S1C03: The Problem

"...Are you talking about to the current issue including the s-ranks?" She asked lowly, keeping her head low.

"What else?" He sneered.

Rude.

"You, little priestess. Why do you think they're doing that?" He asked, bending down to look at her face-to-face but she clenched her eyes.

"I... I don't know..." She stuttered, if only she cared more about what's happening around her then she would've known.

The god's laughter rang out, sharp and scornful, cutting through the heavy air like a blade. "You humans," he spat, voice thick with derision, "are entirely stupid."

He paced before her, arms spread wide in mockery, his steps almost playful — like a wolf dancing before the kill. "The world gifts you a sliver of magic... just a taste... and what do you do?"

He snapped his fingers, and visions of burning cities, broken armies, and crumbling towers exploded around her, surrounding her in a spinning hellscape. "You turn it into war."

His voice was thick with disgust and amusement both, savoring every word. "Like mindless beasts—smash, smash, smash!" Each word was punctuated with another horrific image, a child screaming, a city collapsing, rivers running red.

He threw his head back and laughed, the sound twisted and wrong. "Hah! Seriously. It's almost... impressive."

The visions slowed. He leaned in, his eyes glowing faintly in the gloom, his smile wide and cruel. "But props to you, little priestess," he whispered, mockingly tender.

Around them, the air darkened further, the feeling of unseen hands clawing at the edges of her mind.

"Because of that little apocalypse you humans pulled..." He tapped her forehead lightly with a single cold finger, grinning. "I rose higher than ever before. Right through the ranks. Thanks to you."

His grin twisted into something darker, more unsettling.

Suddenly, his expression turned blank, vacant, as though the madness inside him had consumed his features entirely.

"And now that I'm on top..." His voice dropped, a deadly hiss slipping from his lips as his eyes ignited, glowing with an unnatural light. "I saw something." His fangs, sharp and grotesque, glinted in the eerie glow as he leaned closer, a sickening hunger flashing in his gaze.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" His voice cracked, the tantrum of a child gone wrong, twisting into madness. His hands moved erratically, summoning storm-like bursts of power, each one splashing around her in a violent display of rage. But none of them hit their mark, missing by inches as if toying with her.

"Those s-ranks of yours... they're going to burn everything I've built!" His eyes turned red with fury, his stare seething with raw, uncontrolled rage. He lunged forward, his grip tight on her shoulders, shaking her violently as his breath hitched.

Her body trembled, breaking under the pressure, as if she were a fragile doll on the verge of shattering.

"Oh, no, no, no..." His voice dropped to a mocking whisper, his tone dripping with feigned sweetness. "Don't be scared... I never said it was your fault," he emphasized the wrong word, his lips curling into a grotesque parody of comfort.

His face twisted once more, a violent storm building behind his eyes. "But it soon will be, if you don't listen closely..." His voice became a low growl, the tension in the air thick enough to suffocate.

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