With a wave of his hand, Liam sheathed the crimson sword and asked the one question that had been bothering him since the previous day. "Jacky, I was wondering, apart from the usual ranks like City, County, and the rest, are there other divisions for the blessed?" Jacky looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I believe you're referring to the concept of true names. To a certain extent, a blessed with a true name from his or her deity should be stronger than a blessed without one, much like how Hypnos and Thanatos had true names." He paused for a moment, as if to give weight to his next words. "There are blessed with ordinary true names and then those like Hypnos and Thanatos with divine true names, essentially names of their respective gods granted to them. When a god grants his very own name to the blessed, it elevates them to the unique class of apostles." Liam nodded in satisfaction at Jacky's explanation. "So, Hypnos and Thanatos are powerful
The sun hid behind the magnificent buildings, Bell was in her room, standing beside the window, longing, maybe even praying for salvation from this cursed place. As for who she was praying to, Bell wasn't sure herself. Was it the ancient gods littered all around the castle, or maybe even the true God in the golden room? It could be the new gods; she was certainly praying for Harper to lend her assistance, so maybe that could be a form of worship, she thought. Bell smiled derisively at herself. Her dinner was already on the study table, and it was only several seconds till seven pm sharp, and then her next miserable night would begin. Bell didn't let the horrors of Castle Deasil deprive her of her appetite. She walked over to the table, the wooden floorboards creaking ominously under her feet. The aroma of the meal was faint, almost as if the scent was being swallowed by the oppressive atmosphere of the castle. She sat down and began to eat, her eyes flicking nervously to the door e
Bell slumped to the side, dodging as the shadow aimlessly walked past her. The shadow was actually human, and seeing that, Bell visibly relaxed. Although it looked human, it seemed soulless, almost like a moving corpse. The figure’s movements were slow and mechanical, its eyes void of any light or life. Bell didn't wait to confirm and immediately went the other way. She walked for what she assumed was thirty minutes before she once more saw another shadowy entity. Just like the previous one, it also ignored her and walked in the direction the first one went, its footsteps echoing hollowly in the otherwise silent expanse. Bell was still not ready to acknowledge the elephant in the room and kept walking in the opposite direction. The oppressive atmosphere seemed to weigh her down with every step. Eventually, she came across more and more shadowy entities, and just like all the previous ones, they were walking in a fixed direction as if they were being called toward a central point
Bell took a heavy step back, her name echoed from within the abyss, calling out to her, telling her to dive in. She glanced back at the still shadows before hardening her heart and taking a step towards the abyss. Bell stopped several steps away from the abyss gate and proceeded to gaze into its dreadful maw. ~Bell, come to me, I miss you... we all miss you. Why did you leave us, Bell~ The echoes started to replicate the voices of Bell's loved ones, trying to draw her closer. But it didn't work. Bell took a step back and continued to scrutinize the abyss. ~Get in here, for fuck's sake!~ The voice in the abyss suddenly roared, causing the white wooden chains to rattle and the ground to shake. Bell stumbled back in fright and fell on her butt. "What the hell?" Bell exclaimed in shock. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she yelled, shifting all the way to the edge of the slope. She waited quietly for a reply, but it never came. She slowly crept back to the edge of the abyss and o
Boooom. The ground quaked as Liam's fist slammed into it, sending tremors rippling through the earth. Dust and debris scattered, creating a temporary veil around the impact site. The sheer force of the blow caused his opponent to somersault away in a desperate bid for survival, barely dodging the cataclysmic punch. "I guess a new demigod immediately getting that high on the God's ranking can't be some fluke after all," muttered Water Haze, his voice tinged with grudging admiration and disbelief. Liam rose to his full height, his fist still clenched and smoldering from the impact. He stared indifferently at Water Haze, his expression a mask of calm despite the chaos he had just unleashed. Water Haze, a city-level Blessed with a true name, wasn't about to be outdone. He returned Liam's gaze with a fierce glare, refusing to back down even as unease gnawed at his insides. Water Haze had assumed Liam's placement among the top ten thousands of the God's ranking was a fluke. After a
The abyss pocket space was designed to hold an abyss prison, and within it, an abyssal entity. This pocket space was hidden within a portrait in Castle Deasil. For over a millennia, the space of this pocket realm remained intact, with no fractures or fissures, until this very day. The dark crimson clouds in the sky recoiled and squirmed almost in distress of an imminent attack. The thick clouds swirled, forming a massive tornado that tore through the sky. The unnaturally soft ground flowed like a wave, the mountains collapsed, and the sky began to fall. If you were to look from outside the pocket space, you would see a beam of light shooting through this apocalypse, tearing the unnatural elements asunder. With a deafening sonic boom, the beam of light smashed into the abyss prison. A wave of air pressure spread out from the point of impact, sending debris and dust into the red whirlwind storm. The wooden chains rattled but did not break. The forgotten God made no movements, as if
"Collapse and compress, cosmic dust." The realm felt and acknowledged Harper's presence, and as a sign of its submission, the space began to collapse as a result of Harper's pink stardust. The crimson clouds began to compress and implode on themselves, creating a devastating scene of destruction within the pocket space. It reached a point where a starry sky filled with endless, beautiful stars was revealed above Harper. From the looks of it, a single step was enough for her to cross into the space above, but she wasn't strong enough for that yet. Harper held onto Bell as she indifferently watched the world crumble around them. The scene below was nearly inconceivable to an ordinary human; it was a good thing Bell was unconscious. "Come to me, divine aspect." With a word from Harper, a pink spear that seemed forged from pink stardust materialized beside her. Unlike the previous nine spears she had summoned, this one was more tangible, resembling an actual spear that could be hel
Harper sucked in the hot, turbid air of the abyss pocket space. Their previous attack had dispersed the dark crimson clouds from their location, allowing Harper to finally have a clear look at her opponent. It was a powerful abyssal, a monstrosity that dwelled within the middle spectrum of the abyss realm. It was considered hideous in all the layers of the abyss realms. The monstrosity had four large eyes with crimson irises. Its body was covered in thick fur that dropped all the way below its ankles. The monstrosity’s body was fourteen times the size of Harper, resembling a small hill. It had long claws and unnaturally long arms that seemed capable of extending beyond their normal reach. Abyssals are more or less intelligent, sentient beings, which makes them even scarier than they are supposed to be. The dark clouds slowly returned, obscuring Harper's vision once more. ~This power wasn't achieved through the divine flame, nor a noble bloodline... Hehehe~ the abyssal chuckled, i