The forest grew quieter with every step.
No wind.
No birds.
No gods.
Only the sound of distant chains dragging across stone.
Cain trailed the Warden from the shadows, his fusion still unstable. Nyx growled with every footstep.
"We should kill him. Now. Before he gets there."
"And lose the only lead to the Sanctuary?"
"It's not a sanctuary. It's a cage. They'll put us in it. Together."
Cain ignored him.
[Fusion Status: Mutating]Core Stability: 67%Vein Corruption: 4% (Rising)
He was running out of time.
The Warden moved like a ghost through the pines.
At dawn, he passed beneath an arch made of blackened antlers and broken masks.
Cain's breath hitched.
There was no sign. No gate.
Just an old ruin, overgrown and sunken into the earth.
Yet something in the ground sang.
[Location Discovered – Sanctuary of the First Bindings]Access Level: UnauthorizedWarning: Ancient Binding Field Detected – Fusion unstable within
The Sanctuary wasn't a building.
It was a graveyard.
Massive stones carved in beast-tongue. Bones big enough to belong to dragons. Iron circles etched into the dirt like crop sigils.
In the center: a shattered monolith with three symbols carved into it.
The sigil of man
The sigil of beast
And something in between—a spiral made of teeth
Cain stayed hidden behind the ruins as the Warden knelt.
He wasn't praying.
He was speaking.
To someone.
A woman emerged from the fog. Her robes were half-Church, half-shadow, stitched from different worlds.
Her eyes were covered.
Her voice wasn't.
"He followed you, didn't he?""Yes.""Then he's ready."
Cain froze.
They knew.
Nyx hissed.
"This is no sanctuary. This is a cradle for monsters."
"Then why do I feel… calm?"
"Because this place was made for you, Cain. Long before you were born."
Suddenly, a second voice entered Cain's mind.
Not Nyx.
Not his own.
"Come closer, little broken thing. Let me see the shard you carry."
A statue near him moved—slowly.
It wasn't stone.
It was bone, coiled into a serpentine humanoid shape, with multiple beast heads fused into its chest like armor.
Its voice rattled the leaves.
"I remember your bloodline. I remember her."
Cain stepped back.
[Beast Signature Detected – Class: Ancient Chimera Fragment]Status: Semi-SapientThreat: LethalAlignment: Unknown
The woman in the Sanctuary stepped forward.
"Cain. You hold the shard. That makes you next in line."
"For what?"
"To inherit what we lost. To finish what the Church began. To break the leash… or wear it willingly."
She raised a relic—an old chain turned into a crown.
Cain's brand burned.
The Warden turned, face still hidden, and spoke for the first time since their fight:
"Choose, beastbinder."
"Join us… or we finish what the Bishop couldn't."
Cain clenched his fists. His heart screamed.
Behind him: freedom. Forest. Uncertainty.
Before him: answers. Chains. A throne of shadows.
[System Alert – Pivotal Branch Reached]➤ Join the Sanctuary: Learn the truth of the ancient fusion bloodlines. Inherit a forbidden beast core.➤ Resist the Offer: Break into the Sanctuary's inner sanctum. Steal the knowledge. Run before they chain you.➤ Challenge the Warden (High Risk): Force a full fusion, take his place, and uncover the Sanctuary's secrets by conquest.