Snow was still falling in Greyhaven.
Not heavy.
But enough to make the city look like a painting slowly forgotten by the world.
Inside that old church, Elias still stood in front of the altar.
The large book was open.
The page about creation was still there.
Rowan leaned on a wooden bench while observing Elias with a half-bored expression.
"You've been staring at that page for almost an hour."
Elias did not answer.
He was still thinking about one thing.
If every part of the Gospel had power…
then someone had to awaken it.
But how?
Prayer alone was not enough.
He had tried.
Nothing happened.
Rowan finally stood.
"Alright."
"If we're going to die attacked by a monster, I at least want breakfast first."
But before he could step out of the church—
Luca suddenly spoke.
"There's someone."
Elias turned.
"Where?"
"Outside."
Rowan immediately walked to the door.
When the church door opened, cold wind entered with snowflakes.
On the church steps stood an old man.
His clothes were worn.
His face pale.
His eyes red like someone who hadn't slept for days.
He held something in his hand.
A small carpenter's hammer.
Rowan squinted his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The man did not answer.
He only looked at Elias.
"I heard…"
his voice was hoarse.
"…you carry that book."
Elias nodded slowly.
"I'm just a wanderer."
The old man took one step up the stairs.
"I need help."
Rowan sighed.
"Everyone in this city needs help."
The man ignored Rowan.
He only looked at Elias.
"I lost my child."
The wind stopped for a moment.
That sentence felt heavy in the air.
Elias spoke calmly.
"What happened?"
The man looked down.
"He stopped hoping."
Rowan immediately understood the meaning.
Lament.
When someone loses hope completely…
something comes to take them.
The old man gripped his small hammer tighter.
"I made wooden toys for him."
He opened his hand.
There was a small horse carved from wood.
But the toy was broken.
"I said I would fix it."
"But I was too late."
Luca looked at the toy with a sad face.
Elias walked closer.
"What do you want from me?"
The old man raised his eyes.
"That book…"
"They say it brings hope."
Elias did not answer immediately.
Because he himself was not yet sure.
But something inside him said this moment was important.
He opened the small book he carried.
The page he opened this time was different.
Those words spoke about light.
Elias read slowly.
"The light shines in the darkness…"
"…and the darkness has not overcome it."
The atmosphere of the church changed.
Rowan immediately felt it.
The air became warm.
The old man also felt it.
His trembling hands began to calm.
But the strangest thing—
was the small hammer in his hand.
The wood in the hammer handle began to glow very dimly.
The old man looked at his hand in shock.
"What…"
Elias also fell silent.
The hammer slowly emitted a small light.
Not bright light.
More like an ember almost extinguished.
But still alive.
Luca whispered.
"He believes."
Rowan looked at the hammer with wide eyes.
"Impossible…"
The old man suddenly cried.
Not from sadness.
But because something long lost had finally returned.
Hope.
He gripped that hammer.
The small light grew stronger.
The wood in the hammer changed.
Its wood grain moved as if alive.
The broken horse toy in his hand also changed.
The broken wood pieces slowly rejoined.
As if time ran backward.
Rowan stepped back.
"What just happened?"
Elias slowly closed his book.
His answer was finally clear.
The power of the Gospel did not emerge from the book alone.
It emerged from humans who truly held the meaning of those words.
This old man was a carpenter.
He created something from wood every day.
And when hope returned—
the word about creation answered him.
The hammer was now no longer an ordinary hammer.
It became something new.
A tool that carried the power of creation.
The old man looked at Elias with tears.
"I… can feel it."
"Like there's something alive inside those words."
Elias nodded slowly.
But before he could say something—
the sound of cracking was heard from outside the church.
Everyone froze.
Fog on the street moved again.
But this time different.
Faster.
Wilder.
Rowan turned toward the door.
"Oh great."
"The monster must have felt this."
Luca whispered.
"It's coming."
The old man gripped his hammer tight.
His hands still trembled.
But his eyes changed.
For the first time since he lost his child—
he did not look like someone in despair.
He looked like someone ready to fight.
And outside the church…
the Lament standing in the fog began to move toward them.