Second Genesis

Grey couldn’t sense Atlas the way he could sense Prometheus. There was no connection between them and no instinctive understanding. But The Virtueless was still a Dominion Class weapon, and Dominion Class weapons had to be forged from Dominion Class materials, which meant that whether Atlas liked Grey or not, the rod itself still had a structure.

Grey could see that structure now.

He could feel the circuits running through it, understand what they represented, what they were meant to do, and where the intent of the weapon had originally been pointed.

The Virtueless wasn’t designed for someone like Grey, someone who relied on finesse, layered Frames, tricks, and squeezing every possible advantage out of whatever bullshit happened to be nearby.

It wanted someone with a Linear and Resonant Dual Frame, someone whose entire existence revolved around one very simple concept.

Strength.

The rod’s ability to expand and its ability to increase its mass weren’t really separate powers at all, they were different expressions of the same thing. The Virtueless wanted a wielder who could impose raw physical might onto the world around them, someone whose bones carried so much force that size stopped meaning anything, someone who could bend space and twist time not with an in depth understanding of them, but simply because they were that stupidly strong..

No matter how impossible the burden became, no matter how ridiculous the object placed before them was, there was nothing they couldn’t lift.

Even if that thing was the sky.

BOOM.

Bronze energy erupted from Grey’s body, and the change came so violently that everyone nearby instinctively recoiled.

The pale white that had settled over his skin after becoming a vampire, then deepened further after his transformation into a monk, disappeared beneath a wave of warmth as his original heavy tan returned, the sort of skin earned by a farm boy who had spent too many childhood summers chasing cows through fields and trying to climb onto wild horses that had absolutely no interest in being ridden.

For one strange moment, Grey felt at home.

Not comfortable, exactly, considering half his bones were still trying to remember what shape they belonged in, but familiar. He looked down at his own hands and felt like he was seeing a piece of himself he hadn’t realized he’d missed, then the feeling was swallowed by the power still pouring through him.

Grey roared and his body expanded.

Bones lengthened, muscles thickened, and within moments he stood nearly three feet taller than before. Deep golden-bronze veins appeared beneath his skin, arranging themselves into discrete vertical and horizontal lines until they looked almost like circuits built directly into his flesh, and with every new line that formed, the pressure radiating from him grew heavier.

The Virtueless finally responded.

A deep click sounded from somewhere inside the rod as its length increased to match Grey’s new frame, then its sleek black exterior began to chip apart. Pieces of the dark shell fell away one after another, revealing a bronze glow beneath, and for the first time since Grey had taken hold of the weapon, it no longer felt like he was dragging around something that hated being in his hands.

It fit.

Then a halo appeared behind him, parallel with his back.

Unlike the golden ring floating above the arena, this one didn’t merely reflect whatever lay beyond it. Grey could see a world inside, vast and impossibly heavy, resting against his back as though the entire thing had been placed across his shoulders, and with every step he took, the arena trembled beneath a weight that felt closer to the mass of stars than flesh.

Grey swung.

The Virtueless tore through the air, but calling it a swing didn’t feel right anymore. The skies overturned, the winds screamed, and Grey’s strength sank into the space around him until reality itself seemed to fold inward and become an extension of his body.

BOOM.

The floating halo was swatted out of the air.

Cracks appeared across its golden surface as it shot into the distance, spinning violently while white-gold light leaked from the fractures like blood. Grey didn’t give it a chance to recover, the power of the gnomes coursing through his veins.

He inhaled and space bent toward his maw.

He exhaled and the world seemed to unwind with him.

It felt like a dragon breathing fire, except what erupted from his mouth wasn’t flame. The air twisted violently, compressed beneath pure, unadulterated physical force, and a cannon of strength carved through everything in its path before slamming into the halo while it was still spiraling through the distance.

BOOM.

The halo screamed.

"HERETIC!"

It finally forced itself to a stop, white-gold energy pouring from the cracks across its surface as its voice shook with something that sounded far less divine now and much closer to rage.

"STRIKE HIM DOWN! ALL WHO STAND BENEATH THE GRACE OF HEAVEN, PURGE THIS HERESY!"

The barriers around the surviving Regions shattered.

Grey’s eyes narrowed but nobody moved.

For a moment, there was only silence as the remaining participants stared between Grey and the damaged halo, clearly wondering which option was more likely to get them killed.

Apparently the halo had expected that. Pillars of white-gold light descended. They struck every surviving participant at once, and the effect was immediate.

Holy Energy exploded through their bodies.

Grey’s expression changed as he felt the difference. Even those without Imperial Bloodlines suddenly reacted as though they had one, but that wasn’t enough to describe what was happening. If their Holy Energy had previously been diluted to something like one part in a thousand, then now they had been dragged all the way to a level comparable to a Dominion Class Paladin, Monk, or Nun.

Power they had never experienced before flooded their veins.

Apollo gasped.

Legan’s eyes widened.

Even Xerchen’s newly transformed aura surged despite his already ridiculous strength.

All but one.

The pillar descending toward Veyrath reached him, then simply... missed.

The Elemental lifted one hand and waved it aside without even bothering to stand. White-gold energy flowed around his body as though there were a hole in the world where he sat, never quite touching him, and Veyrath remained on his rock with that same unreadable expression.

His burning eyes rose toward the leaderboard above... then slowly lowered directly toward Grey.

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