The dungeon doors slammed shut, sealing the fate of the monster hunters. Desperate screams echoed through the boss room as the guild's blood slowly dripped through the cracks in the cold, worn floor.
The Light Knight — a monster feared worldwide — struck each hunter down with a single sword blow. None of them had a chance.
The power difference was grotesque. Both the knight and his horse seemed made of solid shadows, at least five times the size of any human. The group's attacks couldn't even scratch his pitch-black armor.
Among the survivors, Yaso, a famous support, dragged himself across the floor, missing his legs and covered in wounds. With what little strength he had left, he tried to reach Mika, the woman he deeply loved. He passed over the cold, lifeless bodies of his friends until he finally touched her hand. And for a moment, he smiled.
She was still alive.
Despite struggling to breathe with a punctured lung, Mika returned the gesture with a trembling look. Tears of sorrow mixed with the blood on the floor.
[Vital Skill Unlocked: The Guardian] A sudden wave of peace filled Yaso's heart, as if an angelic breath had reached him in his final moments. [The "The Guardian" vital skill can only be used on another living being, excluding monsters and hostile creatures. It teleports the recipient to a safe location, fully healing them.]
— Live for me, Mika...
These were his last words.
Yaso died still holding her hand.
Then the magic activated.
A purple portal opened above the room, tearing through the air with thunder. Lightning struck the Light Knight's head, causing him to stumble briefly.
A glowing book appeared. Its pages turned on their own, revealing scenes from Mika's life, until only one blank line remained. A floating quill appeared in her hand. With the little consciousness left, Mika wrote her name... and Yaso's.
The book closed.
The quill turned to glowing dust, and Mika lost consciousness before she could see the room around her disappear.
This was the suffocating end to their lives — or perhaps the beginning of something new.
Thus, Yaso's skill allowed them to live once again, but in a different world...
A world ruled by gods. Magic everywhere, divine protection, safety... a society that believes it lives in peace.
But this perfection doesn't exist.
The true world is a playground for the gods. Many of them only want to watch human pain and suffering as entertainment. They choose the "maculated" ones, marked by trauma or despair, to be their bodies and voices on Earth.
Still, there are exceptions.
Some gods defend humanity. But they are the minority.
The division between them created two forces: the Rulers — who control the political, military, and spiritual realms — and the Absolute Good, who believe in humanity's protection and redemption.
The gods don't necessarily want to destroy the world. What they desire is something more cruel: war, pain, and control.
Thus, they gave their powers to the maculated, so they could fight among themselves for influence and control.
"Whoever rules the world will become a god."
There is no king who rules all the land, but there is a throne above all others. It belongs to Timio Strass, who sits in the heart of Amartia, the meeting point of the kings from the seven portions of the world.
Amartia, located in the Kefá region, is considered the safest land in the world. The gods protect it from external invasions... but they can't protect it from themselves.
The real problem in this world isn't violence.
It's the gods — dressed in luxury, with fake smiles and empty hearts, holding political power.
For centuries, the Rulers have manipulated politics and history. But a bloody, cruel war broke out against the Fragments of Absolute Good. These forces once controlled all seven portions, but power corrupted their kings... one by one.
And there was more.
A neutral goddess, one of the rare few who didn't ally with either the Good or the Rulers, was imprisoned. Her powers sealed. The charge: conspiracy against the pantheon.
She was trapped for two hundred and thirty-seven years.
Until she was finally freed.
This is the beginning of the story of the Maculated of a neutral god — one who serves neither the Good nor the Evil.
One who will be an enemy to both.