Chapter 40: EX-Rank Aura, The Cult Sovereign

Saile was completely done hiding behind a fake F-Rank disguise.

"Let them see it, kid," Naicul roared loudly in his head.

The God’s ancient voice was vibrating with pure, unadulterated wrath.

Saile slowly closed his plain brown eyes. He stopped fighting the crushing pressure with his physical muscles.

He let the Endless Devourer run completely wild.

[System Alert: Aura Suppression Disabled.]

Thick, heavy chains of pitch-black lightning exploded outward from his chest. The dark magic whipped violently through the air. It hit the broken stone floor with sharp, cracking sounds like heavy whips.

The stone shattered wherever the dark lightning touched it.

The freezing cold of his EX-Rank core rapidly flooded the large war chamber.

It was so perfectly cold that a thick layer of white frost instantly crept up the black stone walls. The burning torches in the room flickered wildly. The flames fought to stay alive against the sudden, heavy void.

Up above the pit, the giant man named Mrog froze completely in his tracks.

His jaw dropped wide open in absolute, raw disbelief.

"What is this?" Mrog gasped, stumbling backward away from the pit. "This is totally impossible! He was a Null!"

The burned woman, Alis, quickly lowered her flaming red spear.

Her S-Rank fire magic sputtered weakly. The bright flames were entirely choked out by the heavy, freezing pressure of Saile’s unleashed dark aura.

"He is not an F-Rank," Lady Vesper whispered softly.

Her glowing purple eyes were wide with total shock. She took a slow step back, her hands shaking slightly.

Inside Saile’s mind, the ancient God let out a roaring, ground-shaking laugh. The deep sound vibrated painfully against Saile’s ribs.

"They wanted proof, kid," Naicul purred. His ancient voice was dripping with dark, violent pride. "They wanted to test the true Sovereign. So give them their God."

Saile’s plain brown eyes snapped back open. They were completely cold and intensely focused.

He did not let Naicul take control of his physical body. He kept his own mind securely in the driver’s seat.

Instead, he allowed the God to safely project his shattered soul outward into the physical world.

For a brief, terrifying second, the heavy shadows directly behind Saile ripped wide open.

A towering, massive figure slowly pulled itself out of the freezing dark void. It was a majestic avatar of pure dark mana. It was built entirely from jagged black lightning and thick, swirling smoke.

It stood easily twenty feet tall. Its shadowy head almost touched the high ceiling of the stone war chamber. The air warped and twisted heavily around its massive body.

The terrifying avatar possessed six massive, muscular arms. Four of the shadowy six arms held the phantom shape of a completely different, ancient weapon. There was a giant warhammer, a hooked scythe, a spiked chain, and a heavy broadsword.

Two glowing silver eyes suddenly snapped open on the avatar’s shadowy face. They burned with absolute, ancient wrath.

It was the true, undeniable image of the Fallen God, Naicul Elav.

The sheer pressure coming from the giant avatar was completely overwhelming. It did not feel like normal elemental magic. It was raw, pure Divine Authority.

The heavy stone floor of the war chamber began to buckle and crack just from the avatar’s terrifying presence.

"Kneel," the avatar’s voice echoed loudly.

The single, heavy word slammed directly into the minds of everyone standing in the room.

The Array of the Ancients tried desperately to fight back. The glowing black runes on the floor flashed with blinding light, attempting to crush the EX-Rank magic with heavy gravity.

Saile did not even flinch under the massive pressure.

He reached smoothly over his shoulder and grabbed the long hilt of the Calamity Fang.

He drew the pitch-black odachi with a sharp, ringing metallic sound. He did not use his Phantom Step skill. He did not use his Shadow Swap teleportation.

He simply flooded the dark blade entirely with his pure EX-Rank aura.

The metal hissed and popped angrily. It radiated violent sparks of heavy black lightning, growing dangerously hot in his bare hands.

Saile planted his left boot firmly on the glowing runes. He twisted his hips, transferring massive kinetic energy straight from his dense legs into his shoulders.

He swung the heavy sword forward in a blinding, brutal horizontal arc.

Boom!

A massive, deafening sonic boom cracked violently through the room. A visible, crescent-shaped shockwave of pure black lightning exploded directly from the sharp edge of his blade.

The violent shockwave slammed hard into the invisible walls of the gravity pit.

The SS-Rank Earth Crusher magic completely failed to stop it. The invisible gravity field shattered instantly like a thin pane of cheap glass.

The Array of the Ancients exploded into a million useless, glowing sparkles.

The massive kinetic force of the swing did not stop there.

It blew Mrog’s heavy rock wall completely into fine dust. The thick stone floor of the war chamber was ripped apart, throwing sharp, jagged rocks high into the air.

The violent wind shrieked loudly through the chamber.

It blew the heavy maps and broken weapons clean off the large wooden table, scattering them into the dark corners of the room.

The thick, choking dust slowly began to clear from the air.

Saile stood completely untouched in the exact center of the ruined pit. The Calamity Fang rested casually at his side, still smoking with dark heat.

The massive, multi-armed avatar slowly dissolved back into the shadows behind his back.

The heavy, freezing void of the EX-Rank aura pulled back gently, settling calmly inside Saile’s chest. He locked the Endless Devourer away again.

The large war chamber was now completely, utterly dead silent.

Mrog, the giant Diamond-Tier warlord, was shaking uncontrollably. His thick, muscular legs completely gave out beneath him.

His SS-Rank talent meant absolutely nothing in the face of true divine power.

He dropped heavily onto his knees. The giant man bowed his head in the dirt until his forehead touched the broken stone floor.

"My Lord," Mrog whispered into the dust.

His deep, rough voice cracked with pure, unadulterated awe.

"Forgive me," Mrog begged softly. "I was blind. I did not know."

Alis, the badly burned woman, threw her flaming red spear far to the side. The fire died out completely as it hit the ground.

She fell hard onto her knees right beside Mrog. Her whole body was trembling violently with deep terror and total, absolute respect.

Lady Vesper was already kneeling on the floor, her purple eyes wide with silent worship.

Even the veteran, cold-blooded assassins standing near the heavy iron doors had dropped their poisoned daggers. They bowed completely to the floor, hiding their

faces from the boy in the black cloak.

Every single person in the room was on their knees.

Saile slowly lowered the Calamity Fang. He rested the sharp, pitch-black tip of the mythic sword gently against the broken ground.

He looked down at the bowing army with his plain brown eyes.

Just a few short weeks ago, he was a weak, bleeding orphan. He had been running for his life in a ruined fishing village, terrified of basic guards and low-tier monsters.

He had been forced to hide, lie, and fight like a cornered rat just to protect his little sister, Avery.

Now, three Level 60 Diamond-Tier faction leaders were begging for his mercy.

He had just gone from a hunted, nameless peasant to the absolute Sovereign of the world’s most dangerous Heretic Faction.

"Well done, kid," Naicul whispered quietly in his mind.

The ancient God sounded completely, totally satisfied. He was enjoying the total submission of his followers.

"They know their exact place now," Naicul continued. "They will never doubt you again. Now, it is time to claim our true prize."

Saile completely ignored the kneeling leaders. He did not give them permission to stand up yet.

He stepped smoothly out of the ruined gravity pit. He walked straight toward the back of the silent room, his heavy boots crunching loudly over the broken stone.

He walked up to the raised stone altar. The heavy shockwave had shattered the floating glass box completely. Pieces of sharp glass covered the altar.

Saile looked closely at the jagged piece of black bone hovering above the stone.

Suddenly, the bone flickered wildly like a bad candle. The glowing purple lightning faded, and the bone completely dissolved into thin air.

It was fake.

"A magical projection," Saile muttered softly, narrowing his eyes.

Lady Vesper finally raised her head from the floor.

"Forgive us, Sovereign," she whispered quickly. "That was merely an illusion. A shrine we created for our soldiers to worship daily."

Saile turned his head to look at her, keeping his face perfectly blank.

"Where is the real one?" Saile demanded. His voice was cold and flat.

"It is highly volatile, my Lord," Vesper explained respectfully. "It is entirely encased in magical amber to keep the raw power from leaking out. We keep it locked deep inside our lowest, most heavily guarded relic vault."

"Take me there," Saile ordered.

Vesper nodded rapidly. "At once, Sovereign."

Saile tightened his grip on his sword. He could feel the massive pile of loot sitting heavily in his high-tier storage ring. He had seventeen Skill Shards and nineteen Weapon Fragments and the core of an Iron-Scaled Basilisk ready to be consumed.

If he was going to absorb a highly volatile piece of the Fallen God’s real body, he needed his physical vessel to be in absolute peak condition.

"System," Saile commanded in his mind, bringing up a glowing golden screen.

"Open my inventory."

It was finally time to forge himself into a true nightmare.