The fog rolled in low over the marble roofs of the capital city's slum quarter, curling through half-broken archways and spilling over alley gutters like a creeping sickness. It was the hour before dawn—when the stars had begun to fade and silence hung like a breath waiting to be exhaled.
And it was at this hour that they moved.
Three hooded figures in stitched-gray cloaks passed without sound through the ruined chapel gate of the abandoned Church of the First Sun, their movements like phantoms. They carried no lanterns, needed no light. The pale violet brand glowing subtly beneath their throats marked them as Enlightened—members of the growing cult Kieran had heard whispers about through the Hidden Crown's far-reaching ears.
"We are close," came the whisper from the leader, a woman with a voice like brittle wind chimes. "The Bloodroot Sigil has activated."
Beneath them, hidden beneath a cracked mosaic floor tile, pulsed a sigil that should not have existed in any era—a convergence point of forbidden runes buried deep within history.
But they were not alone.
Two Days Earlier, in the Hidden Crown's Inner Sanctum
"Cult activity has intensified in the Western provinces," Elira said calmly, her spirit thread map flickering above the conference table like a spider's web of glowing strands. Each glowing pulse marked a suspected cult site, and they were multiplying faster than expected.
The Core Fifteen sat around the table, each in their division robes. Rhea leaned forward, expression unreadable. "We've crushed three cells this week. But these bastards keep regrowing like weeds in cursed soil."
"I've intercepted rumors," Sylvie added. "They call themselves the Children of the Violet Flame. They believe mana itself is impure. They want to burn down all magic and rebuild the world in silence."
"Fanatics," Vell muttered, stroking a skeletal bloom on her finger. "I don't like fanatics. They smell like old regret."
Yui's voice was soft but firm. "They've started recruiting from failed academy candidates. Some of them vanished two weeks ago."
The table fell quiet.
That hit close.
Talia's eyes narrowed. "What's their source of power?"
Elira responded, "An ancient Tower. We don't know where it is yet. But it's old—pre-Kingdoms era. Not even in public records. Only scattered rumors in arcane scrolls."
That's when a fourth presence joined the chamber—silent, without entrance.
Kieran's real body, no longer cloaked in illusion, stepped forward from the shadows. "Then it's time," he said. "Let's infiltrate them from within."
The Infiltration Begins
Three nights later, five members of the Crown's Umbra Division descended into the capital under the guise of wayward mercenaries. Yui, Rhea, Mira, Sylvie, and the goth necromancer Vell—each assigned roles to appeal to the cult's different recruitment approaches.
Vell, ever convincing with her soft deathly aura, played the part of a cursed soul seeking meaning.
Sylvie dropped water illusions across their escape paths in case anything went wrong.
Mira wore a frightened smile and clutched a journal labeled "Endings & Beginnings."
And Rhea… well, she was already cracking her knuckles.
In the underbelly of the city, the cult's trapdoor meetings were disguised as healing circles. Their priests wore masks carved from lavender bone, and their sermons spoke of transcendence through silence.
"Reject the noise of this broken world," one said to Vell as he tested her aura. "Burn it clean in the Violet Flame."
Vell blinked slowly and smiled. "I love the smell of old ashes."
Within the first hour, the team confirmed two things:
The cult had indeed discovered a sealed magical tower—and it was reactivating.
The cult believed a "False Tyrant" stood in their way… someone with a system beyond the gods.
They were hunting Kieran.
Meanwhile, in the Academy
Kieran, using his clone, sat at a lecture on Mana Theorums while watching through a telepathic thread the events unfold. He didn't flinch when a student next to him exploded a desk with a miscast ice sigil.
"They've gone deeper than expected," Elira's voice buzzed faintly in his mind.
"Continue the operation," Kieran replied, voice low. "Do not engage yet. I want to know who they serve."
But in the dark…
In the core of the forgotten church…
Something was waking.