered about.
"You stood there," Ren continued, his eyes glinting like blades forged in hellfire. "She cried your name. She begged you. And what did you do?"
Silence.
"You turned away."
"I didn't mean to—"
"I begged you too," Ren said, a bitter smile curving on his lips. "I fell to my knees and offered my life. All I asked was for you to save her. And you... just watched."
Tears began to stream down the god's cheeks. He clutched his chest, as if trying to tear out his own heart in guilt.
"I was blind. I was arrogant. I thought I was just, but I was a coward."
Ren stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, he extended his hand—and the air around him shifted. Black, smoky tendrils rose from the earth, slithering like serpents, wrapping around his arm, feeding off his rage. The Devil's Power.
"You're the first," Ren whispered.
The god gasped, suddenly coughing blood. He looked down—
A spike of black flame had pierced through his chest.
Ren's voice was colder than death. "Nine more to go."
"No... no, please...!"
The god collapsed forward, groveling, blood pouring from his mouth. "Let me serve you... Let me repent... I'll do anything. Anything, please!"
"You want to serve me?" Ren said, eyes narrowing.
"Yes!"
"Then serve as a message."
With a motion of his fingers, the god's body ignited—not with ordinary fire, but with cursed hellflame that fed on divinity. His screams echoed into the heavens, as his once-immortal form melted into ash.
Ren didn't look away.
When it was over, the only thing left was a broken halo lying in the dust.
---
Far away, in the divine halls of the Celestial Throne, the remaining nine gods stirred in unease. One of their own had fallen. The mark of his death burned itself across the sacred sky—a crackling sigil of darkness, shaped like a serpent consuming a star.
"He's coming," said the God of Light.
"No," whispered the Goddess of Fate, her threads shaking in her hand. "He's already here."
---
Back in Velaris, Ren knelt before the ashes.
He picked up the broken halo and stared into its faint glow.
"I told you," he whispered to no one. "I told you I'd burn your heaven down."
From behind him, the wind whispered a soft sound.
"Papa..."
Ren froze.
He turned—but there was no one.
Just ashes. Smoke. And silence.
He closed his eyes.
"Wait for me, Yui. I'll make them all pay."
Then, he stood up, turned toward the horizon where the next god ruled.
And walked.
Into war.