I Thought I Was Collecting Systems, Not Overpowered Wives

Chapter 68: Saga 68: The Mountain Sanctuary

Three days later found them climbing a narrow mountain path north of Songrel, the air growing thinner and colder with every mile, the old Hollow Choir sanctuary finally coming into view as a weathered stone structure built into the mountainside itself, clearly abandoned for decades save for the faint traces of recent, careful maintenance.

"He’s been keeping this place active," Sylvia observed, noting the cleared pathway and recently repaired sections of the ancient stonework. "Whatever else Vane’s become, he’s maintained some connection to this place’s original purpose."

Ari led the way inside, staff held ready despite her outward composure, Kael and Sylvia flanking her closely as they entered the sanctuary’s central chamber. Cardinal Vane stood waiting at its center, alone, no masked disciples flanking him, no visible trap laid in ambush.

"You came," he said, voice carrying genuine surprise. "I confess I doubted you would, given everything that’s happened."

"I almost didn’t," Ari said, staff crackling faintly with readiness. "Talk. Quickly, and honestly, or we leave immediately."

Vane’s expression, weathered and considerably older than Ari remembered from childhood, carried something like genuine regret. "The ritual six months before I disappeared. You’ve read the transcript, I assume."

"We have," Kael confirmed.

"Then you understand I sought to restore what I believed the Church had lost. Genuine connection to the divine source that once justified our founding." Vane’s hands trembled slightly as he spoke, old pain surfacing despite his composed exterior. "What answered instead was something considerably older and hungrier than any benevolent divinity. It offered power, influence, the tools to reshape the Church according to my convictions. I accepted, believing I could control what I’d invited in."

"And you couldn’t," Sylvia said, not a question.

"No. Whatever answered my call has been shaping my actions ever since, slowly, patiently, in ways I’ve only recently begun to fully recognize." Vane’s voice cracked, genuine anguish bleeding through. "The assassination attempts, the campaign against the Sunlight Accord—some portion of it serves my original convictions, yes. But increasingly, I fear I’m simply an instrument for something else’s purpose entirely, something I no longer fully control."

Ari’s staff lowered slightly, some of her guarded hostility softening into cautious sympathy. "Why tell me this now?"

"Because I have precious little time left before whatever’s guiding me completes whatever purpose it intends for both of us," Vane said. "And because despite everything, some part of me still wishes to see you protected from what’s coming, even if I can no longer fully control my own actions toward that end."

"What’s coming?" Kael demanded.

Vane’s expression turned grim, ancient fear surfacing beneath his composed exterior. "The same thing that nearly woke beneath Renodin’s palace. The Sleeping Ruin was merely one fragment of something considerably larger, considerably older. Whatever answered my ritual six months ago serves that same ancient purpose, and it has been patiently working through multiple vessels across multiple kingdoms, myself included, to bring about a considerably larger awakening."

Kael felt a chill run through him at the confirmation, memories of the Sleeping Ruin’s terrible awakening still fresh despite the weeks since. "How many vessels are we talking about?"

"I don’t know precisely," Vane admitted. "The influence guiding me communicates only what it deems necessary for my continued cooperation. But I’ve gathered enough fragments over the years to understand this spans considerably beyond Reinburg and Songrel alone. Other kingdoms, other organizations, all potentially serving the same ancient purpose without full awareness of the broader pattern."

"And the endgame?" Sylvia pressed. "What exactly is this thing trying to accomplish?"

"Awakening, ultimately. Something vast and old, sealed away long before recorded history began properly tracking such things. The Sleeping Ruin beneath Renodin’s palace was merely one such seal, one fragment of a considerably larger prison spanning multiple locations, multiple kingdoms." Vane’s voice had grown hollow, haunted by knowledge he clearly wished he’d never gained. "I fear we’ve only glimpsed a fraction of what’s truly at stake."

Ari’s staff lowered further, the tension in her shoulders replaced by something heavier, more exhausted. "Why are you telling us all this? If you’re still bound to serve this influence’s purpose, wouldn’t revealing its plans work against that service?"

"Perhaps," Vane admitted. "Or perhaps some fractured, defiant piece of myself still believes warning you matters more than blind obedience to whatever’s guiding my actions. I honestly don’t know anymore where my own will ends and its influence begins."

The admission hung heavy in the mountain air, genuine anguish bleeding through every word, and despite everything he’d done, Kael found himself feeling something uncomfortably close to pity for the broken man standing before them.

"If some part of you truly still wants to help," Sylvia said carefully, "then help us understand how to fight what’s guiding you. Not just Umbra Black, but the actual influence behind it."

Vane considered the request for a long moment, some internal struggle playing out visibly across his weathered features. "There may be a way. A weakness I’ve observed in its influence over these past months, small enough that I’ve kept it hidden even from myself until recently. The connection it maintains over its vessels weakens considerably when exposed to concentrated holy magic of sufficient purity."

"Songrel’s founding blessing," Ari said, understanding dawning. "The same power my position is meant to channel."

"Precisely. Which is, I suspect, part of why you specifically became a target. Not merely for symbolic or political reasons, but because your bloodline authority represents a genuine, practical threat to whatever this influence intends." Vane’s expression turned grave. "Eliminate you, and one of the few remaining tools capable of countering its hold over vessels like myself disappears along with you."

Kael absorbed this new information with growing unease. "So protecting Ari isn’t just about protecting a person. It’s about protecting a weapon capable of fighting whatever’s actually behind all this."

"Yes," Vane confirmed. "Though I’d ask you not think of her purely in those terms. She deserves protection for her own sake first, regardless of whatever strategic value she represents."

Ari’s staff lowered fully now, something complicated and weary settling into her expression. "I appreciate that sentiment, coming from you specifically."

—

End of Chapter—