Chapter 6

"You can't stab someone in the back and then beg them to trust you when they bleed."

The room was still.

The kind of stillness that screamed louder than sound.

Alex didn't move.

Couldn't move.

He stood frozen in the dying light of the hideout, the letter trembling in his hands as if it, too, knew it was poison. Ink-stamped betrayal soaked into his skin like it belonged there.

Across from him, Lia stood in the doorway. Grocery bag at her feet. A roll of mana-threaded bread rolled pathetically across the floor.

She opened her mouth.

"Alex—"

That was all she managed.

He held up the letter like it was a corpse between them.

Not shaking.

Not crying.

But broken.

> "Operative Lia Vorez. Mission: Monitor Subject A. Thorn. Terminate if compromised."

And still—no denial.

No defense.

Just guilt bleeding from her eyes.

"I was going to tell you," she whispered, but the words hit the ground like shattered glass.

Alex let out a laugh.

Dry. Bitter. Shaky.

"Right after breakfast? Or were you planning to slit my throat in my sleep? Y'know, the sleep I don't get because I'm too busy fighting demons outside and the ones inside my own head?"

Lia stepped forward. "Alex, I didn't mean for it to happen this way. I never—"

"Spied on me?" His voice lowered into a whisper, the kind that cut deeper than screams. "Lied to me? Slept under the same roof while calculating when I stopped being useful?"

She flinched. Visibly.

"You were all I had," he said.

It came out cracked. Like something caved inside him.

And that—that—finally broke her.

Tears fell. "I didn't want to hurt you. I was just… following orders. But then I got to know you and—"

"Orders," he echoed, voice cold. "That's what I am to you? A checklist? A name in a folder with a 'terminate if inconvenient' stamp?"

His system pulsed against his arm.

> [Emotional Spike Detected: Pain | Betrayal]

Passive Skill Activated: Insult Reservoir Overflow

His hands began to glow faintly.

But not from magic.

From heartbreak.

And fury.

"Just tell me this," he asked, tone hollow. "When they told you to kill me… did you hesitate?"

Lia's breath caught.

She didn't answer.

That was answer enough.

Alex turned.

Lia stepped toward him, panic rising. "Alex, wait—where are you going?"

"I don't know," he said, voice sharp. "But anywhere that doesn't smell like lies and betrayal sounds good right now."

The door slammed shut behind him like the universe had punctuated his pain with an exclamation mark.

And Lia?

She didn't move.

Didn't breathe.

Her spellpad crackled to life, whispering mission alerts, failed directives, protocol escalation.

But none of it mattered.

For the first time since her training began, Lia Vorez didn't know whose side she was on.

The city didn't sleep.

It just sulked in neon shadows.

Alex wandered through alleyways and rain-soaked side streets, ignoring the buzz of streetlights and the stares of strangers. He felt like a ghost in his own skin. Nothing grounded him. Not his steps. Not his thoughts.

Just static.

He stopped beneath a shattered billboard advertising hope like it was a sale item. That's when the voice came.

"Alex Thorn."

He turned, already tired of being found.

Two Bureau agents stepped out of the darkness, clean suits and colder eyes. The kind of people who never blinked unless it was calculated.

"We'd like to offer you a position," one of them said.

Alex blinked. "You serious? Right now?"

"You've demonstrated Class-S potential. Unauthorized spell fusion. Emotion-based casting beyond registered frameworks. You're dangerous. We respect that."

"That sounds more like an arrest than a compliment."

The agent smiled. It was small. Crooked. Reptilian.

"It's an invitation. Come with us. We'll give you the tools to refine your abilities. Equipment. Safety. Resources."

Alex folded his arms. "And all you want is…?"

"Loyalty," the other said simply.

Alex stared at them.

Then chuckled, low and bitter. "Yeah, 'loyalty' is real popular with you guys lately."

He didn't leave with them.

But he took the card.

That night, the ceiling didn't offer any answers. Just cracks and mana leaks and the occasional scuttling of bugs that were smarter than they looked.

Alex lay on the mattress, eyes wide open.

Heart shut tight.

The betrayal echoed louder than any spell he'd cast.

And when he finally started to drift into the edge of sleep—

The voice returned.

His voice.

> "You let someone in. And look what they did." "You're not a person. You're a tool. A trigger waiting to be pulled." "No one loves a bomb, Alex. They just pray it doesn't go off."

His breath caught in his throat.

He bit down on his lip until it bled.

And then—

> [New Emotional Threshold Reached: Heartbreak + Betrayal + Abandonment]

Passive Trait Unlocked: Godless Awakening

A surge of black light ripped through his veins like molten shadow. The room bent. His skin burned. His eyes turned to mirrors of midnight storms.

And then—

Darkness swallowed everything.

Meanwhile, at the Bureau

"His trait activated?" Rhiva's voice sliced through the war room.

Agent Hollow didn't flinch. "Confirmed. Emotional trigger reached saturation point. The subject has entered Godless Caster mode."

Rhiva stared at the screen, watching Alex twitch in a cocoon of leaking power.

"He's no longer unstable," she said. "He's a potential extinction event."

"What's the move?"

"Bring him in."

Hollow hesitated. "And Lia?"

Rhiva didn't blink.

"She's compromised. If she resists, she dies."

Alex awoke to a strange feeling.

He wasn't alone inside his mind anymore.

Something else stirred beneath the surface. Something primal. Hurt. Angry. Free.

He sat up slowly, every breath laced with power. The air shimmered with instability. The walls shook when he stood. Shadows curled at his feet like obedient pets.

> [System Note: Welcome to Godless Mode – Level 1]

Trait Effects: +300% Insult Magic Output | Emotional Resistance: MAX | Instability: Critical

He exhaled.

"Perfect," he said—flat, cold.

Then the door slammed open.

Lia stumbled inside—bruised, panting, bleeding from a gash across her cheek.

"Alex!" she gasped. "They're coming. The Bureau's sending retrieval squads. Rhiva's with them."

He didn't flinch.

Didn't move.

Didn't speak.

Just… looked at her.

Empty.

Burnt out.

Trust was dead.

"I know," he said softly.

"I—I didn't mean for this to happen," she said, voice breaking. "I tried to stop it. I tried to warn you—"

He walked past her.

"Too late," he muttered. "She already did."

The hideout twisted as the first agents arrived.

But it wasn't a home anymore.

It was a battlefield waiting to happen.

Reality shimmered. The walls flexed like lungs inhaling destruction. The air trembled with spell-born tension.

Lia screamed, "Don't hurt them!"

But Alex wasn't listening.

> [Skill: Verbal Shrapnel – Overcharged]

[New Skill: Heartstab – Unlocked]

He spoke—softly.

But his words were sharper than daggers.

> "You put your faith in power. Now drown in it."

"You're not agents. You're just expendable meat in pretty coats."

"Congratulations. You made me exactly what you feared."

The agents dropped to their knees, blood pouring from their ears, eyes vacant and broken.

Lia ran to him.

"I still care, Alex! You matter!"

He paused.

And for one, agonizing heartbeat—

He wanted to believe her.

But then—

> [System Warning: Emotional Conflict Detected]

Trait: Godless Awakening – Integrity Compromised

"Kill the weakness."

His jaw clenched.

He turned away.

Didn't look back.

Outside the collapsing building, flames licked the sky.

And from a portal of burning glass, Rhiva stepped through.

She wasn't like the others.

She radiated command. Authority. Danger.

Even the mana around her seemed afraid.

"You've impressed me," she said. Calm. Almost gentle.

Alex didn't reply.

Shadows circled his back like wings torn from angels.

She extended her hand.

"Join us. Be more than a weapon. Be a god."

He tilted his head.

"…Do gods get dental?"

Her smile was sharp. "We'll give you everything."

And for a moment—

A dangerous, glittering moment—

Alex smiled too.

Eyes glowing like fractured galaxies.

"…Then let's burn the world down."