The golden fire took on a purple hue as Jonathan forced himself to see his Divinity through a different lens. It was not merely an isolated power, fit for skills like Smite. It had a different purpose, one in line with his element. An epiphany blossomed within him. For so long he had kept his element and his godhood separate, despite them being the same thing. Like a wildfire, his Divinity took root in the swirling masses of the Void around Jonathan, and took over. Waves of condensation forced his body back to its normal form, before a supernova of latent power exploded outwards. Eyes burning with a dark gold, Jonathan glared at the still spinning orb of the Void’s entirety, and then smiled.

  “I’ll be back for you later,” he said, before the darkness faded, bringing him back to his own body.

  Jonathan’s eyes opened for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. He was lying on the same stone platform he had started his challenge on. Standing next to him was a man with skin of amorphous gold, each muscle outlined in the burnished sheen of Divinity. Eyes blazing with the light of stars shone like spotlights as the being gazed at Jonathan, a smile on his face.

  “You succeeded. How impressive…”

  Jonathan sighed, and got to his feet, feeling a burning sensation in his chest. Looking down, he saw a network of purple cracks spread across his skin, burning with the light of the Void. They faded away over the course of a few seconds, leaving a sensation of pure power behind, girding Jonathan’s entire being.

  “Are you the voice that spoke to me before I touched the statue? The Avatar of Divinity?” Jonathan asked, already knowing the answer.

  “I am. It now falls upon me to instruct you upon your new might. It has been eons since a god forged their own domain, and not simply followed in the footsteps of the Nine.”

  Jonathan simply nodded, waiting for the divine avatar to explain further.

  “You merged your Divinity with your element, strengthening your path to true Godhood. However, that comes with its own problems. Using that new strength is easier said than done.”

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  Without warning, the golden skinned man thrust out a palm strike at Jonathan. It was deceptively slow, but within it was contained an entire world of meaning in the most literal of senses. The palm glowed with the light of an entire universe, so many different aspects and concepts condensed down into a single attack. Without any prompting, Jonathan’s Divinity rose to the offensive, sensing a threat to its sovereignty.

  A specter of purple flame erupted out of Jonathan’s chest, meeting the incoming blow with a powerful punch. At the nexus point of the blows, an incandescent flash of light briefly blinded Jonathan. A moment later the shockwave of the clash tore him off his feet. Jonathan went flying for miles before an invisible wall stopped him. The stone platform had kept growing and growing the further he went without an end in sight.

  He got to his feet, and before he could even blink, the avatar of Divinity was standing before him. “Good,” the godlike being declared. “You’re going to need a lot more than reflexes, though.”

  Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, only to find that he was already on the ground, the afterimages of a thousand punches shimmering in the air around him. His bones were shattered, and his flesh crushed, with plumes of purple smoke leaking out.

  The golden Avatar snapped his fingers, and Jonathan healed in an instant, without a single injury remaining. “The hell was that?” Jonathan exclaimed. “Are you trying to kill me or something?”

  “Kill you?” The being laughed. “On the contrary. You are simply weak. You reached this place dozens of Tiers before the norm. I can sense that you were only able to claim a small fraction of your Divinity as your own.”

  “I don’t even know how I got here!” Jonathan shouted. “You keep telling me half truths and making the vaguest of statements. All I wanted to do was upgrade a title!”

  “Upgrade a title?” the avatar chuckled. “Do you really think the System, the most miserly of constructs, would give something out for free? It was trying to assassinate you!”

  “What?” Jonathan choked out. “But why… why would it-”

  “Do it in such a roundabout way? That is simply the way of the universe. Everything comes with checks and balances. There is no such thing as omnipotence. Only the weak and the strong.”

  Jonathan took a deep breath. “Is everything in my interface a lie? Can the System kill me at any time?”

  A sad smile crossed the god’s face. “If you aren’t careful. That parasite came into being after the birth of the gods. Since then, it has grown beyond even them. It will kill anyone and anything that it sees as a threat.”