The Six Stages To Divinity

The air shimmered around me, the molten ground beneath my feet still radiating the aftermath of my ascension. I stood tall in my humanoid form, horns curving elegantly atop my head, my swishing tail carving faint grooves into the ash-laden earth. My third eye pulsed faintly, its multi-pupiled gaze fixed on the trembling human before me.

James. The little fool actually came back.

His tech-mech sparrow fluttered nervously above his head, chirping in a way that almost sounded like a warning. I couldn't help but smirk, baring the faintest glimpse of my jagged teeth. The aura of destruction around me crackled like distant thunder, a constant reminder of what I had become—a god-beast, a demi-god. And yet here he was, standing his ground, staring up at me with a mixture of fear and desperate resolve.