My body exploded.
Not into pieces. Into volume.
I dropped the human disguise entirely. I let the "Bio-Morphic Integrity" go to zero. I poured every ounce of mana I had—plus the reserves I had stolen from the Crown Jewels—into expansion.
The crowd gasped in horror.
Duke Arthur vanished. In his place, a tidal wave of translucent, neon-blue slime erupted from the center of the platform. I grew ten feet. Twenty feet. Forty feet.
I became a towering wall of sentient gelatin, a kaiju made of corporate greed and magic. I blocked out the sun.
The Seraphim’s beam hit me.
It didn't burn. It absorbed.
The white fire sank into my blue mass. It sizzled, bubbled, and then dissolved.
[ENERGY ABSORBED: Divine Fire.]
[Mana +5000%.]
[Capacity Exceeded. Evolution Imminent.]
"ERROR," the Seraphim boomed, stepping back. "TARGET IS... CONSUMING THE PAYLOAD."
"I'm not just consuming it," my voice roared, not from a mouth, but from the vibrations of my entire massive body. It sounded like a choir drowning underwater. "I'm restructuring it!"
I lunged.
My slime form crashed over the Seraphim like a tsunami. The golden wheels spun frantically, the burning wings flapped, but physical force is useless against a liquid. I enveloped the Angel. I filled the gaps in its armor. I wrapped around its core.
Inside my body, I could feel the Seraphim thrashing. It tasted like ozone and strict rules.
"UNHAND ME! I AM A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SYSTEM!"
"Your contract has been terminated," I said.
I squeezed.
I used the [Liquid Assets] ability to break down the Seraphim’s code. I didn't kill it; I assimilated it. I ripped the admin privileges right out of its glowing heart.
[Hacking Divine Firewall...]
[Bypassing Church Protocols...]
[Access Granted.]
The Seraphim dissolved inside me, turning into a stream of golden data that flowed through my blue veins.
The light in the square changed. The oppressive purple sky shattered, replaced by a calm, golden dawn—my gold.
I began to shrink. I condensed the massive volume of slime back down, compressing all that power, all that stolen divinity, into a single point.
The slime swirled on the platform, reforming. Bones knit together. Muscles wove like fabric. Skin smoothed over the top.
I stood on the platform. I looked human again. But my eyes were no longer brown. They were solid, glowing gold.
I adjusted my velvet coat. It was pristine.
I turned to Malakor.
The High Inquisitor was on his knees. He wasn't praying. He was trembling. He had just watched a man eat an Angel and burp out a sunrise.
"What..." Malakor stammered, his blindfold slipping off to reveal eyes that were milky white and wide with terror. "What are you?"
I walked over to him. The HUD in my vision had changed. The red warning borders were gone. They were replaced by a sleek, platinum interface.
[Role Updated: Regional Administrator.]
[God Mode: Limited Access.]
[Current Humanity: Irrelevant.]
I grabbed Malakor by his collar and hauled him up.
"I'm the new CEO," I said calmly.
I tapped the air next to his head. A screen appeared that everyone could see—a massive holographic projection floating above the square. It showed a ledger.
"And according to this," I said, pointing to the numbers, "The Church is insolvent. You've been hoarding mana while the people starve. That's embezzlement, Malakor."
The crowd roared. The peasants didn't understand the magic, but they understood the accusation. They understood that the man in white had been holding out on them.
"This is a trick!" Malakor shrieked. "Paladins! Kill him!"
The Silver Paladins drew their swords.
I didn't move. I just looked at them and issued a memo.
[Admin Command: Freeze Assets.]
The Paladins froze in place. Not out of fear, but literally. Their armor locked up. Their muscles refused to fire. The System itself had revoked their movement privileges.
"The Board has voted," I whispered to Malakor.
I shoved him backward. He fell, powerless, onto the wood.
"You're fired."
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.