The papal war room beneath the Cathedral of the Eternal Light was smaller than the grand nave above, but far more dangerous.

Thick stone walls blocked every sound from the city streets. No footsteps, no distant bells, no screams from the latest monster attack reached inside.

A long obsidian table took up most of the space, its surface cold and black. Pale blue orbs floated above it, giving off light without shadows.

Maps of the empire covered the table, red ink marking every spot where a Sky Dungeon monster had broken through and killed.

Reports of burned villages, lines of refugees on the roads, and shattered army units lay scattered like trash.

Aiden sat at the head in white papal robes. The fabric was clean and heavy, but it did nothing to hide the thick silver fractures running across his neck, jaw, and upper chest. The black lines pulsed slowly, as if something inside him was breathing.

The women sat around the table. These were the ones he trusted most, the ones who had gone into the Spire with him and come out changed.

Catherine sat on his right. Her chestnut hair was pulled back tight, giving her the look of a noblewoman who expected obedience. Flora sat next to her.

The girl was still young, but the softness had left her eyes. She sat straighter now, shoulders squared the way her mother had taught her after their nights in the Spire.

Directly across from Aiden, Sabrina leaned back in her chair. Her fingers tapped the table once, then stopped. She looked elegant and ready to strike.

Luna sat beside her, quiet, hands in her lap. The mother and daughter looked like a quieter version of Catherine and Flora.

Young Saintess Bela sat with her hands folded neatly.

She was barely twenty, white robes spotless, golden hair braided with thin silver threads. Her blue eyes were wide and worried. Next to her, Older Saintess Calipso looked calm and sharp.

Her dark hair had streaks of silver, and her green eyes missed nothing. She had spent decades inside Church politics and knew how to wait.

Isolde stood behind Aiden’s chair. She wore the plain gray gown of a senior advisor. The fabric covered the glowing fractures on her own skin, but she felt them every time she moved.

Aiden spoke first. His voice was low and flat, no room for argument.

"The Sky Dungeons are breaking open faster than the scouts reported. Yesterday a winged thing the size of a house dropped on the eastern farms and killed everything in sight.

Last night three shadow beasts appeared inside the merchant quarter and tore apart two guard patrols. The people are saying it’s divine punishment because their Pope has been gone too long.

The Church is splitting down the middle. The empire is losing ground every day. We need a plan that works before the capital itself falls."

Catherine leaned forward, elbows on the table. Her voice stayed steady and practical. "The nobles who still answer to us are scared. They lost men and coin in the last battles.

They need to see strength. Flora and I can ride out to the loyal houses tomorrow. We remind them of the nights we spent together in the Spire.

A few private meetings, a few reminders of the pleasure and the power they tasted through us, and they will send fresh troops and gold within the week."

Flora spoke right after her mother, voice quiet but firm. "Mother is right. The nobles respond to that. But we can also use the fractures on our skin.

The monsters pull back from bright light. If we learn to push the anti-magic out through the lines on our bodies, we might drive them off for real.

At the very least the people will believe we can protect them. That belief alone buys us time."

Sabrina’s mouth curved into a thin smile. She tapped the table again.

"Or we stop pretending to be heroes and use the monsters the way they should be used. Let the beasts clean house for us. Luna and I can talk to the Inquisition captains tonight.

A few quiet orders, a few reports of ’monster sightings’ near the estates of houses that have been slow to send taxes or troops.

The rebels die, the monsters take the blame, and the common people cheer when we finally step in and kill the last ones. Simple. Clean."

Luna shifted in her seat. She looked uncomfortable but kept her voice level. "Mother, the people are already dying in the streets.

If we start guiding the monsters toward anyone we don’t like, we become exactly what the rebels are calling us. Monsters wearing human skin."

Calipso spoke next. Her tone was cold and careful, every word measured. "The Church itself is the bigger problem right now. Half the cardinals think the fractures on His Holiness are a curse from the old gods.

The other half are starting to call them a new revelation, a breaking of old chains. Bela and I can handle the lower ranks. The younger priests and nuns are already talking in the dormitories.

They say the old seals on magic were too tight, too fearful. If we tell them the fractures are the ’True Light’ finally cutting through Lucifer’s mortal body, we can swing most of the working clergy to our side before the week ends."

Bela’s cheeks turned pink. She spoke softly but with clear belief.

"The monsters are not attacking at random. They move toward places where people have lied, cheated, or turned against the throne.

If we show the crowds that the fractures on His Holiness glow stronger when the creatures get close, they will see it as proof. Proof that only Lucifer can face them.

I can lead the public prayers at the main squares. I can bless the soldiers before they march. The common people will follow if they think the saints are standing with him."

Isolde stayed quiet the whole time, eyes moving from face to face. She noted every small reaction. Catherine and Sabrina still put Aiden first, no hesitation.

Flora and Luna had been changed by the Spire in ways that made them pause before they agreed to cruelty. Bela was young and sincere, which made her useful but also risky if she ever doubted.

Calipso was the dangerous one. She watched the chaos like a merchant watching prices rise, already calculating how much she could gain.

Aiden drummed his fingers once on the obsidian. The fractures along his jaw lit up brighter for a second, then dimmed.

"The monsters are the threat we have to deal with first," he said.

"The people need to see their God-King and Pope standing on the walls, facing the things that fall from the sky. In two days we hold a public blessing at the eastern gate. Catherine and Flora will stand with me.

Sabrina and Luna will make sure the Inquisition moves fast on any new sightings. Bela and Calipso will lead the prayers and blessings. Isolde stays at my side as co-advisor."

He looked at each woman in turn, slow and deliberate.

"The empire is cracking. The Church is cracking. I will not let either one collapse. Use everything the Spire taught you.

Your bodies, your voices, your names, your influence. Remind the nobles why they knelt so fast when we called. Remind the people why they both feared us and needed us."

Catherine met his eyes without blinking. "We will do what must be done for the empire."

Flora glanced at her mother, then back at Aiden. "And for the future we are building."

Sabrina’s smile stayed thin. "For the future we decide."

Luna said nothing, but under the table her fingers squeezed her mother’s hand tighter.

Bela’s eyes were bright with real faith. Calipso only gave a small nod, already thinking three moves ahead.

Isolde stayed perfectly still behind the chair. Inside her head the thoughts moved fast. The women were still loyal for now. But the fractures on their skin and on Aiden were no longer just marks from pleasure inside the Spire.

They had become weapons. And the monsters raining down from the broken Sky Dungeons had handed the hidden rebellion the best cover they could ask for.

The meeting ended. Chairs scraped back on stone. The women started to leave in small groups.

Isolde waited until most had filed out, then caught Catherine and Sabrina alone near the door while the others were still gathering their notes.

She kept her voice low, almost a whisper. "The monsters are not only a threat. They are the best chance we have right now.

If we can make the people see that the fractures on Lucifer’s skin burn brighter whenever a creature gets close, the commoners will call it divine judgment.

The Church will split wide open. The empire will be forced to pick between the old rules and the new light breaking through."

Catherine’s face stayed blank. "We serve the empire first. Always."

Sabrina’s smile was sharp enough to cut. "We serve power first. The empire is just the prize."

Flora and Luna had stopped a few steps away. They exchanged one quick look but kept their mouths shut.

Aiden stayed seated at the head of the table after everyone else had gone. The white papal robes looked heavy on his shoulders.

The silver and black fractures across his neck and chest glowed faintly in the blue light, like cracks running through a statue that was still pretending to be whole.

The harem had come back to the capital.

The real fight for control of the empire had only just started.