Chapter 1: The Shattered Crown and the Sovereign's Awakening
The world didn't end with a bang. It ended with the cold, rhythmic sound of rain hitting a broken body.
Cyan Valerian lay in the mud of the Abyss of Silent Bones.
His vision was a blur of crimson and grey. Above him, the sky was a jagged slit between towering cliffs—a distant paradise he was no longer allowed to touch. Every breath felt like a hot iron being driven into his lungs.
Crack.
He coughed, and a thick glob of blood splattered onto the white frost. The pain was absolute. But the physical agony was nothing compared to the soul-crushing void in his chest.
His Mana Core was gone.
Broken into a thousand pieces by the very man who shared his blood.
"Why, Victor?" Cyan managed to rasp, his voice sounding like dry parchment tearing. "I... I stood by you. I gave you the throne."
A few meters away, Prince Victor stood tall. He was draped in regal gold-trimmed armor that shimmered even in the gloom. In his hand was a sword—Cyan's sword—still dripping with the blood of its rightful owner.
"That's exactly why you must die, dear brother," Victor replied. His voice was calm, devoid of any guilt. "You were too perfect. The 'Saint's Heart' child. The hero of the people. As long as you lived, the shadow you cast was so large I couldn't even see my own throne. I don't want your protection, Cyan. I want your absence."
Victor stepped closer, his gilded boot pressing down on Cyan's shattered ribs. Cyan let out a strangled cry of pain.
"I didn't just want your title," Victor whispered, leaning down. "I wanted your Light. And now, I have it. The Church has already declared you a traitor who tried to assassinate the Saintess. Your name will be a curse by sunrise."
Cyan's eyes flickered toward the woman standing behind Victor.
Servina. The Holy Saintess. His fiancée.
She stood like a statue carved from moonstone. Her platinum-blonde hair flowed in the wind, and her amethyst eyes remained fixed on the horizon, refusing to even look at the man she had promised to spend her life with.
"Servina..." Cyan choked out. "Do you... believe this lie?"
Finally, she looked down at him. There was no hesitation in her eyes. No regret. Only a terrifying, frozen indifference.
"Purity is the only truth, Cyan," she said, her voice like the tolling of a funeral bell. "Your core was stagnant. It wasn't growing. The Gods do not favor the weak, and I do not wed failures. Victor is the Sun. You are merely the fading moon. It is time for you to set."
"I saved your life!" Cyan roared, a sudden surge of adrenaline forcing him to claw at the ground. "I took the curse for you! My core stopped growing because I gave my essence to heal your soul!"
Servina's expression didn't change. "And for that, the Heavens thank you for your sacrifice. Your role is over."
Victor kicked Cyan's head back into the dirt. "Enough talk. The beasts of the Abyss are hungry, and we have a coronation to prepare for."
They turned away. The golden aura of their power faded as they ascended the magical lift, leaving Cyan in the absolute, crushing darkness of the chasm.
Silence fell. A heavy, oppressive silence.
Cyan lay there, his fingers dug deep into the freezing mud. He watched the last speck of gold disappear. The silence was slowly replaced by the sound of scuttling—hundreds of abyss-crawlers were sensing his dying warmth.
I hate you.
The thought erupted in his mind like a volcano.
I hate the Light. I hate the Church. I hate the blood in my veins.
If being 'pure' means being a sacrifice for vipers, then I choose to be the venom.
If the Heavens are built on this treachery, then I will become the Hell that burns them down!
As the first monster—a multi-legged horror with glowing red eyes—lunged at his throat, time suddenly froze.
[Ding!]
A sound, sharp and crystalline, echoed directly in his soul. A massive screen erupted in front of him, glowing with a malevolent, neon-purple light that pushed back the shadows.
[Absolute Hatred Level: 100/100... Confirmed.]
[Will to Destroy Morality: Absolute... Confirmed.]
[Status: Near Death / Mana Core Destroyed.]
[System Initialization: THE ABSOLUTE CORRUPTION SYSTEM.]
[Host Compatibility: 100% (The Sovereign of Sin).]
"What... is this?" Cyan gasped, his heart giving a violent thud.
[Warning: Binding with this System will erase your status as a 'Human'. You will become the enemy of the Gods and the master of all 'Forbidden Desires'.]
[Do you wish to accept the Path of Sin and reclaim your life?]
"Yes," Cyan snarled, his eyes narrowing. "I'll become a demon if it means I can tear their hearts out!"
[Binding Initiated... 10%... 50%... 100%.]
[Welcome, Host. The First Blessing of the Abyss is being forged.]
Suddenly, a pillar of dark purple energy erupted from Cyan's chest, shooting up toward the sky like a spear of darkness. He screamed, his body arching off the ground.
He could feel the fragments of his shattered mana core being gathered. They weren't being repaired—they were being reforged. The golden mana was being boiled away, replaced by a thick, obsidian energy that felt like liquid fire.
His bones snapped and grew back stronger, denser. His muscles tightened, becoming lean and explosive. The circuit-like tattoos began to glow on his chest and neck, pulsating with a rhythmic purple light.
His right eye remained ocean-blue, but his left eye... it exploded into a brilliant, predatory violet glow.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
Name: Cyan Valerian
Title: The Sovereign of Sin
Rank: Mortal (Corrupted Evolution - Level 0)
Core: Heart of Ruin (Stage 0)
Health: 100/100
Sin Points: 0
Active Skills: [Eyes of Lust & Ruin]
Cyan stood up. He didn't feel the cold anymore. He felt... hunger. A hunger for power. A hunger for vengeance.
He looked at the monsters that had been about to eat him. They were now trembling, their heads pressed against the ground in fear.
"Get out of my sight," Cyan whispered.
His voice carried a new, terrifying authority. The monsters shrieked and fled into the darkness as if Death itself were chasing them.
Cyan looked at his hands. He felt more alive than he ever had as a 'Saint'. He reached up, feeling the markings on his neck. A slow, cruel smile spread across his face.
"Victor... Servina... You wanted to clear the path for your Sun?"
He looked up at the distant sky, his violet eye piercing through the clouds.
"You didn't clear a path. You opened the gates of Hell. And I'm the one coming through."
Suddenly, the system flickered again.
[New Quest: The Fallen Saintess.]
[Description: Deep within the Abyss lies the soul of a woman betrayed by the Light 500 years ago. She is the key to your first evolution.]
[Objective: Locate and 'Tame' the Discarded Spirit.]
Cyan took his first step. He didn't know what was waiting for him in the depths, but for the first time in his life, he didn't care about being 'pure'.
He was the King of Sin now. And the hunt had just begun.
As he walked deeper, a faint, ghostly melody reached his ears—a woman's voice, singing a song of sorrow that made his new 'Heart of Ruin' beat with anticipation. Little did he know, this encounter would change his fate more than his brother's betrayal ever could.