"When gods fall silent, monsters become the new prophets."
---
The World Above – Twenty Minutes After Floor 10
The Saint of Purity had vanished.
Holy sites across the world bled golden ichor. Cathedrals burned from within, as if heaven itself had been disemboweled. Clerics went mad during sermons, gnashing their teeth and screaming her name—only to spit blood and collapse.
Sanctuaries cracked open. The sacred oils turned rancid. Hymns were replaced with static over divine channels.
But not everyone despaired.
Some began to kneel.
Not to statues.
Not to gods.
To a screen.
To a name.
Hollow.
His mask had appeared during the broadcast.
The white beak. The abyssal gaze. The blood on his hands.
They didn't see a killer.
They saw a god who answered.
They saw wrath incarnate.
They saw hope where there had only been silence.
---
Tower Floor 11 – The Hall of Witnesses
Jin entered a chamber of silence.
No enemies. No traps. Just a long hallway filled with kneeling figures—illusions of those watching from the outside world.
Each one flickered with signal interference, but their message was clear.
They were praying.
To him.
Some chanted. Others wept.
> "He will unmake the heavens."
> "He is the ash in the lungs of the divine."
> "We bleed for Hollow."
> [System Notice: New Alignment Detected – Cult of the Hollow Bloom]
> [Global Worship Trend: 7,021 Followers and Rising]
> [Faith Echoes Detected – Power Drift Possibility: ENABLED]
Jin walked between them.
Some cried.
Others whispered his name.
One girl raised her hand like she was reaching toward salvation.
Her illusion burst into petals of light the moment Jin passed by.
None of it mattered.
He wasn't their god.
He was their consequence.
He hadn't saved them.
He had shown them what the gods feared.
---
Flashback – Before Regression (Year 22)
Jin, starving and fevered, had once collapsed at the base of a church's stairs.
He had cried out—not to the gods, but to anyone.
His ribs showed. His feet bled.
The doors remained shut.
Inside, he heard laughter. Wine poured. Faith celebrated.
Outside, he bled.
He scratched the doors once.
Then again.
Then he stopped.
Because begging was the first step to breaking.
And he had already broken enough.
He had never forgotten that moment.
---
Tower Floor 11 – End of the Hall
At the far end stood a golden mirror, showing not his reflection—but a prophecy.
One possible future:
Cities kneeling.
Gods dethroned.
Jin standing above a mountain of corpses.
Behind him, temples in flames.
Children offering him bones in baskets.
> [System Alert: Unique Path Chosen]
> [Title Gained – God of the Forsaken]
> [Passive Effect: +15% Power From Worship-Linked Despair]
> [Warning: Sanity Drain Effect Triggered – Mental Stability Resistance Required]
Jin stared into the mirror.
His mask smiled back.
But behind it—his true face didn't flinch.
He reached forward…
And shattered the glass.
> "I don't want worship."
> "I want to erase the need for it."
> "Let them kneel now. Soon, they'll burn too."
Shards cut his hand.
The blood hissed against the floor.
The tower trembled.
---
Outside – Cult of the Hollow Bloom (Rising)
In back alleys, in abandoned churches, in digital streams—new chants began to spread.
Children with broken bodies carved plague masks into stone.
Old priests, once abandoned by their gods, now whispered Jin's name like a sacred curse.
> "He who tore the Saint shall guide us."
> "The gods have lied. Hollow reveals truth."
> "No prayers. No penance. Only purge."
And at their center… a boy in a plague mask.
Silent.
Unforgiving.
Unstoppable.
He had not asked for their belief.
But he would use it.
Because faith—real faith—was power.
And he would devour it.
---