I Thought I Was Collecting Systems, Not Overpowered Wives

Chapter 58: Saga 58: A Warning Written in Blood

The first sign of trouble arrived just before dawn, when a temple guard on routine patrol discovered a message pinned to the cathedral’s eastern gate, written in something that had clearly once been alive.

Kael was roused from sleep by an urgent knock, Sylvia already awake and dressed by the time he stumbled to the door, the Cardinal’s aide waiting with visible alarm.

"You need to see this," the aide said, leading them through the still-dark corridors toward the eastern courtyard, where a small crowd of guards had already gathered around something pinned to the ancient wooden gate.

The message, scrawled in dried blood across a strip of parchment, read simply: THE FALSE SAINT WILL FALL WITH THE DAWN OF THE THIRD MOON.

"Third moon," Sylvia murmured, already calculating. "That’s four days from now."

"We should show this to Ari immediately," Kael said, though something in his gut already told him this warning was less a genuine threat and more a calculated act of psychological pressure. Umbra Black wanted the Church afraid, wanted Ari afraid, long before any actual attack materialized.

They found Ari already awake in her private chambers, the Cardinal having beaten them there with the same grim news. She stood at her window, back straight, composure fully restored to its ceremonial coldness, though Kael could see the faint tremor in her hands she wasn’t quite managing to hide.

"I’ve received threats before," she said, voice steady despite everything. "Never quite this specific, admittedly."

"We take it seriously regardless," the Cardinal said firmly. "Additional guard rotations, restricted movement, full lockdown of the inner cathedral grounds until the threat passes."

"And if it doesn’t simply pass?" Ari asked, turning finally to face them. "If this genuinely is the beginning of something Umbra Black intends to follow through on?"

"Then we’re ready for them," Kael said. "That’s precisely why we’re here."

Ari’s gaze settled on him, something complicated passing behind her eyes—gratitude, fear, and something else Kael couldn’t quite name yet. "I appreciate the confidence. I only hope it’s warranted."

[Kael, I’ve analyzed the blood used in that message. Not human. Some kind of corrupted beast, similar signature to what we encountered in the Sumbiya Highlands.]

’Black Ring connection after all?’

[Possibly a shared supplier of corrupted materials, at minimum. Or something more direct. I’d recommend treating both organizations as potentially linked until proven otherwise.]

"System’s picked up something," Kael said aloud, sharing the finding with the room. "The blood used for this message carries the same corruption signature as the creatures from Sumbiya. Whatever’s behind Umbra Black, they’re either connected to the Black Ring directly, or drawing from the same dark well of resources."

The Cardinal’s expression hardened further. "Then this threat is considerably more serious than a simple political extremist group. Gather everyone. We reinforce every ward in this cathedral starting immediately, and I want a full accounting of every entrance, exit, and blind spot before nightfall."

As the room burst into urgent activity, Kael caught Ari’s eye one more time, and beneath the fear he saw there, something steadier too—a quiet, determined resolve that told him she had no intention of simply waiting to be a victim.

"I want to help with the preparations," Ari said, once the Cardinal had turned to bark orders at a cluster of anxious attendants. "Not just sit in my quarters being guarded like fragile cargo."

"Your Holiness," the Cardinal began, already sensing the argument forming, "the safest course of action is—"

"The safest course of action isn’t always the right one," Ari cut in, voice carrying an authority Kael hadn’t heard from her since the throne chamber. "I refuse to hide while everyone else risks themselves on my behalf. If I have skills that can contribute to my own defense, I intend to use them."

The Cardinal’s jaw tightened, clearly unaccustomed to being challenged so directly, but something in Ari’s expression must have convinced her further argument would be wasted breath. "Very well. Within reason, and under close supervision."

"Thank you." Ari turned to Kael, something like relief flickering across her features. "I studied combat magic before the Church claimed me for ceremonial duties, you understand. Rusty, certainly, but not entirely helpless."

"I believe you," Kael said, and found, somewhat to his own surprise, that he genuinely meant it.

[Interesting. Her mana signature just spiked slightly, consistent with someone recalling old combat training. She’s not exaggerating.]

’Good. We’ll need every advantage we can get before this is over.’

Sylvia, who’d been reviewing the guard rotation schedule nearby, glanced up at the exchange. "If you’re serious about contributing, Ari, I’d like to test your capabilities properly before we rely on them in an actual fight. Better to know your limits now than discover them mid-battle."

"Fair enough," Ari agreed. "Though I should warn you, my training’s been dormant for years. Don’t expect anything spectacular."

"I’ve trained enough reluctant fighters to know dormant skill often surprises people," Sylvia said. "Meet us in the eastern training yard within the hour. We’ll see what you’ve got."

As Ari departed to change into something more suited for training, Kael found himself studying the security reports once more, the looming deadline of the third moon weighing heavier with every passing hour. Whatever Umbra Black intended, he had the distinct feeling their preparations, however thorough, might still fall short of what was truly coming.

He gathered the reports into a neat stack, mind already turning over contingencies, backup plans, worst-case scenarios he hoped fervently would never come to pass. Three days wasn’t much time to prepare for an enemy that had spent over a decade perfecting patience. Whatever Azure Blake could manage in that window would simply have to be enough.

He glanced once more toward the window, toward the eastern courtyard where the bloodied warning still hung, guards now stationed around it while Church scribes carefully documented every detail. Four days. Four days to prepare, to plan, to somehow ensure Ari survived a threat decades in the making.

’We’ve faced worse odds before,’ he reminded himself, though the thought offered less comfort than usual given how little they still understood about the enemy waiting in Songrel’s shadows.

—

End of Chapter—