The moment Kai stepped back into the Arkveil Cathedral, he knew something was wrong.
It wasn't the silence. It wasn't the missing guards. It wasn't even the black rose blooming on the altar.
It was the smell—like burning paper and blood, barely hidden beneath incense.
And the note.
"One of you isn't real anymore."
"Chapter 44 starts with blood."
Kai turned sharply as the gate behind him closed. Astra and Nyx appeared seconds later, carrying a weakened Seris between them. Her eyes were half-lidded, mana fluctuating wildly inside her chest, like a soul trying to escape a body it no longer trusted.
Kai gripped the note until it crumbled.
"Yuri? Liora?"
No answer.
He drew his sword.
Astra read the message over his shoulder, face pale. "This is the Author again. He's turning us against each other."
Nyx tilted her head, amused. "Or maybe one of us turned on our own."
Kai glared. "Don't."