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Chapter 144

Author: DGorgeous1
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-22 05:44:00

The mountains had swallowed the monastery whole. At least, that was how it appeared as Lucien and Seraphina stood before the ruined façade clinging to the granite slope. Time and earth had reclaimed the once-grand structure. The cross atop its tower leaned sideways. Vines wrapped the outer stones like a burial shroud. What remained was silent and forgotten, just as Silvano Etra had likely intended.

Inside the broken entrance, the air was dry and laced with dust. Old pews, long splintered and gray, lay scattered. Icons stripped from the walls left behind only nail holes and faint outlines. This was no longer a place of worship. It was a grave of secrets.

Seraphina moved ahead, flashlight beam cutting through the gloom. Her breath clouded in the cool air. Behind her, Lucien’s steps echoed faintly as he examined the crumbled edges of the walls.

“It’s exactly as the map described,” Seraphina said.

Lucien nodded, kneeling beside an old altar base. “It hasn’t been touched in decades.”

Benea
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