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Chapter 29 - The City Below Does Not Pray

Beneath the capital lies a city forgotten by time.

No stars. No sky. No laws.

Only stone, shadow… and silence.

They call it the City Below.

But I know its real name.

I gave it one.

Sanctuary.

I descend alone.

Cael wanted to follow. Ashen offered his sword.

But this place answers to no blade.

Only to memory.

Only to me.

Once, I ruled from above.

But I created what lay beneath.

When the gods demanded I choose which mortals to bless, I gave refuge to the rest.

The broken. The cursed. The unwanted.

I did not raise them to worship me.

I gave them freedom.

And for that, the gods cursed Sanctuary.

Buried it.

Erased it from every map.

But they forgot

I was born to remember.

As I step into its depths, my flame dims.

Not from fear.

From recognition.

Murals still mark the tunnel walls me, drawn in soot and gold.

But there's something new.

A prayer carved beneath my image:

"Let Her burn the world, if it means She remembers us."

They knew I would return.

Even when I forgot myself.

Even when I played villainess in a story too small for me.

At the heart of the City Below lies a single door.

Black stone. No handle. No key.

Only a question carved across it:

"What did you leave behind?"

I answer with one word.

"Mercy."

The door opens.

Inside is not light.

It's a girl.

Small. Barefoot. Eyes like mine.

She looks up and whispers.

"Did you come back for me this time?"

I kneel.

"I never should've left."

She steps forward and places her hand in mine.

And suddenly

I burn without cruelty.

Far above, Aveline screams.

Because she feels it.

I am whole again.

Fire and forgiveness.

Wrath and grace.

Lyraxis, reborn not as a weapon. But as a god who chose to love.

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