The New God VI

[Failed! Your wish cannot be granted!]

A petrified look etched itself onto Kai's blood-smeared face as he stared at the glaring system message floating before him in disbelief

The words seared into his mind, leaving him dazed.

'Failed again... No, no, no. This can't be happening!'

Desperation gripped his chest as a flurry of chaotic thoughts swarmed his mind.

His breaths came out ragged, trembling in obvious fright.

But the sharp sting from his oozing wound abruptly shattered his spiraling panic.

His gaze dropped to the crimson red puddle forming beneath him, which only brought him to understand the reality he was in.

'I'm already dying anyway.' he thought grimly, teeth gritted against the pain.

The devil wasn't the only factor threatening his life now.

Even as the creeping thought of surrender whispered temptingly in his mind, he couldn't bring himself to just lie there and fade away.

The primal urge to fight for survival flickered stubbornly inside him.

Then his eyes caught something below the system message — a small 'info' icon blinking faintly.

"Info?"

The word barely left his lips before the icon was instinctively selected, revealing a new message:

[Your wish cannot be granted because it contrasts with your previous wish.]

[Please Try again.]

Kai's brows furrowed in confusion as the words stung into his thoughts.

'Contrast with my previous wish? The only successful wish I made was for Muri's death. So What the hell is this supposed to mean?'

A groan of frustration escaped him as his gaze drifted toward Alison's sword, glinting faintly amidst the gore. Gritting his teeth, Kai crawled toward it, each movement sending agonizing jolts of pain through his body. His trembling fingers finally wrapped around the hilt, and with sheer willpower, he forced himself upright, using the blade as leverage.

His breaths came in ragged gasps, sweat mingling with the blood on his face.

"So after everything... I only get a faulty system? I try to be a hero, and I end up like this?!..." He let out a bitter laugh, almost as though he knew he deserved what he was getting.

"...Well, screw this. There's no getting out of this for me."

Summoning every ounce of defiance left within him, Kai roared into the ominous silence, voice cracking with raw emotion:

"Come on, you damn beast! You already killed my friends..." His bloodshot eyes swept over the lifeless bodies scattered across the room. His once cheerful comrades, now had turned to lifeless corpses.

"...If you want me, then you should know I'm right here! But if you want this meat, then you're gonna have to fight for it!"

That sounded weird as the words left his mouth, even for Kai, but he didn't care.

His body trembled visibly, not from exhaustion alone but sheer terror.

'I don't want to die.' he admitted inwardly, heart hammering wildly in his chest.

"But I can't keep waiting. I can't keep suffering like this... just kill me already!"

Desperation edged his voice as he shouted again.

"Don't be shy! I'm right here! What? You could kill my comrades, but you're afraid to strike a half-dead man?!"

A tense silence enveloped the room, thick with foreboding. Kai's chest heaved as he scanned the blood-soaked space, searching for any sign of the devil.

And then it happened.

An oppressive wave of energy swept over him, paralyzing him completely. His muscles seized as if bound by invisible chains.

'What... is this?'

The aura was suffocating, crushing his resolve under its weight.

Despite his frozen limbs, Kai fought to turn his head, eyes desperately seeking the source of the overwhelming presence.

What he saw, however, chilled him to the core.

Standing amidst the carnage was the devil — a towering, grotesque figure. It stood over seven feet tall, its emaciated frame somehow radiating raw power.

Its skin was ashen, stretched taut over sinewy muscles and from its hands, long, monstrous claws extended from its skeletal fingers.

The creature wore nothing except for a crude like ancient material wrapped around its waist.

Its most horrifying feature was its face: three slim, golden-glowing eyes glinted maliciously, set above a mouth filled with jagged, razor-sharp teeth. Its elongated ears gave it an eerie, almost elven appearance — so perhaps it was of elven descent.

The devil wasn't even looking at Kai. Instead, it surveyed the room with a twisted grin, seemingly admiring its handiwork.

Kai's breath hitched in his throat. His mind screamed at him to run, fight, do anything — but his body refused to obey.

'This is it?...' he thought numbly.

'This is the last thing I'll ever see? Did it have to be so...ugly?'

[Ding!]

A sudden notification blinked before his eyes, appearing right above the Devil's head.

[Congratulations.]

[You have encountered the New God!]

[The first step is complete]

'The... New God? The first step? What the hell is that?' Confusion muddled his thoughts.

Before he could process the message, the devil's gaze snapped toward him, locking its eyes with his..

Kai's heart stopped.

In a blur of motion, faster than Kai's eyes could track, a crushing blow struck him — the devil's forearm slamming into his chest with bone-shattering force.

Kai was hurled across the room like a rag doll, his body colliding headfirst with the wall.

The impact cracked the wooden surface, blood splattering upon it as his skull split open.

He crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath, as he could feel his life gradually fading away from him.

Blood pooled beneath his broken form as his body slowly began to fail him.

'I... I guess... this is it.' he thought weakly, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

'...Maybe in my next life, I'll live a better life.'

With one final, shuddering breath, Kai's world went black.

***

It had been a few hours since the commencement of the mission by Kai's team, but the eerie silence was the most noticeable factor.

Outside the haunted house, a man , dressed in a finely tailored suit, trembled profusely as he stood, drenched in sweat.

Fear etched itself deeply into his features as he shakily pulled a phone from his pocket. His fingers fumbled over the screen before he managed to dial a number.

"H-Hello?" he stammered, voice quivering.

"Yes, this is Investigator Farrell from the Sorcery Association..."

He swallowed hard, throat dry.

"Yes, I wish to report an issue...You see, I had previously checked out a house and from the emitting mana, I— I had initially classified the threat as Seeker Class threat, but..."

His voice broke.

"I was wrong... It's an Eternal Class threat! It's a rank one class threat!"