For three full seconds, no one moved.
The shattered blade clanged across the marble.
The executioner lay unconscious near the arena wall.
And Kael stood in the center of it all — untouched.
Then the screaming began.
"Demonic power!"
"He broke holy steel!"
"Seal him!"
The High Priest's face had lost all color. His hands trembled as he stared at the fractures spreading across the statues of the Twelve.
That had never happened before.
Not in recorded history.
Not even during the Demon Wars.
The air felt wrong. Heavy. Watching.
The priest raised his staff and slammed it against the marble.
"Guards!" he roared. "Contain him!"
Armored soldiers rushed forward from every entrance. Shields locked. Spears lowered.
Kael looked at them calmly.
His heartbeat was steady now.
Inside his chest, something pulsed.
Slow.
Hungry.
A faint crimson interface flickered briefly in the corner of his vision.
Status: UnstableAuthority Level: 0.01%Devour Requirement: Divine Energy
Divine energy.
His gaze shifted upward.
The statues.
Cracks continued to spread across the stone face of the War God.
The crowd noticed.
Panic intensified.
The High Priest finally found his voice again.
"Listen to me!" he shouted, turning to the nobles and citizens. "This boy is no longer human."
Silence rippled outward.
"He has been rejected by the Twelve. Yet he wields power."
The priest's eyes filled with fear — and something else.
Hatred.
"This is heresy."
He raised his staff toward Kael.
"This is blasphemy."
The golden crystal at its tip flared brightly.
"This… is a Divine Heretic."
The words echoed like a death sentence.
A wave of shock rolled through the arena.
Heretic.
The worst title in the Empire.
It meant extermination.
No trial.
No mercy.
The sky above the arena darkened unnaturally, clouds twisting into a spiral directly over Kael.
The High Priest shouted the final command.
"By decree of the Twelve Gods and the Throne of Valtheris — I declare Kael Draven a Divine Heretic!"
The arena gates slammed shut.
Massive iron barriers sealed every exit.
"Holy Knights!" the priest commanded. "Subdue him. If necessary—"
He hesitated only a fraction of a second.
"Kill him."
From the northern gate, they entered.
Six figures in white-gold armor stepped into the arena.
The crowd parted instantly.
The Holy Knights.
Each carried a divine blessing stronger than an entire battalion of soldiers.
Their captain removed his helmet.
Cold blue eyes studied Kael.
"You will kneel," the captain said calmly. "And we may allow your soul to remain intact."
Kael tilted his head slightly.
He could feel it now.
The divine energy radiating from them.
Warm.
Bright.
Disgusting.
Inside his chest, the hunger stirred harder.
Divine Source Detected.Consumption Possible.
His fingers twitched.
Not from fear.
From instinct.
"I didn't ask for this," Kael said quietly.
The captain drew his blade.
A blade glowing with sacred light.
"You were born wrong."
The knights charged.
The first moved like lightning — blade aimed straight for Kael's heart.
Time did not stop this time.
But something else did.
The moment the blade touched his chest—
The light flickered.
Then bent.
Then streamed directly into Kael's body.
The knight froze mid-strike.
His eyes widened.
"What—"
Crimson veins of energy crawled up Kael's neck.
The system ignited.
Devour Initiated.
The sacred glow drained from the knight's sword.
From his armor.
From his body.
The crowd watched in horror as the Holy Knight collapsed, lifeless — not wounded, not bleeding.
Empty.
Kael inhaled sharply.
Heat flooded his limbs.
Strength surged through his muscles.
Information poured into his mind — sword techniques, battle instincts, divine channeling formulas.
He had just eaten his first fragment of divine power.
The remaining five knights stepped back in shock.
The captain's expression hardened.
"Formation Delta!" he barked.
Golden sigils ignited beneath their feet.
Chains of light shot toward Kael from four directions.
They wrapped around his arms, legs, throat—
—and tightened.
Pain exploded through him.
His knees buckled.
The hunger inside him roared in response.
The sky above cracked with thunder.
High above the clouds—
Something ancient opened its eyes.
The statues trembled harder.
The crack across the War God's face split completely down the center.
Kael lifted his head despite the chains cutting into his skin.
Blood trickled from his lip.
But he was smiling.
"You should've let me die quietly," he whispered.
The crimson glow in his eyes intensified.
The chains began to darken.
Corrupt.
The system pulsed violently.
Authority Rising…0.04%0.07%0.12%
The captain realized too late.
"Retreat—!"
The chains shattered.
A shockwave tore across the arena floor, throwing knights and soldiers into the walls.
Marble cracked.
Statues split.
And for the first time—
One of the Twelve Gods bled.
A thin line of glowing golden liquid trickled down from the fractured statue of the War God.
The sky roared.
A voice thundered from above.
"WHO DARES—"
Kael looked up at the heavens.
Breathing hard.
Alive.
Hunted.
Awake.
"Come down," he said.
"Or I'll come up."
End of Chapter 2