The sun barely pierced the ashen sky as Liam's warband approached the ancient city of Vorthalun, the last surviving bastion of the southern free clans. Built atop buried ruins, Vorthalun had once been a temple city dedicated to the divine pantheon. Now, its holy spires were cracked, the bells rusted, and the gates smeared with crimson paint bearing the cult's symbol: the Crimson Spiral.
"Do they know we're coming?" Elira asked, her bow strung and ready.
Liam, cloaked in a deep black robe lined with crimson and gold, said nothing. His staff pulsed lightly with light—divine energy resonating through the stone underfoot.
The God System shimmered in his vision.
---
GOD SYSTEM – STATUS
Level: 13
Faith Points (FP): 27
Followers: 104
Angels: 2 (Kaelion, Rennan)
Potential Angel Candidates: 1 (Elira – Loyalty: 91%)
STATS:
• Strength: 24
• Speed: 26
• Endurance: 27
• Divine Power: 44
• Willpower: 29
• Charisma: 24
• Perception: 22
New Passive: Divine Pressure – Tier I
> Enemies of lower faith or willpower feel crushing fear in your presence.
---
Kaelion landed beside them, wings folding back into his armored form. "Guards at every corner. They've conscripted civilians to form a living wall around the inner sanctum. Cowards."
"They're stalling for time," Rennan growled, his warhammer resting across his shoulder. "Probably waiting for reinforcements from the Crimson Cult."
Liam narrowed his eyes. "We're not giving them time."
He raised his staff—and the Divine Command echoed across the hills.
"Break their lines. Leave no room for false gods. Let the flames of belief burn away the lies."
---
System Command Executed: Divine Wrath (Tier I) – Cost: 5 FP
Golden-red fire ignited at Liam's feet, arcing forward like a dragon's breath.
The outer wall exploded into molten stone and screams.
Soldiers flung themselves to the ground, clutching their faces as the holy fire peeled through corruption and armor alike. The false banners caught flame instantly.
His followers surged forward behind him—former slaves, abandoned priests, and broken villagers who now bore his crest.
But it wasn't just a battle.
It was a reclamation.
---
Inside the city, chaos reigned.
The cultist commanders screamed incantations in forbidden tongues, summoning twisted beasts stitched from blood and bone. They poured from the sanctum gates—abominations, half-demons, horned monstrosities with too many arms and no eyes.
Liam strode into the middle of the storm.
"Enhance: Speed – Elira. Strength – Kaelion. Endurance – Rennan."
His aura flared gold and red, searing into the minds of enemy and ally alike.
---
Combat Buffs Active – Duration: 5 Minutes
Remaining FP: 12
---
Elira vanished in a blink, loosing arrows with supernatural speed, every one of them glowing with divine runes. Her enemies dropped without even a chance to scream.
Kaelion plunged into the thickest cluster of cultists, his blade a burning arc that cleaved through bone and soul.
Rennan blocked a towering demon's claws with his bare arms before crushing its skull under his divine hammer.
The battle turned into a massacre.
But not all was victory.
As Liam approached the inner sanctum—a once-pristine cathedral now crawling with vines made of flesh—a strange presence rippled through his chest.
His staff vibrated.
> Warning: High-ranking cult priest detected.
Name: Osiran Malvok – Rank: Crimson Apostle
Power Level: Unknown. Caution advised.
A slow, deliberate clap echoed from the cathedral doors.
From the shadows emerged a tall man in a robe of black silk and red bone, his face masked in gold. Six rings floated behind his back like halos twisted into thorns.
"You," Osiran hissed, voice like gravel soaked in honey. "The False Flame. The Usurper of Faith."
Liam didn't flinch. "I don't need their belief. I have my own."
Osiran smiled, revealing rows of sharklike teeth.
"And I will show you what happens when gods bleed."
---
Osiran raised his hand.
From the cathedral's mouth poured a tide of crimson fog, and within it, the shadows began to scream.
The fog rushed forward—cloaking sight, dulling hearing, and whispering the names of the dead.
Liam felt it instantly.
The memory of his sister, burned and broken.
His father's eyes gouged out.
His mother's final whisper.
He gritted his teeth.
Elira staggered. "Liam! I—I can't see him!"
Kaelion roared, swinging blindly. Rennan's hammer missed by inches.
Liam drove his staff into the ground.
"Dispel: Corrupt Illusions. Cast: Divine Clarity."
---
System Action – FP Cost: 7
Remaining FP: 5
---
The fog burned away in a dome of golden light.
Osiran stood exposed.
But he was grinning. "Clever little god."
Then he struck.
Liam barely raised a shield before the wave of energy slammed into him, throwing him through a stone pillar. His ribs cracked—he tasted blood.
---
DAMAGE RECEIVED: -38 HP
ENDURANCE CHECK: PASSED – Remain Conscious
---
Elira screamed, firing into Osiran's chest—but the cultist merely laughed as the arrows melted into ash before reaching him.
Liam climbed back to his feet, wiping blood from his lip.
This wasn't like the demon from Harrowspire.
Osiran was something worse.
Human. Twisted. Chosen.
"You fight for vengeance," Osiran mocked. "I fight for truth. You think your pain matters? You think your rage is holy?"
Liam raised his hand. The staff blazed with golden-red fire.
"No. But it's mine."
He hurled Divine Wrath again—point blank.
Osiran blocked with a barrier of bone—but Liam was already moving.
He blinked behind him, staff humming with creation energy.
"Enhance: Speed – Me."
"Skill Merge – Divine Wrath + Creation Spike."
---
New Attack Unlocked: Spear of Faith (Prototype)
> A projectile forged of belief and flame. Pierces defenses. Costs 5 FP.
---
He threw it.
The golden spear struck Osiran through the chest—exploding in a blossom of searing fire and light.
Osiran screamed, flailing backward, the rings behind him cracking and shattering.
But he didn't die.
Not yet.
He bled golden-black.
"You..." he choked, kneeling. "You're not like the others."
"No," Liam said, raising his staff again. "I'm what they fear most."
And he drove the final blow into Osiran's heart.
---
The apostle fell.
And with him, the last of the cult's control over Vorthalun broke.
The city was free.
---
GOD SYSTEM – UPDATE
Level Up: 14 → 15
Faith Points Gained: +22
Followers: 124
Angels: 2
Potential Angel Candidate: 1 – Elira (Loyalty: 94%)
---
That night, among the smoldering ruins of the sanctum, Elira approached Liam.
"You almost died."
"I'll die a hundred times to finish this," he said. "As long as they pay."
She took his hand. Not shyly. Not hesitantly.
"Just don't do it alone."
Their fingers locked.
The fire in Liam's chest warmed.
Not divine.
Not vengeful.
But human.
---
Commandment Added:
7. Love does not weaken the divine. It humanizes it.
---
Far north, in the obsidian towers of the Crimson Cult, another Apostle knelt before the High Demon Seer.
"He's stronger than we expected," the Apostle rasped.
The Seer smiled.
"Then we shall test what happens when faith itself is betrayed."
[End of Chapter 18]