Chapter 782: Hart's Anger

Chapter 782: Hart's Anger

Merzhin bolted from his seat and fled toward the hallway with one hand clamped on his mouth. He shoved the door open, took three steps and heaved the meagre contents of his stomach onto the white floor.

Alex cut the recording, shaking with rage.

The rest of the room was in an uproar.

You, filthy plague-spewin bastard! Cedric roared, turning and running after Merzhin. Are yalright? He called.

The Saint stumbled further into the hallway.RêAd lateSt chapters at novelhall.com Only

Drestra was up and out of her chair, her body slack with shock.

Harts eyebrows had shot up.

Jules was shaking her fist at the image of the God, cursing him with colourful words Alex had never heard before.

Birgers hand was clasped to his mouth.

Theresa was grinding her teeth, shaking her head while glaring at Uldar. Brutus was snarling at the image of the god, barking beside her.

Bjorgrund had gone pale.

How horrible! Isolde gasped.

Alex went after Merzhin and Cedric, finding the two young men down the hall. Cedrics arm was around the Saints slight shoulders, as he sobbed against the wall.

That's what we worshipped! Merzhin choked. That monster is what I dedicated my life to! I trusted that, and if I hadntCarey would still be He gasped again. Her lifeshe wasted so much of her life on that!

I ain't gonna say salright, Cedric said, rubbing Merzhins back. But, the twove yave got good hearts. Don matter bout some dead monster

But it does! Merzhin spun around, tears staining his face. It does!

Alex reached them as Drestra and Hart came up behind him. The five Heroes were united.

The five Heroes of a god who had slaughtered his people, Alex thought, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. A thought where he had no Mark, neither General, Fool, or any other, kept playing in his mind as he silently cursed the selfish, murderous god of Thameland.

Merzhins eyes turned to Alex, tears streaming from them. All of our lives were twisted by thatmonster! he choked. Your life was stolen, he sobbed. Then he looked at Drestra. You didn't want any part of this quest, and I told you to serve UldarI told you to serve a god, a dead god whod killed most of his own people!His own people! A god who believed that marking the young would make them easier to manipulate!

Drestra stood quietly, only trembling.

Cedrics mouth opened and closed, but no words left it.

Alex was speechless.

Aye, Cedric said.

Yes, Merzhin said.

Of course, Drestra said.

Always was, Hart said.

Theresa mouthed are you okay? to Alex.

He nodded. If everyone's ready, let's continue. I don't wanna see his filthy face much longer.

The General of Thameland turned on the recording.

Uldar made a great show of sorrow at his admission, but Alex couldn't help but feel sick watching him.

The guilt still eats me to this day, the god said. Yet, it had to be done. The continued disruptions by the General would have destroyed the cycle. The cycles end would have spelled my doom. And my doom would have meant the end of Thameland; my people always needed their god, even if that meant pain in the short term.

We were fine with you being dead, Alex muttered bitterly. We got on just fine.

Uldar, of course, did not respond. And so the Ravener, during the next cycle, had all safety protocols lifted. With full access to its power, and the fear generated by my people, it was easy for it to make its strongest monsters; hordes and hordes of them. They struck quickly before the Heroes were ever united. My heart broke watching as my people died in massive numbers. I had to watch their cities burn while their prayers went unanswered. It was one of the most difficult experiencesof my long existence, though the fear powered me deeply and let me enjoy greater health than I had in centuries. I spared the lives of a small portion of the population: enough to be fruitful and make Thameland whole again. Just as if I were culling a population of deer, specimens had to be left intact to re-populate, like any herd.

Theresa said something rude under her breath.

When the cull was over, a small number of the lowest most isolated peasant communities remained. Robust people who would make good stock to replenish Thamelands numbers, simple folk who knew little outside their own closed off group. The perfect types with little knowledge or histories from hundreds of generations to pass along. They were pure, almost like blank slates. The Ravener eliminated a good portion of the hidden church as well, leaving the lower ranking members since they were not privy to the full details of my plan. I then told them what they needed to know and no more. These agents, these young priests, worked with the peasant stock to shape the rebuilding of Thameland.

He smiled weakly. Again, I have to thank my own foresight for making my island nation isolated. I was able to do what had to be done without the world seeing or interfering. People were far less connected than they are now, and the nearly complete destruction of one small kingdom could easily escape the notice of others. While the people worked with the hidden church to renew my kingdom, their faith grew. Combining with the dying prayers of those the Ravener had erased, the poison coursing through me ebbed away for a long period of time.

His smile faded. However, I must also curse my own foresight. In my attempt to make the process of marking Heroes self-sufficient as well as to fit with the same time that the Ravener was reborn, I made the process extremely intricate. I could not simply eliminate the General without having to rebuild the entire process from the ground up. Nor did I have time to do that. Yet, it was necessary to ensure that never again would the leader of the Heroes be able to discovermy true intentions. So, although I could not completely eliminate the GeneralI could modify the Mark. Where before I would have had a grand leader for the Heroes, one made in my image to coordinate the Heroes actions and lead them, now I had to change that role to one of Fool, someone who would not analyse the situation they were in. The Chosen could still be suitable to lead, while a greatly diminished General, now the Fool, would still be of use, providing relief, levity, and comfort to the others.

He opened his hand, a glowing symbol of the Generals Mark appeared above it. With a twist of his fingers, it transformed into the Mark of the Fool. I granted the remaining members of the hidden church a revelation that the General was an abomination, and that my true intentions would follow in the next cycle. They were tasked with ensuring that none of the population spoke of the General again, and they themselves were to take any knowledge of their existence to their graves. They did so admirably.

Uldar smiled weakly. To achieve my new goals, I added additional protocols so the Ravener would make the next cycle less challenging than past ones. The Thameish population was far from abundant, and of course, this new Herothe Foolwould naturally hinder the Heroes: I did not wish for them to display the same level of power that theyd had in past cycles. The results were even greater than I had hoped for. Though the Ravener acted with a good deal of restraint when it faced the new generation, they nearly lost the war, only achieving victory through great sacrifice. I sent another revelation to my priests, in it I told them that the Heroes sacrifice should be celebrated, and that word of this should be spread among the budding population of Thameland. Over time, all mention of a General disappeared both from history and memory. Soon even the faelong lived, but flighty and largely unconcerned with the intricacies of mortal matterssaw that knowledge slip away too. All except Aenflynn, of course. Cycles passed, my kingdom rebuilt through generations, and we reached a new equilibrium. Unfortunately, the odd complication would arise.

The god frowned. For one, I was unable to consistently alter the selection of my Fool. At times, the Mark would find its way to those who were analytical and clever. This problem forced me to manuallyselect the inept for my Fools when I learned who had been chosen in certain cycles. Yet, it did happen on one occasion when I was indisposed and a cycle occurred, that the Fools Mark found its way to one with an analytical mind and ambition; causing what the hidden church called the Generals Folly. A troublesome event where a Fool came to discover that they could control dungeon cores.

Alex swallowed, looking at Drestra.

Of course, Uldar continued. The name the hidden church chose for the eventThe Generals Follywas coincidental. They had no knowledge of the General, but for a frightened moment, I thought they had uncovered something. Luckily, it turned out the name was because the Fool was commanding Ravener-spawn like a general. Thankfully, in that instance, the people of Thameland were none the wiser and all went well. I will end this entry for now, the matters I was forced to remember here have been most distasteful, leaving me drained.

With that, Uldar disappeared.

Alex felt the chairs energies.

There arent a lot of entries left, he said. It looks like we're getting close to when he died.