The divine spark faded from his eye.
For the first time in existence, a god died by divine hands.
And heaven did not yet understand what it had unleashed.
***
Rivion woke choking on air.
Cold stone pressed against his back as he lay staring at the foreign stars.
He rolled onto his side and coughed, lungs burning as though he had surfaced from deep water. The sky above him was wrong. Too wide. Too clear. Constellations he didn't recognize stared back like unfamiliar eyes.
"Where am…?"
His voice echoed faintly.
He pushed himself upright.
He wasn't in his apartment, or anywhere he recognized.
A circular platform stretched beneath him — smooth black stone etched with faint lines that pulsed like veins beneath glass. The world beyond the platform was an endless expanse of stars suspended in a void.
No buildings.
No horizon.
Just… infinity.
His heartbeat began to race.
"This isn't funny. Take me back. Now!"
There was no one to hear him.
Then—
A faint chime rang inside his skull.
Not in the air.
Inside him.
A translucent screen flickered into existence before his eyes.
[Authority Transfer: Initiated]
[Domain: Strife]
[Candidate: Confirmed]
Rivion stumbled backward.
The screen moved with him.
He blinked hard.
It remained.
"This is a dream."
The text shifted.
[Strife Authority Initialized – 10% Synchronization]
[Celestial Trial Protocol Available]
His chest tightened.
A warmth bloomed beneath his ribs.
Not pain.
Something… heavier.
Like something vast had folded itself small and taken residence behind his ribs.
Images flashed — not quite memories, not quite his — fragments of crimson light, Celestial Chains, and nine thrones passing judgment.
A smile.
A fist of blinding light.
Rivion gasped and clutched his chest.
"What did you do to me?"
The screen responded instantly.
[God of Strife Authority Unlocked]
[Inherited: God of Strife System]
"I inherited a dead god's [System]…?"
Rivion's breathing slowed, not because he was calm — but because something inside him demanded composure.
The void around him shifted.
In the distance, thrones began to form.
Nine of them.
Silent.
Watching.
[Trial One Pending]
A new line appeared at the bottom of the interface.
Unblinking.
Unforgiving.
[Failure Means Death.]
Rivion swallowed.
"No. No, this isn't real."
The stars dimmed.
A presence pressed against him from every direction at once.
Real.
The screen pulsed once more.
[Ready to begin?]
Somewhere above him, nine gods understood the tenth seat had been filled.