Throne of Magical Arcana

“Why?”

It was Anheuse who asked the question.

Anheuse had come back in disguise after finishing up guiding the believers. He was very concerned about the current situation, and the decision could lead to a major consequence. Although the almighty Ell’s true power had awakened, the enemy they were now facing was also much stronger than the God of Moon Asin.

Facing the enemy consisting of the Lord of War and the rest seven gods as well as their strongest priests, Anheuse did not believe it at all that Ell had a chance to win.

Therefore, although both Lucien and Francis were quite good at giving speeches, and Anheuse indeed felt quite encouraged, Anheuse would prefer to rely on his own judgment when facing this major decision, rather than blindly hoping for the great existence beyond definitions and imagination to bestow power on Lord Ell.

Hearing Lucien and Ell deny at the same time, Ell did not appear to be surprised at all.

“Say your reason.” He said slowly and firmly.

Lucien felt that whether it was because Ell’s psychosis became more serious or not, at least He now seemed more like a God. Ell was now calmer and more patient. Although they could not be optimistic at all facing the current situation, Ell’s current attitude was definitely more convincing than acting furious and worried.

Lucien took a look at Francis and saw he was just smiling. Obviously, Francis was waiting for him to reply.

Being very cautious, Francis was still testing Lucien.

Weighing the words, Lucien said carefully, “because… because it is a chance, a very good chance.”

“Chance? You mean the chance of being killed and entering the underworld?” Anheuse was quite pissed, thinking of the fact that their enemy was now at least eight times stronger than the previous.

He was pissed also because, in order to win the debate, Leviathan and Francis revealed the almighty Ell’s true identity, and thus incurred the anger and fear of the Lord of War. Anheuse suspected that it was the almighty Ell who purposefully told Francis and Leviathan his true identity to ensure that the plan could be carried out smoothly. Thus, Anheuse was even feeling a bit jealous — He had been serving the Lord of Fire and Destruction for more than twenty years, yet the Lord trusted the two youngsters who just joined the Secret Praying Convention more than him.

Lucien asked seriously, “why does the Lord of War’s priest want Asin and the Lord of Underworld to strike tonight? Why does the Lord of War want all of the churches to get involved?”

Ell nodded, as if He had completely understood what Lucien was trying to imply. He then turned to Francis and gestured him to elaborate.

“Because the Lord of War is afraid, afraid of the almightiness of our Lord, afraid of falling under the magnificent radiance of our Lord. The Lord of War wants to be very cautious. Before he could ascertain the current strength of Lord Ell, he does not dare to strike directly. If our Lord has awakened completely, such a dangerous move could lead to his death.”

Francis made lots of praises, but the core message was simple — He and Lucien boasted so far off that the Lord of War was shocked. He became concerned about the power of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption and therefore decided to send the rest of the eight Gods and the priests to carry out this mission. If something was indeed off, the Lord of War could easily find an excuse and tell the followers that it was just a private conflict.

In the theology debate, Francis and Lucien described the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption as a lawful good god full of mercy and kindness. As long as there was no evidence that the God of War was directly involved in the assassination, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption would have to show generosity and tolerance.

Meanwhile, according to the information they had, Lucien and Francis believed that the gods of the Angonormanian or Barril pantheon did not believe that there was an omniscient and omnipotent existence above, so many gods died of plotted murder and deception.

“I see…” Anheuse started getting some clues.

During the debate, Nena was acted rather calm, or at least relatively calm, during the debate. She had probably already got the plan at that time.

Ell slightly nodded, the corner of his mouth formed a imperceptible smile that disappeared in a second.

“But, our enemy is still very powerful. The eight gods, and their priests,” said Anheuse in great concern. “They are too strong for us now. We’d better leave. Our Lord the almighty Ell has awakened and he will become stronger in the time to go. We can wait in patience, instead of taking the risk for literally nothing.”

Lucien was a bit speechless. He wondered if he’d also start having mental problems if he continued to get around with them,

He coughed and said, “according to Mr. Francis’s description, our Lord can only gradually grow stronger by taking away others’ godhood. If we run away this time, the Lord of War and the rest of the false gods will find it out that we’re still weak. They’ll abandon any hesitations and keep trying their best to kill us outside of the valley. Then the situation will be even worse.”

Before Anheuse could speak, Lucien continued. “Think about it. Except for the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld, will the rest of the gods really work together? Only one out of the six can win our position to preach in the river valley. This seems to be a very slight chance, so will they try other plans? Say, kill the God of Moon ‘by mistake’, or set up a trap, or… work with us?”

“They surely will,” said Anheuse with no doubt.

Ell remained rather calm, “This is indeed our opportunity if we know the right thing to do. But Leviathan, Francis, how do we know who really wants to work with us, and who schemes to betray?”

Francis grinned. “Why need we?”

Even Ell was a bit surprised this time.

“The situation is too complex, and the gods’ attitude changes all the time. It’s impossible for us to tell who really wants to be our ally. We can trust nobody,” said Francis.

Anheuse looked at Francis in confusion.

Lucien took over and continued. “I agree. Since their attitude is changing all the time, we should not waste our time telling who are our allies. Instead, we should focus on turning everyone into our allies!

“The Lord of War is afraid of your power, my Lord, so are the rest of the gods. They are waiting to see if you are that powerful as we said. As long as we are confident enough and show them the power, I believe that they will prefer expelling the Lord of War and sharing the valley with us to fighting for the single position left.

“Yes, the message might be a trap, but it also hints their hope. If we can show it to them, we can turn the trap into our opportunity to fight back; but if we retreat, we’ll lose the hope and turn the opportunity into a trap!”

Francis added just in time. “Of course, very likely they’ll wait and watch on the side until the situation settles, but that is exactly what we need – Kill Asin, the God of Moon, and take our time to leave!”

“Then what? They’ll know that we’re using them, and the Lord of War will find it out, too.” Anheuse understood Lucien and Francis’ idea, yet he was still quite concerned.

Francis asked, “why are we here in Solna Valley?”

“To kill Asin, the God of Moon, and take away His godhood,” answered Anheuse.

“Did the Lord of War show mercy to us before? The Lord of War was already seeking for a chance to destroy Avando a long time ago.” Lucien smiled.

Anheuse nodded, “That’s true. Fortunately, I am very good at disguising, or I would have been killed by his priests already.”

“Did we see any help from the rest of the gods?” Francis and Lucien in turns took turns to ask their questions. Their target was not Anheuse, but the mysterious Ell.

“No, not at all. They were helping the Lord of War,” said Anheuse bitterly.

“So, we’re going to achieve our target, and the consequence will not be worse than before. Why not?” asked Francis.

“The most important thing now is to have our Lord’s power recovered. Without power, even allies will turn into enemies.” Lucien concluded.

Anheuse remained silent for a while and finally said, “I’ve got no more question.”

When the almighty Ell took in the godhood and the power of the God of Moon, the rest of the gods would choose to be their allies themselves.

Ell smiled, “A very reasonable analysis. But what shall we do to demonstrate our strength, to make the timid be afraid, to make the plotters stand aside,?”

Francis proposed,

“Using the excuse that he profaned your glory during the debate, we will challenge the chief priest of the God of Moon to a duel. When we kill Asin’s chief priest right in front of the temple, Asin will definitely take actions, or He would be abandoned by the followers. In this case, when the rest of the plotters see that we are able to kill the God of Moon’s priest even without your presence, they’ll choose to be cautious onlookers, instead of directly being involved in this fight.

“If we can make a good plan and seize the best chance, we’ll have enough time to kill Asin and escape when He is unprepared and the others have chosen to step aside.”

His proposal was based on the premise that the divine circles of the Temple of War were still relatively undeveloped so that they could not cover the entire city like the circles in the main material world. Also, they were very close to the Solna River.

“Nob is the chief priest of the God of Moon, and his power should rival that of Jacob. Even if I give Leviathan the Seed of Spirit right now, he’ll not be able to adjust to the power and kill Nob,” said Ell, who had walked to the window with his hands behind. “Francis, you do it.”

Unlike Ell, Jacob did not have special power or speed matching that of a radiant knight. In case of any secret tracking, he was hiding somewhere else in the city.

“I’ll show my loyalty, my Lord,” said Francis.

Ell nodded. “I am impressed with what you have done for me, Leviathan. When I take in Asin’s power, I’ll give you the Seed of Spirit. But not now. At the moment I have to keep my power intact against our enemies. This is a bracelet made of Mision stone from Solna River. It enables you to breathe and swim like fish in the water. When the fight starts, go under the water immediately and leave. Wait for us at the promised place.”

Taking over the green bracelet, Lucien felt the slight amount of divine air it possessed.

……

In the afternoon, a great stir broke out among the people in the city of Husum – Years after, another fight between two priests was finally going to take place.

A young, black-haired man mixing in the crowd was listening to the discussion attentively.

Slightly frowning, he wondered who was hiding behind this fight and what the purpose truly was.

He was the night watcher ranking no. 13 —”Body Controller” Ramiro.