Chapter 38: The Burning Church
After picking through the logs, they turned back toward the church. Lucien’s reasoning was simple: the fire started there, so that's where it had to end.
Nuri didn't argue with the logic. He just doubted his own ability to see it through.
Even after seeing the ledgers, even after staring at the cold proof of what had happened, he couldn't bring himself to feel the blinding, consuming hatred for the divine that drove Lucien. Maybe he would eventually, but right now, he was just tired. It made him wonder what kind of hell Lucien had lived through to carry a rage that quiet and deep.
"Don't overthink it," Mo’s voice drifted up from his pocket, hushed and low. "The tide doesn't reveal the whole floor at once. Best thing you can do... let it wash over you. Stop hunting the answers. They'll drop in your lap when it's time."
The token sounded strange. Almost nostalgic, like an old traveler remembering a road long buried under dust.
"...Thanks," Nuri murmured under his breath.
It still felt absurd, taking life advice from a piece of black rock. If anyone from the academy saw him now, they'd think he'd completely lost his mind.
He let out a quiet breath and kept his eyes moving. The streets were dead quiet. No boars, no cultists, no wind. Lucien had cleared a path earlier, sure, but there was no way he’d wiped out every beast in the valley. Yet the road back to the church sat entirely empty.
They reached the perimeter faster than expected. As Nuri looked up at the structure, his boots caught on the cobbles, bringing him to a dead stop.
The space surrounding the church was tearing down the middle, two different worlds overlapping like bad glass.
In one frame, the church sat quiet, rotted, and mundane.
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In the second, it was burning.
Crimson flames ate through the rafters, hot embers bleeding across the air into the quiet frame, tearing the boundary thinner by the second. Or maybe their own world was just getting swallowed whole.
"...Which one are we stepping into?" Nuri asked, glancing toward Lucien.
To his horror, Lucien looked genuinely delighted. A bright, sharp grin split his face. Nuri looked away instantly, trying to map whatever went on inside that man's head was a waste of sanity.
"The real one, obviously," Lucien said, his tone entirely too light for a burning building. "Fascinating work... I wonder how they anchored a double phase like this."
"And what's the play once we're inside?" Nuri asked, forcing his legs to follow behind him.
"Nothing wild. We find the two Soul Stones... and smash them. Simple, right?" Lucien offered a pleasant, hollow smile. "Saves me a ton of hassle on the research side, too."
Nuri frowned. "...Two?"
"Mm-hmm. The one you dragged out of the last village... and the new one."
"The new one?"
"The one forged out of every soul in this valley."
Nuri’s pace dragged to a crawl.
A Soul Stone made out of the entire population?
What was Dally’s group actually building? Why hoard that much condensed life? Was summoning a god really the only goal... or were they trying to feed it?
Before he could process the thought, Lucien stepped directly into the burning frame. Nuri swallowed hard and crossed the threshold behind him.
The instant he passed the boundary, a suffocating weight slammed onto his chest. His stomach turned, his internal mana spattering and flickering like a lamp running out of oil. He looked over at Lucien. The man didn't even flinch, stepping through the pressure like he was taking a walk in a garden.
How?
He doesn't serve a god, Nuri realized, a cold chill running down his back. He doesn't draw from a divine pool. Where is he getting his power?
"Keep up," Lucien called out, not bothering to check behind him as he pushed deeper into the hall.
Nuri bit his tongue, shoved the nauseous feeling down, and hurried after him.
The boars lining the ruined corridors didn't charge. They sat hunched against the burning walls, whining softly as the two men passed. At first, Nuri thought they were terrified of Lucien. But looking closer, their glossy, bloodshot eyes weren't watching Lucien at all.
They were staring deeper down the corridor.
Like whatever was waiting at the end of the hall was infinitely worse than the Heretic.
Nuri swallowed hard, his hands trembling. For the first time since this nightmare started, he desperately wanted to be back in his own bed. He just hoped Alina and Elina had been smart enough to stay far away from this place.
"Damn it! Elina, please wake up!"
Alina's voice shattered the quietn and panicked, echoing from the central nave up ahead.