Chapter Text
Cattleya and Bernadette were seated in a small restaurant in Backlund. Opposite them sat Herodotus.
“So then,” Herodotus asked, leaning forward. “Have you done everything needed?”
“Yes,” Bernadette replied. Over the last month, they had made their preparations. This had included conversing with Herodotus over messages sent by his spirit creature, a strange one. According to Bernadette, it was an angel level creature that was slowly regaining power. The messages contained many stories. Some of them worked for a mystical reenactment, some did not.
“Good,” Herodotus said. “Our plan is as follows, we walk in, we steal the Black Emperor Uniqueness as well as anything else interesting and then we walk out. If it ends up in a fight, we avoid killing them and flee to try another day.”
“Why not kill the king like we intended?” Cattleya asked.
“One,” Herodotus started, “we need as many angels as possible in the future and as much as we may not like him, he is an angel and on the side of humanity. And two, it would take too long. He is a sequence one Beyonder. While yes, I could beat him, I have no desire to.”
Cattleya got the feeling that why they would need so many angels was related to the apocalypse and would be rebuffed is she asked about it. She had already made her divination about the world after a world war and all she had to do was wait three years and find a sequence two characteristic.
“Well then,” Herodotus said, standing up. “Shall we get going?”
Bernadette wordlessly stood up and followed him, Cattleya following her.
As they walked, Cattleya couldn’t help but notice that the people around them did not even seem to notice they existed. Have they already entered the concealed state?
They soon arrived at King George’s living place in the highest echelons of Backlund. It was a grand sight, towering over anything else in the area.
This was where the richest of the rich lived. This was the sort of place where any marks against your name would lead to you getting cast aside. Everyone kept their flawless reputation through brilliant acting and threats and blackmail against others.
It was also one of the most defended places in Backlund. Even before getting close to the place, Cattleya could see countless policemen and disguised Beyonders roaming the streets.
However, none of them even noticed the three of them. They continued to walk straight up to the King’s Palace.
Herodotus led them off the path and onto the grass, taking them away from the two sequence five Beyonders at the doorway. He rested his hand up against the wall and held out his other hand for Bernadette to take.
Bernadette took the hand and they vanished. Then Herodotus reappeared and held out his hand for Cattleya to take. Cattleya took the hand and then they reappeared on the other side of the wall.
They walked around the palace. It was silent. Cattleya had to suppress the urge to hide whenever they saw a servant darting around. The servants never saw them.
“The room with the Uniqueness should lie ahead,” Herodotus said, in a normal speaking voice.
Cattleya almost flinched at the sound. It was bizarre to hear someone speaking at a normal level when they were sneaking around the palace.
They rounded the corner and they halted. In front of them stood the King.
Cattleya blinked in surprise.
“Someone’s here,” King George said. “I know you are. You will not win against me.”
Cattleya could see Herodotus frown. However, he took the next step forward and in the next instant appeared behind King George.
Cattleya focused on that area and saw a wooden door. She blinked when Herodotus reappeared next to them again. Then, he vanished entirely.
This left Bernadette and Cattleya alone against a very dangerous enemy.
However, before they could do anything, Herodotus reappeared and said in a low voice, “Inside lays the Uniqueness. However, also inside lays several things from the Devil Pathway that is triggered to activate as soon as the door is opened. This means that the King got forewarning by using the Danger Sense Devils have. And judging by the fact that it was unable to be divined by myself or Arrodes, it holds the Card of Blasphemy, likely the Devil card seeing as the organisation that the King is a part of wields that card.”
“So how do we get in?” Bernadette asked.
“Simple,” Herodotus said. “We walk in.”
“What?” Cattleya asked, surprised.
Nodding at King George, Herodotus said, “He doesn’t know our exact location, merely that we are here. So we can walk in, the trap gets activated, he starts to attack, you two get the Uniqueness, I get what I also came here for and then we leave.”
“That cannot possibly work,” Cattleya said. “He’s a sequence one.”
“The concealment is powered by myself and a sequence zero. I’m actually amazed that he knows we are here at all, but I suppose that neither myself nor the Evernight Goddess had exactly hidden our intention from the Abyss within us, which is what the Devil trap uses. Ah well, lesson for future times.”
With that, Herodotus merely walked around King George. Bernadette and Cattleya cautiously followed him.
“Concealment means to be hidden from those without godhood,” King George intoned from behind them.
However, nothing happened. King George did not launch an attack. This was the power difference between a sequence zero and a sequence one. Even if twelve angels got together to attack a sequence zero, there is still a decent chance that they would lose.
Herodotus opened the door. The sound of a squelching and blood rushed down the floor from the other side of the door. Bernadette and Cattleya entered the room and saw the crown sitting on a pedestal. They cautiously approached and when nothing happened and Herodotus gave no warnings, they took the crown.
Cattleya and Bernadette, as according to the plan, instantly dispersed into a flurry of bubbles, reappearing on Cattleya’s ship.
After a few minutes, Herodotus also appeared beside them.
“Mission accomplished,” Herodotus said. “An easy walk in and an easy walk out. I love being blessed by deities. It makes life so easy.”
“How did you get Evernight to cooperate with you?” Cattleya asked curiously.
“Common goals,” was all Herodotus said.
“In any case,” he continued, “you have gotten the Uniqueness and now Roselle cannot be killed.
“Good luck.”
And then he vanished.
Cattleya and Bernadette were left staring at empty air.
“That seemed too easy,” Cattleya commented.
“That is the power of Evernight,” Bernadette replied, looking down at the Black Emperor’s crown. “Besides, Herodotus himself is also very powerful. I believe he can output power similar to that of a deity if he so wishes.”
“So he’s a King of Angels?”
Bernadette shook her head. “No. I believe he is still only a sequence two maximum. According to him, the springing up of an island with a city that was recently heard about with a lot of people and a strange haunted side, was his doing. I believe that to be his sequence two ritual, either completed or is in the progress of completing.”
Cattleya nodded in understanding. Together, the two of them stood on the edge of the ship, gazing at the undulating waves below them.
Will Auceptin looked up at the man that had appeared beside him as he walked down the street. He was old, a rare trait for an angel to have.
Will stopped walking and watched the man stop as well.
“What do you want?” Will asked.
The man bowed. “My name is Pallez Zoroast. I’ve come to warn you that Ouroboros has acquired the Uniqueness.”
“Lord of Mysteries,” Will said, piecing together the many clues. “He is collaborating with the True Creator.”
Pallez nodded. “For now.”
Will’s eyes sharpened. He knew what an angel of the Marauder pathway could do.
“You’ve come to take my characteristic?”
“No,” Pallez said, shaking his head. “I’ve come to make you an offer.”
“And what is that offer?” Will asked, cautious of any deal that might be struck.
“Let me steal your characteristic and then you will serve under my Lord.”
“So you are here to take my characteristic,” Will complained. He didn’t say anything, thinking over the options. On one hand, he could refuse the deal but would inevitably be hunted down by Ouroboros. He might be able to escape ‘Him’ for some time, but it would not be forever. On the other hand, he could accept the deal, be lowered to sequence two and enjoy the protection of a Great Old One.
It really didn’t take Will long to give his answer.
Medici looked up from the desk he sat behind in time to see Herodotus and an automaton walk in.
Beside him, Larrion tensed up.
Herodotus raised his hand and tossed something at Medici. Medici caught it instinctively and looked down, seeing it was a Conqueror Beyonder characteristic.
“That’s all three of them,” Herodotus said. “You know the steps to become sequence zero. Let me know how to help you get the Banner.”
Herodotus vanished, leaving the automaton that Medici could tell was a descent vessel for the God of Steam and Machinery.
‘He’ spoke, “If you wish to contact him, head to Dawn Island.”
Medici nodded before opening his mouth and gulping down the characteristic.
Medici’s body twitched and he could feel his soul, like the previous two times, start to spread out. However, Sauron-Einhorn reigned his soul in, dragging them back into one. He could feel the souls between the three of them were starting to blur. With the collection of gathering the Uniqueness, Medici half expected them to truly become one deity, being merged together along with the characteristics and Uniqueness.
Medici looked at Stiano’s descent vessel.
“What is it you want?” Medici asked.
“An alliance,” Stiano replied. “Neither of us wish to fight this war. It would cost us both too much. I will join both you and Badheil and convince Aucuses to remain neutral in exchange for a ceasefire.”
Medici paused for a moment, running plans over in his mind. He could keep going with the plan that Herodotus had laid out, accepting the deal Stiano lay before him. Or he could attempt to truly conquer the nation.
He felt a pressure on the back of his mind. “You better not be thinking of refusing,” came Sauron-Einhorn’s voice. “This is the perfect way to carry out the plan and become Red Priest.”
“We just need a way to get to the Uniqueness.”
After another moment, Medici opened his mouth. “Fine.”
Stiano’s vessel didn’t give any acknowledgement and instead vanished.
Medici looked over at Larrion only to see him already praying to Badheil. He laughed and looked back at his desk, focusing on tactics and invasion plans for the Loen Kingdom.
Azik had just gotten home and was taking a rest in the armchair when a knock sounded at his door. Curious, Azik stood up and opened the door, shocked to see Klein on the other side.
“Klein?” Azik asked in faint surprise. “Aren’t the police looking for you?”
Klein hummed as he walked past Azik. “Probably.”
“Why are you here?” Azik asked.
Suddenly, a woman faded into existence beside Klein.
Azik immediately frowned. “I know you.”
“This is the Evernight Goddess,” Klein introduced, waving a hand as he thumped into Azik’s chair.
Azik turned to look at ‘Her’ once more. “Why are you here?” he asked quietly.
“I have use of you. You will open the way into your father’s tomb.” The Evernight Goddess pulled out a ring and tossed it to Azik.
Azik caught the ring. “My father’s tomb?”
“Salinger,” Klein interrupted. “Death.”
Azik’s eye twitched as some vague memories came rushing back to him.
“And if I do not wish to?”
“You will not get a choice,” Evernight said. “I am merely giving you the choice of willingness or unwillingness.”
Azik snorted. “Not much of a choice is it?”
Klein gave him a sad smile. “It never is.”
Azik saw Evernight cast a look at Klein, but he couldn’t tell what it was.
“Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Then, in the next instant they stood outside an inverted mausoleum. Azik felt Klein’s hand land on his shoulder as they started walking down into the darkness below. Azik looked down to see himself covered in golden white flames. He saw Evernight step in front of him as Klein kept his hand on his shoulder.
And then, nothing.
Azik blacked out.
When Azik woke up, he was back in his the same room before he left, resting in his armchair. He almost believed it was a dream. For a brief moment he did.
But then the crashing weight of memories bore down upon him.
Countless memories filled his brain.
Azik almost blacked out again as he felt scales racing up his skin.
As Azik sorted through his memories, he quickly figured out what had happened, calming himself down.
Salinger had once split Azik’s soul in two, attaching one to an artifact of the Ancient Death, Gregrace and leaving it in his body, but putting him in a state similar to that of an Undying. The other half of the soul went to the Uniqueness. If the two were to meet, there would be a convergence force and then Salinger would be revived in full. However, Klein and Evernight had circumvented this and had instead put him to sleep and removed the Gregrace artifact and replaced it with the other half of Azik’s soul, giving him his memories back as well as his proper status as an angel. And in exchange Evernight got the Death Uniqueness.
Azik sighed and slumped back into his armchair.