The Road to Babylon – 12:07 A.M.
The convoy sped down the deserted highway. Nathaniel sat in the back of the armored SUV, his fingers drumming anxiously against his knee. Leah rode beside him, silent, but the tension in her posture said everything. Lucien sat up front, speaking in clipped, urgent Hebrew over the phone.
Nathaniel turned toward the window. The sky was wrong. It wasn't the deep black of a normal midnight. A crimson haze clung to the horizon, pulsing like a dying ember. It felt unnatural.
"A great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch."
The words from Revelation haunted him. Was this what John had seen? Was this what the scroll had whispered about?
Leah broke the silence. "You really saw Rahim?"
Nathaniel nodded, rubbing his temples. "He was at the river. It wasn't just drying up… it was being drained. Like something beneath it was…" He hesitated.
"Alive," she finished for him.
A tense beat passed between them.
Lucien ended his call and twisted in his seat. "We have a problem."
Nathaniel exhaled. "Bigger than the Euphrates turning to blood?"
Lucien's expression darkened. "Yes."
Leah frowned. "What is it?"
Lucien hesitated. "The Vatican."
Nathaniel blinked. "The Vatican?"
Lucien nodded. "They've been monitoring the Euphrates situation. And now? They're sending an Inquisitor."
Leah inhaled sharply. "No. That's—"
"That's a disaster," Nathaniel muttered.
The Vatican didn't just send Inquisitors. They unleashed them.
And if one was coming, it meant the Church believed the prophecies had already begun.
Nathaniel clenched his jaw. "Who are they sending?"
Lucien hesitated. Then:
"Ezra D'Angelis."
Leah swore under her breath.
Nathaniel leaned back against the seat, his pulse quickening. Ezra.
The Vatican's most ruthless Inquisitor. A man whose mere presence meant judgment had already been passed.
And Rahim… Rahim would see it as a declaration of war.
The SUV swerved as they neared the Iraqi border. The road ahead was lined with military checkpoints.
They were running out of time.
And the Third Woe was about to begin.
---
Babylon – 1:33 A.M.
The ruins of Babylon stood in eerie silence beneath the blood-red sky. What had once been the heart of an empire was now a battlefield waiting to be claimed.
Rahim stood atop the crumbling steps of the ancient temple, overlooking the Euphrates. The river had been reduced to a twisting, blackened trench, its waters corrupted, its depths revealing something that should never have been seen.
Beneath the cracked riverbed, they moved.
Four shadows.
Four bound figures.
Their chains rattled softly.
Rahim's crimson cloak billowed in the rising wind as he turned toward the veiled woman beside him.
"Is it done?" he asked.
She nodded. "The seal is shattered. All that remains is the offering."
Rahim's grip tightened around the dagger in his hand.
"It has already begun," he murmured. "Let Ezra come. Let them all come."
His golden eyes flickered with something ancient, something beyond human comprehension.
"They cannot stop what is already written."
With that, he raised the dagger—
And the Third Woe was unleashed.
---
Checkpoint – 1:45 A.M.
Nathaniel's phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen. An unknown number.
Frowning, he answered. "Who is this?"
A smooth, cold voice replied.
"Ezra D'Angelis."
Nathaniel stiffened. Leah and Lucien turned to him, immediately on edge.
"I assume you're heading to Babylon," Ezra continued, his tone unreadable. "You will stand down."
Nathaniel exhaled. "Not happening."
A small pause. Then:
"Then you're in my way."
The line went dead.
Nathaniel swore.
Leah leaned forward. "What did he say?"
Nathaniel clenched his fists. "He's coming."
Lucien exhaled slowly. "Then we have a bigger problem than Rahim."
Nathaniel shook his head. "No."
His gaze flicked toward the bleeding sky.
Rahim is still the real threat.
And if we don't stop him now, there won't be a world left for Ezra to judge.
With that, he turned back toward Babylon.
Because the Gospel of John wasn't just unfolding anymore.
It was being rewritten.
And the final battle was about to begin.