To Sin Is Divine

"Some revolutions start with speeches."

"Ours starts with fire."

—Kael Draven, before the gates of Velharem

The gates of the city were open, but not from mercy.

The Church wanted them to walk in.

Like insects crawling into a flame.

But this time, Kael and his team didn't come as fugitives.

They came as Virtues Ascended.

Phase One: Break the Illusion

Ren was the first to move.

A flash of smoke.

Two guards collapsed before they could shout. He danced between alleys, blades moving like wind.

[Skill: Split Wind – Overcharged]

"Divide attention of all guards across decoys. Confusion spread."

Behind him, Zayne pressed his hand against the stone wall of a nearby chapel.

Golden vines of magic bloomed outward, sinking into the structure's veins.

"Sanctuary seal's broken," he said. "They can't recharge their sin energy here anymore."

Kael nodded. "Then it begins."

He turned to Ten, who stood on the tower's edge, cloak snapping in the wind.

"You ready?"

Ten didn't answer.

He just vanished.

In the eastern ward, screams began.

One by one, Church outposts fell dark.

Lights shattered. Towers cracked.

People stepped outside to see guards — sin-blessed enforcers — scattered and unconscious, their weapons broken, their sigils burned off by divine resistance.

Then came the voice.

Projected from the top of Velharem's central bell tower, amplified by Zayne's restored holy conduit spell.

"This is Kael Draven," his voice echoed, calm but unyielding.

"I am not a prophet. I am not a god. But I remember when children weren't branded for mercy."

"The Church betrayed its oath."

"And today, we take it back."

Phase Two: The First Inquisitor

The ground rumbled as the first elite Sin-Blessed stepped onto the battlefield.

Name: Inquisitor Calder

Class: Gluttony

Trait: Endless Body — Absorbs all damage and converts it to bulk

"He who devours enough pain becomes the mountain."

He stood nearly ten feet tall, his skin layered in unnatural folds of muscle and runes. Chains wrapped around his arms like belts, each representing a sin consumed.

"HERETICS!" he roared. "I will FEAST on your resistance!"

Kael stepped forward.

Ren chuckled. "Big guy wants a meal."

Kael's sword gleamed. "Then we give him something he can't digest."

[Skill: Virtue Sync Pulse – Patience + Generosity Combo]

"Redirect incoming force into targeted weak points."

Calder charged like a beast.

But as he moved, Kael's patience slowed time — just enough.

Ren appeared behind him and dropped a coin.

"Ever choke on a silver piece?"

He kicked the coin — it ricocheted off a rune.

Calder stumbled.

Zayne unleashed a blast of tempered light, amplified by Ten's relentless buff.

BOOM.

Calder was forced to one knee — for the first time in his cursed life.

Kael appeared in front of him.

"No more feeding."

He drove his blade straight through the rune over Calder's heart.

[Gluttony Seal Shattered]

[Sin-Blessed Defeated: Inquisitor Calder]

The monster gasped — and faded.

Phase Three: The Crowd Wakes Up

The people of Velharem watched from rooftops, windows, and ruined shrines.

They expected blood.

But instead, they saw something else.

Ten, silent and quick, leading civilians away from burning streets.

Zayne shielding a fallen enemy soldier from debris.

Serah holding a line alone to protect a family hiding in a collapsed bell tower.

Kael stood in the center square.

A girl no older than ten looked up at him, trembling.

"You're… not one of them?"

Kael knelt and handed her a cracked amulet — a symbol of the old Virtues, long erased from history.

"I used to be," he said. "But not anymore."

She stared at it.

Then took it.

Her mother bowed her head. Then others followed.

One by one.

Not forced.

Not threatened.

They chose to kneel.

Phase Four: The Response

Back in the Sin Cathedral, alarms blared.

Lucien watched the unfolding rebellion from a crystalline window.

A single red line bled down his cheek.

"The people… are choosing him."

He raised a hand.

"Summon the other High Inquisitors."

"Unseal the Throne of Wrath."

An aide stepped back, pale. "That hasn't been opened in—"

"Do it," Lucien said, eyes cold. "If they want war, give them a god of it."

Back on the Battlefield

Kael's team regrouped as fires burned across key districts — not wild destruction, but precision strikes.

Only Church nodes fell.

Only Sin-Blessed bled.

Zayne wiped sweat from his brow. "We're pushing faster than expected."

Serah pointed at the cathedral. "That tower… it's reacting."

Kael's system buzzed.

[Warning: Wrath-Class Entity Awakening]

"Combat Signature Exceeds Inquisitor Tier."

Ten narrowed his eyes.

"I've felt this before."

Kael turned toward the cathedral.

"Then prepare yourselves."

He raised his blade to the sky.

"Velharem is not saved yet."