Chapter 2: The Forgotten God

Chapter 2: The Forgotten God

As the fires of Ryosa crackled in the background, Kaito’s System pulsed to life.

Warning: Insubordination Detected. Directive Override Initiated.

The screen before him fractured, its once-pristine blue now marred by jagged cracks of crimson. He could feel it, like claws scraping against the inside of his skull, its voice louder, more commanding than ever.

“You will bow,” it growled, no longer the calculated monotone he once knew but a snarling, guttural roar.

Kaito dropped to his knees, clutching his head. The ground beneath him trembled as a surge of System energy coursed through the air, distorting reality itself. The ruins of Ryosa twisted into an eldritch nightmare—a landscape of jagged obsidian spires and rivers of molten light.

“I won’t!” Kaito screamed, his voice hoarse but defiant. He slammed his fist into the ground, the impact sending cracks spiderwebbing through the charred earth.

And then, something snapped.

A new screen materialized, its text scrawled in a jagged, almost desperate script.

Override Countermeasure Detected. Accessing… Forgotten Protocols.

Kaito felt it, a shift in the air, a presence both ancient and malevolent stirring within him. His body convulsed as a wave of power surged through him, dark and unrelenting. He heard a voice, not the System’s, but something older, something that predated humanity itself.

“You are my vessel,” it said, its words smooth and venomous. “You will bring the gods to their knees.”

For the first time since his awakening, the System recoiled. Kaito felt its hold weaken, its once-impenetrable authority cracking under the weight of this new force.

“What… are you?” he whispered, his voice trembling.

The entity laughed, a sound like grinding stone and shattering glass. “I am the one they buried, the god they dared to forget. And you, my dear Kaito, will be my harbinger.”