The day they finally departed for the Spire arrived with the weight of a storm cloud. A heavy silence hung in the dining room, broken only by the rhythmic sounds of Ayla eating.

If Ayla cared about anything in this moment, it was to fill herself to the brim. She understood the reality of the journey ahead.

The Spire was a place of iron and blood, not silk and spices. Who knew when she would taste such refined flavors again.

Sarah watched her daughter’s puffed out cheeks. A smile involuntarily reached her eyes as she leaned forward to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Ayla’s ear.

"Slow down, little glutton. No one is going to steal your food," Sarah whispered, her voice thick with a mixture of affection and suppressed dread.

Ayla swallowed a substantial piece of beef jerky in one go, nodding her head vigorously. Her golden eyes darted across the table.

Today, Kenji was also present. He sat stiffly, his movements mechanical. A few distinct blue marks marred the skin of his jaw and cheekbone.

While eating, Ayla peeked at him from time to time, her curiosity piqued by the sudden injuries. She tried to reach out with her mind, but Kenji had built a fortress.

He was thinking of nothing, forcing his mind into a silent void that left her with no trail to follow.

Damien was absent from the breakfast table. He had left before dawn to oversee the final logistics of their transportation to the heart of humanity’s power.

Once the plates were cleared, Sarah led them toward the Ascension Hall. This was the threshold where their lives as children ended and their lives as Crusaders began.

From the street, the Hall appeared as a massive semi-circular structure of white marble and glass. However, once they stepped through the heavy oak doors, the true scale of the architecture revealed itself.

The building didn’t go up; it widened downwards into the very crust of the earth.

Hundreds of teenagers stood in clusters within the vast foyer, flanked by parents who clutched them with trembling hands. The atmosphere was electric with anxiety and ambition.

Their arrival acted like a stone thrown into a still pond. Ripples of whispers followed them as they moved. The news of the City Lord’s illegitimate daughter had spread through Old York like a wildfire.

While the elite in the room were too disciplined to openly scorn them, the digital world was far less restrained.

On the screens of mobile devices throughout the hall, discussions raged. Some groups supported Ayla’s rise, seeing her as a dark horse.

Others expressed deep pity for Damien’s wife. Many more became indignant on behalf of the "poor girl" who had been abandoned in the Outer Walls for so long.

Gossip remained humanity’s favorite pastime, even on the brink of an apocalypse.

Ayla and Kenji ignored the stares. They moved toward the center of the hall where a massive circular lift waited. It was a platform of brass and reinforced steel, large enough to carry a hundred people at once.

Sarah walked with them, her hand never leaving Ayla’s shoulder. They stepped onto the lift, and the mechanism engaged with a deep, subterranean hum.

The descent was long. They passed floor after floor of administrative offices, barracks, and research labs. By the time the counter hit one hundred floors below the surface, the air had turned cool.

When the doors finally slid open, they stepped out into a cavernous opening. The ceiling was so high it disappeared into darkness, supported by pillars carved to look like titans holding up the world.

At the far end of this underground cathedral stood Damien. He looked like a statue of iron, silhouetted against a shimmering veil of blue light.

The Gate.

Sarah stopped several paces away from her husband. She turned to Ayla and pulled the girl into a fierce, desperate hug. She barraged Ayla’s face with kisses, her tears finally breaking free.

"My sweet, brave girl," Sarah sobbed into Ayla’s hair. "You listen to your instincts. Do not try to be a hero. Just come back to me. Do you hear me? Promise me you will come back."

Ayla felt overwhelmed by the sudden tidal wave of human affection. She patted Sarah’s back awkwardly, her small hands feeling the frantic heartbeat of the woman who had claimed her as a daughter.

"I will eat well and stay safe," Ayla promised, her voice muffled against Sarah’s shoulder. She felt sadness for not being capable of eating her human mother’s brain, or she would’ve carried her mother’s memories with her.

What a pity.

Sarah eventually pulled away, turning her watery gaze toward Kenji. She reached out and touched the bruise on his jaw.

Her expression was complicated, showing sorrow mixed with a stern, maternal command.

"Look after your sister, Kenji," Sarah said, her voice dropping to a low, serious tone. "She is the only blood you have in that place. If anything happens to her because you were looking the other way, I will never forgive you. Protect her as if she were your own soul."

Kenji gave a single, stiff nod. "I understand, Mother."

Although outwardly Sarah seemed to be much stricter with Kenji, Ayla could hear her real emotions. His mother was worried so much she was literally screaming in her mind.

They walked the final distance to Damien. The City Lord did not offer any grand displays of emotion. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes scanning them with clinical precision.

He reached out and placed a heavy hand on Ayla’s head, his palm pressing down with a weight that felt like an unspoken blessing.

"Don’t die," Damien said simply. It was the only command that mattered. Then, he turned his gaze to Kenji. The temperature around them seemed to drop.

The blue marks on Kenji’s face seemed to throb in the presence of his father. "Remember what I told you yesterday," Damien said. His voice was a cold, jagged edge.

Ayla watched the way Kenji’s jaw tightened. She looked at the bruises again. A realization flickered in her mind. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The injuries on Kenji’s face hadn’t come from an accident with his trainer. They were the ’teachings’ Damien had promised to convey.

Her father had beaten his own son into submission to ensure Ayla’s safety. She couldn’t prove it, but the way Kenji refused to meet Damien’s eyes confirmed the suspicion.

"The passage is waiting," Damien announced, stepping aside.

The Gate was a shimmering wall of vertical water, glowing with a bioluminescent sapphire hue. It hummed with a frequency that vibrated in Ayla’s marrow.

This was the mouth of the Crusade, the entrance to the great trial that decided the fate of all who entered. Kenji took a deep breath, his posture straight and his eyes fixed forward. He didn’t look at his father again.

He reached out and gripped Ayla’s hand. His grip was tight, bordering on painful, as if he were trying to anchor himself.

"Let’s go," Kenji muttered.

Ayla looked back one last time. She saw Sarah waving a handkerchief, her face a mask of grief. She saw Damien, standing like an immovable mountain, watching his legacy walk into the jaws of the unknown.

Ayla turned back to the blue light. She felt a surge of her true nature beneath her skin. The slime within her was hungry. It was the time to return to her original self. The play as a human was ending.

They stepped into the veil. The cold sapphire light swallowed them whole. For a heartbeat, there was no sound, no weight, and no breath.

Then, the world of the city vanished, and they opened their eyes to a city so massive the smallest structure seemed to touch the sky.