As the body of the priest lay there, slumped and bleeding out onto the wooden floorboards, Valorth finally pushed himself to his feet. His nerves had started to settle and he was finally processing what he had done.
A priest... I've taken the life of the priest.
Murder was already one of the worst crimes in the empire, let alone the murder of a religious figure. However, after more thought, Valorth wondered whether the city was even in a state to enact punishment.
Perhaps I can just leave the body here until it's found. From the priest's appearance, it's clear that he was possessed or meddling with demonic spirits.
He glanced at the sword pendant sticking out of the man's neck.
And that could be seen as the Angel of Arms enacting his punishment unto him, and even if they believe it to be murder, it might not be investigated due to him being possessed. It might even be seen as a good dead done by the culprit.
It works... Just barely.
To even be able to think with such a clear mind after what he had done, suggested that the Rememberer heart most definitely had an effect on his mental state too. In the past, his body would have been shaking uncontrollably with nerves after such an event. He hoped that he would soon be able to unravel all of the capabilities of a demon heart.
Pleased with his logic for now, Valorth made his way over to the door, prepared to leave. That was when he remembered two items left in the room.
The first was the cursed sword, whose effects still seemed to linger even after the priest's death. The other was the priest's brown, withered journal resting on the desktop with a fountain pen resting beside it. Valorth made his way over and flicked open the first page. His eyes scanned over the contents, and with every paragraph he read, they bulged wider and wider.
Wait a minute... The priest has really documented his entire process towards becoming what he was. The tales of his path to corruption.
And it wasn't just about him. It seemed to also speak about his interactions with another member of the church of arms.
Just as he was about to take the journal with him, Valorth suddenly felt a strange presence coming from the journal. It was the pages themselves had started to vibrate. He looked down only to find that the ink-written words were slowly starting to fade!
No... No, no.
He turned the page and found that the next page did the same thing, and the next afterwards. With the priest dead, the words in his journal had started to erase themselves. That meant that the contents were worth hiding.
Valorth cursed under his breath over and over again, flicking through the pages and trying to find any valuable information on the pages. In his desperation, he almost missed the sound of glass shattering in the room once again. His heart was working even more than before and seemed to be sending its power to his Eye of Remembrance.
Shocked, Valorth found himself overwhelmed by a rush of new information, knowledge that pressed against his thoughts until he could hardly breathe. It didnât seem possible, yet deep within, his heart had granted him another power. The first vein pulsed faintly, as though alive, continuing its quiet journey of discovery. It was like a man walking through a long tunnel, finding new paths carved into the walls that had always been there, hidden until now. As the power revealed itself, so too did its meaning. Valorth understood it completely, as if the knowledge had always been a part of him, waiting to be remembered, just like when he had first awakened the ability to force memories unto others.
Except this time, his ability was of a different nature. It was the ability to perfectly recall anything that the Rememberer has seen.
Valorth wanted to doubt that such a power existed, as it seemed too strong, but as he looked down at the journal, finding the words to be halfway faded, he realised that he had no time to waste.
With speed, he flicked through the pages whilst casting his golden gaze onto their contents. After reaching the end, Valorth didn't feel like anything had changed within his mind. It didn't feel as though he had successfully stored the information.
But he couldn't test the power there. He was still at the scene of a crime he had committed. Leaving the now empty journal where it was, Valorth leapt over the corpse of the priest and hurried back to his room. Once there he lay on his bed and tried his best to recall his memory.
To his surprise, he found exactly what he was looking for with ease. As he thought back on the scene that took place only moments before, rather than only being able to remember the most standout details, Valorth found that he could remember details that he would have never remembered before.
For example, even on the fountain pen, which he didn't recall paying much attention to, he now remembered that it had an engraving across its body, detailing that it was a creation of the great inventor Patel Obalis in year 1110.
By the Angels, the power makes sense and matches my heart type well, but it's still hard to believe... It's almost unfair. Adion used to laugh at my bad memory.
Pushing his disbelief to the side, Valorth returned his thoughts to the priest's journal, recalling the contents that seemed important to him.
Once finished, this is what he had gathered:
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The priest, whose name was Yadon, had long since had doubts in the Angel of Arms. The Church of Arms had little historical text about the life of the Angel of Arms before he first ascended into heaven, yet in a holy site near Uradesh, called the Sword Cemetery, a sword belonging to the angel had long since been stuck in the earth and was unable to be removed by any living man.
Emperor Haide the First was the first man that took this to mean that the Angel of Arms had blessed their land, and ever since, the Central Empire had worshipped the angel.
Yadon had long since been a sceptic of the angel's blessing. After all, there were few preserved ancient texts, such as the poem "Last Dance," which spoke of a figure who often forced his own allies into combat due to his love of weapons and brought many of them to death. This poem had been interpreted many ways, and often even rejected to be a tale about the Angel of Arms, yet still, it was well spoken about in the church. For some, it was enough to deter them from putting their faith into such a deity.
Priest Yadon had only just weeks ago had a conversation with a Deacon who shared the same thoughts as he did. The Deacon invited him to some sort of group, whose name had been scribbled out in the journal, and the group had taught him many rituals. One of the greatest was one that allowed a demonic spirit to empower your body, rather than possess it, granting you many physical powers that would allow one to fight against a low-vein Hearteater without having to become one themselves.
This was supposed to be the start of Father Yadon's journey, and he had decided to embark on it the same day that the Angel of Arms descended on their world. Afterward, he had planned many other meetings with the deacon and his other allies, but that had of course been brought to a close by a young outsider.
Valorth closed his thoughts and let out a great sigh.
Perhaps the priest received in his spirit that the angel had descended, confirming his beliefs that he was not an angel worth worshipping.
I can hardly blame him... But it makes me wonder just how many other people will have this same feeling and turn to the demonic arts as a result. What would the great central empire look like if faith in the angels were truly lost? What of all the churchs and cathedrals we erupted in their names?
Not wishing to dwell on such negative thoughts at night, Valorth closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest before sunrise the coming morning.
---
Valorth awoke the following morning with the sun shining through his window, casting its beautiful glow upon him. It didn't do much to help increase the way he felt, as last night's events had left him completely drained even the next day.
"One night out of the palace, and your habit of waking before sunrise is cured," a sudden voice came from the other side of the room.
Valorth sat up and looked over at his friend Adion, who was dressed in his black pants, socks, and a long white-sleeved shirt. His red hair was messy and his face slightly dirty due to their lack of a bath.
"Where were you?" Valorth asked with a straight face, wasting no time.
Adion tapped his finger to his forehead and smirked. "Gathering knowledge. It's only been one day, but you'd be surprised how much news has already spread."
Valorth had more questions to ask, such as why he would choose to do something so dangerous without warning him, but for now, he allowed his friend to explain what he had discovered.
Before he could start, Valorth's belly grumbled, bringing him great pain. Using the powers of one's heart seemed to have more effects than just fatigue.
"Can we continue over breakfast?"
---
With a meal in front of them, sitting on the ground floor of the tavern, which seemed to be much busier than usual, Adion continued his explanation. He made sure to speak in a whisper, lest the others in the tavern heard them. Luckily, there was a man playing the violin by the fireplace, gathering everybody's attention.
"So, it seems that Prince Haide the third, alongside the royal family and his closest nobles, have decided to use the Vahesh Cathedral as their temporary home, whilst allowing the Angel of Arms to do whatever he's doing in the palace," Adion said before shoving a piece of potato into his mouth.
This made sense to Valorth and was the most reasonable course of action. The Vahesh Cathedral was the tallest building in Uradesh, towering even above the palace itself. It was home to Archbishop Leo, and was used as a place of worship for the richest and most powerful followers of the Church of Arms.
"But that's not the most important news," Adion continued. "There's word that since the angel's descent, demonic sightings at the rift had not only been tremendously slowed down, but there have also been sights of demonic spirits fleeing from possessed individuals without the intervention of exorcists."
"Fleeing and going where?" Valorth asked, confused, which was when Adion's voice lost its usual lustre.
"Well, that's the problem. They say that the demons are heading to the neighbouring continents, afraid of the Angel of Arms' presence in the Central Empire. The Lavender Empire to the east seem to have had it the worst."
Valorth swiftly understood why Adion's voice had become grave. The implications of such a rumour could cause many problems. Not just for the Central Empire, but for the entire four corners of the world.
"So the presence of an angel deters demons," Valorth mused as he scratched his chin. "But of course they still wish to enter our world, so they choose other locations around the four corners to enter from."
Adion nodded his head and leaned back on his chair. "Exactly. Now, I'm no politician, but if my empire faced more demonic attacks due to the presence of an angel in one of my rivalling empires, I know what I would do to prevent it."
He didn't need to finish his sentence, as Valorth knew what he meant. After all, he would do the same.
If I were one of the other rulers around the world, and believed I had the power to do so, I would set out and attempt to slay the angel. Or perhaps try to force him to ascend once again.
Regardless, both decisions arrive at the same conclusion.
A war that will involve an Angel.
After coming to this conclusion, Valorth changed the subject and told Adion about his encounter with the priest last night, to which Adion expressed that he had "missed out on the fun," despite knowing that he had no current powers to fight with. Otherwise, the young man seemed not to care about the fact that a priests life had been lost. Their only worry was what would happen once the body was found in his room.
On the topic of powers, Valorth mentioned his discovery of his ability to perfectly memorise information.
"It's just a guess, but I believe that in order to progress to the next vein, you have to discover the various abilities available at your current vein stage. Once done, your heart requires another vein to continue gifting you powers, so it forces a new vein onto it's surface. It's the only conclusion that I've come to, but of course it's not certain."
At this, Adion scratched at his chin in deep thought. "Hmm, so far I haven't discovered any power but the ability to have my promise aided by fate. I hate to admit it, but you're flying ahead of me."
Well, that's only because I've come face to face with two demons already... And perhaps because my heart's been corrupted.
Adion then plopped the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth, and a prideful expression spread across his face.
"No worries," he said, pushing himself to his feet and gesturing for Valorth to do the same. "I have an idea that might help both of us discover more of our abilities."