Daniel stirred, his consciousness flickering like a candle in a storm, but he was no longer in the mortal realm. His body remained in the village, broken and healing, pushed far beyond its limits by the raid's brutality.
Yet his mind awoke elsewhere, submerged in a shimmering golden liquid that pulsed with warmth, its glow the only light in an abyss of pitch-black nothingness. The darkness was absolute, swallowing even the faintest glimmer, a void where light dared not linger.
He rose, the liquid clinging to his skin before dripping away, and stood on an unseen surface, his bare feet steady despite the surreal expanse around him.
He peered ahead, and the blackness began to dissolve, tendrils of shadow retreating as a radiant glow emerged. This was no ordinary light but a heavenly brilliance, the essence of the Goddess of Light herself, potent enough to make stars falter and black holes tremble.
It flooded the space, pure and searing, casting no shadows, only truth. From its heart, she appeared, her form both familiar and unknowable. Her golden hair cascaded like molten sunlight, and her eyes, a pearlescent blue, shimmered with divine depths no mortal could fathom.
Her presence was a paradox: Comforting yet overwhelming, a beacon in the void that Daniel could neither fully see nor hear, his mortal soul too frail to grasp her true divinity.
He smiled at her, a quiet reverence in his gaze, though questions churned within him. "Why am I here?" he asked, his voice steady despite the surreal weight of the moment.
The Goddess's form shimmered, her voice a melody that resonated in his bones, soft yet carrying the authority of creation. "Daniel, you have walked a path few could endure. Your victory over Valthor Vayren, the unlocking of Claim, has brought you closer to your purpose. I summoned you to reveal the role and reality of this new power, a gift and burden woven into your soul."
He nodded, his heart quickening. Claim, the ZZZ-tier skill that let him steal a fragment of another's existence, had already reshaped him, granting Valthor's 800 MP. But it's true nature eluded him, a mystery tied to his curses and the Goddess's cryptic favor.
"Tell me," he urged, stepping closer, the golden liquid rippling beneath his feet. "What is Claim, really?"
She raised a hand, and the light around her pulsed, forming visions of battles past and futures unwritten. "Claim is more than a skill," she began, her voice weaving through the images. "It is a divine mandate, a tool to unmake and remake, to sever the threads of fate and forge new ones. With it, you can take not just strength or skill but the very essence of another: their purpose; their destiny. It was born from the balance of creation and destruction, a power to challenge the gods themselves."
Daniel's breath caught, the weight of her words pressing against him. The visions showed him wielding Claim, stripping enemies of their might, their memories, even their place in the world. But each use came at a cost, pain, corruption, a step closer to something beyond mortal limits.
"Why give it to me?" he asked, his voice quieter now, sensing a truth too vast for his fragile form.
The Goddess's eyes softened, a flicker of sorrow in their depths. "Because you are marked, Daniel, by curses and by prophecy. Your soul, bound by countless maledictions, is a crucible. Claim is the key to breaking those chains, but also to fulfilling a role greater than you know. It allows you to—"
Her form flickered, the golden light stuttering like a flame in a gale. The visions shattered, and the void trembled, cracks spiderwebbing through the radiant space. Daniel froze, expecting a system glitch, but a chill gripped him.
This was no glitch. The system, a construct of the gods, bowed to their will. The Goddess created it; she was above its failures. Her disappearance was no accident.
An ominous voice boomed, low and guttural, shaking the very fabric of the void: "Enough."
The word was a wound, tearing through the light, and the golden liquid evaporated, leaving Daniel standing in a crumbling expanse. The heavenly glow vanished, replaced by a sickly, writhing darkness that pulsed with malevolence.
The space warped, folding in on itself, and Daniel was wrenched through a rift, his body weightless, his senses assaulted by a cacophony of whispers and screams.
He landed hard, his knees buckling, on a jagged plane of obsidian and bone, its surface slick with a viscous, crimson ooze that smelled of iron and decay. The air was thick, heavy with a stench that clawed at his throat, a blend of rotting flesh and something older, fouler, beyond mortal comprehension.
The sky above was no sky but a roiling mass of tentacles, eyes, and mouths, each feature shifting, melting into new forms, a tapestry of chaos that defied reason. Spires of twisted flesh rose from the ground, their surfaces studded with pulsating sores that wept black ichor, each drop sizzling as it burned through the stone.
This was no realm but a nightmare given form, a place where sanity frayed and hope withered.
At its center stood a creature, its presence a violation of existence. Its body was a mockery of form, a towering amalgam of writhing limbs and shifting visages. One moment, it was a humanoid silhouette, cloaked in a shroud of wriggling shadows, its face a blank void pierced by a single, glowing eye.
The next, it sprouted countless arms, each tipped with claws that dripped venom, or became a mass of serpentine coils, their scales etched with runes that bled light. Its voice was a chorus of dissonant tones, some shrill, others deep, all laced with a cruel amusement that made Daniel's skin crawl.
Eyes opened across its form, thousands of them, each staring with a hunger that pierced his soul, and mouths grinned, revealing teeth like shattered stars.
The creature's voice boomed, a dissonant chorus echoing from every corner of the twisted realm, vibrating through Daniel's bones. "You," it intoned, its countless eyes glinting with malice, "the chosen one, marked to inherit the power of the First. You will not."
Daniel staggered, his heart hammering, the creature's words slicing into his mind like a jagged blade. The First? The term was alien, a mystery cloaked in dread, stirring a primal fear he couldn't name.
This monster, this writhing abomination, opposed him with a hatred that felt ancient, its presence a suffocating tide threatening to consume him. He clenched his fists, the faint memory of the Goddess of Light's radiance anchoring him in the chaos, and faced the creature, his voice steady despite the terror gnawing at his core.
"What are you?" he demanded, sensing the answer was a truth too vast for his mortal mind to grasp.
The creature's laughter erupted, a sound like worlds shattering, its form shifting in a grotesque dance. One moment, it was a colossal eye, its pupil a void ringed by writhing tentacles that dripped black ichor.
The next, it morphed into a skeletal giant, its molten-tar skin bubbling and hissing. "I am the will that defies," it said, its voice a whip crack, sharp and cruel. "You seek to rise, to claim the First's mantle, but I will unmake you. Your Claim, your curses, your frail divinity, they are nothing before me."
The obsidian ground quaked, cracks splintering its surface, and from them surged tendrils of shadow, each tipped with a snapping maw that drooled viscous slime. They lashed out, and Daniel dove, their barbed tips grazing his arm, burning like acid.
Blood welled, hot and stinging, but he rolled to his feet, the creature's mocking laughter ringing in his ears. The air grew dense, pressing against his chest, and the creature's myriad eyes blinked as one, unleashing a psychic assault that slammed into his mind.
Pain erupted, visions of horror, his mother's lifeless body, Elira's screams, Alina's eyes hollow and cold, flooding his thoughts. He screamed, clutching his skull, but clung to the Goddess's light, its memory a fragile shield against the torment.
The creature advanced, its form bloating into a mass of writhing flesh, studded with faces that screamed and wept black bile. It raised a claw, vast as a tree, and slashed, the air shrieking as it tore through space.
Daniel dodged, the claw raking his shoulder, blood spraying, the pain a searing fire. He stumbled, the ground pulsing beneath him, skeletal hands of bone and sinew bursting forth to seize his ankles. They clawed his skin, blood pooling, but he kicked free, his breath ragged, chest heaving.
"You cannot prevail," the creature hissed, its voice a thousand whispers, each laced with despair. "The First's power is not yours to wield. I will rend your soul, scatter it across the void."
Daniel's body trembled, but he stood tall, the Goddess's words echoing in his heart. Claim was his purpose, his weapon to shatter the curses binding him, to rise beyond his limits. This horror sought to break him, but he refused to yield.
The creature's form shifted again, now a tower of writhing worms, each segment sprouting eyes that wept molten fire, now a cloud of ash coalescing into a grinning skull. It unleashed a torrent of black flame, the heat blistering Daniel's skin. He dove behind a spire of twisted bone, the flames charring it, leaving it smoking and cracked.
The realm throbbed, its heartbeat a drum that rattled Daniel's bones, the creature's malice a crushing weight on his lungs. It spoke again, its voice a blade. "You are a speck, a fleeting shadow in the First's dream. I will erase you, as I have countless others."
Blood dripped from Daniel's wounds, the ground hissing as it drank the crimson, its hunger palpable, a desire to unmake him. The creature's tentacles lashed out, a dozen barbed tips dripping venom.
He wove through them, dodging, but one struck his side, the barb sinking deep, poison searing his veins. He gasped, vision blurring, and tore it free, blood gushing, but kept moving, his resolve a fire that burned brighter than the pain.
The creature's laughter filled the air, a cacophony of glee and wrath, its form swelling into a vast ocean of writhing limbs, its surface rippling with mouths chanting in tongues that twisted reality.
It surged forward, a wave of flesh and shadow, and Daniel ran, the ground splitting beneath him, revealing a chasm lined with jagged teeth. He leaped, barely clearing it, landing on a plateau of hot, slick flesh that pulsed like a living heart.
The creature's eyes tracked him, their gaze a pressure threatening to crush his skull, but he faced it, defiance pounding in his chest.
"You think you can stop me?" he roared, voice raw but fierce. "I've faced curses, bandits, death itself. You're just another wall to break."
The creature's mouths grinned, its voice a tempest. "Bold, chosen one. But you are nothing. The First's power will never be yours. I will feast on your soul, as I have all who dared to rise."
The realm warped, spires collapsing into pools of writhing maggots, the sky fracturing to reveal a void of endless, staring eyes. The creature's form stabilized, now a colossal figure cloaked in wriggling shadows, its face a shifting mask of anguish, its limbs countless and ever-moving.
It raised a hand, and the air screamed, a blast of raw chaos hurtling toward Daniel. He braced himself, the Goddess's light a fading echo, ready to fight a foe that sought not just his death but his complete annihilation.
The ground beneath him shuddered, the plateau splitting, and from the cracks rose more tendrils, their maws snapping, their venom dripping like molten lead. Daniel rolled, avoiding one, but another grazed his leg, the burn spreading, his muscles seizing.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand, blood streaming down his side, soaking the writhing flesh beneath. The creature's laughter grew louder, a discordant symphony that clawed at his sanity, its eyes multiplying, each one a window into a void of despair.
The air thickened, a miasma of rot and sulfur, and the creature's form shifted again, now a hydra-like mass of serpentine necks, each crowned with a face that wept blood. They struck, their fangs bared, and Daniel dove, the ground erupting where he'd stood, shards of obsidian flying.
A fang grazed his back, tearing flesh, blood spurting, the pain blinding. He stumbled, catching himself on a spire, its surface slick with oozing sores that burned his palm.
The creature's voices merged, a single, crushing decree: "You will fall. The First's dream is not yours to shape."
Daniel's vision swam, his body screaming, but he pushed forward, the Goddess's words a lifeline. Claim was his power, his path to freedom, and this creature, no matter its terror, was an obstacle he'd overcome.
He charged, leaping over a chasm that belched black smoke, landing on a ridge of bone. The creature's tentacles followed, a storm of barbs and claws, and he ducked, weaving, each movement a defiance of the pain tearing through him.
One struck his arm, the venom a fire that made him scream, but he tore it free, blood spraying, and kept running, his heart a drum of unyielding will.
The realm's heartbeat quickened, the ground convulsing, and the creature's form bloated, now a mountain of writhing flesh, its surface studded with mouths that vomited streams of wriggling worms.
It surged, a tidal wave of horror, and Daniel scrambled up a spire, its jagged edges cutting his hands, blood slicking his grip. The creature's eyes locked on him, their gaze a psychic lash that flooded his mind with images of failure—Klav dead, Elira broken, Alina's body cold. He roared, shaking them off, the Goddess's light a faint spark that kept him grounded.
"You are weak," the creature intoned, its voice a blade that cut deeper than its claws. "A child, cursed and frail, daring to claim what is beyond you. I will shatter you."
Daniel's breath came in gasps, his body a map of wounds, but he faced the creature, his eyes burning. "I don't care what you are," he spat, blood dripping from his lips. "I'll keep fighting, for my family, for Alina, for everyone you'd destroy."
The creature's laughter was a storm, its form shifting into a vortex of writhing limbs, eyes, and teeth, its center a void that pulsed with hunger. It unleashed a wave of black energy, the air screaming as it tore toward him.
Daniel leaped, the blast grazing his side, burning flesh, blood steaming as it hit the ground. He landed hard, his knees buckling, but stood, the spire behind him crumbling into a pool of writhing maggots. The creature's voices chanted, a litany of doom, but he tuned them out, focusing on the fight, on the Goddess, on his purpose.
The realm twisted, the sky fracturing further, revealing a cosmos of writhing shapes, each one a nightmare given form. The creature's form stabilized, now a towering figure of shadow and flame, its face a kaleidoscope of torment, its limbs a forest of claws.
It raised both hands, and the ground erupted, pillars of bone and flesh shooting upward, their tips crowned with snapping jaws. Daniel ran, dodging, the pillars grazing him, blood flowing freely, his body a furnace of pain. He reached a clearing, the ground a pulsating mass of eyes, and faced the creature, his resolve a blade against its terror.
"You will not rise," the creature declared, its voice a final judgment. "The First's power is mine to guard. Your soul will feed the void."
Daniel's heart pounded, his body failing, but he stood firm, the Goddess's light a whisper in his soul. He didn't know the First, didn't understand the creature's cryptic words, but he knew his fight—his family, his love, his defiance. The creature surged, a colossus of chaos, and Daniel braced himself, ready to face a horror beyond comprehension, a foe that sought to erase him from existence itself.