Chapter 24: The Silence of the Heavens
The world did not end with a bang, but with a sudden, terrifying silence. In every corner of the continent, from the frozen peaks of the North to the sun-drenched southern archipelagos, the "Light" simply... vanished.
Priests in the middle of healing rituals watched in horror as the golden glow in their hands turned into a grey, oily smoke that poisoned the wounds they were trying to mend. Holy artifacts that had protected cities for generations crumbled into fine sand. The "Divine Barrier" of the southern kingdoms, which kept the sea monsters at bay, flickered and died, leaving millions exposed to the dark depths.
Inside the ruins of the Holy City of Valerius, Cyan Valerian stood atop the jagged remains of the Great Cathedral. The violet sun hung directly above him, casting a long, distorted shadow that seemed to reach across the entire world. He was no longer just a man; his presence had become so dense with mana that the air warped around him like heat over a desert.
[System Notification: Global Event 'The Great Silence' is in effect.]
[Corruption Index: 65% - The World Soul is beginning to sync with the Host.]
"Master," Isabella appeared at his side. She was now garbed in armor made from the scales of the fallen Seraph, her eyes burning with a zeal that rivaled any priest's. "The messengers have arrived from the Eastern Kingdoms. The merchant lords are begging for an audience. They offer half their wealth if you restore even a fraction of the 'safety' they once had."
Cyan didn't look at her. His gaze was fixed on the horizon, where the faint outlines of the 'Kingdom of Iron' could be seen. "They want safety? They spent centuries paying the Church for the illusion of it. I am not a merchant, Isabella. I do not sell comfort. If they want to live, they will not offer their gold; they will offer their souls."
"And the King of Iron?" Lilith asked, stepping out from a rift of violet flames. "He has gathered the 'Steam-Engine Legion'. He believes that since magic has failed, his mechanical army will finally rule the world. He has declared himself the 'Emperor of the New Age'."
Cyan turned, a cold, jagged smile playing on his lips. "Mechanical toys? He thinks the death of 'Holy Light' means the death of power. He doesn't realize that I didn't just kill the Light; I claimed its source. Azrael!"
The fallen angel descended from the sky, his six leathery wings creating a gust of wind that smelled of sulfur and ancient dust. "I am here, my King."
"Take the Sin-Wraiths. March to the Iron Border. Do not engage their machines directly. Use the [Blight-Rust] skill I granted you. Let them see their 'indestructible' steel rot before it even reaches the battlefield. I want the King of Iron to watch his empire crumble into a heap of scrap metal."
"As you command," Azrael replied, his voice a resonating chime of darkness.
The scene at the Iron Kingdom's border was one of industrial madness. Thousands of steam-powered golems and ironclad soldiers stood in perfect ranks, their engines hissing and chimneys belching black smoke. King Valkan, a man who believed only in what he could touch and build, stood on his command platform.
"The age of mages is over!" Valkan roared to his generals. "The gods are dead, and the demons are just monsters made of smoke. Iron does not pray! Iron does not fear! Forward!"
But as the legion began to move, the sky turned a bruised purple. Azrael appeared high above, holding a black orb that hummed with the resonance of the First Saint's corrupted essence.
"In the name of the Sovereign of Sin," Azrael's voice boomed, "behold the vanity of man."
He crushed the orb. A wave of invisible, corrosive energy swept across the Iron Legion.
The effect was instantaneous and horrific. The polished steel of the golems didn't just rust; it decomposed. The steam engines hissed as the water inside turned into a corrosive acid, melting the boilers from the inside out. The ironclad soldiers screamed as their heavy suits of armor fused to their skin, the metal turning into a black, vine-like substance that began to feed on their life force.
Within minutes, the "Greatest Army of the New Age" was a graveyard of twisted metal and weeping men.
Back in the capital, Cyan was seated at a new throne, carved from the bones of the Cathedral's pillars. He was looking at a projection of the Iron Kingdom's defeat.
"Isabella," Cyan said, his voice carrying a strange, melodic weight. "The world is ready. The old pillars are gone. The new ones are broken. It is time to begin the 'Great Mapping'."
"The Mapping, Master?"
"I will not rule through fear alone," Cyan said, standing up. "I will rewrite the System of the world itself. I will create a new 'Hierarchy of Sin'. Those who embrace their greed, their pride, or their wrath will be granted power according to their devotion. The world will no longer be divided by 'Good' and 'Evil'. it will be divided by the Strong and the Subservient."
[System Quest: The New Genesis.]
[Objective: Redefine the Laws of Magic across the Continent.]
[Reward: True Apotheosis.]
Cyan walked to the center of the throne room, where the Corrupted Heart of the First Saint was suspended in a cage of violet lightning. He placed his hand on the heart, and for a moment, the entire continent felt his pulse.
"I am the beginning," Cyan whispered, his purple eye glowing so brightly it illuminated the entire city. "And the end. From this day forth, the only magic that exists is the magic I allow. The only gods that exist are the ones who serve me."
A massive pillar of violet light erupted from the palace, piercing the clouds and spreading across the sky like a new atmosphere. The "Great Mapping" had begun. The very air was now saturated with Cyan's mana, and every living creature felt a new 'Code' being written into their souls.
The era of the "Absolute Corruption System" was no longer a hidden game. It was the law of the world.