Day 58 in the Aokigahara Rift.
The silence of the ancient dungeon was a product of extinction. Ren Hanshin walked through the grey fog. His boots made no sound against the rotting leaves. He didn't need to suppress his mana anymore, Jubei's Flow had become as natural to him as breathing. He was a ghost walking through a graveyard of his own making.
[System Notice: You have entered the deepest sector of the Rift.]
[Miasma toxicity is at maximum. S-Rank Vitality required for survival.]
Ren casually wiped a streak of black monster blood from his cheek. Over the last month, he had turned the unregulated S-Rank zone into a slaughterhouse. He had hunted Wendigos, Shadow Panthers, and Abyssal Treants until the system stopped generating them.
He was Level 74, and his Agility had breached 300. His Strength was high enough to crush diamond into powder barehanded. But more importantly, his mind was razor sharp.
[The God of Fate is resting her head on her hand, gazing at you.]
[God of Fate]: The forest is empty, my love. You have broken its spirit. There is nothing left here worthy of your blade.
"There's one thing left," Ren replied, his voice echoing in the dead woods. The earth beneath his feet began to tremble. The core of the Aokigahara Rift was shaking. The massive black trees groaned, their roots snapping as the ground fractured wide open.
From the abyss of the fractured earth, a colossal shadow rose. It was a beast of myth. A Corrupted Earth Wyrm, an ancient, wingless dragon made of jagged obsidian scales and veins of toxic green magma. It was easily a hundred feet long, its jaws dripping with acid that melted the surrounding trees into puddles of grey sludge.
[System Warning: SSS-Rank Apex Guardian 'The Abyssal World-Eater' has awoken!]
[Lethality Rate: Unquantifiable. Immediate Evacuation Recommended.]
ROARRR!!
The Wyrm let out a roar that tore the fog apart. The sound wave carried so much force that it shattered the boulders around Ren. Ren didn't flinch. The Embrace of the Weaver coat fluttered in the wind of the roar, but Ren stood perfectly still, his hands resting in his pockets.
"SSS-Rank," Ren muttered, a cold smile touching his lips. "Perfect."
The Wyrm locked its burning green eyes onto the tiny human. It opened its cavernous jaws, drawing in a breath of mana. The green magma veins on its throat shone bright. It was preparing a breath attack, a gathered beam of draconic acid capable of wiping a small city off the map.
Ren took his right hand out of his pocket. He simply raised his open palm toward the monster and activated his Mana Core.
"Domain Activation:" Ren whispered. "The Executioner's Block."
A spherical, blood field erupted from Ren's body, expanding outward at the speed of sound until it covered a two hundred yard radius. The grey fog was obliterated. The gravity within the red dome multiplied by twenty.
The Wyrm's breath attack misfired. The crushing authority of Ren's Domain snuffed out the dragon's magic before it could even leave its throat. The immense gravity slammed into the beast, forcing its massive head to crash into the dirt. The Wyrm thrashed, screeching in confusion and rage, but it couldn't lift its head. Inside this sphere, Ren commands the laws of reality.
Ren walked slowly toward the struggling, hundred foot monster. He raised his right hand. The air shattered, and the Severance of Destiny formed in his grip. The crimson blade hummed in perfect resonance with the domain. The Wyrm, acting on primal desperation, swung its spike-covered tail in a horizontal arc, aiming to crush the human in half.
Ren shifted his weight, allowing the large tail to pass inch over his head. The wind pressure ruffled his hair, but he didn't blink. As the tail passed, Ren activated Void Step. He vanished into shadows and reappeared above the Wyrm's pinned neck, suspended fifty feet in the red air.
"Skill Activation," Ren commanded coldly, pouring five hundred mana into his weapon. "Severance of Destiny: Third Form - The Sovereign's Guillotine."
He swung the scythe downward. A wave of crimson energy unleashed from the blade, expanding into a crescent of light. It didn't just cut the flesh. It cut the monster's connection to the world. The crimson crescent passed cleanly through the Wyrm's obsidian scales, its spine, and the earth beneath it.
Ren landed softly on the ground, his boots making no sound. He dismissed his Domain. The red sphere shattered like glass, returning the dark fog to the forest. Behind him, the SSS-Rank Abyssal World Eater lay still.
THUD!!
A moment later, its head slid off its neck, crashing to the ground with a sickening thud. The colossal body began to turn into black ash.
[Target Eliminated: SSS-Rank The Abyssal World-Eater.]
[Unprecedented Feat! SSS-Rank Anomaly slain solo!]
[Massive EXP gained!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have reached Level 75!]
[System Notice: The Host has reached the pinnacle of the Mortal Tier.]
[Class Evolution is now available. Do you wish to commence the Ascension Trial?]
Before Ren could select 'Yes', the forest was bathed in crimson light.
The blue system screens were shattered.
[The God of Fate is weeping tears of joy.]
[God of Fate]: My beautiful King! My flawless Executioner! You killed an SSS-Rank beast without even breathing heavily!
[God of Fate]: Deny the System's Ascension Trial, Ren. Do not let those pathetic mortal algorithms command your evolution.
Ren paused, his finger hovering over the interface. "If I don't evolve through the system, my stats will cap. I need the class upgrade for the draft."
[God of Fate]: I am your system.
The omni-view camera hovered down until it was inches from his face. The red lens shone with intensity.
[God of Fate]: The system forces mortals to undergo dangerous trials to prove their worth. But you do not need to prove anything. You already own my heart.
[God of Fate]: Close your eyes, Ren. Open your soul to me.
Ren hesitated. Rejecting a System Evolution was unheard of. But he remembered the brand burning on his chest. He was already too deep into her web to back out now. He closed his eyes and lowered his defenses.
A wave of power crashed down from the heavens, evading the canopy of the Rift. It struck Ren in the chest. It was a suffocating baptism of pure divine mana.
[The God of Fate is overriding the Universal System!]
[Mortal limits shattered.]
[Class Evolution Commencing...]
[New Class Acquired: 'Demigod of the Crimson Thread' (Divine/Mythic)]
Ren gasped, his eyes flying open. His irises, which had previously shimmered with a faint red light when he used mana, were now shifted into a striking crimson. A new, golden status window appeared, but the borders were wrapped in red silk.
[Name: Ren Hanshin]
[Race: Ascended Human (Demigod)]
[Class: Demigod of the Crimson Thread]
[Level: 1 (Divine Tier)]
[Stats]
Divine Strength: 10
Divine Agility: 15
Divine Vitality: 10
Divine Mana: 50 (Equivalent to 5,000 Mortal Mana)
Ren stared at the numbers. His mortal stats had been wiped, converted into 'Divine' stats. The scale of power had shifted. He was no longer playing the same game as the mortal hunters. He had stepped onto the cosmic board.
[The God of Fate has donated 50,000,000 Karma Points!]
[God of Fate]: You are halfway to me now, Ren. You carry the spark of a true Sovereign.
[God of Fate]: Go back to the blind dog. Show him the monster I have made you.
Ren willed his scythe away. He turned his back on the ashes of the Wyrm and began walking toward the exit of the Aokigahara Rift.
****
Day 60.
The morning sun broke over the Okutama Mountains. Jubei sat on the porch of the ruined Shinto shrine, drinking his morning tea. The blind old man paused, his cup hovering near his lips. He didn't hear footsteps, but his instincts of a former Sword Saint screamed at him. Every hair on his arms stood up. The air felt heavy, spiked with a terrifying authority that made his bones ache.
"You've returned," Jubei said, setting his cup down.
Out of the morning mist, Ren Hanshin emerged, his dark clothes tattered, but the midnight black coat draped over his shoulders was pristine. His crimson eyes glowed faintly in the daylight. He carried an aura that suppressed the nature around him. The birds in the trees had gone silent.
"It's Day Sixty, Master," Ren said. His voice was calm, but it carried a strange, dual resonance.
Jubei slowly stood up. He reached out with his mana senses, trying to read Ren's core.
The old man gasped, taking a step back. "Your core... it's gone. No, it hasn't vanished. It has crystallized. You... you ascended. Without the System's trial."
"I have a generous patron," Ren replied. Jubei bowed his head, a mixture of awe and sorrow on his scarred face. "You are a Demigod now, Ren Hanshin. The mortal realm can no longer hold you. But remember what I taught you. Power without control is just a loud noise. Do not let the divine spark burn away your humanity."
"I won't forget," Ren said.
BROOMM!!
Suddenly, the clear morning sky above Tokyo shattered, it was a magical one. An ear-piercing horn echoed across the planet. The sky turned an elegant gold. Every single Awakened on Earth, from F-Rank to S-Rank, saw the same golden text burn itself into their vision.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT!]
[The Grace Period has ended.]
[The Sovereign's Draft has officially commenced.]
[The Savage Lands Domain has been unlocked in the central Pacific Ocean. All Chosen Avatars have 24 hours to enter the Draft Arena. Failure to participate will result in the immediate revocation of all Constellation Sponsorships and the Host's death.]
[Victory Condition: Only one Avatar may claim the Crown of the Zenith. Bloodshed is permitted. Bloodshed is expected.]
Ren looked up at the golden sky. The God of Light. The God of War. The God of Death. The God of Magic. The God of Wealth. The God of Mischief.
They had all spent years grooming their champions, feeding them resources, and preparing them for this tournament to prove supremacy. They were sending Level 80 and 90 monsters to crush the anomaly that had insulted them. Ren reached up and touched the crimson brand through his shirt.
The crimson chat box popped up beside his head.
[The God of Fate is smiling a beautiful smile.]
[God of Fate]: It is time, my King. Go to their arena.
[God of Fate]: Kill them all. Paint the Savage Lands red for me.
Ren smiled, it was the cold, ruthless smile of an Executioner.
"System," Ren commanded. "Initiate teleportation to the Savage Lands."
A pillar of crimson light crashed down from the sky, swallowing the ruined shrine. When the light faded, Ren Hanshin was gone. The hunt had begun.