Devine War
Prologue
In the year 2000, Earth was a sanctuary of peace. Cities thrived under the warmth of an untroubled sun, and laughter filled the air as people embraced life's simple joys. Yet, in that serene existence, fate was quietly coalescing into a force beyond mortal understanding.
Without warning, a rift tore open in the sky—a jagged scar of shimmering, otherworldly light. Beneath its eerie glow, crowds gathered: some with curiosity and cameras in hand, others with raw terror coursing through their veins. The military, ever vigilant, established a perimeter, convinced that this anomaly heralded an alien invasion.
But as if the universe itself were unspooling its secrets, more rifts erupted across the globe. From the first breach emerged a solitary figure, bathed in a radiant, golden aura—a being so potent that its presence stilled the armed soldiers. In a heartbeat, the military's defenses shattered, replaced by chaos and an overwhelming sense of dread. One by one, other godlike beings descended from the ever-widening rifts, setting in motion a conflict that would come to be known as the Divine War.
No one knew why the gods had turned against the mortal realm. What was once a world of hope now lay in ruins, with cities crumbling and the remnants of humanity struggling to survive amidst divine wrath and elemental beasts. When these otherworldly creatures fell, they left behind mysterious crystals—shards of raw, divine energy that could bestow elemental power upon those brave enough to risk it.
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Chapter One: Remnants of a Shattered World
Twenty years later, the scars of the Divine War were etched into every broken stone and twisted metal of the old world. Humanity had retreated into ten fortified cities—each city a rung on a ladder of survival and power. In the bleakest of these, Rank 1 City, the poorest souls eked out a miserable existence in its ragged outskirts.
Solace was one such soul—a young orphan hardened by the relentless struggle for survival. Every day, he roamed the ruined streets, driven by hunger and the faint hope that destiny might one day favor him. His heart, though burdened by loss, still harbored a spark of defiant ambition.
On one fateful day, as the cold wind whispered among shattered concrete and twisted rebar, Solace's keen eyes caught sight of something unusual in a narrow, debris-strewn alley. There, lying in a pool of its own blood, was a colossal black beast—a creature resembling a giant wolf, its fur dark as the void and marked by deep, brutal wounds. This was no ordinary animal; it was an elemental beast, a living testament to the forces unleashed by the Divine War.
For a long moment, time seemed to pause as Solace surveyed the fallen creature. Fear wrestled with pity within him—a fleeting compassion for a dying beast, mingled with the bitter knowledge that only power could lift him from the hopeless fringes of his world. He glanced about the deserted ruins to ensure he was alone, then stepped forward with measured caution.
In his calloused hand, he gripped a rusted dagger—a relic of a bygone era when life was less cruel. With a deep, shuddering breath, he drove the blade into the beast's eye. The animal's life ebbed away instantly, and in the ensuing silence, a cold determination settled over him.
As he dismembered the creature with a mechanical precision born of necessity, Solace uncovered a luminous, dark crystal pulsing with an unearthly energy. This elemental crystal—the fabled gift of the divine fallen beasts—could bestow upon its absorber the power to transcend mortal limits. For a brief, agonizing moment, Solace hesitated. Was this not the risk that many before him had taken? Yet, the hunger for change was too potent to ignore.
In a desperate act of defiance against his despair, he pressed the crystal against his chest. A surge of icy energy, as relentless and deep as the ocean's tide, flooded his body. A scream of both agony and newfound exhilaration tore from his throat, and then—darkness.
When Solace awoke, the world had irrevocably changed. His body felt transformed—muscles tightened, senses sharpened, and his very skin seemed to carry the quiet luster of elemental power. In the mirror-like shards of broken glass, he saw a new man: one whose face bore the scars of hardship yet glowed with the promise of power. For the first time, he understood that this was only the beginning—a dangerous, magnificent journey into the realms of elemental mastery.
But even as he savored his transformation, a subtle tremor of unease stirred within him. Far beyond the ruined streets, in the depths of the ever-present rift, a mysterious force watched and whispered—a voice that promised both salvation and doom. The power coursing through his veins was not without its price; each step toward greatness might also lead him closer to a destiny entwined with the gods themselves.
With renewed determination, Solace set off into the desolation of Rank 1 City. He would search for food, yes, but more importantly, he would seek answers—about the war that had torn the world apart, about the rift that still pulsed with celestial energy, and about the mysterious call that had awakened something long-dormant within him.
End of Chapter One