Chapter 18: Prophecy
It was two months ago when a group wearing white robes with golden lacing gathered in an altar in the Church of Pope Williamson III. They were bowing before a mysterious individual standing at the altar with a glowing golden object in the middle.
"A prophecy has been told. The last commander of the Demon King--the Ancient Princess of Silence—and one of the seven scriptures that served the Great Dark Gods—May Grediron Lewin Shadow will awaken."
The mysterious individual on the altar then looked at the group before him.
The leader of the group had gold hair that were like blessed by the gods and blue eyes as calm as a new tomorrow. His lips formed a small smile of arrogance as his head rose.
"Yes, I, Hamilton Astrid, Captain of the Sixth Scripture of the Williamson Theocracy awaits my order," he replied after receiving something from the man in the altar.
What he received was a magic item in the form of a blue magic crystal.
"The Forest of the Darn will be gone soon, and she would awaken. Go to the South Border and get her. That is a treasured item that contains a miracle of the great gods. Use it if you must."
---
Two months later~
While the adventurers and the knights were readying themselves for battle in the Town of Salienc Town which was empty and mysterious, the members of the Williamson Theocracy had arrived on the town on white horses!
Knights in white armor bearing the crest of the Williamson church gathered before Astrid, the captain of the sixth scripture.
"Attention, all units. The enemy is a former commander of the demon king in the past. She is a vile existence that should not be left alive. Devote your faith to God," he said, "The blue magic crystal suggests she's within these borders. Kill every woman with black hair and black eyes."
After arriving in the South Border of the Jian dukedom, the Williamson Theocracy had learned of what happened to the Forest of the Darn and had even entered the house of May. But there was nothing in there.
Thus, they burned it down with holy light and proceeded to the Southern-western border thinking she had gone there.
Now they arrived at the Town of Salienc.
--
At this moment, the adventurers and the knights who were still observing anything in the empty silent town had suddenly saw something that stunned them all.
It was the townsfolk!
Escorting them were the knights that had disappeared too!
Everyone was stunned as the people who suddenly disappeared earlier started walking to them.
"Halt!" Knight Faller shouted and raised his sword.
"Knights of the Jian Dukedom, please calm down. It's okay, we are no one suspicious," The chief of the small town shouted. He went first and showed he was unarmed.
Soon, the town chief had told the lead knights and the adventurers what happened. The knights who had previously disappeared joined in the conversation.
At this moment, a boy was seen approachng them. Except his crimson eyes, his hair was raven, his sweater black, his boots were black, and even his pants. This boy was naturally Kara.
Amidst the crowd going at them, Jane wanted to go Kara. She thought of going to him naturally, but her own instincts were saying something to her again.
'Strange.'
The boy was a mysterious entity.
She could not help but find herself following Kara's gaze again.
Kara had a calm expression on his face, as he looked at Chris who was smiling at him from afar. It only took a moment though, as that strange aura of Kara disappeared.
"What could this really mean? Is he someone dangerous?" she muttered.
Nevertheless, she looked at the crowd. Everyone was happy to see everyone and was happy everyone was safe.
When safety seemed secured, the knights who had disappeared earlier had grabbed the former mage Cannon and presented him to Doctor Angelo, and the leader of the knights.
"So that thing is a mage," Knight Gary said.
"Cannon…" Doctor Angelo was speechless. It looked like both of them used to share a bond.
"Who took care of him?" Knight Faller asked the knights who were abducted.
"Unfortunately, we don't know." The knights replied after glancing at each other.
It was at this moment that Knight Faller and the others who were quick to think of the situation couldn't help but glanced at Kara standing at the side. After all, Kara was the last one to be abducted.
It was not only Jane who had also noticed his calm expression despite being put at a tough situation. No way that was a normal reaction for an ordinary guy. Both him and Chris were suspicious to begin with.
Where did they came from?
Who were they?
There must be something.
It was at this moment that the chief village had noticed the expressions on the leaders of the knights and the adventurers. The other knights who were abducted also noticed and stepped in.
"That child Kara is not someone capable of something like this," the chief of the town said.
"Huh?" Knight Faller wasn't going to simply take that as an answer. He and everyone needed an explanation.
Seeing that Kara was going to stay silent making him more suspicious, the chief of the town started to explain.
"The boy Kara was also abducted like us, we watched him got helplessly dragged by something we could not see to the basement we were imprisoned in."
"That must be the substitute familiars. Cannon…" Doctor Angelo stared at Cannon who was still passed out. "That explains the death of these many wolves. Cannon must have tried to turn some wolves into substitute familiars but due to the nature of the power of the item, the substitute familiars could not control themselves and killed the other wolves before he could turn any of them."
"I see. Substitute familiars have the power of stealth so that explains it," John of the adventurer party said, remembering how they cannot see anything of the enemy.
"If the mage is here, does that mean also the substitute familiars is not going to attack us anymore?" Corre asked.
"Yeah, the substitute familiars are mere other parts of the user. If the user is unconscious, he could not impose his will." Doctor Angelo said.
There were still more things than wanted that they were worried about though.
"It's not here. Cannon, where's the magic item?" Doctor Angelo asked the unconscious man as he did not see the black necklace. The necklace enabling mages to create substitute familiars was gone. It was not in Cannon's possession.
"Is he okay?" Knight Faller asked.
"He is not injured, just unconscious, but he was put to sleep." Doctor Angelo checked his vitals and said to Knight Faller.
After that, Doctor Angelo stood up. He was a doctor. It was important to treat people rather than caring about that item.
"Let's restrain him first," Knight Faller then said, putting Cannon to chains so he could not do anything.
"But what could have that monster been though?" Knight Hamon asked.
"Could it be his real familiar?" Corre guessed. It was not a bad guess. Looking back at everything, everyone remembered the mysterious crimson-eyed monster cladded in darkness.
"Maybe." Ellie said.
They have no idea the world of magic were, but they knew mages could indeed summon the strangest creatures never unseen before. How many times had they seen a creepy looking monster or vicious looking beast besides a mage only to know it was their familiar?
"It was also either too fast, or could also use stealth. That might be his familiar," Corre said.
It was at this moment that they found a mysterious tattoo on Cannon's shoulder! It was a black tattoo with the design of a scythe and fire.
"So this man is really are a member of the infamous Axel Cult." Corre said.
Axel Cult was one of the few powerful anti-god cults worshipping demons in the Main Continent. But lately, their influence had spread beyond continents.
Kara had naturally knew of the tattoo or this mark of the Axel Cult. If they knew the man was a member of the infamous Axel Cult feared across continents, it was easy to assume many things.
"Did Axel cult came to take him out?"
"That demon-looking monster must be someone from the Axel Cult."
After all, there were many rumors circulating in this world. And most of them were rather helpful for situations like this.
Everyone was instructed to stay in the town square as the crimson-eyed monster earlier could still pop up. As for now, everyone was still unsure of what could that be.
After a few minutes, they saw the coachmen running back to the town square after they put the horses into leashes leashes.
But that was not all.
The coachmen all had frantic faces.
"We have strange company." Corre said looking at the approaching knights covered in pure white armors. On their chests bore the crest of the Williamzon Chuch.
On their lead was Astrid--the Captain of the Sixth Scripture of the Williamson Theocracy. His eyes were as calm as the great sea, his eyes were like a blessed gold, but her face had that small arrogant smile.
Doctor Angelo stopped treating the people for a moment with medicine, as his mouth gaped.
"What is the Williamzon Theoracy doing here?!"
-- Gift
received