The red skies over Valrath churned with ominous clouds, thick with divine tension. Liam stood at the base of the corrupted Divine Spire, his cloak rippling in the heat radiating from the tower. Ash still drifted from the sanctuaries he had purified, the remnants of the cult's blasphemy scattered like dark snow across ruined stone.
But none of it mattered now.
Someone else had touched divinity.
And they were waiting.
He could feel her presence—high above, coiled around the heart of the Spire like a serpent of light and shadow.
The idea twisted inside him like a blade.
"No one else should have a system," he muttered.
Seraphina tightened her grip on her blade. "What if she didn't earn it the same way? What if... she was chosen?"
"I wasn't chosen," Liam said coldly. "I took this power. And I'll take hers, too."
The city was silent behind them. Thousands of followers, soldiers, angels, and demons waited in the smog beyond the gate, their eyes locked on the tower. Some prayed. Some whispered his name like a mantra. Others wept, not from sorrow—but awe.
Liam turned to the boy beside him—Lio, the former Voidkin, now a bound angel with cracked wings and a trembling voice.
"She's different," Lio said softly. "Not like you. Colder. Like she was built to be divine, but never lived as anything else."
Liam's jaw clenched.
He stepped forward, one hand stretched toward the blackened doors of the Spire.
System Warning: Unknown Divine Aura detected. Compatibility unstable.Attempting forced entry…Faith Cost: 15,000
He pushed.
The doors screamed open.
A wave of blinding red-gold light poured out, not warm or holy—but sterile. Mechanical. The kind of divinity that forgot what it meant to suffer.
Inside, the Spire was alive.
Veins of pulsing crimson lined the walls, running up to a ceiling that vanished into blackness. Runes floated midair, reshaping themselves constantly. The space bent and stretched like a dream trying to become a nightmare.
At the center of it all—stood her.
She wasn't dressed in power. She was power. Her robe shimmered with stars and smoke, and her hair flowed like silver fire. Her eyes were mirrors. Not of soul, but of judgment.
"You're late," she said calmly, as though she had known him forever.
"And you're in my seat," Liam replied, stepping into the chamber.
Her smile was unreadable. "I was created to guard the Spire. You were meant to destroy it."
Liam stopped walking. "Then why haven't you attacked me yet?"
"I wanted to see you first. To see the difference between vengeance… and divinity."
He raised his staff. "You'll find they're the same thing in my hands."
A flicker crossed her expression—was it curiosity? Pity?
"Your followers call you a god. But you're still fueled by loss. Your rage is noble, yes. But noble things die quickly. Shall I prove it?"
She stepped down from her throne, her aura crashing against his like colliding storms.
Enemy Identified: ??? (Name Hidden)Title: The Silent FlameLevel: UnknownDivine Core: ArtificialStatus: Linked to Spire Control Node
She raised a hand, and the air around her twisted. Swords of golden energy spiraled into existence, each inscribed with runes Liam had never seen before.
He smirked.
Skill Activated: Soulbind – Angelic Array InitiatedLinked: Seraphina, Lio, KaelBoost: +15% Strength, +20% Speed, +Divine Resistance (Moderate)
Seraphina and Lio appeared beside him in a flash of burning feathers.
"By your command," Seraphina whispered.
Liam didn't look back.
"Take her down."
The first clash shattered the floor.
Steel met spirit. Light collided with wrath. Her swords burned through the air like meteors, but Seraphina danced between them with flawless grace. Lio's anti-magic aura distorted the throne room's runes, disrupting her control of the space.
But she wasn't faltering.
She was learning.
Adapting.
Every swing she made was sharper, faster. The second time she struck, Kael barely blocked it with his scythe. The third, she grazed Lio's wing, and the boy howled as shadow spilled from the wound.
Liam pushed through the chaos, leaping over a ruptured floor panel. His staff spun in his grip, charged with divine flame.
Skill Activated: Heaven's JudgmentDivine Damage: High | Area: 20m | Faith Cost: 7,500
The room detonated with holy light.
She staggered—just a step—but that was all he needed.
Liam surged forward, swinging his staff toward her chest.
She caught it with her bare hand.
The light flickered.
"You're not the only one with a system anymore," she said.
And then—
Warning: System Breach Attempt DetectedCountermeasures Engaged…Unknown Entity attempting code intrusion… failed.
Her eyes widened.
Liam smiled.
"I made mine myself."
With a roar, he blasted her back into her throne. Cracks rippled through the floor. The Spire groaned, and the runes began to flicker.
"You think this world needs balance," he snarled, walking toward her. "But balance let demons slaughter my family. Balance let false gods watch from the stars while we bled. I am not balance. I am the answer."
Blood dripped from her lip. She coughed, then looked up.
"I see now," she said softly. "You're not a god."
"I am."
"No," she whispered. "You're something more dangerous."
She faded into light—vanished, her body breaking into stardust.
System Notification: Spire Control Regained+50,000 Faith Points+1 Unique Skill UnlockNew Title Earned: Spirebreaker
Liam stood in silence.
Around him, the Spire began to change. The blackened walls shed their corruption. The runes turned gold. And for the first time in centuries, Valrath's core shone with holy light.
He turned to Seraphina.
"We're not done," he said.
"Who was she?" she asked.
He stared at the throne she'd left behind.
"I don't know," he said. "But she knew my name before I ever spoke it."
The silence that followed wasn't peace.
It was a pause before the storm.
End of Chapter 64