Chapter 620: The Seven (1/2)

The Old World, Protectorate of Ramuh,

The female masked Inquisitor paused in her steps and looked over the battlement at the field packed with soldiers and airships. The field was outside the church walls was large enough to hold an entire fleet of airships and it was not the only field to do so. All over the country, similar scenes were unfolding as more and more ships and troops were marshalled.

”Chief Inquisitor Nerissa! Justice be upon you!” A paladin gave a prayer salute to the Chief Inquisitor and handed a scroll over. ”A message from the highest order!”

Chief Inquisitor Nerissa nodded and accepted the scroll. She unfurled it and scanned through its contents rapidly before she tossed the scroll to one of her aides. She laughed as she turned her attention back to the field and said, ”Send the order down, it is time to assault the lawless ones!”

The message which informed her of the current state of affairs in the Iron Kingdom made her mood extremely good. The whole Protectorate has been waiting for this moment for generations. Supplies and weapons have been stockpiled while troops were constantly trained and warships built just for this day.

A tremendous amount of magic crystals was required to empower the Grand Array to bring about Judgement Day and due to this reason, the will of the faithful could not bring justice to the entire world. But now, there was hope, and that hope was found inside the flying island of the lawless kingdom of iron! There was something more important and powerful compared to the magic crystals found inside.

But the Grand Jury only have eyes for magic crystals and the Judgement Day Grand Array. The Chief Inquisitor smiled to herself as she knew if she released news of the magic crystals, the Grand Jury would surely move all their forces to take those magic crystals. What she was after was beyond that, for the flying island brought back something else, unknown to all except for the Inquisition Judges has foretold it. There was a piece of the Seven there!

Inquisitor Mathias had brought back three of the Seven, and with the Inquisition holding another three, they have a total of six of the artefacts. Too bad about the fate of Mathias and Rism, both were exceptional Inquisitors and she watched and pitted them against each behind their backs to simulate their growth but both have gone missing in the New World. It was a real pity, but talent could always be trained and the matter of the Seven was greater than anything.

The Inquisition Judges had suddenly felt the pull of the final piece and with great cost and difficulty, located the final piece coming from the direction of the Iron Kingdom. Inquisition spies that lurked outside the lawless lands, had gathered enough intelligence to pinpoint the final piece of the Seven was actually on board the flying island that returned from the New World.

The disappearance of the lawless has to be something to do with the piece of the Seven as, without proper seals and handling, its power was deadly to the arrogant. The Grand Jury has no idea of the Seven Artifacts, for it was only mentioned in sacrilege texts confiscated by the Inquisitions over the years.

The Seven Artifacts came from the period of the Age of Gods where Ramuh the Just was the only Greater God that survived. The deeds of the other Old Gods were sketchy, only with bits of records still surviving spoke of many who had fallen in the war with the New Gods. The Seven Artifacts seemed to be related to the Seven Old Gods, as discovered by the Inquisition, many generations ago.

There were eight Greater Gods that watched over the Old World in the past. Ramuh the Just was the God of Creation and Justice, Aster the Beautiful was the Goddess of Love and Wisdom, Planes the Heavy was the God of Mountains, Halea the Warm was the Goddess of Spring and Nature, Ultron the Fierce was the God of Summer and Fire, Morgen the Sad was the Goddess of Autumn and Light, Nader the Cold was the God of Winter and Water, and finally, Kragon the Grim, was the God of Death and Promises.

Each of the Greater Gods has its own domain and worshipers, and not only that, the Gods jealously guarded their own followers and waged religious wars to gain more converts. After the war with the New Gods that came from another realm, all the Greater and Lesser Gods seemed to fade away into history and only Ramuh the Just remained prominent in the Old World.

But Ramuh the Just had fallen silent through the ages and each generation of the Grand Jury believed that the Grand Array will bring about Judgement Day which will rekindle the fires of justice into the entire world. The Protectorate would then march across the entire known world and bring the lawless into the fold of Ramuh and with the surge of faith, Ramuh the Just would be awakened from His slumber!

The Chief Inquisitor knew deep inside, that such a move was not guaranteed to succeed as she knew the will and faith of the lawless were weak. Even if they repent and devoted themselves to Ramuh, their ingrained greed and gluttony would only taint the true followers of Ramuh!

After rising to the position of Chief Inquisitor, Nerissa was given access to all the secrets of the Inquisition and the Protectorate. The previous Chief Inquisitor personally handed over a sacred duty and the secrets of the Seven Artifacts were passed on to her.

For each generation that took on the role of Chief Inquisitor, he or she would take over the sacred duty of finding the Seven. Only each Chief Inquisitor knew that the Seven Artifacts were not just a powerful divine artefact, but were actual containers that imprisoned the other Greater Gods!

Seven Artifacts, one for each God and Goddess. Ramuh the Just was the only God that remained in this realm, but the war with the other New Gods has damaged His divinity. The previous Inquisition's Chiefs had all came to the same conclusion was that Seven Artifacts could be used to restore the slumbering Ramuh with the divinity of the imprisoned Gods.

”Just a little time more!” Chief Inquisitor Nerissa whispered to herself. ”Soon the all mighty glory of Ramuh shall shine upon the world once again!”

-----

The Old World, The Free City of Ender, Ivory Palace