MANDATES OF DIVINITY

Episode 18

Episode Eighteen

Learn my little ones

Your adversary is great

Your time is little and

Rest is an illusion

-Ardeus

The curse and the gift

“Luck?” Sera glanced at them with disdain. “They will die here and now!” Her eyes were blood shot, a terrifying aura exuded from her body. It was a like a strange presence descended on her, her countenance was altered, the entire atmosphere around her was like graves. “Appear, finger of the goddess.” She raised her palm and a scythe appeared in her hand. The blade was blood red and the reflection of the sun on its surface was dull.

“Hehe…” Bathan chuckled with a gloating expression. “Senior Sera is annoyed now, you are dead!” He laughed as two gauntlets appeared on his hands. They were blood red and the atmosphere around Bathan also changed.

“Hmmm…” While everyone took poses and unveiled weapons, Hurd used the soul scan to scout out the level of their opponents. The first shock he received was the battle power of the four, he knew they were ranked as High Priests and so already predicted their level would be so-so, but his estimations were flawed. The council members would definitely have a hard time taking on the four one by one, even then he wasn’t totally certain of what the outcome would be. The four kids before him were just like Bathan and Yoku, they were even around the same age and he could sense an unfathomable energy lying dormant within them.

His second shock however, was the battle power of Edgar; it was basically lower than that of anyone present. In fact, the presence of utilizable energy around the armor was creeping near nothing. He knew most knights had no powers or magic of sorts, but he had never felt a level this low. Edgar was the least threatening according to his soul scan.

“Hehe, today must be my lucky day.” He simply licked his lips extremely careful not to say that which he thought. “The leader is mine, Yoku handle the little girl. Sera, finish them up quickly and help the others.” He gave his orders to the four behind him. They moved instantly, turning to blurs.

The four black blurs instantaneously appeared near the four behind Edgar and with an equally terrifying speed, they escaped the range of the incoming invaders who pursued keenly.

“Die!” Sera fought Athion, she slashed out her scythe and it was accompanied by a sinister screech. Athion held on to his ears, trying desperately to block out the sound that ravaged within his mind. The blade however didn’t stop and it slashed towards his neck. Athion stood his ground, maintaining his posture and a shield appeared blocking the scythe. The clashing produced a screech, sparks flew around like the shield was metal.

“Be gone!” Athion threw out a palm with audacity and a powerful gust of wind blasted Sera backwards. At first, she was like a shaft thrown in all directions, but she plunged her scythe fast into the ground, holding till the breeze passed.

“Reaping finger.” From where she stood, Sera slashed out towards Athion and a blood-like s***h shot towards Athion. The crescent travelled with screeches, it was like a ghost of devastating speed.

Another barrier of light appeared before Athion to block the s***h and when the two collided, the barrier shattered. The attack diminished but an unseen force threw Athion backwards. He steadied himself on one palm and twisted midair to regain balance.

On the sides, Tom was stabbing furiously at Watt. The two daggers were also blood red and they dripped with a liquid. Aiming accurately for his vitals, Tom was like an assassin without a presence. He easily disappeared from Watt’s sight like a mirage and appeared in unexpected places. Watt had always cut it close each time Tom vanished from his sight.

“Over here.” Tom’s voice came from behind Watt, this was when Watt could tell Tom was no longer standing before him. The voice was so shocking, it felt like Tom was in two places at once. A shield of light appeared behind Watt to block the stab, but the stab never came. Tom had suddenly appeared before him once more, the dagger just inches away from his heart.

Watt engaged his sharp reflexes, pushing Tom’s wrist just in time and the dagger merely ripped his robe.

“I see that shield of yours doesn’t appear in two places at once…” Tom chuckled, up till now he had dominated the entire exchange. He had been kicking Watt around like a ball. “Well, that is sad. Cause I can!” His smile was sinister.

Watt doubted the words he heard, sure Tom was extremely quick and was as swift as the wind, but the concept of him being in two places at once would be deadlier.

“Shuaaa.” Tom struck his own arm, cutting his flesh from shoulder to elbow. Blood rushed out from the arm and it ran into the sand. The wound quickly began to seal and soon it was like the injury never appeared .While the arm healed, the sand mixed with the blood began to morph. Like a slime with life, it churned and in no time took the form of Tom’s figure.

Right before Watt’s shocked gaze, the slime transformed to Tom. The same attire, with two daggers, the presence was more than a clone, it was a person.

“Birth of blood and sand…” The new Tom chuckled, the two were more than identical. “This isn’t a cloning method like the crude arts of the church, this is a full birth.” Tom laughed and took a fighting stance.

“It doesn’t matter which one lives or die, I am me.” The other Tom chuckled, this was he signature move.

Tom wasn’t born on the bizarre day of visitation, their cult that was near dead was suddenly revived on a particular day. Connections and powers that had seized found expression once again, Hella reached out to her people once more, a day of legendary events. Every child born in the cult that day were given birth to with monstrous abilities, Bathan and Yoku were such prodigies, he wasn’t. On that day however, something happened to him, a toddler, he came in contact with an emissary of Hella and he was bestowed with power. The secret skill ‘birth of blood and sand’ was granted to him and he became the third being in the entire history of the cult to use the technique.

“Your opponent is me.” Bernard was shocked by what Tom did; he basically forgot his current exchange with Bathan. Bathan’s voice startled him back to action.

“You are troublesome.” Bernard took a deep breath, so far his exchange with Bathan had been one of brawn. The two threw punches and deflected one another’s punches, the fight stood at a stalemate and Bernard was ready to break the tie.

Bernard roared and a golden spear appeared in his hand, it materialized out of thin air and radiated with brilliance. Bathan quickly drew away; he felt an overwhelming force from the spear. He couldn’t tell what but something about the spear was strange, like a passive effect he could only sense faintly.

“I see you can sense it, still it makes no difference.” Bernard stomped the spear on the ground and the immediate ground around him lit up, it did so with a radiant gold light. “This is a weapon wielded by the beings above, it can’t be avoided and it can’t be blocked. Once it hits, it purges the substance of impurity. In your case, it will purge your very being.” Bernard stood tall with pride, a thin bead of sweat already formed on Bathan’s forehead.

“Shuaaa.” Bernard plunged the spear forward, it glittered in the evening sun. An overwhelming power engulfed the spear, Bathan felt like an insect before an elephant. His limbs frozen in place, he could barely move. In fact, he couldn’t.

“Move!!!” The shout came from Yoku who was behind him, her shrilly voice transcended the physical. It stirred the very core of his soul and he received energy from a source he couldn’t phantom.

He stretch forth his palm just in time, the gauntlet vibrated and once again a ring of light appeared before him, the spear plunged straight into the ring of light, nothing came out from the other side. Simultaneously, a similar ring of light appeared behind Edgar and the extension of the spear plunged out from the ring, the blade of the spear stabbed right into Edgar’s armor.

“No!!!” Bernard quickly withdrew his spear, terrified of the damage he might have inflicted, but he was perplexed. Not even a scratch appeared on Edgar’s armor, it was like nothing happened. The latter didn’t even turn around. Bernard screamed in his mind, it was like he had seen a monster. Not a scratch!

“Those are similar to Athion’s rings of time.” Betty caught a glimpse of Bathan’s counter and her expression turned solemn. This cult didn’t just have perfectly refined arts and techniques, they also had skills that functioned like the key techniques of the church.

“Phantom gate.” Yoku yelled and raised her two palms, the clouds above the area thundered. The evening even hastened and a powerful aura descended upon Yoku. A huge gate appeared behind her, the interior was dark, so dark it was like the darkness could materialize. Humanoid creatures began to ooze out of the gate. Ooze! They were like tattered cloaks clothing bones, they floated just above the ground. Betty couldn’t tell if they emitted smoke or if they were indeed made of smoke. They oozed out one after the other, their numbers increasing exponentially.

“The gate must have linked this plane with another.” Betty fully understood the phenomenon before her. The creatures were not material and she wasn’t willing to find out what would happen if they came in contact with her. She knew just one thing for sure… “Darkness is darkness!”

A halo appeared behind Betty’s head, with the sun hidden behind the clouds the halo shone incredibly. Her face also shone, light engulfed her and her blue robes gradually lost its color.

“Appear Patron of the saint.” Her voice rose and pierced the atmosphere, drenching the growls of Yoku’s phantom in its pitch. “Let them tremble!” She yelled and the ground shook. It was quickly followed by the ringing of bells that emanated from thin air.

Three balls of light dropped from the sky, it revealed the figures of three men. One wore a blue robe and had huge golden rings on his wrists and ankles. He had no wings but still levitated, this was Matith. The other two were dressed in white robes, they both had swords drawn, levitating behind Matith. They were Areal and Kino.

“Matith…” Betty’s voice was full of confidence and authority. “Close that gate!” She pointed to the towering gate behind Yoku with fury.