Chapter 2: War Council of Monsters, Awakening of the Godslayer
Darkness moved like breath through the halls of the Black Citadel.
Demon warlords gathered beneath towering obsidian spires, where the air hummed with power and violence. Some slithered on scaled tails, others walked with hooves that cracked the marble. Wings rustled. Fangs glistened. Tension coiled like a whip, ready to snap.
And at the center of it all stood me.
Or rather — us.
Aether Valen. The betrayed hero.
Xal'thar. The immortal Demon King.
Now, Aether-Xal'thar — a corrupted fusion, bound by vengeance and divine hatred.
"Begin the briefing," I growled, voice laced with twin tones — my mortal steel and Xal'thar's abyss.
A thin demon with too many eyes stepped forward. "Celestial Realm activity has spiked. Angels patrol the borders more aggressively. Portals to the mortal plane have been sealed. A declaration of total divine lockdown has been issued."
I smiled.
"Good. That means they're afraid."
Another demon slammed his axe into the floor. "Then we should strike while their fear festers!"
"Not yet," I replied coldly. "The gods know I've returned, but they haven't realized what I've become."
> [QUEST UPDATED: "REMOLD THE WORLD"] [SUB-OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE DIVINE CODE NETWORK] [REWARD: ACCESS TO HIDDEN ADMIN FUNCTIONS]
Interesting.
The system wasn't just damaged. It was breaking open. I could see lines of code now when I blinked — divine scripts once meant only for god-tier administrators. And I could feel it shifting under my influence, as if my soul was rewriting the very reality they built.
I clenched my fist. "We'll rewrite the rules of the game."
> [SKILL UNLOCKED: CODEFANG – Devour system restrictions and rewrite limited parameters.]
The demon warlords bowed again, more cautiously this time. They could sense it too — I was no longer their king.
I was something new.
Something that didn't belong in this world.
---
Far away, in the Holy Sanctum of Astrael — where day never ended — she moved through a corridor bathed in silver light.
Her name hadn't been spoken in centuries.
But soon, the world would know it again.
Seraphiel.
The First Blade of Heaven. The Weapon of Last Resort. The only entity allowed to kill a god.
She paused in front of a mirror. Not to admire — but to remember.
Eyes like the heart of suns. Hair like comet trails. Skin etched with divine seals and dormant wrath.
> [RESTRICTIONS REMOVED: FULL ACCESS GRANTED TO 'PROJECT GODSLAYER'] [ARMORY UNLOCKED: SELECT WEAPON SET]
She chose it instantly — Dawnbreaker, the blade forged from the first sunrise. No mortal had ever touched it. Even angels feared its burn.
> [WARNING: AETHER-XAL'THAR POSSESSES "SYSTEM CORRUPTION"] [ESTIMATED THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN] [PROTOCOL SUGGESTION: TERMINATE WITHIN 7 DAYS]
She dismissed the alert.
"Seven days?" she muttered. "I'll do it in five."
A familiar presence appeared behind her — golden robes, beard of starlight.
"Child," said Archangel Solarius, voice heavy, "we sealed you for a reason."
Seraphiel didn't turn. "And yet you woke me anyway."
He said nothing. What could he say?
The heavens were trembling.
And their traitor — the hero they erased — had returned.
---
Back in the Black Citadel, I stood before the Infernal Mirror — a system relic that once allowed the Demon King to see across all realms.
Now, its surface shimmered with strange lines. The system was glitching — corrupted by my very existence.
I reached toward it and whispered: "Show me the ones who remember."
The mirror flashed.
A merchant city in the desert — a scarred warrior dropped his wine, eyes wide. "That… that voice…"
An academy in the frozen north — a scholar screamed, "The Hero's aura…! But it's wrong… it's twisted..."
A dungeon deep underground — a chained lich laughed. "Oh… you broke the rules, little mortal. Good. GOOD!"
Everywhere, echoes of my name stirred long-forgotten oaths, memories, hatred.
They knew.
The world was awakening to its new god.
---
Later that night — or whatever passed for night in this eternal fortress — I stood alone on the balcony overlooking the Endless Abyss.
It stretched forever, down into blackness. Where the system's code bled. Where rejected souls were thrown.
I closed my eyes.
Why did they betray me?
Even now, a piece of Aether — the hero — still asked that question. Still searched for meaning. Still hurt.
But Xal'thar… oh, he knew.
The gods feared power they couldn't control.
I had ascended too far, too fast. I made choices no hero should make. I killed not only monsters… but kings, generals, heroes who betrayed their people.
I had become the blade of justice — unbound.
And justice scares those who claim divinity.
Now, I was something else.
Not a hero.
Not a demon.
But the thing that comes after.
> [NEW SKILL TREE AVAILABLE: 'FRACTURED ASCENSION'] [Choose your first node:]
— [Divine Corruption: Infect holy artifacts with demonic essence]
— [Reality Hack: Override environmental rules for 10 seconds]
— [Judgment Inversion: Reflect divine attacks back at double strength]
I chose Reality Hack.
Why follow laws when I could write my own?
---
Somewhere far, far above, Seraphiel floated above the mortal realm.
She saw the fractured energy bleeding from the Black Citadel. She saw the twisted system code cracking like glass.
"He's accelerating too fast," she said quietly.
The divine AI whispered, "Then you must descend sooner than expected."
She unsheathed Dawnbreaker.
Its light pierced clouds. Trees bent. Oceans shifted.
"I'm coming for you, Aether Valen," she murmured. "I'll kill you for the second — and final — time."
---
End of Chapter 2