The glass service lift climbed through the Cathedral’s spine like a bullet in slow motion.
No walls, no corners—just transparent floor and ceiling, so that white light speared in from every direction and scrubbed away even the hint of a shadow.
For something shaped by the Sump and fed on despair, the place felt poisonous.
Heat prickled under Zane’s skin, not the honest burn of fire but a crawling, invasive irritation that came straight from the Lux saturating the air.
He gripped the polished railing, jaw clenched, as his System Interface flickered at the edge of his vision.
SOUL FORGE EFFICIENCY: -50%.
ENVIRONMENTAL LUX DRAIN: ACTIVE.
Every scrap of shadow‑matter he tried to muster would be chewed apart before it could take shape.
No garrottes. No nets. No subtlety at all.
“Cap
