Vanitas opened his eyes and turned over on the bed. The mont he realized the space beside him was empty, he abruptly sat up straight.
"Margaret?"
The room was silent. Margaret, who should have been lying beside him, was nowhere in sight. The next mont, an unbearable migraine pushed its way through his skull, causing him to press a hand against his temple.
It was still before dawn. The faintest of blues spilled through the curtains. His clothes were scattered across the room, exactly where the two of them had left them last night.
Vanitas moved without thinking, putting them on one by one.
The mont he finished buttoning his coat, he pushed the door open with enough force that it echoed through the hall.
"...."
What greeted him was a bloody hallway. His ho, the Astrea mansion, was now i ruins. Blood stained the walls and floor. Debris littered the corridor. Shattered vases and broken furniture were scattered across the ground as if a storm had swept through in the night.
How he had not awakened to any of this, he had no idea. But if there was one possibility, it was most probably Margaret.
"...Margaret."
Vanitas took a step forward. His legs trembled as he moved through the wreckage. Each crunch of broken porcelain beneath his boots felt louder than it should have been.
"...."
Bodies lay across the hall of people he did not recognize. They were strangers who had invaded the estate in the night. They sprawled lifeless across the floor with their chests split open by clean cuts. One after another, all bodies were marked by obvious sword wounds.
Vanitas stopped. His fingers dug into his palm as he stared at the carnage. He did not need to think long to understand who had done this. These n had not died easily.
"...Margaret."
Vanitas ran with all his might.
One man slumped against the left wall, a cluster of corpses torn apart on the right, and a lone woman on the ground directly ahead.
They were strangers, yet their intent had been clear even before they died. Every one of them had co here to take his head.
Vanitas pushed forward, his boots splattering the blood down the ruined corridor.
"...."
Vanitas halted. For a heartbeat, his mind refused to register what his eyes were seeing.
"Evan... Heidi..."
The two bodies slumped against the wall with their uniforms soaked through with blood. Heidi’s hands were still outstretched, as if she had been reaching for sothing, or soone.
Evan’s posture was strangely gentle, as though he had tried to shield her before the end.
Vanitas stood there, numb. The mansion had always felt cold, but now it felt suffocating. This was not how they should have ended.
He stepped forward slowly and kneeled between them.
"...I told you to leave."
He reached out, brushing a hand over Heidi’s sleeve, then over Evan’s. The fabric was still warm. His hands shook harder. He bowed his head.
"I told you to leave..."
For a mont, the mansion fell completely silent.
The next mont, a single scream resounded. Vanitas turned his head toward the source, then imdiately ran in that direction.
"...."
The sight that greeted him forced the air from his lungs.
In the middle of the hall, Margaret was standing with bated breath. Her armor was shattered at the shoulder and split across the ribs, stained with blood that was not entirely her own. Crimson trailed down her arms and dripped from her fingertips.
She kept herself upright only by driving her sword into the floor, using it as a support to keep herself from collapsing.
At her feet lay the corpse of a man who had clearly been alive seconds ago, but his body was now cut clean from collarbone to hip.
"...Margaret."
"Ah, Vanitas... You’re awake... I’m sorry... There were too many of them. It was difficult to keep Selena safe and protect Evan and Heidi at the sa ti."
Vanitas’s eyes narrowed as he slowly approached her.
"I’m sorry," she whispered again. "I tried to hold them all off. I really did."
Vanitas stopped directly in front of her. His eyes lowered to the broken segnts of her armor and the shallow cuts marking her skin. Even through the layers of steel and cloth, he could see her shoulders rise and fall with every breath.
He reached out and caught her by the arm before she could topple forward.
"Enough," he said. "You did more than enough."
She had fulfilled her duty. She had survived, and as long as Margaret was still breathing, that alone was enough for Vanitas.
"I should have... done better," Margaret whispered.
Exhaustion weighed on her eyelids, but she refused to close them.
"I... couldn’t let them hurt Selena."
"Where is she?"
Before Margaret could answer, the door behind her opened. From within the room Margaret had been guarding so fiercely, Selena stepped out. Her movents were slow as if she were afraid of what she might see on the other side.
"M-Margaret!"
Selena rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside her. Light emitted from her palms as she imdiately began healing the wounds across Margaret’s body. The magic stitched flesh, sealed cuts, and chased away the blood soaking her armor.
"Please hold still," Selena said. "I’m here. I’m here, Margaret..."
Margaret tried to smile. "Selena... you’re safe. Good..."
Vanitas surveyed the wreckage around them. "This is why I told all of you to go."
He had told them all to leave. He had warned them of what would co. Even he had no intention of remaining at first. But they stayed. They stayed for him, and this was the price that loyalty had extracted from them.
"Tsk."
It left a bad taste in his mouth.
* * *
After leaving Margaret in Doctor Yves’s care, Vanitas and Selena made their way toward the vantage point. The path led them through the outskirts of the ruined facility.
Amidst the rubble, the Great Powers had already gathered, waiting in the quiet dawn light.
Hughes Bolton was the first to speak. He sat atop a cracked stone slab, with his arms crossed.
"Look who finally decided to show up," he said. "Never thought I’d live to see the day a damn criminal is recognized among the Great Powers. If Mikhail were still around, he’d be pulling his hair out."
Hughes Bolton snorted, shaking his head as if the very idea offended him.
Elsa, seated nearby, glanced at Hughes with visible disdain. Soliette watched silently from her place atop a higher ledge. Iridelle stood farther back, while Friedrich leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Bolton," Vanitas began. He wasn’t in a good mood since morning. "There are tis when you should learn how to keep your mouth shut. Should I personally make sure it stays shut forever?"
"Ha." Bolton sneered. "You, threaten ? Boy, you would have to live through heaven and hell before you could even think as much."
———!
Vanitas’s magic surged outward. The ruined facility trembled as the ground quaked. One by one, the pillars around them imploded, collapsing inward as if crushed by an invisible force.
The air itself warped at the force of his mana. Bolton reacted just in ti, calling upon his spirits to shield himself from the sudden onslaught. The protective aura gathered around him, colliding against the pressure that Vanitas exerted.
Sweat gathered on Bolton’s forehead, though he made sure not to show how hard Vanitas was pushing him back. His jaw tightened as the spirits around him strained to hold the line.
"Enough!" Soliette intervened. She tore apart both attacks as if they were nothing.
The dust slowly settled. Even Bolton lowered his hand, though his glare remained fixed on Vanitas.
"Now isn’t the ti to pick a fight," Soliette said. "If the two of you want to tear each other apart, do it after the operation."
Bolton scoffed but held his tongue. Vanitas didn’t answer either, walking past Bolton Bolton without giving him another look. He lowered himself onto a slab of broken stone as Selena sat beside him without a word.
Bolton’s jaw tightened as he watched them. Only then did he glance down at his arm, where a thin cut marked his skin. It was small and insignificant, yet it was enough to tell him the truth he didn’t want to admit.
"Tsk."
He clicked his tongue, realizing he had lost. And Vanitas hadn’t even tried.
The others turned their attention toward Soliette, who was already preparing the projection crystals. Monts later, the briefing began.
"From what I know," Soliette began. "The Theocracy relies on layered divine barriers. They overlap each other in patterns ant to confuse invaders. If you break one incorrectly, it restores itself. The priests do not sustain it. The system sustains itself."
Bolton frowned. "Explain that clearly. I do not speak in puzzles."
Selena clasped both hands together. "Think of it like a choir where each voice blends into one. Even if one priest dies, the resonance does not fail. The barrier keeps its rhythm because it was designed to function without needing the individuals. You cannot pick off a choir mber to silence the hymn. You must silence the entire hymn at once."
Friedrich nodded. "So the only option is full disruption."
"Yes," Soliette continued. "Their main weakness is timing. The resonance weakens at dawn and dusk. If the operation begins now, we will reach the inner sanctum when their stabilization drops for a brief mont."
The briefing went on without unnecessary flair. Each Great Power had their own thod of transportation, and they prepared accordingly. None of them relied on anyone else, except for the few who had no choice.
Vanitas did not argue when Elsa extended her magic over him and Selena. It was the fastest way to arrive, and he had no interest in wasting ti. Selena remained close to him as they traveled, keeping her notes ready. She would be the one discussing the clergy’s structure and the Theocracy’s internal systems once they arrived.
Friedrich traveled with Soliette. The two of them preferred their own speed and made no comnt on the arrangent. They left first, and by the ti Vanitas and Selena reached the outskirts, Soliette and Friedrich were already there.
Iridelle and Bolton had yet to arrive. Only when the group had fully assembled did the atmosphere finally settle.
"The clergy follows a hierarchy that mirrors the sanctum structure," Selena said. "Their authority concentrates near the inner ring. The further we go, the fewer barriers we face."
As planned, Selena was first to enter the cathedral. It was the most direct way to walk straight into the center of the enemy’s trap, yet Selena felt no fear.
"Saintess. That’s you, isn’t it, Saintess?" one of the clergy mbers whispered, recognizing her imdiately.
Selena stopped. "Yes. I’m back, Father Mortum."
Mortum rushed toward her and grabbed the edge of her white dress with trembling hands. "What are you doing here? You must leave imdiately. His Holiness Telos... he is not in the right state of mind..."
"Yes. I know. It’s all right now, Father Mortum."
She rembered who he was. Mortum had been one of the gentler priests who had guided her patiently when she was still learning what it ant to serve as the Saintess.
If Telos had once been a father figure before power corrupted him, then Mortum had been sothing like a kind uncle who never changed.
Yet when she looked at his desperate, fearful expression as he clutched on to her skirt as if she were the one who needed saving, Selena surprisingly felt nothing.
"Where is His Holiness?" she asked.
Mortum froze. His grip on her wrist tightened. "Saintess... please..."
Selena listened quietly. Mortum’s fear was palpable, yet it did little to move her heart.
"Father Mortum. Please answer ."
Mortum swallowed hard. His eyes darted toward the grand doors behind the altar, the ones only the Pope and the highest clergy were allowed to enter.
"He is... inside," Mortum finally said. "In the sanctum. He forbade anyone from approaching. Even the Archbishops fear him now."
Selena nodded once. "I see."
Selena stepped forward, moving deeper into the cathedral. The hymns that used to calm her heart no longer stirred anything in her. As she crossed the threshold of the inner hall, she paused and looked back at Mortum for a brief mont.
"But Father," she said, "there are no more Archbishops."
"Sainte—"
Thud!
Selena turned away and entered the sanctum as Mortum collapsed to the cold marble floor behind her, foam gathering at the corner of his mouth.
User Comments
0 comments from readers