"Before the second chance… there was only death."
---
The end had not come with fire. It had come with silence.
Fifteen years from now—fifteen years after his second rejection—Jin Black stood alone on the 86th floor of the Tower, bleeding from a dozen wounds, surrounded by corpses. His blade trembled in his hands. His strength had been long since drained. The few Chosen that had once fought beside him now lay broken, their divine blessings reduced to ash.
And still, the sky screamed.
The Tower had ruptured.
One after another, floors collapsed into each other, divine architecture twisting, reality warping. Space itself howled as the bindings of the gods unraveled. Blessed warriors screamed prayers into the void, and none were answered. Jin stumbled, coughing blood, and fell to his knees.
He laughed.
A bitter, broken sound. It echoed off ruined marble, off the torn banners of sanctified glory.
> "This is what you made."
"All your faith. All your blessings. And now look at it."
Lightning struck the ground meters from him. A holy knight's corpse twitched as the remnants of its shattered halo flickered out.
Jin stared up at the sky—what was left of it. Cracks of crimson light pierced through what should've been heaven.
> Is this what it feels like?
The end?
Then he heard it.
Not from the sky. Not from the Tower.
From inside.
A voice that did not echo, because it did not need to.
> "Do you still hate them?"
Jin's breath caught. The world slowed. Time thinned.
He opened his mouth to speak—but found no words.
> "You cursed them for fifteen years. You called to the sky. You begged. And when they turned away… you cursed even louder."
> "That hatred. That perfect, endless, burning hatred—"
> "—I heard it."
Darkness folded inward. Reality shivered. The ground disappeared.
Jin didn't fall.
He descended.
---
Somewhere Else
He floated in a void without stars. Without shape. Not cold. Not warm. Just still. As if existence had been paused for this one moment.
> "You are not the first to be betrayed by gods."
> "But you are the first whose hatred matched mine."
Something vast and unseen stirred in the black. It didn't speak. It pulsed. As if the void had a heartbeat. As if malice could breathe.
> "I was sealed by the rest. Locked beyond time. Abandoned. Feared. Forgotten."
> "But now… I have you."
Jin felt his body stretch. Or maybe his soul. Pain licked the edges of his mind. He screamed, but no sound came.
> [Soul Contact Initiated…]
[Binding Blessing: Forbidden Classification – Hollow Tier]
[Compatibility: 100%]
> "I offer you my power. Not as a gift. Not as mercy. But as a pact of destruction."
"Destroy them. One god at a time. Tear down their chosen. Desecrate their altars. Burn their Tower."
> "And in return… this world will be yours."
Jin couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Could only feel as something ancient—and wrong—wrapped around his soul like a serpent.
> [Blessing of the Hollow God received.]
[Regression Protocol: Initiated.]
[Rewinding soul imprint…]
His body cracked. Shattered. Reformed.
The void collapsed.
The Tower's scream became a whisper.
And everything turned to black.
---
Back to the Beginning
Jin gasped awake. Not a peaceful breath.
A drowning man forced back into lungs too small for the air they held.
He was in his room. Fifteen again. Morning of the Ceremony.
Sweat drenched the sheets. His nails had carved crescent moons into his palms. The taste of blood was thick on his tongue.
But his eyes…
His eyes were cold. Empty. Not the eyes of a boy.
The whisper still echoed, faint, like an echo in the bones:
> "They will kneel."
And he smiled.
---