The sky bled gold and crimson.
Far above the ruined temple, the sun seemed to split into two orbs — one pale as bone, the other burning like a dying star. Beneath that apocalyptic glow, the continent of Aldrath trembled.
Mountains cracked. Rivers reversed their flow. Ancient sigils carved into the world itself began to hum again after centuries of silence.
And at the center of it all — standing on the shattered remains of the Revenant Queen's throne — was Rengoku Hayate.
His cloak fluttered in the storm, torn and singed from battle. His once-blue eyes now burned with twin crimson rings, and faint trails of smoke drifted from his hands, still pulsing with the Queen's essence.
[System Notice: Revenant Core Fully Assimilated.]
[Power Level — Undefined.]
[Soul Resonance: Stable.]
The System's voice echoed like a heartbeat inside his skull. Yet beneath that artificial tone, Hayate felt something else.
A whisper.
A presence.
Soft… familiar… and mocking.
"So this is the insect who inherited her curse."
The Evil Goddess's voice.Smooth as silk. Venomous as a blade.
Hayate didn't flinch. "You sound smaller than I imagined."
"Careful, mortal. Your defiance is amusing, but you still crawl in the dirt."
He chuckled lowly. "Then I'll drag you down here with me."
Lightning tore through the heavens — not natural lightning, but violet flames shaped like runes.All across the world, shrines dedicated to the Goddess began to awaken. Statues cracked, priests screamed, and black halos emerged above the altars.
She was angry.And her eyes — divine, unblinking — now turned toward one boy.
Meanwhile — Capital City of Avelora
The holy empire's grand cathedral was in chaos.A sea of knights knelt before the massive marble statue of the Goddess of Order. Its once-serene face now wept streams of blood.
Archbishop Selena clutched her rosary, trembling. "This… can't be. The Goddess's divine flow has been disrupted—"
"Blasphemy spreads!" shouted a templar. "A power from the dungeons is rising. Her Grace demands a purge!"
They didn't understand it. None of them did.
But one woman, standing silently among the chaos, did.
Lady Aurelia — one of Hayate's former classmates.
Her golden armor gleamed under the dying sunlight, her hand gripping a radiant spear. She'd been the first to mock him when the Goddess labeled him "unfit." The first to laugh when he was thrown into the pit.
Now, her lips trembled.
Because in the back of her mind, the System that blessed her with holy skills whispered a single, dreadful line:
[Warning: Target Identified — "The Revenant Successor." Potential threat to the Pantheon.]
Aurelia's breath hitched.
"No… that can't be him…"
Dungeon Depths
Hayate stood at the edge of a chasm.
Below, magma shimmered like veins of living blood, and above, shadows swirled in spiral formations — gathering, converging.
He closed his eyes. His heartbeat synced with the System's pulse.
[Skill Unlocked: Abyssal Sense.]
[Effect: Detect divine interference within a 20-kilometer radius.]
"I can feel them," he murmured. "The Goddess's followers. Her pawns are moving."
The Revenant Queen's faint voice echoed through his mind — colder, now woven into his soul.
"They will come for you. You have shattered a divine chain, and in doing so, defied her will. That cannot go unanswered."
Hayate smirked. "Then let them come."
His reflection shimmered in the molten pit — no longer the weak boy from before, but a warrior whose presence bent the world's rhythm. Yet behind the strength was something else: pain.
He remembered the laughter of his classmates, the betrayal, the feeling of his body being tossed into darkness like garbage.
He remembered dying.
And being reborn by the very thing that should have ended him.
He clenched his fist.
"I won't run. Not again."
At the Temple of Shadows
Three figures knelt in the darkness before a crystal altar. The crystal pulsed with divine light, forming the faint silhouette of a woman — her beauty so perfect it felt unreal, her smile so sharp it could cut through hope itself.
The Evil Goddess.
"Rise, my chosen," she said softly. Her voice dripped with honey and malice.
The first knight lifted his head. His silver armor gleamed, his eyes burning with holy light. "We live to serve you, O Eternal One."
She waved her hand. "Then serve me by reminding that insect of his place."
The knight bowed deeply. "You speak of the traitor?"
The Goddess's smile widened. "He has broken one of the divine seals. The Revenant Queen's power was never meant to exist again. That boy… he has become something that even I cannot predict."
The second figure — a woman cloaked in white — spoke in a trembling voice. "Then we should destroy him at once, my Lady."
The Goddess's tone turned cold. "No. We shall test him first. Let despair remind him who his true god is."
With a flick of her wrist, the crystal shattered into a thousand black shards. Each shard dissolved into light — spreading across the world.
[Divine Command: Hunt the Revenant Heir.]
Back to Hayate
The world quaked.
The System's voice surged in his ears.
[Warning: Multiple divine presences detected.]
[Threat Level: Catastrophic.]
[New Quest Generated: Survive the Goddess's Purge.]
A dozen magic circles opened in the sky above the chasm. Angels descended — their wings molten gold, their swords forged from divine sigils.
Hayate's lips curled. "Finally."
He raised his sword. Black-and-red energy coiled along the blade, merging with streaks of gold from the Revenant Queen's curse.
[Skill Activated: Revenant Dominion.]
The first angel swooped down, spear glowing — but Hayate sidestepped, slashing through its chest. The explosion rocked the cavern, the angel's body scattering into fragments of light.
Another dove from above.
Hayate blocked with his arm, energy surging through him like a storm.
The third angel raised its staff. "By decree of the Eternal Goddess, you—"
"Shut up." Hayate vanished — reappearing behind it. One clean slice.
The angel disintegrated.
But with every kill, the divine energy grew thicker. His body strained, veins glowing crimson and gold.
[Warning: Revenant Core Overheating.]
[Stability Dropping — 67%...]
"Not yet," Hayate hissed, pushing forward.
He leapt from rock to rock, the world trembling under his feet. Each movement felt heavier, but his strikes only grew faster — more precise, more savage.
Finally, as the tenth angel fell, the chasm cracked open — and from it rose a figure twice his height, cloaked in molten wings.
The Divine Executor.
A manifestation of the Goddess's wrath.
"You have defied divinity," it boomed. "You have stolen forbidden power."
Hayate raised his sword, laughing breathlessly. "And I'll do it again."
The Executor swung its hammer — a mountain-sized weapon of light. The impact shattered the ground, sending shockwaves across the realm.
Hayate was flung backward, slamming into a wall of obsidian. Blood splattered from his mouth, but his grin only widened.
He stood again — eyes glowing.The Revenant Queen's voice murmured faintly, "You're on the edge, mortal. One more push and you'll lose your humanity."
He wiped the blood from his lips. "Then I'll lose it with pride."
He charged.
The air screamed as his sword clashed against the Executor's hammer. Energy exploded outward, tearing rifts through reality itself. Lightning forked between crimson and gold — divine and corrupted power intertwining.
The Executor pushed forward, roaring, "You are nothing before the Goddess!"
Hayate's voice thundered back. "Then let me show you what 'nothing' can do!"
He unleashed every ounce of his rage.
[Skill Unlocked: Revenant Overdrive.]
[Effect: Doubles all offensive parameters at the cost of sanity.]
The ground turned molten as Hayate's body became pure motion. His sword sliced through the Executor's wings, through its armor, through the very light it wielded.
When the smoke cleared — only Hayate stood, panting, surrounded by fading golden ash.
[System Notice: Boss Eliminated.]
[Rewards Processing…]
But then—
The world went silent. The System's tone fractured.
[Error: Divine Source Interference Detected.]
A voice whispered through the silence — closer this time, not from the heavens but inside his mind.
"You amuse me still, Hayate. Let's make this more interesting…"
The Goddess.
Suddenly, his vision blurred. The chasm vanished, replaced by a field of white. He was floating in a void, standing before a woman draped in gold and shadow — her beauty too perfect to comprehend.
She smiled. "Do you remember me?"
Hayate's pulse quickened. "You're the one who cursed me to die."
"Cursed?" she laughed softly. "No. I blessed you with purpose. Without me, you'd still be that weak boy who begged for mercy."
He snarled. "And now I'll make you regret not killing me completely."
She stepped closer, her eyes glowing like dying suns. "Then come find me, little revenant. But know this — for every chain you break, I will tear something you love away."
The void shattered.
Hayate gasped as he woke — kneeling in the ruins again, sweat pouring down his face. His blade trembled in his grip.
[Quest Updated: The Goddess Moves Her Pieces — Objective: Survive and Gather the Fallen Fragments.]
He looked toward the horizon — where the capital's spires glowed faintly in the distance.
His voice was cold, steady, unyielding.
"Then let's begin the next game."