Song of Lamentation

"Destiny is like a thread. All who dwell within it are bound by it. When the thread tightens around them, the moment it snaps is when causality reveals itself..." Eliyi stood high atop the dome of Salat Church, watching events unfold.

As Canfoer's tallest and finest building, Salat Church stood high enough to overlook the entire Lower District. A sea of people began converging on the witch's shop in the Central District. From such a height, so-called people looked no different from ants.

The pitch-black tide of corpses flooded the buildings in the south of the city like rotting sludge. The emblem of Ouston Church glimmered with an eerie light. Small groups of residents hid inside churches, trying to rely on their insignificant faith to resist the monsters' assault.

"Oh—Tiadam—you are the incarnation of the High God—you are stronger than Ocast, the bravest among heroes, the king of all kings—you can slay all evil in this world—"

Only Saboxijiao remained praying inside the ruined church. The others who had once knelt in worship had long since vanished. The wails of the undead drowned out her voice.

Wind streamed in through the cracks in the church. Having lost all hope, she clutched tightly to that last straw.

"Oh—Tiadam—you are the incarnation of the High God—you are stronger than Ocast, the bravest among heroes, the king of all kings—you can slay all evil in this world—" Saboxijiao continued singing. She believed the mighty High God would come to save her and her daughter. She believed the merciful High God would not abandon his followers. She believed the omnipotent High God possessed the power to change everything.

"Oh—Tiadam—you are the incarnation of the High God—you are stronger than Ocast, the bravest among heroes, the king of all kings—you can slay all evil in this world—" The followers of Ouston Church sang the new hymn composed by the priests as they headed toward the Upper District.

"Everyone—everyone—" Mr. Latopil shouted. "The High God will never abandon us—may the High God protect us—"

"May the High God protect us—"

"May the High God protect us—" Mr. Latopil's followers shouted loudly.

"Lufa, how much longer until the teleportation array connects?" Oyana watched the approaching residents of the Lower District, her heart inexplicably uneasy.

"At least another two hours," Lufa replied. "Although the Holy Wall of the three great angels has been broken, the magical connection between the Mage Association in Alderbu and us has remained very weak."

"Very weak?" Oyana said, puffing on her water pipe. "Did the Mage Association set up a barrier?"

"No... not a barrier..." Lufa's trembling grew more intense. "The source of that magic is extremely unstable... It feels like nothing more than a torrent of energy..."

"It should be the energy carried by those undead monsters..." Oyana puffed on her water pipe and drew a window onto the living room wall. The window opened toward the south of the city. Through this magical window, Oyana could easily observe the scene there.

Tens of thousands of rotting corpses marched openly through the southern gate of Canfoer City. Slime, muck, and evil power that symbolized decay seeped from their bodies. Countless Lower District residents crowded along the edge of the Upper District, separated from both the Upper and Central Districts by an invisible barrier.

The barrier had been set up several days earlier. Its original purpose had been to keep the undead monsters outside the Central District once the Holy Wall disappeared, buying the city's residents time to flee Canfoer. Yet the formation cast by the witches and mages first shut out not the monsters, but these Canfoer residents fleeing from the Lower District.

"Great Mage—Great Mage—" A sharp-eyed woman noticed the water smoke Oyana was exhaling. Holding her baby high in the darkness, she cried, "Great Mage, please take him away—please take him away—"

The woman's voice drew the attention of the other Lower District residents.

"Great Mage—please take him. This child will definitely be filial to you when he grows up—Great Mage—" The bargaining skills of market women truly were impressive.

"Great Mage—this child is a boy. His father used to be a mercenary! As long as you're willing to raise him until he's eighteen... no, fifteen... you can sell him to a mercenary corps or the army. You know, a mercenary earns at least one Kralimaya Gold Coin every month. If he dies, you can still receive ten Kralimaya Silver Coins a month from the state! It's a guaranteed profit, Great Mage! Just treat it as a business deal and buy some livestock, all right? Great Mage—"

"Ah—" Oyana puffed on her water pipe without saying a word.

"If you don't like boys, then... I... I have a daughter—" Another woman drowned out the first woman's voice. She held her daughter overhead and squeezed toward the front of the crowd. "I... my daughter is six this year. You only need to raise her for six years, and after that, where she goes will be entirely up to you—"

"Hoo—" Oyana found it irritating and closed the window.

"Pat... pat..." The monsters drew closer and closer. A sickly sweet smell of rust drifted through the air.

"Oh—Tiadam—you are the incarnation of the High God—you are stronger than Ocast, the bravest among heroes, the king of all kings—you can slay all evil in this world—" Saboxijiao knelt within the ruined church, still singing praises to that destined hero. No matter how decayed or rotten she became, her faith would not change.

"Monster—"

"Monster—"

"Monster—" Some voice rang in Saboxijiao's ears, and malice toward the living surged from the depths of her heart.

"If I had faced everything calmly from the beginning... would things not have turned out this way..." Scenes from the past surfaced before Saboxijiao's eyes.

At Glaner's funeral, she had heard someone say that as long as one believed in the High God, dead loved ones could be reborn in the High God's divine kingdom, whether they were sons or daughters—

At her husband's sickbed, she had said, "Look, this damned curse is the punishment the High God has inflicted upon those who do not believe in him—"

Inside this crumbling church, Mr. Latopil had said that as long as one believed in the High God, one could obtain holy water and remove that terrifying curse—

Everyone kept saying that as long as one believed in the High God, one could obtain happiness...

"Liars—liars—liars—you're all liars!" Saboxijiao roared as she charged out from the depths of the church. Her body had accumulated the causality of hundreds, and she had already transformed into an undead monster.

"I never found happiness—" The wail of the dead resounded through the sky. Now was the perfect time...

"M-Monster!!"

A gigantic undead creature forged from corpses came shoving houses aside as it advanced. Black blood gushed from the depths of its remains. Countless heads formed the Giant Dead's head, countless palms formed its arms, and countless ankles formed the bones of its legs.

Stench, death, and decay gathered in one place...

"Help... help..." Mr. Latopil desperately squeezed into his own followers, trying to evade the undead creature's pursuit. Yet... this Giant Dead's target seemed to have been him from the very beginning.

Seeing no hope of escape, Mr. Latopil fell to his knees at the edge of the Upper District and wailed without end, "Help—help—I don't want to die yet—"

"Has the new thread... already... been prepared..." Eliyi smiled faintly from atop the dome of Salat Church.

The High God truly seemed to favor the man named Latopil. Just as the Giant Dead's hand reached toward Mr. Latopil, a beam of black light, like a divine miracle, separated it from Mr. Latopil. Purplish-red flames scorched the Giant Dead, and the dead's wails and agony reached the ears of the living like hell itself.

"A... a miracle—" Every Canfoer resident who witnessed this miracle shouted, "A miracle—a miracle—the High God has not abandoned us—"

The Ouston Church followers from the Lower District knelt and bowed before Mr. Latopil in his priestly robes, while the Ouston Church believers in the Upper District stared in astonishment at the divine grace he possessed.

"This is the will of the High God—" Cardinal Labrador said. "This is the power of ***—"

"B-but, Your Eminence... in our church records... there is no one called ***..." a follower said timidly.

"The High God conveyed his decree to me last night—" Cardinal Labrador ignored the irrelevant doubts and declared loudly, "He will send *** to assist the Hero in cleansing the evil remaining in Canfoer. Sing, everyone—praise him—the High God's grace and might are omnipotent—"

"A miracle—"

"A miracle—"

"A miracle—" The followers in the Upper District also shouted in unison. "This is a miracle—"

In the vast darkness of night, everyone knelt in worship before that black light, that black miracle, and that pitch-black god...