The stars were dim that night over Velorin.
Smoke curled into the heavens, and fires still burned in the lower districts. Mira and Kael organized cleanup, while Rune hovered near Liam as he stood atop the city's central tower—once a spire of cultist surveillance, now reclaimed by divine flame.
Liam's aura shimmered, alive with gold and crimson. The divine runes from the Trial Gate still pulsed faintly along his arms and neck.
He was quiet.
Watching.
Listening to the city breathe again.
Behind him, Rune broke the silence. "You passed the gods' judgment."
"It didn't feel like a victory," Liam muttered. "I killed myself."
"No," Rune said. "You embraced the death of your weakness. There's a difference."
He didn't respond. The stars offered no comfort.
A whisper in the wind did.
---
Far to the east, past the dunes of Kal-Shara, a temple slumbered beneath obsidian sands.
The Oracle of Ashen Truth awoke.
Golden eyes snapped open. Candles flared to life around her in sudden reverence.
"The God of Flame has been marked," she whispered.
Acolytes gathered, trembling in silence.
"Soon, he will call me."
---
Back in Velorin, Liam entered the sanctum of the reclaimed temple, now rededicated to his name. Banners of gold and crimson replaced the old sigils, and the floor glowed faintly with a divine circle etched by Rune's magic.
A crowd of followers waited.
Survivors of Velorin. Refugees. Fanatics. True believers.
They knelt in unison.
Liam raised a hand, feeling the surge flow through him.
Faith Points flooded in.
---
> Follower Count: 71,122
Faith Points: 19,310
---
His voice rang out, calm and deep.
"You are no longer abandoned. This city will be my fire. My pillar. And from it, you will never kneel to demons again."
Cheers broke like thunder.
And in that moment, a system message appeared—etched across the sky.
---
> Divine Achievement Unlocked: Pillar of Faith – Velorin
You have consecrated a major city in your name.
All followers within this zone gain +10% to all stats.
Faith Point gain increased by 15% in this region.
Holy Constructs may now be built here.
---
Rune stared at the message, impressed.
"You're not just conquering land. You're forging a god-realm."
---
[STATS – Updated]
Level: 54
Faith Points: 19,310
Followers: 71,122
Divine Title: God of Reclamation
Core Stats:
Strength: 220
Speed: 192
Endurance: 231
Intelligence: 201
Charisma: 160
Divine Energy: 4,100 / 4,100
New Passive: Pillar Radiance
All Divine Skills cost 5% less when cast in cities devoted to the God.
---
That night, Liam stood before a massive map table in the temple's strategy hall.
He stared at the eastern desert.
Kael stepped forward, golden cloak trailing. "Rumors speak of a seer there. The Oracle. She communes with echoes of gods long dead."
"She knows about me?" Liam asked.
Rune nodded. "If she doesn't already, she will soon."
Mira entered next. Her armor was scorched from the battle, but her face was grim and unyielding.
"If she's aligned with the cult—"
"She isn't," Rune cut in. "She's neutral. Ancient. Even the demons leave her untouched."
Liam's fingers drummed on the table. "Then she'll tell me what they fear."
---
The journey to Kal-Shara took six days by winged beast—gargantuan crimson wyverns tamed by Kael's light-born magic. The desert stretched for hundreds of miles, sunless and scorched.
The Oracle's temple was buried in obsidian dunes, its entrance marked by three massive statues of blindfolded women, their hands outstretched in offering.
As they entered the cavernous halls, the temperature dropped. The sands stopped whispering.
Time seemed to bend.
And then—she was there.
Standing in the center of the great chamber, her body wreathed in golden threads and veils of smoke.
She looked young—perhaps twenty. Eyes glowing, but blind. Her hair shimmered like starlight.
"You came, God of Flame," she said, her voice like silk over knives.
Liam stepped forward.
"You know why I'm here."
"I know many things," she said. "But I answer only truth. Ask your question."
He clenched a fist. "What is the heart of the demon cult? Why did they destroy my family?"
She turned, her feet gliding over the black stone.
"Because they feared your bloodline."
Liam froze.
"What?"
"Your father was no mere noble. He was a Vessel, marked by a god long forgotten. A sliver of divinity, passed through your veins."
She stepped closer. "They slaughtered your family to stop a god's rebirth."
Liam's breath hitched.
All this time...
He had thought it was vengeance. Political. Random.
But it was destiny.
"You were always meant to ascend," she said.
"But I'm not the god they wanted."
"No," the Oracle whispered. "You are the one they couldn't control."
---
> Quest Unlocked: Blood of the Forgotten Flame
Discover the identity of the god who once marked your bloodline. Unravel their fate.
Reward: ???
---
Liam turned away.
The silence behind him grew deep.
Before he left, she spoke once more. "Be warned. Your path now binds to hers."
He looked back.
"Hers?"
The Oracle raised a hand.
And a vision filled his mind.
A woman—red-haired, eyes burning like a sunset, dressed in silver and black.
Standing in a ruined throne room.
Crying.
---
Back at camp that night, Liam didn't sleep.
Rune hovered beside the fire, silent.
Kael tended the wyverns. Mira was sharpening her blades.
But Liam sat alone, watching the flames.
And wondering—
What kind of god did he truly want to become?
---
End of Chapter 45