The ruins whispered.
Not with voices…
with memory.
Hiroto sat against a collapsed wall, breathing slowly as Yui wiped blood from his forehead. His shadow lay unusually flat beneath him, like it was listening to the ground instead of the sky.
The Watcher stood at the edge of the ruined city, staring into the warped horizon.
"You said a god died here," Akari said. "Tell us how."
The Watcher did not turn.
"Once, this land was called the First Dominion," he said.
"A kingdom that rejected heaven."
Goro frowned. "Rejected gods? That sounds suicidal."
"They believed gods were not creators… only thieves of belief," the Watcher continued.
"So they built something to fight back."
Hiroto looked up. "…What kind of thing?"
The Watcher's cracked face reflected the pale sky.
"Not a weapon."
"A will."
He knelt and pressed his palm to the stone. Faint symbols lit beneath his hand.
"They learned how to sever divine authority from reality itself. Their warriors did not pray. They decided."
Akari's eyes narrowed. "And they killed a god."
"Yes. They dragged it from the sky and tore its name apart."
Yui shivered. "What happened to them?"
The Watcher stood.
"The gods erased them."
Silence followed.
"…Except this land," he added.
"It remembers rebellion."
Hiroto felt something twist inside his chest.
"So my shadow…"
"…is learning," the Watcher said.
"From the scar of a god's death."
Akari looked at Hiroto sharply. "That's dangerous."
Hiroto gave a weak smile. "So is everything else."
A distant horn echoed across the plains.
Not one.
Dozens.
Akari's eyes snapped east. "Divine Path."
Scouts rushed in from the outer ruins.
"They're marching in force! Purge legions!"
From the horizon, lines of gold and white banners appeared, stretching like a moving wall.
Goro whistled. "That's… a lot of faith."
The Watcher raised his head.
"They will not stop at this land," he said.
"They will cleanse every city that doubts."
Yui clenched her fists. "Then we can't just hide here!"
Akari mounted her horse.
"We won't."
She looked at Hiroto.
"You came here to escape heaven.
Now heaven is following you."
Hiroto stood slowly.
His shadow rose not violently… but steadily.
"…Then this place becomes the line they can't cross."
The ground beneath him pulsed faintly.
The scar of the dead god stirred.
Far away, in radiant halls—
A voice roared:
"Mobilize the Faith Armies."
Another answered:
"Break the shadow before it becomes legend."
And in the Broken Lands…
The first god-killer battlefield began to form.
To be continued…