Chapter 160 — The Lie He Wore
The chamber shook.
Elias hit the floor first.
Crowley landed beside him.
Sera came down seconds later.
The Ectoplasm exploded outward.
All three were thrown apart.
Crowley rolled across the broken floor.
Sera struck one of the remaining support pillars.
Elias slid backward.
For several seconds—
nothing moved.
Then Elias laughed.
Sera pushed herself up.
Blood ran down the side of her face.
Crowley was already standing.
Elias looked between them.
"You two are becoming annoying."
Sera raised her weapon.
Crowley stepped beside her.
The Ectoplasm moved across the floor.
Slower now.
But angrier.
Black tendrils crawled over the broken glass.
Around the destroyed containers.
Elias looked at them.
His expression changed.
For the first time—
there was something personal in his eyes.
"You don't understand what you've destroyed."
Crowley looked around the chamber.
"Your experiment?"
Elias smiled.
"My work."
Sera stepped forward.
"Your victims."
Elias looked at her.
Then laughed.
The sound made Sera's grip tighten.
"You sound just like him."
Sera went still.
Crowley noticed immediately.
"Who?"
Elias smiled.
But he didn't look at Crowley.
He kept his eyes on Sera.
"Kael."
The room became silent.
Sera's expression emptied.
Then hardened.
Crowley looked at her.
Elias smiled wider.
"Ah."
He saw it.
The reaction.
The anger.
Elias leaned against the wall.
"He never stopped talking about Xcution."
Sera didn't move.
Crowley whispered:
"Sera."
"Don't."
Her voice was quiet.
Crowley went silent.
Elias continued.
"He believed in all of you."
Sera stared at him.
"Shut up."
Elias smiled.
"He really did."
The Ectoplasm moved around his feet.
"He thought he belonged."
Sera's breathing changed.
Crowley stepped closer to her.
Elias looked amused.
"You should have seen him."
Sera raised her weapon.
Crowley grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
Sera looked at him.
Elias smiled.
"Yes."
Sera pulled her wrist free.
Crowley didn't stop her again.
Elias watched her.
"Do you know what he said when he realized?"
Sera's jaw tightened.
Elias laughed softly.
"That I wasn't one of you."
Crowley's expression changed.
Elias pushed himself upright.
"That's the funny thing about pretending."
Sera took a step forward.
Elias looked directly at her.
"Eventually, someone notices."
"Stop."
"But Kael didn't."
Sera's eyes widened.
Crowley turned toward Elias.
Elias smiled.
"I wore it well."
The words settled over the chamber.
"I traveled with you."
Sera stopped breathing.
"I fought beside Xcution."
Crowley's hand tightened around his weapon.
"I listened."
Elias continued.
"I learned your names."
Sera whispered:
"Stop talking."
"I learned what made you laugh."
Elias smiled.
"What made you afraid."
The Ectoplasm crawled higher.
"What made you weak."
Crowley's voice was low.
"You infiltrated us."
Elias looked at him.
"Pretending to be part of you was remarkably easy."
Sera moved.
Crowley caught her shoulder.
This time—
not to stop her.
To steady her.
Elias saw it.
And smiled.
"Kael was the only one who eventually understood."
Sera stared at him.
Elias tilted his head.
"He looked at me differently."
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
Elias laughed.
"He finally realized I didn't belong."
Sera's voice shook.
"What did you do?"
Elias's smile disappeared.
Then returned.
"I killed him."
Sera's body went still.
Crowley's expression hardened.
Elias continued.
"Slowly."
The chamber went silent.
Sera's weapon trembled.
Crowley looked toward her.
Her eyes were fixed on Elias.
Elias smiled.
"He fought."
Sera took another step.
Elias watched.
"Harder than I expected."
"Shut up."
"He called for you."
Sera stopped.
Crowley closed his eyes for half a second.
Elias continued.
"And I remember thinking…"
Sera's anger became visible.
The Ectoplasm reacted.
Not toward Elias.
Toward her.
Black fluid began moving across the floor.
Elias smiled.
"…how much he trusted you."
Sera screamed.
She attacked.
Elias barely moved in time.
Sera's weapon struck the wall.
Stone exploded.
Elias jumped backward.
Sera followed.
No hesitation.
No patience.
Her next strike came immediately.
Elias blocked.
The impact pushed him backward.
Sera struck again.
Again.
Again.
Elias raised the Ectoplasm.
A black wall rose between them.
Sera cut through it.
Elias's smile faded.
Sera's weapon struck his shoulder.
Blood spilled.
Crowley moved.
Not toward Sera.
Toward the Ectoplasm.
The black fluid tried wrapping around him.
Crowley cut through it.
Elias noticed.
"You don't even remember him."
Crowley stopped.
Elias smiled.
"Do you?"
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
Elias laughed.
"That's right."
He turned his attention back toward Sera.
"You remember everything."
Sera struck him.
Elias barely blocked.
Crowley moved.
His weapon came down.
Elias stepped away.
Sera attacked from the other side.
Elias was caught between them.
The Ectoplasm erupted.
Crowley jumped backward.
Sera rolled beneath it.
Elias escaped.
He appeared across the room.
Blood ran from his shoulder.
His breathing was heavier now.
Sera stared at him.
"You enjoyed it."
Elias smiled.
"Yes."
Crowley looked at him.
Elias shrugged.
"Kael was interesting."
Sera disappeared from his sight.
Elias turned.
Too late.
Sera's strike hit his face.
Elias crashed into the floor.
Sera landed beside him.
Her weapon rose.
Elias's hand caught her wrist.
Ectoplasm wrapped around her arm.
Sera screamed.
Crowley moved instantly.
His weapon cut through the black mass.
Sera pulled free.
Crowley grabbed Elias.
Elias's eyes widened.
Crowley slammed him into the floor.
Once.
Again.
Again.
Elias smiled through the blood.
"You're angry."
Crowley grabbed his throat.
"You killed one of mine."
Elias stared at him.
"One of yours?"
Crowley froze.
Elias smiled.
"You don't remember his name."
Crowley's grip tightened.
Elias whispered:
"Kael."
Crowley's eyes changed.
A memory.
Not complete.
A laugh.
Someone sitting beside him.
A young man.
Kael.
Crowley couldn't see his face clearly.
But he remembered the feeling.
Warmth.
Friendship.
Then—
nothing.
Crowley's expression broke.
Elias watched.
"There."
Crowley released him.
Elias laughed.
"You forgot him."
Crowley stepped backward.
Sera stared at him.
Crowley's voice was barely audible.
"I did."
Elias smiled.
"And yet you still hate me."
Crowley slowly raised his weapon.
"I don't need to remember everything."
Elias's smile faded.
Crowley stepped forward.
"I remember enough."
Elias raised the Ectoplasm.
The chamber exploded.
Sera and Crowley were thrown in opposite directions.
The black fluid spread.
Elias stood in the middle.
His body was damaged.
But his Ectoplasm was alive.
Hungry.
Angry.
Sera pushed herself up.
Crowley did the same.
Elias looked between them.
"You're both so predictable."
Sera wiped blood from her mouth.
"You talk too much."
Elias smiled.
"I had years to practice."
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"Pretending."
Elias looked at him.
Crowley continued.
"Pretending you cared."
Sera stepped beside him.
"Pretending you belonged."
Elias's smile slowly disappeared.
Crowley raised his weapon.
"But you never did."
The Ectoplasm surged.
Sera and Crowley moved together.
Sera attacked first.
Elias blocked.
Crowley struck immediately.
Elias turned.
Sera was already moving again.
They didn't give him time to speak.
No time to manipulate.
No time to remember.
Every time Elias moved toward one—
the other attacked.
Every time the Ectoplasm rose—
Crowley cut through it.
Every time Elias tried creating distance—
Sera closed it.
Elias began retreating.
His breathing became uneven.
Sera struck.
Elias blocked.
Crowley attacked.
Elias stepped away.
Sera kicked him.
Elias hit the ground.
Crowley raised his weapon.
Elias caught it.
Sera's weapon came down.
Elias released Crowley's.
The strike tore across his side.
Elias screamed.
Sera stepped back.
Crowley stepped forward.
Elias looked between them.
His smile was gone.
"You think this changes anything?"
Crowley answered.
"Yes."
Elias laughed.
"You'll still lose."
Sera struck him.
Elias fell.
Crowley pinned him.
Elias looked up.
Sera stood over him.
Her weapon pointed downward.
Elias smiled weakly.
"Do it."
Sera didn't move.
Elias looked into her eyes.
"Kael begged."
Sera's face changed.
Elias smiled.
"He begged me to stop."
Crowley moved.
His fist struck Elias.
Once.
Elias's smile disappeared.
Crowley struck him again.
"You don't get to say his name."
Elias laughed.
Crowley struck him again.
Sera grabbed Crowley's arm.
Crowley froze.
Elias looked at her.
Still smiling.
Sera released Crowley.
Then stepped closer to Elias.
Elias looked up.
Sera spoke quietly.
"You enjoyed killing him."
Elias smiled.
"Yes."
Sera nodded slowly.
Then drove her weapon through the floor beside his head.
Elias flinched.
For the first time.
Sera leaned down.
"You know what the difference is?"
Elias stared at her.
"I don't enjoy this."
Elias's smile returned.
"Then you won't finish it."
Sera looked at Crowley.
Crowley looked back.
The decision passed between them.
Elias noticed.
His smile faded.
Sera grabbed him.
Crowley moved to the other side.
Elias struggled.
The Ectoplasm surged toward them.
Crowley held him.
Sera looked directly into Elias's eyes.
"You spent your life trying to make suffering impossible to forget."
Elias stopped.
Sera continued.
"Now you're going to remember."
The remaining Ectoplasm containers began to crack.
Elias's face changed.
"No."
Crowley understood.
He grabbed the nearest broken conduit.
Sera held Elias down.
Elias screamed.
"DON'T!"
Crowley tore the conduit free.
The Ectoplasm inside it erupted.
Elias tried pulling away.
Sera held him.
Crowley looked at her.
She nodded.
Crowley drove the conduit into the ground.
The chamber exploded.
The Ectoplasm surged.
But not toward Sera.
Not toward Crowley.
Toward Elias.
Elias screamed.
The black fluid wrapped around him.
Memories entered him.
Thousands.
Every victim.
Every scream.
Every moment.
Elias clawed at the floor.
"No!"
Sera stepped backward.
Crowley watched.
Elias screamed Kael's name.
Sera froze.
Elias's body shook violently.
The Ectoplasm covered him.
Crowley looked at Sera.
"Is this enough?"
Sera stared at Elias.
For a long moment—
she didn't answer.
Then:
"No."
Elias looked up.
His face covered in black fluid.
Sera stepped closer.
Crowley followed.
Elias's eyes widened.
For the first time since they had entered the chamber—
Elias was afraid.
Sera looked down at him.
"Good."
The Ectoplasm pulled him deeper.
Elias screamed.
Sera didn't look away.
Crowley didn't either.
They watched until—
silence.
The chamber stopped moving.
The Ectoplasm became still.
Elias was gone.
Sera stood there.
Her breathing slowly returned.
Crowley looked around.
The underground chamber was collapsing.
Stone fell from the ceiling.
Sera looked toward him.
"We need to go."
Crowley nodded.
They started moving.
Then Crowley stopped.
Sera turned.
"What?"
Crowley looked back at where Elias had disappeared.
His expression was distant.
Sera waited.
Crowley whispered:
"Kael."
Sera's eyes softened.
Crowley looked at her.
"I remembered his name."
Sera smiled faintly.
"That counts."
Crowley nodded.
Then another part of the ceiling collapsed.
Sera grabbed his arm.
"Move."
They ran.
Behind them—
the chamber buried Elias.
But somewhere beneath the stone—
something black moved.
And far beyond the ruins—
Silvet smiled.
End of Chapter 160