Ash and snow fell together over the ruined cathedral like sorrow and silence intertwined.
Liam stood amid the wreckage, his staff planted in the cracked marble beneath him, the scorched halo of Vaelith glowing faintly in his palm. Around him, his angels tended to the wounded and buried the dead. Though victorious, the cost had been undeniable—five angels fallen, eleven followers slain, and more than two dozen injured.
But the Crimson Seraph was no more.
"Burn her body," Liam commanded. "Let no altar rise again from her bones."
Kaelion bowed and began the rites.
Elira approached him, her expression unreadable.
"You've done what few even dared dream," she said softly. "You avenged your family, crippled the cult's northward reach, and turned their blasphemy to ash. So… why do you still look haunted?"
Liam looked down at his hand, the halo still pulsing like a dying star.
"Because I can feel it," he muttered. "This was only a wing of something larger. Vaelith wasn't the heart of the cult—just a gatekeeper."
A chill ran through Elira. "You think there's worse than her?"
Liam nodded. "I know there is."
---
GOD SYSTEM – STATUS
Level: 18
Faith Points (FP): 90
Followers: 179
Angels: 31
Devotion Bond: Elira (Tier I)
New Title Acquired: Seraph's Bane
STATS:
• Strength: 33
• Speed: 35
• Endurance: 37
• Divine Power: 60
• Willpower: 41
• Charisma: 34
• Perception: 31
Perk Unlocked: Divine Authority
> Followers within 50m gain +5 to morale, +10% resistance to corruption.
---
Three days later, they arrived at Ashveil, a mid-sized city built into the ruins of a fallen elven kingdom. The people greeted Liam with caution at first, wary of his glowing eyes and golden aura, but when they saw the angels in formation above him—when they heard whispers of Vaelith's death—fear turned to reverence.
And reverence turned to belief.
+32 Faith Points earned. Followers: 198.
They set up camp inside the broken amphitheater near the city's heart, converting it into a temple of sorts. Runes glowed under Seriel's guidance, and songs of devotion echoed through the stonework. Liam barely slept. He meditated beneath the stars, visions haunting his dreams.
Dark wings. Chains forged from souls. And a throne of screaming bone.
A name returned to him in the night: Queen Malentha.
---
"She was Vaelith's superior," Seriel explained at dawn, sitting beside a brazier. "One of the Triumvir Queens. When the gods vanished, she devoured a fragment of their power and became something far worse."
"What does she rule?"
"Despair," Seriel said quietly. "She's the one who whispered to men in their nightmares and turned oracles to madness. She doesn't just kill. She converts."
Liam clenched his fists.
"Where is she?"
Seriel hesitated. "You'll have to cross the Ghastroot Forest. Her domain lies within the City of Shrieking Veils—a palace of mirrors where the air itself lies."
Kaelion stepped forward. "We march at dawn?"
Liam looked out toward the horizon.
"No. We don't march. We purge."
---
Two weeks later
The Ghastroot Forest was nothing like Liam expected. There were no beasts, no birds. Only silence and trees that looked like veins stretched skyward. The land was colorless. Even the sun seemed dimmer.
Rennan, the paladin, muttered prayers.
"I don't like this place. It's too… still."
"That's because it's listening," Elira whispered.
Liam raised his hand to halt them.
Ahead stood a woman.
Naked, pale, hair made of feathers and shadow. Her eyes bled constantly, and her lips curled in an almost-smile. She stood in the middle of the path like a painting someone had abandoned mid-stroke.
"Do not move," Liam warned. "That's not human."
The woman turned her head slowly.
"I am The Memory of Queens," she said. "And you, Divine Flame… are unwelcome."
---
System Alert – Unique Entity Detected
> Memory of Queens
Aspect of Despair | Level ???
Warning: Unknown abilities. Spiritual confrontation imminent.
---
Without warning, the forest blurred.
Liam blinked—and he was alone.
No angels.
No Elira.
No forest.
Only a throne room, cracked and cold, filled with mirrors that reflected his worst moments: his mother's scream, his sister's outstretched hand, the blood on his young hands the day his family died.
The Memory stood beside him.
"Your faith is born from rage," she whispered. "You lead not because you are divine… but because you are broken."
Liam trembled. "I know."
"You admit it?"
"I embrace it."
He stepped forward. "My pain made me strong. My rage gives me purpose. You cannot unmake what I have become."
"You believe in yourself."
"I believe in what I'll do."
---
His aura ignited.
Gold. Crimson. Divine.
The mirrors shattered—and the illusion collapsed.
Liam stood in the forest once again, staff burning with holy light.
The Memory writhed in pain, her form unstable.
"You will not reach her," she hissed.
"I already have."
He plunged the staff into the earth.
"By divine flame, I banish despair."
---
Light erupted.
The Memory screamed and dissolved into feathers and ash.
The forest shuddered, as though breathing for the first time in years.
His angels and allies reappeared around him.
"Liam?" Elira gasped. "You vanished—"
"For you, it was seconds," he said. "For me… it was longer."
---
GOD SYSTEM – UPDATE
Faith Points Earned: +24 (Total FP: 146)
Follower Increase: +11 (209 total)
New Commandment Added:
10. No soul shall kneel to despair.
New Ability Unlocked: Will of Flame
> Negate one illusion or mind-based attack per day. Aura burns away all despair-type corruption within 10m.
---
That night, Elira brought him a bowl of warm stew and sat beside him near the edge of the camp.
"I thought I'd lost you," she said quietly.
"You didn't."
"I was afraid… not for the mission. For you."
Liam glanced at her, eyes softer now, the fire within them subdued.
"Elira—"
She reached out, touching his hand.
"You don't always have to be divine, Liam. You can just… be human."
He swallowed, the words catching in his throat.
"I don't know how."
She smiled. "Then let me remind you."
---
They sat in silence for a while, the stars watching.
Above, the winds shifted—carrying the scent of iron and rot.
The City of Shrieking Veils waited.
And Liam was ready to face its Queen.
---
[End of Chapter 21]