It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would not contradict it.

But what if the higher authority spoke on behalf of God itself?

Kairon and Varikh went through the same event.

The Emberlord have had enough.

His face clearly depicted that.

He lost his original relic.

He accused Zane and instead of the trial progressing normally, the Cathedral went into chaos.

Zane rebelled.

His two friends came in between.

His sister spewed blood on Coin.

The two Enforcers weren’t of any use.

He had the sister on his grip but then the whole podium came flying.

He lost the girl from his hold as well.

Coin ignored everything for so long and remained calm but it seemed, what Zane was afraid of happened.

The Emberlord reached a breaking point.

He didn’t even bother to hide it anymore.

Dripping in blood, the man stood up.

The people watching him stepped back as a wave of high pressure came out of the Emberlord.

Kairon and Varikh gulped.

After standing up, the Emberlord wasted no time and called out for the two Enforcers.

For some reason, there were only two Enforcers present in the Cathedral for the morning prayer.

But the Enforcers weren’t weak so even two was enough and not once had the Emberlord thought that something would happen in the Cathedral that would need such attention.

The prayers had been going on for years and never did something like today happen.

Nevertheless, whatever happened happened.

The only kindness, the only silver lining for Zane was that the Emberlord himself hadn’t taken the initiative to end things for good.

He simply called for Kairon and Varikh.

Both the enforcers came running towards Coin.

Kairon had his leg bitten but forgetting the pain, he too walked towards the Emberlord.

Fortunately, he wasn’t that far away from Coin anyway.

But before the two Enforcers could reach in front of the Emberlord, the godman issued the order already.

"I don’t care anymore. This is your last chance to redeem your sorry selves."

The Emberlord raised his hand and pointed his finger at Milo.

"Bring me that demon in front of me right this very instant. Or else..."

Coin raised his leg and...

THUMP!

Slammed it on the floor.

"Sever both of your heads and bring them to me instead."

The order landed like the nuke it was and seeing such a version of the Emberlord, each soul shook.

One slam of his leg was enough to shift some seats to the sides and more than the seats, Zane and Milo shifted.

Milo hadn’t taken out her face from Zane’s chest as she would not be able to see anymore. She had suffered enough.

Kairon’s face rested on her pores and whenever she recalled that smile, she felt tremors worth crumbling her entire being.

But Zane couldn’t be scared.

The mountain that protects a country from flying arrows wasn’t allowed to turn paper. It wasn’t allowed to shrink in fear.

Zane was all Milo had and now that she was in his chest, he would not let her get out.

But just like how Zane was compelled to save his sister, Kairon and Varikh also had the right to fight for their lives too.

They didn’t want to sever their heads. They wanted to live too.

Therefore, just after the Emberlord gave the absolute order, both Enforcers let go of reason.

Varikh bent his knees and jumped over the Emberlord towards Zane and Milo who were trying to get up from the floor.

Unlike Varikh, Kairon was already near the siblings but before acting on the order, he did something that he had done a few minutes ago.

That time, Coin had discarded it but now Kairon doesn’t think it would happen.

The Emberlord wouldn’t mind it anymore.

Therefore, the Enforcer closed his eyes.

He muttered something under his breath and when Zane saw it, his heart came to his throat.

He remembered it.

Kairon’s mutters weren’t audible and it was only heard as gibberish but the gibberish turned out to be something they had seen before.

As the mutterings ended, on top of Kairon’s head, a crown of flames manifested.

The Emberlord had extinguished it with a snap of his fingers before it could have formed in its full glory but this time, Coin did nothing.

The crown manifested taking its time and when the light was enough to sting the watchers’ eyes, they all figured it was completed.

But they were wrong.

Kairon raised his hand towards the air, pointing at the sky and from the square hole of the ceiling of the Cathedral, a blinding golden light struck down on the Enforcer’s hand.

All eyes glued to the scene and as the light faded, the flashes from the rectangular crystals attacked Kairon.

Kairon had become something else.

On his right hand, dawned a golden sword made solely by fire.

Zane was away from him but the heat still threatened to melt his skin.

The crown of flame on his head, the sword of flame in his hand, Kairon appeared a different person altogether and seeing such a man in front of him, Zane’s mind only reached to one answer:

Run.

He had swore that he would devour Kairon but for that, he had to stay alive.

Kairon had activated his Skill and Zane had no way of fighting right now. Especially not when Milo was with him.

He ignored the pain and the weight of his chains and stood up.

He was already close to the doors of the Cathedral and all he needed to do was run.

The revolution could wait.

The gutterborns could wait.

Revenge could wait.

But if he didn’t run away from the Cathedral right now...

Death wouldn’t wait.

He stood up with the support of the door but then...

STEP!

Kairon took one step forward.

THUMP!

Varikh landed near Zane as well.

Xavier did his best to crawl towards the scene, but he won’t be able to reach in time.

Zane could have still ran but just that one step from Kairon made the gutterborn feel the heat right inside his veins.

Kairon couldn’t care less and raised his flaming sword.

"The Emberlord only asked for the girl. I don’t think he will mind your death."

He held the handle of his sword with both his hands and brought it above his head.

Zane was just below the Enforcer and he was sure that when the sword came down, he would be sliced in two.

He clutched Milo tighter to his chest and...

"So long, filth."

Kairon brought down the sword and Zane’s eyes went shut on their own.

SHRILL!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhh!!"

A shriek filled with pain echoed.

Zane was forced to open his eyes and they remained open.

Kairon screamed in pain in front of him while holding his right leg.

The same leg that Zane had bit.

But he wasn’t wailing because the pain from biting came back, he wailed because of something else.

Something that Zane never expected to see.

The Enforcer Kairon, before he could kill Zane...

"That wasn’t a wise decision, my lady."

A sword pierced the leg of the man wearing a crown of flames.