"To speak with gods, one must first silence them."
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Tower Floor 13 – The Choir of Silence
The moment Jin stepped onto the floor, sound died.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
Not even the whisper of thought.
Only a single, vibrating pressure—the sensation of being watched, of being judged.
> [Floor Type: Divine Interference Detected]
> [Trial Objective: Face the Voice of the Divine]
A cathedral rose from the horizonless void, built from tongues, throats, and teeth—massive and grotesque, pulsating with every breath it took.
The Choir of Silence was alive.
Inside, the air pulsed with sermons unsaid, prayers unfinished, screams choked down by holiness.
The walls whispered in voices of the long-dead faithful.
> "He watches you."
> "He speaks through me."
> "Kneel and be heard."
Jin didn't kneel.
He walked into the mouth of the cathedral.
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Inside the Divine Throat
Rows of dismembered prophets lined the pews—bodies mutilated, their mouths sewn shut with threads of gold. Their eyes twitched toward him, trying to scream without air, their existence one endless prayer never heard.
Some clawed at their faces, trying to rip their lips open. One smashed his head repeatedly against a marble pulpit, golden blood leaking from cracked skull seams.
The air smelled of bile and incense, of rotting tongues.
A colossal tongue unfurled down the center aisle, moist and riddled with glyphs.
From the ceiling, vocal cords stretched like chandeliers, vibrating with pressure.
Then the Voice of the Divine spoke.
> "Why do you devour my light?"
It wasn't a question.
It was a judgment.
It struck like a thunderclap. Jin's skin split. His blood boiled.
> [Status Effect: Divine Word – Internal Rupture]
> [Resisting…]
His veins bulged, black and furious, rupturing through his forearms. Chunks of flesh sloughed off his face. His bones groaned.
He stood, smiling behind the mask.
> "Because your light fed on corpses."
> "Because your prayers never reached the gutter."
> "Because you didn't speak for me."
The Voice thundered again.
The prophets burst like rotten fruit.
Their bodies split at the seams, viscera splashing across the altar. A rain of sacred intestines and shattered jawbones fell from the choir loft above.
Jin activated his skill.
> [Skill: Devour Divinity – Focus: Voice]
He opened his hand, and a void formed in his palm.
It began sucking sound itself.
The cathedral screamed. The floor vibrated as if trying to vomit him out.
The Voice howled in divine fury. Its words broke through the cathedral walls, liquefying pillars.
A voice so loud it reversed time for a moment—only for Jin to tear it forward again with sheer will.
Jin screamed back.
His scream wasn't words.
It was hunger.
A hunger that swallowed holiness whole.
> [New Ability Acquired – Silence Eater]
> – Nullifies divine sound-based attacks
> – Can mute areas or abilities completely
> – Converts silenced prayer into raw power
Jin's voice devoured the Voice of the Divine.
The cathedral collapsed inward. Tongues shriveled. Teeth cracked. The vocal cords above snapped like wet rope and fell in screaming coils.
He walked down the pulsing aisle as it disintegrated beneath his steps.
Each step silenced a soul.
Each breath extinguished a thousand prayers.
At the altar was the last remnant of the Voice—a divine tongue, pulsing and weeping golden ichor.
It convulsed like a dying serpent.
Jin placed his foot on it.
> "You wanted to be heard?"
He pressed down slowly.
The tongue thrashed.
A thousand ghost-voices screamed in unison.
He crushed it.
The tongue burst in a flood of holy bile and glistening nerves. The choir above shrieked one last fractured hymn—then choked on silence.
---
System Notification
> [Floor 13 Cleared – Divine Voice Erased]
> [Corruption: +16]
> [Godslayer Progress: 49%]
> [New Passive Unlocked – Tongue of Silence]
> – Immune to command-type holy magic
> – Silences low-tier divines within a 50m radius
> – Worshippers in range suffer voice failure
---
Outside the Tower – Religious Collapse
Cathedrals across the world fell silent.
Mass prayer sessions ended in blood.
Voices of entire congregations vanished mid-sentence.
Priests clutched their throats.
Some tore them out.
Others bashed their skulls against the walls trying to "unmute" the divine.
Sermons turned into seizure fits.
Worshippers began burning holy books while screaming Jin's name.
In the silence, only one thing remained:
Hollow's name—carved into skin, whispered in death, painted in ash.
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