They managed to escape the catacombs, but the shadow had left a message—
a threat written with the same soot from the walls:
"You cannot stop the bearer."
Jacob reviewed the photographs taken inside the site.
In one of them, behind the empty pedestal, the blurred silhouette of a tall man dressed
in a dark robe could be seen.
"He's doing it on purpose," Sara said. "He wants us to know he's ahead… but never
close enough."
Robert analyzed the image.
"Or he wants us to follow him into a trap."
Father Elias placed an ancient map on the monastery table.
"The fifth seal speaks of the martyrs beneath the altar," he explained. "It symbolizes
divine justice… or vengeance."
Jacob reflected for a moment.
"If he interprets it literally, the killer will look for a very specific altar."
Elias nodded.
"The Church of the Holy Sepulchre."
Silence.
They all understood the spiritual weight of that place.
"If he opens the fifth seal there," Sara said, "it could provoke global chaos."
Jacob took a deep breath.
The killer was becoming bolder… and more dangerous.