Chapter 30 – Sanctuary of Ash
Part 2: To the God You Forgot
It had been seven days since Kael's last elite kill.
Seven days of silence.
Seven days of thought.
Seven days spent beneath the inn, alone in the dry cellar no one used.
There, without witnesses, Kael trained until sweat soaked through his coat and every strike carved deeper into the air itself.
He sparred against nothing—against ghosts, against memories, against the very idea of weakness.
And in that stillness, he became faster.
Sharper.
More precise.
[Skill Upgrade Achieved: Shadow Carve Lv. 2]
➤ Increased range and bypass capacity
➤ Can now interrupt spiritual bindings and mid-cast invocations
➤ Sync Bonus: +2 Agility, +1 Reflex, +1 Perception
[Passive Skill Improved: Flowing Shadow Lv. 2]
➤ Extended cloak duration
➤ Now muffles heat signature and movement aura
[System Sync: 87%]
On the eighth morning, Kael stood once again at the edge of Lantern Row.
He was cloaked—but different now.
Not a traveler.
Not an observer.
He walked not like a man on a mission…
…but like a silence that had made up its mind.
Inside his coat:
A forged divine identification ring
A vial of null-oil to disable minor light seals
And a folded note addressed only: "To the God You Forgot."
Just before dawn, the bells rang once.
Kael moved toward the gate.
And this time…
He wasn't there to watch.
The eighth dawn broke pale and unnerving.
Not stormy.
Not cold.
Just still.
The kind of morning where dogs didn't bark.
Where birds didn't sing.
Where even the bells of the Flame Cathedral rang half a tone too low.
People noticed.
They didn't speak about it.
But they walked faster.
Held their children's hands tighter.
Locked their doors—twice, instead of once.
Somewhere beneath Almaarad, Kael opened his eyes.
The inn's cellar—dark, old, carved from foundation stone—was silent as always. In one corner, a crude training mark scarred into the rock bore dozens of clean slices.
All except one.
A single line off-center.
Kael crouched before it. Tied his gauntlets with oil-treated cloth. Tightened the wrist with a silent-click clasp.
[System: Loadout Optimization – Inner City Infiltration Protocols Active]
➤ Shadow Carve Lv. 2 (Stable)
➤ Flowing Shadow Lv. 2 (Cloak Sync: 98%)
➤ Physical Signature: Suppressed
➤ Divine Pulse Mask: Active (Forged Ring: 9-minute limit)
"You do not enter a house of light to fight.
You enter to make it forget the sun."
Kael rose.
No breath to steady.
No prayer to whisper.
Only motion.
He left the inn through the servant's alley.
Hood up. Shoulders low.
He moved like a monk who didn't want to be noticed—and wouldn't be remembered.
The city stirred in yawning silence.
A merchant lifted his awning.
A woman dropped an apple when she saw Kael—and didn't know why.
Two guards at the Church district arch stepped aside as he approached.
One muttered, "Purifier, probably. Don't look at the mark."
Kael passed through the gate just as the first ray of sunlight touched the cathedral spire.
No one realized a sentence had just been passed.
He followed the route he'd memorized:
Left at the marble angel with a missing hand
Down the side path behind the candle shrine
Three steps past the bloodstone well
Right into the rear servant's hall, where old wards flickered like dying stars
He wore the forged ring on his finger.
Divine pulse active.
No alarms.
[System: Mask Holding – 7:59 Remaining]
He passed two sisters and a guard.
None questioned him.
One bowed.
Kael bowed slightly in return—not out of respect.
Out of muscle memory.
From a life that never truly belonged to him.
Now, he stood at the heart of the outpost—before the double-sealed reliquary doors.
Gold-trimmed. Ward-etched.
But vulnerable.
The keyprint he'd stolen from the Ascended Wretch pulsed in his palm.
He placed his hand on the frame.
Waited.
"Welcome, Purifier Jalen. Clearance: Second Flame."
The lock clicked.
The doors parted.
Holy air washed over him.
Clean.
Sanctified.
Empty.
The last breath of false sanctity he'd ever allow himself to inhale.
He stepped inside.
And began.