The sniper's bullet had missed Luis by six inches—a near-miss that left his ears ringing and his knees shaking. As he pressed against the dumpster, the WHI operative's spectral patron god lingered in his vision like afterburn from a flashbang. That towering shadow-knight, its hollow eyes tracking prey no one else could see.
"Wait," Luis whispered, pulse hammering. "You said gods are randomly assigned. Why does that one get a soldier?"
Zyx's usual smirk faltered. "Ah. Right. Forgot to explain the vetting system."
A new notification burned across Luis's vision—not the public counter, but something older, etched in celestial script only Hosts could parse:
[ASCENSION ROYALE HISTORICAL RECORDS]
[LAST CYCLE'S SURVIVING GODS: 17/1,000,000]
[VETERAN STATUS: ACTIVE]
"See, most of us?" Zyx gestured at himself. "We're lottery picks. Random humans, random gods. But the ones who won last time?" He nodded toward the rooftop where the WHI sniper had been. "They earned the right to choose."
The pieces clicked together. "Krathos... won before?"
"Twice." Zyx's voice dropped. "His Hosts always play the long game—military types, swordsmen, anyone who can follow orders. They cluster near power structures. WHI's probably crawling with them by now."
As if summoned by the thought, a police radio nearby crackled to life with overlapping shouts: "All units, we have confirmed god-touched individuals at City Hall—wait, no, they're inside the—" The transmission dissolved into screams.
Luis's breath hitched. "And the other sixteen veteran gods?"
"Oh, they're out there." Zyx ticked them off on his fingers. "There's Sylphine, Goddess of Silent Steps—she always picks assassins. Then you've got Borr, the Thunder Tyrant—loves warlords and serial killers. Oh, and let's not forget—"
A building exploded three blocks away. Not from monsters—from within. Glass rained down as a figure wreathed in blue lightning walked through the smoke, their patron god visible only as a distortion in the air behind them, like heat haze shaped into a grinning demon.
[HOST IDENTIFIED: ELECTROKINETIC CLASS]
[PATRON GOD: RAJJAK THE STORMBRINGER (3-TIME VETERAN)]
Zyx sighed. "Case in point."
The global counter ticked down again. [997,112 SURVIVING HOSTS]
Luis watched the lightning-wreathed Host methodically hunting down a screaming man with cactus-like spines growing from his skin. The veteran god's chosen moved with precision, while the spined man's patron—a flickering, nervous-looking sprite—wailed instructions only its Host could hear.
"It's not fair," Luis muttered.
Zyx barked a laugh. "Kid, the whole point is that it's not fair. The veterans get handpicked champions. The rest of us?" He gestured at Luis's singed hoodie and shaking hands. "We get you."
Somewhere overhead, a Silver-class monster screeched. The WHI sniper's shadow-god turned its helm toward the sound, and its Host followed the unspoken command, vanishing into the chaos.
MONSTER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
(Used by WHI & Hosts Worldwide)
1. Iron-Class (Human Killers)
Level Range: 1-10
Threat Level: ★☆☆☆☆
Description:
Dangerous to civilians but manageable for trained soldiers
Often appear in hordes during early Royale phases
2. Silver-Class (City Destroyers)
Level Range: 11-25
Threat Level: ★★☆☆☆
Description:
Require Host intervention or military airstrikes
Can level buildings in single attacks
3. Golden-Class (Country Enders)
Level Range: 26-60
Threat Level: ★★★☆☆
Capable of collapsing infrastructure across regions
Only veteran Hosts can challenge them.
4. Diamond-Class (World Eaters)
Level Range: 61-99
Threat Level: ★★★★☆
Continent-level threats
Spawn only after Month 6 of the Royale.
5. Heavenly-Class (Saboteurs)
Level Range: 100+
Threat Level: ★★★★★
Rare spawns that alter the game's rules
Often tied to divine interventions.
Luis swallowed hard. "How do we beat them?"
Zyx's grin returned, sharp and sudden. "By cheating."