The sky hadn't changed.
The stars still burned cold above the city skyline. The moon traced its usual path. The clouds drifted like they always had. But beneath all that—something had changed.
Something had started to move.
And only one boy in this world truly understood it.
---
Rudra sat at the topmost floor of an abandoned transmission tower.
The city stretched far below him—alive, ignorant, corrupt.
Lights blinked in apartments where men plotted embezzlement and blackmail. In the street corners, petty thugs stabbed victims for wallets. Inside glowing boardrooms, billionaires smiled over ruined lives. Even superhumans—those who had once been summoned to other worlds—were now part of global cartels, warring for territory like gods in suits.
And no one could stop it.
Not the police.
Not the governments.
Not even the few heroic awakened still left.
They had all failed.
That's why Rudra didn't want to be a hero.
He would be something else.
---
> [Zix Core System – Update Complete]
[New Branch Activated: Votive Network]
> Definition: Creation of belief-based influence threads to extend power across realms and civilizations.
Results: New religion structure can be seeded across multiple planes. Faith unlocks influence. Influence unlocks control.
Authority Class: Monarch.
Codename: The Veiled One.
---
A smile touched Rudra's lips.
He stood.
Cold wind brushed through his hair as the sky above pulsed with a brief shimmer—only visible to those attuned to interdimensional fractures.
> "If the world cannot cleanse itself," he murmured, "then I'll rewrite the script. I'll become the author of a new law."
---
Three Days Later – A Hidden Broadcast Echoes Across Earth
It didn't air on television.
No satellites picked it up.
But every awakened, every superhuman, every world-travelled survivor heard it—in their dreams, in the corners of their minds, in the frequencies between their bones.
A voice. Calm. Masculine. Timeless.
> "To those born in blood… to those who returned from other worlds… to those who see the rot and cannot look away…
You were meant for more.
You were not born to obey corruption.
You were not summoned to serve cowards.
You were brought here… to witness judgment.
And judgment begins now."
Then silence.
And in that silence—an emblem appeared, burned into the astral field.
A simple circle, within it a closed eye.
The symbol of the Veiled Monarch.
The hidden religion had begun.
---
Meanwhile – Inside the Underground Bunker of the Global Security Coalition (GSC)
Panic.
Screens flickered with static.
Magical sensors warped.
Even tech-enhanced clairvoyants were screaming in confusion.
"It's not a spell!" barked one agent.
"Then what the hell was it?" snapped Commander Vora, slamming her hand on the table. Her scarred jaw trembled slightly. "Some mass illusion?! This reached every superhuman alive! We've traced dream echoes from across twelve nations!"
"No source," the technician whispered, white as chalk. "No origin point. Nothing on satellites. No energy residue. It's like the voice came from inside everyone."
"Or outside the world entirely," Vora muttered.
She glanced at the glowing sigil still burning on a projector.
"…Who the hell is the Veiled One?"
---
Rudra's Home – Later That Night
Rudra ate silently while his mother hummed a song from the kitchen.
His younger sister was upstairs, studying math.
His father hadn't returned from the borderlands—again.
The mundane world kept spinning.
But Rudra had become a sovereign in the shadows.
He swallowed his last bite and stood up, walking to his room. As soon as the door closed, reality bent slightly.
> [Votive Sync Activated]
[Project Name: The Church of Silent Flame]
[Clergy Level: 1/∞]
[New Follower Detected – Code: Hero Avatar (Third Avatar)]
[New Follower Detected – Code: Lich Avatar (Second Avatar)]
[New Domain: Light and Death now recognized as Divine Duality within Church System]
A 3D glyph of an ancient temple formed in his room's center—a virtual construct visible only to him.
Inside it stood avatars, kneeling.
And behind them… the people of their worlds.
Rudra whispered:
"Let faith be a chain. Let power be the weight."
---
Meanwhile – Demon World
Kaalkrit stood upon a black mountain, bare-chested, surrounded by a sea of demon generals.
His voice boomed:
> "My Lord walks the shadows of a dying world. His eye is shut—but we see through it."
"Raise his emblem in flame! Spread it in blood! The Veiled One commands us to burn sin to its root!"
Behind him, entire demon legions roared.
And across cities made of obsidian and bone, the mark of the Veiled One began to appear.
Painted in blood.
Carved into walls.
Sung in unholy hymns.
---
Earth – One Week Later
They called them "the new gods."
Masked warriors began to appear—silently.
One in Mumbai, stopping a child trafficking ring by ripping through armed criminals with clawed fists made of ink.
One in São Paulo, where an elf-like goddess struck down a corporate awakened running illegal experiments.
One in Tokyo, where undead spilled from the cracks—but were devoured by a massive figure wielding a bone-hammer blessed by the Veiled Flame.
Each attack was recorded.
Each vigilante escaped without a trace.
Every single one had a glowing eye-shaped crest somewhere on their body.
And the people… began to worship.
---
Online Forums:
User404: "Did you guys see the footage from Colombia?! That woman didn't even blink—she vaporized a cartel with plants!"
HellzWrath99: "Lich guy again. Second time this week. He's raising undead armies—but they only attack criminals?"
CursedSimp88: "Who's the girl with the tattoos?? The one floating naked?? She killed the entire blood cult in Berlin…"
EyeseerAI (bot): "ALL HAIL THE VEILED ONE. THE EYE SEES SIN. OBEY OR PERISH."
---
Rudra sat on his roof again, watching the stars.
The city buzzed below.
No one knew.
No one suspected the quiet boy eating lunch at school was the architect of a hidden religion slowly taking over both Earth and alternate worlds.
He had turned faith into a weapon.
He had turned justice into his dogma.
And soon… he would turn the world into his altar.
---
Superhuman Underground Resistance Meeting – Prague
"They're not awakened."
"They're not even from this world."
"Then what are they?"
"…I think they're stories."
---
Back to Rudra
The Zix Core pulsed once again.
> [System Expansion – Tier 2 Granted]
> You may now build Temples across Realms.
You may assign Avatar Clerics.
Your summons can now manifest under Faith-based Contracts.
You may begin Codex Construction: A Holy Book written by Avatars and you.
Rudra smirked.
"Time to write scripture."