Chapter 26 – The Relic of Judgment

The night winds howled across Blasted Ridge, a mountainous wasteland west of Iron ridge. Dust drifted across broken stone walkways as two people emerged from the shadows, one dressed in violet and the other in pale silver.

Lyra adjusted her hood. Her eyes, once filled with celestial zeal, now possessed the focused calm of a seasoned assassin. Eira, standing alongside her, seems unimpressed.

"You sure you're not still sending messages to your Church buddies?" Eira asked dryly.

Lyra did not respond right away. Instead, she looked across the ridge, where a procession of white-gilded vehicles slowly approached a cliffside temple.

"No," she finally replied. "I serve Kaelen now… not because I owe him, but because I believe him."

Eira grunted. "Belief is harmful. More people were killed.

Target: The Holy Relic Convoy

Mission Objective:

Scout, identify, and retrieve information on the Relic of Judgment.

Avoid fighting whenever possible.

Priority: disruption over destruction.

Lyra scanned the convoy with the darkened lens of her shadow sight. Six armored paladins, two divine clerics, and a high inquisitor rode in the center, guarding a sealed crate glowing faintly with sacrosanct runes.

Lyra narrowed her eyes. "That's no ordinary relic."

Eira's expression became stern. "It's singing."

Yes, even in silence, they could feel it. There is pressure in the air. A hum in the soul.

Something ancient. Something living.

Flashback: The Forbidden Vault

Lyra's mind was flooded with an unexpected memory.

Years ago, before she became an assassin, she stood before a vault in the Holy Citadel. Her tutor cautioned her:

"This relic was never intended to be used. It can see through lies. It judges the soul. "Even the faithful are afraid of it."

The Relic of Judgment is a crystal orb claimed to hold the Divine Eye of Eranor, the First God.

They are now delivering it to the front lines.

The Infiltration

As the night fell, Lyra and Eira separated.

Lyra strolled beneath the carts, silent as dusk. She slipped behind a wagon wheel, then into the shadow of a cleric's robes, to emerge at the relic's crate.

The hum intensified.

[Shadow Link Established: Holy Relic Detected].

Warning: Prolonged contact may cause a revelation effect.

Suggestion: do not touch directly.

But Lyra required more than warnings. She needed the truth.

She pressed a dagger lightly against the crate's edge and whispered, "Show me."

A vision erupted in her head.

The Prophecy Within the Relic

A battlefield. Cities are burning. A throne of darkness rises above a sea of dead.

Kaelen, the Shadow King, stood on the throne. But he was not the same. His eyes glowed gold, not violet. His hand was raised, and he clutched light, not shadow.

Then a voice reverberated.

"He who walks between light and darkness will rule both..."

However, only one will remain.

The vision broke.

Lyra lurched backward, her nose bleeding. Eira caught her in mid-fall.

"You looked at it, didn't you?" Eira snapped. "You idiot—"

"I saw... Kaelen," Lyra exclaimed. "But not like he is. As something more. "Or something worse."

A Hidden Enemy Revealed

A screech ripped across the air.

White-winged animals descended from above, constructed of holy light and binding symbols. Someone had activated a defensive spell.

"They know we're here!" Eira shouted.

A person emerged from the convoy—the High Inquisitor. His face was veiled by a gilded helmet, and his voice was piercing and vicious.

"I recognize that shadow signature. The traitor lives.

He raised a staff carved from bone and light.

Bring her back alive. "The Council wants her soul extracted."

Escape Through the Abyss Gate

Kaelen's voice echoed in Lyra's head through the shadow mark.

"You saw it." Good. "Now, run."

Behind them, a portal opened, revealing a spiraling maw of pure shadow that hummed with Kaelen's will.

Lyra grabbed Eira's arm, and they dove through the portal, lances of radiant energy tearing the sky behind them.

Back at the Camp

As Lyra emerged from the portal and dropped at Kaelen's feet, she looked up, blood on her lip and eyes wild.

"The Relic… It showed me what was coming. You, but not exactly who you are. "You held light."

Kaelen did not flinch. "I've suspected for a while. I wasn't just reborn with shadow. There is something else in me.

He stood with his eyes narrowed.

"The equilibrium is breaking. "The Gods want me to choose."

Lyra gazed at him, her heart thumping. "Will you?"

Kaelen turned to face the continent map behind him.

"I won't choose a side," he said. "I'll make them choose me."

System Notification

[ Prophetic Trigger Achieved ]Future Thread Unlocked: "Path of Eclipse"

Choices Ahead:– Embrace the Shadow (Final Path: Abyss Sovereign)– Merge Light and Dark (Final Path: Eclipse Monarch)– Reject All Divinity (Final Path: Nihil Emperor)

Kaelen exhaled.

"The game has changed."