The storm above Hollow's Vein had passed, but the silence it left behind was heavier than thunder.
Kael stood at the cliff's edge overlooking the ruins—cloak half-burned, his chest still marked by the faint shimmer of runes around the dark crystal now embedded in place of his heart. Wind moved through the valley like breath through a dying world.
Behind him, the cult children huddled around the Sanctuary's stone ring. They didn't cry. They didn't cheer.
They watched him like one might watch a fire. With awe… and fear.
[System Alert: Cult Morale – Stabilized]➤ Loyalty: 81%➤ Emotional Sync: Echo Detected – Reverence➤ Warning: Sub-layer emotion found – Trepidation (Seeded)
Kael's gaze shifted to the burned horizon.
Fear. Of course.
They'd just seen him consume a divine being's sigil and stand untouched in holy flame.
He was no longer something they could understand.
And some would see gods as monsters, no matter how gently they walked.
"You're losing them," Elira said behind him.
Kael didn't turn.
"They'll return."
She stepped beside him, brushing wind-tossed hair from her eyes. "Some will. But not all. And the ones who won't? They're not afraid of dying, Kael. They're afraid they followed a god who might not care."
Kael said nothing.
Elira's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're bleeding power now. Everyone can feel it. The children wake up with dreams they didn't dream. The stone walls hum with language no one taught them."
He finally turned to her. "That is the system's doing. Not mine."
"You chose it," she said.
[System Prompt: You are eligible to found a Divine Domain]➤ Core: Dagger of the Lost Child (Relic of Shared Devotion)➤ Name the Domain➤ Location: Confirmed – Hollow's Vein (Sanctuary Ring)
➤ Do you wish to begin construction?
Kael stared down at the dagger in his palm. It was simple, rusted at the hilt. The boy who gave it to him had vanished into the crowd again.
He spoke aloud. "Begin."
[Shrine of Forgotten Flames – Initiation Confirmed]➤ Establishing Anchor:➤ Channeling corrupted faith…
➤ Progress: 1%… 4%… 12%…
The ground inside the Sanctuary Ring began to glow.
Ash and shadow swirled together, coiling up from the earth like smoke drawn in reverse. Ancient runes appeared in the stones—runes none had carved.
From the ashes, a spire began to rise.
Twisted stone. Melted metal. Children's voices echoing faintly from within.
The Shrine of Forgotten Flames had no fire—but it radiated warmth.
Not of safety.Of memory.
Of pain unburied, burned, and honored.
The cult children gathered slowly, drawn by instinct. Even Amaris lowered her sword and knelt as the shrine's heart began to pulse in rhythm with Kael's divine crystal.
And then—
[Divine Domain Effect Unlocked: Passive Aura – "Memorybind"]➤ Followers within domain regain lost emotional memories➤ Buff: Increases devotion growth and synchronization➤ Drawback: Buried traumas may surface
Kael's breath caught.
The system wasn't just giving him a shrine.
It was giving them back what the world had taken.
A scream tore across the ring.
A girl no older than eight collapsed to her knees. Her eyes rolled back as shadowlight burned along her skin.
Elira and Amaris moved immediately, but Kael raised a hand. "Wait."
The girl convulsed—then gasped.
She looked up, tears streaming. "My brother. I… I remember his name."
Others followed.
One by one, they whispered names. Fragments of family. Homes long gone. Songs their parents once sang.
The Shrine was binding them. Making them whole through pain.
[Cult Trait Evolved – "Children of the Nightlight" → "Heirs of Hollow Flame"]➤ All followers now possess permanent Soul Thread to Divine Domain➤ Passive: +Faith Gain, +Resistance to mental manipulation➤ Warning: Emotional trauma may cause instability in low-spirit followers
Kael's expression didn't change—but something deep in his chest shifted.
This… was more than power.
This was meaning.
But not all eyes were weeping.
At the shrine's edge, a boy stood apart.
Older. Twelve, maybe thirteen. Dark hair. Burn mark across his jaw.
His eyes burned not with tears—but resentment.
[Name: Rell Saren – Faith Alignment: Unstable]➤ Hidden Trait: Infection – Soul Fracture Detected➤ Warning: High Betrayal Probability➤ System Suggestion: Purge / Reforge / Observe
Kael said nothing.
For now.
Later that night, Kael sat alone before the shrine's ember-lit altar. A bowl of oil and ash flickered in front of him—symbol of silent oaths.
Elira joined him, kneeling quietly.
"Do you think it's wise?" she asked.
"Letting the shrine awaken them?"
"No. Keeping him." She glanced back toward Rell's tent. "He watches you like he's measuring the right moment to drive a blade through your spine."
Kael's eyes remained on the altar.
"Let him."
Elira frowned. "You want him to try?"
"No," Kael said. "I want to see if I'm still human enough to feel betrayed."
Far beyond the shrine, across a field of bone and twisted flowers, the Bone Crown Sovereign stood atop her obsidian dais.
Before her knelt a warband of pale robed acolytes—silent, mask-faced, bound in chains of marrow.
"The fracture in Hollow's Vein has widened," said her high priestess. "A god has risen among the refuse."
The Bone Sovereign smiled.
But her smile held no joy.
Only memory.
"Not a god," she whispered. "A mistake. One we failed to erase before the cataclysm."
Her eyes flared with necrotic starlight.
"Send the Hollow Choir. Let them sing until the shrine forgets him."