Chapter 38 - Chapter 38- No More Lies

As the three of them dropped down from the rooftop and landed on the main street, Helios turned his head toward the cathedral. Knights ringed the entire structure, shields up, weapons ready, a steel barrier waiting for them. "Well…" Helios murmured. "This is going to be fun." Bow smirked. "Hey, Halo… try and keep up with us this time." Halo shot him a sharp look. "Bow, if you talk too much, you're going to get instant karma. And we don't need a roadblock standing in Helios's and my way." Helios chuckled. "Bow… you are kind of bulky. You're built to be the heavy hitter." Bow's face went flat, almost offended. "You guys are making me feel fat." Halo shrugged. "You do eat more than the rest of us." Helios flicked Halo on the back of the head. "Focus. We can roast each other later. Right now, we've got business." Bow crossed his arms. "Yeah, Halo. Pay attention." Helios and Halo both turned toward him slowly. Their expressions matched perfectly: shut up. Bow looked away with a small cough. With that, the trio began walking forward, not running, not charging, just advancing with calm purpose. Up ahead, the knights stiffened. One of them raised a hand and signaled to the others. Shields locked into place. Spears steadied. Swords drew. The entire perimeter gathered into formation. The battle for the cathedral was about to begin. The moment they broke into a sprint, the knights surrounding the cathedral turned as one, shields locking, formation tightening. A disciplined wall of steel and conviction. Helios, Bow, and Halo didn't slow. They hit the front line like a storm. Halo reached them first. He slid under a sword swing, one hand planting on the ground as he swept a knight's legs clean out. Before the man hit stone, Halo was back on his feet, fist breaking through the knight's helmet with a crack that echoed through the plaza. To his left, Helios didn't dodge. He met the first wave head-on, hands sparking with gold as he tore a shield from a knight's grip and used it as a battering ram. His movements were sharp, deliberate. No wasted breath. No wasted motion. Each strike carried the weight of controlled fury. A blade scraped across his ribs. Helios answered with a palm strike that lifted the knight off his feet and sent him crashing into three more behind him. Bow moved last, but he moved like a hammer. He stepped into the formation, grabbed a shield with one hand, and yanked the knight attached to it forward. The man stumbled, and Bow greeted him with a shoulder check so hard it folded the armor inward. Another knight charged with his sword raised high. Bow didn't even look at him, he grabbed the man by the wrist, rotated, and threw him clean over his shoulder into a cluster of soldiers trying to tighten their line. The formation broke. That was all they needed. Halo darted in, fists cutting through openings the moment they formed. Helios slipped through the cracks in their defense like light through shattered glass. Bow forced every gap wider, every hit creating space for the other two. It wasn't chaos. It was synergy. A knight tried to flank Halo. Helios appeared behind him, fingers hooking the back of the knight's helmet and slamming his head into the ground. Bow blocked a downward strike aimed at Helios, grabbed the sword mid-swing, and snapped the blade in half with one hand before kicking the attacker into a stone pillar. Halo jumped off Bow's back without asking permission, flipping over the entire line and landing behind them. The knights tried to turn, but it was too late. He drove both feet into the nearest backplate, sending the man tumbling forward like a dropped boulder. Helios used the falling body as a springboard, kicking off it and twisting through the air. He came down with a heel to a knight's chest, denting the armor and driving the breath from his lungs. Bow caught another knight by the shoulders and simply lifted him, armor and all, before slamming him down so hard the ground cracked. The knights rallied. "FORM RANKS!" their captain shouted. Shields came up again. Spears leveled. The trio stood shoulder to shoulder now, breathing hard, blood and dust streaking across their clothes. Halo wiped his mouth. "They're regrouping." Bow cracked his neck. "Let them." Helios watched the formation tightening, eyes calm, focused. He stepped forward slightly. "Bow, break their front." Bow nodded once, stepped into their shield wall, and shoved. Not wildly. Not recklessly. Just strong enough to stagger three men at once. Shields flew upward. Feet skidded. Helios slid through the opening Bow created, his fists and feet crashing through the broken line like a golden blaze. He moved with the fluid precision of a man who'd trained past pain, past hesitation. Every strike landed exactly where it needed to. Halo swept around their flank, using the chaos to dismantle the formation piece by piece. A punch to a knee. An elbow to a throat. A kick to a gauntlet holding a spear, sending the weapon spinning across the ground. One knight tried to pull back, to call for reinforcements. Bow caught him by the cape and dragged him back into the fight. Within seconds, the tight perimeter around the cathedral loosened. Armor clattered. Shields fell. Men groaned on the stone, beaten but alive. Helios wiped blood from his chin. Halo flexed his bruised hand. Bow exhaled slowly, arms lowering to his sides. The cathedral stood before them, silent, massive, ominous. Helios stepped forward. "One ring down," he said quietly. "Two more to go." Bow smirked. "Hope Belanor's praying." Halo cracked his knuckles. "He'll need to." The three of them walked forward together, toward the second ring of knights, toward the cathedral doors, toward Belanor. The second ring of knights stood between them and the cathedral steps, heavier armor, tighter formation, spears leveled in a defensive wall. Behind them, robed casters murmured incantations, their hands glowing with restrained magic. Bow let out a low whistle. "Well… looks like they came prepared." Helios didn't answer. He stepped forward until the knights braced their shields in response. Halo's hand drifted toward his sword. Helios exhaled. "Stay close. They're trained, not stupid." The first spell fired a streak of purple flame that hissed through the air. Helios raised his forearm, mana flaring in a tight burst, and redirected it upward. The spell exploded harmlessly near the rooftops. Bow laughed under his breath. "Mages. Great." The front line charged. Helios moved first. He slid between two spear thrusts, palm striking the shaft of the first and snapping it clean. The second spear he grabbed by the steel tip, yanked forward, and drove the butt of the weapon into the knight's visor. A third spearman lunged at him. Helios twisted aside, dragged the broken shaft across the man's knees, and dropped him instantly. Halo broke left. He didn't rush in blindly, he fought like someone who had trained beside Helios for years. Calculated. Clean. His sword cut through the air with a faint whistle, slicing through the shaft of a spear aimed at his ribs. He pivoted, stance low, blade angled perfectly. A knight swung down at his head. Halo stepped into the attack, guiding the blade off his shoulder with a parry that turned the knight's momentum against him. He slid behind him and delivered a razor-precise strike across the back of the knee. Armor split, the knight dropped. Halo finished him with the hilt to the helmet. No flash. No flourish. Just efficiency. Another knight tried to flank him. Halo backed up a single step, letting the spear scrape past his torso, then hooked it with his blade and ripped it from the knight's grip. He kicked the man square in the chest, toppling him into two others. Bow hit the center like a wrecking force. Spears met him like a forest of steel, but Bow didn't dodge. He grabbed two shafts at once, muscles tightening with gem-enhanced precision, and ripped them from their wielders. He spun one spear like a staff, sweeping the legs of three knights in a single arc. The weapon snapped from the force, but Bow was already on the next attacker, grabbing the knight by the collar and slamming him into the ground hard enough to crack stone. Behind him, a mage aimed a spell. Bow didn't see him, but Helios did. Helios flicked a fallen spear like a javelin. It streaked through the air and struck the mage's shoulder, knocking him off his feet before the spell could fully form. Halo shouted, "Left flank!" They didn't question him, Bow pivoted, Helios advanced, and Halo swept around the side, slashing through exposed joints in armor, cutting several knights off from the formation. The battlefield shifted. The knights tried to regroup, but the trio didn't allow it. Their fighting synchronized naturally: Helios broke formations apart, creating openings with mana-backed strikes. Halo exploited those openings with sharp, technical swordwork. Bow punished every stagger, every stumble, every gap with brute precision. A knight lunged at Halo from behind. Bow caught the man's arm mid-swing, twisted, and hurled him across the plaza. A mage tried to pin Helios with chains of light. Halo cut the spell mid-air, redirecting the energy harmlessly into a wall. Three knights cornered Bow at once. Helios swept in, smashing their shields aside, letting Bow break each one with clean, devastating blows. They moved as one. Not planned. Not rehearsed. Just instinct. The second ring collapsed, armor clattering against the cathedral steps. Only the captain of the formation remained, a towering knight with a full visor and the red crest of Sanctus across his chest. He stepped forward, spear planted into the ground. "You three… are no ordinary men." Bow spat blood. "Who told you that?" Helios raised a hand slightly. "We're not here for you." The captain tightened his grip. "Then you'll die on your way to him." He charged. The spear thrust was fast, faster than the others, but Helios caught the haft with one hand, stopping the momentum cold. Halo slid under Helios's arm, blade scraping along the spear and cutting a clean line through the shaft. Bow slammed into the captain's chest with both fists. The crest dented inward. The knight dropped to his knees. Helios stepped past him without looking down. The cathedral doors loomed ahead. Close now. Too close for Belanor not to have noticed. Bow cracked his knuckles. Halo sheathed his sword with a slow exhale. Helios placed his hand on the massive doors. "Belanor," he whispered, voice low and steady. "We're done playing." The cathedral doors groaned open as Helios pushed them aside, the heavy wood echoing through the vast chamber. Light filtered through the stained-glass windows above, staining the marble floor in fractured reds, golds, and blues. The air was thick, holy incense mixing with the metallic scent of blood that lingered from the chaos outside. Bow and Halo stepped in behind him, boots tapping against the stone aisle. Their steps echoed… but they weren't alone. At the far end of the cathedral, surrounded by pillars carved with ancient scripture, Belanor stood beneath the towering stained glass of Elyndor. Hands clasped behind his back. Head tilted upward. As if admiring the goddess. As if he hadn't just condemned an entire city. Helios felt something burn in his chest. The same sharp fire that ignited when Cael fell. He tightened his grip on his sword and called out, his voice cutting through the cathedral like a blade: "BELANOR!" The name slammed through the silence. Belanor didn't turn. Not immediately. But two shadows moved. From the left hallway, a Dark Paladin stepped forward, helmet shaped like a snarling beast, armor etched with symbols of forbidden rites. From the right hallway, another emerged, taller, broader, dragging a greatsword along the stone, sparks dancing across the floor. Both positioned themselves at the base of the steps leading to the altar, blocking the path with silent, unyielding menace. Only then did Belanor finally lower his gaze from the stained glass. He turned slowly. Deliberately. And when his eyes met Helios's, his expression twisted, not with fear, but with something uglier. A smug, grotesque smile that didn't belong in a holy place. As if Helios walking into his cathedral was nothing more than an inconvenience. As if Cael's death meant nothing. Belanor lifted his chin slightly, his voice quiet but dripping with mockery. "…Helios." The Dark Paladins raised their weapons. Helios stepped forward. "The moment you stepped into this room," Belanor said, his voice dripping venom, "you ruined my peaceful daydreaming with that stench of yours. That filthy scent of a half-breed… a lowly hidewalker." Helios's expression twisted into pure disgust. "I've got a few questions." Belanor raised an eyebrow, amused. "Go on. It's not as if you'll live long enough to share anything you learn." Helios took a step forward, jaw tight. "Why are you causing all this pain and suffering?" Belanor let the question hang in the air for a moment, then laughed softly, not loudly, not maniacally, but in a way that made the cathedral feel colder. He tilted his head, studying Helios as if he were a child asking why the sun burns. "Pain and suffering?" he repeated, stepping closer to the light cast by the stained glass. "Helios… I'm not causing anything. I am simply revealing what was always here." His eyes glinted with something ancient and cruel. "These fools…" he motioned lazily to the cathedral walls, the symbols, the altar "...have lived their lives clinging to stories written by cowards. Whispering prayers to a goddess who has never answered a single one. Elyndor… Mother of the Sun?" He scoffed. "A myth created to soothe livestock." He paced slowly, each footstep echoing. "This religion, this fragile little lie, was built to keep the weak quiet. To convince them that their suffering was purpose. That their hunger, their tears, their dead children were somehow blessed by divine hands." His expression sharpened with disgust. "But there are no divine hands here, Helios. No motherly sun. No guiding light. There is only power, and the ones willing to wield it." Belanor lifted the Chalice slightly, the red glow dancing across his fingers. "You want truth? The truth is that this world is a rotting carcass pretending to be alive. Every kingdom is built on graves. Every prayer is a plea from someone already abandoned. And every smile…" His lips curved into a sickening grin. "Every smile is a mask worn by someone too afraid to admit they're drowning." He took a step closer, lowering his voice. "I learned, long ago, that this world can only be understood through suffering. That clarity comes not from peace, but from agony. The more you break… the more you see." His eyes narrowed. "That is why I do this. Why these people must be sacrificed. Because only through destruction does anything truly evolve." Belanor tilted his head, studying Helios with an unsettling curiosity. "You of all people should understand that. Your entire existence is a contradiction, light born in a world that worships shadows. And yet look at you. Every time you bleed, every time you lose someone you love… you grow stronger. Wiser." He smiled… slowly, knowingly. "In a way, Helios… I'm doing what the gods never could." His voice dropped to a whisper made of pure poison. "I'm forcing this world to wake up." He stepped back, arms spreading slightly. "That is my purpose. Not cruelty… clarity." The stained glass flickered behind him, casting blood-red light over his face. "So tell me," Belanor said softly, "why cling to a lie of light… when the truth, the only truth that has ever existed… is darkness?" Helios listened. He didn't interrupt. He didn't shout. He didn't flare his mana. He simply stood there, breathing steadily, letting Belanor's words spill into the hollow silence of the cathedral. When Belanor finished, Helios finally raised his head. There was no hatred on his face. No rage. Just a tired, solemn understanding. "…You're right," Helios said quietly. Belanor paused mid-smile. Helios stepped forward, the stained-glass light washing over his shoulders. "You're right about the religion. About the stories. About Elyndor." He exhaled slowly. "I don't know if any of it is real. I don't know if there's a goddess watching us. I don't know if prayers ever reach anywhere but the ceiling." Belanor blinked, caught off guard by the agreement. Helios continued, eyes locked onto his. "I've buried people I cared about. I've watched good men die screaming while the world kept moving. I've held hands that went cold in mine." He swallowed. "So yeah… I've doubted the light. A lot." A faint, tired smile touched his lips. "But here's where you're wrong." His expression hardened, not with anger, but with conviction. "It's okay for the stories to be lies." Belanor's smile froze. "It's okay," Helios repeated, "because sometimes people need something to hold onto. Something to hope in. Even if it's flawed. Even if it's fake." He glanced at the shattered sunlight pouring across the marble. "Because the truth is terrifying." His voice lowered, steady. "It's terrifying to think that when we die, there might be nothing waiting. No afterlife. No warm embrace. No meaning. Just… silence." Belanor's jaw tightened. "So if people cling to light? To faith? To a promise that the suffering ends somewhere?" Helios shrugged. "Let them." His eyes sharpened, calm, deadly. "But you took their hope and twisted it. You made it a weapon. You turned fear into chains." He stepped fully into the aisle now, every word landing like a hammer. "You call it clarity." His expression darkened. "I call it cowardice." Belanor's brows twitched. "You couldn't accept the emptiness, so you forced the world to share it. You drowned everyone else in your own despair just so you wouldn't be alone in it." Helios's voice softened. "That's not enlightenment." He shook his head. "That's just you being scared." For the first time, Belanor's smile faltered. Helios tightened his grip on his sword. "You're right about one thing, Belanor. The world is dark. Really dark." He lifted his chin. "But people choosing to believe in something, anything, that keeps them moving forward?" He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Cael's final smile. "That's not weakness." His eyes opened again, glowing faintly gold. "That's courage." Helios took one more step. "So here's the real truth…" His voice dropped to a cold whisper. "You're not here to wake the world up." He raised his blade. "You're here to burn it down because you never learned how to live in it." The cathedral went silent. Even the Dark Paladins paused. Helios pointed his sword toward Belanor. "And that's why I'm ending this." Belanor didn't breathe for a moment. Helios's words hung in the cathedral like a blade suspended over his throat. Then something cracked. Not in the floor. Not in the glass. In Belanor. His eye twitched. His jaw clenched so tightly the muscle trembled. The false, smug smile died on his face as if cut from him by force. And then, "SCARED?!" His voice exploded through the cathedral with such venom the stained glass shuddered in its frame. Belanor's composure shattered. Every mask he'd worn, every pretended calm, every elegant smirk, gone in an instant. "You dare…" he hissed, stepping down from the altar, "you DARE accuse me of cowardice? You… a half-blood child who clings to stories you admit are lies?!" He shook with rage, barely able to contain the fury boiling up his throat. "You think HOPE is courage? You think FAITH is strength?" His voice broke into a harsh scream. "IGNORANCE! DELUSION! WEAKNESS!" Helios didn't flinch. Belanor's teeth bared in a feral snarl. "KNIGHTS!!" he roared, spinning toward the Dark Paladins. "ALL OF YOU, STAND DOWN!" The paladins froze. The ordinary knights at the rear of the cathedral lowered their weapons, confused, glancing at each other with uncertainty. Bow whispered, "Uh… he's losing it." Halo nodded. "No, he lost it a long time ago. This is just the encore." Belanor thrust a shaking finger toward his own troops. "LEAVE US! All of you. Now." The paladins hesitated just long enough to make Belanor snap. "GET. OUT!" His mana flared, violent, unstable, cracking the marble beneath his boots. The two Dark Paladins obeyed immediately. One stepped toward Bow, the great helm turning slowly. The other faced Halo, sword humming with dark energy. Belanor jabbed a finger toward the side halls. "You two… deal with them. Away from here." The paladins moved as commanded. The first turned and walked toward the left hallway, pausing only to glare at Bow with cold, murderous intent. Bow cracked his knuckles. "Alright, big guy. Let's dance." They disappeared into the shadows of the hall. The second Dark Paladin pointed his blade at Halo, then stepped backward toward the right corridor, as if inviting him deeper into the dark. Halo looked at Helios once, briefly. "Don't die," Helios said. Halo smirked. "You first." Then he vanished down the opposite hall, steel ringing as the paladin followed. The cathedral grew quiet. Empty. Hollow. Only Helios and Belanor remained in the center of the sacred aisle, light fractured across their faces, red and gold dancing like fire on marble. Belanor spread his arms wide, breath trembling with hatred. "Is this what you wanted, Helios? A moment alone?" His lips peeled back in a sickening grin. "Then come closer." Mana bled off him in waves, warping the air, bending the colors of the stained glass. Helios stepped forward. "No more speeches," he said softly. Belanor's smile sharpened. "No," he whispered. "No more lies." "I will wipe your entire tribe from existence," Belanor spat. "Blood adaptation or not, I'll tear your lineage out by the roots. You die here, Helios and your people die with you." Their battle was about to begin.