Wind blew across the mountain path. The narrow trail winding through the rocky face of the Helden Mountains was unforgiving—one misstep meant plummeting into the ravine below. A sheer cliff wall rose on the left. A yawning void dropped away on the right. Three figures walked in silence through it all. Two days had passed since they'd left the abandoned village. Baldo led the way, testing the path ahead with each step. His chestnut-brown hair caught the mountain breeze, and the silver ring in his right ear flashed in the sunlight. Riri followed behind him, her silver-white hair gleaming pale against the cliff's shadow. Reon brought up the rear, his eyes fixed on the two figures ahead. "[serious]Half a day more to the hidden settlement," said without turning around. Relief colored his voice. Reon nodded. The grass bracelet wound around his left wrist scraped against the rock wall with a soft sound—the one Riri had made for him back at the village. Then it happened. Baldo stopped abruptly. A figure stood on the rocks above. White. Everything was white. Silver armor gleamed even beneath the overcast sky. Long hair—crimson-purple, bound tightly—swayed in the mountain wind. Metal rings were wrapped firmly around both arms. Holy chains. Equipment of the Church, designed to seal those who wielded magic. "[whispers]…An Inquisitor," whispered. His voice dropped low. Reon stepped forward. A woman. Tall—at least 175 centimeters, her frame fitting perfectly within the armor's confines. A thin blade hung at her side. A single vertical scar ran down her left cheek. Reon saw her face. His breath stopped. Cold silver eyes. The crimson-purple hair was a different shade. The angle of her features slightly different. But—the shape of those eyes. The line of her mouth. The tilt of her neck. It was the same face as the woman he'd failed to protect in his past life. The face that had lain in blood at a nighttime intersection now looked down at him from the rocks above. His feet wouldn't move. "[cold]I am Sera, First Inquisitor of the Nocturne Church," said. Her voice was cold. Stripped of emotion, like a report. Yet its low resonance overlapped with a voice from his past-life memories. "[cold]Surrender the girl. Refuse, and I will bind all three of you in holy chains and execute you accordingly," continued. Riri took a step back. Baldo moved in front of her. Reon's hand went to his sword hilt. It was trembling. Something in his mind was short-circuiting. Sera's face and his past-life lover's face wouldn't separate, wouldn't stop overlapping. Even as the word *fight* surfaced in his thoughts, his feet remained nailed to the ground. "[serious]Brother," called out. The sound of Baldo's voice snapped him back. Reon drew his sword. Sera descended from the rocks. One step. Two steps. Soundless. How could someone in full armor move so quietly? Reon lunged forward. First strike—Sera's blade flowed in from the side. Not blocking his attack, but deflecting it like water. Her hilt drove into his wrist in the same motion. *Crack.* His grip strength vanished in an instant. The sword flew from his hand. His stance crumbled. Second strike—Sera's blade ran across his shoulder. Flesh tore. Red sprayed across the rocks. "—!" Impact came before pain. His shoulder to arm went numb. As he tried to recover, the third strike came—Sera's elbow drove into his sternum. A sound erupted from deep in his lungs. He was slammed into the ground. Sky above. Cold rock against his back. His body wouldn't obey him. "[serious]Brother!!" Baldo shoved Riri behind him and raised his sword. His golden eyes burned. But Sera closed the distance in a single step. Her right kick came in, sweeping from his abdomen to his ribs. *Thud.* Baldo's body lifted into the air. He crashed against the cliff wall. A dull sound. He crumpled. Motionless. "Baldo!" Riri screamed. Her pale aquamarine eyes trembled with terror. Her hands shook. Light—azure light—began to seep from her fingertips. Magic was being released. Sera moved. Without hesitation, she removed one of the metal rings from her arm and hurled it at Riri's neck. The arc of metal found its mark. The moment it locked around her neck, the azure light vanished. Riri's body went limp. She collapsed to her knees. She fell to the ground. "Riri—" Still on the ground, he reached out. His fingers scraped against rock. They didn't reach. Sera lifted Riri with one arm. That arm supported the girl's small frame effortlessly. Then Sera looked down at Reon. "[cold]You are weak," said quietly. Not contempt. Not pity. Just a statement of fact. "[cold]This girl will undergo the Sanctification Rite at the Grand Cathedral in Felsen Holy City the night after tomorrow. As you know, over forty Inquisitors are stationed in the Holy City. It is no place for weaklings like you," continued. She paused. "[cold]…But if you wish to come, come. You will simply die," said. With that, she turned away. Reon stretched out his blood-soaked hand. His fingers scraped against the rock once more. That was all. The memories of his past life crashed over him. A nighttime intersection. Rain. Headlights. A hand that couldn't reach. A face that smiled until the end. *Protect me*—he still didn't know who he'd said those words to. And now—he'd failed to protect again. "Riri—" His cry echoed off the mountain rocks. Sera's back receded into the distance. The silhouette of his past-life lover overlapped with hers, refusing to separate. Past and present blurred together. In Sera's arms, the hand holding Riri—trembled, ever so slightly. The holy chain around the girl's neck swayed gently. Sera didn't look at it. But her hand shook. Only Baldo, regaining consciousness against the cliff wall, saw that tremor. ＊ Sera's figure disappeared down the mountain path. What remained was blood, Baldo's ragged breathing, and wind sweeping across the peaks. Baldo rose unsteadily, pressing his right side with his hand. Not broken. Probably. His face was still pale. "[serious]…Brother," said. Reon didn't move. Not because his body wouldn't obey. He couldn't find a reason to move. All he could see was his own blood soaking into the rocks—and what Riri had dropped when she collapsed. A frayed end of the grass bracelet. Part of that misshapen ring lay on the stone. Baldo knelt and reached to place a hand on Reon's shoulder. Reon didn't move. His eyes stared into the distance. He was looking forward, but seeing nothing. A flood of past-life memories. The lover he couldn't protect. Mountains of corpses he'd stepped over as a slave soldier. And today. All the same ending. Everyone I tried to protect, I lose—that certainty sank like stone into his chest. "[serious]Brother, can you stand?" called. Reon's eyes wouldn't focus. The mountain wind blew. The grass fragment on the rock tumbled. It touched Reon's fingertips. Slowly, he picked it up. He clenched his fist around it. Cold. Small. But real in his palm. That piece of grass—the one Riri had worked on, sitting on the ground, struggling, but never stopping. "[cold]…Two days," said. His voice came out low, hoarse. But it came. Baldo looked up. "[cold]Can we reach Felsen Holy City in two days?" "[serious]…We can make the distance. But entering the Holy City—" "[cold]That's not what I'm asking. Can we reach it in two days?" Baldo was silent for a second. Then he nodded. "[serious]With horses, we can make it," said. Reon rose slowly, the grass fragment still gripped in his hand. His shoulder burned. The right half of his body screamed in pain. But he stood. Two shadows stretched across the mountain path. Riri was gone. That absence weighed heavier than stone. Yet Reon tightened his grip on the grass fragment. Felsen Holy City—the headquarters of the Nocturne Church. A religious metropolis surrounded by white stone walls, garrisoned by over forty Inquisitors. He and Baldo had to reach it in two days. There was no chance of victory. None at all.