CHAPTER 206: DIVINITY

The glowing panel unfolded before my eyes, its light washing over my face in faint gold.

Ding!

[You have received: Seal of the Divine]

[Three Divine Skills Granted]

[Hand of the Raging Sun | Divine Binding | Divine Essence]

[Defeat more creatures of the damned to unlock new skills.]

[Progress toward next unlock: 0/10]

I stared at the screen for a few seconds, letting the words sink in.

New skills. Divine ones, at that.

A low breath escaped me—half relief, half awe. Whatever that being had done, at least it hadn’t been for nothing. And judging by the names alone, these weren’t your average tricks or passive buffs.

I couldn’t help the flicker of excitement that coursed through me. After everything I’d just gone through, power like this wasn’t just welcome—it was necessary

. I needed something that could help me stand my ground the next time I faced something like what Jael became.

I swiped the air to open the details.

The window shimmered, expanding until lines of text began to scroll into view.

[Divine Skills]

Hand of the Raging Sun: Your hand becomes an instrument of divine wrath, enveloped in searing solar fire. Each strike channels the fury of the sun itself, capable of incinerating corruption and burning through even the toughest defenses. The flames grow stronger against entities tainted by darkness or malice.

Divine Binding: Summon radiant chains forged from divine energy to restrain your enemies. Once ensnared, the target’s movements and abilities are sealed, forcibly disrupting active skills and sending them into disarray. Particularly devastating against creatures of the damned, whose essence reacts violently to divine suppression.

Divine Essence: Your body now emanates a faint divine aura that provokes instinctive fear or caution in creatures of the damned. You can infuse this sacred essence into your physical and magical attacks, greatly amplifying their effectiveness against corrupted or infernal beings.

Now this... this was different.

If I’d had these skills in my arsenal before the fight with Jael, I could’ve ended it easily. No desperate warping, no burning through my mana like a fool just to keep up.

Especially that last one—Divine Essence.

The ability to infuse my attacks with divine energy.

If I’d been able to mix that into my [Rift Slashes], they wouldn’t have just torn through space—they would’ve burned through the corruption itself. A few well-placed strikes, and Jael’s monstrous form would’ve been nothing but ash.

But back then, I hadn’t had that advantage. No divine energy, no counter to whatever the hell he’d become. My attacks, no matter how sharp or powerful, were useless against that kind of corruption. Every hit just fed it, every strike swallowed by the endless hunger of the damned.

That was the first time I’d ever felt truly helpless since waking up in this world.

Not outmatched, not tired—helpless. Like the rules I’d been playing by suddenly stopped applying.

The Overseer’s words still echoed in the back of my mind.

"Something far beyond this realm trying to birth existence in my domain..."

That thing—whatever Jael had turned into—wasn’t supposed to exist here. It wasn’t just strong, it was wrong. A corruption that defied the natural order of this world.

And that thought alone gave me a strange kind of comfort.

Because while I might not have understood everything that had happened, one thing was clear: I’d survived something that shouldn’t have been possible.

I still wielded terrifying power—enough to carve through most of what this world could throw at me—and now, with the addition of these divine skills, I’d become something even greater. Stronger. Deadlier.

And I wasn’t planning to stop there.

Power was momentum, and I was already in motion. I’d keep pushing forward, keep leveling up by any means available to me.

Every battle, every challenge, every kill would feed into that climb.

I wouldn’t relent, not after coming this far.

The system’s message replayed in my mind, clear as day: Defeat more creatures of the damned to unlock new skills.

That was all the direction I needed.

If killing those things made me stronger, then I’d hunt down anyone of those I come across.

Relentlessly.

I shot to my feet, energy surging through me, every muscle coiled tight with determination.

But just as the fire in my chest started to build, a sound cut through it.

"Khh... khh..."

A weak, ragged cough.

I turned toward the sound, my muscles tensing instinctively. The noise came again—ragged, shallow, like air being dragged through a throat that had forgotten how to breathe.

And then I saw him.

Jael.

Still alive.

My eyes narrowed in disbelief. "You’ve got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.

He lay sprawled across the torn earth, barely recognizable as the same goblin who had once stood against me. His body was a ruin—thin and brittle, skin clinging to bone like old parchment. Most of his flesh had dried and cracked, the color of ash. Parts of him were missing entirely, fingers half gone, ribs visible through rents in his chest. Every breath he took rattled out of him like wind through a broken flute.

I approached slowly, each step cautious, the ground crunching softly under my boots. My eyes stayed fixed on him, studying the faint rise and fall of his chest, the twitch of his remaining fingers.

The closer I got, the worse he looked.

Up close, his condition was appalling.

His limbs were twisted and frail, hanging together only by shreds of muscle and sheer stubbornness. Deep slashes—my slashes—crossed his torso, carved lines that still glowed faintly with residual energy. His once-armored body was now just a mass of wounds, his aura gone, his strength stripped away.

His face was hollow, sunken in.

The fierce glare he used to wear had been replaced by something empty—vacant eyes staring at nothing, lips cracked and bleeding.

I stopped just in front of him, the air between us heavy and silent.

And I stood there, staring down at him, and for a long moment, I didn’t know what to feel.

He looked so pitiful now.

All that arrogance, that authority he’d once carried—it was gone, stripped clean. What lay before me wasn’t the goblin chief who had commanded an army or defied me with fury in his eyes. It was just a dying husk, frail and drained, barely clinging to existence.

He moaned weakly when his eyes found me, and...