獵魔聖女--表與裡(5)

第伍章、恭敬順服的反叛

Chapter 5: A Rebellion of Reverent Obedience

教會與黃前家族的戰爭，並非凡俗軍隊的鏗鏘鏖戰，而是發生於現世縫隙與靈性領域的無聲侵蝕。聖騎士們的銀甲上流動著以熱血書寫的祈禱文，驅魔聖鈴的震響能直接撕裂邪靈的結構；而黃前一族的術士們，則如同幽暗中的織網者，驅使著由百年怨念與古老血契構成的魍魎，扭曲光影，噬咬靈魂的根基。

戰報如染血的鴿羽，不斷飛回教會總部。一座座隱藏於都市陰影或深山結界中的黃前秘所被聖火徹底淨化，一個個身居社會要職、卻默默為家族輸送資源的「外在之殼」被連根拔起。多名家族的高階成員在激烈的對抗中，被聖焰焚毀其非人之軀，或被刻滿封印詩篇的特製聖銀囚籠捕獲。

結衣站在教堂高塔的彩窗之後，眺望著遠方天際常人無法看見的，因超凡力量碰撞而產生的靈光漣漪與空間扭曲。她的內心不再是最初得知真相時的驚濤駭浪，而是化為一片冰冷決絕的靜默之海。海面之下，是足以吞噬一切的意志力。

教會的神聖力場如同水晶囚籠，保護著也拘束著她。她深知，這份保護並非純然出於珍視，更是種謹慎的隔離觀察。這力場能有效隔絕遠距離的靈識呼喚，但當她一旦直面家族核心意識時，源自血脈與靈魂最深處的絕對召喚，將會毫無保留地牽引著她，如同磁石指向極地般地天然。到那時，「神無月結衣」這個被精心構建的表層意識，將如同暴露於真空的水滴，被「黃前結衣」那冰冷堅硬的底層現實徹底蒸發。

戰爭勝負未定，結衣的前路更有難言之隱，她不能坐等審判日的來臨，讓自己成為隨風飄盪的片羽。她必須主動走入風暴眼，在那片吞噬一切的黑暗中，為自己點亮一盞名為「自我」的微弱燈火。

「主教，」她轉過身，聲音平靜得如同深潭，讓那位歷經無數風霜的老人眼中也掠過一絲驚異，「我請求離開聖域。」

主教眉頭緊鎖，手中的象牙念珠停止了撥動：「孩子，這無異於將羔羊送入狼群深處。黃前家族如今遭受重創，他們比任何時候都更渴望回收攜帶神蹟的妳。」

「正因如此，」結衣的目光清澈而堅定，彷彿已穿透了自身命運的層層迷障，「我才必須去。我是目前唯一一個，既擁有黃前根源之識的最高權限，又奇蹟般暫時保有獨立意志的存在。我是一把鑰匙，或許…也能成為一把鎖。與其等待他們舔舐傷口，積蓄力量來強行奪取，不如由我主動歸返，嘗試從內部…引導這股洪流。」

她的話語中蘊含著冷靜到近乎殘酷的邏輯，以及將自身存在作為最大賭注的瘋狂勇氣。她向主教闡明了一個極其危險的計劃：不是去正面戰鬥，而是去歸順。以「黃前結衣」的身份，回歸家族，利用當前家族高層力量空虛、底層意識渴求指引的時機，憑藉其「奇蹟造物」的至高靈格，奪取對家族集體意識的解釋權與引導權。

「這太冒險了！你如何保證你那珍貴的自我，不會被那冰冷的集體之海徹底溶解？」主教的聲音帶著深重憂慮。他看著她，彷彿看著即將投身熔爐的聖劍。

「我無法保證。」結衣坦誠地說，她的手無意識地輕撫過自己的雙腿——那既是承載神恩的聖物，也是家族褻瀆的終極證明。「但我相信，無論是上帝的恩賜，還是家族的力量，既然此刻它為『我』所用，聽從『我』的意志，那麼『我』本身，便是最大的變數與堡壘。我要為名為神無月結衣的意識，爭取一個存在下去的『許可』。」

主教不語，一刻後向結衣遞出寶劍，沉聲道：「若汝為鑰，誰為鎖？」

結衣垂目，兩掌交疊於劍柄之上，依古禮以額觸鐵：

「以我之名為鑰；以我之犧牲為鎖。」

「若根源詢汝悲願？」

「存續與轉向：讓光得以在黑暗內部被定義。」

「何為奉獻？」

「以記憶為柴，我自焚為燈。」

象牙念珠再度滑動。主教閉眼：「去吧。」

鋼鐵般的意志最終說服了教會高層。沒有盛大的送別儀式，在一個月色被濃厚靈性之霧徹底遮蔽的夜晚，結衣孤身一人，像滴離開海洋的水，一步步走出了聖力場那無形卻堅實的範圍。

每一步，都彷彿離光明與溫暖更遠一些，踏入屬於她「本源」的冰冷難料的黑暗。當最後一絲聖域的庇佑如同斷線的風箏般從她身上脫離時，一股龐大冰冷卻又帶著詭異親切感與歸屬感的意識流，如同等待已久、無邊無際的潮水，瞬間將她徹底包裹淹沒。

「識別…黃前結衣…最高節點…歸位…」

非人的根源意識低語再次直接在她靈魂深處響起。但這一次，沒有聖力場的阻隔，其呼喚帶著無可抗拒的絕對力量，如同地心引力般。結衣沒有抵抗，甚至主動撤銷所有靈性防禦，敞開了自己的心防，任由那冰冷而熟悉的洪流徹底淹沒自己。

「…回歸…遵從根源之意…」

「黃前結衣，祖源何名？」

她以順服的口吻回答：「天草之悲願。」

「延續何以為證？」

「以存續為路，以同化為舟。」

「何者可棄？」

結衣停了一息，把「初次聖餐的麥香」從心底抽離，投入黑海。

靈海向她張開。她以自己的靈識低聲回應，主動擁抱那份黑暗。

瞬間，她的視野與感知發生了翻天覆地的變化。不再是單一的個人視角，無數個來自不同家族成員的感知碎片和思緒流動，如同萬花筒般紛至沓來，共同構成了一個龐大而扭曲的靈識感知網絡。結衣再次接入了黃前家族的集體意識之海。

她立刻清晰地感知到了這片「海洋」因近期損失而產生的虛弱感與紊亂波。無數低階的迷茫意識節點（那些靈性較弱的普通家族成員）如同失去磁極指引的鐵屑般飄蕩，本能地渴望著來自上層強而有力的指引。

而此刻，她的意識——作為家族傾盡資源打造的最成功、最強大的「造物」，其靈格在網絡中猶如黑暗深淵中最耀眼的燈塔——自然而然地吸引了所有迷茫的意識，成為了他們不自覺依附與仰望的新中心。

她感受到了源自存在本質的至高權限，那是家族底層意識，是追求「實現天草悲願」與「家族存續」的絕對運轉規則，是冰冷無機的判斷機制；而她，此刻獲得了在其固有規則框架內，進行詮釋、補充與引導的資格。

她沒有絲毫猶豫。她將自己那屬於「神無月結衣」的強烈存在意志，精心包裹上一層符合家族邏輯的無機外殼，化為一道靈識指令，匯入澎湃的集體意識之海：

「『神無月結衣』之表層意識應予於『黃前結衣』單元延續運行。其現世形貌與力量，乃家族滲透聖光之唯一管道。拆除將終止奇蹟採樣。擬准其存續、供給緩衝、禁止短期回收。『黃前結衣』單元務求確保『神無月結衣』靈識穩定。『神無月結衣』逆思邪想實屬必要，放寬對其咎責。」

這道指令巧妙地完全利用了家族核心的底層邏輯，將「保留神無月結衣」這個極度個人化的願望，包裝成了利益最大化的冷酷戰略需求。

「奉記。」指令通過共有意識核心的無機審核，似乎“認可”了這符合其核心邏輯的“建議”，並傳達向各處節點，如一枚投入平靜湖面的靈識巨石，蕩起廣泛的漣漪。通過共有意識核心的無機審視後，傳達向各處節點。

無數低階意識本能地接受，回報「遵行」，並順從地開始強化這道念頭。整個家族的靈識之海，在略微波動後，開始依據這新的「最高指示」進行緩慢的調整與適配。

當結衣的意識迴歸自身，明確感受到家族集體意識已經“批准”了「神無月結衣」重新於這具軀體上的表層繼續運作時，她的心跳快得幾乎要撕裂胸膛。

這是場瘋狂至極的賭博。她剛剛以家族最高代行者的身份，自己批准了自己作為教會聖女的“存在權”！

最初的適應期充滿了驚心動魄的危機。她下意識地想要如往常般祈禱，體內的神聖力量卻因感受到周圍濃郁的異端氣息而自動激發，聖劍與聖杖的光輝險些破體而出，但其動機根源「神無月結衣」又再次被「黃前結衣」自動介入，中止身為驅魔聖女見魔必戰的心理機制運作。聖劍、聖杖光芒散盡，回歸脫體的雙腿，窘迫地獨自站立；羽翼消逝的結衣軀體因失去支撐，跌落地面。兩種截然不同的力量在她的靈魂深處激烈碰撞、摩擦，爆發出無形的靈性火花，幾乎讓她當場靈識潰散，軀體失控。

結衣大口喘氣，看著零落的自己。待狀態稍復，被干涉運作而陷入紊亂的「神無月結衣」再次以被切割的意志，調動起「黃前結衣」的權限，釋放被凍結的自我模塊，重新組裝自我，並透過精細操作，強行壓制了「神無月結衣」的本能反應。

幾名身邊的家族成員立刻察覺到這具「珍貴造物」的靈波紊亂，他們面無表情地迅速上前，熟練地「穩定」起她因內部衝突而暫時靈性連結不穩的四肢與感官，並輔以秘法儀式，將它們重新「校準」回她身上。

「四肢連結不穩，套入‘連禱環’。」

「感官反饋過域，以‘切支丹律’撫平。」

冷銀鎖扣叮噹，她被迅速拼回「可運行的形狀」。結衣盯著自己的腿在他人手中旋正，這就是他們……不，“我們”共同的語言。

讓高效精準的過程結衣感受到徹骨的寒意。她也已是其中一員，視身體為可更換、可維護的部件。她必須學會以這種視角看待和管理自身。

結衣強迫自己冷靜，開始以近乎自虐的專注力，學習同時駕馭兩種身份，如同在最鋒利的刀鋒上舞蹈。她將「神無月結衣」的信仰、情感與記憶，小心翼翼地裝飾成在「黃前結衣」上運作神無月結衣的必要資訊；至於「黃前結衣」的權限、認知與那冰冷的邏輯，則是與家族網絡互動、下達指令的操作路由。被切割的神無月結衣存在模塊，反倒在透過底層黃前結衣而交互連動的過程中，不被察覺地影響並操控黃前結衣。

當她終於熟練這精妙而危險的雙重存在平衡術後，她所做的第一件事，便是將靈識深深沉入那冰冷的網絡之海，找到了那個處於靜滯狀態的「黃前一夢」單元。

她以「黃前結衣」的權限，溫柔卻不容抗拒地，開始編寫注入導向母親靈識核心的新指令集。她極其小心地剝離那些涉及陰謀、任務與家族野心的部分，將所有關於「母愛」、「溫柔」、「保護結衣」的運作資訊與情感模塊純化，並設為最高優先級，重構「神無月一夢」。

她不是在創造虛假，而是在無數被篡改與覆蓋的運作訊息中，艱難地尋回並加固那或許存在過的屬於母親的溫柔。這既是對母親的救贖，也是為自己在這片黑暗之海中，保留最後一個溫暖的情感立足之地。

為通過審核，傳達指令依循黃前家族利益的絕對性，神無月結衣付出第二段「代價」——母親掌心的溫度。指令寫入時，感知記憶像薄冰碎裂，無聲沉底。

她知道，自己少了一種溫度；而母親，則多了一條路。

隨著新的靈識指令覆蓋、寫入完成，遠方教會秘儀之間內，那具被中止運作的軀體內部異界景象深處，開始泛起一絲微小卻明亮的光暈。

結衣知道，她瘋狂計劃的第一步成功了。她以最恭敬順從的姿態，對這龐大而古老的異端家族，發動了一場從最核心處開始的無聲反叛。

現在，她既是教會的聖女，也是實質上的異端網絡核心節點。這條狹窄的鋼絲之下，是萬丈深淵。

她把鑰匙藏在鎖裡，把鎖鑄進心裡。每一次呼吸，都是審判。每一次眨眼，都是投票。

她只能握緊手中這份由瘋狂、勇氣與絕望交織而成的微弱權力，屏住呼吸，一步步走下去。

The war between the Church and the Oumae family was not a clangorous battle of mortal armies, but a silent erosion that took place in the seams of the world and the spiritual realm. Prayers written in hot blood flowed across the silver armor of the Paladins, and the tremors of their exorcism bells could tear the very structure of evil spirits apart. In contrast, the sorcerers of the Oumae clan were like weavers in the shadows, commanding mononoke—specters formed from century-old grudges and ancient blood pacts—to twist the light and shadow, gnawing at the very foundations of the soul.

Battle reports, like blood-stained dove feathers, flew ceaselessly back to the Church headquarters. One by one, Oumae secret sanctums hidden in urban shadows or deep mountain barriers were thoroughly purified by holy fire. One by one, the "outer shells"—individuals holding important positions in society who secretly funneled resources to the family—were uprooted. In fierce confrontations, many high-ranking family members had their non-human bodies incinerated by holy flames or were captured in special holy silver cages inscribed with sealing psalms.

Yui stood behind the stained-glass window of the cathedral's high tower, gazing at the ripples of spiritual light and spatial distortions on the distant horizon, invisible to ordinary people, caused by the clash of transcendent powers. The tempest in her heart from when she first learned the truth had calmed into a cold, resolute sea of silence. Beneath its surface lay a willpower capable of devouring everything.

The Church's holy field was a crystal cage, both protecting and imprisoning her. She knew well that this protection was not born of pure affection, but of cautious isolation and observation. The field could effectively block long-distance psychic calls, but the moment she came face-to-face with the family's core consciousness, the absolute summons from the depths of her bloodline and soul would pull her without reservation, as natural as a lodestone pointing to the pole. At that moment, the meticulously constructed surface consciousness of "Kannazuki Yui" would, like a drop of water exposed to a vacuum, be utterly vaporized by the cold, hard underlying reality of "Oumae Yui."

With the war's outcome uncertain and her own future fraught with unspeakable difficulties, Yui could not simply wait for judgment day and let herself become a feather tossed in the wind. She had to walk into the eye of the storm herself. In that all-consuming darkness, she had to light a faint lamp for herself, a lamp named "Self."

"Your Grace," she said, turning around. Her voice was as calm as a deep pool, causing a flicker of astonishment to cross the eyes of the old man who had weathered countless storms. "I request permission to leave the sanctuary."

The bishop's brow furrowed, and the ivory rosary in his hands stopped moving. "Child, that is tantamount to sending a lamb into the heart of a wolf pack. The Oumae family is severely wounded now; they are more desperate than ever to reclaim you, the carrier of their miracle."

"Precisely," Yui's gaze was clear and steady, as if she had already pierced through the layers of fog shrouding her own destiny. "That is why I must go. I am currently the only being who possesses the highest authority of the Oumae root consciousness and yet, miraculously, temporarily retains an independent will. I am a key, and perhaps... I can also become a lock. Rather than waiting for them to lick their wounds and gather strength to seize me by force, it is better that I return voluntarily and attempt, from within... to guide this torrent."

Her words contained a logic so calm it bordered on cruel, and the insane courage to wager her very existence. She explained to the bishop an extremely dangerous plan: not to fight head-on, but to submit. To return to the family in the identity of "Oumae Yui," and exploit the current power vacuum among the family's leadership and the lower echelons' thirst for guidance. With her supreme spiritual rank as their "miraculous creation," she would seize the right to interpret and guide the family's collective consciousness.

"It is too risky! How can you guarantee that your precious self will not be utterly dissolved by that cold, collective sea?" The bishop's voice was heavy with deep concern. He looked at her as if at a holy sword about to be cast into a furnace.

"I cannot guarantee it," Yui admitted frankly. Her hand unconsciously brushed against her own legs—they were both sacred relics bearing divine grace and the ultimate proof of the family's blasphemy. "But I believe that whether it is a gift from God or the power of my family, since it is now used by 'me' and obeys 'my' will, then 'I' myself am the greatest variable and fortress. I must fight for a 'permit' for the consciousness named Kannazuki Yui to continue to exist."

The Bishop was silent. After a moment, he presented a sword to Yui and said in a solemn voice, "If you are the key, who is the lock?"

Yui lowered her eyes, placed her hands over his on the hilt, and in accordance with ancient rites, touched her forehead to the steel.

"With my name as the key; with my sacrifice as the lock."

"If the source asks for your sorrowful wish?"

"To endure and to redirect: that light may be defined from within the darkness."

"What is your offering?"

"With memory as kindling, I shall burn myself to be the lamp."

The ivory beads slid once more. The Bishop closed his eyes. "Go."

Her iron will ultimately convinced the Church's high command. There was no grand farewell ceremony. On a night when the moonlight was completely obscured by a thick spiritual fog, Yui, alone, like a single drop of water leaving the ocean, walked step by step out of the intangible but solid perimeter of the holy field.

Each step seemed to take her further from light and warmth, into the cold and unpredictable darkness that was her "origin." When the last wisp of the sanctuary's protection detached from her like the snapped string of a kite, a vast, cold, yet strangely intimate and belonging stream of consciousness—a boundless tide that had long been waiting—instantly enveloped and submerged her.

"Identifying... Oumae Yui... Highest Node... Returning to position..."

The inhuman whisper of the root consciousness echoed directly in her soul once more. But this time, without the holy field to block it, its call carried an irresistible, absolute power, like gravity itself. Yui did not resist. She even proactively revoked all her spiritual defenses, opening her heart to let that cold and familiar torrent completely overwhelm her.

"...Return... Obey the will of the source..."

"Oumae Yui, what is the name of the ancestral source?"

She answered in a submissive tone, "The sorrowful wish of Amakusa."

"What is the proof of its continuation?"

"With endurance as the path, with assimilation as the vessel."

"What can be abandoned?"

Yui paused for a breath, then pulled the "fragrance of wheat from her first Holy Communion" from the bottom of her heart and cast it into the black sea.

The spiritual sea opened to her. She responded in a low voice with her own consciousness, actively embracing the darkness.

Instantly, her vision and perception underwent a cataclysmic shift. No longer a single, personal viewpoint, countless sensory fragments and streams of thought from different family members flooded in like a kaleidoscope, forming a vast and twisted network of psychic perception. Yui had once again connected to the collective consciousness of the Oumae family.

She immediately perceived the weakness and chaotic waves within this "sea," caused by its recent losses. Countless low-level, confused nodes (the ordinary family members with weaker spiritual power) drifted like iron filings that had lost their magnetic pole, instinctively craving strong guidance from above.

And at this moment, her consciousness—as the most successful and powerful "creation" the family had poured all its resources into, her spiritual rank a beacon shining in the dark abyss—naturally attracted all the lost consciousnesses, becoming the new center they unknowingly clung to and looked up to.

She felt the supreme authority that stemmed from the essence of her being. It was the family's underlying consciousness, the absolute operational rules pursuing the "fulfillment of Amakusa's sorrowful wish" and "family survival," a cold, inorganic judgment mechanism. And she, at this moment, had obtained the qualification to interpret, supplement, and guide within its inherent framework.

She did not hesitate for a second. She carefully wrapped her own strong, willful existence as "Kannazuki Yui" in an inorganic shell that conformed to the family's logic, and transformed it into a psychic command, feeding it into the surging sea of collective consciousness:

"The surface consciousness of 'Kannazuki Yui' shall be permitted to continue operating within the 'Oumae Yui' unit. Its worldly form and power are the family's sole channel for infiltrating the Holy Light. Dismantling will terminate miracle sampling. Its continued existence, provision of buffers, and a moratorium on short-term reclamation are hereby proposed. The 'Oumae Yui' unit must ensure the spiritual stability of 'Kannazuki Yui.' The rebellious and heretical thoughts of 'Kannazuki Yui' are deemed necessary; culpability for them shall be relaxed."

This command masterfully utilized the core, underlying logic of the family, packaging the extremely personal desire to "preserve Kannazuki Yui" as a cold, strategic necessity for maximizing their interests.

"Acknowledged," the command passed through the inorganic review of the shared consciousness's core, which seemed to "approve" this "suggestion" that aligned with its core logic. It was then transmitted to all nodes, like a spiritual boulder dropped into a calm lake, sending out wide ripples.

Countless lower-echelon consciousnesses instinctively accepted it, returning signals of "compliance," and obediently began to reinforce the idea. The entire spiritual sea of the family, after a slight fluctuation, began to slowly adjust and adapt according to this new "highest directive."

When Yui's consciousness returned to her own body and she clearly felt that the family's collective consciousness had "approved" the continued surface operation of "Kannazuki Yui" in this vessel, her heart beat so fast it felt like it would tear through her chest.

It was an absolutely insane gamble. She had just, in her capacity as the family's highest agent, approved her own "right to exist" as the Church's Saint.

The initial adaptation period was fraught with heart-stopping crises. She would subconsciously try to pray as usual, but the divine power in her body would be automatically triggered by the dense heretical aura around her. The light of the Holy Sword and Holy Staff nearly burst from her body, but the motivation's source, "Kannazuki Yui," was again automatically intervened by "Oumae Yui," which suspended the psychological mechanism of a demon-slaying Saint to fight evil on sight. The light of the Holy Sword and Staff dissipated, and they returned to their detached leg forms, standing awkwardly on their own. Yui's body, its wings vanished, fell to the ground without support. Two completely different powers clashed and grated violently in the depths of her soul, erupting in invisible spiritual sparks that nearly caused her consciousness to collapse and her body to lose control on the spot.

Yui gasped for air, looking at her scattered self. Once her condition stabilized slightly, the disrupted "Kannazuki Yui," with its fractured will, once again mobilized the authority of "Oumae Yui," released the frozen self-module, reassembled herself, and through fine manipulation, forcibly suppressed the instinctive reactions of "Kannazuki Yui."

Several nearby family members immediately noticed the spiritual wave disturbance from this "precious creation." Expressionless, they quickly moved forward, skillfully "stabilizing" her limbs and senses, which had become spiritually disconnected due to the internal conflict. They used secret rituals to "re-calibrate" them back onto her.

"Limb connection unstable. Apply 'Litany Rings'."

"Sensory feedback exceeding parameters. Soothe with 'Kirishitan Law'."

With the jingle of cold silver clasps, she was quickly pieced back into a "functional shape." Yui watched her own leg being twisted back into place by others. This was their... no, our shared language.

The efficient and precise process sent a bone-deep chill through Yui. She was now one of them, viewing the body as replaceable, maintainable parts. She had to learn to see and manage herself from this perspective.

Yui forced herself to be calm and began, with a focus that was almost self-torturing, to learn to pilot both identities simultaneously, like dancing on the sharpest blade's edge. She carefully decorated the faith, emotions, and memories of "Kannazuki Yui" into necessary information for operating within "Oumae Yui." As for the authority, cognition, and cold logic of "Oumae Yui," that was the operational router for interacting with the family network and issuing commands. In a strange twist, the fractured module of Kannazuki Yui, by interacting through the underlying Oumae Yui, began to imperceptibly influence and manipulate Oumae Yui.

When she finally mastered this delicate and dangerous art of dual existence, the first thing she did was sink her consciousness deep into the cold sea of the network and find the "Oumae Ichiyume" unit, which was in a state of stasis.

Using her authority as "Oumae Yui," she gently yet irresistibly began to write and inject a new set of instructions directed at her mother's core consciousness. She meticulously stripped away the parts related to conspiracies, missions, and family ambitions, purifying all operational information and emotional modules related to "motherly love," "gentleness," and "protecting Yui," and set them to the highest priority, reconstructing "Kannazuki Ichiyume."

She was not creating a falsehood, but painstakingly recovering and reinforcing the maternal tenderness that might have once existed amidst countless altered and overwritten operational messages. This was both a redemption for her mother and a way to preserve a final, warm emotional foothold for herself in this sea of darkness.

To pass the review, ensuring the instruction followed the absolute priority of the Oumae family's interests, Kannazuki Yui paid a second "price"—the memory of the warmth of her mother's palm. As the instruction was written, the sensory memory shattered like thin ice and sank without a sound.

She knew she had lost a certain warmth; but her mother had gained another path.

As the new psychic instructions were overlaid and written, far away in the Chamber of Sacraments at the Church, a tiny but bright halo of light began to glow from within the depths of the otherworldly scene inside the suspended body.

Yui knew the first step of her insane plan had succeeded. With the most reverent and obedient posture, she had launched a silent rebellion from the very core of this vast and ancient heretical family.

Now, she was both the Saint of the Church and, in effect, the core node of the heretical network. Beneath this narrow tightrope was a bottomless abyss.

She hid the key inside the lock and forged the lock into her heart. Every breath was a judgment. Every blink was a vote.

She could only grip tightly the faint power she held—a thing woven from madness, courage, and despair—hold her breath, and walk on, one step at a time.