Night settled over the Holy Capital with the faint shimmer of mana-lamps glowing along the distant streets. The Cathedral had finally gone silent — no more footsteps, no more tense debates, no more whispers about doctrine. Just stillness.

Noel exhaled slowly as he fastened the last buckle of his light armor.

Not battle gear — he didn't want to alarm anyone — but enough to protect him if something went wrong.

Noir hopped onto the desk beside him, tail curled neatly around her paws.

'You look like you're going to war,' she said, not unkindly.

"I'm hoping I'm not," Noel replied quietly. "But… better safe than sorry."

The room was dim, lit only by a single candle. Shadows danced along the walls with every small movement, and the silence felt thicker than usual.

Noel checked his items inside his Dimensional Pouch:

– A pair of minor healing potions

– A mana-restoration vial

– A small good luck charm Charlotte gave him "just in case"

And outside, Revenant Fang, strapped at his hip.

He paused.

Charlotte.

Orthran.

Both sleeping somewhere in the Cathedral right now — exhausted from a day that had shaken the foundations of their faith and their city.

He could still hear Charlotte's tired, brave voice echoing from earlier:

"We trust you."

He closed his hand around the charm.

'Nineteen days left,' he reminded himself. 'Nineteen days to keep the Church from collapsing.'

A mission no one else even knew existed.

Noir stretched, then jumped onto his shoulder. Her voice lowered to a whisper.

'The scent is stronger now, Dad.'

"Stronger how?"

'Sharper. Like it's waking up.'

Noel felt a cold flicker down his spine.

"So it really wasn't just stress earlier…"

'No.' Noir's ears flattened. 'Something is wrong in this city. Really wrong.'

Noel walked to the window and cracked it open. The Holy Capital lay beneath him — quiet but glowing faintly under the moonlight. A place that should've been the safest in the entire continent.

"It doesn't make sense," he murmured. "Orthran's blessing, the barrier runes… nothing evil or corrupted should be able to slip in."

'I know,' Noir replied. 'That's what scares me.'

Noel shut the window gently and took one last look around the room.

"Let's go."

Noir's claws clicked lightly on his shoulder as she settled into place.

Together, they stepped into the dim corridor, the candlelight flickering behind them as the door closed with a soft click.

The night search had begun.

The Cathedral's stone corridors were silent at this hour — too silent.

Normally, even at night, Noel would hear faint murmurs from the sisters on patrol, occasional distant prayers, or the soft clatter of someone cleaning candle stands.

Tonight?

Nothing.

Not even the usual gentle echo of mana flowing through the walls.

Noir's tail twitched uneasily on Noel's shoulder as they made their way toward the outer courtyard.

'Dad… the scent is pulling toward the city center.'

"The center?" Noel frowned. "Not the walls?"

'No. Something is wrong inside the city.'

That made even less sense.

Monsters, corrupted beings, demonic remnants — anything dangerous — always tried to breach from outside, hitting the protective runes or trying to slip past the barrier.

But this scent…

It was coming from within.

They passed under an archway that opened into the Holy Capital's main plaza. Marble tiles stretched across the open space, glowing faintly under moonlight reflected by hundreds of polished surfaces. The tall statues of the Saints stood silent and solemn, casting long shadows across the empty square.

Noel paused.

"Feels like a ghost town."

Noir sniffed sharply. 'It's faint, but… it's here.'

Noel activated a thin layer of mana around his eyes — a scanning technique he'd learned long ago — but the plaza looked perfectly normal.

"Anything?" he whispered.

'…It's strange.' Noir leapt from his shoulder and landed softly on the marble. 'I don't smell a person. Or a beast. Or a demon. It's like a… wrongness. Like the air is sick.'

Noel exhaled slowly. "That's not helpful."

Noir shot him a sharp look. 'Dad. I'm not joking. The air itself smells like something touched it.'

He crouched beside her.

"Corruption?"

'No.'

"Decay?"

'No.'

"Mana residue?"

'…Maybe?' Noir sounded unsure for the first time all night. 'But not a type I recognize.'

That hit Noel harder than anything else.

Noir could identify any creature — living or dead — by its scent. She could smell corruption miles away. She could pick out the mana traces of the Pillars themselves.

But this?

Completely unknown.

Noel scanned the plaza again. Lanterns flickered in the distance. Church banners swayed gently in the cold wind. Not a single soul walked the streets.

He stood, eyes narrowing.

"Let's check the marketplace district. If something is moving through the city, we'll find tracks or mana imprints there."

Noir nodded, her steps silent as she ran ahead to guide him.

Together, they slipped into the narrow streets — moonlight filtering between buildings, the air colder with every passing second — following a scent that shouldn't exist…

Noel slowed.

"…There's no wind."

Noir's fur stood on end. 'Dad… it's stronger here.'

She darted ahead, nose to the ground, following a trail that shouldn't have been possible.

They reached a small stone courtyard behind an unused storage hall — a place so out of the way even most clergy forgot it existed.

Noir stopped dead.

Her ears flattened. Her tail swished. 'Dad… here.'

Noel approached cautiously — mana subtly gathering at his fingertips in case something jumped out.

Nothing did.

Instead…

Noir pointed with her paw.

At a single object lying on the ground.

A faintly glowing shard of crystal. Clear, but tinted with a soft golden hue, as though light lived inside it. Barely the size of a fingernail.

Noel's breath caught.

"…What is that?"

Noir didn't speak at first.

She sniffed.

Once. Twice. Then recoiled.

'Dad… this scent…'

"What?"

'It's mana. Not corrupted. Not demonic. Not beast-like. Not human.'

She hesitated — rare for her.

'I've only smelled something like this once.'

Noel felt the world beneath him still.

"…Where?"

Noir's violet eyes lifted to him.

'The day we fought the First Pillar.'

Noel froze.

Completely.

A cold, sickening dread spread through his chest — deeper than surprise, deeper than fear.

The First Pillar.

The monster who nearly killed Nicolas. The one who shattered half a fortress. The one who stole the Thorne family treasure. The one Noel still had nightmares about.

And there was something here…

Something that carried his scent.

"…No." Noel's voice cracked. "No, that's impossible."

The Holy Capital was the safest place in the entire continent.

Blessings, barriers, divine protection — nothing corrupted should be able to get within a hundred kilometers.

So how—

Noir stepped closer again, sniffed, then retreated immediately.

'It's not him, Dad. I don't smell him anywhere. Not near us. Not in the city. Not even faint. Just… this.'

Noel exhaled shakily.

His heart still hammered, but some of the terror loosened.

"So this shard…" he murmured, staring at the glowing crystal on the ground, "it's not the Pillar. It's just something he left behind."

Noir nodded.

'Yes. A trace.'

Noel swallowed hard. His hands were slightly trembling, and he hated it.

"I thought I was done dealing with this bastard for now…" he whispered.

But there it was.

Right in front of him.

A shard carrying the First Pillar's mana — the same mana that nearly tore his world apart.

Noir circled it once more, her nose twitching with focused care.

'Dad… it's only this. I promise. I would smell him if he was anywhere near the Holy Capital.'

Noel forced himself to breathe.

Slowly.

Deeply.

"…Alright. Okay. Then we're taking this to Orthran."

Noir sat beside him, pressing her tiny body against his leg — grounding him.

'It's just a piece, Dad. Nothing more.'

Noel nodded… but he didn't believe it.

Not fully.

Because if the First Pillar had left something behind inside the Holy Capital…

The real question was:

How long had it been here? And how many more were waiting to be found?

Noel held thepouch open with steady hands, even though his pulse hadn't fully calmed. The tiny crystal pulsed once — faint, harmless, but unmistakably wrong — before vanishing inside the enchanted fabric.

The pouch sealed with a soft ripple of mana.

Noir padded close, eyes fixed on the spot where the shard had been.

'Dad… what do you think it is?'

Noel didn't answer immediately.

He straightened slowly, brushing the dust from his hands, forcing his breathing into something even. The cold night air stung his lungs, grounding him.

"I don't know," he murmured at last, voice low. "I really don't."

They left the courtyard and slipped into one of the side alleys, shadows stretching over the stone walls. Noel kept one hand near his dimensional pouch instinctively — as if the shard might suddenly try to escape.

Noir trotted beside him, glancing up anxiously.

'If it's from the First Pillar… why leave it here? And why now?'

Noel frowned, jaw tightening.

"Since he stole the family crystal," Noel said quietly, "they've been silent."

'True…'

Noel nodded.

"The Circle," he said. "Everything connected to them has gone quiet."

He looked ahead at the empty plaza stretching toward the Cathedral.

"That's not a good sign."

Noir's tail lowered a little.

'So… they're preparing something?'

"That's what scares me," Noel admitted. "Silence from the Circle usually means they're planning something big. And if the First Pillar left this behind…"

He shook his head.

"I don't like it."

Noir walked a little closer, brushing against his pant leg.

'We'll figure it out, Dad.'

Noel stopped at the base of the Cathedral steps.

"We'll ask Orthran tomorrow," he said finally. "He might know what kind of crystal this is."

He tapped the dimensional pouch gently.

"But for tonight… this stays hidden."

Noir flicked her tail anxiously. 'So… what now, Dad?'

Noel scanned the empty courtyard once more, eyes narrowed.

"We buy ourselves a little more time," he murmured. "Let's look around the area again. If there's anything else out here… we need to find it."

Noir nodded sharply, determination igniting in her violet eyes.

'Then let's search every corner.'

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