Revyn watched as the Towershade Soldier's corpse dispersed into ash. Revyn's breath came in ragged gasps, blood pulsing in his ears. But it wasn't fear that gripped him anymore. It was... exhilaration.
The dark wisp that had rose from the body, curling like smoke, was whispering sweetly into his ear.
"Eat... or eaten..."
His hand moved on its own.
{Ding!}
[ESSENCE AVAILABLE. DEVOUR?][Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The black mist surged into him, cold and sharp, like knives made of memory. It slithered through his veins, coiled around his heart, and then—
{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding!}
[ESSENCE CONSUMED.]
[Passive Trait Acquired: Hollow Tendons (Lv. 1)]
[Your joints are now slightly longer and can now extend with unnatural elasticity. +15% evasion. -5% stability]
[WARNING: CORUPTION +2%]
Revyn staggered against the cold stone wall, his fingers were digging into the cold bone-brick. His arms felt wrong. Lighter. Longer. More... pliant.
"What... am I becoming?" he whispered.
The tower groaned in response.
Ahead, the staircase had began to curled upward. Voices whispered themselves into his ears with every step he climbed the stairs as promises and warnings spoken in broken tongues.
Halfway up the staircase, he suddenly felt a pull as if something was drawing him towards a the small hole in the wall. On the other side of the hole was a collapsed chapel, it had been long since devoured by time. Stained-glass windows lay shattered on the floor, depicting winged beings with halos of flame.
And in the center of the altar — impaled through a hand, it seemed to be wrapped like a mummy — was a blade.
It was blackened, It somehow look ancient in a way that couldn't be described. Its hilt was wrapped in gold-filament wire that shimmered faintly in the darkness. There were runic markings that were etched along the blade's edge's, though most of them were worn smooth by centuries of silence.
"Clang!."
Revyn dropped the half broken katana on the ground.
He reached his hand out.
The moment his fingers brushed against the hilt, a voice flooded his mind.
"O lost one... bearer of shadow, child of flesh... return me to the war I never finished."
"What?"
Suddenly as if on que, system messages rang in his head.
{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding}
[RELIC ACQUIRED – "Godcleaver"]
[Weapon Class: Forgotten Relic]
[Bound Trait: Divinity Severance – Deals +100% damage to divine or semi-divine entities.]
[Warning: Relic is saturated with godling hatred. Prolonged use may attract attention.]
Revyn's hand trembled. The sword was heavier than it looked — not in weight, but in presence. His vision blurred around its edge, like the world refused to focus on it.
But he couldn't let go. He attached the sword to his hip.
Then he noticed a small light that was emanating from behind the altar.
Behind the altar, a cracked urn began to hum. A glow pulsed from within. Curious, he approached it.
"Crash!!!"
He smashed the urn to pieces.
Floating above the shattered ceramic shards was a tiny, shriveled lump of glowing matter — like a pulsating heart encased in crystal, no larger than a fingernail.
{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding!}
[GODLING FRAGMENT DETECTED.]
[DEVOUR. Y/N]
[Warning: Consuming a god-borne essence may lead to mutation. Proceed?]
He didn't care.
"Yes".
He took it.
The moment the fragment touched his palm, it disintegrated into particles of light and surged into his skull.
"ARGHHH!!!"
Revyn screamed.
His left eye burned as if a hot needle had pierced it. He collapsed, convulsing, clawing at his face as the world shattered into red-tinted shards. Visions struck him in his mind: burning cities, forgotten wars, gods nailed to stars.
And a voice that spoke deeper than the others had spoke directly into his soul.
"Red is the color of rebellion. Take it, bearer. Rise from hollow to godbreaker."
{Ding!}{Ding!}{Ding!}
[SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETE.]
[Mutation Applied: Eye of Rebellion]
[Left eye permanently altered. Grants limited resistance to divine control and reveals divine corruption.]
Revyn lied there, completely still for a moment, panting. Then slowly, he sat up. He blinked.
The world was the same — but colors that reached his eye's weren't. Colors had danced differently. Shadows bent more sharply. He unsheathed Godcleaver, And when his eye's reflected in the surface of the Godcleaver's blade, he saw one brown eye... and one glowing red.
He looked like someone else.
No, something else.
"Revyn Hollowbrand..." the tower whispered.
"...or something far worse?"
He stood. Sword on his hip. Eye burning. System humming quietly in the back of his thoughts.
The hunger hadn't gone away.
Matter a fact, It had only just began.