Iron Maiden

Serpico escorts Farnese to the abbot's chamber high in the Tower of Conviction, where she is told the Holy See wants her out of Albion. Assuming the recall applies to her entire order, she protests that heretic activity in the region still demands their presence, but the abbot corrects her: the withdrawal targets Farnese alone, and it was requested by her own father. Azan inherits command of the knights in her absence.

Left speechless, Farnese leaves and, once safely past the abbot's hearing, wheels around to slap Serpico, convinced he swayed her father into the request. He denies any involvement, and she coldly reminds him that she alone is his master. Descending further, the pair pass torturers hauling Nina upward, the frightened girl having confessed everything before a single fingernail could be torn away.

In the torture chamber, Mozgus praises Farnese for filling the cells, then presses her about the beast reported in the cave, which she blames on hallucinogenic vapors, and about the Black Swordsman who intervened. Casca is brought in, oblivious to the horrors around her and toying with a torturer's mask, while Farnese admits the swordsman seemed to come for the girl. The crow disciple names Casca the heretics' figurehead, prompting Mozgus to inspect her and expose the Brand of Sacrifice at her collar, marking her as a witch.

Casca is sealed inside an iron maiden, her slender frame keeping clear of the spikes. Blood from the device's earlier victims drips down and pools at her feet, her Brand begins to bleed, and the gore congeals into scores of warped human faces. The trapped spirits wrench the coffin apart, drenching Mozgus and his men, and Casca emerges unharmed within a clinging swarm of the dead as Puck watches from above.

This installment belongs to the Conviction Arc and first ran in Young Animal issue 24, dated December 10, 1999. It marks the discovery of Casca's Brand by her captors and the first violent manifestation of the spirits drawn to the tower, setting the stage for the chaos that engulfs Albion. Farnese, Serpico, Nina, Mozgus, Casca, and Puck all feature.