Chapter 14: Of Cults, Sand Priests, and the Joy of Sudden Superpowers
(Alt title: "When the Desert Starts Worshipping Your Trauma")
Silence.Chanting.Judgment.
I stood there, sweaty, dizzy, and about two existential crises away from a total breakdown.
The cult wore masks made of bone and glass.
Their robes shimmered with static.
And their leader — a tall figure whose cloak seemed stitched from shifting sand itself — stepped forward.
His voice crackled through the dry air:
"The Eye... has returned."
Oh good.So we're already at the "prophecy fulfillment" part and I haven't even had lunch.
The Eye in my chest pulsed.
Hard.
It wasn't just burning anymore.
It was awakening.
Something in me — something stitched from the five absorbed gems — shifted gears.
For the first time, I could feel the fragments inside me like loaded weapons.Ready. Waiting. Asking.
Asking for what?
Asking what I wanted to burn first.
The Sand Priest lifted a staff.
It wasn't made of wood or metal.
It was carved from solidified time — frozen seconds turned into matter.
The kind of thing you usually see breaking the laws of physics in bad anime finales.
"Renji Kurogane," the priest said."You are the Fifth Shardbearer.Your destiny... was foretold."
Cool cool cool.Except:
I don't remember signing up for any destiny packages.
Foretold by whom?
WHERE THE HELL IS MY COFFEE?
The priest slammed the staff down.
A shockwave of shimmering sand blasted toward me.
Reflexes kicked in.
But it wasn't just me moving.
The Eye moved too.
Instinctively, I threw my hand up.
One of the five Gem fragments lit up inside my chest.
Duplication Protocol Activated.
[Create: Mirror Shield]
BAM!
A translucent mirror of energy exploded from my palm, catching the sand wave midair.
It cracked, flickered, then redirected the attack back at the cult.
Half the masked followers scattered like pigeons at a fireworks show.
I blinked.
Stared at my hand.
Then at the Eye.
"Okay, what the hell was THAT?!"I yelled — at the Eye, at the desert, at existence in general.
The Eye just pulsed.
Like it was laughing.
The Sand Priest didn't laugh.
He roared.
Charged.
Staff spinning.
The symbols on the mechanical obelisk behind him started pulsing.
Whatever this place was, it wasn't a simple cult temple.
It was a Resonance Nexus.
A place where the multiverse's laws were thinner.
Easier to rewrite.
Easier to break.
Great.
Just what my trauma needed: easier access to catastrophic consequences.
The Eye pulsed again.
"Absorption capacity increased."
Another notification popped into my brain like an unwanted software update:
[Gem Compatibility Upgrade: 23%]
Meaning?
Meaning I could use powers — but only in short bursts until the system adjusted.
I had a combat system now.Built from stolen trauma stones.
Fantastic.
Time to test it.
The priest lunged.
I sidestepped.
Another gem inside me thrummed.
[Skill Unlocked: Distortion Step]
My body flickered.
Reality wobbled.
I moved — or didn't — three feet sideways.
The priest swung at empty air.
I reappeared behind him.
"Hey, sand daddy," I said.
And punched him right in the back of the mask.
CRACK.
He stumbled forward.
Not dead.
Not broken.
But shaken.
They weren't expecting me to fight back.
They were expecting me to obey.
Not today.
I spun, shielding myself again.
The cult began to regroup.
They chanted louder.
The Eye in my chest flashed a symbol I didn't recognize.
It whispered:
"Fragment 6 is near.Find it.Before they do."
I glanced toward the obelisk.
At its base, hidden in tangled symbols—
A faint red glow.
Another Gem.