The more a person pretends to be religious the more fake he is in reality.

Zane Atlas went through the same thing.

In front of everyone present in the Cathedral, Emberlord Coin called Zane fake and what snatched the land under his feet was the next thing that Coin called fake.

The Relic.

What?

When?

Why?

How?

Zane had no idea.

He didn’t even know the relic he returned was fake.

The eyes of the Emberlord gawked at the gutterborn and Zane felt his soul evaporating.

Murmurs had taken over the Cathedral as all mouths that could speak were speaking.

Xavier was shouting but his shouts were inaudible.

Tesla tried to hold Xavier back but his heart also winced seeing Zane in such a situation.

"Silence." Coin commanded.

Silence happened.

He again looked at the people.

"He returned a fake relic to me. That’s true. But why am I calling his faith fake too? There must be a reason for that. And by the mercy of the First Flame, there is."

The Emberlord paused as all ears waited for his answer.

"This filth,"

Zane shivered.

Up until now, Coin addressed Zane as a boy but now his wordings changed.

He showed his true emotion towards Zane and that only meant it would be a miracle for him to get out of the current predicament.

"This gutterborn filth, the spawn of a thief, his faith in our god is fake because yesterday, in front of the church and his fellow gutterborns..."

Emberlord gritted his teeth and pointed at Zane.

"He dropped the idol of our God on the ground."

Gasps rang out once more but the eyes were different now.

Now they had anger.

Zane didn’t dare to look up as the gazes would stab his heart.

The Priest standing in the corner fumed in anger, his fist clenched.

The gutterborns shook their heads in defeat.

The gardener who gave hope to Zane to go to the stage, now prayed for Zane’s swift death.

The outcome was clear now.

Zane Atlas was dead.

"For such a sin," Emberlord continued. "He would have died yesterday. He should have died yesterday. But he was saved. Who saved him? With a heavy heart, I have to say that unfortunate existence... was me."

Emberlord retracted his finger. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The fake relic he had crushed, its remnants stayed on his feet as he addressed the cathedral again.

"I have given him the relic in hopes of no harm falling on him. But how did he use it? How did this ungrateful filth use my kindness? He used it to earn forgiveness for his blasphemous act."

Glares landed on Zane with more intent.

Murderous intent.

Intent from all the Halocrats and some ardent believers of the First Flame.

His merged skill didn’t act at the moment and he didn’t know why.

His mind ran countless simulations on how he should get out of here. If he could.

How should a gutterborn ask for forgiveness in a way he would be forgiven?

Not to mention, he constantly ran the last day in his mind. Just to find what went wrong with the relic.

But his mind wasn’t working at all.

He had spent all his life surviving with his head down and the fact that he was on the stage meant it was for nothing.

He ended up in the gallows of death anyway.

And the worst part?

Emberlord Coin wasn’t done.

He roamed his eyes around the Cathedral, focusing on everyone watching him.

"He was forgiven for dropping the idol because of the Relic which I gave him. The relic from the Amnesty cube. The relic that had the emblem of Crown Aurex on it. And fine. Yes, he did a sin. But he got the pardon. That’s alright. I am kind. I will overlook this. But what he did after that... Oh lord, I am not that kind to let that pass."

Zane trembled once more, not that he ever stopped.

His eyes remained on Coin’s feet and this time, he shut down his mind.

Emberlord Coin was speaking various things and it was making it harder for Zane to pinpoint his mistake and escape.

He needed clarity.

He needed to know what exactly Emberlord had in his heart.

Therefore, he stopped thinking and let Coin speak out his chest.

And the Emberlord did just that.

"After seeing that he was forgiven for doing such a thing. The greed in his blood awakened. He got to know the power of the Relic and that’s when the blood of the thief in his veins made a plan. The desire to acquire such a power for himself erupted in his heart."

Emberlord paused for a second and then carried on.

"He made a plan to keep the relic with himself. He wanted to have the Relic made from the Haloheart with him. So for that, he made an identical relic, I don’t know from where, and instead of the original one, he gave me the fake relic that he had made, thinking he successfully fooled me and our First Flame!"

Zane’s eyes widened.

He wanted to scream that nothing like that ever happened.

He hadn’t slept peacefully because of the thought of returning the relic. He had constantly checked his pockets just to make sure he had the relic.

He didn’t even examine it and not once did he think of stealing it for himself.

Emberlord Coin made assumptions for Zane simply by his biasness and Zane’s breed.

"Therefore," Coin said. "I have presented this filth in front of me and you for two crimes. Firstly his fake faith in our God and secondly, his plan of stealing the relic and making a fool of us. My fellow flamers, tell me what do we call such a man? What is the word that shall be used to refer to him? Tell me!"

The Emberlord’s voice echoed in the cathedral and in the chest of the audience as silence grabbed them.

But as a wave of silence passed, one whisper was made.

"Thief."

The whisper worked as a flicker.

And following that one word...

"Thief!"

"Scum!"

"Filth!"

"Death!"

"Infidel!"

"Slum rat!"

"Gutterborn!"

"Execute him!"

"Burn him!"

"Kill him!"

The whole Cathedral caught fire and went berserk.

THUD!

TUN!

THOO!

They began throwing their trash, papers, their shoes, their spit.

All eyes wished for Zane’s cleaved head.

All ears wished for his screams.

All mouths wished for his death.

Their curses reached deep inside Zane’s heart as with all his courage, he slowly raised his head to glance.

And as his eyes met the current event... they bulged.

His breath stopped at his throat .

If the whole Ironhalo Citadel was present in the Cathedral then, right now, at the moment...

The whole Citadel wanted him dead.