Purgatory of the Blue Flame: The Apostle of Anarchy

The smell of burnt wood lingered over Vallcera long after the fire had gone out.

Tatsuchi Kuroainaru walked through one of the city's older districts, her right hand resting against Shinkoku's hilt. The canal beside the street carried dark water beneath a series of stone bridges, its surface disturbed by the occasional boat passing between the buildings. Above the narrow streets, old balconies leaned over the walkways, and faded signs hung from storefronts that had stood for generations. The district had once been a lively place, but the previous night's fire had left a blackened gap between two rows of buildings.

Workers carried broken furniture out of the damaged structure while others sifted through the remains, searching for anything worth salvaging. A woman stood outside the neighboring shop, arguing with a man who kept insisting she should close for the day. She refused, pointing angrily at the goods displayed behind her window. Whatever had happened to the building next door, she couldn't afford to lose another day's earnings.

Life hadn't stopped in Vallcera. It had simply become more cautious.Conversations quieted whenever unfamiliar faces approached. Shopkeepers watched the street through narrow gaps in their curtains, and several doors remained locked despite the businesses inside being open for customers. Even the children playing near the canal seemed reluctant to stray too far from their parents. The city was still moving, but something had changed in the way its people occupied their streets.

Tatsuchi stopped in front of the burned building and crouched beside the entrance. The wooden frame had been reduced to a blackened skeleton, with sections of it collapsed inward. She ran her fingers along the edge of a charred beam, rubbing a little ash between her thumb and index finger before examining the surrounding damage.

The fire had consumed most of the interior. Several windows had shattered, the upper floor had partially collapsed, and soot covered the walls from the entrance to the roof. Yet the buildings on either side had barely been touched. A thin strip of black discoloration marked one neighboring wall, but the damage stopped there. Tatsuchi rubbed her fingers together and let the ash fall.

"If this started as an ordinary fire, I'd expect the surrounding buildings to have taken more damage."
She stood and brushed her hands against her pants, studying the ruined entrance again. There wasn't an obvious point where the fire had begun. The destruction was too extensive for her to identify anything useful from the outside, and the collapsed upper floor made it difficult to determine whether the flames had spread naturally or consumed the building from within.

An older man stood near the sidewalk, watching her examine the remains. His clothes were dusty, and the lines around his eyes deepened whenever he glanced toward the burned structure. He looked as though he'd been standing there for a while, waiting for someone to ask him what he'd seen.

Tatsuchi approached him.

"Do you know what happened here?" The man looked at her sword before meeting her eyes. His shoulders relaxed slightly when he recognized her uniform, though the worry in his expression remained.

"It was standing yesterday," he explained. "The people who lived inside were supposed to leave for another district this morning. They'd been talking about it for a few days, so everyone knew they were going."

"Did they leave?"

"Nobody saw them. We thought they'd already gone until someone noticed the smoke." He glanced at the building, his mouth tightening. "By then, the whole place was burning. There wasn't much anyone could do."

Tatsuchi studied him carefully."Did you hear an explosion? Anything that might've started the fire?"

"No. Nothing like that."

"Did you see anyone carrying fuel or bringing anything unusual into the building?"

The man shook his head, then hesitated. His gaze drifted toward the narrow street behind them, as if he were checking whether someone might be listening. "There was something else, though."Tatsuchi waited.

The man rubbed the back of his neck. "I heard laughter before the fire started. I thought it was a group of drunks passing through. You get that sometimes around here, especially late at night. But it kept going even after I'd gone inside and locked my doors."

"What kind of laughter?"

"Cheerful, I suppose." He frowned, struggling to describe it. "Like somebody had just heard the funniest joke in the world. I couldn't understand what was so funny, but whoever it was seemed to be having a wonderful time."

"And when did you see the fire?""Not long after. I looked out again because the noise had stopped, and there it was." Tatsuchi glanced toward the ruined building. The man's description sounded familiar, though not because she'd heard it from him before. She'd been asking questions across Vallcera for days, and the laughter kept appearing in people's accounts. Some described it as high-pitched and childish. Others remembered a low chuckle that seemed to come from the walls themselves. A few couldn't agree on whether they'd heard a man or a woman.Their descriptions differed, but the feeling they recalled was always the same.

Someone had been enjoying themselves while something terrible happened nearby. "Thank you for telling me," Tatsuchi said. "If you remember anything else, report it to the authorities. Don't try to investigate it yourself." The man nodded, though he didn't look reassured.

Tatsuchi stepped away from him and crossed the street. Zhenyu Mori stood on the opposite side, his hands tucked into his pockets as he examined the roof. He'd been looking at the neighboring structures, occasionally shifting his attention toward the damaged windows and the narrow spaces between the buildings.

"Anything useful?" Tatsuchi asked.Zhenyu lowered his gaze toward her."Not really. The damage doesn't make much sense."

He pointed toward the upper floor. Several blackened beams had collapsed into the room below, leaving a gap in the roof large enough to expose the building's interior. The walls surrounding it were scorched, but there were no obvious signs of an explosion. The nearby windows had shattered inward, and the debris lay scattered across the floor rather than being thrown into the street.

"It looks like the fire consumed the building from the inside," Zhenyu continued. "But I can't find anything that explains how it spread so quickly. There's no obvious source, and the damage doesn't follow a normal pattern."Tatsuchi folded her arms. "Which means we still don't know whether we're dealing with a Zyn Technique, Kai, or something else."
"Or someone who knows how to make an ordinary fire look strange." Zhenyu glanced toward the burned entrance. "We shouldn't rule out anything yet.""I know."

She looked back at the building. There was no reason to assume the culprit had used an ability simply because the destruction seemed unnatural. Zyn could produce effects that ordinary people couldn't replicate, but it wasn't the answer to every unexplained event. Kai introduced its own possibilities, and someone with enough knowledge could create a convincing illusion without either.

They needed more than a damaged building and a strange story.Footsteps approached from the far end of the street. Asumi emerged from the narrow passage between two storefronts, her pink hair moving against the collar of her coat. She'd been speaking with a shopkeeper nearby, and the woman was still watching her from the doorway as Asumi joined them."The shopkeeper heard it too," Asumi said.

Tatsuchi turned toward her. "The laughter?" Asumi nodded and leaned against the wall beside Zhenyu."She said it's been happening across different parts of Vallcera for days. Usually, someone hears it shortly before a building catches fire or somebody disappears. The authorities have been treating each incident separately, which explains why nobody's connected the two."

Tatsuchi's expression hardened."How many people have disappeared?"

"Ten."

The answer came without hesitation.Tatsuchi looked toward the burned building again. Ten missing people. Several fires. The same strange laughter appearing before both. If the culprit wanted to conceal evidence, destroying the buildings might've made sense, but there was something deliberate about the repeated pattern. Whoever was responsible wasn't doing a particularly good job of hiding their actions.If anything, they seemed determined to make sure people noticed. Zhenyu pulled one hand from his pocket and rubbed his chin.

"Do you think the Revolutionary Army is behind it?"

"They're the most likely suspects, considering what we encountered in Harpyra," Tatsuchi replied. "But I don't want to accuse them without evidence."The Revolutionary Army had operated across multiple settlements, and its members had demonstrated that they could carry out attacks without revealing their actual objectives. Their presence here wouldn't have been surprising. Still, Tatsuchi couldn't see why a Commander would waste time burning random buildings unless there was a reason behind it.

Asumi tilted her head.

"What if there isn't a practical reason?"Zhenyu looked at her. "You're suggesting someone is burning buildings for fun?""I'm suggesting that people don't always need a good reason to do terrible things." Asumi glanced toward the shopkeeper, who'd retreated inside and was now watching them through the glass. "I've seen people do worse for less."

Tatsuchi didn't answer immediately. She looked down the street, where the last sunlight was disappearing behind Vallcera's taller buildings. The narrow alleys would become difficult to search once darkness settled over the district, and the witnesses they'd spoken to weren't likely to offer anything more useful without a new lead. They could spend the evening questioning people, but if the culprit was moving between the affected buildings, the streets weren't necessarily the best place to look.Tatsuchi turned toward the canal."We should inspect the waterways before it gets too dark. If someone's moving between the incidents, the canals could give them an easier route than the streets. Someone familiar with the older districts could move through them without attracting much attention."Zhenyu followed her gaze. "That makes sense. The waterways connect most of this part of the city." Asumi pushed herself away from the wall. "Then let's hope our mystery guest likes boats."Tatsuchi started walking.

"Don't get your hopes up." The three moved toward the canal, leaving the burned building behind them. Tatsuchi kept her right hand near Shinkoku's hilt as they passed through the district, watching the windows and the narrow spaces between storefronts. The residents had begun returning to their businesses, but their attention followed the three Gate Guards as they walked away.

A man carrying a crate stopped in the middle of the street to watch them pass. Two women talking beside a doorway lowered their voices. Somewhere above them, a window shut with a sharp click.Tatsuchi kept walking. Whatever was happening in Vallcera, the people here already knew enough to be afraid.

The canal grew wider as they approached the city center. Stone embankments rose along both sides, their surfaces darkened by years of water and weather. Walkways followed the banks, connecting restaurants, shops, and residential buildings through a network of narrow bridges. Boats continued passing through the farther stretches of the canal, their lights reflecting across the water as the sky darkened. The sound of engines mixed with the steady movement of the current, while the smell of food drifting from the restaurants almost covered the lingering scent of smoke.

Almost.

People were still eating outside, but few seemed interested in their meals. Conversations became quiet whenever someone unfamiliar passed nearby, and more than one customer had turned their chair to face the street rather than the water. A waiter carried a tray between tables while glancing repeatedly toward a distant bridge, and a couple sitting beside the railing abandoned their drinks when a loud noise echoed from somewhere farther down the canal.Vallcera was trying to carry on as usual.It wasn't doing a very convincing job.Tatsuchi walked close to the railing, occasionally looking down into the water as she followed the canal toward the center of the district. The surface reflected the lights from the buildings in long, wavering streaks. Every time a boat passed, the reflections broke apart and reformed behind it.She'd heard something strange beneath the water earlier.

A laugh.

At the time, she'd thought it might've been an echo from the streets above. The sound had been faint, almost indistinguishable from the water moving through the canal, but she'd been certain she'd heard someone laughing beneath the surface. She hadn't mentioned it to Zhenyu or Asumi because she didn't want to draw conclusions from a sound she couldn't explain.

Now, with the fires and disappearances following the same pattern, the memory bothered her. Tatsuchi glanced beneath the nearest bridge. Nothing moved in the shadows between its stone supports. The water passed through the narrow opening, carrying scraps of leaves and a small piece of wood toward the center of the city.

She looked away and continued walking.Asumi followed a few steps behind her, glancing between the water and the darkened windows of the surrounding buildings. Her visible eye moved constantly, checking doorways, rooftops, and the occasional figure standing alone near the embankment. Zhenyu kept to the opposite side of the walkway, where he had a clearer view of the bridges ahead.

For a while, nothing happened. The three Gate Guards continued along the canal, listening to the distant traffic and the conversations drifting from the restaurants. Tatsuchi was beginning to wonder whether they'd chosen the wrong route when a laugh echoed from beneath the nearest bridge. Zhenyu stopped immediately. Tatsuchi's hand closed around Shinkoku's hilt. Asumi turned toward the sound, her visible eye narrowing as she searched the shadows.The laughter was brief and playful.It seemed to come from directly beneath them.

Tatsuchi stepped toward the railing and looked down. Dark water moved between the stone walls, carrying the reflections of the lights above. She leaned forward, trying to see beneath the bridge itself, but there was nobody there."Did you hear that?" Zhenyu asked.

"Yes."

Tatsuchi shifted her position to get a better angle. The stone supports were thick enough to conceal someone standing close to them, but there wasn't much space beneath the bridge. She could see a few abandoned crates resting against the wall and a length of rope hanging from a metal hook.

Nothing else.

Another laugh followed, this time from farther down the canal.Asumi looked toward Tatsuchi, waiting for instructions. Tatsuchi was already moving. "Zhenyu, stay behind me. Asumi, check the opposite walkway. Don't lose sight of us." Asumi nodded and crossed toward the other side of the canal, moving between a group of pedestrians before disappearing into a narrow passage. Zhenyu followed Tatsuchi along the embankment, keeping enough distance to watch the bridges and nearby entrances.

The laughter came again.

Closer this time.

Tatsuchi reached the next bridge and stepped beneath its arch. The light from the street faded behind her, leaving the narrow passage illuminated by reflections from the water. She checked the space between the stone supports, then moved toward the abandoned crates. One of them had been pushed against the wall, its lid hanging open. A length of rope dangled from a metal hook above it, swaying slightly despite the absence of wind.

She examined the rope.

It was old, frayed in places, and damp from the canal air. There was nothing unusual about it, though the hook looked as if it had been used recently. Tatsuchi touched the wall beside it, checking for any sign of fresh scratches or disturbed dust.

Then she heard footsteps behind her.Tatsuchi turned, her hand already moving toward Shinkoku. A man stood a few feet away, leaning against the stone railing with one elbow resting on it.He looked ordinary enough at first glance. His clothes were disheveled, his posture loose, and his head tilted slightly to one side as he studied her. There was nothing particularly remarkable about his height or build. He could've been another resident wandering along the canal after work, someone who'd stopped to watch the water before heading home. Except he was smiling at her as though they'd been having a conversation for the past several minutes.

His expression was so cheerful that it seemed out of place beneath the dark bridge. He looked genuinely pleased that she'd finally turned around, and there wasn't the slightest hint of concern in his face despite the sword at her side.The man began clapping slowly.Tatsuchi didn't move. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He continued clapping for another moment before letting his hands fall to his sides. His eyes wandered over her uniform, then settled on the hand resting against Shinkoku's hilt.

"You're taking your job very seriously."Tatsuchi's expression didn't change."Ten people have disappeared, and buildings are being burned down. I don't see what's funny."

The man considered that for a moment. His smile widened, and he looked toward the water as though the answer might be written across its surface."People tend to become very serious when something happens to them personally," he said. "It's interesting, isn't it? When something terrible happens to someone else, they can usually find a way to carry on with their day. They eat, they work, they go home, and they sleep. Then something happens to them, and suddenly the world is cruel."He pushed himself away from the railing and took a few leisurely steps along the walkway.

"How many buildings have you walked past in your life without wondering who lived inside them? How many people have you passed on the street without knowing their names? How many disappearances would it take before you decided that the world was a terrible place?"

Tatsuchi watched him carefully. "Do you know anything about the missing people?" The man turned toward Zhenyu, who'd approached from the opposite side of the canal. For a moment, he looked genuinely surprised to see him. Then he gave a small laugh beneath his breath. "Do you always interrupt people in the middle of a conversation?" Zhenyu stopped a few feet away.

"We aren't having a conversation. We're investigating a crime, and you're standing in the middle of it while refusing to answer basic questions."The man pressed a hand against his chest. "Refusing to answer questions? That's a terrible accusation to make against someone who hasn't even been formally introduced."

He took another step forward. Tatsuchi shifted her stance. The man's eyes immediately settled on her hand. His smile vanished, and the change was so abrupt that the air beneath the bridge seemed to grow heavier. For a brief moment, his face became completely still. There was no amusement in his expression, no playful curiosity, and no sign that he found the situation entertaining. He was simply watching her.

Then the smile returned.

"You're impatient, aren't you?"Tatsuchi tightened her grip on Shinkoku."If you don't explain yourself, I'll arrest you and let the authorities decide what to do with you."

The man stared at her.

Then he burst out laughing.

He bent forward, pressing one hand against his stomach as the laughter spilled from him. His shoulders shook, and he grabbed the railing with his other hand to steady himself. The sound echoed beneath the bridge, bouncing off the stone walls and carrying across the water.

Zhenyu looked toward Tatsuchi, silently asking whether he should do something.She shook her head slightly. The man was laughing hard enough that it might've been a distraction, but Tatsuchi couldn't see what he hoped to gain from it. His feet remained planted on the walkway, and his hands were visible. She watched his shoulders, his waist, and the space around him, waiting for any indication that he'd prepare an attack.

Eventually, he straightened. He wiped at one eye with his finger as though he'd laughed hard enough to cry, then took a deep breath and looked directly at Tatsuchi. "Have you ever heard of the Apostles?" Tatsuchi's expression changed. She remembered the titles associated with the Revolutionary Army and the warnings that accompanied them. Apostles weren't ordinary Commanders, and their names carried weight among those who understood the structure of the Cult of Liberation. Their presence meant that whatever was happening in Vallcera might extend far beyond a handful of fires. She kept her voice level.

"Are you claiming to be one of them?"The man gave her an exaggerated bow. One hand swept across his body while the other extended toward the canal, as though he were introducing himself to an audience gathered in a grand theater rather than three armed Gate Guards beneath a bridge.

"I am the Apostle of Anarchy representing the Cult of Liberation."

He held the pose for another moment, apparently satisfied with the effect.

"My name... is Silas Crowley!"

Zhenyu's posture changed immediately. He pulled both hands from his pockets, his attention fixed on Silas. Across the canal, Asumi emerged from the narrow passage and stopped when she heard the introduction. Her hand moved toward her weapon as she studied the stranger.Tatsuchi said nothing. The name didn't tell her much, but the title was enough. If Silas was an Apostle, then the disappearances and fires could be part of a much larger operation. She'd been expecting trouble from the Revolutionary Army since their arrival in Vallcera, but she hadn't expected someone to announce himself so openly in the middle of an investigation.

She took one step forward.

"What do you want from Vallcera? Why have you been targeting its people?"Silas looked around. His gaze traveled across the canal, past the restaurants and the bridges, toward the old buildings standing beneath the darkening sky. He watched a boat pass beneath a distant arch and followed its lights until they disappeared behind a bend in the water.Then he looked back at Tatsuchi."Vallcera is a wonderful city. It's got history, wealth, and plenty of people who believe someone else is responsible for keeping them safe."

He spread his hands, smiling at the buildings around them. "I like places like this. People become so comfortable with the lives they've built. They follow the rules, pay their taxes, listen to their rulers, and assume everything will continue working as long as they do what they're told. They wake up every morning and expect the streets to be clean, the shops to be open, and the people in charge to know what they're doing." Silas tilted his head. "It must be comforting to believe that the world has someone in charge."

Tatsuchi's eyes narrowed.

"What does any of that have to do with the Revolutionary Army?" Silas gave a small laugh. "You're looking at this from the wrong direction." He stepped closer to the railing and rested his hands against the stone. "I'm not here to represent an army, and I'm certainly not interested in arguing politics with a Gate Guard. I'm here because the world has a ruler, and that ruler has been ignored for far too long." Tatsuchi didn't take her eyes off him. "The world already has people who govern it." "Govern it?" Silas repeated, sounding delighted by the word. "What a lovely way to describe it. Laws, justice, balance. All those little words people use to make themselves feel important. Give someone a title, put them in a chair, and suddenly they think the world belongs to them."

His tone shifted as he spoke. One moment he sounded like a preacher addressing a crowd, the next he was making an idle observation about the weather. His hands moved constantly, tracing invisible shapes in the air or tapping against the railing. Every gesture seemed to serve some purpose known only to him.

"People spend their lives obeying rules they never chose. They trust systems they don't understand. They accept whatever they're given and call it peace. Then, when something goes wrong, they look around for someone to blame."He leaned toward Tatsuchi."Tell me, do you believe the people who govern this world have earned their authority?"

Tatsuchi opened her mouth.Silas suddenly laughed and waved away the question.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter what you believe. The world will answer for itself."He straightened and spread his arms, looking almost delighted with his own conclusion. The lights along the canal reflected in his eyes, and his smile seemed to grow with every second he spent watching the three Gate Guards."I represent the true ruler of the world."Tatsuchi's fingers tightened around Shinkoku's hilt. "Who?"

Silas looked at her. For the first time since introducing himself, he didn't immediately answer. His smile remained, but something behind it seemed to withdraw. He studied Tatsuchi with an intensity that made her aware of every inch separating them. Then he shrugged. "You'll understand when the world begins to change. Consider yourself fortunate. Not everyone gets to stand this close to the beginning."His delivery was almost casual, as if he were inviting her to watch a festival rather than threatening an entire city. He turned toward the canal and examined the lights reflected in the water, apparently satisfied that he'd said enough.

Tatsuchi had heard enough too. She drew Shinkoku. The blade slid free with a clear metallic sound, its edge catching the dim light from the street. Zhenyu shifted to her right, ready to move if Silas tried anything. Asumi crossed back toward them, keeping a careful distance from the water.."You're coming with us," Tatsuchi said. Silas looked at the sword. Then he looked at her. "You're really going to arrest me in the middle of my performance?"

"I don't care what you call it. Ten people are missing. If you're responsible, you're going to answer for it."

Silas sighed and lowered his head."Such a terrible habit. Interrupting things before they become interesting."He took one step backward. Tatsuchi moved forward to close the distance, but Silas raised a hand. Green flames ignited along the canal. The fire appeared directly beneath his fingers, a vivid green that cast an unnatural glow across the stone embankment. It spread over the surface of the water in a widening wave, moving in both directions with impossible speed. The flames raced beneath the nearest bridge, curled around its stone supports, and surged down the canal toward the city center.Tatsuchi felt the heat before she understood what she was seeing.The green fire wasn't behaving like ordinary flames. It moved across the water without sinking, its surface flickering and twisting as it traveled. 
Wherever it passed, the reflections of the buildings disappeared beneath the light. The flames branched into connected waterways, racing through the canal system as though every stretch had already been prepared for them. People began shouting.

A boat farther down the canal turned sharply toward the bank. Its operator leaned over the side, trying to steer away from the approaching fire, while passengers scrambled toward the nearest exit. A man carrying a bag dropped it and ran when the flames reached the water beneath his feet.Tatsuchi turned toward the spreading blaze.

"Zhenyu, find out how far it's spread! Asumi, get around the other side and cut him off!"

Zhenyu moved toward the railing, his eyes tracking the flames as they disappeared beneath a bridge. He watched for a moment, then looked toward another section of the canal where green light had appeared several buildings away. "It's already spreading beyond this stretch!"

"Then keep moving!"

Tatsuchi started after Silas, but the Apostle was already walking away from the railing. He stepped onto a narrow bridge, turned around while still moving, and waved at Asumi with an enormous grin.

"Do you like the color?"

Asumi didn't answer. She kept moving toward him, his gaze fixed on his hands and feet. Silas skipped across the bridge with a lightness that seemed almost absurd given the fire spreading beneath him. He didn't look back at the flames. He didn't even seem concerned about the people running along the canal.Asumi reached the far side just as he rounded the corner of a building.She accelerated, her shadow stretching across the stone beneath her feet. For a moment, she caught sight of his grayish silhouette slipping between two storefronts. Then she turned the corner and found an empty passage.

Silas was gone.

Asumi stopped and looked in both directions. There were several doors leading into the neighboring buildings, along with a narrow set of stairs that descended toward the water. She checked the closest entrance, then leaned over the railing to search the steps below.

Nothing.

She glanced back toward Tatsuchi, who was moving along the canal in the opposite direction.

"He's gone!" Asumi shouted.Tatsuchi cursed under her breath.She started toward the passage, intending to help search, when a scream cut through the noise of the burning city.It came from the watchtower near the heart of Vallcera. Tatsuchi turned.For a moment, she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

Ten people were suspended from chains attached high above the streets, their bodies hanging around the upper structure of the tower. The chains were secured around their necks, leaving them helpless beneath the platform. Their silhouettes stood out against the green light spreading through the canals below, and the distant movement of their limbs made it clear that at least some of them were still alive.

Ten people.

The missing residents.

Tatsuchi's stomach tightened.She'd been searching for clues about their disappearances, trying to understand what connected the fires and the laughter. Now the answer was hanging above the city for everyone to see. Whoever had taken them hadn't simply wanted to make them disappear. They'd brought them here, chained them to the tower, and left them exposed to the people they'd once lived beside.Tatsuchi couldn't tell whether any of them were injured beyond help.She couldn't afford to wait and find out."Zhenyu! Asumi! Get to the tower!"Zhenyu looked up from the canal. His expression hardened as he saw the figures hanging above the street."What about the fire?"

"I'll find a way to contain it. Get those people down!"

He hesitated, clearly unhappy about splitting up while Silas was still nearby. His eyes shifted between Tatsuchi and the tower, weighing the risk of leaving her alone against the need to rescue the captives.

Tatsuchi met his gaze.

"Go!"

Zhenyu nodded and took off toward the nearest street leading to the tower. Asumi emerged from the passage at a run, her expression changing as soon as she saw the suspended figures. She didn't stop to ask questions. She followed Zhenyu through the crowd, moving quickly between people fleeing the canal.

Tatsuchi turned back toward the water.The green flames continued spreading. They moved beneath bridges and along the embankments, climbing the stonework in places where the fire had no business burning. The flames were too widespread for her to attack one section and expect the rest to stop. Even if she could cut off the canal's flow, there was no guarantee it would matter. She needed to understand what sustained the fire.

Tatsuchi watched a wave of green flame pass beneath the bridge ahead. The light brightened as it reached the far side, then dimmed slightly before surging again farther down the waterway. It wasn't a simple chain reaction. The fire seemed to respond to something, though she couldn't yet identify what. Another scream echoed from the tower.Tatsuchi looked up.

Silas stood on the platform beneath the hanging figures, one hand resting against the railing. The green fire illuminated his clothes and cast strange shadows across his face. He was talking to the people gathered below him, speaking loudly enough for his voice to carry over the burning canals. "Are you frightened?" The crowd didn't answer.Silas leaned forward, looking over the streets as though he were searching for a particular face.

"Do you believe your rulers are coming to save you? Do you still think the world is fair? Do you really believe the people responsible for protecting you can stop a single man from setting their city on fire?"

Some people continued running. Others stood frozen in place, staring up at the tower. A woman pulled a child against her chest, while a man near the edge of the crowd shouted for the authorities to do something. Nobody seemed to know where to go. The fire was spreading through the waterways, and the streets that should've offered escape were filling with frightened residents. Silas listened to the confusion with a smile.

"Silence is an answer too, you know."He turned toward the ten people hanging above him. Tatsuchi started running. "Don't you dare!" Silas raised one hand.Green flames climbed the tower.They wrapped around one of the suspended figures, illuminating the chains and the surrounding stonework. The person jerked against their restraints, and a scream rang out across the city.

The fire along the canal surged higher.Tatsuchi felt the heat roll across the street as the flames spread over the embankment. They climbed the sides of nearby buildings, crawling along the lower walls and reaching toward the windows. People screamed and scattered as the green light swallowed the street.

She looked from the burning tower to the canal. The timing was too precise to ignore. The flames had intensified the moment the captive screamed.Tatsuchi couldn't tell whether their suffering was directly feeding the fire or whether Silas was using their reactions to trigger another part of his technique. Either way, the connection was clear enough to make her blood run cold.The Apostle was using the captives to increase the destruction.

Silas watched the flames with genuine fascination. He tilted his head, listening to the scream as though it were a sound he'd been waiting all day to hear. One finger tapped against his cheek while he observed the fire climbing higher.Then he turned toward another hanging figure.

Tatsuchi accelerated.

"Silas!"

He glanced down at her.

His smile widened.

The next burst of green fire caught another captive.

The scream that followed seemed to tear through the entire district. The flames along the canal erupted in response, surging over the stone embankment and racing toward the nearby buildings. A restaurant's windows burst outward, scattering glass across the walkway. Tables overturned as people fled, and a boat struck the canal wall when its operator tried to steer away from the spreading fire.

Tatsuchi barely noticed the chaos around her.

She was watching Silas.

She'd seen people use their abilities to kill, intimidate, and destroy. She'd fought enemies who treated lives as numbers and considered suffering an acceptable price for victory. But Silas was different in a way she couldn't easily explain. He wasn't rushing to finish the job. He wasn't trying to escape while the city burned.

He was watching.

Studying the flames.

Enjoying every second of the fear he was creating.

Tatsuchi's grip tightened around Shinkoku until her fingers ached. The blade felt familiar in her hand, a solid reminder that she could still do something even when the situation seemed determined to slip beyond her control.

She pushed through the crowd.People stumbled past her, some running toward the bridges and others trying to reach the tower. A man grabbed her sleeve and shouted something she couldn't understand. She pulled free without stopping, keeping her eyes fixed on the platform above. Silas leaned against the railing. "Why do you look so upset?" Tatsuchi didn't answer. She was too far away for him to hear anything she said, and she didn't intend to waste time shouting at him while the captives remained suspended above the street.Silas seemed content to speak anyway."You're the one who wanted to know what happened to the missing people!"He gestured toward the figures hanging from the tower, presenting them to the crowd as though he'd arranged an exhibition for their benefit.

"Well, there they are!"

Tatsuchi's jaw tightened. She could see the chains now. They were fastened to metal brackets beneath the upper platform, each one hanging at a slightly different length. The captives were spread around the structure, making it difficult to reach them all from one position. Even if she could get onto the tower, she'd need time to free them, and Silas was standing directly above them with the ability to ignite another person whenever he pleased.

Zhenyu and Asumi were already moving toward the tower's entrance, pushing through the crowd as they searched for a way up. Tatsuchi caught a glimpse of Zhenyu looking toward the chains, his expression grim. Asumi had disappeared behind a group of people near the base of the structure. They were trying to reach the captives. Tatsuchi had to keep Silas occupied. She changed direction, moving toward a set of stairs leading to the raised walkway along the tower's side. The flames were spreading across the canal behind her, and the heat made the air shimmer. She could hear glass breaking in nearby buildings and the sharp cries of people trying to escape. Somewhere down the street, an engine roared as a vehicle accelerated away from the burning district.

The city was coming apart around her.Silas watched her approach. "You're persistent, I'll give you that." Tatsuchi reached the stairs and began climbing. Her boots struck the stone steps in quick succession, and Shinkoku remained drawn at her side. The tower's outer walkway curved around the structure, leading toward the platform where Silas stood. If she could reach him, she might be able to stop the attack before he burned another captive.

Silas rested both hands on the railing."Tell me something, Tatsuchi." She didn't slow down. "Do you think the people down there will remember tonight?" His voice carried easily over the flames."Not just the fire. Not just the people who disappeared. I mean everything. The fear, the confusion, the way they looked around for someone to tell them what to do. Do you think they'll remember how helpless they felt when their little world stopped working the way they expected?"

Tatsuchi reached the upper walkway.

"Shut up."

Silas laughed softly. "There it is. That's the sound I was waiting for." She ran toward him. He didn't retreat. He didn't even reach for a weapon. He simply watched her with that same delighted expression, as though her anger were another interesting reaction he wanted to study. Tatsuchi could see the green fire reflected in his eyes.

"You're going to pay for this."

"Pay?" Silas repeated. "What an interesting word." He glanced down at the city. The green flames had spread across several connected waterways, turning the canal system into a network of burning lines. Their light climbed the buildings and illuminated the bridges, making the streets below look as though they were caught beneath a strange green sunset. The people who remained outside were beginning to flee in every direction, while those who'd been unable to escape watched from windows and doorways.

Silas spread his arms. "Remember this night, Vallcera!" His voice rang across the district. "Your rulers will call it an attack. Your soldiers will call it a tragedy. Your historians will eventually find a name for it that makes the whole thing easier to understand." He looked toward the people below. "But none of those names will change what happened here." Tatsuchi continued closing the distance. Silas turned his attention back to her. "The world is going to learn who it truly belongs to."

She was almost upon him now. Shinkoku's edge caught the green light, and her right hand tightened around the hilt as she prepared to strike. Behind Silas, the captives struggled against their chains. Below them, the flames continued to spread, and the crowd's cries rose into a single wall of noise.Silas leaned over the railing to watch 

Tatsuchi approach.

His smile stretched across his face.Then he lifted his hand again, ready to choose his next victim.