Godseed Ascension System

2

Kael knelt beside Salene’s lifeless body, trembling hands stained with her blood. The hollow ache in his chest burned hotter with every breath. He wanted to do something—anything—but there was nothing he could do to bring her back. He was no god.

“Monster,” Kael whispered, his eyes darkening as he rose to his feet, shaking with fury. “I will kill you!”

With a roar, he lunged at Magnar, anger raw and desperate. He aimed for the patriarch’s throat, swinging the knife wildly, but Magnar was faster. A hand crackling with dark energy met Kael mid-air, sending him hurtling across the hall. He crashed onto the marble floor with a sickening thud, his bones displacing.

“You think that’s enough to kill me?” Magnar sneered, wiping invisible specks of dirt from his sleeve. “You are nothing but a mere mistake. You can’t touch me.”

Kael stood up, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. “I won’t stop,” he said, staggering toward Magnar.

The patriarch smiled, a predatory glint in his glassy eyes as he turned to the spectators. “I will make a scapegoat of this one, so none of you ever concede to weakness, no matter how little.”

He raised his hand, and a pulse of dark matter formed into a glowing globe that he sent flying at Kael. The impact hit like a freight train, searing pain ripping through Kael’s body as he dropped to his knees, coughing blood, clutching his stomach with bloodshot eyes.

Yet again, Kael stood.

Magnar chuckled coldly. “You are stubborn,” he mused, conjuring another blade—larger, darker. He slashed the weapon through the air, and the strike tore through Kael’s side, crippling him.

“Oh, boy, you would have made a fine soldier, but your weak heart is your downfall,” Magnar jeered. He gestured, and the guards dragged Kael’s twins into the hall, their faces twisting with fright at the sight of their father’s broken condition.

“They stay here with their grandfather,” Magnar continued, his voice like ice. “When they are mature enough, they will continue where their father couldn’t or face the same fate.”

“No!” Kael screamed, struggling to rise, but his body betrayed him.

Jericho laughed, stepping forward. “Oh, brother. I warned you to stop feeling superior to us, but you didn’t listen. Now look at you.”

Magnar ignored Kael’s pleas and instructed for the twins to be taken away despite their cries and struggles. “Jericho,” he called, pointing to the second woman, still bound and trembling. “Finish this.”

Without hesitation, Jericho plunged a dagger into the woman’s heart. Her scream echoed through the hall, and at the same time, her vitalis escaped from her mouth, which Jericho collected in a bottle before presenting it to his grandfather on his bent knee.

The room reeked of blood and death. Kael’s body sagged, broken and helpless. Soon, the heavy marching of men reached his ears. He barely had the strength to look up as armed officers surrounded him.

“Kael Magnar,” an officer called coldly. “You are under arrest for the murder of two women, illegal vitalis harvesting, and the attempted murder of General Magnar.”

Kael’s mind splintered. “No, I didn’t—”

“Save it,” the officer snapped, motioning to his men. They seized Kael, pulling him to his feet and cuffing his hands behind his back.

Kael’s knees buckled, unable to hold his weight. His eyes swept the room filled with monsters. None tried to help him. None pitied him. The only faces with any emotion belonged to Salene’s uncle and father, who stood silently. He gritted his teeth. They were all the same. A father who could watch his daughter get killed before his very eyes was no father at all.

Jericho grinned, malice in his eyes. “Guess you’ll rot as a failure after all.”

Kael’s world fractured, but he vowed one thing: if he survived, he would return and make them all pay. He would save his children from the vicious cycle that awaited them.

[Ding. Soul essence detected.]

[Classification: Godspeed.]

[Potential: Locked.]

The monotone voice chimed in Kael’s head again. Confusion, fear, and anger swirled within him but he was too weak to react. Darkness claimed him.

*

When Kael awoke, he was in a holding cell, unaware of what was happening outside. His wounds were untreated, and he was dehydrated. It was the punishment for murder and vitalis harvesting in Galancia. The entire country now believed that Kael Magnar, the eldest son of the renowned Magnar family, had murdered his wife and her distant cousin for their vitalis, attempted to harm his children, and tried to kill the family patriarch.

There was video evidence—manipulated, of course—fitting perfectly with the crimes Kael was accused of. Every swing he took at Magnar during their fight had been edited to look like an attack on his wife and her cousin. Once an unimportant member of the Magnar family, Kael had become the most hated man of the century.

Protests erupted, demanding capital punishment. The state governor and officials reached a verdict.

Kael was brought before a large jury of judges, and his tattered appearance was broadcast live. The world watched as he stood, barely able to hold himself upright. His shame was evident, every step adding to his humiliation.

“For the crimes of murder for vitalis, attempted murder, and plans to harm infants, this jury finds you guilty,” Governor Caius declared, his voice booming with finality.

No lawyer had agreed to defend Kael, and he could barely speak for himself. It didn’t matter to him, he had accepted his fate.His death will be justice enough for failing his family.

 But what awaited him was far worse than death.

“This jury sentences you to await your final trial in Lorodia.”

Kael’s head snapped, his bloodshot eyes had a mix of shock , fear and disbelief.

Lorodia—the worst place on the planet. People were dumped there to die, fighting against vicious monsters. No one left Lorodia alive. If Kael was to survive, he would have to become the monster they already believed him to be.

In mere hours, Kael was teleported to Lorodia, unconscious, with only 100 days to survive before his final trial. His fate, however, was crueler than expected—he was dropped into the Red Zone, the most dangerous part of Lorodia, teeming not just with feral beasts but with the worst kind of monsters: the survivors.

[Analyzing host…]

[Error detected: Vital functions failing.]

[Activating emergency protocols.]