Chapter 9 – The Whisper of Iron

Malric didn't move.

Neither did she.

Lirael remained across the ridge, unmoving as dusk devoured the sky. Her gaze lingered only a second—but that second stretched like ritual. As if she'd measured him already. And found him unfinished.

Then she turned.

And vanished into the mist.

[Target Withdrew – Engagement Opportunity Deferred] [Suggested Protocol: Hunt Secondary Target to complete memory sync and stabilize Phase Two]

The system's voice was cold logic. But underneath it—a hunger beat like a second heart.

[Target Suggested: Inquisitor Harrow – Faithbound Interrogator, Tier II] [Location: Displaced Refugee Shrine | Estimated Distance: 3.1 km northeast] [Memory Fragments Required: (2/2) to unlock Mental Duel Viability vs. Initiate Lirael]

Malric exhaled once.

And walked.

The night came quickly. It always did after sacred fires burned.

Frost hissed beneath his boots, the silence around him deepening. He passed the corpse of a fox with its eyes clawed out. Fresh. Ritualized. Marked with three lines of ash.

Faithbound.

They never just killed.

They repurposed.

[Environmental Note: Shrine of the Displaced – Desecrated Memorial Zone] [Sanctity Level: Moderate | Cognitive Interference Active] [Target Proximity: 100 meters]

The shrine was once a chapel built into the hillside—simple, wooden, honest. Now it was gutted. Its doors were gone. Its pews shattered. Chains hung from the beams, wet with something too dark for water.

And seated at the altar—Inquisitor Harrow.

Robed in dark crimson and iron buckles, hood drawn low. His fingers were bare, callused, stained with the ghost of old prayers and newer screams.

He was speaking softly.

To a corpse.

[Target Identified: Inquisitor Harrow – Faithbound Interrogator] [Combat Style: Wordbind + Paincycle Invocation] [Caution: Psychological warfare likely. Resist verbal initiation triggers.]

Malric watched for a moment.

Then stepped forward.

"Is that one answering you?" he asked.

The inquisitor looked up—slowly, reverently.

"Not yet," Harrow said, his voice gentle. "But silence is never absence. It's anticipation."

Malric smiled without humor. "Let's see if your god answers when you scream."

[System Alert: Initiating Engagement] [Phase Two Onset Reached – Mutation Active] [New Trait Unlocked: Hunger Catalyst – Unused system skills may auto-evolve under critical pressure]

The inquisitor moved with a fluid, inhuman grace—no wasted motion, no hesitation. His chains weren't for show; they moved, alive with echo-bound glyphs.

"Pain reveals the soul," he said.

And the shrine answered.

Walls groaned. Blood wept from cracked stone. The chains writhed.

[Skill Detected: Paincycle – Recursive torment loop | Sanity Impact: Moderate] [Countermeasure Suggested: Devour Mind + Echo Feedback Overlay]

Malric surged forward—Veilpiercer slashing in a horizontal arc. The blade screamed. So did the chains.

Harrow met the strike with his forearm, letting Veilpiercer bite just enough. Not to block—to bait.

Pain surged—not Malric's, but someone else's. Dozens. Hundreds.

[Mindlink Reversal Attempted – Hostile Memory Injection Detected]

He stumbled back, breath ragged.

"You don't get to devour what still belongs to the Flame," Harrow growled. "You are a thief of sanctity. A hollow tongue."

Malric's system screamed inside him. Not in fear.

In growth.

[Trait Evolution Triggered – Sanctified Echo now Rank II] [New Effect: Echo Rebound – Reflects memory traces on physical contact. User may store or rupture.]

He lunged.

Not blindly—hungrily.

Veilpiercer struck the inquisitor's chest. Not deep—but deliberate.

Contact.

[Devour Mind Initiated – Soulscape Penetration Begins]

The soulscape was a dungeon of confessionals, endless and bleeding. Voices looped like chants beneath the surface. Truths tortured from liars. Lies believed until they were holy.

Malric walked through it untouched.

Harrow's soul tried to cage him.

But cages only amused the system now.

[Assimilation at 41%...] [Secondary System Mutation: Memory Leech – Allows absorption of tertiary thought fragments without full duel]

He didn't need to dominate.

He only needed to taste.

Visions struck:

A priest flayed alive for doubting scripture. A child chained until they spoke a prayer they did not know. A woman burned for dreaming.

[Assimilation at 81%...] [Skill Fragment Captured: Wordbind – Low Tier Verbal Anchor Ability (Rank I)]

He reached the final cell.

Inside: Harrow. Younger. Alone. Praying not to be next.

Malric whispered, "Too late."

He ripped the memory out like marrow.

The world returned.

Harrow staggered back, choking on ghost-light. Malric didn't hesitate.

One strike.

Two.

Veilpiercer pierced heart, then spine.

[Devour Complete – Interrogator Harrow] [Skill Acquired: Wordbind (Rank I)] [Memory Core (2/2) Unlocked – Target: Initiate Lirael Now Viable] [Hunger: 14%]

Harrow's last words were not prayers.

Only sobs.

Malric stood over the corpse as the shrine flickered with broken holiness. Something deeper had awakened in him—not just hunger.

Harmony.

The system was no longer just whispering.

It was singing.

[Phase Two Mutation: Stabilized] [Subsystem Online: Sentience Link – System may now suggest objectives based on integrated memory desires]

The system wanted.

He understood.

Far to the west, a ripple passed through the earth.

Lirael had moved again.

Toward him.

Toward judgment.

[Target Advancing – Estimated encounter within 12 hours] [System Prepared]

So was he.