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Chapter 1

I sit in a structure that would look like a well, if not for the iron grate overhead, and the feeling of great pressure crushes me. I had no idea how much time had passed, how long I had been sitting in this hellhole. My powers were gone, my followers murdered. A once-great person, no, not person, a once-great god, reduced to a powerless wreck. There was nothing to do, besides sit and regret. Well, that and try to escape. But I gave up on that long ago. I couldn't escape. 

I had been betrayed by those closest to me. I had let someone into my heart, and I had paid the price. My powers were gone, and my followers were massacred. They had believed in me and what I represented, and it had gotten them killed, purely so that I would be stuck here. The gods would pay for all that they had done, and I would do my utmost to make sure I made them pay.

Suddenly, I felt something. Seems like it was my lucky day. Mana flooded back into my body. Well, flooded wasn't exactly the right word. It felt like a flood, but it was more like a small trickle. But, a small trickle was a small trickle more than I should be getting. And that meant I could escape, even if it was by pure luck.

I pushed out, trying to send myself beyond, but I was glued to my body, unable to vacate this host. Seems like my escape would not be so easy. I had to move quickly before I was discovered. Once every so often some guards would come around, but due to the nature of this place and my nature as a god, I had no idea how much longer I had.

If I couldn't break out of this cage yet, then I had to focus on the inside. I turned my focus into myself, entering into a trance-like state. Void stretched on forever, even my mind failing to comprehend the scale of it, which should be impossible since, after all, I am a god. I gathered the incoming energy around me, instead of letting it disperse into the void. Normally, if I didn't gather the mana, it would start flowing through my body. but instead, I gathered it all together in my hand.

I started condensing it, making it into a bolt, one which density increased continually. I waited for a while, although it could have been a few seconds for all I know. I am a god, I don't restrain myself to mortal timescales. Also, this place has a weird effect on time, and my prison has a wonky concept of time, so time was highly unstable and flowing at inconsistent rates. 

This means that it is absolutely not my fault when I'm pulled out of my trance by approaching footsteps. Normally I couldn't hear them, but the increase in mana circulating through my body heightened my senses. I tried to hide my increased mana, but I was out of practice and did a sloppy job of it. 

The grate over my head opened, and a tray with some food on it fell down. Normally, I wouldn't need food, sustaining myself purely off of mana, but since I was supposed to have all sources of incoming mana blocked off, I needed food. While the grate was open, the defenses were at their weakest. This was the time to make my move.

I released the bolt of mana I had gathered up. Normally, this would not be anywhere close to enough to do anything. but when the gate was open, the enchantments weakened massively, as well as they weren't supposed to resist mana attacks from the inside. This allowed me to create a tiny opening. but that opening was all that I needed to flee this host.