---
Midnight bells tolled as Kael paced his dorm, sanity a frayed thread at **20/100**. Hallucinations bled into reality:
- Blood dripped from the War God's spectral armor
- Vorlag's laughter echoed in the wind
- The walls pulsed like a Void Nexus
***"Steady,"*** rumbled the War God. ***"They come for your weakness. Show them strength."***
As if summoned, the window shattered. Three **Void-Touched Cultists** slithered in, their eyes leaking purple smoke:
> **[ENEMY: VOID CULTIST (x3)]**
> **• LEVEL:** 15 (Human/Void Hybrid)
> **• AFFINITY:** Void Corruption
> **• ABILITIES:** [Soul Siphon], [Shadow Step]
Lira's daggers pinned the first to the wall before Kael could blink.
**"Darius! Flank left!"**
---
Kael triggered **[Wrath-Surge: AGI]**, becoming a crimson blur. His palm slammed a cultist's chest:
**"ANNIHILATE: HEART!"**
The cultist *disintegrated*. Bronze text flared:
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ **[ENEMY DEFEATED!]** ┃
┃ **• XP GAINED:** +150 ┃
┃ **• WAR POINTS:** +30 ┃
┃ **• CURRENT XP:** 570/500 ┃
┃ **! LEVEL UP !** ┃
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
> **[STATUS UPDATE]**
> **LEVEL:** 8 → **9**
> **HEALTH:** 100%
> **SANITY:** 20/100 → **15/100** (Overuse Penalty)
> **STR:** 24 → **25**
> **AGI:** 17 → **20**
> **END:** 16 → **17**
> **PER:** 7 → **8**
> **FREE STAT POINTS:** 3
> **ABILITIES:**
> • [Annihilate] (Tier 2: 5kg Mass Limit)
> • [Void-Bane] (+25% Damage vs. Void)
> **AFFINITY:** War/Destruction (S-Rank)
> **DEBUFFS:**
> • [Void Mark] (Tracked by Void Entities)
> • [Sanity Bleed] (-1 Sanity/Hour)
Darius crushed the last cultist's skull, stone fists glowing ominously.
**"My turn! Seismic St— ARGH!"**
He collapsed as violet cracks spiderwebbed across his stone skin.
> **[DARIUS STATUS]**
> **• VOID CORRUPTION DETECTED IN EARTH AFFINITY**
> **• REACTION: ALLERGY-LIKE PAIN**
Lira hauled him up, eyes narrowed. **"Since when does earth *reject* void?"**
---
While Kael stabilized Darius, Lira vanished into the Academy's forbidden archives. She returned at dawn, face pale.
**"The last War Affinity user,"** she whispered, projecting a hologram:
- **NAME:** Valerius the Bloodlord
- **STATUS:** Ascended to Void King (Year 743 Post-Godswar)
- **FATE:** Devoured 3 continents before vanishing
**"He kept journals,"** Lira said, showing scorched pages:
*"The Void offers salvation from the War God's madness. Embrace the hunger."*
Kael's scars burned. The War God snarled:
***"LIES! He traded honor for false peace!"***
---
As they debated, the air froze. Shadows coalesced into a figure robed in dying starlight:
> **[VOID WHISPER KING - MALAKOR]**
> **• LEVEL:** 50 (Elder Void Entity)
> **• THREAT:** Cataclysmic
> **• ABILITY:** [Reality Fracture]
**"Kael Vance,"** Malakor hissed, voice like shattering glass. **"Valerius sends an offer: Serve the Void, and we will *cure* your crumbling mind."**
A vision flooded Kael's senses:
- Sanity restored to **100/100**
- The War God's voice silenced forever
- Unlimited power without cost
***"BETRAYAL!"*** roared the War God. ***"THE VOID DEVOURS SOULS, NOT SAVES THEM!"***
Kael's fist ignited crimson. **"I've had enough of false gods."**
---
Malakor raised a hand. Reality *splintered*:
- The floor became lava
- Gravity inverted
- Darius' stone skin *melted*
Lira screamed as void-tendrils speared her shadow.
**"KAEL! NOW!"**
Kael allocated his stats mid-fall:
> **FREE STATS SPENT:**
> **• +2 AGI (20 → 22)**
> **• +1 PER (8 → 9)**
DEAD CALM ACTIVATED
(
He annihilated the tendrils holding Lira, then *leaped* through fractal-space toward Malakor.
**"ANNIHILATE: ANCHOR POINT!"**
His palm struck not flesh, but the *concept* of Malakor's form.
The Whisper King shrieked as crimson light tore through his essence:
> **[CRITICAL HIT!]**
> **• VOID INTEGRITY: 100% → 67%**
Malakor fled, reality snapping back. His final whisper echoed:
**"When sanity breaks... we'll be waiting."**
---
Kael collapsed as notifications flooded his vision:
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ **[ENEMY REPELLED!]** ┃
┃ **• XP GAINED:** +300 ┃
┃ **• WAR POINTS:** +100 ┃
┃ **• CURRENT XP:** 870/600 ┃
┃ **! LEVEL UP !** ┃
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
> **[STATUS - LEVEL 10]**
> **HEALTH:** 78% (Reality Fracture Burns)
> **SANITY:** 15/100 → **10/100**
> **STR:** 25
> **AGI:** 22
> **END:** 17
> **PER:** 9
> **FREE STAT POINTS:** 5
> **NEW ABILITY:**
> • [Reality Anchor] (Resist Spatial Manipulation)
> **AFFINITY SYNCHRONIZATION:** 80%
> **VOID MARK INTENSITY:** ████████░░ 80%
Thorne found them amidst the ruins.
**"Malakor,"** he breathed. **"He's Valerius' herald. This was a recruitment test."**
Lira showed Valerius' journal entry:
*"The War God's 'gift' is a cage. The Void sets you free."*
Kael extinguished the crimson flame in his palm.
**"Then I'll break the cage."**
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