While the transport was proceeding smoothly, it couldn't be said it was quiet.
Bickering between some members made their entire band look unprofessional in his opinion even if he couldn't make out exactly what was the topic of their conversation, and yet he could not deny them the relaxation time, even when an unknown observer sat right next to him.
Other than the unprofessional behavior and unease he felt due to the presence of an observer, the transportation mission was excellent.
He made various precautions to prevent the blessed child from tracking them and at the same time making sure to not use magical means of hiding their tracks, he was sure they would be able to deliver the captive to the end destination and get paid.
But most blessed children could easily track the residual mana, it would be too risky to use his perfected shadow spells.
It would take them 2 more hours to get out of Ebon Forest and reach the first checkpoint, observer assured him that they didn't have to worry about the passage as he would take care of it.
'He isn't even trying to hide his influence anymore' G. Fang thought to himself as he kept his eyes on the road.
While it was rare Ebon Forest could cause occasional monsters to materialize, but most of them would be weak enough that even the weakest thorns could dispatch them easily.
But that was no excuse to drop their guard, after all their job almost turned into a complete disaster due to the unknown, He would not allow it to happen again.
His band might have suffered massive losses, but the job still proceeded smoothly, he hoped to retire after this job which meant he would need to name his successor.
After all, he himself was getting pretty old for a human, he was approaching his late 50s already, He had 2 more years at maximum to find and teach a successor before his strength started leaving him.
He urged the horses to go as fast as they could while grabbing a handful of wind stones and crushing them in his hand to further increase the speed of the horses.
The wind stone particles rushed forward as they enveloped the entire band around them increasing their speed.
He did not like using the wind stones as they were pretty rare, but if it made the job quicker, it was worth it.
Their effect when used like this would last for mere minutes, but he has enough stock to get their transportation job completed, and their additional effect prevented their carriage from leaving tracks in the dirt.
He turned his head to observe as he felt the man started to stare at him with a creepy glimmer in his eyes.
'No matter how much time I spend with him he still sends chills down my spine…' He dismissed the thought as he focused on the road ahead.
********************
8 People sat around an ornate round table each of them wearing Red Hoods that covered most of their faces leaving only their mouths visible, 13 thrones of various designs surrounded it with a massive golden chandelier illuminating the participants from above with painted glass depicting an angelic creature covering the walls.
They were Inquisitors of the Red Dawn, the enforcers of the Kingdom of Red Dawn, It was their sacred duty to uphold the Edicts of the God King, one true living god that would rule over this world.
Each of the 13 Inquisitors was granted a boon, a power dwarfing even the blessed children.
No god was more generous than God King, and thus the 13 inquisitors swore loyalty and devoted their whole being to the God King, as it was only due to him that beings more powerful than the Blessed Children could even exist.
All of them were immortal and could live indefinitely, no mortal-crafted weapon could ever scratch them, ever since the creation of their sacred kingdom they had free reign to choose whatever method they wished to enact their lord's will.
Only once has there been conflict inside their rank, at the very beginning when their glorious god gathered them and gave them their boons.
The God King has expressed his will that only humanity may reign over this world while all others will either submit or die.
The first Inquisitor of Frost due to his weak will, feeble loyalty, and arrogance has sheltered a group of non-human offspring and females.
Instead of making them useful to the cause of the God King they were left to roam the holy land without a leash and greater purpose.
Unacceptable it was for the rest of the loyal Inquisitors, they had raised their concern to the God King himself.
But their pleas were dismissed as their god in his infinite wisdom said that it was a matter they needed to handle themselves.
And thus 12 other inquisitors ambushed the Inquisitor of Frost by the orders of Inquisitors of Space, his vile strays repurposed into more useful thralls, his cities razed and his body split into 6 parts.
Even as a vile traitor god never took away his blessing, at that time they questioned the decision, but it made sense to them after some thought.
Forevermore, the Traitor would endure a fate worse than death, unable to die, and serving his duty.
Head, Body, Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg, Left Leg.
Each part of the Body was used to forge powerful sentient magical items.
Each item harboring a piece of his will would never truly be him, and thus perfect tools were created and distributed to the most loyal nobility that had been chosen to rule over the territories of Red Dawn.
Dukes of Razul, Oria, Malrom, Iris, Veris, and Estos each received an item containing a piece of the former inquisitor.
6 duchies of Red Dawn, being protected by a single inquisitor, some would envy such a role and would not consider it a punishment.
It was only relatively recently that the new Inquisitor of Frost was appointed, more precisely it has been only 80 years since the 13th seat had been filled.
The New Inquisitor of Frost was peculiar, he was weaker than most of the 13 inquisitors, but the tools and weapons he could build revolutionized the weaponry of the Red Dawn and improved the daily life of the common man significantly.
With his inventions, even the child of a disease-riddled beggar could kill a normal knight with little to no difficulty.
But his recent activities worried them all, he started acting strangely recently, he was leaving the kingdom regularly without any notice, his new inventions slowed down, and He needed to be investigated as he could stop being useful to the God King's designs.
All 8 inquisitors, placed their hands on the table before chanting "For the glory of the God-King, May his light guide humanity into a brighter future, and may all our enemies perish by his wrath!"
A silence descended on the hall, letting the followers of God-King think.
A moment later, one of the inquisitors loudly spoke "As the first order of business, we must discuss the appearance of a new blessed child!"
He let the silence take over for a moment before continuing "I'm sure we all have noticed a significant shift in the currents of mana."
He stood up as he slowly approached the end of the hall "Such a massive shift has only ever been felt once before when our Glorious God King granted us our boons"
As the other inquisitors followed him with their gaze he reached the wall before turning back to the other 7.
"Inquisitor of Death has volunteered to investigate this occurrence, and if necessary eradicate the blessed child…"
He pushed one of the bricks into the wall as the wall slowly rotated, revealing a small room behind it.
The room was filled with nothing except an unknown large item covered by white cloth.
As the fake wall disappeared completely he turned towards 7 remaining inquisitors.
He nodded before saying "Gentlemen, this event requires our full attention! And so"
He turned back to the room before revealing a large pitch-black rectangular box.
Box had no visible entrances or hinges, but even then it radiated unnatural and unholy power.
While divine light would give light to where it manifests, this object took that light away.
Before he could even speak a female inquisitor spoke with an angry tone "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE, do you know what happens if we use that!"
While she did not see others due to her focusing on the man that revealed the black box she could sense her brothers and sisters were agreeing with her.
How could they not the item that the man revealed was "The black hand", an Artifact that contained the power of flowing time.
It is said that before current kingdoms even existed, there existed 5 artifacts of immense power, each held by a holy temple since times untold.
"The black hand" had the power of flowing time itself within it, even if it looked like a normal clock hand, it was a weapon of no equal other than 4 other temporal artifacts.
Long ago, before Red Dawn was established, a mad goddess of frost ruled most of the world, her icy touch freezing all life and twisting it in her own design.
Her power was immense, so immense that even while not of a divine nature not even gods could best her.
Armies could not march through the frozen wasteland lest they succumb to the frostbite.
Only select individuals could march within her territory.
So many blessed children lost their lives just to challenge the so-called "Empress of the frozen wastes"
Her servants ambushed and attacked them, wearing them down as they approached her frozen castle.
Alas all of them failed, no blessed child could fight her, and no child could even get close to her.
Gods themselves weren't able to punish her for the sin she committed against the world, she was truly untouchable.
The story says that God King himself led the final charge, nobody knew how but he obtained "The Black Hand" and the knowledge of how to find the empress inside her domain.
With his own power, he crushed servants of frost, god king alone was able to reach her castle where so many other self-proclaimed heroes failed.
His Black Armor absorbed all light his divine crown radiating new divine light serving as a torch of hope for all of those that came before, he stood proud in front of the frozen castle as he swung the legendary artifact at the frozen gates shattering them in moments.
It took the god-king almost no time at all to reach the frozen throne room once he was inside.
On both sides stood frozen statues of blessed children that challenged her before, she kept them as decoration.
Heroes of old who gave their lives, to take back their world, are used as an ornament by the monstrosity-wearing skin of a human girl.
She smirked before conjuring a portal to the worlds of frost, making a cascade of ice and snow towards the God-King, the portals led to the worlds that her power fully consumed, a fate of so many worlds that the God-King had to prevent for his own.
Empress, in a way, was quite beautiful, her long flowing pink hair reaching down to her back, her unnerving white eyes still not diminishing her beauty, and her revealing blue dress complementing her slender physique.
And yet he did not care as he stood tall in front of the empress taking the damage, it was not the time to admire his enemy, as his face twisted in anger.
It is said that God King was so furious about her acts that he threw the black hand at the empress at such speed that not even the light could follow.
Empress did not realize the power of the artifact and before she could even react, her existence was finished, her immortal existence had reached its end.
That was the power of the artifact, anything that was touched mortal or immortal would reach its end.
But no power was free, as the artifact lodged itself into the corpse of the empress a spectral clock appeared above the world.
A single tick, a single moment passed.
With each tick, the empress's corpse became more translucent
Then next, and next.
And finally, the corpse disappeared, letting "The Black Hand" harmlessly fall to the ground.
It is said that all living and non-living creatures in the world grew older at that moment.
Long-lived races like elves lost their youthful appearance and grew at the same speed as humanity.
The time itself took its due, for ending a deity in all but name's life, the price was paid in the life of the world itself.
It was rumored that even gods lost a part of their youth, not even God-King was safe as his face lost some of its youthful appearance and some of his strength left him.
The artifact's power reached the heavens and hells.
But the price was paid, and the world knew peace, the frost eventually melted and life once again flourished.
Afterwards, God King established the Kingdom of Red Dawn, and in the black box sealed the "The Black Hand" so that it may never be used again lest the price becomes too heavy to bear.
The black box was said to absorb divinity and mana like a black hole devours everything around it, it was only possible to open with special methods unknown to all but god king and inquisitors, or overwhelming power, the power that not even god-king could display anymore.
It was ordered to never use it again, and even touching the artifact was grounds for excommunication and then followed by swift execution.
'And yet this idiot wants to undo the seal that god king placed himself' she shook her head.
"Do you not agree with me, brothers? The God-King himself said that it is to not be used!" she spoke with fervor as she mentioned the God-King.
A larger-looking inquisitor stood up and spoke, his voice giving the impression of an older man. "I agree with Sister May! The word of God King must be placed above our own will, Julius!"
Others followed suit exclaiming their support.
"Explain your reasoning Julius!, do you intend to commit blasphemy against our god king!" Spoke a smaller inquisitor that kept his tongue tied until now.
"Dear brothers, and sister he said with slight disdain in his voice. I had no intention of sinning against our glorious god-king!" He gave them a slight bow as he spoke, visible traces of anger showing in his demeanor.
"I assure you that the coming times bring a catastrophe, that only the black hand can prevent!" He exclaimed while holding his hands in the air.
He noticed sister May trying to say something again but with a loud voice, he interrupted her, much to her annoyance.
"I am well aware of the consequences of using this artifact, but remember! It was a goddess, in all but name that was slain using this artifact, and that is why the price was so steep!"
He exhaled slowly as he picked up the black box and slowly brought it to the middle of the round table.
"But now! We will use it to deal with the great blessed child that was born!" he exclaimed as he chuckled while reaching towards the black box.
Before he could touch the seal May stopped him by grabbing his arm while talking with cold fury in her voice "And where is your proof, FOOL! What kind of blessed child could even pose a slight threat to one of us, even the greatest of blessed children fell before us in the past!"
"You mentioned a disaster! What kind of disaster would warrant risking the life of the entire world? Do you realize that the only reason gods even allowed this artifact to be used was due to the necessity and our glorious God King!" May shouted.
Other inquisitors nodded before staring at Julius.
"Do you think they would sit idly as the seal is undone?!" May spoke with clear disbelief.
Julius sighted before retreating his hand back "Then so it may be, do you think that any god could influence the kingdom of god king himself! Even 8 of us that are currently gathered even without Inquisitor of Death or Inquisitor of Life we could fend off most deities!"
He exhaled as he pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing after a brief pause "You are all unbelievers!, you all lack faith! Real inquisitors would do everything in their power to suppress a new threat!" he stood up before storming out of the meeting hall.
May slumped down on her throne as she gazed at the black box 'Why was that idiot so adamant about using one of our most important assets, he was always so stupid'
But even if she thought he was stupid he was still right that the changes in mana currents were bad, with a greater blessed child being born, this could signal the coming of an era where deities would try to challenge their god-king.
'This could not be allowed, God King must reign eternally!'
She thought Julius was stupid but his heart was in the right place.
'He needs to realize there are other ways of doing things other than just destruction! These are new times' she contemplated within her mind as other inquisitors returned the box to the hidden room.
She snapped out of her thoughts as the hidden wall returned to its place "I need all of your opinions, what did you make of his proposal?"
"Heresy, that is what we all think sister May." Exclaimed a deep male voice, he was the Inquisitor of Earth, one of the physically strongest inquisitors out of 13.
He crossed his arms before continuing "It seems he has not learned from the mistake of Inquisitor of Frost, and I suggest that we teach him that lesson again!"
While May was not the strongest of inquisitors, she was still respected as the Inquisitor of Space, while not weak by any means her portals were able to expand the influence of the god-king far and wide while her unique fighting style kept her on the level of even the strongest inquisitors like those of Life and Death.
And her near fanatical devotion to the god-king was truly something to behold, after all, she was the one who was responsible for the punishment of the treacherous inquisitor of frost.
Even if most inquisitors were on good terms none of them knew how any of the others looked under their crimson hoods that covered most of their faces.
After all, judging with eyes is flawed, they all knew each other through something deeper, they knew each other through divinity and the grace of god king!
She smiled warmly before speaking "We shall decide on the proper course of action at a later date, Julius might not be the brightest but I do not doubt his loyalty"
She gave other inquisitors a moment to relax before continuing "Now, we originally gathered to discuss the operations of new Inquisitors of frost"
Other inquisitors nodded but did not wish to interrupt her as she proclaimed "I will personally investigate his dealings, and if Inquisitor of Frost betrayed us we shall distribute proper punishment to the heretic, Glory to the god king!"
She spoke with such fanaticism in her voice that many would be scared, and yet all it did was inspire inquisitors.
"GLORY TO THE GOD KING," All inquisitors said in unison before bowing and leaving back to their duties, leaving May alone in the hall.
'Now what to do with the newbie' she thought to herself.