Unknown Location – The Hollow Haven
A cave hidden within the folds of an ancient, long-forgotten valley. The walls were etched with celestial script—but broken, marred. Wings carved into the stone were torn or defaced. A sanctuary not built to honor Heaven—but to reject it.
Caelir led them through the shadowed corridors.
"This place was made by angels who saw too much," he said quietly. "Those who questioned Seraphiel's war against Azrakar. Those who refused to be part of the slaughter."
Kazuki glanced around. He felt it. The walls remembered—and so did something inside him.
Yuna ran a hand along a fractured mural. "They hid the truth here."
"They recorded everything," Caelir said. "Your execution. The tampering of souls. Even… the Obsidian Throne."
Kazuki paused. "What's that?"
Caelir didn't answer right away.
Instead, he led them to a chamber sealed with seven locks—each glowing faintly.
"You'll see. But only when the sanctuary recognizes you."
Kazuki approached—and the locks snapped open without hesitation.
The chamber lit up, revealing an ancient statue of Azrakar—arms crossed, eyes closed. But it wasn't a monument of terror. He looked… serene. Regretful.
In front of it stood a cracked mirror.
Kazuki touched it.
Visions flooded his mind—wars fought in his name, angels weeping as they set cities ablaze. And Seraphiel—standing atop the corpses, eyes hard, blade stained with light and blood.
Elsewhere – Cult of Ash Headquarters, Beneath the World
The Cult Leader sat within a ring of flame, arms folded. His mask was cracked from the last battle. Blood still clung to his robes.
Acolytes knelt.
"He sided with an angel," one hissed. "A traitor to Heaven."
"He's abandoning what we forged."
The Leader's laughter was hollow. "No. He's becoming what we always feared. And that means one thing…"
He stood, throwing back his cloak. His chest glowed—runes seared into flesh pulsing with unstable magic.
"We force his return. Not with fire alone. But with the final offering."
He turned to the cult's high priestess.
"Prepare the pyre. We burn the city's heart. We'll drag Azrakar back by pain."
Back in the Haven
Kazuki reeled from the mirror's visions, breath ragged. Yuna helped steady him.
"You okay?"
He nodded, then looked to Caelir. "He knew this was coming. Seraphiel wanted me dead not to stop me—but to keep what I knew from the world."
Caelir's voice was quiet. "And now that you've remembered, he won't hesitate again."
The sanctuary trembled slightly—as if it, too, sensed the storm ahead.
Kazuki clenched his fist.
"Then we stop hiding."
To be continued...