Chapter 109: The Rift of Faith
Chapter One Hundred and Nine: The Rift of Faith
Section One: The Breach of Trust
Night clung, unyielding. Wind wailed through ruins, thick with rust and blood, choking breath. Code shards pulsed faintly on the ground, like a heart clamped tight, gasping its last. Thirty-six fire guardians knelt by blood pools, their slashed palms crusted, dark red scabs fused to rubble like scorched fate. Maria stood at their front, hand on her blade, knuckles bloodless. Wei Ran crouched at the ruins' flank, gun low, gaze like steel. Jason leaned against a broken wall, arm guard charred, eyes scanning the ruins' edge.
Sand carried the drone of old broadcasts. At a street corner, a dim glow flickered—not code fire, but false fire.
Maria's eyes tightened. "They're at it again."
Jason stared at the light—not a code's natural jump, but a crafted mimicry: false fire pulses, fake signals. Convincing, like a code's heartbeat, like fire igniting faith. But false. A trap.
Wei cursed, "Black Vine's false fire betrayal game. They're playing for real."
---
Jason shifted to the thirty-six kneeling. They saw the glow, too. Eyes twitched, fingers trembled, shoulders shook.
Maria watched, fingers taut. Wei Ran's gun stayed low, finger poised.
Code shards glowed—weak, but true.
Jason's voice, soft yet commanding, silenced the ruins: "Fire trust isn't seen. It's bled."
Maria hissed, "Betrayers will rise."
Jason's sneer was blade-sharp. "Let them."
---
Wind slashed. The false fire pulsed, like a sick dog's panting, urgent, taunting, whispering: *Come, trust me. Trust fire. Trust salvation.*
First to stir—a young man, hair scorched, face bandaged, old trust scars cracked across his hands. He knelt, trembling, eyes locked on the false fire, shoulders quaking.
Another shifted—an old soldier, ID tag pinned to his shoulder, code long dead. He stared down, fists clenched, knuckles pale.
Maria whispered, "They'll stand."
Jason, cold, "Wait."
---
False fire flared, tearing the night. The thirty-six struggled. Some bowed heads, others clutched ground, nails bleeding.
One stood.
The young man rose, slow, trembling, eyes a mix of hope and despair. He stared at the false fire, lips moving, words lost.
Silence gripped the ruins, wind howling.
Maria's blade gleamed, low. Wei Ran's gun lifted. Jason watched, unmoving.
The young man stepped forward, away from blood, from shards, toward the false fire.
---
Jason murmured, "Oathbreaker."
Maria's dagger flew, cutting air. Wei Ran fired, shattering night.
The blade struck his chest, blood spraying. A bullet grazed, and he fell, collapsing into dust, eyes still on the false light, pleading in death.
No one moved. Blood pooled, wind swirling dark red.
Maria sheathed her blade, face pale, eyes hard. Wei lowered his gun, expression grim. Jason stood over the body, looking down—no pity, no eulogy: "Fire Trust is life. Betrayal is death."
He turned to the thirty-six, glancing coldly at the false fire.
---
Code shards pulsed—true, slow, stubborn.
False fire burned on, but no one moved. The thirty-six knelt, blood cracking, trembling in pain, but fixed.
Maria whispered, "Destroy the false fire device?"
Jason shook his head, eyes like nails. "Not yet. Let them watch."
Wei cursed, slumping by the ruins, finger tight on the trigger. Maria gripped her blade, gaze unyielding.
---
False fire pulsed, restless, poisonous, luring. But the thirty-six were rooted, unmoving.
Code shards glowed brighter, like a heart beating once more—weak, but real.
Jason's voice was night rain: "Fire Trust isn't persuaded. It's burned. Unclean burns die."
Maria's eyes burned. Wei's fingers whitened.
Black Vine's false fire team stirred, tweaking frequencies, mimicking truer signals.
Jason glanced, "No matter how close, it can't fool trust burned into flesh."
Maria asked, "Act?"
Jason's smile was cold, "Wait. See who's still foolish."
---
Code shards pulsed steadier. Blood dried. Air mixed fire, blood, sand—not sweet, but trust.
The thirty-six knelt, blood-marked, steady.
False fire died, like a sick dog's last breath, a false trust severed.
Black Vine retreated. Night sealed the dead city.
Jason spat, "Fire Trust knows blood, not words."
Wind buried the corpse. Maria sheathed her blade. Wei lowered his gun. Thirty-six knelt. Code shards pulsed.
The fight was won, but cracks lingered. Fire burned. Blood would flow.
---
Section Two: The Blood Plot Begins
Night's curtain crushed the ruins, air heavy as blood-soaked cloth, unyielding, cold. Code shards flickered, gasping final breaths. Thirty-six knelt by blood pools, hands and backs scarred with crusted wounds. They knelt like carved stones, nailed to the ruins.
Maria stood by a broken wall, blade low, eyes piercing the night. Wei leaned opposite, gun raised, fingers taut. Jason stood by the shards, gaze like frosted rails.
False fire was gone, Black Vine retreated. The ruins sank into silence, wind and sand settling like a dead lake.
But they knew—this was half the night. Darker was coming.
---
Footsteps whispered, light as bones snapping. Maria hissed, "They've changed tactics."
Wei sneered, "No straight fight—dirty moves."
Jason squinted at shadows. Fresh blood's tang drifted, hot, new.
Maria whispered, "Not attack—lure."
Wei growled, "They want us to strike."
Jason said, "More. They want us to kill our own."
Maria frowned, alert.
---
Two figures approached, in fire guardian armor, code shards tied to chests, heads low, faces hidden.
Maria's jaw tightened. "Ours?"
Wei's eyes narrowed. "Wrong steps. Wrong smell."
Jason sneered, "Fake codes. Wrong pulses. Dead."
False fire failed. Black Vine switched—frame job.
---
The figures neared, pale, eyes milky, like long-dead corpses forced to move. Their shards didn't pulse, only glowed with painted light—convincing, but dead.
Maria cursed, "Corpses posing as trusters."
Wei aimed low.
Jason watched, cold as a storm's eve.
The corpses shuffled, twenty steps from the ruins.
Maria hissed, "Can't let them in."
Wei's finger tensed.
Jason said, "Wait."
---
He heard subtler sounds—boots on ground, metal grazing guns, distant.
Maria squinted, "Sniper nests."
Wei exhaled, "Hidden guns."
Jason smirked, "They're targeting our own."
Corpses were bait. If trusters fired, bullets would hit corpses, uselessly. But the sound would trigger Black Vine's snipers, killing guardians.
Outsiders would see trusters slaughtering their own. Faith would crack, codes would die, Iron Valley would fall to Empire.
Maria asked, "What now?"
Jason hissed, "Knives. No guns."
Wei grinned, holstering his gun, drawing a blade. Maria pulled a thin dagger.
---
Jason watched the corpses, now twenty steps away.
"Fire Trust doesn't need guns," he said. "It needs blood."
Maria lunged, blade flashing. Wei charged, knife gleaming. Jason darted, blade like a spear.
Silent kills—Maria's blade severed a neck, gray blood spraying. Wei's knife split a chest, fake shards falling. Jason's blade pierced a heart, withdrawing cleanly.
No sound. No light. No shots.
Corpses fell, sand rising. Fake shards shattered, false light dead.
Black Vine's snipers held fire, retreating.
---
Maria glared at the corpses, "Dead, still selling trust."
Wei sheathed his blade, eyes cold. Jason picked up a broken shard, eyeing its false coating. "Codes don't guard fake trust. True trust fears no death."
Maria said, "They won't stop."
Jason's gaze chilled, "Of course not."
Wei growled, "Next, real fight."
Jason looked to the shadows, "Next, we strike first."
Maria frowned, "How?"
Jason's voice was night: "Dark fights dark. They bury, we dig."
He turned to Maria and Wei, "Form teams."
Maria's eyes sparked. Wei grinned, sharp as a blade.
"Fire Trust kill teams," Jason said. "Three per group. No guns—knives, ropes, fire cloth. Kill frame-ups, false trusters, false fire lures."
Maria nodded, blade flashing. Wei drew a rope, grinning like a wolf.
Jason stared into the dark, "To keep Fire Trust, walk in blood."
---
Wind rose, sand swirling. Iron Valley's ruins smoldered—not bright, but burning beneath—bones, faith, lives.
---
Section Three: Dark Blood's First Kill
Night grew colder, sand like blades across ruins, grinding iron bones, curling scorched blood. Code shards pulsed, slow as a dying pulse, but alive. Thirty-six knelt, unmoving. Maria crouched by the shards, thumb grazing her blade, its glint faint. Wei sat by a wall, knotting a rope, tightening each loop. Jason stood high, gaze hard, scanning the night.
Black Vine moved—not openly, but slinking. Wind carried blood, fire, and rotted faith.
Maria whispered, "Time to move."
Jason nodded, voice like rust, "Move."
---
Maria hid her blade in her sleeve. Wei tucked the rope at his waist. They crouched, wolves leaving a den.
Three per team—no guns, only knives, ropes, fire cloth, and lives.
Jason gripped his blade, eyes like underwater ice. Maria clutched fire cloth. Wei held a thin knife, steps silent.
They weren't fighting—they were killing. Assassination, counter-infiltration, counter-betrayal—stopping faith's collapse.
---
Night was black. At the ruins' edge, Black Vine's false fire signal hid behind a dry well. Three figures crouched in rubble, holding portable signal emitters, disguised as refugees, wrists bound with fake ID tags. False fire pulsed—convincing, but fake.
Maria's team closed—ten meters, five, silent.
Maria's blade gleamed, no reflection. Wei's rope flew, soundless. Jason advanced, blade like a nail.
First man didn't react—rope crushed his throat, collapsing it. Second looked up, silenced by Maria's blade, eyes bulging. Third reached for an alarm—Jason's knife pierced his heart through the shoulder.
They fell, silent.
---
Maria burned the fake tags with fire cloth, ash scattering. Wei glanced out, "Another group."
In the night, more false fire teams hid.
Fire Trust kill teams split—three per group, needles in rotting flesh, killing silently. Code shards pulsed, watching—not salvation, but judgment.
---
In Black Vine's command, Zhao Yunzhi stared at the memetic map, brow knotted. Shen Shu whispered, "False fire points are dropping."
Zhao sneered, "They're fast."
Shen pulled a panel—false fire signals blinked out, clean, no hesitation.
Zhao growled, "Iron Valley's Fire Trust isn't faith—it's blood feud."
He sent a command: [Launch Dark Web Counter-Infiltration. Spread False Code Betrayal Events. Stage Fire Trust Mutual Kills.]
Shen nodded, "Burn trust with their own fire."
Zhao grinned, "Or it won't burn through."
---
Orders went out. Black Vine teams moved, rigging false fire points with coded fake codes—self-destructing on approach, targeting trusters.
One explosion, blood and flesh, small but enough—enough for mistrust, mutual slaughter, self-destruction.
Night surged. Ruins festered. Kill teams and Black Vine clashed—knife to knife, blood to blood, faith to faith.
Maria crouched, blade against fire cloth, eyes like shattered steel. Wei gripped his rope, breath low. Jason spun his blade, cold, silent, cutting.
Another team fell. Another point died.
---
Dark blood flowed beneath the ruins, unburied by sand, unhidden by corpses.
Fire Trust pulsed, heavy, venomous.
Maria whispered, "We're fast. They're panicking."
Wei grinned, "Panic's good. It exposes flaws."
Jason said, "Flaws come from weak trust."
They weren't just clearing Black Vine—they were purging trust, a blood sacrifice for Fire Trust's return.
Code shards pulsed in blood pools, like a heartbeat—not saving, but demanding lives.
Wind buried corpses, not light, not blood-marks of burning faith.
---
Section Four: Blood Burns to Heart
Night pressed like a collapsing iron lid. Wind moaned, ruins like blood-soaked bones bared to the dark. Code shards pulsed deep within, dark red, like a rotting heart's final beat. Thirty-six knelt, knees on crusted blood. Maria crouched at the ruins' side, blade against sand, clutching fire cloth. Wei sat opposite, rope on wrist, palm sensing faint tremors. Jason hid high, gaze hard, tracking shadows.
Black Vine moved. The ruins' dark web stirred—not wind, but blades; not voices, but blood.
Sand rustled—crawlers, disguised as charred corpses, breath stifled, slinking through rubble.
Maria hissed, "Black Vine kill teams. They're in."
Wei tightened his rope, "Good. Slaughter them."
Jason, calm, "Not yet. Let them closer."
---
Three Black Vine crawlers neared, draped in scrap armor, fake trust badges at their waists—lures for fire, for men.
They paused fifty paces out, fingers on false fire switches. One press—fake codes jumped, shaking trust.
Jason tapped his blade. Maria gripped hers. Wei's rope tightened.
Fifty paces. Forty. Thirty.
The team triggered the false fire. Light pulsed—wrong, fake.
Code shards trembled, light flickering.
Thirty-six guardians stirred, fingers twitching, breaths quickening.
Maria watched, tense. Wei's rope strained.
Jason whispered, "Now."
---
Maria's blade flashed, cutting air. Wei's rope snapped out, silent. Jason dropped, blade aimed at the leader.
First man's throat collapsed under rope, snapping like dry wood. Second's scream died in Maria's blade, blood arcing. Third drew a knife—Jason's blade pierced his heart through the shoulder.
Silent. Dark. Bloody.
The team fell, as if never there.
Jason pulled his blade, blood sliding off, "Blood burns to heart. It starts now."
Maria sheathed her blade, eyes frosted. Wei coiled his rope, gaze cold.
---
The thirty-six watched—blood, fire, death.
Jason stood by the shards, exhaling, air thick with blood, fire, sand. He faced them, voice like a blade on iron: "Fire Trust needs blood, not rescue. Not words—lives."
Maria stood beside him, blade low. Wei closed in, rope tight.
Jason pointed at the charred corpses, "Stay, cut palms, bleed into fire. Leave, stand and go—free, but fire remembers."
No persuasion. No pleas. Choice.
---
The thirty-six paled, breaths heavy. Some bit jaws, eyes red. Others clenched fists, trembling.
First to move—a thin woman, arm bandaged, slashed her palm. Blood hit the shard, fire pulsing.
Second, third—blades cut, blood fell, fire jumped. One drop, one pulse.
No one stood. No one left.
Maria watched, fingers white. Wei cursed, tightening his rope. Jason stood, expressionless, eyes cold.
---
Blood spread by the shards—not flowing, but dripping, like faith's cracks, life's tears.
All thirty-six bled. Shards pulsed, steady, like a heart's final beat.
Maria exhaled, eyes softening. Wei's shoulders eased. Jason looked at the blood pool, "Fire knows."
Wind mixed blood, fire, ash—a night of flayed skin.
---
Black Vine retreated. At a distant well, Zhao Yunzhi watched the kill teams, sneering, "Blood burns to heart? Burn on—it won't forge true faith."
He sent a command. Shen Shu deployed: [Launch Code Infection Plan. Stage Fire Trust Contamination. Incite Mutual Kills.]
Blood burning was the start.
The real bloodbath was coming.
---
Code shards pulsed in blood, slow, deadly, true.