"Before salvation, there must be fire."
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Tower Floor 12 – Sanctum of the First Flame
The sky burned here.
Black clouds churned over a sunless dome. The air reeked of scorched bone and incense long since charred. Pillars of ash stood like frozen screams, hollowed remnants of those who had once climbed this floor.
At the center: a temple still untouched by ruin.
Its walls shimmered with divine protection. Inside, the priests of flame awaited—armed not with swords, but absolution.
> [Floor Trial: Cleanse the Blasphemer]
> [Objective: Survive the Purification Rite]
> [Success Condition: Repent or Perish]
They thought Jin had come to repent.
He came to burn.
---
Inside the Temple
Acolytes in robes of glowing embers raised their hands as he entered. Light bloomed from their palms. Their chants formed radiant chains, wrapping around Jin's limbs.
> "You carry the taint of a fallen Saint. You must be cleansed."
> "Repent, and the Flame will forgive."
Jin smiled beneath his mask.
> "Forgiveness is for those who need it."
He pulled.
The chains didn't break—they disintegrated.
He stepped forward, shadow bursting from beneath his feet like blood pooling in reverse.
> [Skill Activated – Devour Divinity]
The prayers of the priests turned into screams. Their holy fire collapsed inward. Their bodies cracked, veins glowing like overcharged wires before bursting in a spray of light and gore.
One acolyte combusted from the inside out—his eyes popped like boils, and his skull split open as black flame leaked from his mouth.
Another tried to run. Jin flicked a finger.
> [Passive Triggered – Black Bloom: Detonate]
The fleeing acolyte exploded in a shower of burning petals and liquefied flesh, staining the walls with soot and screams.
Jin walked through them.
He didn't fight.
He consumed.
Every divine rune etched on the temple walls peeled off like skin, drawn into the void behind his eyes.
A High Flamekeeper emerged, ablaze with living flame, face hidden beneath a mask of molten gold.
> "You dare profane the source of all holy fire?"
Jin answered with a gesture.
The ground split open.
Ash-formed hands reached up, dragging the Flamekeeper down. His body twisted, his limbs stretched, his flame sputtered.
He screamed a name—one of the lesser gods.
The name died halfway out of his throat as Jin stepped on his head.
> "You think this fire belongs to your gods?"
> "Now it belongs to me."
Jin leaned down, driving his hand through the Flamekeeper's chest. He pulled free a still-burning core of divine essence—shaped like a heart, pulsing with golden flame.
He crushed it.
> [New Flame Acquired – Black Pyre]
> – Converts all divine fire into void flame.
> – Burns faith into agony.
> – Permanent corruption increase.
The temple began to collapse, the ceiling caving in as the sunless sky wept embers. Jin stood beneath it all, unburned, untouched, unrepentant.
He raised one hand.
And the temple ignited from the inside.
Not in gold.
But in black.
Flames that devoured souls, not just flesh. Screams rose from the bones of the altar itself. The divine fire turned on its own creators, dancing like serpents through the priests' bodies as they clawed at their melting faces.
One final survivor crawled to Jin's feet, eyes scorched to jelly.
> "Why…? Why do you hate the light…?"
Jin knelt.
> "Because it never saw me."
He plunged his fingers into the priest's mouth and ripped his skull out from the inside.
> [Floor Cleared – Faith Resistance +100]
> [Corruption: +34]
> [Godslayer Progress: 42%]
---
Outside the Tower – World Reaction
News spread like fire.
Entire cults of Hollow Bloom reenacted the burning.
Some poured gasoline over old temples.
Others tattooed their skin with plague masks.
A group in Europa slaughtered priests and painted their chapel walls with the words:
"Baptize Us."
In places where gods once ruled, statues were torn down.
Sacred texts were burned in town squares.
A new gospel spread:
> "He doesn't forgive."
> "He devours."
> "And we are His ash."
---