Chapter 1622: Coordinated Ritual
From the left and right of the central pyre, Ferroxa and Hulna approached it like they were priests about to perform a solemn ritual.
Correction: they were actually priests about to perform a solemn ritual.
The only thing was that none of the kaijin present knew what to expect from this ritual.
[Alright, y’all think this is going to be a blood sacrifice thing, or....]
[I don’t know, Razorstella, but we should probably get our asses out of these corpse carts before they use the contents for whatever bullshit they got planned,] Springdermain pointed out.
[Agreed.]
[Come along, twins.]
[Yes judge.]
The kaijin left their corpse carts in the nick of time as the ritual happening below them entered a weird stage.
Well, weirder than what was already going on.
Once Ferroxa and Hulna had reached a point in front of the bonfire where the black orbs were situated, they both proceeded to extend hands towards the burning flame.
From their palms, threads of energy that were a mix of aether and personalized [Sacred Flame] began to pour into the black orbs and cause them to glow with a power that was further enhanced by the bonfire itself.
This entire process only took about five minutes, which was plenty of time for the acolytes in the room to set up the gathered corpses into additionall neat rows that went along perfectly with the pre-established lines.
The acolytes who performed this deed didn’t even attempt to try and stitch some of the body parts into more cohesive bodies; they just dumped whatever was too damaged and used the most pristine-looking of the lot.
It was a rather utilitarian approach, but it oddly made sense.
The number of black orbs appeared to be rather limited, so rather than building subpar bodies, it was better to work with ones that weren’t incredibly damaged.
"By the power of the ancient flame, from which our very sun was born, regain the life that you had once lost and become its righteous sword," Hulna and Ferroxa both declared in a coordinated manner.
Under their direction and aether manipulations, the black orbs in the pyre suddenly began to float into the air like dozens of balloons.
These floating orbs then proceeded to float towards the lined-up corpses and embed themselves into the chest of the dead after entering through their open mouths.
Once the orbs installed themselves into their new host bodies, a surge of power enveloped them before transforming them into looking like the exact same Temple Guards that had appeared during the battle at Mercenary Town.
Well, most of them looked the same as the Temple Guards. Amongst their number, one of the corpses had transformed into what appeared to be an elite version of the weird corpse soldiers.
It was noticeably taller than the rest and appeared to be armed with a weapon that looked heavier and more elaborate than the rest of the newly minted corpse soldiers.
Not only that, if someone were to take a closer look at this elite warrior’s eyes, they would notice that there was a level of intelligence behind them that was definitely a step above the rest of the rabble.
"It appears an anomaly has appeared amongst the newly awakened, again," Hulna commented as he stared at the evolved corpse warrior.
"Excellent," Ferroxa nodded in approval "The perimeter guard has been in need of stronger warriors given the—"
"Hang on a minute," Hulna interjected. "The inner units are in need of that kind of power as well. There has been unrest in the streets lately, beyond the usual worry and relief that comes from handling the practice breaches. The local soothsayers and diviners are all having the same prediction as of late, of the main cathedral being in flames, of our city walls being breached, of our warriors being slaughtered."
"Soothsayers are paid to deliver such answers all the time," Ferroxa dismissed his colleague’s concern. "If you’re worried about what one of them is saying, you should just pay off a different soothsayer to constantly tell you good news."
"You didn’t let me finish," Hulna shot back with a cranky tone. "Aside from these predictions, practically every single one of these soothsayers had added that these visions of devastation were accompanied by the appearance of a silhouette that every single last diviner and soothsayer shared the exact same features. And you know what happened the last time something like that occurred."
"Ah...I suppose you’re right...but that doesn’t change the fact that the frontlines are getting worse by the day."
This entire conversation was quite revelatory to anyone who cared about the inner machinations of Emeberona’s politics and power players.
In other words, while the kaijin were able to record this entire conversation for their Lord and curators, they really didn’t care. Well, except that bit about the shared divination results between various soothsayers and the like.
[So...do y’all think that the aforementioned silhouette is pertaining to the producer or not?] Screamira asked. [If so, should we start scouting around for weak points so we can bring this motherfucking city to the ground?]
[They didn’t say anything about the features that this silhouette had being remotely related to the Ringmaster,] Springerdermain pointed out. [So let’s not prematurely burn down Rome if we can help it.]
[ Should I at least prepare some fiddles? ] Razorstella joked.
[Wait, why are we just ignoring the fact that the leaders of two opposing political factions seem to be getting along better than anticipated?] Corpse Doll pointed out. [Hell, are they in cahoots with some kind of crazy conspiracy? ]
[Because I’m fairly certain that they’re not in charge,] Porcelain Doll answered as she directed her gaze towards the duo and looked past them. [Take a look at the fire.]
As Feroxa and Hulna continued to argue and discuss where they should employ their newly enhanced corpse warrior, an unexpected third party interrupted them both.
Their discussion was interrupted by the fire between them suddenly flaring up.
Waves of heat and a strange energy filled the entire chamber, causing the corpse warriors to all simultaneously kneel and the two abbots to suddenly go silent.
Going on instinct, even the kaijin began to cloak themselves in [Chaos] to try and mitigate their presence as much as physically possible.
[How did you sense that?] Corpse Doll asked her sister. [I could only sense that there was some weird vague feeling in the air.]
[I...I don’t know,] Porcelain Doll answered honestly.
As the kaijin continued to cloak themselves, Ferroxa and Hulna began to speak once more.
Except it wasn’t towards each other; it was towards the bonfire between them.
"Apologies for rudeness. We didn’t mean to wake you," Hulna started
...
"The warriors you have provided are proving themselves to be a wonderful asset against the Erupting Dawn forces. And do not worry. As instructed, the Risen Guards have blended in with the rank-and-file to the best of their ability," Feroxxa answered.
...
"Our attempts to capture a higher-quality version of a Raidman have yet to bear fruit. The enemy has only been fielding cannon fodder," Hulna assured.
...
"We are aware that it’s a frustrating situation to be in, but unless we can find the rest of the [Primordial Tender Trio] we—"
"Don’t you mean recover?" Feroxxa interrupted, hurting Hulna’s ability to placate the flame.
..!
"There was an...incident. Bishop Olma, the stupid mongrel, went off the leash and picked a fight with...well, we don’t know who or what exactly."
...?
The bonfire between the two holy men initially appeared to be about to explode in rage, but once it sensed the genuine confusion coming off of the two warriors who were both Aether Kings, no less, it suddenly calmed down and even changed colors.
...
"We actually have more than just the memories of the deceased, we have live testimony from the survivors of that incident," Ferroxa answered.
"However, their memories of this moment are oddly scrambled despite our best Anima Wielders reporting that no memory alterations had occurred," Hulna added.
...
"Why, yes. One of them is here now."
"Fletcher, come to the front."
From the rows of False Guards, came forward one of the living Acolytes that were assisting with the corpse warrior creation effort.
Once Fletcher reached the front, he proceeded to stand like a soldier and give a salute.
"Priest Fletcher, at your service! What do you wish to know?"
Hulna and Ferroxa were just about to begin a round of questioning for the sake of their benefactor but were stopped when the bonfire between them quietly flared up as if it wanted to take the lead.
And take the lead it did.
Before Fletcher could understand what was going on, a tendril of flame suddenly shot out and made contact with his forehead.
A weird energy began to envelop the two, but the moment lasted only for a few seconds.
Once it was doing what it needed to do, the bonfire retracted its tendril, and for the first time ever, it spoke.
Chaos...
