Chapter 156: Enraged
"Are you saying you left him there to die?!"
Instructor Stella: confident and curvy, with cascading red hair. Her words were sharp, anger seeping through every syllable.
"Of course. These people were strong enough to rip Lucius’s head off his shoulders and push an instructor to his limits. Fighting them would be suicide, and I may not look it, but I have no desire to die."
Leomaris shrugged. "Well, Raine and Charlotte wanted to help, but Lucius’s death made them see clearly. He died because he didn’t know his place, he tried to play hero in a battle beyond his capabilities."
He shook his head. "Not me. They came for Instructor Moon alone, and I knew staying out of it was my only option for survival. Anyway, he might still return... With the Malice Rune Realm cleared, we have no way of entering to confirm if he’s truly dead."
—
The aftermath of the Malice Rune Realm was tiresome. He was summoned before the majority of the Instructors and made to explain the whereabouts of Instructor Moon and Lucius.
He lifted the weight from Raine’s and Charlotte’s shoulders by stating he’d made sure they exited the Malice Rune Realm without Instructor Moon, who had been attacked by a group of people he wasn’t familiar with.
It was a heavy load to carry, but he bore the weight anyway. Not because he wanted to, but he believed as a pacifist that everyone deserved something rewarding at the end of every bargain.
Raine and Charlotte’s arrival at the Rune Realm had saved him, and he wanted to pay them back for it. Taking the weight also meant they wouldn’t hesitate to help him again in the future. He wasn’t the kind to use others or treat them like nothing.
In the end, it was his role as a Calamity that ultimately rescued him.
’I get that Instructor Stella is pissed because Moon is her fiancé and all, but does she know the work of art it took to kill him? I’m even scared of myself.’
Leomaris had called upon every false entity in his arsenal just to get rid of Instructor Moon. But just as always, false entities couldn’t be summoned at random.
As a false Philosopher, he lacked the authority to control a false entity, and as a result, had to recite hymns about them to perform certain actions, either instantly or when certain conditions were met.
He recited a hymn requiring Heliara, the Watching Flame, born from the burning eye, to descend with final judgement. The myth surrounding Heliara held that the Firstlight Goddess, the sun, was a conscious celestial eye stretched across the sky, judging every action.
This myth was born over two millennia ago, and people feared the night for it, since the sun wasn’t up. But judging everyone meant Leomaris himself was involved, which meant he had to create a scene where he wouldn’t be affected. He had to set the Scale of Judgement on guilt.
First, he bet his money on Instructor Moon’s faith in the Firstlight Goddess getting the best of him the moment he realised the person he’d called an error wielded four false entities related to her.
That feeling of guilt alone, however, wouldn’t be enough to tilt the scale in his favour. So he called forth Cindrath, the Fallen Ember Queen, born from the myth of the ashen fall, through a hymn, to deepen the guilt and grief within his target.
The myth concerning Cindrath was born after a town burned to ashes, church and chapels included. The village was in the midst of a major conflict, most of its inhabitants believing the Church was taking advantage of their crops and money in the name of the Goddess. She tried to stop her people, but they were too focused on the battle.
The Goddess burned her own people as a result, and the guilt took away a part of her divinity. Cindrath could only be summoned where guilt and grief were present, and all Leomaris needed from her was a stare.
Even so, he wanted to be careful. He believed guilt alone wasn’t enough and so called on Solenne, the Eternal Bride, born from the myth of the golden bride.
According to the myth, the sun was a mortal queen who ascended into the sky to marry the cosmic dawn. It never happened. Day and night could never be together.
Solenne was the kind to sing or recite romantic poems, going after the brokenhearted and heartbreakers alike. Leomaris used none of those hymns, however, instead asking her to meet and welcome anyone who would love to be in her embrace.
Moon was already getting the worst of it, and Leomaris’s words weren’t doing him any justice. Whatever was going through Moon’s mind benefited Leomaris, because soon enough, he wanted a hug from the Firstlight Goddess.
Last was Myrasol, the Many-Faced Radiance, born from the myth of the thousand masks.
It was one of the oldest myths, holding that the Goddess had no form but wore a new face with each sunrise. Whoever imagined her true face, it went on to say, would tap into madness.
Myrasol was heavily related to change, nonetheless, and Leomaris simply asked her to kill anything or anyone without any intention of it. By her nature, she always embraced those who wanted change.
Myrasol killed everyone but Moon, for he wanted change. Only after Myrasol’s embrace did Heliara’s Scale of Judgement tilt against Moon and burn everything.
One wrong hymn, the slightest misjudgement, and Leomaris would have gone with him. He believed he deserved some praise for giving Instructor Moon such a beautiful ending.
He lay flat on his back, eyes drifting across the ceiling. His recent actions had taken a great deal from him, but at least he believed he’d gained something.
’Raine and Charlotte have grown stronger. Strong enough to lead their clans. Raine’s organisation, Souls of Cinder, was well received within the underworld. Charlotte, however, intends to work alone under the disguise of the Woman in Veil.’
This was what the majority of his suffering had been about. To make Raine and Charlotte strong enough to meet the reputation of the Mercy of Death, before his sister, Rosay, woke from her hibernation.
Now, he believed wholeheartedly that their strength and reputation would keep his faction from falling short of most people’s expectations, Rosay included.
He was still lying there when a sudden knock on the door grabbed his attention.
In walked Hazel with an envelope. The seal alone was enough to get Leomaris up on his feet. He knew exactly what it was, and nothing about it felt good.
"Young master, you’ve received a telegram from the Sentinel family."
