The corridor after the Cathedral stretched long and thin, stone polished smooth like it had been walked by a thousand feet. Kael kept his hood low, one hand on the Key. Every step felt like a weight pressing, like the building itself leaned closer to listen.
The walls were carved with shallow marks. At first Kael thought they were cracks. Then he realized they were letters, worn down, bleeding together. Not words he knew. Not any tongue he'd seen in scraps or markets. Still, the Compass at his chest twitched toward them like they mattered.
Riven dragged his fingers across the grooves, whistling low. "Looks like someone got bored with a knife. Whole place is graffiti." He leaned closer. "Hey, this one looks like a stew pot."
Seren smacked his arm with her pencil stub. She wrote quick: Not stew. Hymns. She underlined it twice.
"Hymns?" Riven scoffed. "What kind of god lives here? One that hates fun?"
Kael rasped, voice rough: "One that eats silence."
The air grew colder as they walked. Bells dangled from the high ceiling, cracked and rusted. Some shifted though no wind stirred. Their faint clinks echoed like whispers, too soft to be sound.
They weren't alone.
At the far end of the hall, three Walkers huddled near a broken statue. One held a torch, its light shaking in his hand. They froze when Kael's group appeared.
"Don't come closer," one hissed. His voice was sharp, ragged. "The Cathedral hears everything. We paid once already."
Riven raised his hands, lazy. "Relax. We're not here for your stew."
The man's eyes darted to Kael, then Seren, then back again. "It keeps asking. Tokens, memories, names. If you can't pay, it takes."
Kael's chest tightened. He didn't need the warning; he could feel the hunger pressing from the stone.
Seren scribbled: Leave them. Don't draw debt. She handed the scrap to Kael, and her eyes told him she meant it.
They passed without another word. The Walkers pressed back into shadow, clutching their torch like it was the only truth left.
Further down, the hall opened into a wide space. Pillars rose tall, each wrapped in chains that rattled faint with every step. Bells hung between them, swaying slow.
The system's voice slid across Kael's mind, colder than before:
[Debt to Cathedral: Active] Rule: The debtor always returns. Condition: Further payment required.
Kael's grip on the Key tightened. They hadn't escaped. They'd only bought time.
Riven groaned. "Figures. We're basically on a tab now. I hate tabs."
Seren scribbled: Tabs kill faster than swords here.
She was right.
A sound stirred above. Not the gong yet, not full. Just the faint breath of bells moving in the dark, patient, waiting.
Kael looked at the others. Riven was pale under his grin. Seren's eyes were steady but sharp. They all knew: the Cathedral hadn't finished with them.
BOOOONG.
The note rolled through the pillars, low and heavy. The chains rattled like applause.
Kael's bones shook with it. The Cathedral was calling them back.