Chapter 198: Faith.

Chapter 198: Faith.

Emeri and I reappeared in the middle of a town square. No, judging from the size of the nearby buildings, we were currently within a larger settlement, perhaps even a city.

The sight would have been a familiar one, if it werent for several things that stood out. A subtle difference between the cities I was used to and the one I was looking at was the architecture. It differed from anything I had ever encountered before, resembling the ruins I had delved a while back more closely than todays usual building styles. Its sharp angles and straight edges felt out of place, the lack of any detailing below a certain point making these features even more noticeable. This particular issue could be attributed to the time that the vision supposedly took place in.

Something more disturbing was afoot, however. The entire city seemed to be on lockdown. People had boarded up their windows and gone into hiding. Apart from several exceptions, I supposed.

The lockdown hadnt been declared without reason, as this city must have been under siege for some time, from the looks of things. Craters and holes covered the city like a blanket, entire houses and guard towers missing large chunks and only barely remaining standing. People had used wooden boards to make improvised bridges over the larger craters, but even they looked like they could fall apart at any moment.

The few small groups of people that remained in the square kept to the shadows, talking in hushed tones. Their faces were grave, as if whatever they were talking about had sapped them of all their strength. Nobody was smiling.

Before Emeri and I could attempt to listen in on their conversations, a man came running onto the square from one of the side streets. He was wearing poorly maintained plate armour that was missing several chunks, but his weapon, a glaive with golden and ruby accents, made it obvious that this man had some standing within the community.

Evacuate! Evacuate now! The pope has ordered it so! Guards, head to your stations!

As he made this declaration, a few of the people I had been observing earlier drew their weapons and hurried over to the city walls that towered in the distance. I would never have had them pegged as guards, their equipment even more downtrodden than their leaders, but these were clearly desperate times.

The remainder of the stragglers started streaming out of the square and headed in the opposite direction, though some folk refused to move.

When the guards leader went over to chastise them, he had his words thrown back in his face. The people that remained, comprised of mostly older people, were adamant and wouldnt change their minds.

I was born here, grew up here, fell in love here Im going to die here, too. One of them had explained to the guard captain. He had shaken his head, before following his subordinates to the city walls, ignoring the troublemakers as they followed him, their minds set on defending their home.

Emeri turned to me, moving as if to grab me, but thought better of it.

Things are looking grim here, I contemplated, breaking the silence. I wonder what these people are so scared of?

War. Its always war. Emeri muttered, looking downcast.

Before I could console here, a cataclysmic fireball bloomed on the horizon, melting a giant section of the city walls in seconds. The resulting shockwave collapsed the nearby buildings, flattening what remained of this unfortunate city.

For a lengthy minute, Emeri and I just stood there, staring at what had once been a beautiful, if wounded, city.

Not this time, its not. I spoke, disparaged.

Emeri, shaken from her reverie, turned to me with a questioning gaze, though I could tell that she couldnt bring herself to focus.

What?

Its not a war, this. Doesnt that fire remind you of anyone? I asked, gesturing at the golden flames that continued to rage in the distance, fuelling themselves with whatever it could find.

Emeri shook, realizing what I was getting at. Suddenly, she began running in the direction of the fire. I wanted to stop her, to tell her I must have been wrong, that there must be another explanation But a bigger part of me understood that she needed to see this for herself.

Minutes later we arrived at the great sea of fire. In our ethereal state, we could just ignore it and head to the deeper parts of the destruction. Unfortunately, no others were as lucky. There werent even many corpses left. Only the classers that had possessed a high constitution when they were alive left burned husks to be remembered by.

The fire had spread so much, fuelling itself even on water and mana as if to spite creation itself.

Seriously?! You do believe that? Do you think you can still act like a hero after destroying an entire citys worth of mortals?! Thats the very idea of a god, kid! We outlive mortals by so much that a lifetime for them is a second for us! The fact that you understand that proves that youre already halfway there!

Helios seemed to still at that, but the brightness of the sky didnt lessen. He was shaken by what this god had said, but not enough to stray from his path. The heat in the area grew, so much so that even Emeri and I began to feel it, somehow

The sky opened up, clouds parting to reveal a second sun that was slowly descending to the earth.

The azure god regarded the sun with shocked silence.

So thats it then? Five thousand years of godhood, all to be done in by a delusional kid

Suddenly, a nearby pile of rubble stirred. The stone shifted as a hand shot out, pushing everything resting on top of him out of the way bit by bit. Helios and his opponent didnt seem to notice, but within seconds, a burned man rose back up.

He was unrecognisable, his body scorched on all sides and his metal armour fused into his flesh after melting. The only thing that I recognised was his glaive This was the guard captain from before

He shuffled over to Helios, groaning in pain with each step.

Helios ignored him.

His god laughed at him, and at his own fate.

Then, the guard toppled over a few steps away from Helios, before pulling out a small, angled piece of metal from his skin and attempting to bury it in Helios foot.

Helios let him.

It didnt leave a scratch.

Still, the god laughed.

See that, kid?! Thats what I call loyalty! My people love me so much they rise from the dead just to spit on you! Haehaehae!

The gods cackling was interrupted by the hoarse voice of the guard, who ground out a few words.

Not about God. Never-People only peopletheir faith in me.

He breathed his last, his body stilling, never to move again.

As the silent sun descended, the air burned. The earth rose to meet the collapsing fire, burying the city with its light

Emeri and I were blinded.

Then, we woke up, back in the real world.

As we escaped the church and headed through the portal to our next target, I had one memory stuck in my head.

As the guard spoke his last words, Helios eyes widened. As if he had finally figured something out. Something simple, that had remained hidden from him for too long.