The Holy City of Luminar.
Unlike Arcadia Academy, where students ran through the halls, shouted during fights, and turned any news into a rumor in under five minutes, Luminar was silent.
Too silent.
The enormous white cathedrals rose toward the sky like marble spears.
Bells rang at exact intervals.
Priests walked along perfectly established routes.
Everything had an order.
Everything had a reason.
Everything had a place.
And precisely for that reason, the Church of Order existed.
Because soone had to ensure the world kept functioning.
Because soone had to stop whatever threatened the balance.
Because history had shown ti and again what happened when chaos was left unchecked.
In a huge circular chamber lit by sacred crystals, several figures examined docunts spread across a table.
No one spoke.
The atmosphere was tense.
Finally, a silver-haired woman broke the silence.
"Let’s begin."
Everyone looked up.
She was High Inquisitor Helena Arcturus.
One of the most influential people in the entire Church.
In front of her lay four reports.
Four incidents.
Four problems.
And a single na repeated in all of them.
Kael Veyron.
A man in a black robe stepped forward.
"First report."
He spread out a docunt.
"The Red Mountain Incident."
Several magical images appeared above the table.
Uprooted trees.
Pulverized rocks.
A completely diverted river.
And a mountain with its peak torn off.
An old man sighed.
"I still can’t believe that happened."
"The witnesses agree."
"A single creature caused all of this."
Helena observed the image.
"Confird?"
"Yes."
"The creature known as the Little Fat King."
Silence.
"What a ridiculous na, for such a threatening creature."
"Extrely serious consequences."
No one argued that.
Because it was true.
The second report appeared.
"Abyssal Beast."
The image changed.
Now it showed a massive dark creature.
Several cities had reported its presence.
It was a monster classified as a regional threat.
A creature capable of destroying entire towns.
And yet...
It had vanished.
Simply vanished.
No corpse.
No traces.
No explanation.
The investigator swallowed.
"Witnesses claim the creature was defeated by the sa entity."
"The sa one?"
"Yes."
"The Little Fat King."
Several people closed their eyes.
They still struggled to accept that na.
Helena massaged her temples.
"Continue."
The third image appeared.
This ti showing the Arcadia Arena.
"Official duel between Aurelion Voss and Kael Veyron."
"Result?"
"Aurelion’s victory."
A few people slightly relaxed their expressions.
Until the investigator continued.
"However..."
"Everyone present agrees on sothing."
The image changed.
Showing a huge white cat.
Asleep.
Completely asleep.
"The creature never fought seriously."
Silence.
"Never?"
"Never."
"Even so, it forced Aurelion Voss to stay on alert throughout the entire fight."
Helena’s expression hardened.
Because that was worrying.
Aurelion Voss was one of the most promising students of the entire generation.
He wasn’t soone easily impressed.
And yet...
He had co away concerned.
The fourth report appeared.
The Whispering Roots Dungeon.
The images showed the Ancient Guardian.
The destruction.
The injuries.
The remnants of the battle.
"The Guardian was a threat above student level."
"Estimates place it near B-rank."
"And who defeated it?"
The investigator hesitated.
"Technically..."
"Everyone collaborated."
"But reports indicate that the decisive intervention again ca from the sa creature."
Again.
Always the sa creature.
Always the sa na.
Always the sa student.
Helena interlaced her fingers.
"Four incidents."
"A single constant."
The table fell silent.
Everyone knew the answer.
Kael Veyron.
One of the inquisitors opened another file.
Much smaller.
Much simpler.
"Personal information on the individual."
Helena nodded.
"Read it."
The man began.
"Na: Kael Veyron."
"Age: Seventeen."
"First-year student at Arcadia Academy."
Nothing remarkable.
Nothing special.
Nothing concerning.
Until he kept reading.
"Lineage."
He turned a page.
"None."
Silence.
"Sponsor?"
"None."
"Noble protection?"
"None."
"Political influence?"
"None."
The silence grew heavier.
Because that was strange.
Too strange.
A creature capable of altering the regional balance should belong to a powerful family.
To an organization.
To an important faction.
To soone.
But Kael had nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
He was poor.
Fatherless orphan.
No connections.
No resources.
No influence.
No backing.
Helena looked at the file.
"Confird?"
"Completely."
"And the family?"
"Only a younger sister."
"Luna Veyron."
"No relevant background."
An old man frowned.
"That doesn’t make sense."
"An entity of that level should have attracted attention years ago."
"Exactly."
"But it appeared only a few weeks ago."
Helena closed the file.
And for the first ti spoke with genuine seriousness.
"That is precisely what worries ."
Everyone listened.
"If the creature had existed for years..."
"We would have records."
"Stories."
"Legends."
Sothing.
"But it appeared from nowhere."
"And since then, incidents have multiplied."
No one could refute it.
Because it was true.
Everything had begun recently.
Too recently.
One of the priests spoke.
"Do you think it’s a Bearer?"
The room tensed.
It was a dangerous word.
Very dangerous.
Helena didn’t answer imdiately.
She looked at the docunts.
Looked at the images.
Looked at the destroyed mountain.
The Abyssal Beast.
The Guardian.
The cat.
And finally spoke.
"We don’t have enough proof."
"But we cannot ignore the possibility either."
A young inquisitor swallowed.
"The God of Chaos?"
Helena closed her eyes.
For centuries, he had been considered a myth.
A story.
A warning.
An absurd legend.
But recent reports were beginning to form a pattern.
And that was precisely the dangerous part.
Because patterns ant sothing.
And the Church existed to detect such things.
"We cannot afford to assu it’s a coincidence."
No one answered.
Because they were all thinking exactly the sa thing.
If there really was a connection to Chaos...
Then waiting could be fatal.
Finally, another inquisitor spoke.
"Do we proceed with elimination?"
Helena imdiately shook her head.
"No."
The answer surprised several of those present.
"No?"
"No."
"He is still a student."
"And he hasn’t committed any cri yet."
"Then..."
"We proceed with capture and observation."
That sounded much worse.
Much, much worse.
Because it ant the Church would take the matter seriously.
Very seriously.
Helena rose from her seat.
The entire room fell silent.
"If the boy is innocent..."
"We will know."
"If he is not..."
"We will know as well."
No one argued.
Because that was precisely the Church’s function.
Not to punish without proof.
But not to ignore potential threats either.
Helena looked one last ti at Kael’s file.
An ordinary boy.
With an ordinary life.
And a creature that was definitely not ordinary.
The perfect combination for a catastrophe.
Or for a miracle.
It was still impossible to know which of the two.
Finally, she gave the order.
"Issue an internal directive."
"Classification: Reserved."
"Level three."
The scribes began to write.
"Target: Kael Veyron."
"Priority: Continuous observation."
"Authorized action: Capture."
"thod: Non-public."
"No visible Church intervention."
"No alerting the target."
"No involving the Academy."
The pen stopped writing.
Helena looked at the order for a few seconds.
Then stamped it with the official seal.
The sacred symbol glowed on the paper.
And in that instant, the decision was sealed.
Kael Veyron had just officially beco a target of the Church of Order.
Though he didn’t know it yet.
Far away.
At Arcadia Academy.
Kael sneezed.
"What’s wrong?"
Luna looked at him.
"Nothing."
"I just had a bad feeling."
The Fat King opened one eye.
"ow."
"Yeah."
"I also think sothing bad is going to happen."
The cat went back to sleep.
Utterly unconcerned.
While elsewhere on the continent...
The machinery of one of the most powerful organizations in the world had just been set in motion.
And this ti...
It was moving in secret.
User Comments
0 comments from readers