The Astral Inquisition arrived without sound.
No horns. No warnings. No formal declaration.
One moment Crossreach Bastion roared with its usual violence and desperation—the clash of steel, the shouts of commanders, the screams from the lower tiers—and the next, silence spread like frost.
Kieran felt it before he saw it.
The whispers inside the Voidblade recoiled, pressing deep into the metal as if hiding. The air thickened, heavy with pressure that settled behind his eyes and made breathing feel like work.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY DETECTED]
Lyra stiffened beside him.
"…They're here," she said.
"Who?" Kieran asked, though dread already coiled in his gut.
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked up.
So did everyone else.
White light descended from the fractured sky in perfect vertical lines—pillars of radiance that carved themselves into the city's central tier. Stone hissed as it melted and reformed into pristine platforms, untouched by grime or blood.
Figures emerged from the light.
They wore no armor, only long white coats lined with glyphs that hurt to look at directly. Halos of fractured geometry floated behind their heads, rotating slowly, casting sharp-edged shadows.
The city knelt.
Not out of reverence.
Out of instinct.
Kieran remained standing.
Lyra shot him a sharp look. "Don't."
"I didn't choose this," he muttered.
"That won't matter," she replied quietly.
A single figure stepped forward.
Taller than the others. Broader. His coat was edged in black instead of gold, and the halo behind his head was incomplete—segments missing, jagged where they should have been smooth.
He carried a blade shaped like a crescent guillotine, its edge so thin it seemed unreal.
[ENTITY IDENTIFIED]
SERAPH NOCT]
TITLE: EXECUTOR OF THE ASTRAL INQUISITION]
CLEARANCE: MAXIMUM]
The pressure doubled.
Seraph Noct's gaze swept the plaza slowly, methodically—until it stopped on Kieran.
And stayed there.
"So," Seraph said, voice calm and perfectly even, "this is where the anomaly rooted itself."
Lyra stepped forward instantly. "By Vanguard authority, Crossreach Bastion—"
Seraph raised one finger.
Lyra froze mid-sentence, body locking as if time itself had seized her.
Kieran's blood ran cold.
"You may speak," Seraph said to her, "when addressed."
Lyra's jaw clenched, but she didn't fight it.
Seraph's attention returned to Kieran.
"You've been busy," Seraph continued conversationally. "Unauthorized weapon manifestation. System interference. Hollow Covenant contact."
His eyes flicked briefly to Kieran's chest.
"…And a dormant mark."
Kieran clenched his fists. "You planning to kill me now, or is there paperwork first?"
A few gasps rippled through the crowd.
Seraph smiled faintly.
"Defiance," he said. "Still intact. Good."
Good?
"You misunderstand," Seraph continued. "Execution is inefficient at this stage."
The System chimed.
[INQUISITION OVERRIDE ACTIVE]
"Then what do you want?" Kieran demanded.
Seraph stepped closer.
With each step, the world seemed to narrow, as if everything outside the space between them became irrelevant.
"I want you to understand something," Seraph said. "The System does not hate you."
He stopped an arm's length away.
"It corrects."
The guillotine blade lowered, hovering just above Kieran's shoulder—not touching, but close enough that his skin burned with cold.
"Correction hurts," Seraph added.
The blade pressed down.
Agony exploded through Kieran's body, white-hot and all-consuming. He screamed as the System flooded his nerves with pain far beyond what his injuries warranted.
[PENALTY APPLIED]
CAUSE: BEHAVIORAL DEVIATION]
Kieran collapsed to one knee, vision fracturing.
Through the pain, he felt it—something being taken. Not strength. Not memories.
Choice.
Seraph withdrew the blade.
Kieran gasped, body shaking violently.
[STATUS UPDATE]
AUTONOMY: PARTIALLY RESTRICTED]
Lyra roared, breaking free of her paralysis long enough to step forward. "That's enough!"
Seraph turned to her slowly.
"You care for him," Seraph observed. "Interesting."
Lyra's expression didn't change—but her heartbeat did. Kieran heard it.
Seraph looked back at Kieran.
"Do you know what I was?" Seraph asked calmly.
Kieran forced himself to his feet. "I don't care."
Seraph's smile widened slightly.
"I was you."
The words landed like a blade.
"I resisted," Seraph continued. "I questioned. I broke rules."
His fingers brushed the fractured edge of his halo.
"And then I learned."
"Learned what?" Kieran rasped.
"That freedom is inefficient."
The plaza trembled.
Seraph gestured, and an execution platform rose from the stone. A man was dragged forward—bloodied, shaking, barely conscious.
[ENTITY IDENTIFIED]
FREEBOUND – RANK C]
"Demonstration," Seraph said.
The guillotine fell.
The man vanished—not died. Erased.
No soul. No residue. Nothing.
Kieran staggered back, bile rising.
[SOUL ERASURE CONFIRMED]
"This," Seraph said, "is mercy. No recycling. No suffering."
He turned back to Kieran.
"You will reach a point where you understand that."
Their gazes locked.
"And when you do," Seraph said softly, "you will beg me to finish what I started."
The Inquisition began to withdraw, light folding back into the sky.
Before stepping into the pillar, Seraph paused.
"One more thing, anomaly."
He glanced at Lyra.
"Attachments accelerate correction."
The light vanished.
Silence crashed back into Crossreach Bastion like a wave.
Kieran sank to the ground, shaking.
Lyra knelt beside him—not touching, not yet.
"…Are you still you?" she asked quietly.
Kieran swallowed hard.
"I don't know," he admitted.
That answer hurt more than the blade.
Above them, unseen—
[SYSTEM NOTE LOGGED]
ANOMALY STABILITY: DECLINING]
OBSERVATION PRIORITY: INCREASED]
And somewhere beyond the sky, Seraph Noct smiled.