The fake what…?
I stared at the black mist in front of me with a lost look. What in the world was happening? Was this part of the trial?
But how exactly was this going to get me angry?
…If anything, all I felt was lost, not angry.
Tak—
The sound of a quiet step resounded throughout the church as I found myself stepping back.
‘Uh?’
As I lifted my head to gaze at the distant mist, I felt my hand begin to tremble. It was an unconscious shake, one that I couldn’t control.
‘What is happenining?’
As if experiencing something similar, the distant mist stopped and looked at me.
“Do you feel it?”
His deep, yet hoarse voice echoed once more.
“…This is the resonance of our bloodlines.”
What?
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“For we both possess the bloodline of the Holy Seer.”
“!?”
His words made my hand tremble once more, and I found myself stepping back again. My face twisted in pain as my right arm suddenly throbbed.
I lowered my head, my eyes landing on the four-leaved tattoo, and my heart tightened as it suddenly began to glow.
“Kh—!”
An inevitable groan escaped my lips.
“Ha.”
As if noticing my struggle, the black mist suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
“As I thought, you’re a fake. The density of the blood you’ve taken is clearly different from mine. You’re also clearly struggling to contain it. It won’t be long before your body will start to fall apart.”
What?
Yet again, I found myself shocked by the words spoken.
“The power of a god is beyond the grasp of a fake like you. You can’t comprehend it, nor can you wield it. Most of the fakes who try to claim the bloodline for themselves end up having their life force drained by it.”
“Kh—!”
Yet again, a groan escaped my lips.
The pain coming from my right arm intensified further, prompting me to take a knee. In the meantime, I tried to process the words coming from the black mist.
In particular, I was reminded of the pope.
Could it be…
“For your own good, give up the blood and give it to me. If you give it to me, I’ll make sure not to pursue this matter. In fact, I’ll make sure you’ll live a good life. It’s not too late yet.”
What sort of nonsense was this guy spitting?
I was in pain, but not for any of the reasons he mentioned. It was simply that the four-leaf clover was reacting oddly to the mist before me.
It was almost as if telling me to…
‘Devour.’
Yes, it was telling me to devour the one before me.
“What do you say? Your body clearly can’t handle such power, and it won’t be long before I find you. With the backing of the church of Oracleus behind me, it’ll take no time for me to extract the blood from you. How about we resolve this amicably?”
The more I listened to the words spoken by the mist, the more uncomfortable I felt.
It was almost as if every part of my body was itching and telling me to jump toward the mist and rip it apart while taking the blood in his body.
‘Ah, shit…’
The more I stared at the mist, the more unbearable the itch grew.
I could feel it deep within my mind—that the moment I absorbed the remaining blood within the one behind the mist, all the lost pieces clouding my thoughts would finally fall into place.
That…
I’d fully integrate with the Emmet of the past.
“So, what do you say? Are you willing to accept my offer?”
The mist reached out for me, almost as though he was reaching out his hand in my direction.
I stared at the mist for a few seconds before smiling.
“…Y-yes.”
Gladly.
*
‘Good, I’ll follow up soon. Don’t try pulling anything funny. The difference between the two of us is not something that you are able to fathom.’
It had been thirty minutes since the strange meeting with the black mist.
Laying down on the bed and staring blankly at the ceiling above, I blinked my eyes slowly.
“He’s going to come find me soon enough.”
He seemed powerful.
And yet, I wasn’t scared.
I had been in the presence of literal Zeniths. A wannabe god wasn’t something that scared me. Let alone one that was so deluded by the idea of being me.
More than anything, I was just trying to process the few bits and pieces of the conversation.
“The blood of Oracleus is poisonous to those that consume it.”
The best evidence of this was the Pope.
And yet…
“Why is nothing happening to me? What about the one from the church of Oracleus? Why is nothing happening to them? Linus…?”
Something wasn’t adding up.
‘I can attribute Linus to the fact that the amount of blood he consumed was almost negligible. But how about the one that claims to be the real me? What is the reason why he is fine?’
These thoughts seemed to consume my mind for the better part of the next couple of hours.
I just tossed and turned on my bed, trying my best to figure out an answer, and yet, in spite of how much I tried to think, I wasn’t able to get anywhere.
However, if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that the answer would lead to a major breakthrough in this entire situation—and in the past, I had been desperately trying to understand.
“Whatever, I’ll find out soon enough.”
In the end, I decided to let it all go. I knew the one behind the mist was going to find me soon enough.
…I was fine with that.
I understood their confidence came from their background and power, but they had grossly underestimated something.
I too had a power behind me.
One that didn’t get along very well with the Church of Oracleus, too.
What would happen if I put the two against each other?
I suddenly found myself smiling.
“It’ll be fun.”
Yeah, indeed.
It would be a fun sight to see.
***
At the same time.
Inside the Temple of Awakened Sight, Cardinal Ambrose made his way toward the figure seated by the main statue.
With his eyes closed, he sat with his legs crossed.
“How did it go?”
Opening his eyes, exposing his hazy, almost languid eyes, Jackal shook his head.
“….He has agreed to give me the blood, but I can clearly see he isn’t willing to do so. I expect him to do something during the time.”
“How unfortunate.”
Cardinal looked genuinely remorseful.
“Things would’ve been much easier if he were to be more cooperative.”
“Indeed, but this is also fine.”
Rubbing his neck, Jackal rose to his feet, brushing off his white robes.
“It’ll save us a lot of resources if we do it this way. It’s just unfortunate that we’ll need to find the right time before reaching out to him.”
“Indeed, as far as I’m aware, he seems to be a cadet from Haven. It’ll be difficult to reach him there. While we do have the means and power to put up a fight, angering ‘her’ wouldn’t do us any good.”
“You’re right.”
Jackal nodded in understanding, his gaze falling onto the very top of the church where a large mural appeared.
It depicted the image of an eye, quietly overseeing everything from above.
Jackal fell into a trace while staring at the eye.
“Jackal?”
“…Ah, yes.”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Jackal looked towards the Cardinal while letting out a long breath.
“Let me know when you find more information regarding the cadet. There’s no rush just yet. I will need some time to properly adjust my body before consuming the remaining blood.”
“Understood.”
Lowering his head, the Cardinal stepped to the side, allowing Jackal to move past him.
This scene had started to become more and more common within the grounds of the Oracleus church. With the recent passing of the Pope, Jackal had started to become the sole power of the church in spite of his relatively young position.
With Cardinal Ambrose by his side, there was no one that could contend against him.
He was the current heir of the Church of Oracleus and the true Oracleus.
In due time, he’ll awaken.
By then, the Church of Oracleus would truly rise amongst the seven churches.
***
To Tok—
“Wake up.”
I woke up early in the morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door. I recognized the voice almost instantly and tossed back on the bed.
I had slept quite late yesterday. I needed more sleep.
This was also supposed to be a vacation day. As if I was going to wake up this early.
To, Tok—
“Wake up.”
“Fuck off.”
“…Okay.”
“….”
“….”
“Wait, really?”
I sat up and looked in the direction of the door.
Did he actually fuck off?
Curious, I got out of bed and reached for the door before opening it.
Lo and behold…
“I thought you said okay.”
“…And I thought you wanted to sleep more.”
“Hm.”
I lowered my head and pursed my lips.
‘This works?’
“Get changed. The Viscount has already made breakfast.”
“…Right.”
I rubbed my stomach. I guess I was a little hungry.
I just turned around to grab my clothes when I heard the sound of the door beside me opening.
Peeking out, I was surprised to see Kiera walking out.
Thinking about her previous tantrum, I didn’t think she’d go out like that. Nonetheless, I was just about to greet her when I found myself stopping.
That…
My body almost froze on the spot.
“Good morning.”
As if sensing our gaze, Kiera turned around and waved her hand at us.
“Morning…”
“Um, oh… morning.”
“Did you say breakfast was ready?”
“Yes, your father just made it.”
“Oh, cool.”
Kiera started rubbing her stomach.
“I didn’t really get to eat much yesterday. I’ll go grab something to eat now.”
“You should.”
Leon talked with her with a smile.
In the end, Kiera ended up excusing herself before leaving. Seeing her leave, Leon turned to look at me.
“It looks like she’s doing a lot better than yesterday. I think she’s finally starting to process the situation better.”
“Ah, yes.”
I nodded my head, although absentmindedly.
Even though I couldn’t grasp how Leon missed it, it was as clear as day to me.
That…
‘That’s not Kiera.’
It was someone else entirely.
Someone that I had seen a couple of times before.
‘…That’s her aunt.’
When did…
