Malice Reborn

The first thing Lucan felt wasn't pain.

It was clarity.

Sharp, cold and Clinical.

Gone were the doubts. The desperate need to be loved. The ache for approval.

All of it gone the moment he bled out on that altar.

There was silence, not peace, complete and total silence.

Then a sound, behind him, no in front, no around.

It came from all direction and it wasn't heard. It was felt... in his soul, like a sound from within.

[System Notice: Host resurrection complete.]

[EMO.CONSTRAINTS] :: Purged_

[Residual echoes detected… Ignoring.]

[ERROR: ∆ffe.ctive Humanity == NULL]

[Constraint Termination: 100% — S̵̪̔o̶̖͐u̸̟͝l̷͎̈́ integrity... compromised.]

[Installing unique class: ??? — Tier 0.]

[New skill unlocked: Sin Harvest]

He opened his eyes.

Not in a temple.

Not in the mortal realm.

But somewhere else—somewhere deeper, a void.

The ground was well, nothing. Just black clouds as he floated.

The sky was filled with lines, cracked line like earthquake but on the sky and each were like mirrors, reflecting a thousand twisted versions of himself.

Each reflection, a memory of himself, his childhood, his past. How he trained and who were beside him. When he ate and what he ate.

His friends, his masters, Aelira.

Lucan sat up.

The wound on his chest were the knife had been lunged into, now gone. New. Like he was never stabbed.

He walked towards the cracked reflecting mirrors and watched each reflection.

The laughter and the smiles and then —

Laughter. Like there were all mocking him. They pointed at him and it hurt. He clasped his hands on his ears and tries to block out the sounds but the more he resisted, the more clearer the sounds came.

He tried to scream but couldn't and just when he thought he would cave in, a strange warmth crawled across his skin... no, beneath it as he caught a reflection.

Himself. His hair, once dark as ink, now fell like strands of winter white. His irises pulsed red like light, and black veins traced up his neck.

---

"Welcome to the Between," came a voice.

Lucan turned.

The figure before him wore no face, only a black cloak. No eyes and no mouth yet he could here this figure speak.

"I am what's left when gods forget. The Architect. And you, Lucan Malryk, are my vessel."

"What do you want from me?" he asked, voice finally sounding as he looked on, scared.

The thing laughed. "Want? No, child. You want. Vengeance. Power. Wrath.

I merely… enable."

" Enable? I do not understand." Lucan said as the refelctions on the cracked sky became mute, silent as if there waited for this moment.

Same cold but calm voice came from the figure as he spoke.

"I shall give you power Lucan, but not the type you dreamed of. Those who betrayed you, used and sacrificed you, I shall grant you the power to bring them to their knees but only if you do as I say."

Lucan slowly looked around, once more at the refelctions. His eyes turned colder as they fell on a particular reflection. The rite, the night of his supposed ascension.

His gaze lingered a little longer and then he said.

"And what do you get in return." Now sounding colder.

"You Lucan, and the thrill of watching the world burn."

Lucan took one last look at Aelira and then nodded.

Then —

[New Title Unlocked: Apostate of the Forgotten Flame]

[Quest Accepted: Break the Chains of the Ascended]

[Reward: Tier Upgrade + First Sin Mark]

Lucan stood.

No more temples.

No more masters.

No more lies.

They had tried to erase him.

Now he would unmake them.

---

He turned his hand over, watching as his skin shimmered faintly with shifting runes—silver one second, obsidian the next.

Power coiled beneath his fingers.

[Sin Reservoir: == NULL // Initiating priming sequence...]

[TARGET_SIN: BE̸̥̤̦͓͍̘͈̔̈́̄͛T̷̤̘̱̤̯̍́̌͝͠ͅR̴̗̬̞̖̟̂͠A̷̰̤̠̮͊Ý̷̟͚̺͎͍̈́͋͆̄͘A̴͙̞̥̥̝̞̺͓͛̆̈́̒̕L̵̰̅̏͑͝] → HARVEST: I͘M͟M͟I̡ŃĘN̡T]

A door appeared in the void, tall and cracked, made of stone etched with names.

Lucan recognized every single one.

Every name carved a scar.

Every scar, a reason.

Mentors. Friends.

Aelira.

The system pulsed again.

[Target: Thalos Verin.]

[Proximity: 3.4 km. Status: Unaware.]

[Optional Bonus: Harvest during sleep — psychological rupture increased.]

Lucan didn't hesitate.

He stepped through the door.

And the first heart to stop... will beat in his name.