The Tower General felt a call from far away.
He hadn't been summoned to feel the same sensations as Skullius in quite some time which caused him to feel nothing but sluggishness. The force of Skullius' soul around his jolted him awake as his voice called out once again.
'Sila, wake up. Look through my eyes and tell me what that is and who it belongs to,' Skullius said, reiterating his order.
'Tomato finger...' Sila's voice came.
He finally saw something other than darkness after a while but what registered in his sight wasn't something he expected.
'I see.'
'When you took over my body back then, I remember you rushing in the direction of one of the people who owned these. I'm sure remember it. You must have some idea, right?' Skullius asked.
Sila remained silent for a while as if he was configuring his sanity.
'Yes. Yes I do. But tomato finger... I advise you to leave them be. It was only a gamble that I chanced on at that time. Things would have been different if I was identified as a threat.'
'I don't care about that. Who said anything about going after them? I just want to know who they are. Does their existence really date back to your days?' Skullius asked.
If Sila knew them, then they must have been from millennia ago.
Sila paused as many memories gushed through his mind, making him remember this group of individuals and how they changed the course of history.
How they revealed a hidden card birthed in secret.
'Yes. Yes they do.'
***
Millenia ago, a certain group of men and women arose with an unpopular belief about the Deities that challenged what the Purity had established.
The Unnamed Keepers.
They believed there was no value in the self, or more aptly, that the only value one had as an individual was being a decoration that did not sully its hands with complex thought and action.
They believed cultivating one's own strength so as to fight against others with the aim to shed blood was a taboo. It was only permissible against blasphemers, people who contended against what they believed.
Using your own hands for acts, especially those against what the Giants taught?
Blasphemous!
In this way, they appreciated the Giants whom they believed came to settle in Feinheath and Opungale in order to prevent conflict. If they governed the world with their extensive knowledge and connection to the will of the Deities, they would make the world a better place.
That is what they believed.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.344).
As the Second Grand War burst into full force, the culling of many happening with the flames of conflict against one man and his ideals, a possible path to win the war against the fearsome foe was introduced.
The Unnamed Keepers approached the leadership of the Purity and proposed a peculiar plan. The friction between the two religious factions had lessened because of a common enemy, thus a civilised interaction was made possible.
The Keepers asked many questions.
Why should they be the ones to face the evil of Fulgardt?
Why should they be the ones to tackle a threat when the Deities were all around them?
Why not offer sacrifices who would become vessels for the Deities to inhabit?
Surely then, Fulgardt would be no challenge.
What was one man against the gods?
At first, the Purity disagreed but as the war continued to turn less into a fight and more into a slaughter for the men on their side, they agreed.
To this, the Unnamed Keepers gave six pills to the Purity and had them select candidates to feed these pills.
There was no guarantee that they would work. At worst they would not harm the one who consumed them and at best, if the user was favoured in some way by the Deities or was just flat out lucky, it would work.
There were three conditions however.
First, the pill had to be consumed three days before the user made a conscious effort to establish a connection to the Deities.
Second, Creeds had to be used to lengthen the duration and strength of the vessel while it held the consciousness of a Deity, though a terrible downside followed the vessel and their bloodline.
Paladin Champions were the best candidates for this as in terms of having the favour of the Deities, they were undoubtedly the most receptive. The Purity kept their strongest Champions in reserve however, just in case.
As if the Deities were proudly announcing that the path taken was the right one, the Paladin Champion Logma succeeded in having a portion of a Deity descend into his body.
The result caused a tremor throughout Aigas.
A fleet led by the strong forces under Fulgardt's Chosen was eradicated without a single trace of them left behind.
The gods in human flesh.
This was unheard of.
The thought drove many to repent as through Logma, it was said a portion of the goddess Listafelle descended and fought off legions under Fulgardt's Chosen.
It was a marvel.
In this time, many wondered.
Were the Unnamed Keepers the true recipients of the will of the Deities?
How did they craft a means to allow the Deities to descend?
Was the Purity merely a decoration?
Who knew?
Two more Paladin Champions followed in this grand plan, their bodies being able to house the consciousnesses of Deities. Within them, it was said Listafelle imparted more of herself, inhabiting three vessels in total.
Sila remembered the cheers he shared with his mates in these days within the Grimm Tower where they were stationed to defend the areas around it.
For a whole week, they did not have to fight constant waves of enemies like before.
The enemy was forced to retreat!
It was reassuring.
The tides of the war slowly shifted and so did belief.
The voice of the Deitess was mighty yet loving.
Caring.
Gentle.
She spoke gently with the people in the cities of Pelian, converting them to faith in her, Suzamete and Quintess.
She healed.
She loved.
She gave comfort.
She answered questions.
It was bliss.
Unfortunately, this bliss did not last.
Eight days had passed since the descent of the Deitess when the vessels began to break, the portions of Listafelle beginning to sift out of the Champions.
The revered figures of the Champions broke as they couldn't take the power beyond Divinity.
This brought about panic!
If the Deitess left... then the forces of Fulgardt which were seemingly endless, would ravage the lands again!
But that was not what followed.
All three vessels of Listafelle went to speak to King Edricus ruled Pelian.
The King bowed when he saw the figures of the Deitess.
The vessels harbouring her did not say a word.
They merely pointed at a man who had stood beside the King protectively as always that day.
The Royal Knight hailed as the strongest combatant – by the Royan household – that Pelian had.
Rayn.
He was a man whom King Edricus had picked up from the hidden pits of Pelian.
He was a man the King never allowed to leave his side much less the Palace.
When he had first found him, he had called him the Prodigious Saint.
He was extremely talented, with a body endowed with ferocious power and potential since birth.
His birth mother unknown.
His father was unknown.
No one knew where he hailed from.
His tale began with a lone maiden that had been trying to hide him and his peculiarity away in the uninhabited lands to the North of Pelian but Direction disallowed her from keeping the child away.
She was found by Capital Mages who discovered them in the woodlands and found how... odd this child was when they were looking for secluded areas to meditate.
They restrained the child and took him to the city of Agmold where he finally drew enough attention for the King to take notice of him.
Yes.
The peculiar child born with two hearts and two blazing flames of Aura engulfing them within this chest.
From his body leaked the power of a Master Stage experts when he was merely five years old and without any training whatsoever.
He had not even been made to consult with the Deities yet and was yet to forge a mana core but his body...
His body reeked of abnormal might.
To those who knew of him in the Royal Palace, they treated him with respect as he grew to be named the Head of the Royal Knights, the King's guard.
With the power and status he had, he was still kept secret to everyone... but the Deities knew.
Thus they pointed to him, announcing that he was the one.
He was to be the greatest solution to the Second War.
His birth was not a random.
True, more vessels were needed to aid against Fulgardt's forces but none were found so far that could handle more than a few days of bearing the weight of power and none could handle a fragment of the most powerful Deity of all, Quintess.
This man however, he was capable of containing the will of Quintess and without losing his consciousness too!
A true anomaly.
The King's wish was shredded.
The Knight he kept to himself now belonged to Aigas as a Champion who wielded power beyond Divinity.
His BODY, his SOUL...
They were forever transformed when the will of Quintess descended with a rumble, etching this event in COMMON history.
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