Chapter 60
The appearance of the mysterious man was so sudden that Pope Alexander VI and Pope Alvan III could not react at all. Even Pope Arnold II didn’t know where that man came from and he's just next to The Jester!
The three popes could have sworn that the mysterious man was not there earlier. But what’s truly shocking though was the action of Pope Reynolds I.
“…My Lord?” What lord? This was the first time that the three popes have seen Pope Reynolds acting so subservient to another person, especially since he’s a very prideful man!
One could even see how prideful he was through his title – Reynolds I. Not Reynolds II but I. When he sat on the throne of the church of Tehran, he didn’t use the title of the other popes before him. Instead, he created another title and called himself Pope Reynolds I!
…And yet this prideful man is now kneeling in front of another man – even going as far as to call him his ‘Lord.”
The mysterious man’s appearance was no different from a regular person that could be seen anywhere. One could see him on the street and not give him a second glance. He is neither good-looking nor ugly. The best description for the man would be “average.”
But despite the mysterious man’s average appearance the pope of the church of Tehran, one of the most influential man in the four churches is currently kneeling in front of him like a loyal servant. Just who could this man be? Why is someone as prideful as Pope Reynolds I acting so humbly?
“Are you not going to let go of the pope, Jester?” The mysterious man asked the man Conrad, also known as the Jester who’s currently pointing a sword at Pope Arnold’s throat, to let him go. “Although Lueger is long gone his church still exist, you know?” He remarked.
The Jester, Conrad, smirked at the remark of the mysterious man before sheathing his sword once again. Pope Arnold II who was finally free let out a sigh of relief. He gave the envoy a hard look before glancing at the mysterious man for several seconds. He then walked towards the other pope while caressing his throat in silent.
Without anyone speaking, the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned awkward. This could be blamed partly on the mysterious man who stopped talking after speaking for Pope Arnold’s behalf. The other half on the other hand could be blamed to some of the words that the man had said.
Lueger! The mysterious man called one of the four gods by its name as if he was the god Lueger’s equal!
If the three popes could still not tell who the mysterious man in front of them despite all the clues that was given to them then they might as well smash their heads into a wall and end their life.
“We pay our respect to Lord Tehran!” The three popes exclaimed loudly upon realizing the truth – the mysterious man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere was none other than the avatar of the god Tehran – one of the four gods of their religion!
As the popes of their respective churches, Pope Alexander, Pope Arnold, and Pope Alvan could not afford to kneel to another god. Still, they bowed their heads as a sign of respect.
“Hmm… Raise your heads,” The mysterious man told the four popes to raise their heads. He then walked calmly towards one of the seats and sat down without asking permission. Of course the mysterious man need not to ask permission, as one of the four gods, the property of the four churches belonged to him.
“I believed you already know what I’m going to ask all you, correct?”
“Yes, My Lord. If I’m not mistaken you wanted us to cooperate with the Sect of the Void?” Pope Reynolds answered in behalf of the other popes.
“Exactly. For the other two to ascend into this world, we need the assistance of the Sect of the Void,” god Tehran explained.
When the popes heard that two other gods would also descend into the world, their hearts skipped a beat. But when they realized that only two gods would descend and not three, a sudden understanding dawn on them.
“My, My Lord… Shouldn’t it be three instead of two?” Pope Arnold asked in a stammering voice.
The three popes looked at their colleague with pity. They’ve known for a while now that the god Lueger have stopped answering to the pope’s prayers since some time ago – even before the descent of the avatar of the god of the void. At first they thought that Pope Arnold simply fall out of favor and lost the blessing of god Lueger. But from the looks of things, the worst had actually happened.
“Lueger is dead. Killed by the same being that destroyed the avatar of the god of the void,” god Tehran answered coldly.
“No! That’s impossible…”
Pope Arnold, fall into his knees, grieving. As a pope and devout believer of god Lueger, the fall of his god is a great blow to him.
****
Despite suffering greatly from the ambush by a mysterious force that they believed belonged to the Sect of the Void, the armies of the three alliances still carry on with the same determination from before. On their way to the holy cities, several forts and fortresses fall to their wrath that was akin to a tsunami that sweeps everything on its path.
Their momentum was so great that one would think that nothing could possibly stop their march – they were greatly mistaken. Before they could even step a single foot on the holy cities they were stopped by a single person who claimed to be the avatar of god Tehran!
What’s more terrifying though was the fact that this mysterious person has the power to back up his claim. Despite their great number the armies of the three alliances could do nothing against him. Power, speed, and magic – the person claiming to be the avatar of the god Tehran far surpasses anyone in the three armies. This was proven when he easily killed several of their warriors, the champions. Even the arch-mages from Order of the Magus could do nothing but protect their own lives in front of the mysterious man’s power.
Helpless, the armies of the three alliances could only retreat in humiliation from the holy cities. Fortunately, the avatar of the god of the void didn’t pursue them. Maybe the avatar felt like it was beneath him to pursue the retreating armies or maybe he couldn’t be bothered. Either way the three armies managed to successfully retreat to the fortresses they’ve previously conquered…
Bang!
A king from the Red Phoenix alliance, King Horas of Yalan, slammed his left fist on the wooden table after receiving the news of their armies retreat. “How did this happen? Weren’t the four gods exiled? How could they send an avatar into our world? Could it be that our previous information was compromised?” He asked seemingly implying that the information about the exile of the four gods was untrue.
“Hmph! What are you trying to say, King of Yalan? Are you implying that we gave you all fake information?”
The one who spoke was the king of the gnomes, King Rutney of Farcell. As a straightforward man who dislikes schemes, King Rutney took personal offense when King Horus implied that the information about the exile of the four gods was false. And considering he's the person responsible for spreading the information, he has all the right to be angry.
“Let me tell you, the information about the exile of the four gods came from Titan Leviathan and Sorceress Cassandra. How about you tell the two of them what you’ve just said to us?” Challenged the enraged monarch of the gnomes.
King Horas was miffed. Ask the titan and the sorceress themselves? He’s not tired of living yet. The sorceress is one thing as she’s only human and could be reasoned with using methods such as flowery words, bribery, or threats. But as for the Titan Leviathan – he’ll be lucky if the titan didn’t swallow him whole!
Admittedly, it was his fault for running his mouth without thinking due to his frustration. But can he really be blamed for that? After all victory was so close at hand when it was suddenly snatched away from them!
“I apologize for my ally’s careless words. He didn’t mean anything by what he’d said, he’s simply frustrated at the appearance of the avatar of the god Tehran. After all, we were so close to taking over the holy cities.”
Emperor Darius IX apologizes to the members of the other two alliances for his ally’s careless words which helps diffuse the situation – and prompted the king of Yalan to lower his head as an apology.
“Since the emperor himself had apologized for King Horas’ behalf then let it end here. After all we’re still allies facing the same enemy. Instead of arguing amongst ourselves we should think of a way to defeat the avatar of the god Tehran and the four churches,” said King Egbert.
“Your words ring true but how are we supposed to face a god? Certainly it’s just an avatar and not the real thing but its power couldn’t be denied. Even several of our arch-mages could only flee in the face of the avatar’s overwhelming power. As for our regular soldier… only death awaits them,” asked Elder Theodore.
Elder Theodore’s voice was filled with frustration and helplessness. Many of the Order’s magicians had died while battling the avatar of the god Tehran. As the most powerful force in the three armies, the avatar targeted their magicians first, fully aware that the magicians possessed the greatest threat in the battle that was to come. It was also for this reason that their arch-mages were forced to deploy this early in the phase of war which was to give the magicians’ time to retreat.
“The only ones that could possibly match the avatar in this world would be the mysterious god who defeated the avatar of the god of the void, the dragons… and the titans,” King Vernal of Almena mentioned their options.
“The whereabouts of the mysterious god is a mystery. Is he still even in this world? Did he and the avatar of the god of void destroy each other? Since we don’t know where he is or what happened to him, defending on him would not be proper. That leaves us the dragons and the titans. The dragons have kept to themselves for millennia and haven’t showed themselves since their isolation. So we can’t depend on them as well – leaving only the titans.”
The leaders of the three alliances nodded their heads in agreement after hearing the words of the king of Almena. They understood what he meant. To have a fighting chance against the avatar of the god of Tehran, they must employ the help of the titans whose powers rivaled that of the dragons. That said convincing the three titans to fight for them won’t be easy…
****
While the three alliances was thinking on how to counter the threat of the avatar of god of the void, the four churches was not just twiddling their thumbs doing nothing. One of the very first things that the four churches did was to announce the descent of one of their gods as part of their propaganda.
Included in the propaganda was a story to clear up the names of the four gods – denying the “allegation” that the four gods had flee in fear after the descent of the god of the void – explaining that the reason the four gods was absent during the god of the void’s rampage was that the four gods were fighting other “threats.” And only after neutralizing these threats could the four gods returned.
The four churches also emphasized that upon returning, the four gods were greatly disappointed after realizing that the heathens have besmirched their names with lies while they were absent – even going as far as to declare war on their churches – forcing one of the four gods to descend through the bodies of their most devote followers to end the war and to clear up their names.
However, descending was not easy task even for the gods. After all the gods’ great power could cause an imbalance that could destroy the very fabric of the reality itself. To prevent the destruction of the world, the merciful gods decided to only send one of them – the god of Tehran to punish the heathens – raining down divine retribution to those who wronged the gods.
Also, as to show that the gods are merciful, the four churches spread that the god Tehran did not wipe out the heathens’ entire force, wiping only the greatest sinners among them. As proof of this, god Tehran allowed the rest of the armies of the three alliances to retreat safely.
The news of the descent of the god Tehran through an avatar reached the ears of all the people in the continent thanks to a hidden force that was working behind the scene. When news of the descent of one of the four gods spreads many people become terrified. This was especially true to those who have hands on the destruction of the churches and temples, and the killing of many of the religion’s devout believers.
And following the "official" explanation from the church, many started doubting the legitimacy of the information that the four gods was run away in face of danger and was exiled by the will of the world as a result. After all if the four gods were exiles how could one of the four gods descend into the word? Won’t the avatar of the god Tehran be destroyed?
As the wind changes, many of the believers of four churches that goes into hiding could finally show themselves. Even those that used to be in support of the war against the four churches started to have second thoughts. Calls to stop the attack on the four churches were becoming louder and louder as the days pass even among the volunteer soldiers. If things continue as it is, the three alliances might just lose the support of the people.
****
To be continued
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