Chapter 212: The Obvious Question
Elias’s glow pulsed again, his voice steadier now. The weight of Kikaru’s absence and Dot’s condition were still present, but this was something deeper. Focused. Personal.
"I want to confirm my father’s death on Cradle Planet," he said.
His words didn’t waver.
"Help me do that."
He hovered forward slightly, the pressure of his form pushing outward again in the dim light of the chamber.
"If you can show me that truth... I’ll retrieve the gem for you."
He hesitated—not from doubt, but from finality.
"And promise me one thing in return."
His voice narrowed to a thread.
"Don’t use it to hurt others."The godless crucifix stepped forward.
Each movement was deliberate—measured, but without hesitation. The crimson mist curled higher with his advance, wrapping around his boots in slow, rising tendrils that clung like spirit-saturated smoke. The mist thickened as if the tower itself resisted his words before they could be spoken. Behind him, the crystalline bone walls trembled again, not from impact—but from anticipation. Their veins pulsed darker, louder, a chorus of whispers folding into one, as if the trapped voices of the Expanse strained to hear what came next.