Chapter 13: The Song That Breaks Bones

Cardinal Vox raised its hands.

Dozens of mouths opened in the walls.

None of them had faces. Just raw lips carved into the flesh of the cathedral. Some were child-sized. Some were mine. Some whispered. Others howled.

And then, the song began.

---

> "You let her die…"

"You looked away…"

"You were glad when it ended…"

---

[BOSS BATTLE INITIATED – CARDINAL VOX]

> HP: Unknown

Phase: 1 of 3

Hazard Level: B+

Arena Modifier: Every 10 seconds of silence adds +1 to Vox's Power Stack.

Confessions weaken him.

Lies empower him.

---

I pulled Harper to her feet. She was trembling, eyes wide, throat bleeding from where a hook had scraped across it.

Adrian was sobbing silently, his jaw clenched like it was wired shut.

"Adrian!" I shouted. "Say something! Anything!"

"I—I'm scared, okay? I can't do this!"

A tremor ran through the floor.

Vox twisted its speaker-face toward him, voice glitching.

> "Then be remade."

---

I activated Mirror Break.

Cracks spidered through the floor and walls, showing brief glimpses of truth hidden beneath.

One flash: Emily in her wheelchair, looking up at me with forgiveness I never earned.

Another: Adrian, sitting alone on the school roof, hiding his tears.

Another: Harper… cutting something into her own skin. A glyph. A name.

---

The enemy fed on shame.

But I had something else now:

Self-awareness.

---

> "You want confessions?" I shouted at Vox.

"Fine. Here's one."

> "I didn't love myself. I loved how she made me feel less broken."

The mouths screamed in pain.

Cardinal Vox reeled back—black bile spewing from its speaker.

> [Sin Discharge Successful – Vox Power Stack -2]

---

Harper stood up beside me, trembling.

She whispered:

> "I forged my first Devil Mark… not to fight evil—

but to kill someone who hurt me."

Vox howled again.

The choir wailed.

A few hooks melted.

---

Then Adrian stepped forward.

Voice cracking.

> "I only joined this system because I wanted to be important.

I didn't want to save anyone.

I just wanted someone to look at me."

And something broke.

Not in us.

In Vox.

Its robe cracked. The stitched flesh holding its chest burst open.

Inside wasn't a heart.

It was a child—hooked to an organ made of lungs and wires.

It was a host.

Barely alive.

Eyes rolled back.

Mouth sewn shut.

> "He was a real person," I whispered.

"And the system… made him into this."

---

> [CARDINAL VOX – PHASE 2 UNLOCKED]

Shield Broken. Core Exposed.

Target must be put to rest.

Objective Modified: Mercy or Termination.

Your decision will affect Sin Level.

---

The ground shook. The walls sang.

The child inside Vox tried to speak.

But couldn't.

His mouth was sewn with glowing threads.

---

Harper looked at me.

Adrian stepped back.

The choice was mine.

---

I could end it now.

Strike hard. Kill the creature.

Raise my System Favor.

Or…

I could cut the threads.

And risk everything.

---

I knelt beside the creature.

Pulled out a blade.

The same one Harper gave me when we first met.

And I whispered:

> "You don't deserve to be a weapon."

I cut the threads.

One by one.

---

The child gasped.

Air. For the first time in years.

He looked up at me.

And smiled.

Then…

He died.

Peacefully.

---

Vox crumbled.

Not exploded.

Not screamed.

Just… faded.

The choir fell silent.

The mouths in the walls closed.

And for the first time since entering the cathedral—

Silence felt safe.

---

> [BOSS DEFEATED: CARDINAL VOX – MERCY ROUTE CHOSEN]

System Favor: –1

Humanity: +2

Sin Level: 0.7 → 0.6

Kai Unlocked Ability: "Voice of the Dead" – Speak with remnants of corrupted souls

Harper Bond: +2

Adrian Bond: +2

Emotional Trait Gained: "Grief Resonance – Hear echoes others cannot."

---

Later, as we walked through the now-quiet cathedral, Harper whispered:

> "You showed him mercy. That's rare."

I shrugged.

"I don't want to become like them."

She smiled.

"That's why the system's afraid of you."

---

As we neared the exit, the system whispered softly:

> "You delayed the darkness. But you did not erase it."

"The higher layers will not be so kind."

We stepped through the bleeding archway.

And the sign above read:

> "Welcome to Layer 4: The Garden of Forgotten Things"

And beneath it…

Was my face.

Etched in stone.

> "YOU LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND."