Chapter 155: Her Distant Thunder

The wind howled across the southern hills and offered absolutely zero cover.

Zion stood on the highest rocky ridge and looked down at the valley below her boots.

Six hundred Unchained soldiers camped in the freezing mud.

She recognized the cold, miserable reality of her army instead of just seeing a collection of pixels.

Exarch Darius marched fifteen hundred heavy Church soldiers into the valley two days ago.

He secured the main road leading north and established a massive iron blockade.

Zion possessed the raw stats to shatter his defensive line.

She could draw her black sword and carve a bloody path straight through the infantry.

But a direct assault meant heavy casualties for the Unchained.

She would lose half her people in the crossfire.

She opened her main menu.

The global countdown timer blinked in the top right corner of her vision.

[TIME REMAINING: 18 DAYS.]

She had eighteen days to reach the capital and find the Architect.

She could not waste a full week fighting a war of attrition against Darius.

She needed a bypass.

Varek climbed the rocky path and stopped next to her. He wore dented iron armor and carried a heavy spear.

“The scouts found a goat path through the eastern mountains,” Varek reported.

“It is narrow and dangerous. It adds three days to the march, but it bypasses the Church blockade entirely.”

Zion looked at the jagged mountain peaks in the distance.

“We split the army,” Zion ordered.

“You take four hundred men and hold this camp. Dig trenches and build heavy palisades. Keep Darius focused on the valley. Make him think we are preparing for a siege.”

Varek frowned. “And you?”

“I take two hundred elite fighters up the mountain path,” Zion answered.

“We slip past his army and march straight for the capital.”

Varek slammed his fist against his breastplate to salute her.

He turned around to execute the orders.

The camp broke into frantic movement.

Soldiers packed light rations and sharpened their weapons.

Zion walked toward her command tent to gather her gear.

Mila stood right in front of the tent flap.

“I am going with you,” Mila stated.

“No,” Zion replied and kept walking. “The mountain path is too steep. You will slow us down.”

“I can walk fast!” Mila argued and stepped directly into Zion’s path.

“Mila, move.”

Mila did not move.

Tears welled up in her big brown eyes and spilled over her dirty cheeks.

She cried in total silence. She just stood there and let the tears fall while hugging the cloth doll.

Zion stopped.

She killed gods and slaughtered entire armies across multiple timelines.

She possessed SSS-Rank combat skills and destroyed heavy cavalry units without breaking a sweat.

But the crying eight-year-old girl completely defeated her.

Zion let out a long breath and dropped her shoulders.

“Fine,” Zion surrendered. “Go pack your bag.”

Mila wiped her face with her sleeve and smiled as she ran off toward the civilian tents.

The elite strike force left the valley an hour later.

Two hundred Unchained marched up the steep mountain trail.

The air grew thinner and colder with every mile.

Zion led the vanguard.

The blue interface in her vision glitched.

[ALERT: SECOND PLAYER ACTIVITY DETECTED.]

[LOCATION: ST. CELESTE ACADEMY.]

[ACTION: Mastered 4 Forbidden Gifts.]

Zion stopped walking.

[NOTE: The System deleted the Forbidden Gifts in Cycle 1 to maintain balance. The Second Player is restoring the corrupted code.]

[CONSEQUENCE: The game foundation loses stability with every restored Gift.]

Four Gifts.

The other Player managed to tame four massive magical anomalies that the System explicitly erased from existence.

He fought against the absolute rules of the game and he was actually winning.

Zion stared at the floating red text.

It took her several seconds to recognize the final emotion settling in her chest.

Respect.

“Who the hell are you?” Zion whispered to the wind.

The interface glitched harder than ever before. The red pixels scrambled and the digital static screamed in her ears.

The censorship blocks covering the other Player’s identity shattered.

The name appeared in clear, undeniable white text.

[RAZIEL CELESTE]

A brutal flash of memory hit Zion’s brain the exact second she read the name.

The mountain trail vanished.

She saw the ruined Main Chapel of St. Celeste.

She saw his golden eyes looking up at her with terror right before she swung her black sword.

She killed him.

He looked at her like her actions mattered, and she murdered him like he did not even exist.

The memory ended and the mountain trail rushed back into her vision.

Zion stumbled and sat down heavily on a large boulder next to the path.

“I have to find him,” Zion thought.

Mila walked up the trail and stopped next to the boulder. She looked at Zion’s pale face.

“What are you thinking about?” Mila asked.

“I am thinking about someone I hurt,” Zion answered.

“Did you ask them to forgive you?”

“I do not know how.”

Mila looked at her like she just asked the stupidest question in the world.

“You say ’I am sorry’ and you wait to see if they forgive you,” Mila explained. “Dad always said saying sorry is easy. The hard part is accepting they might say no.”

The blue interface flashed a quick update in the corner of her eye.

[CURRENT HUMANITY: 55%]

Zion stood up from the boulder and nodded. She resumed the march up the mountain.

They set up a temporary camp near the summit that night.

A scout approached Zion’s fire and handed her a small sealed scroll.

The spy network in the capital delivered another message from the hidden faction known as The Restorers.

Zion broke the wax seal and unrolled the parchment. The message sounded urgent and desperate.

The node of St. Celeste is threatened.

Elector Mordecai plans to destroy the foundation. If the node falls, one of the paths to the Forge closes permanently.

Zion read the final paragraph.

We do not ask you to march to St. Celeste. We just ask you to know the truth. The Second Player fights a war entirely alone. And he might lose.

Zion lowered the parchment and looked toward the northern horizon.

St. Celeste sat three hundred and eighty kilometers away.

An entire Church army blocked the main roads to the capital.

A total stranger fought a desperate war in the dark, and she knew she should be standing right next to him on the front lines.

“I cannot go,” Zion told the cold wind.

The blue interface responded to her spoken words.

[HIDDEN QUEST UNLOCKED: TRUST WITHOUT SIGHT.]

[DESCRIPTION: Believe in someone you do not know.]

[REWARD: ???]

Trust without sight?

Zion closed her eyes and listened to the distant thunder rolling across the mountains.

’Hey, Raziel, Whoever you are. Do not die before I get the chance to find you.’

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