DIVINE.EXE: Ascension Protocol

CHAPTER 9: The Hound That Hunts God's

The beast stood in the middle of his living room. Too large for the space. Too real for logic.

Its four heads hung from a thick, corded neck, each one different. One hissed. One growled low. One breathed slowly and measured. The last grinned, lips pulled back over too many teeth.

Cracked tiles bent under its weight. The floor had already begun to cave. Framed photos lay shattered beneath its claws. The couch sagged, half-melted, half-crushed, like the room itself had tried to escape and failed.

Ryker stood near the doorway, shoulders squared, heart beating too loud in his ears. His body knew before his mind accepted it.

This thing was not meant to exist here.

“I guess you’re one of Clark’s experiments,” Ryker said. His voice didn’t shake, though pressure crawled up his spine, cold and invasive. “What should I call you before I kill you?”

The beast went still.All four heads stopped moving at once.

No breath. No sound.

The silence pressed down harder than the noise had. It lasted half a second.

Then space folded.

The creature vanished.

Ryker didn’t even have time to blink. Pain detonated into his side like a bomb. His ribs screamed. His body lifted, twisted sideways, and flew across the room. He hit the couch hard enough to snap it in half, then kept going. The wall behind it exploded outward. Wood, brick, and concrete burst into the night.

Ryker landed in a sprawl of broken furniture and dust.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then sensation came rushing back.

His vision smeared. Sound returned in pieces. Something warm ran down his cheek.

A red bar burned into his sight.

HEALTH: 60%

Forty percent gone. Gone in one hit.

Fear wrapped around his chest, tight and suffocating. Not panic. Something colder. Cleaner.

Understanding.

If he misstepped—

He would die.

Ryker rolled onto his side, coughing dust and blood. His muscles screamed as he forced himself upright. His legs wobbled, but they held.

The beast stood across the room again, exactly where it had been before. Claws dug into the floor. The concrete screamed and fractured beneath them.

It watched him. Waiting.

Ryker didn’t hesitate.

SYSTEM — ARMORY ACCESS

The dagger formed in his hand with a familiar weight. Black metal. Simple. Balanced. It grounded him.

He held it close, blade angled down, breath slow despite the ache ripping through his ribs.

The beast roared with intent.

The pressure slammed into him like a wall. The windows rattled. The remaining glass spiderwebbed. His teeth clicked together from the vibration alone.

A warning burned across his vision.

MURDER INTENT DETECTED. ELIMINATE TARGET FOR MYSTERY ABILITY REWARD

Ryker’s mouth curved into something sharp.

“Guess the system wants you dead as much as I do.”

The beast attacked. It crossed the room in a blink.

Ryker raised his guard on instinct.

The impact still sent him flying.

He smashed through the inner wall and out into the yard, landing in a storm of debris. His arms went numb. Pain screamed through his shoulders. Something strained. Something tore.

HEALTH: 40%

CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED

His breath came fast, harsh. Every inhale burned.

Anger cut through the fear—pure and focused.

He pushed off the ground before the beast could follow through.

This time, he attacked. Ryker moved first.

He and the beast blurred through the wreckage, crossing the yard in streaks of motion too fast for anything human to track. Each collision sent shockwaves through the street. Windows shattered in sequence. Parked cars rocked violently. Alarms screamed into the night.

Ryker struck again and again.

The dagger carved glowing lines across the beast’s hide. Not deep enough for any real damage.

The wounds sealed instantly. Flesh crawled back together like liquid muscle. Bone clicked back into place.

The beast laughed. All four mouths.

The sound was wrong. Layered. Mocking.

Then it hit him.

Ryker flew backward and slammed into a standing wall fragment. His ribs screamed. The impact drove the air from his lungs.

HEALTH: 10%

The warning flared red.

SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

Ryker vanished behind the remaining concrete slab as the beast tore through the yard again. He dropped to one knee, chest heaving.

Blood ran down his chin and splashed onto the ground.

ARMORY — STORE

The interface flicked open fast.

RECOVERY POTION — 12 COINS

He didn’t hesitate.

PURCHASE CONFIRMED

 COINS REMAINING: 18

He drank.

Heat surged through his veins. Bones slid back into place with sickening ease. Muscle rewove itself. Breath snapped back into his lungs like it had been stolen and returned.

HEALTH: 100%

He stayed focused.

His eyes locked onto something new.

SHORT SWORD — ENHANCED DAMAGE — 15 COINS

Clean. Balanced. Mean.

PURCHASE CONFIRMED

 COINS REMAINING: 3

The sword materialized in his hand.

Shorter than a longsword. Heavier than the dagger. Its edge hummed faintly, like it wanted blood.

The beast found him anyway. It didn’t need sight.

Its roar alone shattered the slab Ryker hid behind. Debris exploded outward, slicing the air like shrapnel.

Ryker stepped through it. Sword tight in his grip. Resolve settled into him like armor.

Then, he attacked.

The first strike landed clean across one of the beast’s shoulders.

The creature screamed. Pain, raw and furious. It backhanded him across the yard, claws tearing flesh, but Ryker rolled with it and came back up immediately. He didn’t retreat. Didn’t hesitate. He pressed forward, blade flashing.

They clashed again.

And again.

The fight dragged on, brutal and unclean. Ryker adapted with every exchange. He learned the timing between heads. The lag between movements. The blind spots when two heads struck at once.

He took hits. He gave worse ones.

The sword bit deep. Each strike carved slower-healing wounds. The beast’s movements grew heavier. Its laughter turned ragged.

Ryker drove it back step by step, cutting, dodging, striking without mercy.

The beast slowed.

Just a fraction.

Enough.

Ryker stepped inside its reach and drove the blade straight through its core.

The creature froze.

All four heads howled at once.

Then its body unraveled. Peeling apart into ash and heat, dissolving into nothing until the night swallowed it whole.

Silence followed.

Ryker dropped to his knees. Then fell onto his back.

He stared up at the sky. Smoke drifted where his house used to be. The walls were gone. The roof was gone. Everything familiar lay broken and burning around him.

His chest rose and fell slowly.

The system stayed quiet.

Then,measured footsteps sounded behind him.

A woman's voice followed—low and ancient.

“Theros.” she said.