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System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Two
Oliver gasped as he tumbled through the endless dark. His body was spinning, but there was no ground, no sky, nothing to hold onto. It felt like falling, but not in the way he had ever known. There was no wind rushing past him, no sensation of weight pulling him downward. Instead, he floated in emptiness, dragged forward by something unseen. It was like being caught in a great river, carried by its current with no way to resist.Then, suddenly—impact.His back slammed against something solid. A sharp pain shot through him as the air was forced from his lungs. His vision blurred. For a moment, all he could do was lie there, gasping for breath, tasting blood in his mouth. He groaned and tried to move. His fingers found the surface beneath him—cold, damp stone. The texture was rough, uneven, slick as if it had been polished by time or something far worse.Slowly, Oliver pushed himself up. His muscles trembled, his limbs aching from the impact. Around him, the darkness was not complete. T
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Three
Minutes passed. Then hours.Oliver walked through the dark passageways, his boots scraping against the cold stone floor. His breath echoed around him, the only sound in the empty corridors. The air was damp, heavy with silence, pressing down on him like an invisible weight.He kept moving. Left, then right. He ran his fingers along the rough stone walls, hoping for something different, something new. He took out his dagger and scratched a mark into the wall—just a small cut, a sign to remind himself that he had been here before. If he found it again, he would know he was walking in circles.But when he passed through the hallway once more, the mark was gone.Oliver stopped. His stomach twisted. His throat felt tight. He turned sharply, retracing his steps, counting each turn in his head. Left. Right. Down the spiral path. He whispered the directions to himself, over and over, trying to hold onto them. But no matter how carefully he moved, no matter how many turns he took, he always en
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Four
The cold air hit Oliver’s face the moment he stepped through the doorway. It was sharp, like a blade cutting through the heavy dampness that had clung to him inside the labyrinth. The sudden change made him suck in a breath, his body tensing as the wind curled around him. His tattered cloak flapped wildly, its frayed edges snapping like worn-out flags. The cold slipped beneath the fabric, slithering along his skin, making him shiver. He took a deep breath, letting the crisp, fresh air fill his lungs, washing away the stale, suffocating atmosphere of the labyrinth.But the world beyond the doorway was not what he had expected.Oliver found himself standing on the very edge of a jagged cliff. The ground beneath his boots was cracked and crumbling, small stones tumbling down into the valley below. He barely dared to move, his heart hammering in his chest. A vast expanse stretched before him, covered in thick, rolling mist that shifted like something alive. In the distance, towering mou
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Five
The path was steep and dangerous. Oliver followed the woman as she walked down the winding trail, his boots slipping on loose stones. Every step was a battle to stay upright. The ground beneath him felt unstable, as if the earth itself did not want him there. The mist wrapped around his ankles, curling like fingers trying to pull him back. It smelled of damp soil and something else—something old and forgotten.As they went lower, the air grew warmer. But it was not a comforting warmth. It did not feel like the sun on his skin or the heat of a fire on a cold night. It felt unnatural, as if something deep below was breathing hot air into the world above. Oliver swallowed hard, but his throat was dry.The woman walked ahead of him, her dark cloak barely moving even though the wind tugged at his own clothes. She did not stumble. She did not hesitate. She moved as if she belonged here, as if the path itself welcomed her. Oliver, on the other hand, felt like an intruder. He kept his distanc
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Six
Oliver walked through the ruins, his steps slow and heavy. His whole body ached, as if every muscle had been stretched too far. He was tired, so tired, but his mind would not stop racing. The fire had shown him something—something he could not forget. No matter how much he tried, the images stayed in his head. He could still see Elias and Lena, could still feel the heat of that burning city. The guilt sat deep inside him, pressing against his ribs, making it hard to breathe.He clenched his fists, trying to steady himself. He had survived the labyrinth. He would survive this too.Ahead of him, the woman moved through the ruins without a sound. She never spoke unless she had to. Oliver still didn’t know her name. He wasn’t even sure if she had one. But she walked with confidence, like she had been through these ruins many times before. It made Oliver jealous. He had no confidence left.The golden fire behind them flickered, casting long, dancing shadows across the crumbling stones. The
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Seven
Oliver barely had a moment to breathe before the ground beneath him trembled. The ancient stone chamber groaned like a sleeping giant stirring awake after centuries of silence. Dust drifted into the air, thin and wispy, catching the dim light like tiny ghosts floating in the gloom."That can't be good," Oliver muttered under his breath, his pulse hammering against his ribs.The air smelled old—of stone, dampness, and something metallic, almost like blood. His heart pounded as he took a cautious step forward, eyes darting around the massive chamber. Every instinct screamed at him to be ready, though for what, he didn’t know.Then, at the center of the room, the pedestal pulsed with golden light.Oliver flinched. The glow pushed back the shadows, casting long, flickering shapes against the walls. The air hummed with energy, something deep and ancient that made the hair on his arms stand on end."What the hell is this?" he whispered, squinting against the brilliance.A low chime rang thr
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Eight
One moment, Oliver was locked in a fierce battle against the Arbiter, his muscles straining as he barely held his own against the sheer force of reality itself. Every strike of his sword was met with an overwhelming counter, every movement calculated against him. He had fought powerful enemies before, but this was different. This wasn’t just strength or skill—this was something greater, something impossible to defeat.Then, everything shattered.A loud crack split through the chamber, the very air breaking apart like fragile glass. Oliver barely had time to react before the world around him collapsed. The walls folded inward, the floor beneath him vanished, and suddenly, he was falling—tumbling through a void filled with fractured light. The golden threads of fate unraveled around him, twisting and curling like living things, reaching out as if trying to hold him back.His stomach lurched. He twisted in the air, struggling to grab onto something—anything—but there was nothing. Just th
System Activated: Divine Talent Granted Chapter Seventy-Nine
Dust floated in the air like tiny stars, swirling in the dim light. The shattered mirror realm had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but silence. Oliver could hear his own heartbeat, loud and fast, pounding like a war drum in his chest. He stood in the ruins, his hands shaking, his breath coming in short gasps. Everything around him felt still, too still, like the world itself was holding its breath.Then, the ground trembled beneath his feet.At first, it was a small vibration, just a whisper of movement. But then it grew stronger, shaking the ruins, sending loose stones tumbling from broken walls. A deep, low hum filled the air, not a sound, but a feeling—something ancient and powerful waking up. The hum grew into a roar, so loud it rattled Oliver’s bones. The air itself seemed to crackle with energy, like a storm about to break.“Oliver…?” a voice rasped.He turned sharply. Nadia was leaning against a broken pillar, her face pale, streaked with dirt and sweat. Blood stained the s
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Chapter One Hundred-Six
From the ceiling to the floor, the cavern was shaking. Dust motes and little sparks hung in the air, glowing like fireflies. Fragments of the battle still echoed faintly. Cracks curved across the charred walls, where pieces of stone and weapons were scattered over the ground like forgotten remnants of a story.Amidst all this, Oliver was lying sprawled on the ground. His chest was slowly rising and falling. Breathing, yes. Only just. He had survived through the illusion and to the other side of the trap, killed the strange mirror guardian, and survived the battle. It had now taken everything from him. His arms were heavy. His legs wouldn't move. His thoughts seemed to crawl towards him slowly, as though having to plough their way through viscous water. He had lost his sword. He remembered throwing it into the strange gate at the very last moment. It had been the sword he threw. He had seen the hilt disappearing into the light of dawn or early morning, or so he thought just a shade b
Chapter One Hundred-Five
The air smelled of orange blossoms and honey. For a long time, Oliver didn’t move. The sun warmed his face, and the wind was soft—like breath against his skin. A tree above him rustled gently, its leaves whispering secrets he couldn’t quite hear.He was lying in the grass. Real grass. Not cracked stone or ash-covered ground. Grass that tickled his arms. The sky was impossibly blue, like an ocean flipped upside down, and the clouds were like boats drifting with nowhere to go. No fire. No screaming metal. No sword in his hand.Only peace.He sat up slowly. His ribs didn’t hurt. His hands were whole. Even the scar across his chest, the one he’d earned in the fourth siege of Halron Keep, was gone. He touched his face, then his chest. Nothing. Clean.“Oliver,” a voice called.He turned.Azrael was walking toward him—alive. Smiling. That smile, that impossible, heart-breaking grin. His long black coat danced in the breeze. His boots didn’t crunch against the ground because there was no war
Chapter One Hundred-Four
With a roar that was not merely fury but grief, exile, and ancient betrayal turned into thunder, the colossus lunged forward, not as though it were a creature that had waited so long to be born, but as if with the terrifying speed of a thing that had long waited to be born.Oliver didn't pause; he took up instinct against design. His body moved then, not from muscle memory, but as if some deeper code had written this moment into the very fibersHis boots ignited sparks across the scorched floor, his every step a scream of resistance against impossibility, his blade trailing light that pulsed like a second heart, running in to the chaos. The monster-instance of his own image, by time and torment-raised a fist the size of a tombstone and every bit of it fell on Oliver, who attempted to fling himself to the left. The sheer force of that impact sent shockwaves through the rock, bursting fissures out across the obsidian floor and launching shards into the air like the jagged wings of a dyi
Chapter One Hundred-Three
Oliver was trudging up the stone stairs with the realization that he was moving painfully slow. The air weighed heavy, and each step felt more strenuous than the previous one. His hands were trembling. His chest felt tight. For no apparent reason. Just a feeling—a gut instinct of bad omen.And then it happened.The Rift didn’t just open within himself. It tore apart.An invisible stroke ran through his chest, like a lightning bolt striking it, but there came no sound. Only the pain: the marvelous, jagged, cutting right through him. He fell on one knee and gasped. The cracked stone of the stair came alive. Then the bubbling began—like wax being melted at the flame's edge.Heat erupted from inside him. First it was orange; then it turned white; now it was blue. The fire pouring from his chest was a tempest: rushing up, a whirl, furious, flashing. It burned quietly, but its heat howled. The sword slipped from Oliver’s grip, falling to the ground with a clang.For something too blinding,
Chapter One Hundred-Two
The light just seems to vanish from out of nowhere. A second ago, there it was-an object glowing brilliantly and warmly-and suddenly, it was all gone. The sky blinked, like an eye closing down. Everything turned to black. Then there were only the stairs. They curled upward. Cold, grey stone. One spiral staircase and no end in sight. It twists into the sky, through clouds of gold and fire. There are no walls-no railings-just air all around and far beneath, nothing. No ground. No sound. No color. No time. Just dark bottomless space..Oliver stood at the bottom of the stairs. Or maybe he was standing there for a long time already. He was not so sure. There was an ache in his chest, like it was torn from inside. Smoke rose from his skin, and his clothes burned and worn away. There was blood dripping from his hands. He tried to breathe, but it hurt. Still, he looked up. All that remained were those stairs. So he stepped forward. Slowly. Cautiously. His foot touched the first step. And t
Chapter One Hundred-One
No noise. No light. Only movement. Only pain. Only war. Oliver opened his eyes, or thought he did; nothing felt different in that place whether he kept them shut or not: no light change, no shapes, no borders, no floor, no sky, nothing but an endless void, pressing in from all sides with pressure like the deepest ocean. But he moved, so something must still exist.Smoke entered his lungs. Ice left his mouth. Every thud of pain in his ribs, pain that etched itself into his bones as fatigue, and yet he managed to keep going. Something else moved, too- around him, behind him, inside him. The monsters had come without the luxury of a warning, without the snarl of rage, or the cry of rage. They had come with silence.The first was but a shadow of a hand--a hand that pulled back from the dark and closed around his throat, its grip a grasp of memory, regret, and betrayal he had never healed from; as he shoved it away with his bare fingers, its form twisted, arms growing long, then thick, onl
Chapter One Hundred
The fall ended prematurely. Oliver hit an unyielding surface and felt all the wind slam out of his lungs. The force from the collision shot up his spine like fire through the nerves. In the darkness, there were no echoes, no sky, no ground—only an endless, choking absence of sound. He coughed. Blood smeared his lips. His fingers trembling, he began to push against the foreign black stone under him.Then he saw it.A space, vast and perfect in shape. A circular polished obsidian, with walls smooth and towering, but with no ceiling—the sky above, gone. Instead, an infinite void opened upward, with stars twisting sluggishly across an empty canvas. A quiet hum vibrated beneath the skin.It was in the center of this bizarre room that a mirror stood.It was higher than any mountain, wider than any battlefield. The frame was a molten silver flowing with red and gold veins that pulsed like living metal. The glass was too transparent, too deep- sheen might not be the appropriate word; it migh
Chapter Ninety-Nine
Each heartbeat pounded in Oliver's ears, almost as if his heart were beating within the recesses of his skull. The pain in his body seemed endless. There was not a part of his body that didn't hurt. His skin, once smooth, now shone with silver cracks running like lightning beneath his armor. It was strange yet felt familiar, a constant reminder of how far he had fallen. His legs felt heavy; his feet dragged across shattered ground as he stumbled onward. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. Each step was a battle, and each breath could have been the last unto his burning lungs, perforated by a kind of abandonment. It was a dull ache haunting Oliver, smoldering within him, refusing to die even if alongside him lay a body yearning for death.He tried to balance again, but the first thing he saw was them breaking through the shadow. Too many limbs had they! Bodies stitched with mismatched pieces of skin. Mouths sewn shut; gone were the eyes, replaced by empty, hollow sockets. C
Chapter Ninety-Eight
There was no time in the Forge. There were no clocks hanging on the walls, there was also no sun rising, even the view of a falling moon was nowhere in sight. Only pain existed-pain that never stopped, that almost felt intimate-comforted by the memory of a whisper against the skin. Oliver slammed down hard onto the ground; it thudded loud enough for the sound to all come rushing out of his lungs in one loud note. For a moment, he could not breathe. The ground hurt, not like normal stone; it felt sharp and strange, like bones mixed in with old broken swords. It groaned under him, like it was alive. He rolled onto his side, coughing. Cuts graced his skin. It flowed down his arms and legs. Some places in his body were hurting so badly that he couldn't figure out how he was even still moving. He tried to haul himself up, but the ground was pushing him down. It was like it didn't want to let him up. Above him were shadows. Huge, dark shadows moving silently. They were watching him. The
