Chapter 86: Ch 86: Vanguard Of The Dawn
Raidan turned his back on the bleeding priest and knelt gracefully onto the polished marble of the Grand Plaza. He placed his bare right hand directly against the cold white stone. Next, he closed his emerald eyes and pushed a thread of pure spatial mana deep into the ground.
He needed to map the intricate web of magical conduits running beneath the city. The spatial integrity of this specific plaza was absolutely critical.
When the celestial full moon reached its peak, he intended to teleport his entire vanguard and the Grand Palace wedding procession simultaneously.
Behind him, High Acolyte Solon continued to cough up blood onto the pristine marble. The terrified nobles remained completely frozen in their kneeling positions. They did not dare to move a single muscle. They were caught between their traditional fear of the Sun God and their new, overwhelming terror of the Zenith Emperor.
Suddenly, a deafening mechanical grinding noise echoed across the silent square.
The massive bronze doors of the main Sun God temple began to swing open. The doors were fifty feet tall and entirely plated in pure gold. As they violently slammed outward, a wave of blistering heat washed over the plaza.
A regiment of heavily armored warriors marched out of the temple.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
These were the Vanguard of the Dawn. There were exactly fifty of them. They wore incredibly thick plate armor crafted from a glowing yellow metal. They held massive tower shields and long spears tipped with radiant fire crystals. They moved in perfect, synchronized steps, their heavy boots striking the marble with rhythmic intimidation.
They formed a rigid defensive wall between the kneeling nobles and Raidan.
Following closely behind the Vanguard was a man who radiated an aura of pure, suffocating arrogance. He was much older than Solon. He wore voluminous robes of spun platinum and carried a massive staff topped with a miniature, floating sun. His long white beard seemed to actually flicker with genuine orange flames.
This was Elder Priest Lumis. He possessed a level 92 class known as the Supreme Solar Hierophant. He was one of the absolute highest authorities in the religious hierarchy of Olympus.
Lumis saw the broken, bleeding body of High Acolyte Solon on the temple steps. The old priest’s face twisted into an expression of absolute, unbridled fury.
"Blasphemer!" Lumis roared, his voice was amplified by intense divine magic, shaking the crystal clear water in the nearby fountains.
"You strike from the cowardly shadows! You use foul trickery and dark reflective hexes to harm our holy brothers! You dare to claim imperial authority while relying on the tricks of a common assassin!"
Raidan did not stand up. He did not even look over his shoulder. He kept his hand pressed against the marble, entirely focused on analyzing the density of a major leyline nexus buried fifty feet below.
"I am currently very busy," Raidan said calmly, "Take your bleeding friend and go back inside your temple. I have already given my final warning regarding my wedding."
The absolute dismissal caused Lumis to tremble with rage. The Elder Priest slammed his glowing staff violently against the ground. A shockwave of heat rippled outward.
"You are no emperor! You are a fraud! You hide behind the miraculous healing of your future wife. You hide behind reflective barriers! The Sun God recognizes only true divine authority. If you truly possess a divine mandate to rule this city, you must prove it in the light!"
Raidan finally opened his eyes. He let out a long, very tired sigh. He slowly stood up and turned around to face the glowing old man and his fifty heavily armored paladins.
"Prove it?" Raidan asked dryly. "I slaughtered the entire Serpent Guild in a single night. I conquered the lower districts. I established a portal to another dimension. What exactly do you need me to prove, old man?"
"Those are acts of brutal violence! Violence is the tool of beasts and monsters! True divine authority is measured by the purity of one’s soul and the weight of one’s holy power! We challenge your legitimacy right here and now!"
Lumis gestured sharply with his free hand.
Four towering paladins broke formation and marched back into the temple. They returned a moment later, pushing a massive chariot reinforced with incredibly thick steel beams. Resting in the center of the chariot was a perfectly smooth, dark grey sphere. The sphere was the size of a small boulder, but it clearly possessed a monstrous, unnatural density. The steel wheels of the chariot groaned and sparked against the marble under its immense weight.
"Behold the Star Core!" Lumis announced proudly, gesturing toward the grey sphere. "It is an ancient celestial artifact forged in the dying heart of a primordial sun! It possesses infinite density and requires absolute divine authority to even budge. For ten thousand years, the High Priests of our shrine have proven their divine right to rule by awakening the light within this core!"
Lumis pointed his glowing staff directly at Raidan.
"We challenge you to a holy trial! A test of pure divine authority! If you can awaken the Star Core and lift it from its pedestal, the Shrine will acknowledge your imperial claim. But if it remains dark and immovable, the entire city will know you are a false god!"
Raidan stared at the grey sphere. Then he looked at the fiercely proud faces of the paladins. He looked at the desperately hopeful expressions of the wealthy nobles kneeling on the ground.
A slow, incredulous smile spread across Raidan’s face.
"A lifting competition? I just threatened to erase your entire religion from the history books, and your response is to challenge me to a childish carnival game with a heavy rock?"
"Do not mock the sacred trial! Are you terrified of the truth? Are you afraid the Star Core will expose your weakness in front of the nobility?"
Raidan let out a genuine, rumbling laugh. The sound was deeply unsettling to the priests. It held no fear, only the cold amusement of an apex predator watching a flock of sheep try to organize a rebellion.
"Very well. I will play your childish game. But before I take my turn, I want to see you demonstrate. I want to see exactly how much divine authority the mighty Sun God grants to his highest servants."
Lumis sneered triumphantly. He believed he had successfully backed the false emperor into a corner.
The Elder Priest handed his staff to a nearby paladin. He walked up to the heavy steel chariot. He rolled up his platinum sleeves, revealing heavily scarred, muscular arms. He took a deep breath, drawing massive amounts of ambient mana into his lungs.
Lumis placed both of his bare hands flat against the dark grey sphere.
[ Skill Activated: Supreme Solar Channeling. ]
A brilliant, blinding yellow light erupted from Lumis. The ambient temperature in the plaza skyrocketed. The dark grey surface of the Star Core slowly began to shift. It turned a dull red, then a bright glowing orange, and finally, it radiated a magnificent, intense golden light.
Lumis gritted his teeth. The veins on his forehead bulged violently. He poured every single ounce of his level 92 mana into the artifact. Slowly, miraculously, the massive sphere began to levitate. It floated one inch, then two inches, and finally hovered a full foot above the steel chariot.
The kneeling nobles gasped in awe. Some of them began to weep, their faith in the Sun God completely restored by the magnificent display of holy power.
Lumis held the sphere in the air for ten seconds before his strength gave out. The golden light faded instantly. The sphere slammed back down onto the chariot with a deafening metallic crash, buckling the thick steel beams underneath.
Lumis stepped back, panting heavily. He wiped sweat from his brow and looked at Raidan with a smug, victorious grin.
"That is the power of true divine mandate," Lumis declared, his chest heaving. "Now step forward, false Emperor. Let the nobles see your dark tricks fail against the purity of the stars."
Raidan kept his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked toward the chariot. The fifty heavily armored paladins gripped their spears tightly as he passed them, but Raidan did not even acknowledge their presence.
He stopped in front of the massive grey sphere.
A golden system interface materialized right above the artifact.
[ Artifact Scanned: Inactive Star Core. ]
[ Composition: Ultra dense celestial iron. ]
[ Current Capacity Limit: 50,000 Divine Mana Units. ]
Raidan did not roll up his sleeves. He did not take a deep breath to gather mana. He simply pulled his right hand out of his pocket and extended a single index finger.
He gently tapped the surface of the Star Core.
He did not channel holy light. He channeled the raw, unbridled authority of the Zenith Emperor. He poured a microscopic fraction of his imperial faction core directly into the artifact.
The reaction was immediate and absolutely terrifying.
The sphere instantly flashed a blinding bright white. The sudden burst of light was so intense that the paladins cried out and covered their eyes. The kneeling nobles threw themselves flat against the ground, completely blinded.