The Heart of a Smith - Chapter 20 - To Learn

A Betrayal of Fate--- Anos Voldigoad, a young man of noble spirit, faces a devastating turn of events. Betrayed by his own kind and the woman he loves, he’s thrust into a world of darkness and despair. His world shattered, his parents murdered, and his beloved forced into the arms of his sworn enemy, Anos questions the cruel hand of fate. As he succumbs to his mortal wounds, a final, haunting image lingers: the smug grin of his tormentor, taunting him with promises of his lover’s destruction. In his dying breath, Anos wonders: Why has God forsaken him? Is it because of his weakness, his goodness? As the darkness claims him, a seed of vengeance is planted, a promise to rise from the ashes and exact his revenge, no matter the cost.

Life is often full of curveballs. It likes to keep you on your toes.But what can a regular guy do when he gets booted to a world full of gods, dragons, devils, angels, yokai vampires and everything in between with only the clothes on his back and a reality-bending gacha behind him?His best apparently.

The day the city fell, Feng Yun was treated by her father as a spoil of war and presented to the enemy general.Everyone pitied her, soon to be a captive, plunging into a fiery pit.Yet she veiled the little donkey cart that took her out of the city tightly, daring not to let anyone see the secret delight in her heart…As a child, she behaved oddly and spoke startling words, once predicting a war in which the whole army was wiped out, nearly being burned to death by her clan as a demon.When she grew up, her beauty was out of the world, but she was rejected by her husband's family.In the period of chaos and disorder everywhewe, where could a female captive go?“I do not seek a devoted partner to grow old with; I merely wish to rule unrivaled in this life.”In her previous life, Feng Yun was always the one being scorned by others; in this life, she decided to strike first, turning the tables on each and every one of them, those so-called unreachable flowers and beasts in gentleman's clothing, those degenerates… all to be scorned in return.

After the judgment, the ire of God was revealed with the words: “Be cast unto eternal damnation!” And so it was that humans and jinns alike found themselves scattered across the Nine Circles of Hell, left to burn and suffer for eternity. Until after an untold number of eternities, an angelic voice called out, announcing God's decree: “One soul shall earn the chance to return to grace.” Humans and jinns found a shimmering screen appear before their eyes, tallying their sins and something called 'Fragments of Divinity'. “Cleanse away your sins,” said the voice. “Do what must be done!”Now, a human known as Wretched Nameless One—the only human found in the Ninth Circle—sets out on a journey to claim his spot in Heaven, tasked with fighting hellish monsters and devilish hell-dwellers competing to return to grace. Will he escape eternal torment and rise to grace or return to the everlasting cleansing fire once more?