GOD'S PRODIGY; DIVINE SYSTEM

Lights flashed across the sky. One man stood his ground against four men. Thick, dark blood pooled under him, but he was ruthless.

"Give up, Paul. Leventus is far gone." The first of the four men smiled. His smile mocked Paul's appearance.

"Not until I tear off your skin, Arius," Paul growled. Countless rods lined horizontally behind him. Instead of bright light, these rods illuminated a dark color, pulsating with corruption.

"Can we go now?" Jarcus, the second man, asked. He flew to Arius' side, brandishing a spear by his side.

"Yes. Let's finish him." Arius glared at Paul.

Paul pointed a finger, commanding the rods behind, and they flew at immense speed, targeting each of the four men.

"He is Corrupted, but he has still more power. A champion indeed." Arius muttered. Before he could say another word, a rod flew straight into his chest, sending him flying meters away.

Carrion looked at the direction his partner had flown. He was the one left to fulfill the task. They had to bring this monster down.

"I'll make you pay, Paul." Carrion rushed, escaping each rod.

"Try." With a single word from Paul, more rods formed. Black lightning blazed, surrounding each rod.

The number of rods was far less than what he had previously created.

Carrion looked at Jarcus, allowing a mental understanding, before launching his attack. "Death by a million touch!"

Dark fire was shot from the earth, rising to the sky. The mass of fire stood behind Carrion, transforming into smaller dots of fire.

Then they launched at Paul. It was like a rain of millions of bullets, each moving at four times the speed of a normal muzzle velocity.

The sheer volume of the attack riled up his instincts, something he had not felt in ages.

It was to defend or die.

"It's futile, Champion of God." Carrion chuckled, the sound reverberating amongst the trees.

"Do not call me that," Paul growled, hearing the name brought an anger to his chest. His attention wavered, and a bullet went through his shoulders.

Paul stiffened. Why was he weaker than before?

"That's right. I laced them with poison. Do you think I'd burn out my life core for nothing? I'll see your dying face before leaving this cursed world." Carrion let out a menacing laugh.

The dark rods were diminishing, and they almost looked powerless.

At that point, Paul felt a terrible foreboding.

One of the men, Jarcus, appeared behind Paul, using his greatest weapon—the ability of stealth.

He would never have been able to try it if Paul had been at his peak, but it was now a different scenario.

Jarcus drove what looked like a dagger into Paul's back.

The dagger had a blood-red blade, its handle crooked like a dragon's teeth, earning it the name 'dragon stump.'

The dagger pierced straight into Paul through his life-core barrier.

The moment it came into contact with his Divine Life Core, Paul's face contorted with pain.

If his life core were destroyed, he would die.

"Father, help me," Paul roared as desperation clawed at him.

There was only one being he could call. His God. The one he had cut off.

At his cry, a stunning light shot from the sky to the crown of his head. It created an enormous reaction, blasting his enemies in a different direction.

Jarcus, who was too close to the blast, had been completely obliterated.

Left behind was the dragon stump, halfway into Paul's core. Jarcus had died with an ugly expression. He didn't realize the life core had barriers, and the moment the stump pierced the second barrier, he was faced with eternal death.

The bright light dissipated into Paul's body, leaving behind a whisper. "Listen to me."

Paul fell.

His body, weakened by the brutality of the attacks he had faced, landed with a loud explosion, creating a massive crater in the earth.

Leventus, who was a long distance away, felt the sky tremble, causing him to look back.

"I hope they killed him off." He mumbled to himself, looking at the wooden box in his hand.

"Why does Master even need this? We could have gotten the champion. This lady has no use." Leventus threw the box in the air, catching it in his hands. It was light as a feather.

A man rose from his feet around the debris where Paul had fallen. He looked around to see his fallen comrades. Carrion had lost half of his body, his life core gone. Jarcus was nowhere to be found.

The man couldn't sense Arius' core signal, so it was obvious he was dead.

This man was Reith. He was among the four. He had stayed behind to attack from Paul's blindside. He didn't know it would be his saving grace.

Smoke dispersed from the crater when Paul fell in. Reith could sense the amount of power surrounding the place. Was this the might of God's champion?

The best choice now would be to kill the legendary man with a golden divine core and report to his master for rewards.

Reith slid down the edge of the cliff scree slope, dislodging some loose rocks. He hoped the disturbance wouldn't awaken the legend, or he'd be done for.

Paul's eyes were closed, and he lay unmoving on the dirt.

Reith frowned; there was a golden glow underneath Paul's body.

Moving the body wasn't a hassle; he realized it was some liquid. The liquid dripped down the dragon stump attached to the legend's back.

Reith inched closer, "How's this possible? I don't think a golden liquid is in the guidebook." His mind went to what they had been given to study about the Champion of God.

As soon as his finger touched the liquid, it reacted, and he moved back, but it was late.

The liquid moved on his finger and went into his orifices. Reith panicked, and darkness surrounded his vision, "Wait…"

The sentence hung in his throat as the world vanished, disappearing into a void.

When Reith opened his eyes, he felt stuck in a loop; his chest was heavy, and his breathing was hard.

"Where…" Veins popped into his head as he said the first word, causing a throbbing headache.

He felt dirty, and a rotting stench seeped into his nose, stopping his breath. "… Am I?" A mere whisper, devoid of intensity.

Pain flooded his nerves as his veins began to spread, covering every part of his body.

Tears pooled up in his eyes as he gritted his teeth. The pain was familiar. It tugged at his memory, from the moment he got corrupted to the blood splash that came with killing his first human.

Every corruptive scene flashed through his eyes as if mocking him.

"Make it stop," Reith screamed, his head throbbing with pain. He hated it; he hated everything, the corruption, the society, the master, every single one of them. They ruined his life. However, there was no way to go back.

At the instant, everything vanished, followed by a strange numbness.

Reith gasped, taking a deep breath to move his intent around his body. The foreboding was right; his core was gone.

Lightning sparked in the void, and the space shrunk as Reith felt an invisible pull.

"I should be dead." He muttered to himself. The result of being without a core was death, but he was alive, his lungs functioning, and he couldn't feel the blood rushing through his veins.

"Something's wrong." He tried to move, but his body remained suspended. The pull on his body tightened, and a screeching sound filled the air as cracks began to appear on the enlarged space.

A whisper filled the air, and Reith shook at the command. The void broke in the blink of an eye, and he inhaled.

He was back in the right world, but a stream of messy stomach contents spewed from his mouth before he could gather himself.

Reith's body racked with spasm as tears filled his eyes. The air was filled with the acrid smell of vomit, and when he turned to his right, Paul lay silently asleep.

"I have to get out of here." Reith cleaned his mouth, looking around. Any moment from now, Leventus could come to check the Champion.

Taking a step forward, his body felt pressed down by a heavy force, and blood spilled from his nose, causing him to recall the pain of being corrupted. He didn't want to turn again. It was essential to keep his nature core without corruption.

He turned to Paul's body, and looked around the area.

Without Reith's corrupted core, his body felt weaker than usual, and picking up the champion wasn't easy, but there was no other way.

It was either this or getting corrupted.

A memory sparked in his head, causing him to turn back. The golden liquid had vanished.