The God of Endless Revenge

7

The leading Elder did not even raise his hands. The old man simply flicked his black sleeve.

An invisible mountain of crushing force crashed down from the ceiling, slamming into Lucas’s shoulders like a falling sky.

The heavy wooden stage shattered beneath his knees as his ribs snapped with a sickening crunch.

The crushing pressure drove the breath from Lucas's lungs, flattening him face-first into the bloody floorboards.

"Insolent ant," the Elder spoke softly, looking down at him with pure disgust. "Without your supreme core, you are nothing."

Lucas clawed at the wood with bleeding fingernails, coughing mouthfuls of blood as he fought to lift his head.

"Lily..." Lucas wept, his voice breaking into raw agony. "Lily!"

Tied to the black post, the small girl heard his ragged cry.

Using the voice Lucas had restored to her in the dark cell, Lily weakly forced her chin up.

Tears of blood leaked from her ruined, milky eyes, dripping down her pale cheeks.

"Brother..." Lily cried out, her small voice shaking through the quiet hall. "I am sorry... they hurt me so much... I told them you came..."

Lucas’s heart tore into bloody pieces. "Lily, hold on! Brother is here!"

Lily shook her head weakly against the cold stone, weeping through her bloody lips.

"Run, brother..." Lily sobbed, her voice fading to a fragile, dying whisper. "Please... just leave me and run... you have to live..."

The black bone dagger pulsed with blinding dark energy.

A violent shockwave ripped through Lily’s tiny frame as her glowing silver soul was torn entirely from her chest, flowing into the five golden cups.

Her head fell limp against her shoulder. Her small chest sank flat, completely still.

The Five Elders raised the five cups to their lips, drinking the glowing silver soul in deep, greedy gulps.

Terrifying waves of immortal power exploded from their bodies, shaking the grand pavilion to its foundations.

Their wrinkled, grey skin smoothed out into healthy flesh, and their thin white hair turned pitch-black in seconds.

Five hundred years of raw youth and power flooded their ancient veins as their auras crushed the air in the room.

The leading Elder lowered his empty cup, wiping his mouth with a cold, indifferent look.

With a careless kick of his black boot, he knocked the iron cage door open, sending Lily’s body tumbling out.

Her small, lifeless frame rolled down the wooden steps, landing heavily on the floor right in front of Lucas’s face.

"Take your dead meat," the Elder said, turning his back. "Her soul belongs to us now."

The Five Elders waved their hands together, tearing open a massive portal in the air, and stepped through into nothingness.

Damien looked down at Lucas pinned in the blood, letting out a soft, mocking laugh.

"Look at you," Damien sneered, turning toward the exit doors. "You gave your whole life to this empire, and in the end, you couldn't even keep your sister alive."

Celeste giggled softly, wrapping her arm around Damien's waist as their guards followed behind them.

"Leave him in the dirt," Celeste said with a cruel laugh. "The Emperor is waiting for our celebration."

Their voices faded down the aisle until the massive oak doors slammed shut, plunging the hall into dead silence.

The crushing pressure finally lifted from the room.

Lucas pushed his bleeding arms against the floor, dragging his broken body toward the silent figure in front of him.

"Lily..." Lucas whispered, reaching out with trembling, bloody fingers.

He pulled her small, lightweight body into his arms, cradling her head against his chest.

Her skin was ice-cold. There was no heartbeat beneath her torn clothes, and no breath coming from her pale lips.

She was just an empty, hollow shell.

Lucas buried his face into her tangled hair, gripping her stiff shoulders as tears burned his eyes.

'If only I had reached Level 5...' Lucas wept silently, his chest heaving with dry sobs. 'The System offered to summon my future self... my future self would have told me this was never an auction!'

He had prepared for the wrong fight. He had chased after dirty gold while the monsters sharpened their knives.

In the deepest pit of his grief, a terrifying tremor shook the foundations of his soul.

A deafening chime rang inside his mind like thunder cracking the sky.

[Host has experienced Extreme Grief & Total Soul Shock.]

[Mortal Limits Shattered: Heavenly Fate-Reversal System Upgraded to LEVEL 2!]

[New Ability: 'Soul Mark' — Permanently tracks the five pieces of Lily's soul inside the Five Elders!]

[New Ability: 'Command Voice' — Absolute mind control over weaker enemies!]

[New Ability: 'Corpse Refine' — Turn killed enemies directly into Fate Points!]

[New Ability: 'Blood Debt' — Doubles all point rewards when killing the Five Elders!]

[Main Quest Activated: Hunt and slay the Five Elders. Rip Lily's five soul pieces from their bodies to bring her back to life!]

Lucas stared at the glowing blue text in the dark, feeling the cold numbness in his chest turn into white-hot, quiet wrath.

'She is not dead,' Lucas realized, his breathing slowing into a steady, lethal focus. 'Her soul is still out there, beating inside their chests.'

He gently reached out, closing Lily’s sightless eyes with his thumb.

"Wait for me, Lily," Lucas whispered softly, kissing her cold forehead. "Brother is going to bring you home."

With a single thought, Lucas opened the System’s time-freeze storage, placing Lily’s body safely inside where time could never touch her flesh.

The space closed, leaving the stage completely empty.

Lucas stood up slowly from the shattered floor.

His broken ribs snapped back into place with crisp, painless pops as the Level 2 System healed his body.

Black stygian fire burned around his fists, wrapping his broad shoulders in a dark, swirling mist.

He had bled for this empire for ten years. He had frozen in the mud, protected their cities, and carved out his own core to save their lives.

And this rotten realm had blinded his sister, stolen his glory, and drunk her soul for their own immortality.

Lucas looked toward the closed double doors, his eyes burning with cold, merciless red light.

“I gave up my power to save your lives,” Lucas whispered into the empty hall, his voice deathly quiet. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance. Now, you’re going to regret ever crossing me.”