"Citizens of Celestia, fear not, I bring you no harm."
Vox's voice cut through the chaos like silk over steel, soft yet commanding. Her words somehow stilled the frightened crowd, though Kayden could feel the tension coiling tighter in the air around them. Mothers clutched their children closer. Men's hands drifted toward farming tools that would be useless against armored soldiers.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
The voice rang out clear and unwavering, cutting through the murmurs of fear. Kayden's heart jumped—he knew that voice. His eyes swept the crowd until they found the source.
Kruger.
The village chief stepped forward, his weathered cloak catching the wind. Broad shoulders squared, steel-gray eyes steady, he carried himself like a man who had stared death in the face and walked away unimpressed. But that might as well been a facade.
Just seeing him made Kayden's racing pulse slow a bit. If anyone could handle this situation, it was Kruger Vermilion III—the strongest warrior in the village, their protector.
"What do we have here?" Vox's lips curved into a smile that never reached her eyes. Her voice carried mock amusement, like a cat toying with a cornered mouse.
"I am Kruger Vermilion III, head of this village." No tremor in his voice, no backward step. He faced her like he'd face any other visitor, though Kayden could see the subtle shift in his stance—the way his hand rested near his sword.
Kayden couldn't help but admire him. Kruger was everything he wished he could be...strong, brave, respected. A man carved by battle and shaped by duty, someone who commanded respect without demanding it.
But something felt wrong. Terribly wrong.
That black mist swirling around Vox wasn't just dark—it was suffocating, like breathing through thick cloth. Where Kruger's presence felt warm and solid as sunlight on stone, hers pressed against Kayden's chest like a blade held just shy of cutting.
Vox's armored heels clicked against the cobblestones as she moved closer. Each step seemed to echo longer than it should. "So, you're the one in charge. Good. That'll make this much easier."
She raised a gloved hand, and her soldiers spread out, surrounding the crowd with practiced precision. Their energy rifles hummed with barely contained power, and Darian felt his mouth go dry. These weren't village guards with rust-flecked swords...these were killers.
"I am Divine Inquisitor Lyanna Vox of the Twelfth Sacred Unit." Her voice carried the weight of absolute authority. "We've tracked an anomaly to this village."
Kruger's weathered brow furrowed. "Anomaly? What are you talking about?"
"A failed bonding. A Godless."
The words hit the crowd like a physical blow. Gasps rippled through the villagers, and Darian felt his mother's eyes burning into him like brands. His sister Verael's sharp intake of breath was audible even from where he stood.
His stomach dropped into his boots. They couldn't know. Could they?
Was she here because of him?
His heart hammered against his ribs so hard he was sure everyone could hear it. Part of him wanted to run, to disappear into the crowd and keep running until his legs gave out. Another part wanted to fall to his knees and confess everything. The terror was a living thing in his chest, clawing at his throat.
But there was still hope...a thin, desperate thread of it. No one knew about his failed bonding. Only Verael and his mother knew about the ritual, and he'd never told anyone the results. Maybe they were looking for someone else. Maybe there were others like him in the village.
But if there were, why had he never heard of failed bonders being hunted? In all his reading, all his desperate searches through dusty tomes, he'd never found mention of Divine Inquisitors tracking down the unbonded.
Kruger remained steady as granite. "I'm sorry, Inquisitor, but there's no one like that here. Every citizen has been properly bonded."
Vox tilted her head like a curious bird of prey. Without turning, she allowed one of her soldiers to whisper in her ear. Whatever he said made her smile widen, predatory and cold.
"Oh, Kruger..." Her voice dripped false sympathy. "My men have just confirmed it. There is a Godless among you." Her eyes gleamed with anticipation. "And I'm not leaving until I find them."
The rifle hums intensified as her soldiers raised their weapons in perfect unison, barrels trained on the villagers. Children began to cry. Someone in the crowd made a choking sound.
Kruger's expression darkened like storm clouds gathering. "What is the meaning of this?"
"You tell me." Vox stepped closer, and the temperature seemed to drop. "Was it bravery or foolishness that made you lie to a Divine Inquisitor?"
"I didn't lie." Kruger's voice carried the rumble of distant thunder. "I told you the truth."
"Of course you did. They all do at first." Her smile was razor-sharp. "Right up until the screaming starts."
That was the breaking point. The threat, the arrogance, the casual mention of torture. Kruger had endured enough. His hand moved to his sword hilt, and golden light began to pulse from the weapon's core like a heartbeat made visible.
Vox didn't even blink. If anything, she looked pleased.
"I didn't want it to come to this," Kruger said, gripping his sword with both hands. The energy built rapidly, casting dancing shadows across his weathered face. "But you've left me no choice."
"I'd advise you to drop that sword." Vox's voice remained conversational, almost friendly. "That is... if you want to still be breathing by the time we leave."
Kruger's response was a roar that shook windows. He launched himself forward, sword blazing like a fallen star. His strike was fast enough to blur the air, aimed at her arm with surgical precision.
Vox barely dodged, her body twisting with inhuman grace. She moved like flowing water, like liquid shadow.
"I see. You can actually move." Kruger's eyes now held dancing flames. "Good. I don't want this over too quickly."
"I'll give you credit." Vox straightened, brushing dust from her armor. "Your potential is... impressive. It would be a shame to waste it. Give me the anomaly, and I might offer you a place in the Divine Order."
"There is no anomaly here!" Kruger's shout made the cobblestones tremble. His energy flared red-hot, and his aura erupted into violent flame, transforming him into a living inferno. Heat washed over the crowd in waves.
The soldiers' rifles buzzed louder, but Vox raised her hand without looking.
"All soldiers stand down."
The humming ceased instantly.
Her eyes narrowed to him. "If you attack with that level of power, it'll be your last move."
Kruger's flames coiled around him like a pride of lions preparing to strike. The very air shimmered with heat. "Then let it be a glorious one."
For the first time, Vox's composed mask cracked. When she saw the crimson fire surrounding him, her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "So... you can use Oblivion Lux?"
The temperature seemed to plummet despite the flames. "That's forbidden."
Kruger didn't waste breath on words. Instead, he lifted his sword skyward, the blade now fully engulfed in blazing crimson that hurt to look at directly.
"Forbidden Art: Dancing Sun!"
He surged forward like a meteor given human form, his body a spiraling storm of flame and steel. When their blades collided, the explosion of force cracked the cobblestones and sent shockwaves through the crowd. Energy sparked like caged lightning, and the very ground trembled beneath their feet.
It seemed that Kruger had landed just one hit. But in reality, he had landed multiple ones. It was all too fast to see.
Kayden's eyes went wide. This was beyond anything he'd imagined. It was like watching legends tear themselves from the pages of books and come to life. For a moment a flame of hope sparked within him.
'What the...how is this possible?' Vox gritted her teeth, every muscle straining to block the devastating series of blows. His strength was monstrous, inhuman. 'He's not just matching my Lux...he's surpassing it! If I drop my guard for even an instant..'
Her blade trembled under the impossible force. With a desperate, defiant scream, she channeled every ounce of her power and struck.
The sound of shattering steel rang out like a funeral bell.
Kruger's sword cracked, then exploded apart in a burst of dying light.
"ARRRGGHH!"
Vox's blade punched through his chest with a wet, final sound.
Blood spilled from Kruger's mouth in crimson streams. His body dropped to his knees, eyes still blazing with defiance even as life ebbed away like water from a broken cup.
Vox pulled her blade free and let the blood drip to the earth before flicking the rest off with casual disdain.
"It's over? Just like that?" Kayden whispered to himself, unable to process what he'd witnessed. The battle had lasted mere moments. 'How? Get up Kruger. Come on, get up" he hoped that it was all just an act, but sadly it was reality. One exchange, and their protector lay broken on stones stained red.
Behind him, chaos erupted like a dam bursting. Gasps and screams filled the air as villagers scattered like startled birds. Mothers shield their children with their own bodies. Fathers grabbed farming tools with shaking hands, knowing they were useless. Terror reigned supreme.
But Vox just stood there, staring at the corpse at her feet.
'He could have killed me,' she thought, the reality sinking in like cold water. 'If I had faltered for even a heartbeat...' It was the first time she had feared for her life
"Commander's wounded!" a soldier shouted. "Medic, now!"
"The villagers are scattering!"
"Forget them! The Commander comes first!"
But Vox wasn't listening. Her mind was consumed by something else entirely—that cursed voice that haunted her thoughts.
'Kill them. Kill them all.'
She clutched her head, trying to drown out the whispers that clawed through her skull like nails on glass. Not again. She couldn't let it take over again.
But the message was crystal clear now. Kruger could use Oblivion Lux, which meant that there maybe others who might be able to use it as well.
Oblivion Lux was a forbidden art of Lux that was banned in the kingdoms because of how untamed and raw it's power was.
And that made them all dangerous.
"We have to eradicate them all," she muttered, her voice barely audible over the chaos.
Slowly and inevitably, Vox's eyes rose to the panicked crowd. Her gaze swept over terrified faces, over mothers and children and old men who had never hurt anyone.
"Round them up."