The silence following Lucian's resurrection did not last long. Not because of noise—but because of presence. Something old and artificial stirred within the wreckage of the slaughterhouse, awakening alongside him. The air vibrated subtly, and a faint, obsidian glow pulsed from deep within his chest.
A low hum slithered across his skull, like static whispers weaving into words.
[SYSTEM BOOTING... USER IDENTIFIED: LUX-13A.]
[ALIAS: LUCIAN. TITLE: FALLEN CELESTIAL / DISPOSSESSED KING. STATUS: INCOMPLETE.]
[WARNING: DIVINE PATH MODULE NOT FULLY INSTALLED. CRITICAL FILES CORRUPTED. SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY AT 46%. BASIC FUNCTIONS ACTIVE.]
Lucian blinked slowly, his irises glowing a muted crimson, then fading. The system's voice—emotionless yet commanding—echoed inside him, nested beneath his consciousness like a second heartbeat.
He exhaled sharply and sat up against the jagged wall, cracking concrete and peeling rust. Blood—human blood—still clung to his jawline, drying in flakes.
"System?" he muttered. "How quaint. You're not the Voice, are you?"
[QUERY INVALID. SYSTEM IS YOUR DIVINE INTERFACE. FUNCTIONS INCLUDE: QUEST ISSUANCE, POWER REGULATION, SKILL TREE MANAGEMENT, RELIC TRACKING, AND ALIGNMENT OVERSIGHT.]
A slow smile pulled at his lips, thin and sharp as a razor's edge. "Of course. Divine Interface. Who would dare to assign that title to this barely functioning algorithm? Certainly not the Maker. He's long since abandoned this dustball."
Lucian rose to his feet, bones cracking softly. The city outside the slaughterhouse murmured faintly—distant sirens, occasional honking, a dog barking far off in some alley. He hated it already.
The scent of steel and smog filled his nose. A city crawling with the weak. The desperate. The ignorant.
"Humans," he spat, eyes narrowing. "Little parasites who worship mediocrity. Who trade truth for comfort. The best of them lie for power, the worst of them kneel for it."
[DAILY QUEST ISSUED: TEMPT THE UNWORTHY.]
OBJECTIVE: Locate and tempt a morally ambiguous individual into sin. Reward: 500 EXP, System Stability +2%, Codex Fragment chance. Time Limit: 24 hours.]
Lucian's grin widened. "Now this... this is familiar."
He stepped out of the building through a shattered doorframe, his boots crunching glass and gravel. New York City's underbelly stretched before him—graffiti-scarred walls, flickering neon signs, dumpsters overflowing with rot. He drew in a slow, disdainful breath.
The world didn't feel like a kingdom. It felt like a tomb.
But that would change.
Brooklyn, 3:12 AM
The bar reeked of sweat, alcohol, and broken dreams. The ceiling fan spun lazily above the drunken patrons, doing nothing to move the thick, suffocating air. Red lights bathed the room in the color of wounds.
Lucian leaned against the far wall, watching the patrons with a predator's patience. His eyes moved over them with surgical precision: the sleazy bartender with cocaine dust under his fingernails, the middle-aged man eyeing a girl half his age, the woman hiding bruises beneath a concealer smile.
So many masks. So many cracks.
It was intoxicating.
To Lucian, humans were nothing more than broken glass—shimmering with the illusion of beauty, but irreparably fragile. What they called emotion, he called weakness. What they worshipped as morality, he called fear.
[CANDIDATE LOCATED: SUBJECT — NAME: VICTOR PARR. OCCUPATION: CORRUPT PAROLE OFFICER. SIN POTENTIAL: HIGH.]
Victor Parr sat alone in a corner booth, sipping whiskey like it owed him money. He tapped a rhythm on the table with a twitchy finger. Lucian watched him for a moment, then slid into the booth opposite without invitation.
Victor looked up, startled. "Can I help you?"
Lucian tilted his head, offering a calm, empty smile. "You could say that."
"I don't swing that way, man."
Lucian leaned forward, his voice a silky whisper. "Neither do angels, but they still fell. And you, Victor, are on the edge of something far more profound."
Victor frowned, the alcohol dulling his instincts. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Lucian tapped his own chest. "You've got a secret, Victor. One that eats at you. Maybe it's the girl you promised to protect. Maybe it's the money you've been skimming from rehab check-ins. Maybe it's the one parolee who overdosed after you sold him out."
Victor went pale. His hand slipped under the table, reaching for something—maybe a gun.
Lucian was faster. He grabbed Victor's wrist with inhuman speed, squeezing until bones ground together.
"Relax," Lucian murmured. "I'm not here to kill you."
He leaned close, eyes glowing faintly.
"I'm here to offer you freedom. Power. An escape from consequence. All you have to do... is fall."
[SUBJECT TEMPTED. SIN REGISTERED: WRATH, GREED.]
[QUEST COMPLETE. REWARD DISPENSED. SYSTEM STABILITY NOW 48%. NEW ABILITY PATH UNLOCKED: SIN DOMAIN – WRATH.]
Victor gasped, falling back into the booth as Lucian rose.
"Sleep well, Victor," Lucian said, already turning away. "Hell remembers its own."
Outside, beneath a half-broken streetlight
Lucian's reflection shimmered in a puddle, distorted and incomplete. His face—sharp, angular, too perfect—was emotionless. Yet beneath that stillness was fire.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: SIN DOMAIN – WRATH.]
DESCRIPTION: Manipulate ambient anger, amplify emotional rage within others, weaponize wrath into kinetic energy.]
He raised his hand.
A nearby rat exploded.
Lucian chuckled, low and hollow.
The chuckle grew, uncoiling into something deeper. A laugh that started in the chest but carried the weight of centuries. Not joy—just the satisfaction of inevitability.
"System, this world will burn for me... won't it?"
[AFFIRMATIVE. DIVINE PATH REMAINS INCOMPLETE. INITIATE RELIC HUNT TO RESTORE FUNCTIONS.]
He turned, his coat fluttering behind him like torn wings. The night whispered promises to him.
Somewhere above, the moon bled behind clouds.
Lucian smiled.
"Let the divine path begin with sin."
Later That Night
Lucian wandered the city's veins, drawn to its darkness like a shark to blood. He felt it in the asphalt, in the flickering billboards advertising hollow dreams. Humanity was a rot no god had cured.
A teenage girl screamed down an alley, her voice cut short. Lucian paused, peering down the narrow lane.
A man—knife in hand, pants halfway undone—loomed over her. Typical.
Lucian strolled into the alley like it belonged to him.
"Stop right there," the man snapped, brandishing the knife.
Lucian didn't even slow. "You know, I'm always amazed at your kind. You sniff fear like wine, then pretend you're wolves. But you? You're a dog chewing on a bone far too big for you."
The man lunged.
Lucian moved like a whisper.
One moment the knife was in the air, the next it clattered to the ground with the man's fingers still gripping it—severed.
Lucian grabbed him by the neck, lifting him like a toy. "Do you want redemption?"
"P-please—"
"You're not worth it."
"BANG"..
Lucian slammed him into the wall. Bones shattered. Breath escaped.
The girl stared, terrified. Lucian turned to her, eyes cold.
"Run."
She did.
[SIN REGISTERED: JUSTIFIED WRATH. ALIGNMENT SHIFT: CHAOTIC DARK. SYSTEM STABILITY: 50%. NEW QUEST UNLOCKED: HUNTER OF THE DIVINE.]
Lucian exhaled through his nose and looked to the sky.
It was going to be a very entertaining apocalypse.