Chapter 422: Elarian

Belladonna cackled to herself as she hung from the moonlight wall, her eyes fixed on the smouldering hole that had been blasted through the strangers armour by a singular bolt of Divine Lightning.

The Divine Energy still lingered in the air, mixing with the ozone scent the lightning left behind as it filled Belladonna’s puncture lungs with every wheezing and shallow breath.

Smoke curled from the blackened portion of the strangers chest, where the Lightning had struck him after curling straight towards him through the skies.

However, Belladonna didn’t get too long to last, as his fingers twitched before a long, pained groan escaped the strangers lips. Although, just the fact that he was in pain, possibly even more than she was, was enough to keep her in relatively high spirits.

Behind her, on the other side of the wall, Figg stood in disbelief and confusion, his attention split between the skies that had spewed forth Divine Retribution, and towards the other stranger who had just stepped out of the treeline with their hands in their pockets.

"What happened..." The armoured man groaned, two of his three eyes fluttering open before he slowly sat up with a wince.

It was a miracle that he was alive. Literally, a miracle had saved his life, one that he gained by the very fact of his existence. But it was a miracle that had been taken from him in the process, stripping him of his most important and infallible protection.

All because of that... thing.

"All those eyes, and you are still so blind to how ignorant you are." The newcomer chuckled, as they stepped through the wall of Moonlight like it was just that, simple moonlight shedding down on top of them.

However when Figg tried to follow this newcomer, he immediately slammed nose first into the wall, which was still as solid as ever.

The newcomer, also a man by the looks of them, sauntered into the clearing with their hands still firmly stuffed into their pockets as they strolled without a singular care.

They were wearing incredibly simple clothing, the type that one would expect to see from a lowly peasant. The only thing of worth on their person was their long, moss green overcoat but even that was so long that it trailed through the dirt behind them and had its ends covered in dried mud.

Long, shaggy black hair draped down either side of their head like curtains, yet it was hard to say if it framed their face well. That was mostly because the top half of their head was completely shrouded in shadow and impossible to make out, no matter what angle you looked at them from, despite the fact that they had no hood to cast this shadow and that the moonlight above them was not the one creating it either.

However, despite not being able to see their eyes, Belladonna could feel the playful look in them as they looked down upon the armoured man with an air of natural superiority and confidence. What she recognised most of all from this newcomer, was the mischievous smirk that was constantly tugging at the edge of their lips, as if they were permanently holding in laughter to a joke no one else knew about.

"Sylvi..." Belladonna muttered, catching the attention of the newcomer. They glanced at her, smirked a slight bit more and gave her what felt like a wink, before turning their attention back to the armoured man.

"Don’t hurt yourself trying to figure out what went wrong, because the answer was simple. You said something that was completely and utterly false after swearing under the name of my naive and idiotic brother.

’No one will notice when I kill you’, ’None of the Gods would care’. Here I am. I noticed, and I would absolutely care. I’m not getting finished getting my fun out of this one, and its starting to come up to a good bi that I don’t want to miss the live broadcast of.

It’s just so much better when you are watching it live rather than predicted. It just feels different."

"You- You are protecting this thing? After what its kind has done?! It is nothing but a savage beast, it killed the Sacred Beast!" The Armoured man shouted gesturing to the Shark with the shattered head, as he clambered to his feet.

However Sylvi swiftly put their foot on his smouldering, blackened chest and pushed him back to the ground as they loomed over him.

"Remember your place Elarian. You may have a noble birth that we sympathise with, a birth that is the only reason you still live, but you are still beneath us."

"Y-yes My Lady."

"Good." Sylvi smiled, removing their foot from his chest and finally allowing him to stand.

"Now, as for the matter of the Sacred Beast. It is true that she killed the poor beast, but she only did so after being attacked first. An attack that happened because the Sacred Beast had been corrupted by an agent of the Outer Gods.

The same Outer Gods who have tarnished this site with their foul magic, and have twisted its purpose. A purpose that this wonderful little entertainer was going to make use of. Weren’t you dear?"

Sylvi turned to Belladonna, flashing her a kind smile, before the smile dropped when they saw Belladonna still pinned to the wall and on the verge of death.

Sylvi clicked their tongue, plucking the spear and dagger from Belladonna’s body, before restructuring her rib-cage and closing the holes in her lungs so that she could breathe once again, which Belladonna did with great eagerness.

"There we go, now where was I. Ah yes, it seems the Outer Gods have been busy, and have been sneaky. I suspect the disturbance that brought you here was not the situation inside the church, was it?"

"N-no My Lady." The Man known as an Elarian grumbled as he hung his head in shame.

"And for that reason, you will go and inspect the other temples for the same corruption. This one, however, will be left to my entertainment to take care of."

"WHAT?! YOU CAN’T BE SERIO-" The Elarian shouted, before the words were literally stolen from his mouth with a wave of Sylvi’s hand.

The Trickster glared daggers at the Elarian, causing him to shy away with his head held low, just like a scolded puppy.