Lucien stood quietly before the bare stone altar. The ruined temple was completely still around him, while faint, strange streaks of color flickered through the air like the dying remnants of something unnatural. The ancient walls were cracked, and wild vines hung down from the broken ceiling, frozen in place as if time itself had stopped moving.
Then, footsteps echoed from deeper within the temple. They were slow, deliberate, and strangely hesitant.
Lucien's gaze shifted slightly toward the darkness beyond the broken pillars. Those footsteps lacked any hostility. They sounded small. Young.
"In there?" a nervous voice echoed through the chamber.
Moments later, a young knight stepped out from the corridor entrance. His armor was noticeably cleaner than the others outside, its silver edges barely scratched. Judging from his appearance, he had only recently graduated into the Order. Yet despite his inexperience, there was something different about him, Lucien could feel the raw potential immediately.
Nuri tightly gripped the sword hanging at his waist, warily scanning the room. Even from a distance, the unease on his face was obvious. His shoulders were tense and his breathing was slightly uneven. The temple clearly frightened him, yet he had still entered.
A faint curve appeared at the corner of Lucien's lips. Interesting.
"Who are you?" the young knight asked cautiously, his eyes wandering toward the rafters as if afraid something would suddenly drop from the dark.
Lucien stepped out from beside the altar, his movements soft. "I'm sorry," he said gently. "I was trying to help the knights by bringing them something important."
As he spoke, he lightly clasped Nuri's hands with both of his own, playing the part of a civilian seeking comfort from the unsettling atmosphere.
Nuri visibly stiffened, his fingers twitching beneath Lucien's touch. The sudden proximity broke his defensive focus; his eyes clouded with confusion as his ears turned a distinct, bright red.
"Ah... y-you shouldn't be in here," the knight stammered, quickly avoiding eye contact. "This place isn't safe. I could feel something strange even from outside."
"I know," Lucien replied softly. "But how could I ignore it? You knights always risk yourselves for everyone else." He tilted his head just enough for the warm sunlight filtering through the ruined ceiling to illuminate his golden hair in a soft, innocent glow.
The young knight instinctively looked away again, his jaw tightening.
"And after looking around a little," Lucien continued, "I found something very strange."
The knight hesitated. Normally, he should have remained cautious around strangers, especially inside a ruin connected to the Heretic. Yet the man before him appeared sincere, calm, and entirely harmless. If this discovery truly proved important, it might be the exact opportunity he needed to distinguish himself within the Order.
"I'll investigate with you," the young knight said, finally pulling his hands back to grip his hilt.
Lucien smiled faintly, turning back toward the altar. The young knight followed close behind.
Step. Step. Step.
The closer they got to the center of the temple, the stranger the air became. It didn't just go quiet; it felt like all the sound in the room was being squeezed and twisted. When the knight tried to speak, his own voice sounded small and far away, as if he were underwater.
At the center of the altar, faint, twisted cables of light still flickered and burned in the empty space above the stone. The phenomenon itself wasn't violent, yet it felt fundamentally wrong.
"You said you noticed something?" the young knight asked, his voice dropping to a muffled whisper.
"Ah, yes." Lucien smiled, the curve of his eyes forming beautiful crescents beneath the dim temple light. Then, he slowly pointed upward. "Look there."
Nuri instinctively raised his head. The moment he looked directly into the distortion, his vision violently blurred. His pupils lost focus, and a sudden surge of sharp pain hit his eyes like heated needles stabbing into his skull.
"Agh!" He stumbled backward, clutching his face as his breathing turned frantic. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes while his stomach twisted painfully. Yet the moment he stepped away from the altar's direct view, the pain began to recede, his vision slowly stabilizing.
"What... happened...?" he whispered hoarsely.
Lucien remained standing directly beneath the glowing rip, completely untouched. He didn't say a word. His expression had shifted, just slightly, his face grew completely still, his eyes wide with a cold look of absolute recognition. He wasn't afraid. He was simply watching the way the lines of light split the air, his fingers twitching once in the darkness.
A cold bead of sweat rolled down the knight’s neck. A heavy, physical pressure suddenly pushed down on his shoulders, making it hard to even lift his feet, as if the ground itself were trying to drag him into the stone.
And then he realized: the stranger was standing in the middle of this terrifying weight without moving a single muscle. The illusion of the harmless civilian shattered instantly.
"How are you fine?" the boy asked unsteadily, his knuckles turning pale against his hilt. "Do you know something?"
Lucien didn't answer. He didn't even look back.
Suddenly, the air pressure in the room snapped. A deep, heavy hum vibrated straight through the stone floor, shaking dust off the ancient bricks. The air turned thick and oppressive, carrying the heavy smell of old, wet earth.
The knight gasped as the light above the altar violently expanded, pulling toward Lucien as if the tear itself recognized him,as if it were trying to reach him.
Lucien took a single step back.
Crack.
The sound was as sharp as a bone snapping. Space buckled, tearing completely open.
A massive hand forced its way through the fractured rift. It was a thick, ugly lump of something burned and black, the flesh melted together into twisted, root-like fingers that clawed fiercely at the altar, desperate to drag its weight into the room. It carried no human shape, and no divine light.
Nuri screamed, drawing his sword in pure panic as the entire temple began to collapse around them.