The Oracle's voice doesn't echo. It presses. Not like sound—but like gravity.
Su Chen stands frozen beneath the blood-slick clouds, and for a moment, the war-cracked world hushes as if bracing for what's coming.
"You are a tear in destiny," the voice continues. "A fracture too jagged to seal. Tell me, Su Chen—do you wish to be God?"
He scoffs, brushing dirt from his coat. "Gods die just like men. I'm not interested in becoming another name for weak people to pray to."
"Then what do you want?"
The question isn't new. He's heard it a thousand times. From enemies. From allies. From the woman who held him as he bled out the first time—only to help his best friend gut him moments later.
But this time, his answer is different.
"I want the world to remember what it did to me," he says. "I want every lie dressed as love to burn."
Silence.
Then the Oracle responds—not in words—but visions.
They sear into his brain like fire through parchment.
He sees—
—himself, standing before an army of machines forged from human grief;
—an ocean of fire swallowing entire cities, and a black sun rising where the real one should be;
—Rika, bound to a cruciform engine, whispering his name through broken lips as a child with his eyes watches from behind the glass;
—a sword that weeps every time he draws it;
—his own corpse, smiling.
[WARNING: SYSTEM OVERCLOCK DETECTED.]
[Mental Strain Rising – Host brain temperature: 43.2°C]
[Admin Override Suggested.]
[INITIATING SYSTEM DAMPEN—]
"No," Su Chen growls.
[Override: ACCEPTED.]
The visions shatter.
His body sags for a second, knees hitting the cracked stone. Blood trickles from his nose.
He laughs.
It's bitter. Beautiful.
"I see," he mutters. "You're not here to stop me."
"No."
"You're here to witness me."
"Yes."
Across the continent, somewhere in the hidden halls of The Glass Parliament, ancient minds whisper.
"He made contact."
"With the Oracle?"
"No. The Oracle responded."
"That's impossible."
"Isn't everything, until he does it?"
An elderly man in a white cloak folds his trembling fingers. "He's ascending."
"No," a woman corrects him. "He's breaking the ladder."
Back on the mountaintop, Su Chen rises. The temple crumbles behind him, collapsing under the weight of desecrated faith. His coat flares in the wind like dark wings. From his palm, a thin crimson filament dangles—energy torn from the Oracle's link, writhing like a living thing.
He stares at it.
Then swallows it.
[UNCLASSIFIED ENERGY ABSORBED.]
[New Trait Acquired: "Oracle-Breaker" – Immune to Prophecy. Immune to Fate-Altering Magic. Immune to Oracle-Class Detection.]
[System Evolution in Progress…]
[WARNING: You are becoming something that should not exist.]
Su Chen grins.
"Good."
End of Chapter 56