The Rejected Son-In-Law Is A Reincarnated God

008

Detroit – Midnight Alley

Jason’s boots splashed through shallow puddles as he stalked down the alley. The city was a far cry from New York’s glossy skyscrapers—Detroit felt raw, like the bones of America were exposed here.

Then he heard it.

A scuffle.

Gravel skidding. A voice gasping…. It was young, maybe seventeen.

He turned the corner.

Two men cornered a teen against a dumpster, knives drawn. One had a ski mask, the other wore a hoodie and a desperate grin.

“Give me your fucking wallet now!”

Jason didn’t speak. He moved gently.

One kick shattered the first mugger’s kneecap. The second didn’t even see the elbow that dropped him.

The teen bolted.

Jason stood still, letting his breath settle. Blood pounded in his ears, not from exertion, but something else.

The shift. The strange clarity that came right before the System spoke.

But nothing came.

Instead, from behind a stack of crates, a voice rasped:

“You’re not like them. You reek of judgment.”

He spun.

A woman stepped forward, blindfolded with crimson silk, her layers of mismatched shawls swaying like smoke. Her skin was weathered, bronze-brown and deeply lined, her fingers clutching a crooked cane.

Jason tensed. “Who the hell are you?”

“One who sees what others cannot.”

She smiled faintly.

“Come. Tea’s growing cold.”

He should’ve walked away.

But something in her tone… commanded.

Inside Her Shop – A Place Out of Time

The door jingled behind him as Jason stepped into another world.

Shelves lined with books bound in cracked leather. Jars filled with herbs, bones, and ash. Ancient weapons hung beside painted scrolls in languages he didn’t recognize. The air smelled like cinnamon, dust, and ozone.

He glanced around. “Is this… legal?”

“That depends. What do you believe in?”

She led him through a velvet curtain into a small, circular backroom.

The space pulsed with energy. It was too still and it felt Like time hesitated here.

She poured tea into mismatched porcelain cups. Her blindfold never moved.

“Sit. The future is patient, but I’m not.”

Jason sat. “You said something before. About judgment.”

Her hands were wrinkled but steady. She reached out and gently touched his.

And everything exploded.

Flash – Vision Surge

A battlefield. Endless and red.

Corpses of gods strewn across cracked earth. Colossal towers collapsing. The sky split by lightning not of this world.

In the center: him. Or someone who looked like him—taller, armored in obsidian and fire. Eyes like suns. Sword etched with burning runes.

Ar-Zekar.

The War God! Enforcer and Divine Judge!.

Around him: gods kneeling, whispering his name. Behind them… a woman. Ethereal. Crowned in moonlight.

Then betrayal. Her lips pressed to his as her hand drove a spear through his heart.

A child’s cry echoed across the cosmos.

A blinding cage of light.

Chains of gold.

A divine infant sealed in crystal…

Jason gasped. The floor fell away and Reality buckled.

Back in the Room

Jason jolted backward, knocking over the cup.

The woman collapsed across the table, her breath became shallow.

He caught her.

“What the hell was that?!”

She exhaled, voice a whisper.

“Memories buried too deep… until now.”

Jason’s heart was hammering.

“That was real?”Jason strained his eyes.

The woman nodded her head gently.“You were Ar-Zekar. God of Judgment. Cast down by the very pantheon you protected.”

“Why?”Jason furrowed.

“Because you refused to let evil go unpunished… even when it wore a divine face.”She heaved a sigh.

Jason stared, his pulse slowing down.

The woman’s hand clutched his sleeve.

“Find the child… before she does.”

“Who—” Jason was utterly confused.

But before she could speak further, she had fainted.

Jason eased her down to a woven mat. Her shop was deathly still.

Then—

System AI (new tone – deeper, more resonant):

“Apostle Located. Trial 4 Loaded: Sacrifice or Salvation.”

Jason’s breath caught.

Suddenly, beneath the rug, a glyph ignited which was circular, ancient, shifting between languages. Symbols rose into the air, spinning slowly.

The walls wavered, their colors bleeding into gold and ash.

He looked around as the air thickened and the space itself trembling.

Reality shifted, just for a second. A minor divine realm overlapped the room. Light bent strangely and the candles flared without flame.

Jason stood in the center, eyes wide, as something deep in his blood hummed.

His veins glowed faintly again, golden and circuit-like beneath his skin—only this time, he noticed.

He clenched his fists.

“I’m not just remembering who I was…”

“…I’m becoming him again.”