Chapter 44 – A Quiet Place for Fire
Part 1: Three Names to Bury
Velis Cross was a quiet town.
Small. Unimportant. Built where two trade roads met like cracked bones. Its church stood taller than it deserved—ivory stone polished by stained hands. Its bells rang three times a day.
Each time Ariz heard them, his jaw tightened.
He arrived at dusk.
Hooded, cloaked again—but not because he feared being seen.
Because he didn't want them to scream until the last moment.
He didn't go straight to the cathedral.
First, the tavern.
He sat in the corner like a reflection that hadn't been noticed yet.
Listened.
He learned that Priest Kallis still lived here—pious, well-fed, praised for his "exorcism" work.
That Remal, one of the knights, now trained squires outside the old garrison.
And that Bishop Denan had grown ill and rarely left the cathedral's under-chamber.
Perfect.
[System Notice: Local Aura Map Updated]➤ Kallis: Divine Pulse Detected – Moderate➤ Remal: Physical Threat – Tier 3➤ Denan: Low Pulse, High Influence
"They sleep thinking they were right.Show them what it cost."
Ariz moved through shadow.
His boots left no prints.
His cloak held no heat.
He passed through alleys, through locked gates, over rooftops without a whisper.
And as the bells rang for evening prayer, he stood in front of the garrison door.
Remal was inside—alone, sharpening a ceremonial blade.
He looked up too late.
Ariz didn't draw a weapon.
He lifted his hand.
And from the shadow at his feet—
[Umbra Lance – Cast]
A single spike of compressed darkness pierced through Remal's chest.
It didn't explode. Didn't scream.
It unraveled him from the inside.
His sword dropped before he hit the ground.
Ariz didn't stay.
He was already moving toward the cathedral.
Priest Kallis lived in a side chamber—private, above the sanctuary.
He was reading scripture when Ariz entered.
When he turned, he smiled out of reflex.
Then he saw the eyes.
The violet glow.
The tattoos across pale skin, like a sigil written in every language fear understands.
"You," he whispered.
Ariz said nothing.
"I was told you died," Kallis stammered. "We—we thought it was a ghost—"
"You were told wrong," Ariz said.
Kallis raised a hand in prayer.
Ariz raised a hand in judgment.
[Shadow Blade – Deployed]
Twin blades sliced the prayer in half.
And the priest with it.
The final name waited in the crypt.
Bishop Denan—sick, rotting from within, too weak to move but too proud to die.
Ariz stepped into the candlelit room.
Denan looked up, slow and trembling.
"Have you… come for confession?" the bishop rasped.
Ariz stepped forward.
"No," he said.
"I've come to answer for your sins."