Syed_Ariz

Requiem of the Fallen
Once called a prodigy, Ariz al-Suleiman was cast aside when his power was sealed. Betrayed, beaten, and left for dead, he awakens with a mysterious system and a second chance.

But the world doesn’t forgive. And neither does he.

When the Church burns his home and kills his grandfather, Ariz sheds his humanity. No longer a hero—he becomes a force of vengeance, bound to destroy everything that wronged him.

With blood as his path and demons as his future, Ariz’s war is just beginning.

THRONE OF SHADOW AND SIN

Chapter 37 – When Eyes Pretend Not to See

Part 2: What the Light Hides Below

Ashern returned to The Red Lantern by dusk.

The bartender didn't ask where he'd been.

No one in Ziraka asked questions after sundown.

He worked his shift in silence—refilling mugs, wiping down the counter, sweeping corners that didn't need it. But all the while, his mind remained in the cathedral.

She went below.With a priest who didn't wear a sigil, didn't bless anyone, didn't pray.What's down there?

At midnight, Ashern left through the back. No one noticed.

He didn't wear his coat tonight—just dark wraps, a secondhand cloak, and boots without heels. The night was windless. Still. A perfect time for ghosts to walk.

He reached the cathedral's outer garden by memory, tracing his path along a servant wall he'd noted earlier—just low enough to vault, just shadowed enough to not be seen.

The staff gate Seréya had used earlier was locked now.

But the vault entrance, buried behind a copper-ringed arch and a row of decorative flame lilies?

The corridor led underground—cool stone, no torches, only shallow glass tubes etched with scripture-glow.

He stayed close to the wall, letting Flowing Shadow muffle his body heat and dampen his heartbeat. Every footstep a thought. Every breath a weapon.

Carved into the archway above the descending stairwell was a sigil he hadn't seen before—not Church. Not native.

[System Translation: Forbidden Seal Detected]"Bound in silence. Forgotten by light."

➤ Subterranean Reliquary Class: Containment Vault➤ Heat Signature: Two active lifeforms➤ Divine Pulse: Present, corrupted➤ Record: No official Church archives available

And someone—something—was alive down there.

The staircase gave way to a domed corridor lined with glass tubes. Not decorative. Sealed.

Inside one, a half-dead knight hung in stasis, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream.

Inside another, a nun with bloody hands, her wrists tattooed in inverse scripture, floated in preserved amber.

Inside a third—a boy.

Eyes closed. Skin pale. His hands glowed faintly with something not holy.

Ashern's fingers curled unconsciously.

They were secrets.

The corridor ended in a locked door. Heavy iron, triple-banded, no handle.

He reached for it, and the moment his fingers grazed the metal—

And a presence behind the door flared once, like a mind brushing his.

[System Alert: Conscious Entity Detected]Status: WeakType: Unknown (Not Beast. Not Human. Not Divine.)Category: Sealed Awareness

"They buried it.And it's still thinking."

Ziraka's church didn't just hoard wealth or suppress doctrine.

It buried living lies.

Not the altar.Not the gate.Not the bishop.

Whatever was locked down here, the Church didn't want it freed.

And that was exactly why he would.