The chamber pulsed with a quiet dread as the Mask of Saint Cyprian stared at them from its pedestal. No one spoke until Ino finally broke the silence, his voice sharp, almost irritated.
"Grandmaster… why? Why in God's name would anyone make these trials so endlessly exhausting just to reach a relic? Couldn't they just… lock it in a chest? Post a guard?"
Aurelius let out a dry laugh, not cruel but heavy with age. "Not all relics rest in such chambers. Most are kept in a sealed passage near the dragon's den. That is the vault of sacred post-patristic artifacts. But relics tied to the Saints of the Patristic Age…" His eyes narrowed, reflecting the sickly green torches. "Those are another matter entirely."
He walked slowly toward the mask, hands clasped behind his back. "Back then, relics were scarce, immeasurably precious. The saints chose not only to preserve them, but to bury them where demons themselves had been chained. It was the Virgin who prepared this place—who bound the dragon beneath Rome. Around her prison, the Vatican was born."
Azazel tilted his head, voice edged with disbelief. "So you're telling me… the heart of Christianity was built around a demon prison? Around its enemies, not its faith?"
The words lingered in the chamber like a blasphemy too sharp to breathe. Ino's fists clenched. As a devout believer, he wanted to lash out, to deny it. Yet how could he, when the Grandmaster himself had spoken? The truth settled in his gut like lead.
In the quiet of Azazel's mind, his grandfather's voice whispered, low and knowing:
[Boy, you know nothing. You have not yet scratched the surface of what Saint Mary truly is…]
Aurelius drew out a heavy sack of woven silver thread, etched with charms. He stepped onto the dais without hesitation, lifted the mask, and slid it into the bag. The instant the bone-white visage vanished inside, the ground lurched.
"Ah," Aurelius muttered, tightening the drawstrings. "I was afraid of that."
The torches guttered. The marble floor cracked. Chunks of ceiling stone rained down as the cavern shuddered with the force of an earthquake. Dust filled their throats, the green light sputtered out, and the only sound was the roar of rock splitting apart.
The cave was collapsing.