Chapter 658: Oracle Eye [2]

Within the confines of a quiet office, a certain figure sat behind the desk, slowly compiling a series of papers.

Aldric looked busy at work.

This was only natural considering everything that was unfolding behind the scenes of the Evenus Household.

If he wanted to create a power strong enough to rival that of the Royal Family, he had to handle a lot of things. But he wasn’t far off from achieving that sort of power. Everything had been set in motion for quite some time, and everyone was completely oblivious to it.

There were only a few more things for him to handle before he could blow everything up.

"Sir..."

A figure appeared next to Aldric.

Without looking, Aldric extended his hand and received a piece of paper.

He looked through it for a brief moment before frowning.

"That is a bit faster than I expected."

The paper detailed to him the current situation within the Church of Oracleus.

It wasn’t good.

...The church was slowly starting to fall apart.

"So not only is the Cardinal sick, but the Saint appears to be losing his mind?"

"Yes, that is correct."

The figure standing next to Aldric answered.

"From what we’ve uncovered, the Saint has lost a significant amount of weight and begun abusing his power, killing multiple servants as well as other members of the Church. His mental degradation is quite obvious to the people. Although the Church and the Round Table have tried to cover it up, rumors have started to spread, sparking public outcry. Some are even calling for his replacement."

"Hmm."

Aldric’s eyes narrowed.

The situation was moving at a pace that was faster than he had previously calculated.

’Was the rejection of the blood too much for the Saint to handle?’

This wasn’t good news.

Emmet needed to be back before the Saint completely absorbed all of the blood, because by the time he did, Toren would finally make his move.

Toren was merely waiting for the Saint to fully integrate with the blood before taking action.

Aldric had originally expected the absorption to take a few more months to a year, but at the current rate, it might take less.

’This is not ideal.’

Aldric pursed his lips as he raised his head to look at the ceiling.

Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the chair.

’At least, I hope he managed to get to the Remnant South.’

If he did, he wouldn’t need to worry too much.

That was because...

Aldric knew he was going to meet ’her’. So long as he met her, then everything would flow more smoothly.

He just hoped that everything flowed smoothly.

It was a race against time.

***

Lazarus stared at his shadow.

It was dimmer than usual, its color fading a little more with every passing second he stared at it.

He understood that he didn’t have much time. However, he still remained calm.

There was no use in panicking.

He understood that he’d soon receive a breakthrough in the situation.

Sylas was probably going to make a move, and he was going to wait for that moment.

Until then...

’I’ll focus on trying to get the eye.’

The eye was the key to everything. So long as he managed to get it, he’d be able to return to the world outside the mirror.

This place... it felt suffocating.

It held a beauty of its own; the architecture and various areas were striking, but beneath that charm lay something poisonous. Everything within this place was dangerous, and the dry air that filtered through the surroundings made it hard to admire anything.

Lazarus was slowly starting to understand why the gods had turned mad.

Not only were they slowly being consumed by the power of the source, but they were also stuck in such a harrowing and suffocating place.

Anyone would go mad when being stuck here for so long.

But that was of no concern to him.

He wasn’t like them. He could go out anytime and now held the key to tapping into the source without going mad.

The key to it all was emotive magic.

’Level five...’

He was almost there.

It was right as Lazarus was about to move when he felt the presence of a figure standing next to him.

When did he...?

"What do you think of the Cathedral? It looks nice, doesn’t it?"

His voice was warm, and standing beside him felt almost like standing next to the sun. His long blonde hair swayed gently, and his eyes, matching his own hair in color, stood out brilliantly against the white garbs he wore.

He looked like the embodiment of the sun itself as he slowly turned his head to look at him.

"It cost us quite a bit to build, but it was worth it. It gave us a vantage point to observe the surroundings. That way, if something does happen, we’ll see it coming."

From the way he was speaking, it was almost as though he was speaking to a longtime friend.

Lazarus tried to maintain indifference as he listened to the man’s words.

He was also quite surprised to see that no one was particularly looking in their direction.

It was almost as if... their presence had been completely erased from the world.

"Judging from your face, you must be wondering about my identity. Why did a random man I know nothing about suddenly show up out of nowhere?"

"...More or less."

"Hahaha."

The man laughed at Lazarus’s bluntness, seemingly finding the situation amusing.

He was just about to speak when Lazarus spoke.

"My guess is you’re with the church. Your strength isn’t exactly ordinary, and since you’re not wearing the standard white robes like the other Luminarchs, I’d say you hold a higher rank."

Lazarus felt his body tense as he spoke.

He could feel it with every part of his body that the man before him was incredibly strong. However, since he had already been found by him, Lazarus also knew that running away was impossible.

"Since you came to find me directly, you’re obviously here for me. Is it about what happened in Virith-Anash?"

"Virith-Anash?"

Lazarus raised his brow when he saw the man raise his brow in confusion.

’He isn’t aware?’

"I did hear about something happening there... That was you?"

"....."

Lazarus didn’t reply. Was his original guess wrong? He had originally expected the man to approach him because of what had happened there, and that his disguise had been seen through, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Then... ?

"Wow."

The way the man looked at Lazarus changed.

He looked... almost impressed.

"Taking a look at you, I thought you were rather weak. I didn’t expect you to be some sort of secret powerhouse. I guess... the Goddess did have a reason for calling for you."

"The Goddess?"

Lazarus’s facade almost broke upon hearing the man’s words.

He didn’t hear wrong, right?

The Goddess...? She was the one who sent the man to him?

Then...?

"Looks like you have a vague idea about my identity."

With a smile, the man stepped back and lowered his head slightly.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am the voice of the Goddess Pathea, the ruler of light — her chosen speaker. I am the current Living Saint."

Extending his hand towards me, he continued.

"I am officially here on her behalf to invite you to the Ashen Steeple. The Goddess would like to have a meeting with you. She has been expecting you."

Swoosh! Swoosh!

In that moment, as though the veil that was shrouding their presence dropped, all heads turned in their direction.

"Ah!"

"Isn’t that...!"

"The Saint!"

Seeing the commotion around him, Lazarus closed his eyes and tried his best not to smile.

He...

Had really put him in a tough situation.

***

"Please be careful with the box. There’s a lot of important stuff inside."

An’as sighed while looking at the people he had hired moving the boxes towards a small storage unit. While their original intention was to open up a merchant store, the process was complicated.

A lot of paperwork needed to be filled out, and the number of Salas needed in order to make everything work out was astronomical.

It wasn’t worth the cost.

Especially since they weren’t planning on staying for long.

"Oh, you’re here."

Just as he managed to sort everything within the storage unit, Anne appeared from a distance.

It took a moment for An’as to recognize her as she wore a disguise.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes."

Anne looked around.

"Is the merchant not around?"

"Not yet. He seems to have gone towards the city center."

"The center?"

Anne thought for a moment before mumbling, "Could he have gone to the church? That’s the only thing I’d say is worth visiting."

"Probably."

An’as turned towards the distant cathedral.

He stared at it and felt almost nothing. There was a time when he had dreamed of entering that church, of becoming a Luminarch and earning a seat at the table. But now, looking at it, the feeling was gone.

Why was that?

What had changed?

An’as was left at a loss. He felt that his obsession with the Goddess had somewhat diminished ever since his journey from Virith-Anash. His thoughts turned a little complicated when thinking about it.

Was this a good or a bad thing?

’Could this be due to the primordial one?’

An’as didn’t know, but he decided to discard such thoughts for now as he got Anne to help him sort out the situation.

"That merchant said to meet here at about this time. Let’s wait for him for a bit and see if he shows up."

"And what if he doesn’t show up...?"

"I... don’t know."

An’as licked his lips.

He just hoped that no incident would occur from this moment forward.

But...

How could his wishes ever occur?

A sudden commotion rippled through the area as An’as and Anne exchanged a glance. Turning toward the source of the noise, they saw a crowd of people rushing toward the city center.

"Quick!"

"Huuurrry! We might miss it!"

"What’s going on?"

"Why are they all rushing there?"

Both of them suddenly started to have a bad feeling all of a sudden.

And then...

Just as they began to move to understand what was happening, they heard someone scream, "The Living Saint! The Living Saint has left the Church! He’s inviting someone to the church! Hurry!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

The eyes of the two widened as they looked at each other.

Then...

They both rushed into the crowd.