There was a limit to what Raith could do... this was a skill that he discovered in the nick of time thanks to the error code from his authority as a ruler.
He is currently separating his own soul and converting one part into an ego to talk through Antares, any more of it he could permanently become an ego and just lose it.
He needed to leave.
'Shit I need a plan...'
He could feel the distress in his soul, being able to convert a part of himself into an ego to occupy something else was amazing but any longer than this he could lose this part of his soul.
So he returned with whatever was left, occupying his body with the abyss controlling the right side and him the left.
"Oh my great king, I am privileged, happy that you offered me the privilege and chance to be used by you. Please you can stay in my body as much as you like" Antares shouted out, slamming his knees to the ground like a deluded devotee.
The other soldiers gleamed at him with jealousy.
'How I wish Master can occupy my body too.'
"We did not just decide to come here, we were running away from them... from those wretched primordials."
The archon began to speak again, not minding the abyss one bit.
The right side of Raith's brow was furrowed badly but the left part was so relaxed that it made his facial expression distorted like that of a psychopath.
The abyss was not pleased with the fact that the archon was going to say all.
As much as it wanted Raith to have his answers there were some things he just wasn't due to know yet– according to Abyss' judgement that is.
But it was finding it very hard to move because of Raith's strong control over his body. The two were in a tug-of-war even though they were just standing.
The archon after pausing to look at the struggles continued.
"After we took the shard, they began to send the gods after us. You might already know, the gods are the lowest race of primordials just as the asuras are the lowest of celestials. But even amongst them, there are some whose power can rival that of an archangel.
So they were quite troublesome..."
The archon paused and began to shiver.
"So- someth–
It was trying to say something but its voice was breaking and the Pontifex's head was shaking like she was experiencing some seizure.
'Something is wrong.'
The abyss suddenly disappeared and Raith got full control of his body, he twisted his wrist and other parts of his body to be sure that they were all fine before focusing on what was in front of him.
Pieter was already holding the pontifex in his arms and shouting as if that was going to help.
Raith also didn't know what was going on, no one did.
But something was wrong, on a large scale.
The ground began to shake tremendously. The shake started off slowly then it began to intensify so that it was hard to maintain one's balance.
"That bitch!" Antares cried out.
"Antares what is it?" Raith asked.
"That bitch, he must have tried something. He ran away while I was fighting with him and the humans there were saying something about that place being a divine chamber before you summoned me, sir.
"A divine chamber...?"
"Forgive me, I shall fly over there real quick to find out for you." Antares frowned his eyes together and spread out his wings. He was ready to take off.
"Stop, stop."
Raith commanded, urging him. Antares leg did not take another step even from the moment he heard Raith's voice.
THREMBLE!!
A deafening rumble reverberated through the air, sending shockwaves to the entire landscape.
The building they were in began to crumble and reduce in height. Pieter widened his eyes and flew out the window with the pontifex. But the outside was no better itself.
Cracks snaked through the surface, splitting the ground apart like a monstrous jigsaw puzzle coming undone.
From the depth below a large hand plunged out, tearing the ground like it was a piece of paper and holding onto it as though it was hanging onto something to come on out.
With each movement as it rose, the whole surrounding convulsed in agony, it wasn't just the temple. It spread far and wide towards the empire palace, the crack came from all sorts of places and seemed interconnected somehow.
The once solid ground crumbled and disintegrated as the colossal hand fully launched out of the ground and then used it as a support to pull out the rest of its body.
The floor continued to disintegrate at an even faster rate, reducing the temple building itself more to rubble.
Many people were caught up in it, screams were covered by the noise of rumbles, bodies buried beneath this unreasonable crumbling. What seemed like a peaceful city a minute ago had in an instant become a desolation of abomination.
Everything overturned as this thing pulled itself out of the ground.
Pieter hopped around with the pontifex to find a safe place but it was as though everything was interconnected and everywhere was affected by the long crack and disintegration caused by this magnanimous being.
"The archon..." Raith muttered from on top of Noir where he stood.
Noir had ascended high into the sky while the others returned to the abyss. From Raith's vantage point, he could clearly see what it was that was trying to get itself out, he could see the lengths and breadth of the cracking and what structure it took.
That is how he knew for sure, this was the archons' awakening.
But who would dare?
That is when it dawned on him.
'Could this divine chamber they were talking about be the key to awakening the archons.'
Raith had never heard of a way to awaken the archons, he had never thought of it. Indeed they all knew that the history says the archons are asleep and their body is used for the foundation of this world but no one thought that the archons waking up would mean the destruction of the world.
No one except the pontifices and apparently, Hallan Lamar.
Raith was baffled as to how he would have known, but it is Hallan Lamar we are talking about, a man that was somehow able to discover first the fabrications of the archons and the reality that existed outside their world. But really Raith wondered how Hallan Lamar knew all these things.
The very fabric of every land tore apart as if the world itself were being torn asunder. Dust and debris billowed into the air, creating a suffocating cloud that choked the sky.
The sun was blotted out, casting the world into an eerie darkness, as if the wrath of this awakened archon had eclipsed all light and hope.
As the archon reached its full height, its towering figure cast a terrifying shadow across the desolate landscape. Its eyes, which glowed with an otherworldly intensity, pierced through the gloom, radiating an aura of ancient power that sent shivers down the spines of all who beheld it.
It stood up, tall and mighty, it was a colossal being indeed. Its head was buried in the clouds and was even higher than where Noir was maintaining a stationary state of flight.
The wyvern immediately plunged even higher to the sky, where it could behold the archon face to face so that Raith could have the conversation he wanted.
It was finally here.
"Strong human, servant of the abyss... it seems someone has meddled with matters that should not be touched. I require your help."
The archon's voice was like thunder.
Raith looked around, this is what the rising up of one archon has done to the surrounding, he couldn't help but think of what the rising of six more would do. Therut cannot survive it.
"Therut will inevitably come to its end if the others are disturbed, whoever this is... such person must be stopped. Help me human."
Raith lost the focus in his gaze and looked down with his hands beneath his chin.
'...rather than waking all eight and fighting them, isn't it better to not allow them to wake up. To what end am I fighting them?'
He questioned himself about the imperative trial he was given by the abyss. He would grow whether or not he fought the archons but he was trying to consider to best possible route to save as many lives as possible, what he could do.
The archon stood still, as though it was careful of walking and destroying more, it diligently waited for Raith's answer even though Raith seemed disrespectful by how he was keeping an archon waiting.
"What is in it for me?"
He was going to save the people regardless of whether he accepted the archon's request or not. These were millions of lives we are talking about, he'd be no different from the devil himself if he looked away. Not that he was concerned for the lives, he just approached things from the vantage point of a strong man with a little bit sense of responsibility.
"I will tell you all you want to know."
"Haa..." Raith smile.
This offer was more than enough reason, if this goes well, then he would have the answer to all he has always wanted to know. Every single thing about this world seems to be shrouded in the darkness.
Yes, this was it.
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[A/N]
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