Rana threw the bounded corrupt priest to the side, ignoring his muffled pleas of terror. It didn’t take long for her to shackle Lain. The apprehension devices created by inquisitors were intuitive and easy to handle, a surprise considering their aversion to cooperation with others. Their secrets were theirs alone. However, inquisitors were always about efficiency and hated pointless drivel, and it was not like other humans dared meddle in their business. The last thing they wanted was being hunted by one for acquiring their forbidden knowledge.

Was that how Rana died?

She would find the answers soon. For now, the fall of the inquisitor sect seemed to be a blessing. Although it allowed people like Lain to abuse tools meant to defend humanity, Rana knew she would not be able to escape capture if an inquisitor had their sights on her.

The sack of flesh in the corner began to squirm. Rana glanced at his eyes and they were filled with fear. It didn’t bother her, and neither did her apathy. No mind would be able to come out of an inquisitor’s torture unscathed, and if her mind was her humanity then did what she went through change her? No. The answer lied in his eyes.

Rana was a monster. It was as simple as that. Whatever humanity she believed she had, was nothing more than an illusion. Did she accept the answer? She didn’t know. For now, she simply had to find an Altar.

She glared at the priest and instantly silenced his attempt at trying to break free. How pointless. The device was designed to capture even the strongest of marked ones, what was someone without a mark even going to do? Still, she had to silence him. She didn’t need the distraction.

Rana returned her attention to the red walls of death. She could hear the silent screaming within the stones, but she ignored the blood and pain that made up the history of the room. Inquisitors excelled at what they do because they understood that humanity was their own greatest evil. Inquisitors remained steadfast to the doctrine of the One Deity, but they understood that not all men believed the same. That was why they chose the profession of weeding out humanity’s own weakness rather than fighting the monsters that threaten it.

They were the shield to a paladin’s blade. Some called it vigilant, but many would call it paranoia.

That was the reason why no inquisitor would allow themselves to be trapped. Their interrogation room always had a secret exit. Her knowledge of such things used to surprise her, but now that she understood her past life was somehow connected to the Church, it was easy to accept how she knew. Now, she needed to find the exit.

Rana knew that marked ones, no matter how capable, would not be able to find the exit. The despair wailing in the stones contorted reality and the perception of it, and any attempts at navigating the echoes of death to find the opening proved fatal to the mind of all who tried. However, her mind was not normal. The recoil from the torture still lingered and she had amazing mana sense. She closed her eyes and ignored the desperate pleas of mercy.

She found it.

Rana swam through the grasps of pain that wanted to tear her apart and let her mana touch a point in the wall. She opened her eyes and saw a path reveal itself. There was no sound, no warning, but it was there, leading outside.

“Keep silent or your life is forfeit,” Rana said as she grabbed the collar of the priest's shirt. She needed Lain to activate the Altar, but he didn’t have to know that.

Rana followed the long dark tunnel and eventually found herself on the outskirts of a weathered encampment. The night sky was cloudy, but the distant torches made the darkness less blinding. The exit lead her behind the cover of large rock formations, but she knew that in order to reach the Altar she would have to leave her place of concealment. The Altar was at the center and she had to go through the camp patrols. It also meant sooner or later she would have to face Kai and Henry again.

She flicked her hand.

[Stats — Health: 40/100, Mana 200/200, Focus: 1/100]

Rana was surprisingly in a better condition than she expected, but it was still risky to take on two experienced marked ones in such a state. Two hits would end her. This was not mentioning that her trump card, having a topped-up mana pool, was already revealed.

She smirked. That was what Lain was here for. No matter their hatred towards her, they would not endanger the life of a priest. They would not dare. Corrupt or not, Lain was from the Church, if there would be judgment it would be from them, not outsiders.

Rana pulled Lain behind her as she entered the fenced premise. It was inconspicuous and looked more like an abandoned settlement than an inquisitor stronghold. It made sense, however. If the sect was truly lost, then the knowledge to repair their carefully crafted wards and technical buildings could not be replicated. It only existed now as hideouts for people like Lain.

A shadow loomed out from the edge of a decrepit building. It was a patrolling soldier and Rana spotted him before he even noticed there was a change in the air. She let go of her captive and dashed towards her unsuspecting victim. She raised her hand and hammered her fist on top of his skull, blood and flesh exploding out of the cracks she made.

The man dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Rana paid the body no further attention and continued forward after grabbing her hostage. She continued the routine of killing soldiers before they even reacted. Those without a mark had no chance to even defend themselves, especially against someone able to efficiently utilize their overwhelming stats when compared to normal people. However, she knew it was more than that. The qualms of taking another life, the hesitation within her was no more. Her mind was clear and it, in turn, sharpened her senses. It was truly laughable, by capturing her, the Church turned her into a monster.

The only solace to her heart was that the soldiers were not of a decent kind. She could smell the blood of innocent on them. If this was in the past, the soldiers would not go down without a fight. They enlisted because even though they were weak they had loved ones to protect. Now, these people were just hired to be the arm of Lain’s unspeakable crimes.

Rana wondered why the two did not show up, but she soon realized the reason. Just as she expected, when her goal was in sight, Kai stood between her and the Altar. She quickly brought her hostage to her front as a shield with her arm firmly wrapped around his neck.

She walked forward, a bit surprised that Kai allowed her to be just a few strides to the Altar. Soldiers began to emerge but she focused solely on the obstacle between her and her goal.

“I’d knew you would come for the Altar. What will you do once you reclaim your power and memory, to slaughter even more innocent lives?” Kai asked, his voice betrayed the fury he kept bottled within. He was passionate about his duty and he cared for the innocent. Yet even someone like him could not escape the corruption from above.

“I expected you to be more than a dog for a corrupt priest,” Rana replied. Henry was nowhere to be seen, but she knew that he was already on to her. She scanned her surroundings and deduced where the archer was hiding. She looked towards a spot of shadow in a broken window. It was a threat. She would kill the priest if his arrow left his bow.

“Surrender now. At least if you do so I swear upon my honor I will grant you a swift death. I heard stories about the inquisitors of the past and I know the pain they can inflict. You have no chance of escaping. The mark you had in your past is long gone. The power you can obtain will still be no match for us. Your crimes could never be forgiven, but at least you can die believing you are innocent.”

“Let me through.”

“Stop this madness! Every moment you breathe I curse the sympathy I showed you” Kai yelled, no longer able to contain his anger. “You are a monster! Stop pretending to be human!”

Rana was about to retort, finally understanding Kai as a person. However, before she could comment on his hypocrisy, a flare of hostility was released in the distance and broke through the air. She knew of the sensation, she just couldn’t understand why. Did Henry realize she would not kill Lain? No.

Her revelation came too late. She let go of the heavy burden but she was not fast enough. The arrow sliced through Lain’s neck and tore away her forearm. The force brought her to the ground. The headless body of the priest, the key to her goal, dropped to the floor next to her torn arm. The chill was intolerable and she felt her mind slipping as Kai slowly approached.

Rana failed. This was how she would meet her end, and she would never be able to find out the truth of her past. All her struggles had become pointless.

Then a tether of light pulled. Her mind cleared but the chill continued to gnaw at her wounds, both of them. Her torn arm still felt.

Rana grabbed the detached limb with her intact arm and looked up. Kai was upon her but that was not what she was looking at. The Altar behind him glowed. It was warm. It was calling to her.

With all her might she threw her arm towards Kai. He stepped to the side and avoided the attack.

“Why do you struggle?” Kai asked, but his eyes soon widened in realization as Rana smirked. He brought up his spear and prepared to skewer the undead before him, but time slowed and it was too late.

[System (Notification): Command - Soul Touched activated]

Rana’s arm touched the Altar and a glow enveloped her body. The glorious light shot up towards the sky and parted the clouds, pushing away everything in the vicinity. The light was warm, it was nostalgic, it was loving, and then it cried out.

[System (Notification): Rana (marked) connected. Confirming data integrity. Data incomplete. Searching for resolution. Accessing Codex. Updating data. Confirming data integrity. Soul data retrieved, additional commands awaiting activation. Attempting activation. Codex linked. Rana (marked) confirmed in Codex.]

Rana stood up and the light dissipated. Her mind was clear. She knew who she was.

[System (Notification): Talent - Twin Soul activated. Talent - Mana Codex activated.]

Kai charged towards her, spear and shield ready. There was a whistle in the distance as Henry let loose another arrow, the power within was deadly. Soldiers began to give commands, yelling out formations and cautions. Their mana was charged. They wanted to end it quick.

They were trained to fight monsters and their tactics were adjusted to fight a disgraced paladin. Against a mage-class paladin, an overwhelming force was the most effective approach. It was not a bad strategy, but they were less effective against her.

Rana was not a paladin.

She focused mana into her palm, the speed in which she crafted the Spell was beyond anything her enemies could’ve imagined. That was of course. The formation and crafting of Spells were based on knowledge, technique, and experience, not the level of the mark.

Singularity Burst. It was a Spell that increased in power depending on the mana gathered within its area-of-effect. It was also a Spell only taught to the most elite of inquisitors.

The Spell within her palm exploded, knocking the aggressors back. The effect was not as powerful as she remembered but it was expected. Spell power depended on the level and her mark was still only level one. However, she was confident she would emerge victoriously.

They stood before Rana of the Sapphire Order. She was their Grand Inquisitor, and she would make sure they would know fear, the fear every marked one who dared cross her path felt before being claimed by death.