The Spire behind them still pulsed with residual light, but Liam's eyes were on the road ahead. The battle was over, yet something in him twisted tighter with each step away. That woman—whoever she was—had spoken his name like it had been carved into her soul long before their encounter.
He didn't like that.
The city of Valrath lay in silent awe. Thousands of followers watched from the shattered streets and temple balconies, hushed as their god descended from the highest seat of power with soot in his hair and blood on his robes.
They knew something had changed.
Not just the Spire. Not just the city.
Him.
[System Update – Level Up Achieved]Name: Liam CarsonTitle: God of Wrath and Flame, SpirebreakerLevel: 47Stats:Strength – 96Speed – 89Endurance – 102Magic – 115Charisma – 74Control – 88Faith Points – 213,000Divine Skills: Heaven's Judgment, Soulbind, Creation Spark, Angelic ArrayUnique Skill Unlocked: God's Domain – Ember SanctumDescription: You may create a personal divine plane where time flows differently. Costs 50,000 Faith Points per activation. Enhances regeneration, training, and skill development.
Back at the temple base, Kael stood guard while Seraphina knelt beside Lio, tending to his wounded wing. The boy's eyes fluttered open slowly, and for a moment, the tension in Liam's shoulders eased.
"You stayed with me," Lio whispered.
"You bled for me," Liam replied. "I don't forget debts."
"I'd bleed again," the boy said.
Seraphina glanced at Liam. "What do we do next?"
Liam walked toward the altar at the center of the hall. It had once been a place of sacrifice for the cult, but now golden vines of divine energy spread across its black stone, healing its corruption.
He raised his hand and pressed his palm to it.
Faith Expenditure: 25,000Action: Convert Site into Lesser ShrineEffect: Faith Regeneration increased by 10% in nearby region. Followers in area gain +5% resistance to dark magic.
Light bloomed outward from his touch, and for the first time in Valrath's bloody history, the altar was a source of hope.
But Liam didn't feel victorious.
He felt hunted.
That night, under the blood-red moon, he stood at the edge of the shrine's balcony, looking toward the southern horizon. He didn't know why, but his soul felt it—the pull, the whisper, the calling.
Something waited in the Southlands.
A ruin older than the System.
An origin.
"Restless already?" came a voice behind him.
It was Rune, his bound spirit companion, her voice laced with dry amusement and smoke.
"I can feel her," he said. "Not the woman from the Spire. Someone else. Something else."
Rune floated beside him, translucent, ethereal. "You're awakening more than faith, Liam. You're disrupting truths."
He turned to her. "Like what?"
"Like the lie that there were never other gods."
Silence.
Then she leaned closer, whispering, "And the truth that one of them was buried alive… waiting for a false god to knock on her coffin."
In the morning, Liam summoned his generals—Seraphina, Kael, Lio, and three new angels born in the aftermath of the Spire conquest. Each bore divine markings etched into their skin like burning tattoos. His army had grown from a desperate group of survivors into a movement.
But it still wasn't enough.
"I need to go south," Liam said. "To find answers."
Kael frowned. "And leave us vulnerable?"
Seraphina met Liam's eyes. "Take only your most trusted. If it's a trap, we can't afford to lose everything."
Liam nodded.
"I'll leave a Warden behind," he said. "A being of divine flame, tied to my essence. It will defend Valrath in my absence."
He stood in the temple's inner sanctum and lifted his staff.
Skill Activated: Creation SparkFaith Cost: 60,000Creation Type: Divine Warden – Flameborne Sentinel
From the burning glyphs, a figure rose—ten feet tall, armored in obsidian and gold, its core a pulsing ember. Its eyes locked onto Liam and bowed.
It would hold the city.
Now, the path was clear.
The journey south was a descent into legend.
They passed ruined temples buried in sand, bones of titans long dead, and villages that worshipped Liam's name with frightened offerings and songs of ash.
With him traveled Rune, Seraphina, and Lio—his core.
One night, around a fire, Lio asked, "Do you ever think about what you were before all this?"
Liam stared at the flames.
"I used to believe the world had rules. Justice. Gods."
"And now?"
"Now I know I have to become all three."
Rune chuckled softly. "And perhaps… something even worse."
The final stretch of the southern wastelands brought them to a chasm.
Black stone. Echoing wind. A smell like burned blood and forgotten dreams.
The ruins of Ilyranthus—the City of the First.
Liam's heart thudded.
System Notification: Ancient Site DetectedWarning: System Integration unstable. Residual Divine Energy: Forbidden Class.Proceed with caution.
He stepped forward.
And in the shadows of that dead city, something laughed.
It wasn't human.
And it knew him.
End of Chapter 65