Chapter 568 Blanket of Carnage
The room was silent for a time as the two Fiends embraced one another, exchanging emotions without using words.
It was so touching that even Daedric stared in yearning silence.
The change in Daedric's expression made one wonder. Why did he work so hard to prove himself? To prove that he mattered? What inside that young man was broken?
Kieran opened his eyes as Scar stepped back, still clasping the young man's shoulders. Before meeting Scar's gaze, though, he noticed Daedric's contrite expression and distant gaze, as if his mind was lost somewhere else.
After sparing Daedric a moment's notice, Kieran looked away, focusing on his mentor.
"That's a damned Adept's physique if I've ever seen one. And those eyes… much stranger than mine, but we know of the second legacy you bear. It's only right that you manifest signs of its supremacy."
Scar clapped Kieran's shoulder, unable to restrain the delight bubbling up from his heart. His Inheritor had not just succeeded in what the line of True Berserkers had attempted for a long while following Scar's succession… but he had overcome a Trial meant for a Step in Ascension far higher than he presently stood.
Kieran chuckled, feeling an onset of embarrassment on the horizon.
What he felt was similar to when your parents were so proud of your accomplishments that they broadcasted them to family and friends at gatherings and didn't shut up until they had repeated it ad nauseam.
Only Kieran didn't feel sickened by Scar's praise.
The Trial had been one of the greatest struggles he faced thus far. To have your plans foiled and defenses rendered useless at every turn was an incredibly bleak ordeal to prevail against. All while having your thoughts, actions, and emotions insidiously manipulated by a force that couldn't be contended against.
Not by mundane power.
Yet Kieran had prevailed, and that was deserving of praise.
Or was it…
That doubt hadn't left Kieran's mind since finishing the Trial.
What did it mean for him to be just as defiant as Argexes had been? To complete the Trial almost perfectly up until the end without any objectives to guide your actions.
Every one of Kieran's willful acts resulted from his innermost desires and thoughts…
And that understanding plagued his mind, but he didn't let his concerns show. Not yet. They were only concerns. Nothing had come of them yet.
Setting those thoughts aside, Kieran's attention returned to the real world, primarily the words Scar asked him.
"Boy… are you okay?"
Kieran stared at Scar and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
Scar didn't immediately reply. He silently examined his Successor, looking into his eyes for any unmentioned changes before grunting softly after finding nothing.
"Your peers said the Trial you were given was called the Testament of Dying Blood."
This didn't feel like a question so much as it did a statement, so Kieran nodded.
"And the final opponent was Argexes? Are you sure?"
Kieran nodded again.
Scar looked at the other Old Myths grimly, then looked back at Kieran.
"What was your name in the Trial? Do you remember that?"
Just as Kieran was about to answer, he blinked and squinted, realizing the name was no longer on the tip of his tongue but buried in his mind, requiring him to sift through mounds of knowledge before he could find it again.
Kieran didn't remember consciously burying the name in his thoughts, meaning it was likely one of the return protocols. However, it did very little when he had an archaic book in his mind filled with endless knowledge.
He spoke it.
"Valdu. I was given the name Valdu in the Trial."
The Old Myths didn't have much a reaction to the meaning, symbolizing their lack of understanding regarding the history of the Fiends, or Argexes in particular.
"If Valdu was the name you gained… he was no opponent but a curse. How much of the fateful battle did you see, boy?"
Kieran mulled over the answer.
The first reply that came to mind was all of it… then he remembered.
To claim to have seen everything would be a fallacy when he truthfully witnessed very little and understood far less. When he tried to remember what happened between Argexes' birth and the time he was sealed… it all felt very… hyperbolic, like it was sped up to critical moments and nothing else.
He realized he hadn't watched what became of Argexes, where the Monarch of Ruin had been sealed, nor did he know what happened to Adeia's body. Also, what fate awaited the Thralls of the Maddened that Argexes spread throughout the Boundary?
All this made Kieran understand how little of the Testament of Dying Blood he truly understood.
"I saw until Hekaina imprisoned Argexes in a strange seal after Agrianos… didn't kill him. No, couldn't kill him? I don't know why I feel this way, but Argexes felt almost… immortal. Then, in the end, I saw someone or something descended from the sky."
Scar looked up as if trying to look past the room's ceiling but was more relaxed than his earlier agitated state, leading him to drop his head a second later.
"We call her Watcher in the Sky, Eye in the Sky, a litany of other identities, boy. But what she is… is the Trialmaster, which is why she likely hid her identity from you. If you had seen the whole Trial, you would have learned many things about her, but I guess it's not something an Adept should know."
Kieran frowned.
"How do you know I didn't see the entire Trial?"
Scar didn't answer, instead looking at his peers. They moved their heads in agreement, deeming it okay to divulge.
"The Testament of Dying Blood isn't an unknown Trial, but it exists as a Trial of Exemplification. In other words, it is used as a challenge to see if an Archmaster, particularly the Myths, can step into the realm of Exemplars. Which begs the question of how you passed."
Ragnar approached gingerly, tapping Scar's shoulder.
"It wasn't our power that was tested, only our character. The Zenith Frequency revealed we were of adequate character."
Kieran had prepared that answer but did not need to say it anymore. Still, Scar found the entire situation to be unduly suspicious.
"That doesn't deny that you were given a Trial from the Exemplary Order… as Novices. That kind of pressure is enough to shatter anyone's character. Yet, none of you broke."
Scar seemed equally fascinated and terrified. Why was this Generation of Myths so strong in character? What did that portend of the Realm's fate?
"…Hekaina. I need to talk with her and see what she knows. This can't be a very good sign."
Ferreira noticed Scar's alarm and conversed mentally. The changes in her expression grew equally severe as she grasped how dire Scar's comprehension of the situation was.
The Watcher in the Sky only intervened when the Boundary's Fate veered toward desolation. And that had only happened a handful of times before.
Though he was worried about his ominous premonition, that didn't detract from his interest in Kieran's abilities.
"Well, go on. Don't be shy. Your pal over them culminated a Path from his Advancing. Let me see what you achieved."
Kieran beamed at Altair, and then he focused.
'Can't have my right-hand man showing me up, right?'
He exhaled deeply, and then an exclamation rocked the throne room as the entire room was blanketed by a bloody sensation thrumming with fiendish carnage.
"Holy shit!"
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