CH674 Sacrifice II

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[A.N: Please check the image comment to this. Important announcement]

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"Was it worth it? To be sacrificed—enduring that kind of pain—for the heir of a noble house?" Eleanore asked quietly.

"It was... it is," the BattleBane Guild Master replied. His eyes revealed the faint smile hidden behind his armour. "There are moments in life when you realise you have encountered someone truly extraordinary—someone who could... and would change the world.

"In my life, whether long or short, I have met only two such people. The first was the heir."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Besides, it was a sacrifice that prevented a war—one that would have claimed countless lives. And for what? The wounded pride and petty vengeance of a spoilt child?"

He gave a quiet, humourless laugh.

"Contrary to what you may assume, that burden was not forced upon me. I chose to bear it," he revealed.

"Having one’s divine energy burned away is essentially a death sentence. However, because I was an inheritor of the Twilight Adjudicators, I knew that the hidden divinity within me would preserve my life.

"What I did not anticipate was that—"

"Your condition would worsen the curse of the Twilight Adjudicators," Alex cut in. "The hidden divinity saved you from death, but because of the curse attached to it, it left behind a far more severe sequela."

"Indeed," the BattleBane Guild Master nodded.

Alex studied the man intently for a moment before speaking again.

"I have noticed that you have been deliberately avoiding the names of the deities involved. Why?" he asked.

"Hm? Don’t you know?" the BattleBane Guild Master replied, genuine confusion in his tone. "Speaking the true name of a deity can draw Their attention towards you. For someone like me, would that not be little more than suicide?"

Realisation finally dawned on Alex.

He turned towards Eleanore.

"If you would, please..." he said.

Eleanore gave a quiet nod.

She cast a spell.

A faint barrier immediately formed around the room like a transparent shield, sealing the space in subtle silence.

"With this in place, you may speak the names of the deities involved without concern," Alex said.

The BattleBane members looked first at the barrier, then at Eleanore, their gazes carrying more than a little scepticism.

The BattleBane Guild Master considered it for a moment before finally speaking.

"Unlike the other new-generation deities, the new deity did not directly absorb the godhood of the two old gods slain for Them. They were cautious. Rather than merge those two godheads into Their own, They first fused them together to create an entirely new godhead. Even then, They still did not merge that new godhood with Their original one."

"So, the new deity possesses two godheads?" Alex mused aloud.

"Yes," the BattleBane Guild Master confirmed.

Alex fell into thought. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’This new deity is clever. They must have been wary of faith contamination from directly absorbing those godheads. A godhead is the purest form of a deity’s divinity—it is the central terminal of their entire faith network, the anchor through which belief flows. To absorb such a thing directly would mean opening oneself to the idealised image held by the believers of those two deities.

’Since they went through such lengths to weaken those two old gods first, it is safe to assume they was weaker than the old deities were individually. That means the risk of being overwhelmed—of having their own identity swallowed by the accumulated divinity and faith—would have been far too great if they had acted rashly.

’So instead, they fused the two godheads together first, creating an entirely new godhood—a new terminal that no longer connected directly to the established faith networks of those two deities, yet could still access and inherit their divine authority.

’And by refusing to merge that new godhood into their original one, they created a safeguard. If the new godhead were ever compromised by the idealised beliefs of the old deities’ followers—if it ever threatened to overwrite their own nature—they could simply sever it and cast it out from his divine kingdom.

’However, this safety comes with its own flaw. Possessing two separate godheads only grants a quantitative increase in power. Had they fully fused them, the improvement would have been qualitative instead.’

Alex gave a faint inward nod.

’Still, survival comes first. As long as one lives, ambition can wait. Once life is gone, even the grandest dream dies with it.’

He shook his head lightly as he reached the end of his thoughts.

In truth, he already had a growing suspicion of who this so-called new deity might be. However, it was obvious that the BattleBane members were far too cautious to directly speak the name of a living Navi, even with assurances of safety.

’Well... if they refuse to name one who still lives, what about one who is already dead?’ he wondered.

"What were the names—or titles—of the two deities killed by the new deity?" Alex asked.

The BattleBane Guild Master gave a slow nod, a trace of admiration in his gaze as he understood Alex’s intention.

"The Flame Deity... and the Deity of Peace," he answered.

’Flame and Peace, huh...’ Alex muttered inwardly. His eyes gleamed.

’And what do you get when you combine the godhead of Flame with the godhead of Peace...?’

"I see," Alex said with a faint smile. "So the new deity is Juror—the Deity of Light and Justice. Light was his original godhead, while the Justice godhead was created by combining the godheads of Flame and Peace."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I understand now... that is why those betrayed paladins and priests took up the mantle of Twilight Adjudicators.

"Those betrayed by Juror likely made up the majority of the group. You said they originally received divine power from Juror, and then absorbed additional fragments of divinity from the two deities they helped kill.

’Twilight’ would come from Juror’s fallen Light divinity, while ’Adjudicator’ likely refers to the Justice divinity born from the fusion of Flame and Peace."

"You are correct, young Master Alex," the BattleBane Guild Master said, genuine respect present in his voice.

Each time Alex spoke Juror’s name so casually and directly, Dalton and Lady Rosa felt their hearts leap into their throats. Even the BattleBane Guild Master found it unsettling, though he concealed it far better than the other two.

Still, he could not help but admire Alex’s boldness—as well as the frightening sharpness of his deductions.

"There you have it. You now know everything about me and the BattleBane Mercenary Guild. Do you still believe you can cure us?" he asked.

"One final question," Alex said. Then, noticing the visible displeasure on Dalton and Lady Rosa’s faces, he quickly added, "Where did the Cyrindale heir study?"

"Ostmont City," the BattleBane Guild Master replied.

"That really was the case," Alex nodded, entirely unsurprised as several lingering pieces finally fell into place. "Then, in that case, the Archbishop who stirred this entire matter belongs to Juror’s Temple."

Although the BattleBane Guild Master’s expression remained hidden behind his helmet and his eyes stayed steady, Lady Rosa was not nearly as controlled.

For the briefest moment, surprise flashed across her face before she tried to suppress it—more than enough to confirm Alex’s deduction.

"It seems you are destined to stand against Juror. After obtaining your cure, what do you intend to do? Will you go after that Archbishop?" Alex asked.

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned colder.

"After all the suffering I have endured over these years, if I am truly cured, then it is only fitting that I dedicate the rest of my life to ensuring that he burns upon the stake!" the BattleBane Guild Master said, his voice filled with intense and unmistakable malice.

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