Caelis screamed.

  Not in anger.

  Not in despair.

  He screamed because his body could no longer contain what was tearing through him.

  The sound ripped out of his chest like a living thing, echoing across the shattered city, shaking the air itself. The ruins trembled as if the world were responding to that single, raw cry.

  Something inside him broke open.

  Not shattered.

  Opened.

  His muscles seized first.

  Every fiber in his body tightened violently, compressing, swelling, hardening as if his flesh were being reforged under unbearable pressure. His shoulders broadened, arms thickening as dense power flooded into muscle and sinew, not bloating him unnaturally but condensing strength into every movement.

  Veins surged across his skin.

  They bulged along his forearms, his neck, his chest—thick, dark lines pulsing violently as if his nervous system itself were about to rupture. Some glowed faintly beneath the skin, illuminated by the energy screaming through them.

  Caelis’s spine arched as pain detonated through his body.

  His heartbeat thundered.

  Not faster.

  Heavier.

  Each beat slammed through him like a war drum, sending shockwaves of power outward. The ground beneath his feet cracked and split, fractures racing across the ruined streets as pressure alone reshaped the battlefield.

  Then his eyes changed.

  All color vanished.

  His pupils burned away, replaced by a blinding white glow—pure output, pure pressure, as if his gaze itself had become a conduit for power far beyond human limits.

  The air screamed.

  A violent surge of aura exploded outward from Caelis’s body, tearing through the city like a hurricane. Wind roared in all directions, ripping debris from the ground and hurling shattered buildings into the sky.

  Dust, stone, and fire were dragged upward, spiraling violently around him.

  The demon halted mid-step.

  Not in fear.

  In interest.

  Caelis’s scream deepened, raw and unrestrained, as his aura intensified—no longer a vague pressure, but a visible force, a raging ocean of energy pouring from his body.

  And then—

  Something formed.

  Around Caelis’s right forearm, the air twisted unnaturally.

  Space compressed, light bending inward as if drawn by overwhelming gravity.

  A ring emerged.

  It was not metal.

  It was not solid in any conventional sense.

  The divine ring manifested as a band of condensed, luminous energy, hovering just above his skin, rotating slowly around his forearm. Its color was a deep, radiant blue, edged with faint white brilliance, like a fragment of the sky itself forced into shape.

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  It hummed.

  Low.

  Heavy.

  Alive.

  The moment the ring completed its formation, power gushed through it.

  Not leaked.

  Not flowed.

  Erupted.

  A massive surge of energy blasted outward from the ring, ripping through Caelis’s arm and into the rest of his body like a floodgate thrown open. The pressure intensified instantly, the wind screaming louder as the ground beneath him collapsed entirely.

  The ring spun faster.

  Caelis’s scream broke into a roar.

  The demon’s grin widened.

  “Oh,” it rumbled, crimson eyes gleaming. “That’s new.”

  Caelis barely heard it.

  His entire existence was pain and power.

  The ring burned like it was fused to his soul, channeling divine force through nerves and muscle never meant to withstand it. Every movement sent agony lancing through him, but beneath that agony—

  Strength.

  Real strength.

  The aura around him stabilized, no longer exploding randomly but surging in controlled, violent waves. The wind compressed into a focused storm around his body, debris orbiting him like shattered moons.

  Caelis clenched his fists.

  The ring flared.

  The demon lunged.

  Their collision detonated the battlefield.

  Caelis met the demon head-on, fist crashing into its chest with a thunderous impact. The force of the blow released a concentrated energy blast at point-blank range, blue-white light exploding outward and tearing through the ruins behind the demon.

  The demon staggered.

  Not much.

  But enough.

  Caelis didn’t stop.

  He moved on instinct, body screaming but obeying as he unleashed a flurry of strikes—punches reinforced by the ring’s power, kicks that split the air, elbows driven with desperate precision.

  Each impact sent shockwaves ripping through the city.

  The demon laughed through it.

  “Yes!” it roared, countering with crushing blows of its own.

  Their fists collided, shockwaves flattening what little remained of the city. Caelis was driven backward, skidding across shattered ground, but this time—

  He stopped himself.

  Boots dug into the stone.

  The ring burned hotter.

  He surged forward again, slamming an energy-charged knee into the demon’s torso, followed by a palm strike that detonated with explosive force.

  The demon was pushed back several meters.

  Several.

  Caelis’s chest heaved as pain tore through his arms, muscles threatening to tear themselves apart under the strain. Blood trickled from his mouth, vision blurring momentarily.

  But he stayed standing.

  The demon tilted its head.

  “You’re still fragile,” it said, amused. “But you’re louder now.”

  It vanished.

  Caelis barely raised his guard before a brutal punch smashed into his side, sending him flying through the remains of a tower. He burst through the rubble, coughing blood as he forced himself upright again.

  The ring spun violently.

  Power surged anew.

  Caelis roared and launched himself back into the fight, aura flaring as he clashed with the demon mid-air. Energy blasts collided, detonating in blinding flashes as shockwaves ripped across the battlefield.

  Below them, survivors ran in terror.

  Elite warriors—corrupt, loyal, desperate—charged anyway, trying to protect families, friends, strangers.

  The demon erased them without looking.

  A casual energy blast wiped out an entire battalion. A backhand crushed another group into rubble. Pain filled the air, feeding the demon’s twisted delight.

  Caelis saw it all.

  Felt it.

  “This thing won’t stop,” he realized. “Not until everything is gone.”

  The demon slammed him into the ground, pinning him beneath a massive foot. The pressure crushed his chest, the ring screaming as power surged wildly through him.

  “You’re fun,” the demon growled. “But you’re still breaking.”

  Caelis screamed again—not in pain, but defiance—as he forced the demon’s foot back inch by inch. The ring flared violently, energy tearing through his body as he pushed beyond what his form could sustain.

  Bones cracked.

  Muscles tore.

  Still—

  He held.

  The demon laughed and leapt back, gathering power once more. Crimson energy spiraled around it, darkening the sky as pressure built to catastrophic levels.

  This was no attack aimed at Caelis.

  This was annihilation.

  Caelis felt it instantly.

  If that blast was released, the planet would die.

  He hovered there, body trembling, blood streaming down his face. The ring burned like a brand, power threatening to tear him apart from within.

  “I can’t win,” he realized.

  Not yet.

  But—

  “I can stop it.”

  Caelis forced himself forward, placing his body directly in the demon’s path. His aura flared violently as he raised both arms, the ring blazing brighter than ever.

  Wind howled.

  The ground split.

  The demon released the blast.

  The world vanished in light.

  Caelis felt everything hit him at once—pressure, heat, force beyond measure. His body screamed as the ring poured divine power through him violently, tearing open pathways he didn’t know existed.

  Something inside him shifted again.

  Not another ring.

  Not yet.

  But understanding.

  Caelis roared, aura surging outward in a massive wave, ripping the blast apart just enough—

  Just enough—

  To keep the world from ending.

  When the light faded, he was still there.

  Floating.

  Broken.

  Alive.

  The ring slowed, its glow dimming as power receded. Pain flooded in all at once, threatening to drag him into darkness.

  The demon stared at him.

  This time, not amused.

  “…Interesting,” it murmured.

  Caelis’s body trembled violently, vision blurring as exhaustion crashed into him. He had not won.

  But he had done the impossible.

  He had stood.

  The demon smiled slowly.

  “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

  The first ring had awakened.

  And the battle—

  Had only just begun.

  Author’s Note:

  Chapter 20 establishes the foundation of Caelis’s progression. The first divine ring is not a victory, but a threshold, and crossing it carries immediate cost. From this point forward, power will grow — but never without consequence.

  Thank you for your continued support.