God of Nothing: Rise of the Cursed Heir

The mountain winds howled like dying gods.

Kai stood unmoving, facing the twelve masked warriors blocking the Blackrock Pass. Each bore the mark of a different elite faction—Beast Fang, Moonbinders, Hollowblade, and others long thought extinct.

But only one mattered.

Rael Hollowblade.

Golden hair slicked back, scar along his jaw, twin obsidian blades strapped across his back. Smiling like the world owed him nothing and he'd take it anyway.

He stepped forward. "Kai Arclight. Your bounty's reached seven digits. That makes you famous."

Kai didn't flinch. "Or dangerous."

Rael grinned wider. "Same thing."

Ilren, standing just behind Kai, whispered, "Who are they?"

Kai kept his voice low. "Relic Hunters. Mercenary royalty. They don't come unless they're paid… or scared."

Rael unsheathed one blade.

"You can kneel now, Flamebearer. Or burn and watch the boy die first."

For a long moment, Kai said nothing.

Then—

He stepped forward. Alone.

Ilren gasped, "What are you doing?!"

But Kai only looked ahead.

"Let the boy go," he said coldly, "and I won't erase your name from the continent."

Rael laughed. "Still playing hero?"

"I'm not a hero," Kai said.

And then—

[System Notification: Battle State Activated – Aura Suppression: OFF]

The pressure in the air dropped. The wind died. Even the masked warriors stiffened.

Kai's godflame aura surged outward—raw, unstable, rippling through the ice and stone like the heartbeat of a sleeping titan.

Rael's smile vanished.

"Fall formation!" he barked.

But it was too late.

Kai launched forward—not as a boy, but as a curse unchained.

Ten Minutes Later

The snow turned black from scorched flesh.

Four masked warriors were dead. Two fled.

Rael's left arm was broken, his right blade snapped in half. Blood stained the pass.

Kai stood breathing heavily, cloak torn, shirt scorched open. His chest revealed a glowing sigil embedded over his heart—not one he had earned, but one forged into him by forces still unknown.

[System Alert: Inhibitor Sigil Exposed – External Imprint Detected]

Kai blinked.

"What the hell is this?"

Rael, gasping on one knee, coughed blood and laughed.

"You… you didn't know, did you?"

Kai stepped forward, eyes like ash and flame. "Know what?"

Rael looked up at him with a twisted smirk.

"You weren't born cursed, Kai. You were made that way."

The words hit like thunder.

Kai froze.

Rael grinned wider despite the pain. "Someone carved that sigil into your body as a baby. You're not fate's mistake. You're someone's experiment."

Kai's fists clenched. "Liar."

Rael spat blood.

"Check your memory fragments, cursed heir. You'll see the truth… eventually."

Hidden Cave Beneath the Pass

Ilren slept uneasily beside the fire.

Kai sat alone in the shadows.

The words echoed again and again in his mind.

"You weren't born cursed. You were made that way."

He accessed his system.

[System Request: Unlock Memory Fragment – Level 1]Warning: This may affect your psychological stability.

Kai accepted.

Light flared. Then—

He was a child again. No older than four. On a cold stone table. Screaming.

Ritualists surrounded him—hooded, chanting in a language he couldn't understand.Blood ran down his chest as a sigil was burned into his flesh.

A woman stood at the edge of the room. Watching.

Not weeping.

Smiling.

The vision shattered.

Kai gasped awake, drenched in sweat.

[System Whisper: Fragment unlocked – 12 remaining.]

He stared into the fire.

"Who did this to me?" he whispered.

No answer.

Only the crackling of flames and the soft sound of Ilren dreaming.

Kingdom of Haldris – Midnight Council Chamber

Saint Nysha stood before the elders, her tone sharp.

"He's remembered the first fragment. It begins."

An elder in gold asked, "Will he bend?"

"No," she said. "He will burn."

Behind them, a crystal orb showed Kai sitting alone, eyes blank, haunted.

Another voice spoke from the dark—deep, masculine, half-familiar.

"Let him remember," it said. "Only when he sees what he truly is… will he break completely."

The Next Morning

Kai and Ilren journeyed on through Blackrock's ravines, deeper into the north.

But something was different now.

Kai was quieter. Colder. More calculating.

He wasn't running anymore.

He was searching.

At the river crossing, a traveler waved them down. Hooded, leaning on a staff.

"Heading north, are you?"

Kai nodded. "We are."

The stranger tilted their head.

"There's a village ahead—abandoned, but cursed. Locals say the dead still walk there. Just a story, of course."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "And what's waiting beneath that village?"

The stranger paused.

Then smiled.

"You might find your second memory there."

And vanished into thin air.

Ilren stepped back. "Was that a ghost?"

Kai didn't respond.

He was already walking toward the cursed village.