Kairan couldn't feel his legs.
He didn't know how long it had been since the Aberrant crushed the tower, or since his squad's screams faded. The air still buzzed with static from the collapsed generator lines. Smoke blurred the sky, but he could see one thing clearly — the red glow pulsing beneath his skin.
Blood soaked the ground. His, mostly.
---
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING… SYNCING WITH VESSEL…]
---
A glowing text hovered in the space before him — or maybe it was inside his head. His brain felt like it was leaking fire. He blinked, but the text didn't disappear.
---
[RELIC DETECTED: ASH OF WRATH (FRAGMENTED)]
[WELCOME, KAIRAN.]
---
"...I'm dying," he muttered.
---
"Yes," said a voice — not human. It vibrated through his bones.
"But that's when the truth begins."
---
Pain exploded from his chest. His heart? No. Something inside his heart.
---
[FORCED SYNC INITIATED]
[PAIN SUPPRESSION: DISABLED]
---
He screamed.
His back arched. His nerves snapped like wires. The black mark on his palm — the one he always thought was just a birthmark — turned crimson and spread. It crawled up his arm like burning veins.
---
"They all lied to you, Kairan."
---
The voice again. Closer now. Like it had always been inside him.
---
"The gods. The hunters. The system itself."
---
Suddenly:
A throne of bones. A sky of knives. A massive chained god screaming as golden blades pierced its back — a memory, not his own.
---
[RELIC FULLY SYNCED: VEKROS, GOD OF WRATH (SEALED)]
[NEW OBJECTIVE: CLEANSE THE CORRUPTED WORLD.]
---
His body twitched. The bleeding stopped. Muscles rewove. His shattered leg twisted back into place with a crunch. One of his eyes turned black — pulsing with red glyphs.
This wasn't healing.
It was rebirth.
"Kairan!"
A voice cut through the haze — real, this time.
Liora.
She was limping, eyes wide with shock, blade drawn. She'd seen the transformation.
But Kairan couldn't speak.
The System hovered, cold and bright.
---
[CHOOSE STARTING ABILITY:]
◉ Ash Pulse (Lv. 1)
◉ Break the False Flesh (Lv. 1)
◉ Refuse the Will of God (LOCKED)
---
His lips moved before he knew why:
---
"I'll kill them all."
---
And for a heartbeat…
He didn't know if he meant the Aberrants —
—or everyone.
---
End of Chapter 1
— Vessel of Vekros