The shrine behind them was silent once more.
Black torches snuffed out. The staircase sealed with a grinding rumble of stone on stone. If not for the still-burning symbols on Adam's hand, it would've felt like a hallucination.
But it wasn't.
Adam leaned against a collapsed pillar just beyond the ruins, breath ragged. His shirt was soaked in blood and sweat, the left sleeve torn from where the final guardian had slashed through his arm.
He didn't feel pain. Not exactly.
Just change.
Like something ancient had awakened in him again—deeper, hungrier.
Ivy crouched beside him. "You were glowing. And talking to a statue."
"It was Hades."
"You mean the Greek god?"
He nodded. "He chose me."
Ivy stared for a moment. Then sat down beside him, long legs folded, both of them silent under the overcast sky.
"The Bureau's going to lose it," she murmured. "When they find out you're—"
"They won't."
"Adam, this isn't some video game cheat. You have godly essence. That's dangerous."
"I'm aware."
> [New Title Gained: The Graveborne]
– Enemies below B-rank will feel fear upon sight.
– Reputation gain with Death-aligned Entities increased.]
> [Warning: Bureau Surveillance Level – Elevated.]
That last line made his blood run cold.
"They're watching," he whispered.
"What?"
"The system just warned me. They're watching me."
Ivy swore under her breath. "We need to move. Now."
---
Bureau Tower – Sector A: Internal Affairs Department
Dozens of monitors flickered in a sealed observation chamber. Footage of the sealed zone, drone failures, and mana resonance graphs rotated across the screens. At the center, a tall man in a grey suit stood with his back to them all—gazing at the feed of Adam's face from a street cam.
His single visible eye glowed amber.
"Rewind frame twenty-seven. Enhance."
The image stabilized—Adam's hand glowing as he emerged from the shrine.
Behind the suited man, an analyst spoke hesitantly. "Sir... we still don't know what the signature is. It doesn't match any awakened class. It's divine, but unstable. If it spreads—"
"It won't," the man said calmly. "He's not ready."
"But he's being hunted, isn't he?"
The man turned, revealing a weathered face, long greying hair, and a leather eyepatch.
"Every pantheon will want him," he said.
"Then what do we do?"
"We wait."
He smiled thinly.
"Let the gods make their first move."
---
Elsewhere – A Dim Temple in Cairo
Beneath layers of sand and illusion, a golden hawk statue cracked down the middle. A whisper of divine essence escaped as a priest dropped to one knee, shivering.
"What is it?" asked the woman behind him.
Her eyes gleamed like emerald fire. Her skin shimmered with gold inked tattoos that told stories no human should ever know.
"The Underworld has stirred," the priest rasped. "Hades... has chosen a vessel."
The woman smiled darkly. "Then it begins."
---
Back in Seraph City – Rooftop Overlook
Adam and Ivy stood at the edge of a rooftop overlooking the neon stretch of downtown Seraph. Billboards glowed with hunter ads, raid invites, and new gate alerts. Drones buzzed silently overhead.
"I know I should be panicking," Adam said, "but I'm... calm."
"You were never normal," Ivy muttered, sipping from another coffee.
He gave her a sideways look.
"I mean it," she continued. "Even back when we were kids, you didn't react to things like the rest of us. The world could be on fire and you'd just squint at it like it was a puzzle."
"I wasn't always that cold."
She looked at him. "You sure?"
Adam said nothing.
The truth was, he didn't know anymore.
The system had changed him. Or maybe it just revealed what had always been underneath.
> [Stat Screen – Updated]
Name: Adam Lorne
Level: 9
Class: True Vessel – Aspect of the Underworld
Title: The Graveborne
HP: 580 / 580
MP: 310 / 310
STR: 22
AGI: 19
VIT: 24
INT: 30
CHA: 16
Skills:
– Soulrender Slash
– Death's Gaze (Passive)
– Gravebind
– Summon: Lesser Shades (2/2 slots unlocked)
> [Next Objective: Survive the Pantheon's Judgment]
Time Unknown
Location Unknown
Rewards: Access to the Second Domain
Penalty: Eternal Soul Fragmentation
No pressure, he thought bitterly.
---
That night, Adam dreamed of obsidian thrones.
A hundred gods sat in a black void, each silhouette crowned in fire, light, or shadow. Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Shinto — all present, all watching.
A voice like chimes on bone echoed:
"The Mortal has been chosen. He must be weighed."
One god stood—tall, cloaked in storm-gray with a single glowing eye.
Odin.
"Let him be tested. Let the Vessel prove his claim through blood."
The ground cracked.
And a timer appeared in red:
> [New Event Incoming: Trial of the Pantheon]
Countdown – 72 Hours
Danger Rating: Catastrophic]
---
Morning – Ivy's Apartment
Adam woke up to the smell of instant noodles and the sound of an old anime playing on Ivy's wall screen.
She was already dressed in street gear, checking a map and loading new bullets into her arm holster.
"Did you sleep?" she asked.
"Barely."
"I scanned your mana signature while you were out," she said casually. "It's still mutating. Which means either you're evolving... or you're going to explode in the next seventy-two hours."
"Cheerful."
She handed him a plate of eggs and protein strips. "Eat. You'll need it."
Adam chewed in silence for a moment, then asked, "Do you believe in gods?"
Ivy tilted her head. "Belief has nothing to do with it. I saw one once."
That made him freeze.
"What?"
"I didn't mention it before because I didn't think you'd believe me. Five years ago. During a raid in Tokyo. The dungeon broke. Everyone inside died — except me."
Adam's hands gripped the fork tighter.
"What did you see?"
"A woman. Pale skin. Six arms. Eyes like moons. She walked through the battlefield and whispered my name."
He stared.
"I think... she marked me."
Adam couldn't speak for a long moment.
Then the system chimed again:
> [New Entity Detected: Mark of Kali – Dormant Signature Nearby]
Adam stood slowly.
"We're not just dealing with gods anymore," he said. "We're being hunted by them."