章 50: Daughter Of Ira

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POV 3rd person:

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The daughter of the 6th duchy, Priestess Heliodor Aurora was born into the world as a ring on her parents finger. An accessory. From the moment she was born she was made for the sole purpose of dedication to a goddess. And so at her birth she had been dedicated to the goddess Ira. And it was promised that she would one day be brought into union with one who would offer her family everything. It was a promise to bring them to the forefront of Alvarian society. And so the birth of their daughter was rejoiced. While the daughter herself was seen as nothing but the pack mule that would pull them the brightest. And so time passed as her parents raised her with nothing but their future in mind. Not a single expense was spared in her upbringing and by the time she reached the age of fifteen she began to show signs of bearing fruit. Hundreds of men and even women of the Alvarian high echelon were offering their hands to the daughter of house Heliodor. She had become a beauty beyond the imagination and peerless in every sense of the word. However within this perfect body there was but a single flaw.

Her mind.

Her eyes had seen a number of emotions ranging from sadness and fear, to rage and joy. She, as a daughter of Ira, was incredibly well versed in the language of emotions. Yet there was one that she had never seen. Her patron goddess had always preached of it yet she had never received it.

It was love.

When her peers offered her unions under the gaze of her patron it was all but a guise for their lust. When her parents had offered her everything, it was so that they could have it all back and more in return. When she killed her parents, the duke and duchess of the sixth duchy and granted it's territory to her lesser the son of Trudas, she turned to priesthood for solace and peace, only for the same lust to chase her down from her past, and those she did not charm were indifferent or even jealous and hateful of her.

She thus thought herself unlovable.

And so isolated as she was, she dedicated her life to the one thing that had been a constant throughout her life. Her patron goddess, Ira. Ira had long been the only one to offer her support through divinations and blessings. However Ira was still a goddess, a being far out of the reach of mankind. And so when she became the high priestess she put herself to use for the one being who never betrayed her.

She made herself a conduit as an object of worship.

If someone stood in the way of she who brought the divinations of Ira, they would disappear, or would die shortly after their transgressions. "Such was the nature of divine punishment." That was what those who worshiped her believed. And so her power grew, day by day. With one idea in mind for her entire life.

W̴̛̫͘Ḥ̸͌̆͒̄͠E̸͇͎̼̔̉̒́R̷̖̞̥͙̆͒̀͠Ē̶͖͍͇̮̎̍͋ ̸̳̼͗͒͝À̴̧͈̭̱R̶̡̼̝̤̍̈́̚Ȩ̸̬̈̀̓̊̅ ̴̛̗̳̱̉̒͌̚T̸̬͖͕̿̀̇H̸͍͉̫͖̟̐̿̎̄È̷̼̭̖̹͂̾̚͝ͅY̷̻͙̲̜̼͆

'Where was the one who was promised to me so long ago.' These words whirled within her mind and offered her no peace, whether day or night. And then, one day, as her power reached its zenith, and her insanity, it's peak, she received a divination. It was that which she had sought for all those years.

The one thing that had held her together was finally within her grasp.

And Ira knew that.

…

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POV: Astaros

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Her insanity has warped her mind to the point of no return. She was utterly irredeemable. I looked into the eyes of Aurora and thousands of colours stared back, as though they were fragments of some greater whole.

"I do not know what you form of torture brought you to this point but you will suffer no longer. I will offer you peace." {Astaros}

I raised the Shattered Star up and pointed it at her, the emotions that whirled confined within me beginning to become still. Within the divine field Aurora smiled, the colour within her pupils solidifying and shining a rosy pink.

"We're already doing the wedding vows!?! JUST WAIT A MOMENT DARLING, HONEY NEEDS TO DEAL WITH THE SCUM SURROUNDING YOU BEFORE WE CAN DO THAT!!" {Priestess Aurora}

From the swirling smoke and dust her lap-dogs came rushing forward, their glinting golden armor reflecting the calm light of the moon as they came in from different angles. I sighed as I had know talking would be fruitless.

"So be it." {Astaros}

The first of them to reach me, a swordsman came in low and stabbed up as a woman wielding a gilded spear thrusted at me from my flank.

Unruly children.

*CRAK!!*

Raising my hand, the spear smashed into my palm, cracking and splintering like glass as I brought down the Shattered Star on the swordsman, who instantly attempted to block.

The Shattered star crashed through his blade and slammed into his shoulder, the armor fracturing as a web of crack appeared across the whole. Golden fragments flew up into the air as it cleaved knight in two, killing him.

My grasp then enclosed the broken spear and I raised it above my head, lifting it's wielder along with it. I then swung her crashing onto an axe wielding man behind me.

*THOOOOOMMMM!!*

The resounding crash of crumpling armor crashing against each other caused my other opponents to falter for a moment. And in that single moment the Shattered Star flew through the air and stabbed into a mage who was preparing his flames, impaling him into the ground as the heavy blade ran him through.

It was eerily silent as the knights prepared to surround me again with a better formation.

They were under some form of control, likely the same charm that I had protected Fillia and Dryis from the day we met Aurora for the first time.

However, that is not my concern. They are not innocent, and I have no idea how to safely repeal the control. I will simply have to cut them down and release them from her binding grasp.

From three different directions swordsmen lunged forwards, aiming to distract me while the spearmen came in for the finishing blow.

My hand shot out and my palm struck one of the swordsmen in the skull, the shock of the blow likely killing him instantly as my fingers dug into his helm. My other fist swung like a mace, smashing into the second swordsman in the cheek and knocking off his jaw as he was sent flying.

The third man, unable to stop, was hit by the same blow on the side of the head, removing it from his shoulders as his body was sent spinning away.

"Hmph" {Astaros}

I raised the body of the man I grabbed and used it like a shield, allowing the spearman to stab through his battle brother's motionless corpse.

I then sidestepped the second strike as I grabbed the spear which sped past me, wrenching it from its wielder's wielders grip.

Shoving the carcass of the swordsman forward, his head was ripped off in my hand as the butt of the spear impaled its owner.

I then lifted the spear I was holding and jabbed it down into the man who once brandished it, stabbing through the armor which covered his collar and straight into his heart, causing him to keel over, clutching his chest as he spat up blood on my boots.

A waste of life. To work so hard only die by your own weapon, against an enemy you could not hope to face.

However my thoughts of disappointment were interrupted by flames gathering on my left.

Looking over, a crackling ball of flame gathered in front of a mage as he raised a golden staff tipped with a blue crystal high above his head.

His white robes billowed while firing at me, the dust and smoke swirling around it as it blew a hole straight through the remnants of the bombardment.

I raised my hand and pulled my fingers into a fist, swinging it into the fireball and detonating it.

*BOOOMMM!!*

The ball of fire exploded as the flames twisted around me, the ground now alight as I brushed off some wisps on my shoulder.

A tall man came rushing out of the swirling smoke, a mace raised high above his head as he tried to crush my skull.

*CRAK!!*

Stepping away I drew my arm back and threw a devastating blow into the mace and smashing through the metal and slamming it into the mans skull.

Shards of gold armor went flying as his helm was split open and his face crushed in.

The cracked mace fell to the ground as the warrior crumpled on the spot.

I then calmly walked forward, tearing the Shattered Star out of the corpse of the first mage.

I then cocked my arm back and threw it again, sending it spinning through the air as it crashed into the second mage, cutting through his half conjured flames and killing him as well.

"Now what." {Astaros}

I looked up at the floating golden sphere containing Aurora. Her cheeks were completely red and her eyes were now glowing a multitude of colors. Her hands tore at her cheeks as she smiled like a predator in heat.

At this point I can't tell if the idea of killing or loving me have become synonyms within her mind.

Aurora, then knelt within the sphere, her shokujo jangling as she began praying, illuminating several tens of warriors within the smog.

I grimaced as their number only seemed to grow

I am far too unfamiliar with this world concept of combat. The composition of units, standards of weaponry and formations of deployment. The incorporation of magic however was something I am completely unfamiliar with.

I am unprepared for this kind of combat without my more powerful abilities.

'And now it's going to cost me.' {Astaros}