Chapter 84: The Trial of Blood

 

Underground Crypt. Avignon. Depth: 50 Meters.

The Obsidian Door stood before them like a black mirror, absorbing the red light of the flare. In the center, the needle-like depression waited.

"It's thirsty," Catherine whispered from her wheelchair. She was staring at the door with a mix of reverence and terror. "The Angel demands a tithe."

Harper stepped forward. She looked at her hand. She didn't hesitate. She took the small pocket knife Jack offered her. Slice. She cut her palm. A thin line of crimson appeared. She pressed her bleeding hand against the obsidian.

HISS. The stone seemed to drink the blood. The black surface turned translucent, glowing with a web of red veins—Harper’s DNA unlocking the ancient mechanism. GRIND... THUD. The massive doors didn't swing open. They sank into the floor.

A blast of cold, stale air hit them. It smelled of sulfur. And something else... musk. Animal musk.

---

[The Walk of Faith]

Beyond the door lay a vast, natural cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like jagged teeth. And in front of them... nothing. A massive chasm, twenty meters wide, separated them from the other side where a stone altar stood. There was no bridge. Only darkness below.

"Great," Jack shone his flashlight down. The beam didn't hit the bottom. "We came all this way to find a dead end."

"It's not a dead end," Sebastian took the flare from Jack. He threw it into the chasm. The flare fell... and then bounced. It stopped in mid-air, suspended in the void.

"Glass?" Braun squinted.

"No," Sebastian realized. "Crystal. Ancient, tempered crystal. Perfectly clear." "This is the Bridge of Souls. Only those who believe can walk on air."

"Or those who don't look down," Jack grunted.

Sebastian looked at the wheelchair. Then at the invisible path. "I'll carry Catherine," Sebastian said. "Jack, take the chair. Braun, don't faint." "Harper, you lead. Follow the flare."

---

[The Guardian]

They stepped onto the invisible bridge. It felt like walking on ice. Smooth. Slippery. Below their feet, the abyss yawned.

They were halfway across when Sebastian stopped. His enhanced hearing picked up a sound. Scrape. Scrape. Coming from the ceiling.

"Stop," Sebastian whispered. "Don't move."

"What is it?" Harper froze.

"Something is watching us," Sebastian looked up into the shadows of the stalactites. His golden eyes dilated, adjusting to the dark. He saw them. Not one. Dozens. Creatures clinging to the rock. They looked like bats, but the size of dogs. Pale, hairless, with massive claws and no eyes. Their skin was translucent, pulsing with... blue veins? The Virus. These creatures had been feeding on the leaking fumes of the Helios strain for centuries. They had mutated into perfect predators.

SCREECH! One of the creatures let out a sonic shriek. It dove.

"Get down!" Sebastian roared. He dropped Catherine (gently) onto the crystal bridge and shielded her body with his own.

The creature slammed into Sebastian’s back. Its claws tore through his trench coat. But Sebastian was faster. He reached back, grabbed the beast by its leathery throat, and slammed it against the invisible floor. CRUNCH. He threw the carcass into the abyss.

"They are swarming!" Jack pulled his pistol (the one he took from the fake police). BANG. BANG. Gunshots echoed deafeningly in the cavern. Two more creatures fell.

But more were coming. A cloud of pale nightmares descending from the roof.

---

[The Fire]

"We can't fight them all!" Braun screamed, swinging his heavy medical bag at a swooping monster.

"Light!" Catherine shouted suddenly. "They hate the light!"

Sebastian remembered. They were blind cave dwellers. "Jack! The flares! Light them all!"

Jack grabbed a bundle of road flares from his pack. He lit them. FFFFT. Blinding red light filled the cavern. The creatures screamed, recoiling from the intensity. Their translucent skin seemed to burn under the glare.

"Run!" Sebastian scooped Catherine up in his arms. "Go! Go!"

They ran across the invisible bridge. It was terrifying. One slip meant death. But the creatures were retreating into the shadows, hissing in pain.

They reached the other side. They scrambled onto the stone platform of the altar. Sebastian kicked the last creature that tried to follow them, sending it tumbling into the dark.

---

[The Tomb]

They were safe. Panting, bleeding, they looked at what lay before them. It wasn't a coffin. It was a Laboratory. But not modern. It was Medieval alchemy mixed with... something else. Glass alembics. Bronze gears. And in the center, a massive vessel made of pure gold, sealed with wax and lead.

Catherine pointed to the vessel. "The Holy Grail," she whispered. "That is where Arthur found the sample."

Sebastian walked up to it. He saw the markings on the gold. [ HELIOS - ZERO ] Wait. That wasn't Latin. That was... English? He wiped the dust off the base of the vessel. Stamped into the metal was a date: 1944. And a symbol: The Nazi Eagle.

Sebastian froze. "This isn't Templar," he said, his blood running cold. "This is WWII tech."

"What?" Harper walked over.

"The Templars might have found it first," Sebastian traced the eagle symbol. "But the Nazis found it next. During the Occupation." "My grandfather didn't find this in a 'drilling core'. He bought it from war criminals."

"Look," Braun pointed to a skeleton in a rotting German uniform in the corner. Ideally, he should be holding a Luger. Instead, he was holding a Journal.

Sebastian picked up the journal. It was written in German. He flipped to the last page. "Project failed. The blood is too volatile. We created monsters, not soldiers. Sealed the site. May God forgive us."

"It's all a lie," Sebastian slammed the book shut. "The 'ancient curse' is just a failed Nazi experiment."

"No," Catherine shook her head. "The Nazis found the Grail. They didn't make it. They tried to open it, and it killed them." "The source inside... it is older than them. Older than the Templars."

Sebastian looked at the golden vessel. If the Nazis failed, and his father failed... Could they succeed?

"We have to open it," Harper said. She held up her bleeding hand. "My blood is the key. Remember?"

She reached for the seal.

"Wait," Sebastian grabbed her wrist. He looked at the vessel. He heard a faint... humming. Not mechanical. Biological. "If you open this, Harper... there is no going back."

Harper looked at him. Then at her mother. Then at the scars on Sebastian’s face. "We came here to end it," she said.

She placed her bloody hand on the seal. And broke the wax.