[Empire City — Temple Central Plaza]

The axe came down.

And stopped.

The dust frozen in the air. Someone’s scream paralyzed mid-throat. Three thousand bodies fixed in place.

Davan had his eyes closed.

He opened them.

Alex Carter stood two meters away with his arms crossed.

"Wow." A pause. "Just in time."

Davan didn’t speak.

"I really thought it wasn’t going to work, you know?" A pause. "I had like eight seconds of genuine uncertainty up there."

"How did you do this."

Alex looked at Cael — the axe frozen overhead, the tears in his eyes stopped as well.

"Maya got a book. History of the Fragments, ancient edition. The Core has some control over death when it detects a soul about to be harvested. F1 and F4 are compatible — F4 handles the plane between life and death, F1 is the origin of that plane. Together they can buy time."

"How much."

"One day."

"And the plan?"

Alex smiled.

"Can you act?"

Time returned.

---

The sound came from the north.

Multiple skeletons spread around the entire perimeter, surrounding the entire plaza while the three thousand people watched the platform.

Between the buildings on the left flank. Through the main entrance. From every available angle.

Army of Bones.

Two and a half meters, reinforced sternum, femur turned into a weapon. The kind Raven had learned to create thanks to the book.

The Inquisitors surrounded Agustín. The crowd tried to move. There was nowhere to go.

And then the laughter.

From above. Without amplification.

Above the north arch — on a bird assembled from skeletons of different sizes, wings spread wide, Raven’s F3 in every bone like a stream of dark green light. Emily, Kira, and Maya on top of it. At the center, on something that served as a throne —

Alex Carter.

Full black. The F1 armor on shoulders and chest. The chains across the torso. Hair white from the roots. In his left hand a scythe with the crimson flames of F1, in his right the dark violet light of F4.

Raven on the right flank. Without suppression. The dark cloak of F3, the spectral scythe, eyes with active bright green.

Agustín looked up.

Alex looked at him.

"Hello, Father." Without amplification, reaching everyone anyway. "How are you today?"

Pause.

"It’s a lovely day to die, isn’t it?"

---

"Blasphemer!!" Agustín without a podium, without enchantments. "How dare you threaten the symbol of the Celestial Temple in its own plaza!!"

"You declared me public enemy number one of the continent." Alex without raising his voice. "You put my companions’ faces in front of three thousand people. And you’re about to kill someone who has something that belongs to me."

The scythes spun slowly in his hands.

"If someone’s going to die here — why don’t I harvest their soul myself? That’s my job." A pause. "I’m the Grim Reaper."

The plaza still.

"And while we’re at it —" his eyes sweeping the crowd, "— maybe we can harvest a few more."

---

Four Inquisitors broke from the formation.

[Suppression Chain]

[Containment Field]

[Root Seal]

[Channel Rupture]

They lunged.

Alex dropped from the arch. Boots on the cobblestone.

The right scythe cut the first across the chest. The left scythe found the second at the throat. The third came from behind — the right scythe traced the arc backward without Alex turning his body, the blade slicing across his throat. The fourth at the front with the Channel Rupture already formed — Alex didn’t dodge, the left scythe cut him from top to bottom before the enchantment reached him.

All four on the ground.

Blood on the cobblestone. Some of it on Alex’s face.

He didn’t wipe it off.

He raised his left hand with the palm upward.

[Veil — Harvest — active]

Four souls leaving four bodies. Violet light crossing the cobblestone toward Alex’s palm.

[Fragment 4 — Harvest — 4 souls absorbed]

[Corruption F4: 72% → 64%]

Alex closed his hand.

He looked at Agustín.

The smile was still there.

"Well." A pause. "Now that we’ve harvested something — why don’t we start with the best?"

He lunged.

---

Real speed. F1 and F4 closing the distance toward the platform.

Cael stepped in the way.

The left scythe traced a lateral arc without the blade. Cael flew toward where Agustín stood — who no longer had escorts, who stood with the remaining Inquisitors and active shields.

Cael landed two meters from Agustín.

Alex landed in front of Davan.

---

"What the hell do you think you’re doing."

"The same thing you would." Alex. "Something no one asked me to do."

The scythes touched the restraints.

[F1 — Directed Harvest — containment enchantment]

[F4 — dissolving suppression seal]

The restraints gave way. The double collar gave way. F5 pulsed free.

Davan got to his feet.

"I’m not giving you anything."

"I’m not asking you to give it to me." Alex looked at the plaza. The skeletons on the perimeter. The three thousand. "You can do it the easy way." A pause. "Or carry the fact that all these people get harvested."

Davan looked at him.

And lunged.

---

[F5 — Dominion Field — maximum radius]

The perimeter skeletons stopped. The crowd went still.

Davan’s first strike aimed for the chest. Alex twisted his torso — the fist grazed the armor. The second came to the right side, faster, with F5 pressing down.

[Alex HP: 31,400 → 30,100]

Alex stepped back. Davan didn’t give him the second.

Knee to the abdomen. Alex blocked it with his forearm but the weight of F5 pushed him backward anyway.

[Alex HP: 30,100 → 29,400]

The left scythe traced a horizontal arc. Davan ducked — under the blade, his feet moving toward Alex’s right flank, reorienting before Alex could turn.

Strike to the right shoulder.

[Alex HP: 29,400 → 28,200]

Alex drove the right scythe into the cobblestone and used the handle as a pivot point to rotate his entire body — his left leg found Davan’s side. Davan absorbed the blow and stepped back two paces.

Both looked at each other.

Davan with F5 active — the field pressing on Alex from all angles, making every movement cost double. Alex with both scythes and F1 and F4 and corruption at ninety-five percent that the combat was starting to wake.

Davan went first.

Three quick strikes — chest, side, jaw. Alex blocked the first two. The third got through.

[Alex HP: 28,200 → 27,100]

The left scythe answered — descending arc. Davan dodged left and countered with an elbow to Alex’s ribs.

[Alex HP: 27,100 → 26,300]

Alex grabbed Davan’s arm before he withdrew.

Pull. Davan forward, off balance, the next step forced.

The right scythe flat — the handle crossing Davan’s face. Not the blade. The handle.

Davan spun with the blow. He didn’t fall.

He reoriented.

Fast breathing. F5 still active, the field still pressing.

Raven came in from the left flank.

The F3 scythe to Davan’s side — the point where he couldn’t orient toward her without turning his back to Alex.

The blade found his side. Davan bent to the right.

Alex closed the distance. His right hand on the F5 collar.

[F1 — Directed Harvest — collar-Fragment bond]

The collar resisted.

Davan spoke. Quiet enough that only Alex heard.

"I accept it."

The collar gave way.

[F5 — transfer — Davan Osei → Alex Carter]

---

Alex put on the collar.

Three lights on his chest. Crimson. Violet. Gold.

"I am the Core!!"

Agustín’s Inquisitors stepped back.

"I am the Veil!!"

"I am Dominion!!"

One second.

"I am the Grim Reaper!!"

The ground shook.

Three Fragments at once. The field expanding in a hundred-meter radius.

The three thousand people fell.

To their knees. Palms on the cobblestone. Those closest with their foreheads to the ground.

Agustín’s Inquisitors.

Agustín — on his knees, one hand on the ground, his eyes on the platform.

Cael on his knees.

Raven barely standing.

Davan on the ground with his palms open.

He stood up.

Every inch costing. Three seconds where it wasn’t clear who was winning.

He got to his feet.

"I won’t let anything happen to these people." Without emphasis. "Even if my fate is to die today."

Alex didn’t answer.

"Whether by the Temple’s justice or to prevent there being more like you —" Davan’s eyes on Alex, unmoving, "— I will give my life. Because it’s the right thing to do."

The plaza silent.

Three thousand on the ground. One standing.

Alex’s smile slipped for a second — he couldn’t believe what was happening.

It returned.

"Well." Only his voice. "It’s your death, I suppose."

Pause.

"Enjoy it."

The pressure dispersed. The skeletons dissolved. The bird descended.

Alex left.

---

[Temple Central Plaza — after]

The three thousand rising.

The cobblestone with the blood of the four Inquisitors.

No one spoke for a moment.

Someone in the second row said the name.

"Davan."

The one next to them repeated it.

And the next.

"Davan!! Davan!! Davan!!"

The young Inquisitor approached Agustín.

"Father Agustín. Do we proceed with the execution?"

Agustín didn’t answer.

His eyes on Davan. On the plaza where three thousand people were chanting the name of someone the Temple had brought to prove something.

Cael reached the platform.

Davan looked at him.

He collapsed.

Cael caught him.

The young Inquisitor was still waiting.

Agustín had no answer.