Kapitel 24: History

December 28, 1349.

Backlund, Loen Kingdom.

As the sky of Backlund lit up with crimson trails, Bernadette Gustav knew it was time. She could almost hear the rustling of papers and the quivering of a quill in the echoes of fate, all coming together to form a grand play.

A grand play about the return of the evil gods.

'True Creator...Primordial Demoness...' The Queen Mystic recalled all of the information she had managed to gather. 'What could have pushed them to do this in their own city...'

Nonetheless, she didn't dwell on it, for now was not the time. For all she knew, the Quill of Alzuhod might have discovered her existence despite Lucien's blessing and her precautions.

Anyway, with her eventually entering the stage from behind the curtains, it was inevitable.

Bernadette Gustav rose from her seat in her carriage, carrying her most powerful sealed artefacts with her. She placed her hand on the door knob, took a deep breath, and prepared herself before opening the door, revealing the empress borough filled with nobles coming out of their houses, looking up in astonishment at the asteroids plummeting from the sky.

As soon as she stepped onto the ground, her figure became imaginary and ethereal, melting into the palette of hues that was the spiritual realm.

—————-

An ordinary-looking quill, which was writing the grand play about the return of the evil gods on its own, suddenly froze, and its surface dimmed visibly.

The solemn-looking middle-aged man with only one eye grabbed it and quickly wrote as if he were channelling a spirit.

"It was obvious that Azik Eggers had yet to recover all his memories and strength. While attempting to travel through the spirit world and the astral world, a latent danger appeared as a result of this problem. Hence, he and Sherlock Moriarty found themselves landing near Ince Zangwill and his friend."

—————-

The ruins of the Solomon Empire, somewhere outside Backlund.

Azik Eggers and Klein Moretti looked ahead as Ince Zangwill walked out of the bronze door.

Just as Klein was about to turn and run up the road, wholeheartedly following Mr. Azik's instructions—he understood that he would be nothing more than a burden in the battle between demigods—a quill shot out from Ince Zangwill and began writing on the wall at a speed that would have put a cheetah to shame.

It wrote:

"Poor Ince Zangwill, his fate seemed to have been infected with misfortune, for everything he touched ended in failure, and now seemed no different."

"For unknown reasons, the Queen Mystic happened to be in Backlund. She was attracted by the commotion, turning her clairvoyant eyes to find the source of it all."

"Oh no! She is descending into ruins!"

Just as the quill finished, a lady materialised in between them. She had chestnut hair that fell to her waist and purple eyes that shone brightly, as if they were spying on the secrets of the world.

'Bernadette Gustav…' Azik and Ince recognised the famous Queen of Pirates in sync, then their thoughts separated, trying to make sense of her appearance.

'So this is Roselle's daughter...' Azik reflected, puzzled as to why he strangely felt bitter against her.

'Why is she here?!' Ince thought. 'First of all, how is she here? Even if she is a saint, she can't have gone unnoticed by the quill—no, this changes everything.'

As for Klein, his thoughts were quite jumbled, 'It's her! Those black leather boots! Did she find out I am the Hero Bandit Black Emperor? And who would have thought she was the famous Queen Mystic?'

As the moment passed, Bernadette met the dark eyes of Azik, and an unspoken understanding seemed to pass between them.

Bernadette then appeared near Klein, startled him, and placed her hand tightly over his shoulders.

Just as the Queen Mystic wanted to teleport through the spirit world—which she could do now with the combination of the blessing of the Reaper and her powers—a regal and dignified voice reverberated throughout the broken hall.

"Teleportation is prohibited here!"

A figure had arrived beside Ince Zangwill without anyone noticing. He was suspended in midair, defying the rules of physics. He wore a gorgeous gold mask.

Sequence 4, Imperative Mage!

Bernadette, on the other hand, simply stared at the MI9 demigod impassively before her and Klein's figures dissolved into bubbles and vanished into thin air.

It was a spell named Bubble created from mythical re-enactment. It was one of the fairy tale spells that Bernadette grafted from the fairy tales that her father had told her.

And technically, even though this spell had an effect similar to teleportation, in essence, it wasn't, so the Queen Mystic successfully exploited the loophole in the law established by the Imperative Mage, descending into the other side of the ruins along with Klein.

All the while, Ince Zangwill wasn't idle. As Sequence 4 Nightwatcher of the Darkness pathway could grant a certain amount of bad luck to others, Ince, who had just silently blessed Klein and Bernadette to try disrupting the spell, found it baffling that not only were they successful, but even his blessing transferred back to him.

Not only that, Ince Zangwill seemed to be hallucinating as well, as he saw a thin, greyish-white fog.

But before he could comprehend his complete failure, Ince noticed that the abyss-like fracture to his side had ruptured with gallons and gallons of illusory, pitch-black liquid, creating a dark tsunami that raced towards him and the Imperative Mage. What was actually terrifying was that the surface of the wave was loaded with pale-skinned arms widely extending forth, as if attempting to grab and drag everyone into pits of hellish damnation.

And in the midst of it all, Azik Eggers floated gently, untouched and unperturbed, like a fallen monarch emerging from the underworld.

At the same time, on the opposite side of the ruins, Bernadette and Klein descended into a lengthy corridor packed with dust-covered murals, directly avoiding the guards.

"You just left him." Klein managed, feeling his shoulders slightly ache.

"He can manage." Bernadette spoke in a gentle yet emotionless tone. "He is a lot stronger than you think."

'Mr. Azik is more powerful than a demigod?' Klein thought in surprise.

"There are more pressing issues that require my attention." Bernadette continued, her voice slightly tightening. "Follow my instructions if you want to make it out of this alive." She peered at Klein with a touch of familiarity.

Klein was beginning to become highly suspicious that the Queen Mystic already knew he was the one who took the card of blasphemy right under her nose—or, in her case, foot.

Hearing her remarks, which were practically an unspoken order, he nodded, putting on a veiner of compliance. Of course, he didn't trust her, but the situation he was in didn't leave him much of a choice.

"Come on." Bernadette went swiftly down the corridor towards the huge door at the end, and Klein followed her, his mind sharp and his posture alert.

When they arrived at that point, he noticed that there were no guards at the entryway. He wanted to perform a swift divination with his coin, but she stopped him by pointing to the door first, then placing her finger on her lips, indicating him to follow her silently.

Klein begrudgingly complied, and they passed right through the wall, using the spirit world, without taking the door. The first thing he saw was the natural light that fell from the dome, which indicated that this place was an exit out of the ruins, and this made him feel a bit of relief, but he didn't let it get to his head, moving into the shadows of the hall unnoticeably.

From the corner of his eyes, though, he saw, in the middle of the hall, four hooded figures kneeling around what appeared to be an altar.

Soon after, Klein and Bernadette heard a soft, gentle female voice.

"Mr. A, are you ready?"

———————

Panatiya, the Lady Despair, never failed to admire the belief that the Aurora Order has in the True Creator. It was the type of faith that led to self-sacrifice; they were willing to submit and give everything to their God. Such devotion was rare, if not unseen, even in this world of gods.

Consider her current situation: she was subtly indicating to Mr. A, a zealot thorough and thorough, that they were intending to use Aurora Order as a scapegoat to cover up the evidence of human trafficking committed by her organisation and all of its partners in East Borough.

And Mr. A didn't mind taking the fall for them. All he cared about was returning his lord to the world, and he was even more than happy to have everyone witness the glory of his lord.

Hearing his indifferent yet vehement declaration, even Lady Despair was somewhat taken aback. Nevertheless, she wanted to continue with the matter at hand, but just then someone interrupted them.

"Who permitted you to enter? Didn't I declare that no one is to approach this area?" Panatiya snapped at the intruder, suppressing her rage.

"Lady Despair, there's an emergency! Someone has infiltrated the basement! The higher-ups sent me to arrange for a follow-up and close the corresponding passages."

Lady Despair closed her eyes, silently communicating with Selene, who was the Lady Calamity, one of the leaders of the Demoness Sect. Then she opened her eyes impassively, though her heart was grim. 'Azik Eggers…Bernadette Gustav…what a troubling development…'

Restraining her thoughts, she swiftly dismissed the intruder and looked toward Mr. A, who spoke up in a deep and hoarse voice.

"I smell an accident. Let's begin."

Lady Despair responded gently, "That's exactly what I was thinking, but I need you to send me to East Borough."

Mr. A did as he was told, sending her tearing through space to land on an uninhabited, secluded, and filthy corner of an alley.

She pulled down her veil to cover her face and looked up into the sky. The afternoon sun had once again been obscured by clouds and fog, turning pale and dark.

The light yellow fog wasn't particularly thick, and it sank down to every corner of Backlund, giving off a slight choking sensation amidst its coldness and moisture.

'It's a pity that the haze didn't reach the point when it's in its worst and calmest state... The accident that happened to Trissy, the sudden and temporary loss of control over 0-08, the unexpected appearance of Azik and Bernadette, and the destruction previously caused by the Dark Emperor complicated matters, garnering the attention of others. It forced the operation to be brought forward to today...' Lady Despair surveyed the area, walked out of the alley, and into the streets.

Wherever she passed, the fog would unnoticeably thicken. Tinged with an iron-black colour, it silently lowered one's visibility.

A haze that was a mixture of iron-black and pale yellow colours descended upon East Borough, the dock area, and the smoke-spewing factory district as it continued to spread throughout Backlund.

Various scenes in the distance were drowned out, and even the towering clock tower was only a pale shadow. One by one, workers and poor people felt the discomfort as they fought against the cold, and the disorderly tramps fell one after another in the woman's wake, their lives as fragile as the bubbles formed during laundry.

Lady Despair's expression was calm and gentle, as though she were finishing a work of art. She slowly walked among the struggling pedestrians as she chuckled and said in a low voice, "The Loen Kingdom's history will remember this day."

"The Great Haze of Backlund."

—————————

Headquarters of the Numinous Episcopate, Illiniza.

Lucien glanced in the direction of the Northern Continent, feeling the changes in Backlund through his coin held by Bernadette. And his posture turned grim and sombre.

He glanced down at the painted table, connecting with the spiritual network that was linked to all of the high-sequence beyonders of the Numinous Episcopate.

The Reaper declared, his voice sonorous and resonant, passing through the network. "The world's history will remember this day."

"The Fall of Colonialism."

Lucien took a deep breath, "Attack!" He boomed.

Immediately, across the skies above the military bases spread throughout the southern continent and seas of the world, there were flashes of light that seemed to illuminate everything, then they instantly converged to form bronze doors, all as tall and colossal as a tower, and they together opened.

A bone-chilling echo was heard throughout military outposts, creeping into the ears of every single soldier. They froze in place, halting whatever they were doing. Together, with pale faces and wide eyes, they slowly looked up into the sky, only to witness the last sight of their lives.

And what a breathtaking sight it was—literally.

From the door, with the eternal darkness, came spirits, army after army, all crashing down from the sky onto the army bases, heralding Destruction, Despair and....

Death!