1273 Fycros Deal Part 2 (1/2)
”But, if you were to follow me, it would mean that you've fallen all the same,” Saleen said with a plain tone.
”Your highness, the way I see it, betraying the Lord of Glory would not be considered as falling. Besides, Lord Fycro has already written my name on the Book of Salvation,” Picasso answered sincerely.
”What do you mean by 'Book of Salvation?'”
”It's a godly item, capable of preventing one from suffering the effects of falling,” Picasso answered.
”Did Theisio know that such a piece of equipment existed?”
”That's a secret of Lord Fycro.”
”Why would you tell me then?”
”Lord Fycro told me to be upfront if you were to ask about it. He had also asked that you keep this a secret.”
Saleen nodded and said, ”I would bring this up with Fycro if you're willing to come to my side. My Nature Faith lacks people. If you don't like religions, there's no need for you to embrace it… I'd set up a Fourth Pivotal in the Nature Faith and you'd be in charge.”
”What would this Fourth Pivotal be?”
”There are the Temple Knights, Temple Pivotals, and Oracle Temples within the ranks of the Nature Faith. All three of them have adherents in them. As for your Fourth Pivotal, it would serve as something resembling the Tribunal, taking care of things and people that the faith finds inconvenient to deal with.”
”How many among my people would be adherents of the faith then?”
”None. The Fourth Pivotal answers to me at the end of the day. Not even the pope would be able to command you.”
Picasso was smart enough to realize right there and then that it was a measure for Saleen to keep the Nature Faith in control in the long run. As for Picasso, it was actually a good thing.
Embracing the faith of a god was troublesome business and he had long ago seen through the flaws. Fycro was willing to dig Picasso up because of Saleen.
”Thank you, your highness. If Lord Fycro is willing to set me free, I shall do my best.”
”Now that you have left the Pivotal Council, what are you exactly?”
”The Book of the Fallen erased my name in the list of believers. My divine arts are still intact, yet they lean towards darkness. I'm now a dark holy master,” Picasso answered.
”The Lord of Glory sure is interesting,” Saleen quipped, then said no more. Picasso seemed to have been prepared long ago and was reluctant to talk any further with him. He bowed and left the carriage.
The Chaotic Swamp's area was small and the carriage ran on the swamp as if it was on flat land. It was capable of treading over mud without any problems. The carriage brought Saleen before a tower after traveling for hundreds of miles.
Saleen got out of the carriage and looked at the tower, then struggled to keep from bursting into laughter. Fycro had simply rebuilt the magic tower. That place had probably been a magic tower built by a powerful mage of the Second Dynasty and had long ago been destroyed.
It was apparent that Fycro had not looked for the temple where Saleen found had Nailisi. There was a small city behind the tower. The city was entirely white and built from stone. The stones that were used in its construction were not of the same material.
They were refined using divine arts, turning them into stones of the same material and the same color.
There was a rocky mountain behind the small white city, a steep one. There were poisonous swamps at its flanks and it was apparent that there were huge divine rune charm arrays placed throughout. There was a huge fissure behind the tower and before the white city with a wire bridge across it.
The white city had no creativity in its construction and had been built square and sturdy. Saleen thought for a bit and realized what had happened.
The carriage had taken a detour around the tower and entered the white city through the wire bridge. Saleen looked into the fissure on the ground as they went across the wire bridge. There were signs of space fractures below the fissure. The fissure was not formed naturally, but something created forcefully by powerful professionals.
After crossing the bridge, Saleen found that there seemed to be hundreds of thousands of worlds within the fissure. Boundless energy rules were in chaos, making detection impossible. It was a result of a clash between some unknown skills cast by two powerful professionals.
The carriage was going very slowly and Saleen tried to commit everything to memory. It was deliberately being shown to him by Fycro as a gift. He would not have let others cross the bridge without good reason.
One would have been able to take the chance to look into the rules of power within the fissure when they were moving at certain speeds on the bridge.
Fycro's vista was bigger than Theisio's!
Saleen had his worries but quickly put the, aside. It was impossible to expect his future enemies to all be unbearably weak. If he were to accomplish what he set out to do, then it would mean that he needed to raise his powers to a level where no one else could reach. It was the only correct way to do so.
Fycro never dismissed his own thoughts and simply worked on them. It was a testament to Fycro's confidence that he would one day become a god.
There were countless geniuses throughout the mainland. If one were to kill every single one of them, one would have exhausted all the time they had, meaning that they would have been left with no time to do what they had to do.
The inside of the white city hardly differed from any common city. The entire city seemed like a factory. Saleen did not see a church but found a huge altar with countless idols of gods on it instead. The idols were all made with the fragments of the fossilized gods and were imbued with divinity.
It seemed that Fycro had people in either the Pivotal Council or the Tribunal. Materials like that would not have fallen into his hands otherwise. The Oracle Corps did not send people to fight at Daliang City after all.
Saleen came to realize that Fycro had long intended to negotiate with him. It seemed that Fycro had quite an understanding of fate as well. When dealing with fate, resisting it through and through was not the right way to go, as fate was devoid of any sentiments.
The powers that be and life itself seemed to have nothing to do with each other.