Part-I
In Capital of Slane Theocracy, Kami Miyako
2 days after the Cardinals' meeting.
Kami Miyako is a fortified city. It is surrounded by to three layers of walls. There are four gates on each layer to let people in/out of the capital efficiently and also preserve its secureness at the same time. These gates are situated on each end of the capital, East gate , West gate , North gate and South gate.
First layer of wall is 50m in height and 4.50m in width. Its furthest and toughest layer among three layers of wall. It's walls are made up of cobblestone , iron with a little bit of mithril metal mix on them with a ratio of 1:10. It has 6500 guards patrolling it all the time. It also has 40 magic casters on each gate all the time to perform various activities.
Second layer of wall is 30m in height and 6m in width. This layer has a 40 km( 24.8 miles ) distance between itself and the first layer. This layer has higher magical protection than the first layer. It has 2500+ Royal guard with 120+ both Divine and Arcane magic caster patrolling on this layer and maintaining it. This layer also has many archer posts with 25 archers appointed to each of them.
Third layer of wall is 35.5m in height and 6m in width. This layer is closest to the capital. It has 10 km( 6.2 miles ) of distance between itself and the second layer. This has Highest Magical Protection among three layers. This layer of wall has 3500+ Royal guards with 450+ Divine/Arcane Magic Caters with 2nd-3rd tier spells patrolling, maintaining walls, providing security. This wall also has lowest-ranked members of various Scriptures.
Normally, there should be having normal guards instead of royal guards patrolling on second and third layer
On the northern side of Capital, Between Second and First layers of the wall.
There is a two-way road connecting the capital to the northern side of the Slane Theocracy. This road starts from the North gate of the Third layer and passes through Second then First layers to the third-largest city of Slane Theocracy, Lalage City.
This road also connects many villages and towns situated between Second and First layers to the both cities, Laoag City and Kami Miyako.
This road is 20 feet wide and made of brick and stone.
This road connects the northern part of Kami Miyako to Laoag City. It is no wonder that sometimes people would see carriages of Cardinals, Nobles, High-class merchants passing through this road. However, today is a bit different as at the northern gate of the Second layer, Stands Many high-ranked members of Various Scriptures with Captain and Vice-captain of Windflower Scripture. Common Folks, Merchants and Royal stop their work and gather to see what two popular figures are talking about.
At the front of the northern Gate of Second layer, stood 36 men/women, wearing their respective Scripture's uniform. In front of them stood two men wearing a black cloth with red vertical stripe at the front and a symbol of Windflower Scripture at the back.
These men are known as Alec Brady Nix, Captain of Windflower Scripture. and Vald Dracula Pol, Vice-captain of Windflower Scripture.
"Never have I thought.. that... I would ever get a chance to sacrifice myself for the Divine Help of the Six Great Gods… did you?..., did Vice-captain-dono think that he would ever get this chance too?". Asked a mid-muscular man-he has muscle but not much to call him 'muscular', certainly not a warrior—he appears as somewhat noble with silver-like hair and violet eyes.
"No… no, I didn't…. I couldn't have thought about something like this…" said Vice-captain. Vice-captain's face is behind an iron helmet. How could I have thought about receiving Six God's Divine Help.
"But Captain Alec, where are we going?." Asked one of the magic caster. Her face too was hidden behind a metal helmet.
Hearing her question. Everyone stopped and looked at their captain with somewhat curiosity.
Their question was only to be expected. They were only told that they had to sacrifice themselves in order for Slane Theocracy to be worthy enough to be able to get Six God's Divine Help.
Captain looked around and met with several curious, several dumbfounded and several questioning gazes.
Couple of seconds later. Captain spread his arms in a very majestic way and spoke with a Noble voice which he was.
"Where else?! Both of Humanity's enemies are in the Holy Kingdom. So where else should we go?! We will be arriving in the Holy Kingdom in 3 days!
""YEAH!"" everyone shouted.
Outside the border of Slane Theocracy on rubble road was running a very famous carriage. Everyone in Slane Theocracy knew this carriage. It was the carriage of the Cardinals. Every Cardinals have almost the same looking carriage. Inside the carriage were three people. One of them is sitting on a cushion facing the other two.
Other two men were advisers of Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, Josaf Perk Leo, Peter Perk Leo. Facing them was Cardinal Raymond Zang Lauransan himself.
After entering Re-Estize's South border. Josef asked, which he was thinking for sometime for.
"Cardinal Raymond-sama, we understand the importance of secret work but now that we have entered Re-Estize. I would like to ask something… rather I would like to know the details of this secret work. Can we?."
" 'WE'.., 'we' would like to know the details." Quickly added Peter Park Leo. Seeing that he and his brother were on the same page.
Raymond smiled, hearing the obvious question and nodded slowly before answering.
"Of course, you should know the details of the secret work and about your involvement in it. First, I appreciate your patience… I didn't think you( Peter and Josaf ) could wait this long."-he chuckles by himself before adding-"As I think you probably first want to know 'where are we going exactly?' right?" seeing both brothers nod he continued his explanation.
" Currently we are going to a vast land in the Holy Kingdom. To perform Ritual and receive divine help of Six Great Gods. However, this ritual required many magic casters and their sacrifice to complete it successfully. That's all you know right now. Correct?"
Both nod and Peter spoke in a teased voice " yes, yes , that's all you have already told us. Could you please stop stating that obvious and explain why we are going there before magic caster's and why are we-Josef and I- even going?"
Due to the importance of this Ritual . Everyone involved in this Ritual were told only that their sacrifice is necessary in order for Slane Theocracy to get the worth to receive Six God divine help-except all the Cardinals. Every Cardinal knows about the Ritual .- Cardinals have the fear of revealing this news to Sorcerer Kingdom. They feared that if Sorcerer King got to know about this Ritual he would definitely try to stop it from happening and after knowing his overwhelming magical might. They know he could stop it and they won't be able to perform It again as Slane Theocracy would not have any 4th tier divine magic caster left.
"If this is THAT important than why in the Holy Kingdom where that undead is right now? Wouldn't that be more dangerous and more stupid to do." questioned Josef.
"It would have IF not for one important thing... You see. According to the information we have. This Ritual releases a Silver Divine Ray which should be at least 40m wide..." answered Raymond in a troubled tone.
Both Brothers were amazed to think that it would create a 50m wide Divine Ray apon only activation.'if it is powerful enough to create that wide Divine Ray ... Than... T-than how powerful would the being summoned from this 'Ritual' would be...'. thought both of them in inspiration to the both being who would summon from this Ritual and Six Great Gods who have sent their help.
Then, suddenly remembering how troubled Raymond sounded. a question popped into Josef 's mind.
"A-and it's power... H-how-w much damaging would... that Ray be?... Assuming it went successful." Spoke Josef while shuddering.
"That's we don't know exactly. However, we know for sure that no plant will be able to grow on 500m Radius of the ray for years... That's why we decided to do it in the vast land of the Holy Kingdom rather than Slane Theocracy, not only because that no plant would grow on those land for years... We all know that summoned beings would return to their summon world... How soon that depends on the variety of summons... And currently we don't know for how long can the summoned Angel-which we are going to summon-be in this world. So, even if we successfully completed the Ritual. And summoned Angel return to their summon world in 1 week or maybe earlier than that. And we couldn't defeat the undead by that time... It-t..." Raymond stopped saying anything else. Not because he couldn't but rather he didn't want to continue. He feared that if he said it, it might become the truth. But he didn't have to as both of them understood it.
Slowly lowering his head. Josef continued his sentence in a very low and sad voice.
"It would mean disaster for Slane Theocracy as we would be much weakened. Plus, no one would help a weak Slane Theocracy to fight against that undead..."
Silence fell inside of the carriage as he finished his sentence. No one could endure this silence or want to speak in this unbearable pressure.
Finally several seconds, bracing himself Peter spoke to change the topic and also to break this unbearable silence.
Raymond and Josef both nod to approve Peter's statement.
However, to Peter there was still something which felt... wrong or it felt like something is missing... But no matter how many times he thinks... He couldn't ease that uneasiness feeling... Then...
Carriage stops at the gate of a high-end luxury inn to spend the night. It is evening already and they plan to sleep in the inn tonight and move to Holy Kingdom tomorrow morning.
It wasn't that there were monsters attacking at night so it's not safe to travel overnight. No, it was not that they were afraid of monsters. It was because they knew that they most probably wouldn't get the chance to rest for next few days.
Josef was still trying to ease that uneasiness feeling but he hasn't got any luck yet. Then, it clicked in his mind as to what might be the source of his uneasiness.
'it's not that we would have any problem in providing vast land for the 'ritual' in the Slane Theocracy and about summon... We could have just provided it close to Re-estize and would have immediately asked that angel to attack the undead king... Hmmm... Surely, Cardinals are more smart than two commoner brothers... Then, why? ... Why in the Holy Kingdom?... Wouldn't angels be offended to be summoned next to Humanity's enemies rather than summoned on land saved by Six Great God?... Surely, Angel would... and Cardinals still choose to summon the Angel in the Holy Kingdom even after considering this?... Ughhhh... Perhaps I am looking at it the wrong way? What could a field of 500m radius with no vegetation and with no one to live cause to let Cardinals not choose it in Slane Theocracy but rather at Holy Kingdom?... And...uhhh Yes, yes... Hmm.. and why would cardinal Raymond-sama go there alone? And before magic casters?... Uhh... Hmmmm...uhhh-'
His thoughts were interrupted by the knock on the carriage door.
*Knock, *knock
"Raymond-sama, I have returned. Can I enter?" Asked Peter after returning from the inn.
"Yes" Raymond replied in a casual tone.
Peter opened the door and sat beside his brother, Josef-who seemed troubled and in deep thought-facing Cardinal, Raymond Zarg Lauransan.
"Josef~"
Peter addresses his little brother in a jokey tone. He was trying to relax his little brother. He believes in 'if you're troubled by thinking hard for a solution of a troubling problem... Just don't worry about it' .
Josef, understanding his brother's attempt to distract him from his troubling thought, joined him in his joke.
" Huh? I didn't know there was still a commoner among us" Josef snorted in a sarcastic way.
Peter said nothing but looked at Raymond. Following his gaze Josef too now starts staring at Raymond.
Raymond looked right and left, again and again in a sense as he was looking for someone but in a jokey way. Then, he looked at Josef with a shocked expression and spoke in a very shocked tone with a hint of sarcasm.
"Commoner?! Where is commoner? Is there supposed to be a commoner here? I can only see two newly formed members of Leo house."
""Hahahahahahaha""
All of three of them burst out of laughter.
After three days.
In the Holy Kingdom, in the vast land outside of eastern gate of Royal Capital, inside a tent which was nearly 550m far from the eastern gate.
38 magic casters step out of 8 caravana and immediately kneel before three standing figures.
Standing figure was Cardinals of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan. Besides him were his advisers.
Captain of Windflower Scripture, Alec Brady Nix-was knelt ahead of 36 magic casters besides him knelt figure was Vice-Captain of Windflower Scripture, Vald Dracula Pol.
Captain of Windflower Scripture Alec Bald Nix spoke hesitantly and shuddering a bit as to him being in the presence of one of the Cardinals was rare and rewarding in itself. While being in presence of Cardinals is rewarding, it also contains a huge constant pressure with it.
"Uhh, Greetings, Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan-sama. I, uum, w-we were, uhh are, we are just surprised to see Your Excellency here. We weren't informed of Your Excellency being here perhaps we have been rude. I, we , b-beg your forgiveness."
"No, there is no need for you all to be apologizing. After all, you weren't informed of me being here for the secrecy of this mission, were you?" Reassure Raymond in a majestic voice yet somewhat casual sounding voice.
"So, I don't see any reason for you to apologise for the crime you didn't actually do." Raymond next added " if I am correct, then, you must be Captain of Windflower Scripture. Right?"
'Uwahh.. how stupid of me. Ah!. I spoke Raymond-sama's name instead of mine. Ahh!' thought Alec as he realised he messed up his greetings. Luckily Raymond was in front of him because Raymond was used to people getting their greetings wrong. However, if it was any other Cardinal here. They probably would think if you can't even greet properly. Then you are unworthy of being in such a position.
"Yes, Your Excellency is indeed right. I am Captain of Windflower Scripture, Alec Brady Nix. And-" indicating to the figure kneeling on his right side with his hand "- Vice-captain of Windflower Scripture, Vald Dracula Pol."
Raymond and his advisers nodded in response to acknowledge them.
Peter steps forward, attracting everybody's attention. This was very unusual for anybody to do. No one would step-in the middle of a conversation with his senior. Even Raymond turns to see what he is doing.
" Everybody, we are a bit short on time and we aren't ready for Ritual yet either. So, I would like for everyone to save greetings for later while we prepare for the summoning."
"We are going to prepare for the Ritual till tomorrow night. The day after tomorrow we will be summoning Angel."
Peter pointed toward tents some distance away on his right. said " Those tents are where we will be staying for these 2 days. And here-" now pointing to more right and toward a wide space between tents."-This is where we will be summoning Angel. This 63m wide area between tents and here on the day after tomorrow we will be summoning Angel. Am I understood?"
Though his tone was firm and gentle, it still felt strict no matter how you look at it.
""Yes, We understood"" replied everyone in unison.
Day of Summoning.
"Raymond-sama, we are prepared to summon angels. Shall we summon it now?" Asked Alec. Alec was responsible for preparation for the summoning of Angel. He also learnt that Cardinal Of Earth being here is more important than giving it a thought.
He thought that Raymond, Cardinal of Earth and Commander of All Scriptures, is here to only supervise the Ritual as it held high priority and also to boost the morale of magic caster who are going to sacrifice their lives for Slane Theocracy. However, he learnt that Raymond was here for the summoned Angel-assuming everything went well and their success in Summoning Angel-and not for magic casters who are about to sacrifice their lives for their country.
He overheard a conversation between Raymond and his advisers. He didn't tell anyone about it as it may can very well put him in a very bad spot. A spot of deap hate and loathe.
In the discussion of Cardinals, Cardinals decided that they would need a person to show hospitality to the summoned Angel-assuming everything went well and they were successful in summoning Angel-and ask Angel to attack undead. They went back and forth a bit onto who should go for this job?... Every Cardinal wants to go for the opportunity to be the first one to see divine help of Six Great God ( summoned Angel ). However, if something goes wrong and every Cardinals dies. Then, it would mean chaos for Slane Theocracy as it would be without any leader. So, they decided on only one cardinal to do this job but who would be worthy enough to go meet Divine Angel of Six Great God alone?.. In the end they all agreed on Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, as he is currently a member of Pontifex Maximus. So, he should be worthy enough to do this job. Yes, if something goes wrong and he dies, it would still won't mean good for Slane Theocracy but it would be better than losing all Cardinals.
"Yes, we should start it right row." Ordered Raymond in an imposing voice.
There were 2 rings of magic casters and in the center of the rings was a single magic caster standing. Every magic caster was mumbling something which was supposed to be some magic words to activate the Ritual .
In the inner ring were 7 magic caster all facing one magic caster who was in the center of them. This circle of magic caster contains Arcane Magic Caters capable of 4th tier magic and specialised in Holy Elemental.
Outer ring contains other 30 magic caster of Divine class. All facing one magic caster standing in the middle of the ring. These magic caster were capable of 3rd tier divine magic.
After 30 minutes. Every magic caster was covered in some kind of silver-ish coloured light. These silver have formed some kind of pattern before joining at the center of the rings. This means that the Ritual to summon level 80 angel was about to finish.
In Yggdrasil, there was a town called Angel's Ground. This was a raiding ground for parties above level 70. It has many mid-level angels protecting it and in the middle of the town was a level 80 Angel called Cherubim Gatekeeper as it's Boss Guardian. After defeating Boss, Player's would get a lore book explaining how town folks summon this angel alongside many other rewards such as Data Crystals, [ Blood Of Angel ] and more.
After another 30 minutes.
Everyone covered in silver-ish light suddenly disappeared and in place of them was standing a man or rather monster. This man has white hair with a golden-color strip starting from forehead and going straight all the way to the back of his neck. This man has a broad body with golden and silver clothes covering it. With four pure white wings on his back keeping his level 100 body hover in the air. This Angel has a face of a lion but with white metallic skin rather than normal lion's brown skin. This was the Angel who got summoned just now.
And just like that, an Angel got summoned with no Ray appearing, no Light hovering, with no damage. Just like that a lvl 100 Angel got summoned in this world instead of lvl 80 Cherubim Gatekeeper.
Raymond saw this all unfolding in front of his very own eyes. He saw a Divine light covering every magic caster's body. He saw the sudden disappearance of everyone present in Divine light with the disappearance of Divine light alongside them. He saw a being-' Divine Angel ' -appearing in place of where magic caster covered in Divine light were.
He fell onto his knee immediately as his eyes made contact with Divine Angel in front of him like a puppet whose string has been cut. And tears of joy falling off his eyes. And in that moment his aspirations for Six Great Gods went above by a notch.
He wasn't alone who fell onto his kneel. His both advisers were no different from him. They also saw the same scene unfolding in front of them. Their eyes also cry tears of extreme joy.
Then, this happened, they Divine Help, The Divine Angel spoke.
"Who are you three?" The Divine Angel spoke in a very serious voice yet it made them extremely happy for some reasons.
Several seconds passed before anyone said anything. Raymond realise that question was directed at them, immediately lower his face to the point that his face literally touches the ground.
"I, I a-am Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, of Slane Theocracy... And , and these two are my adviser, Peter Perk Leo and Josef Perk Leo." Answered Raymond.
"Slane Theocracy? Uhh umm.. there was nothing named like that in Asgard." mumbled the Divine Angel. While Divine Angel mumbled it in low voice. It still reached their ears in this pin-drop silence and made them confused.
'Slane Theocracy is a nation of Six Great Gods. And Divine Angel is Also sent by Six Great Gods. Surely there is no way that Divine Angel wouldn't know about a nation saved by Six Great Gods... But then, what was that?... And Asgard?.. What is Asgard?.. Maybe Divine Angel forgot about Slane Theocracy... Hmm this must be it.. Divine Angel and Six Great Gods must have talked several times... Surely, Divine Angels have forgotten about a lowly nation of humans.
"where am i?" asked Divine Angel in a very polite tone.
"uhh… we are outside the capital of Holy Kingdom '' replied Raymond carefully and cautious as to not anger the being in front of him.
Divine Angel put a finger on top of his chin- just lower his mouth- as in a deep thinking.
a couple of seconds later Divine Angel spoke.
"ohh, i didn't introduce myself. how rude of me. I am Azrael, Guardian of Asgard."
This introduction leaves three of them confused. they don't know what to say now. Their introduction was already done. And now, they were afraid to say something as it could have offended the Divine Angel. If they say something like 'what a fascinating name' or something along side this line or something flattery and if Divine Angel got offended and says 'i don't like flattery' or 'i didn't ask you'.
Fortunately for them, Divine Angel continued and they didn't have to say anything.
"Could you please explain, why am i here and how am i here?"
"We summoned your exalt self using a ritual that was left behind by Six Great Gods. As to why we summoned your exalt self… I am ashamed to say but Humanity needs your Divine Help to defeat the evil which has arrived in this world." answered Josef in a sweet and a tone which contained confidence. Even, Josef himself was surprised by his own tone.
Divine Angel nodded in a satisfying way. and asked while keeping his hand on chin.
"summoned….? is Lord Jagrath here?"
Just as Divine Angel said that. a ray appeared just behind those three and in sight of Divine Angel.
......
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