Chapter 397 The Heresy, Part 2/2



POV Vesuvius:

The space twisted and warped as the dragon's spell linked to a distant beacon.

The next moment a bright light filled his vision, and he appeared above the lustrous, lush valley, looking straight out of a picture.

The dragon strained his eyes as his eyes swept through the vale in the middle of nowhere. There was no civilization as far as he could sense, only monsters, his minions, and his actors roaming around.

The glowing space-beacon array still glowed below him with the residual mana. The old mage, now fully in black, with a golden staff and mask of gold covering his face, kneeled next to it.

'This will be the place where we clash.' He looked around and nodded, feeling the powerful natural energy, abundant water, air, and earth elements powering his domain.

'Only fire is missing, and I am here to fix it.' Vesuvius closed his eyes, and his seven horns crowning his head shone with gold and red light.

The ground rumbled, and the mountains shook as he reached deep below the ground. His mind passed through the layers of soil, stone, and caves without any resistance.

Without stopping, he kept reaching deeper and deeper, and finally, he stopped, his eyes burning with fire as he struck a hot spot.

The magma below the ground bubbled and rushed upwards through the tunnels drilled by the dragon's domain.

Vesuvius didn't know how powerful the angel he would face would be, so he decided to take every step to ensure his victory was swift and decisive.

The forest kept shaking, and even the air became hotter than before, but then the dragon stopped keeping the magma within reach but still safely sealed below the tones of the stone.

'Done, now I have an extra trick up my sleeve.'

He already gathered all the intel he could on the angel, and he was sure they were not a seraph but a cherub, 'Seraphs might be a higher order, but cherubs were always the true warriors of the heaven, guarding the divine throne and the heavenly gate.'

It was no exaggeration to call seraphs the commanders and leaders of the highest order, commanding heavenly armies with the cherubs being the champions and the warriors always fighting at the frontline.

'To lure the big boss one has to first deal with the small flies.'

"Go, start the plan." His order resonated through the forest before the golden portal opened behind him.

The dragon couldn't wait to see the generated angel rushing toward the valley while minions kept provoking them.

'It was a nice stop, but there is still a debt I need to collect.'

A few hours later:

POV BoobaFet:

Players stood in the middle of a crowded square, all wearing plain and generic equipment that might belong to a mercenary or an adventurer. People mingled all around them, and the shouts of merchants mixed with the stampede of steps and neighing of horses and mules.

"Those outfits are ridiculous. I miss my black."

He quietly murmured, but then a deafening cry made everyone stop.

"Do not allow them to lead you astray, good folk!" An old priest climbed up on top of a cart, his robes fluttering in the wind.

His voice once more resounded through the square, filled with mana, the priestly powers of faith, making everyone stare at him, "Hasdiel is a fraud. They pretend to be an angel of mercy while executing priests of the very same church without any mercy!"

More and more people stopped, some looking in fear, others in amusement, and a few with visible zeal.

"Does that seem right to you?"

"Shut up, you madman!" Someone yelled from the crowd, followed by laughter.

Booba didn't care, 'We are not here to convince them anyway.' His head was hurting just thinking about the plans in the shadows, but that didn't matter to him, all he needed to do was to stab with his spear, and he was confident in it.

"No, Hasdiel is nothing but a fallen angel sent to lead us astray and destroy the church of light from within!"

A commotion rose within the crowd making Boopa tighten the grip of his spear.

"Disperse! Arrest that heretic!" The inquisitors and guards pushed themselves through the crowd, and the people dispersed in their path.

'Finally, they are here.'

The preacher looked around in terror, his eyes pleading with the crowd.

However, no one moved as the inquisitors in the white, long coats decorated with clanging chains approached.

"Disperse or you will be in trouble!"

'Now!' With a single leap, the world around him blurred, and his spear shriekingly pierced through the air. The guards couldn't even react before his spear stabbed into the hot flesh, with blood leaking out.

At the same time, more of the players moved from the crowd and rushed at the shouting inquisitors. Blades gleamed, and spells flashed.

The next moment the burned and decapitated bodies of the inquisitors fell to the ground.

"Murder!"

"Heretics!"

The panic swept through the crowd, and dust rose into the air as it turned into a stampede, with everyone running away.

A smile formed on the face of the spear-holding attack, 'I just hope the others succeeded too.'

He even separated from his party, just in case, as they were now pretty famous as the high-ranking members of the influential faction, 'Even with identity obscuring magic artifacts, someone might recognize us if together from our fighting style.'

POV Radaghul:

Ragadhul just stared at the bleeding corpses of the inquisitors.

'It is nothing to what I felt in that forest.'

Even now, he couldn't stop to be shaken by the memories of it. Something horrible and terrifying was hidden in that valley.

He could have felt it deep within his bones. His entire body trembled even though he couldn't see anything through the thick woods and the impenetrable canopy of smoke, ash, and snow whirling above his head.

eαglesnovel`c,om 'Maybe, maybe we might not die.' He felt like maybe even with the enraged angel looking for them with the terrifying presence behind the kidnapping, the angel would have no chance to care about them.

"Move!" He was brought back to the present and the murder scene. He was not in the forest but in the square.

'This is insanity... who and why would want to provoke that angel.'

POV Hasdiel:

A bright light shone within a pristine chamber of white marble with a tall vaulted ceiling supported by thick pillars.

"These godless traitors. How could they abandon their duties and even try to stray away the believers from the path of righteousness?" The angel rose from its kneeling position, and eight pairs of wings crackling with pure white lightning sprouted from its back.

The holy light filled the chamber, and the spear of light and lightning crackled in their hand.

"I, Hasdiel, the angel of mercy, a cherub protecting the gates of heaven shall purge them once and for all and cast their souls in the pits of hell."

The light grew even brighter, and the arcs of the heavenly lightning danced across the room as the angel's humanoid form twisted as if something within it tried to resurface.

However, the angel stilled its divine fury, refusing to scar innocent believers by revealing its true angelic form.

"Let's go my faithful, it is time to track down the source of this heresy." Hasdield stepped out towards the exit, and the warrior priest flanked them from every side. Their minds were infected with the angel's zealotry.

He was going to personally move against those that killed the instruments of the god, his soldiers, and he was going to punish those heretics that spread like a fire proclaiming him to be a demon with false accusations.