Chapter 26: The Hollow Victory
...
The Knife Stands Alone
Luther stood in the ruins of the square.
His hand was still buried deep in Mr. P's chest.
The storm around him churned violently, filling the air with static and ash. The golden veins running through his arms blazed so bright it hurt to look at him. And yet, the man in his grasp… smiled, faintly, even as his life poured out in rivers onto the broken stones below.
Time seemed to stand still.
On the walls of Eden, on the rooftops, the people of the city stood in silence. The chants, the fury, the cries of vengeance... all of it swallowed by the sight of the Knife holding the body of the man who, to some, had been a devil… and to others, a savior.
Slowly, Luther withdrew his hand.
Mr. P's body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The blood spread out in a dark halo around him, soaking into the ash-slicked stones. His sunglasses lay cracked beside him. His cigarette, still faintly glowing, rolled to a stop. With a tattoo on his neck showing...2 covered by blood.
And yet, there was no relief. No peace.
No clarity.
Only emptiness.
And a rage that wouldn't leave him.
Luther stared down at the body.
Even till death, you never choose to be straightforward.
The words tumbled out of him, quiet and bitter.
For just a moment... a cruel, fleeting moment... his mind betrayed him, flashing back to that day.
The day he opened his eyes for the first time.
Paku had been standing there at the edge of the cradle, leaning on his cane, his tie crooked and his smile easy. His laugh... warm then, unguarded... had been the first sound Luther ever remembered.
"You woke up quicker than I thought, kid," Paku had said that day. "Guess you couldn't wait to see what kind of mess we made you for."
He'd looked… proud.
Luther's chest constricted.
"Naomi…"
Her name escaped his lips unbidden.
And then he fell to his knees.
His hands, still slick with blood, pressed into the stone. His shoulders shook. And for the first time in years, the Knife wept quietly... not for himself, but for all of it. For her. For what he had become.
...
The Spire
Far above, Zero watched through Seraph's eyes.
The faint threads of foresight sparking at his fingertips had long since gone black where Luther stood. Yet he couldn't help the faint smile curling his lips.
"And just like that," he murmured to himself, "the game moves to my board again."
In the scene that had been unfolded, the Seraph stirred fully awake. Its golden wings unfurled, casting brilliant light across the sky.
Emotionless , motionless in the sky.
Zero gave it a command and spoke calmly:
"Retrieve the Knife's body once he collapses. But don't let him die outright. His core must remain stable. I still need it. "
On a separate screen to his side, another feed flickered alive... a faint pulse of golden light mapping two intertwined signals. One read:
ELIAN-LINK: 53%.
Zero's smile deepened.
"Finally…" he whispered. "Luther's core. Elian's body. Perfection... may be incomplete but still reaches the minimum requirements"
He pressed the comm to summon Envy and Genna.
"Release the soldiers into the streets,"* he ordered. "Maintain order. Keep the rabble occupied. Blame what remains of the Choir if you must ."
His eyes lingered on the feed of Luther kneeling in the square.
"When one piece falls," he said under his breath, "the others will follow."
...
The Oval Black Dawn
The remnants of the Choir of Sins gathered in the shattered hall.
The Oval was rubble. Its black sigils fractured. Its sanctuary a ruin of smoke and stone.
Lust stood on what remained of the dais, her mirrored skin dull, streaked with crimson. Across from her, Clone 3 stood still, his chipped mask hiding everything but the faint tremor in his hands.
They watched the broadcast of Mr. P's body falling.
Some of the Choir whispered among themselves already: that perhaps this was the end. That they'd backed the wrong god.
Clone 3's voice cut through the murmurs, calm but sharp.
"Stay calm. Even in death… Paku's moves never end here."
Lust's reflection rippled faintly as she stared at him.
"I hope you're right." she said, her voice low, almost a whisper. "Because he was the only one keeping that thing from tearing the world apart."
She turned to the remaining operatives.
"Evacuate the vulnerable cells. Take them underground. Now."
As they scattered, Clone 3 stepped to the nearest terminal, tapping out a final encrypted message before he shut it down.
STATUS UNKNOWN. PREPARE CONTINGENCY OMEGA.
...
The Knife Wanders
Luther stumbled from the square, leaving the body behind him.
The crowd parted as he passed, silent as ghosts. Some reached out to him in awe. Others shrank back in terror.
His golden veins flared erratically now. His mind began to crack at the edges... Naomi's face, his squad's screams, Paku's bloody smile all flashing behind his eyes.
"Somebody…" he whispered, clutching his head.
"Somebody make it stop…"
He dropped to his knees again in the middle of the street. His divine lattice sparked and flickered, threatening to collapse entirely.
And that's when the light appeared.
Descending from the storm above, wings unfurled, eyes bright with judgment.
Seraph landed softly on the stones, a silent sentinel watching its prey.
Waiting.
...
Mr. P's Lab
The lab was chaos.
Clone 19 shouted over the noise:
"Is this it? Is he really dead ?!"
No answer.
Finally, from the corner, Rei's voice came. Quiet. Certain.
"He never left without a backup plan."
All the clones stopped.
Rei's gaze swept across them, cold and steady.
"We wait," he said. "That's what he would have wanted."
The lab quieted, but the tension was thick enough to choke on.
And in the far corner, one forgotten monitor flickered to life.
It showed Paku's vital signs... flatline. But then…
A faint spark.
The line jumped.
...
Last words
Seraph's brilliant wings cast Luther in shadow as the Knife knelt on the ground, clutching his head.
Above them both, the ashstorm roared.
And far away in the Spire, Zero leaned back, fingers bleeding over broken foresight threads, and smiled faintly.
"Checkmate indeed, i win Paku " he murmured.
...
REMOTE HEART REBOOT: INITIATED.
STARTING IN 3… 2… 1…
And from the rooftop far away from where his body lay cooling, a faint, broken chuckle rose.
"Ah… uhhhh… fuck…"
END OF CHAPTER 26: THE HOLLOW VICTORY