Kaelen didn't wake up to the sound of trumpets. He woke up to the sound of a chime that felt like a needle stitching into his frontal lobe.
[NOTIFICATION!] [Condition: STABLE] [Health: 45/100] [Status: The "Saint" has Awakened.]
He opened his eyes, and for a moment, he genuinely thought he had died and gone to the Heaven he had once tried to burn down. The ceiling was a fresco of golden angels, and the air was thick with the scent of "Sacred Incense"—an expensive alchemical grade that cost 100 gold pieces a gram.
He tried to sit up, and a dozen things happened at once.
First, his ribs screamed in protest, reminding him that being stabbed by a Hero was still a physical reality. Second, a heavy weight on his hand shifted.
"Kaelen?"
Elara was there. She looked like she hadn't slept in the three weeks he'd been unconscious. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but the moment they met his, they lit up with a terrifying, feverish intensity.
"You're back," she whispered, her voice trembling. "The healers said... they said your soul was too exhausted to return. I've been praying every hour. I didn't stop. I knew you wouldn't leave me."
Kaelen looked at her. The False Saint's Halo was gone—crushed in the vault—but he didn't need it. The way she looked at him now was better than any artifact. She didn't just trust him; she canonized him.
"Elara," he croaked, his throat feeling like he'd swallowed glass. "How long?"
"Three weeks," she said, clutching his hand to her cheek. "The Academy... the whole City of Aethelgard... they've been holding vigils for you. There are flowers piled ten feet high at the Academy gates."
Kaelen's internal screen flickered.
[Passive Karma Accumulation Detected!] [Source: 'Public Worship'.] [Rate: +50 KP per hour.] [System Note: You are officially too famous to fail.]
Fifty points an hour just for existing? Kaelen thought. I should have been stabbed years ago.
"And Alaric?" Kaelen asked, maintaining his mask of noble concern.
Elara's face hardened. The sweetness in her expression vanished, replaced by a cold, righteous fury that actually impressed Kaelen. "He is in the Silence Cells. He claims you bewitched him, that you stole the Heart. But the Headmaster found the 'Void Residue' on Alaric's own blade. He's been stripped of his rank. His family has disowned him."
Kaelen looked down to hide the predatory gleam in his eyes. Void Residue. He had planted that the moment he gripped Alaric's sword with his bare hand.
"It wasn't his fault, Elara," Kaelen sighed, playing the martyr to the very end. "The shadows are a heavy burden."
"You are too good for this world," she whispered, leaning in. "But I won't let them hurt you again. The Headmaster has promoted you. You've been given the 'Diamond Grade' scholarship. You're no longer in the Fail Class, Kaelen. You are the head of the Disciplinary Committee."
Kaelen nearly choked. The Disciplinary Committee? The group that had the power to investigate and punish any student in the school?
[NEW RANK ACHIEVED: Inquisitor of Virtue.] [Privilege: You may now 'Audit' the Karma of any student.] [Privilege: You have access to the Restricted Library (Level 2).]
This was the ultimate irony. The System's greatest debtor had just been given the keys to the Academy's police force.
"I... I am honored," Kaelen said, forcing a humble tear to well up in his eye. "I only wish to serve."
A knock came at the door. It wasn't a student. It was Professor Mordred.
The Professor looked worse than Kaelen. His skin was sallow, and his eyes were darting around the room as if he expected the walls to collapse. He looked at Kaelen, and his hands visibly shook.
"Saint Kaelen," Mordred said, the title tasting like ash in his mouth. "The Headmaster... he wishes for a private audience once you are able to walk. He wants to discuss the 'prophecy' you fulfilled."
"Prophecy?" Kaelen asked.
"The one where a 'dying light saves the world from the falling star'," Mordred said, his voice dropping to a low, desperate hiss. "He thinks it's you. The whole Council thinks it's you."
Kaelen leaned back against his silk pillows. He felt the Void Heart thumping in his chest, stronger than ever. He had a trillion-point debt, a "Saintess" who was becoming obsessed with him, a Hero in a dungeon, and a Council of Elders who thought he was a child of destiny.
"Well then," Kaelen said, smiling at the Professor with a look that promised absolute ruin. "We shouldn't keep the Headmaster waiting. Elara, would you help me up? I feel a bit... weak."
As Elara tenderly helped him stand, Kaelen checked his System one last time.
[Current Shop Credit: 87] [Karma Balance: -999,998,750,000] [Active Status: The Gospel of the Damned (Volume 2 Start)]
Ten years of interest paid, Kaelen thought as he stepped onto the cold marble floor. Time to see if I can't buy the whole school by the end of the semester.