​The silence of the Inner Sanctum was shattered not by a knock, but by the frantic, low-pitched ringing of the Great Bell—a sound that signaled a breach of the city’s outer wards.

Julian didn’t know what was going on, but from the window, he could see how everyone was panicking.

"What was going on?" he wondered out loud.

It couldn’t be that the Viremount Empire invaded the Holy Empire without warning, right? They had made a peace treaty for accepting The Holy Empire’s help, so it was unlikely.

Then, was it Alaric?

Julian quickly shook his head.

No, that’s not possible. Lucien wouldn’t break his promise so soon.

Then, if it wasn’t the Viremount Empire or Alaric, who had invaded the territory for there to be so much turmoil?

​Suddenly, the door to their suite was thrown open. Elian stood there, his white robes stained with a bit of dirt and his expression grimmer than Julian had ever seen it.

"What is going on?" Julian asked, and Elian answered.

"Demons."

Julian’s eyes widened. Demons? Wait, those were real?

He had heard it a couple of times, but he never imagined he would actually get in a situation where he would be told demons were invading.

How do they even fight demons?

"So, what is going on now? Are they trying to stop it?" Julian asked, sounding a little worried. If there were demons close by, then the entire white city was in turmoil, and they were also in danger. "Do we have to evacuate to a safe place?"

He looked back at Lucius and Castor who was currently asleep. His priority was to get Lucius to safety and Castor, too. He was not in full health yet.

"Right now, the Southern pass has been breached, and the holy knights who were deployed in that area, taken by surprise by the sudden surge, were fatally wounded." Julian’s heart got caught at the mention of that. "Right now, we are gathering knights with potent holy power to go to the front lines and heal the holy knights. And Said. Julian, you are among that list."

Julian’s entire body went rigid, and his face nearly contorted.

"What did you say?"

The air in the room felt like it had been sucked out. Julian stood frozen, his hand still resting protectively on the back of the chair where Lucius sat.

​"You heard me," Elian said, his voice flat and devoid of its usual melodic tone. "The corruption from the demons is unlike a normal wound. It eats at the spirit as much as the flesh. The standard healers are being drained too quickly. We need someone who can ground that much energy. We need you."

​Julian’s shock sharpened into a cold, biting clarity. He looked at the traveling robes Elian had tossed onto the table—stiff, practical, and a far cry from the scholar’s silks he wore now.

​"You’re out of your mind," Julian said, his voice trembling not with fear, but with rising fury. "I am a scholar. I am a guest here under a diplomatic treaty between two empires. I have had no combat training, I do not know your military protocols, and I certainly have no right to be deployed to a battlefield like a common foot soldier."

​"This is not a military deployment, Saint," Elian countered, stepping further into the room. Outside, the bells continued to toll, a relentless, heavy sound that made the floorboards vibrate. "This is a mercy mission. People are dying, and you have the power to save them. Would the ’Saint of the North’ truly sit in a silk-lined room while the faithful are slaughtered at the gates?"

​"Don’t use my title to shame me, Elian," Julian hissed. He stepped forward, putting himself between the Purifier and the two boys. "I know how this works. You want to see if my ’impure’ power can survive the miasma. Or better yet, you want the demons to do the Council’s dirty work so you don’t have to worry about a Viremount Saint influencing your Successor."

​Elian’s eyes narrowed, the silver in them turning as cold as winter ice.

In all the time Julian tried to provoke him, in all the times Zane had taunted him and his religion, not once did Elian lose his smile. Not once did he lose his composure.

But this time, it looked like the issue was way too big for him to hold on to his composure.

"The motives of the Council are irrelevant when the Southern pass is being overrun." He explained. "If those gates fall, Julian, there will be no diplomatic immunity. The demons do not care about treaties or the titles of scholars. They will consume Lucius just as quickly as they consume us."

​Julian flinched at the mention of Lucius. He glanced back at the boy, who was clutching his drawing book, his face pale with confusion and terror.

​"I will not go," Julian said, though his resolve was being chipped away by the desperation in the air. "If you want me to heal, bring the wounded here. Bring them to the infirmary, where I can easily access them. But I will not step onto a battlefield for an Empire that has done nothing but treat me like a prisoner since I arrived."

​"There is no time to transport the dying!" Elian barked, losing his composure for the first time. "They are being corrupted now. Every minute you argue is a soul lost to the void."

​He pointed a gloved finger toward the window, where the southern horizon was beginning to glow with a sickly, bruised purple light.

​"You will go, Julian," Elian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low whisper. "Either you go as a savior of the Light, or you will be dragged to the front in chains as a coward who watched the world burn. Choose quickly."

This was a threat. A sick, dirty, and dangerous threat.

Julian trembled. How did things get to this? Where did demons even come from?

He looked back at the two boys. He had a mission to keep Lucius safe. What would happen if he threw himself into the battlefield and died there?

No, he didn’t even want to think about it. It was tragic, and he wanted to avoid any tragedies in his life.

Still, they would not let him be. They would drag him to the battlefield, whether by tooth or nail. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"You have to choose quickly, Saint Julian." Elian urged, making Julian’s heart beat even more rapidly. "The time is ticking."

Julian shut his eyes tight and then opened them, a firm resolve overriding the fear he was feeling.

"Fine, I will go, but before that, I want to send a message to Lucien."