POV – K’Tharos, God of Flame and Vengeance
The divine halls of K’Tharos shook, not from the roar of battle, but from his own wrath.
His chosen—the blessed flame knight Elijah—was no more. Not slain in honorable combat, not burned by another divine’s hand. But ripped apart, mind and soul, by a mortal with eyes that gleamed like obsidian stars.
“Damon Black…” he growled.
Elijah’s ashes still smoldered on the divine viewing brazier. Not even his blessing had survived.
The boy hadn’t just killed Elijah.
He’d consumed him.
“He mocks divinity. So be it.” K’Tharos rose from his throne, wreathed in a pillar of fire. “He will learn what it means to defy a god.”
The other deities looked on. Some with amusement. Others with fear.
But none turned away.
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POV – Damon Black, Three Days After the Collapse.......
Damon sat in the ruins of a skyscraper overlooking his new domain. A throne of twisted rebar and cracked concrete. Jason stood at his side, sword resting against his shoulder. Rosa knelt nearby, eyes closed, breathing in controlled intervals of Ki.
“Tell me,” Damon said softly. “What do you all see when you look at what we’ve built?”
Jason was first. “Order. Power. Territory.”
Rosa’s voice was like stone. “A future without chains.”
Miranda stepped from the shadows behind them, bow slung across her back. “I see something even the gods fear.”
Damon smirked.
“Good answers.”
He raised a hand and summoned the System Interface only he could see.
[System Shop – Multiversal Nexus Active]
[Currency: System Points – 14,600]
Purchase: Soulbrand (1,200 SP)
Purchase: Ritual of Sovereign Command (3,000 SP)
Purchase: Halo Reversal – Convert healing into death magic (New)
Purchase: Mindstorm Barrage (1,800 SP)
[System Notification: Divine Affinity Detected – Light Fragment (1)]
[Warning: Your actions have attracted further divine scrutiny.]
He turned to his followers.
“This world is soft. Stale. It worships weakness. But we’re going to cut through all of it. One soul at a time.”
Stolen story; please report.
Jason nodded, though his eyes flickered with something else—hesitation?
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POV – Commander Reyes, U.S. Provisional Authority
She watched Damon’s movements through an encrypted psychic lens. Even now, satellite readings couldn’t pierce his inner sanctum. The only thing they saw were the aftermaths—the wounds he left behind on the world.
“He's shopping again. But we can’t track what he’s buying.”
A subordinate stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”
Reyes' eyes never left the grainy image of Damon staring directly into the lens.
“We prepare for war. The kind that burns cities and breaks faith.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
POV – Damon
The wind howled over the apartments he had claimed. Once a harpy nest, now a place of conquest. Rosa stood beside a pile of feathers and broken nests. Miranda patrolled the rooftops, spotting remnants of harpies in hiding.
Jason stood silently over the dead bodies of three of their own—torn apart by talons.
“They weren’t strong enough,” Damon said.
Grant, one of his followers, stepped forward, knuckles clenched.
“They were kids. They followed you. Died for you.”
Damon tilted his head.
“Would you like to join them?”
“...No,” Grant whispered, backing away.
Damon's eyes flashed. Psychic pressure crushed Grant to his knees.
[Loyalty Shift Detected – Threat Level: Minor]
[Solution: Thrall Imprint – Applied]
[Alignment Shift: +1 Evil]
Grant’s mind was restructured. Fear laced his every thought now.
Damon turned to the rest. “Any other doubts?”
No one spoke.
------------------------------------------------------------
POV – Liana, Saint of St. Aurelia
Their settlement glowed with warmth and light. A rare sanctuary where gardens still bloomed, and children laughed. Liana moved among them, blessing the sick, healing the wounded. A beacon of peace.
She looked to the sky and shivered. The clouds didn’t move naturally anymore.
“Something wicked is coming,” she murmured.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POV – Damon
[Target: St. Aurelia – Alignment: Good]
[Warning! Divine Repercussions Possible!]
[Proceed with Raid?]
“Yes.”
[Alignment +5 Evil]
They descended on the village like death incarnate.
Miranda's arrows found children hiding under floorboards. Jason's great sword split open the training yard, carving through peaceful monks. Rosa moved through the infirmary like a ghost, crushing healers' throats with precision strikes of Ki.
Damon walked into their temple. Liana stood at the altar, wings of golden light unfurled.
“You don’t have to do this,” she pleaded.
“You’re right,” Damon said. “But I want to.”
Soulbrand.
She screamed, light bursting from her eyes as her soul was torn from her body.
[Light Fragment Absorbed – Additional Divine Affinity Gained]
He turned toward the cowering survivors.
“Your faith has failed you. Let me show you what real power looks like.”
One girl—a healer barely ten years old—begged for mercy. He knelt in front of her.
“Do you believe in justice?”
She nodded, sobbing.
“Then die for it.”
He snapped her neck with a thought.
[Children Slain – Morality Shift: Abomination]
[Divine Notification Sent – New God Interest: The Hollow Warden]
Jason looked away. Miranda didn’t. Rosa stood still, fists bloody, breathing in slowly.
“All done,” she said.
[St. Aurelia Destroyed – Renamed: Ashveil]
[System Points Gained: +3,500]
[Reputation: Infamous (Tier 2)]
--------------------------------------------------------
POV – Jason
"We’re not soldiers."
"We’re monsters."
But Damon hadn’t just broken the world.
He was reshaping it.
And Jason didn’t know if he could stop it anymore… or if part of him even wanted to.
