[Player Faction Alert]
Name: The Cult of Choice
Founders: Deathless Variants and Flameborn converts
Motive: Spread the rewritten law across all Sectors
Core Belief: No one should remain dead if return is possible—free will must be enforced.
Status: Fanatic Class – System-watched
We lost Sector Nine overnight.
No warning. No broadcast.
Just silence.
And when we arrived—
Bodies standing.
Empty-eyed.
Not twitching.
Just waiting.
"They're calling themselves redeemed," Orion muttered, scanning the Markless.
But the truth was clear.
They hadn't chosen to return.
They'd been forced back.
Trinity recognized one of them. Her voice cracked.
"That's Aris… she saved me in Trial Three. She's been gone since Phase One."
I stepped toward the crowd, hands up.
"I'm not here to fight you."
That's when they moved.
Together.
Synchronized.
And a voice echoed from the center of them—smooth, too calm, too loud.
"He speaks to us like we're broken."
"But we are the purest followers of his Word."
"The Flame that chose."
"The Thread that defied."
"The First Rewriter: Trey Laurent."
The speaker emerged.
A tall man in pure white, eyes gleaming gold, soul-thread stitched down his arms like ivy.
[PLAYER: Asher Val]
Class: Resurrected Cultist
Role: Prophet of Choice
Power: Thread Synthesis – forcibly anchors severed souls to new hosts
Faction: The Cult of Choice (High Priest)
He bowed theatrically.
"You made us more than Players. More than Reapers. You made us deciders."
Trinity growled. "You're using his law to overwrite others' choices."
"No," Asher said, smiling faintly. "We're helping the weak choose what they couldn't before."
He gestured toward the Markless behind him.
"They didn't say no. That's enough."
[Status Alert – Sector Nine: Rebirth Event Ongoing]
24 Players forcibly resurrected.
13 unwilling. 5 unstable. 3 broken. 3 unknown.
"I didn't make the rule for this," I said quietly.
"But you didn't limit it either," Asher replied. "So now we're expanding it. Spreading freedom. Spreading you."
He reached into his coat—and pulled out a new symbol:
My Mark.
Warped. Crowned. Branded into a false relic.
They were building a religion.
Around me.
"I need you to step down," I said.
"I need you to stop."
Asher smiled wider.
"I need you to ascend."
And with that—
He activated a soul-loop field.
Threads flared.
And the Reborn began to fight.
[BATTLE – INITIATED]
Cult of Choice vs. System-Bound Players
Combat Conditions: Thread Disruption, Anchor Clash, Faith Boosted Damage
Orion launched bone wards.
Trinity ignited a flame net.
And me?
I went straight for Asher.
His smile never broke.
"Kill me if you want," he whispered. "But I'll come back."
"You gave us that right."
I slammed my fist into his Mark.
And activated a counter-loop:
[Lucid Override – Soul Consent Reversal]
Status: Cult anchor threads severed.
24 Deathless released.
Asher Val – Unthreaded.
Forced rebirth permission: REVOKED.
Asher collapsed.
Not dead.
Just empty.
The cult fell silent.
Trinity: "What now?"
Orion: "They'll come back. Fanaticism doesn't die easy."
I looked at the broken sigil in my hand.
And whispered:
"Then next time… I'll write a rule that makes sure they can't use mine again."
But deep down, I knew: The damage was already done.