Samuel_Mafua_7207

Jean Luther – The youngest daughter of the powerful Luther Clan and the Emissary of Light, chosen by the goddess Celeste. After graduating from the prestigious Luther Academy as a Master-ranked swordsman, she is sent on a compulsory two-year assessment to qualify as an Envoy Knight, the elite warrior order of the Luther Clan composed of Transcendent Masters. Upon her return, she must take part in a brutal Succession War to determine the next Patriarch of the clan. With her divine guardian, the dire wolf Whitney, Jean sets out to become the strongest swordsman in the world.

EMISSARY OF LIGHT: CHRONICLE OF JEAN LUTHER

Chapter 94 – The Spirit Sovereign's Silence

There was no sky in the new realm—only an endless, pale mist that seemed to weep silence. Jean stepped lightly, her boots making no sound upon the translucent surface beneath her. It felt less like ground and more like the surface of still water, suspended between realms of the living and the dead.

Ahead, a throne of bone and breath rose from nothing.

And upon it sat a woman robed in mourning veils and radiant blossoms, her crown forged of funeral petals and newborn feathers. One eye wept flame; the other, frost.

The Spirit Sovereign. The Pillar of Life and Death.

> "Jean Luther," she intoned. "Bearer of the Word. Child of two worlds. Have you come to ask why the dead must remain dead?"

> "No," Jean replied quietly. "I've come to prove that the living can carry the weight of both."

The Spirit Sovereign's veil rustled, though no wind stirred.

> "Then let us see if your soul can hold grief and joy, rage and mercy, love and loss—without breaking."

With a gesture of her translucent hand, she cast Jean into the Trial.

Jean stood once more on the battlefield.

Not of this war—but every war. Shadow soldiers surged around her—Luther knights who had fallen, nameless children from burned villages, comrades who had died for her name, and enemies who had begged for mercy.

And at the center, one stood apart.

Alive. Bleeding. And pointing her sword at Jean.

> "Why did you let me live? Why not end me, sister?"

> "Because you chose not to fight. I chose to believe that mattered."

> "Did it?" Silvia asked. "Did it stop the war?"

Behind her, the dead screamed again. The battlefield trembled.

> "No," Jean whispered. "But it meant we didn't lose everything."

The Spirit Sovereign's voice returned, ethereal and sharp:

> "You carry the burden of the living and the voices of the dead. Do you understand their silence?"

> "I do. And I will carry it forward."

The battlefield dissolved into ash.

The Spirit Sovereign stood, and for the first time, bowed in return.

> "You did not defy death. But you did not flee from it. That is worthy."

> "Go, Wordbearer. Your next trial awaits."

The Codex pulsed, and in her soul Jean felt the whisper again:

CHAPTER 94.