Chapter 1691: Revelations at Dawn
A poet wrote once about travelling a road not taken, an allegory about how one can never really make the wrong choice in life, simply a different choice.
However, this poem neglects to address the reason why certain roads aren’t as travelled as others: previous travellers.
Roads are paved not by those who are familiar with the path, but by those who have never walked them before.
Every wise sage was once a reckless fool.
Every veteran was once a greenhorn.
And every scarred survivor was once a fresh face youth.
And bring this up to say this: the road less travelled by isn’t equal to one that’s been well-worn. Rather, it is one that only the young may travel, because nobody else can have that road.
—The words of the scholar who had the rare chance to live three times over.
...
After Lythero had expressed interest in making his future sword out of the Netherworld Sun Steel, Zhen Liu immediately bid both him and Axer a good evening before excusing himself.
He had other matters to attend to, a bed to crash in, and he wanted to give Lythero and Axer space to do whatever it is they wanted to do in terms of planning for the former’s sword.
The moment Zhen Liu had explained the material to the duo, Axer had went silent only because he was overwhelmed with the possibilities of what to do with such a rare, almost impossible find.
Regardless, once Zhen Liu had left the swordsman and crafter behind, he went to check on everyone one last time.
Well, he had Logos and Pathos tell him about the status of everyone in the building.
...
’Logos. Pathos. Sitrep. What injuries or gains have been made? Actually, before any of that, how has the meeting between Rianna and Serena gone? Can we determine if they’re actually related or nah?’
Pathos trailed.
=But we won’t have a clear answer until we get some DNA off the both of them,= Logos capped off. =Although, the possibility of them being related is actually relatively high.=
’Good to hear.’
’If they were, I’d be burying a dozen or so motherfuckers alive by now.’
<=...=>
’...what?’
<=Nothing, just...mildly shocked at the viciousness of those words.=>
’Its been a long day, and I was actually connected to Copper when he got his ass jacked by the [Flame of Ambition] and those evolved zakos when they got killed by Prince Lofarro. Just because I almost died once, doesn’t mean I enjoy feeling the sensation of death in varying avenues.’
<=Fair enough.=>
’Now, back on topic?’
=Well, as previously stated: Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, and Antonio have broken through and are now sleeping off the exhaustion from the battlefield advancements.=
’Why am I not surprised?’
’Weh?’
’Huh...bit of a dramatic shift, but not exactly unwelcome. I will miss having Rianna around and I’m fairly certain Jin Fang will too when she visits. On the plus side, this also means our albino Amazonian friend will have a chance to grow and evolve in an unexpected way.’
=Also, Serena is making a request to not just take the traitorous priests with her into the city tomorrow, but also the defeated princes. She apparently has plans for them.=
"Weh?"
Evidently, that last request was so confusing that Zhen Liu made a verbal noise.
"Why?"
<=Well...=>
...Time skip because I can...
The City of Emberona had, for the first time in a long time, had an unusual morning.
Everyday, the countless churches and sects would perform their morning rituals like clockwork in time with the central church’s activities.
However, the central church this fine morning was unusually silent.
Not only that, but the personal parishes of two of the city’s biggest movers and shakers, the ones belonging to Abbott Hulna and Abbott Feroxxa were silent as well.
One of these three churches being quiet wasn’t cause for alarm, off days happened.
All three being silent, though, was indeed a cause for alarm.
"What happened to the abbotts? Are they sick?"
"Where’s the Hearth Tender? Shouldn’t she have rung the morning bells?"
"Huh...wasn’t there a camp of Erupting Dawn Warriors about a mile or two away from the city walls? Where did they go?"
As rumors and hearsay echoed in the city streets, the people of Emberona grew more and more restless by the minute.
But then, moments before some upstart could cause a riot for shits and giggles, the sound of the central church bells rang out and silenced the city.
As everyone turned to look towards the sound, they saw the First Hearth Tender floating above the central cathedral alongside a giant fireball that they all recognized as being the [Sacred Flame].
However, the duo wasn’t alone.
Floating next to the Hearth Tender were some strange knight-like warriors dressed in gold and silver armor, and several bedraggled fellows that could be recognized as hostages or prisoners at a glance.
It took some of the eagle-eyed citizens a bit of time to fully make out the faces of the imprisoned folk.
"Wait a minute...is that..."
"It can’t be..."
"Abbott Hulna and Abbott Feroxxa?!"
Seeing the two abbotts of the biggest sects in the [Sacred Flame Theocracy] in such sorry states was shocking to say the least, especially since the two of them were so well respected by many other sects in the city.
However, this initial cry of surprise was immediately eclipsed by an even greater cry of shock from the foreign visitors who were in the city for one reason or another.
"Holy shit! That’s Prince Lofarro of the Erupting Dawn Empire!"
"It’s not just him! That’s Lauvanne the Schemer and Galban the Pyrocaine!"
"What the fuck is going on?!"
The war between the Sacred Flame Theocracy and the Erupting Dawn Empire was well known across the Dozing Salamander continent, and anybody who decided to visit either nation for one reason or another.
However, it was also universally agreed by most observers that this war was more or less in stalemate with neither side being able to secure a proper advantage over the other...until now.
The Erupting Dawn Emperor had a lot of children, as befitting his status, but these three princes were amongst his oldest and most likely to inherit the throne after he abdicated.
In other words, they were more or less the biggest possible political leverage that could be used against the Erupting Dawn Emperor. As such, people couldn’t help but to speculate what combination of events led to this moment.
Luckily for them, Serena was more than happy to explain.
Well, explain her version of events at least.
"People of Emberona," Serena began with a voice enhanced by aether provided by the [Sacred Flame.] "I come to you to expose a crime most heretical and a murder most foul."
"Heresy? Did she just say heresy?"
"Such a heavy declaration!"
"Wait, is she saying the abbotts committed heresy? What the the fuck?!"
If Serena had made this announcement with just the Erupting Dawn princes in tow, the reaction among the citizenry would be rather muted.
But the fact that she made this statement with the bounded abbotts?
That caused a lot of people to pay much closer attention.
"The former Hearth Tender, Alfina, died a scant few years ago at the hands of a mysterious killer. One that we had assumed was from the Erupting Dawn Empire," Serena continued, ignoring the muttering of understanding of the masses below her feet. "But that wasn’t the case. Behold, the truth of that evening."
Gesturing towards the fireball behind her, the [Sacred Flame] released a bit of aether and copied a trick it had learned from the [Library of Nowhere].
An illusionary screen appeared in the sky, showing that horrible evening when the First Hearth Tender died and then moments leading up to it.
The people who were awestruck at the revelation, at the display of compassion...and were understandably shocked when they saw the final moments play out and the identity of the culprit.
"What...what is that thing?"
"I think...it’s an offshoot of the [Sacred Flame]!"
"How is that possible?!"
As Serena listened to the murmured surprise of the people, a small part of her felt oddly relieved that they were willing to listen.
That said, she still wasn’t sure what was going to happen when she revealed the full extent of this religious conspiracy.
"My dear citizens, my beloved flock, I know it’s a lot to take in, but you should know that there were actually two more conspirators in this murder."
After making this statement, Serena waved her hand forward and caused the bound forms of Hulna and Feroxxa to float forward.
"And the conspirators are right here."