Chapter 211 - <18>
The violent tremor caused Kuchiba to knit his brows.
Almost simultaneously, there was a frantic knock on the door of his office, located near the top of the Tower of Prayer in the upper part of the Great Temple. When he gave permission to enter, a temple soldier assigned to guard the Tower of Prayer burst in, panting, clad in easy-to-move-in robes and armor.
Upon seeing Kuchiba, the soldier prostrated himself, yet his voice was strained with excitement as he shouted.
"High Priest! We have intruders!"
"Intruders, you say?"
As he muttered lowly, the soldier prostrated himself even further.
"My sincerest apologies! But against that, even we guards are useless!"
"What do you mean? Report briefly."
"Yes, sir. The enemy broke into the Tower of Prayer from the sky."
"…The sky…"
They got me.
Kuchiba couldn't help but bite his lip. He should have taken some sort of countermeasures from the moment he learned they had fled to Taisha's location. But he knew now it was too late.
Taisha was a criminal who had sought to use the power of the god. Kuchiba did not know what divine power he had sought, nor was he permitted to know. But if he had known the details of Taisha's crime, he could have anticipated that they would employ some means beyond his imagination.
When Taisha's secluded forest was burned to the ground, leaving nothing behind, a report came from his subordinates that they, along with Taisha, had likely died. However, the forest's barrier remained active even after the fire, and they were never able to actually confirm the deaths of the three intruders and Taisha.
But all the while, the Eye of the Spirit King had been heading straight for them.
He knew that much.
He had searched for the whereabouts of the Eye of the Spirit King, seeking the clue that had once been lost, but to no avail. They had never once been caught in the extensive surveillance network spread across all the highways.
But judging solely by the position of the Eye of the Spirit King, they were undeniably heading for the capital, Shion. He had been unable to track them, and despite his growing impatience, there was nothing he could do.
And now, they had suddenly appeared in this Great Temple, and in the Tower of Prayer, no less.
From the sky—the domain of the god.
"Gather the temple soldiers of my clan in the Tower of Prayer."
"Yes, sir!"
"Hurry. Before the sacred domain of the god is defiled."
"Yes, sir!"
The prostrating soldier rose and left the room as swift as the wind. Without even watching him go, Kuchiba stared out the window in front of his office at the Path of Heaven towering before him.
They had an incredible amount of luck on their side. If the previous explosion was their doing, then they must be very close by now.
Only those of the direct lineage of the Dark Spirit King, like Kuchiba himself, were permitted to ascend this beautiful crystal staircase. The majority of the temple soldiers guarding this tower were not allowed to climb these stairs.
But since they had allowed an intrusion into this temple, it was only a matter of time before the intruders found this Path of Heaven and rushed up it. It was precisely because this place had never once been breached since the founding of Zeum that there were too many holes in its security measures. Only a handful of the clan could stop them.
The temple soldiers would likely not make it in time.
He thought so with a calm heart. In that case, the place Kuchiba should go was not where the soldiers had confirmed the enemy's presence.
He should go to that place.
Kuchiba looked up at the far end of the Path of Heaven before him.
That place… the holy land of the Clan of Darkness, known as the God's Garden.
Even those of the clan who were permitted to ascend to the top floor were not allowed to enter the God's Garden. The only one permitted to stroll through that beautiful God's Garden and offer prayers to the holy land was Kuchiba alone, among all the clan.
The members of his clan still believed that the god they worshiped was the Dark Spirit King. But the truth was different.
There is a god in the heavens.
An omniscient, omnipotent god who governs all phenomena, nature, and spirits, known only to Kuchiba.
To know the existence of the feared and revered omnipotent god, and to be permitted to converse with his god, was a privilege granted to only one person in this world: Kuchiba, the High Priest of Darkness.
It was his greatest pride.
Even if he could not obtain the god's love, this body, chosen by the god, was born bearing the destiny to protect the god and all the principles of the world.
In that case, Kuchiba had a responsibility and a duty to protect.
Looking toward the Path of the God, and to the heavens that lay beyond, Kuchiba muttered lowly.
"I will not forgive those who disrupt the order. This is my destiny."
He slowly rose from his chair, and with a flourish of his heavy, long, jet-black robe, Kuchiba strode toward the door the temple soldier had just exited.
"Let us prove which of our fates will prevail, yours or mine."
He murmured, his hand reaching for the doorknob.
"…My nephew, Ritz Alster."