RotDG Chapter 77: Interlude - Aria VI

The Grand Temple of Light. It was a different building from the Basilica of Lux. While the latter was a public cathedral where worshipers from all around the world could gather and pray to the Goddess of Life, the former was the official residence for Archbishop Walden, the Most Venerable Mother, and the Seven Cardinals of the Virtues.

Most of the archdeacons and bishops who resided here in Lux would also carry out their administrative duties while living within the Grand Temple of Light. However, their residence there was not a requirement, and they could live elsewhere if they wanted.

As the Lady of Light and [Hero] ordained by the Goddess of Life, Aria had hoped she would also find herself living within the lavish walls of this ancient gilded building when she was first found by Archbishop Walden. But, unfortunately for her, her early years of life were spent living in the dirty barracks of the Inquisitors, forced to study and train with them every single day, so that when the time came, she could become powerful enough to slay the Death God. 

That time had long since passed for her, and now, she spent her days living in luxury in the Grand Temple of Light. It should have been the perfect life for her— she fulfilled her destiny, and now she got to reap the rewards of her hard work.

But, unfortunately, life wasn’t always so kind. And as she strode through the ornate halls of the Grand Temple of Light, her mind was plagued by the dark thoughts of the revelations that had been made to her over the last few months…

The Birthpools of Death and their origins.

The Master of Fate and his puppets.

The true fate of Nox the Death God and his survival.

But most of all—. 

As she turned a corner, her thoughts were interrupted by a pair of [Priests] who were locked in a quiet discussion.

“...but do you really think he could be—”

“Hush, this isn’t something we should even be talking—”

They immediately froze when they saw Aria. She just nodded at them, greeting them curtly.

“Greetings, gentlemen.”

“Greetings, Lady of Light,” the first [Priest] said as he bowed stiffly. “We were just discussing matters regarding the Holy Academy.”

The second [Priest] shifted back hesitantly and nodded in agreement. “We heard rumors about a young prodigious talent in this year’s batch of Initiates— a [Healer] who goes by the name of Eli. We were merely curious about his future prospects in the Church of Life.”

Aria didn’t know exactly why the two [Priests] were telling her this, nor why they looked to be so nervous, but while she would have ordinarily been quite interested in hearing more about this [Healer]— in fact, in the past, she would have probably been open to the idea of meeting him and inspiring him, since he was one of the future generation…

Right now, she had too much on her mind to put more than a moment’s thought to this juvenile matter.

“I wish this young Eli well,” she said as she nodded at the two [Priests]. “Perhaps one day he can also walk the halls of the greats who have come before him.”

And with that, Aria took her leave, not lingering for long to converse with either of the two [Priests]. They just exchanged a glance as she left— she didn’t even notice when they sighed in unison as soon as she turned another corner.

Because her mind was far too preoccupied by other matters of importance. 

Even though it was already a few weeks back, Aria was still internally laboring over the implication of everything she had learned on that fateful day— during her brief encounter with Hyperius. 

He had been a strange-looking man— ancient in age, with skin tinted in a shade of purple that she had never seen on any person before. He called himself the Master of Fate, and he had created puppets— each one as powerful as at least any Ruby Rank threat— to lure her into a cave full of Avatars of Death.

It had been a ploy to trap her. To distract her with the Avatars of Death that were so powerful, they could have endlessly rampaged across the Sanctus Empire without ever being stopped, unless she had intervened. 

And then he used a God Skill against her.

She hadn’t stuck around to see what the impact of Hyperius’s God Skill would have done, instead calling for help from Archbishop Walden to save her. And yet, even though she had returned safely, she had yet to regale any of her experience to anyone.

She had yet to take any action with the information she had learned. 

Because she wasn’t sure if she could trust anyone. Not when what she learned related to the very man who had raised her and ruled over the Church.

It was not just the Birthpools of Death and their origins. It was not just the Master of Fate and his puppets. It was not just the true fate of Nox the Death God and his survival.

It was the secrets of the Church of Life and Archbishop Walden that kept Aria from speaking out.

Because, for whatever reason, Hyperius and Walden knew each other. And yet, Walden never once uttered a word about Hyperius to Aria. Even though Hyperius was the Master of Fate— even though he wanted Aria dead. Walden remained silent about Hyperius’s existence all this while.

The question was simple: why? 

Why was it kept a secret?

Was Aria the only one who wasn’t in the know? Was everyone else in the Church of Life aware of Hyperius’s existence? Were they aware that he was the one who was responsible for pulling the strings of fate?

Were they aware that for the cycle of destiny to be fulfilled, Aria had to die?

Aria didn’t know what anyone else in the Church of Life knew. All she knew was that she couldn’t trust any of them. All she knew was that there was only one person who she could truly trust.

And it was someone she had thought was long dead.

Someone she had believed to have killed herself.

Someone she had thought was the embodiment of evil.

Nox the Death God.

But… where could she even find him? Aria didn’t know. For now, though— she was going to stay put here in Lux as she dug into the history of the Church of Life…

***

“I apologize for the trouble, Jaxon,” Aria said as she bowed her head apologetically at the man standing in front of her.

Well, when you looked at the height difference between the both of them alone, you would be hard pressed to believe that he was a man— you would think he was a boy. But when you saw his stout stature, and the bushy ginger beard sprouting from his face, you’d realize that he was just a dwarf.

Still, it was a rare sight to see here in Lux. The dwarven population in the city state was extremely small— which was to be expected, since these were human lands, far away from the dwarven countries.

So most of them would have experienced some kind of discrimination, leading them to be rather abrasive and irritable. But Jaxon was unlike those dwarfs in that he wore a cheery and jovial demeanor, which was a stark contrast to the dark and dank basement they were in.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Ms [Hero],” Jaxon said as he waved a hand dismissively, before grabbing a torch from the side wall. “Not very many people come down here that often, it’s honestly refreshing to see an outside face for the first time in weeks.”

“R-right…” Aria pursed her lips, feeling bad for the dwarf.

It was true that this place was rarely visited by… well, anyone in general. But that was because those who actually had unrestricted access to enter this place were far and few in-between. Archbishop Walden, the Most Venerable Mother, and Aria herself were some of those who could enter without any prior approval.

In fact, Aria was certain that only the likes of Zander Clay and the Seven Cardinals of the Virtues were not allowed down here without special permission granted to them. 

So that was why Jaxon would scarcely get any visitors to this place. That was why he spent most of his time around here in the darkness.

But he didn’t seem to mind as he just hummed all the while he led her through a narrow tunnel that was dripping with water from the ceiling. 

“See, sometimes I get jealous of my brother— you should know him, he’s the [Librarian] of the Grand Library of the College of Luminosity— but when I think about having to deal with all those students every single day, I realize I have it quite easy down here.”

Jaxon just guffawed, and his laughter echoed down the empty tunnel. Aria gave a nervous chuckle in response, uncertain how she was even supposed to react.

The two of them continued until they reached the end of the tunnel. There was a large metallic double door there, its surface rusted, but the magic that was protecting it was as powerful as ever. Jaxon stepped forward and placed a hand on the doorway as he exhaled softly.

An intricate spell circle formed on the surface of the double doors, before spinning and shifting. The runes and sigils that shone within the spell began to disassemble as the magic briefly faded away. Finally, the spell circle vanished, and Jaxon heaved the double doors open.

“Welcome to the Holy Archives,” he said as he turned and grinned back towards Aria.

The Lady of Light just smiled gratefully at the dwarf as she stepped past him. “I really appreciate this, Jaxon. And please— keep my visit a secret from anyone who asks.”

Perhaps it was because he was a dwarf, but Aria felt like she could trust him— that he would at least keep this visitation of hers to the Holy Archives discreet. He gave her a thumbs-up as he drew back down the tunnel.

“Aye— and if you need anything from me, just be sure to ask!”

And with that, Aria was left alone in the Holy Archives.

It was not the most luxurious room she had ever been in— in fact, it looked more like an ancient wine cellar, rather than a library that stored the historical records of the Church of Life. Even still, there were piles and piles of books stored here. Some of them were kept on dusty shelves, while others were simply stacked up against the dull gray walls.

Despite the wizened state of the Holy Archives, there was not a single living creature other than Aria inside of the room. No rats, no roaches, no spiders— nothing. Not even ants.

It was a room that was completely devoid of life, completely sealed in by the spell that protected it.

Nodding to herself, Aria began to get to work. “Alright, if I remember correctly, the further back you go, the older the documents are…”

The Lady of Light wanted to go back to the inception of the Church of Life— when Lux the First [Hero] slew the Death God to save the Goddess. So Aria made her way all the way to the back of the Holy Archives in search of anything that could help her make a more informed decision.

It was a relatively long walk. Well, at least, to make it to the other side of such a narrow room. But eventually, she reached the end of the Holy Archives, and she sifted through the aged leather bound books that were shelved there.

“The Principles Of Light Magic, Dark Versus Light, The Death Of Times… no, don’t need any of those,” she muttered to herself as she shook her head. But then she paused when she pulled out a book she had never heard of before. “The Chronicles of Solarin? This could be useful…”

The words etched onto the surface of the book were almost faded— barely decipherable. But she thought she would have found something useful inside of it anyway, so she unlatched its cover and flipped through its page…

Only to pause at what she saw.

“...what?” Aria blinked a few times.

But her eyes weren’t deceiving her. The book was empty. No— it wasn’t that the ink had faded from the parchment, leaving behind a blank page. It was that the pages of the book themselves had been ripped out. 

“I don’t get this, why…? Who—” 

And she paused as she thought of the only other person who would have had such freedom of access to the Holy Archives. The only person who had something to hide by ripping the pages of these books.

Aria gritted her teeth as she closed her eyes. “Walden… just what exactly are you trying to hide?”

The [Hero] didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to rest until she figured out exactly what it was.

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