The world shifted as Liam crossed the final threshold into the Forsaken Wastes.
It wasn't just the landscape that changed—the air itself bent. The clouds hung unnaturally still, as if caught in the middle of a silent scream. Wind didn't blow here. Sound didn't travel the same. The light that filtered through the dead sky was neither day nor night, but a dim, blood-washed veil that muted everything.
Rune hovered lower than usual, his form flickering. "The closer we get, the more reality begins to... rot."
Liam's boots crushed cracked obsidian beneath them. "And we haven't even reached the cathedral yet."
Behind him, Seraphina muttered prayers under her breath. They were old verses, written before even the gods, meant to ward off eldritch corruption. Lio clung to one of them, whispering along like a child holding onto a lullaby during a nightmare.
Elenari walked without fear. Her spirit had been forged in divine fire—her hatred of the Demon Cult hotter still.
Still, even she flinched when the first one appeared.
A twisted figure stood in the road ahead—neither man nor beast, its body like a bleeding sculpture stitched from shadow and horned bone. It dragged a broken censer behind it, leaking green fog.
System Notification:
Enemy Detected: Apostate-Class Beast – "Flesh Deacon"
Tier: A+Alignment: Corrupted DivineSpecial Ability: Aura of Despair – Lowers Speed and Control of all enemies within 20 meters
[Optional Objective Added: Slay All Apostates Before Reaching the Cathedral]
Liam raised his staff and narrowed his eyes. "Let's see what despair tastes like."
The Deacon howled and charged.
They spread quickly—Seraphina leapt forward with a roar, shield up, intercepting the monstrosity's claw with a crash of light. Sparks flew. Her divine armor cracked slightly but held.
Lio hung back, eyes glowing with Liam's blessing. "Buff—Speed Surge!" he called, invoking one of Liam's passive spells.
A golden ripple surged across Liam's party. Elenari blurred forward in a flame-touched dash, her twin blades igniting in crimson arcs. She slashed low and high, drawing infernal ichor from the beast's belly.
Liam held back until the Deacon lunged again, its jaw unhinging wide enough to swallow a man whole.
Then Liam struck.
The Staff of Judgment flared with power, and he thrust it into the creature's exposed throat. Golden sigils exploded outward, carving divine glyphs into the sky. The blow launched the Deacon twenty feet back, where it crashed into a dead tree—splintering it.
"Rune," Liam commanded. "Mark it."
The spirit extended a spectral hand. A rune of divine binding etched itself into the creature's chest.
System Skill Activated:
Marked for Judgment – Target receives +40% incoming holy damage for 10 seconds.
Seraphina moved in with a war cry, her blade glimmering with Liam's shared faith. She cut down, slicing the Deacon in two with a single, radiant blow.
System Update:
Apostate-Class Enemy SlainFaith Points Earned: +9,800
Stat Growth Registered:Strength: +4Speed: +3Endurance: +5Magic: +5Control: +3
Updated Stats:Strength – 119Speed – 103Endurance – 125Magic – 145Charisma – 86Control – 107
Total Faith Points: 171,800
The creature's corpse melted into ash, its last breath a whisper in a forgotten tongue.
"That wasn't even the worst of them," Rune muttered. "They keep stronger ones near the center."
"How many more?" Liam asked.
"Four," Rune said grimly. "Four Apostates guard the cathedral's heart."
Elsewhere—The Cathedral's Inner Sanctum
The High Priest Calroth traced a knife over his own arm, bleeding into a brass basin. The Vessel—the girl chained to the altar—watched through half-lidded eyes. She had stopped crying long ago.
"You feel it, don't you?" Calroth asked her softly. "His power growing. The divine spark dancing toward its own damnation."
He dipped his finger into the blood and painted runes across her bare shoulder.
"He will walk into our jaws, like a lamb among lions. And when he does…"
Calroth turned to the room full of Apostates—monstrous silhouettes hunched in the corners, breathing like animals waiting for a master's command.
"…you will become the flame that ends him."
On the Path to the Cathedral
Liam's group took refuge in an ancient, crumbling shrine. The runes here were so old that even Rune couldn't translate them. But the place offered shelter from the creeping miasma and a moment of quiet.
Seraphina sat sharpening her blade. Lio was asleep near the embers, clutching a medallion Liam had crafted for him—etched with Liam's divine mark, it radiated comfort.
Elenari sat beside Liam, brushing ashes from her shoulder.
"You've changed," she said suddenly.
Liam blinked. "What?"
"You're less afraid. More decisive. More... dangerous."
He looked down at his hands. "I had no choice."
"You always have a choice," Elenari replied, voice soft. "Power doesn't decide who you become. Pain does."
He met her gaze. "And if I want to be feared?"
"Then make them fear you for the right reasons."
There was something unspoken in her tone—an edge of care. Of caution. And something more.
Before either of them could speak again, the system pulsed:
Warning: Apostate-Class Entity ApproachingEnemy Type: Corrupted Angel – "Valas, Wing of Chains"
Tier: S
Special Traits: Aerial Control, Faith Consumption, Chain Binding
Liam rose instantly.
"They're not waiting anymore," he said.
"They've come to greet you," Rune answered. "As promised."
End of Chapter 69