The explosion of light from Mara's hammer slowly faded.
The snow falling in the square melted before touching the ground.
The first Lament was thrown several steps backward.
Its shadow body burned by fire that refused to extinguish.
That fire did not spread like ordinary fire.
It moved like something with a will.
As if the fire was purifying something.
The creature writhed.
Its body cracked like black glass.
For the first time since they saw it—
it appeared fragile.
Rowan laughed shortly.
"Finally."
"That monster can die too."
But the other three Laments did not retreat.
On the contrary—
they moved forward together.
Fog around them swirled increasingly wild.
The air became colder.
Like winter that suddenly grew older.
Mara raised her hammer again.
But Elias saw something.
The light on the hammer dimmed slightly.
That power was not unlimited.
It needed something.
Hope.
Faith.
Or perhaps something even deeper than that.
The old carpenter stood beside Elias.
He gripped his hammer again.
The small light reappeared in the wood.
But his body was still weak.
He whispered softly.
"I will help."
Elias shook his head.
"You have done enough."
The old man smiled sadly.
"No."
"I have just begun to believe again."
In the middle of the square—
the first Lament finally stood again.
But something changed.
Its body was no longer whole.
Black cracks split the shadow.
As if Mara's fire had scratched something deeper than its body.
The creature emitted a strange sound.
Not a scream.
More like an echo of something far away.
Like someone whispering from the bottom of the sea.
Luca suddenly gripped Elias's arm.
The boy looked frightened.
"It's calling."
Elias looked at him.
"Calling who?"
Luca pointed to the fog outside the city.
"The others."
Rowan sighed.
"Of course."
"Why not the whole world come at once?"
But when Elias looked at that fog—
he felt something more terrifying.
That fog did not move like ordinary fog.
It moved like ocean currents.
And Greyhaven was right in the middle of that current.
Mara finally retreated several steps.
She looked at the four Laments with sharp eyes.
"I can hurt them."
"But killing them…"
She did not finish her sentence.
Rowan continued.
"…might be harder."
Elias closed his small book.
He realized something important.
The power of the Gospel was not only for surviving.
It was also for fighting something far greater.
He spoke softly.
"These creatures are not alone."
Rowan looked at him.
"Yes. We've seen that."
Elias shook his head.
"That's not what I mean."
He pointed toward the fog far outside the city.
"We've only seen small shadows."
"But something greater might be behind all of it."
Mara raised an eyebrow.
"You sound like someone who has seen this before."
Elias was silent for a moment.
He remembered other cities he had passed through.
Empty villages.
People who lost hope.
Abandoned houses.
He spoke softly.
"I thought Greyhaven was the first city truly attacked."
But now he began to doubt.
Because if the Lament could develop like this—
then the world might have changed long before they realized it.
The old carpenter suddenly pointed at something.
In the chest of the burned Lament—
the black crack began to open.
Like a wound slowly opening.
And inside it…
something was moving.
Rowan squinted his eyes.
"Don't tell me…"
The crack widened.
And from within the Lament's body—
emerged fog blacker than night.
That fog formed something.
Something smaller.
But denser.
Luca whispered in fear.
"A seed."
Everyone turned to him.
"A seed?"
Luca nodded.
"Lament grows."
Those words made the atmosphere much colder.
Because if one Lament could birth another—
then despair was not merely a monster.
It was a disease.
And that disease could spread.
Mara gripped her hammer tighter.
Fire burned again in the metal.
"Then we must burn the seed."
Rowan raised his sword again.
"Simple plan."
Elias opened his book once more.
But this time his mind was not only focused on Greyhaven.
If there were truly 13 Gospels scattered in the world…
then there must be others like Mara.
Like that carpenter.
Like people they had not yet met.
People who could ignite hope elsewhere.
He looked at the fog surrounding the city.
And for the first time since this journey began—
he realized something.
This evangelist journey might not merely be spreading hope.
But gathering people who could fight the world's darkness.
Because if they failed—
the world might sink into the Lament's fog forever.