Holy Sun Empire...
Imperial Palace.
At the top of the palace in a grand crystal-lit hall, Pope Winston was overseeing a ritual; in front of him, a bright altar was raised, and a sword floated on top while rotating slowly like a projection.
The hall itself was vast and majestic, its walls made of polished white stone engraved with golden scripture praising the Light God Lux.
On the hilt of the sword, a bright yellow crystal cross remained embedded and pulsed like a beating heart, making the sword appear like a living being.
Winston looked at the 100 people in front of him, normal brainwashed citizens of Holy Sun, people with dreams, people with a life, kneeling in front of him with hope and reverence.
Their faces were filled with devotion and faith, eyes shining with the belief that they were about to receive divine blessings.
With cold eyes, he raised his staff over their heads and said, "Be ready to accept the embrace of the light god Lux, O’ chosen ones. You will be in the heavens soon, the place of eternal peace and rest. Be proud, for you are the most pure-hearted souls handpicked by Lux himself."
With that, he slammed the staff on the floor, and several formations got activated. Golden runes ignited across the floor, spreading outward like blooming flowers made of light.
The arrays moved and drew energy from the bodies of the kneeling figures.
For the people, their breath turned heavy, and their blood ran cold; before they knew it, they lost consciousness. The skin on their bodies started aging, their hair fell and disintegrated, and their eyeballs fell off as if life were being drawn out of them.
The horrifying transformation happened in complete silence.
Winston looked at the process coldly; only a few individuals were present in the room. They were the pope’s trusted cardinals, the only people in the whole Aris who knew about his true deeds.
Even though they stood silently, their expressions were carefully controlled.
As the process of absorption was over, the arrays that were rotating clockwise changed their rotations to counter it and started emitting threads of light energy.
The sword on the altar caught those wisps as if powering itself on them.
Before long, the blade of the sword elongated, and a few more yellow gems, much more powerful and radiant than normal light stones, appeared, embedded in the sword.
Soon, the process was over, and silence reigned in the ritual hall.
"Prepare the next batch," Winston turned his head slightly to the side and ordered.
The cardinals standing behind him nodded silently as if too used to the horrific scene they had just witnessed. The cardinals moved out of the hall, leaving Winston alone in silence.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, tremors erupted across the Aris, and even the pope felt it standing on the highest floor of the palace. The sky darkened suddenly.
Winston’s eyes widened with alarm, and he hurriedly walked towards a window. His gaze looked at the bright star-like light shining in the far west of his empire.
"What the..."
Suddenly, something pulsed in the periphery of his vision.
Winston turned his head only to see the divine weapon of Lux spinning faster and pulsing with light as if getting excited about something.
Winston’s breath caught, and his head turned towards the source of this phenomenon, wondering what just happened out of the blue that earned a reaction from a divine weapon.
***
Five days later...
The world had not yet recovered from the chaos of the battle. The academy was still being rebuilt, wounded warriors were still being treated, and rumors about the final battle between the demon lord and a colossal being had spread across the continent like wildfire.
Yet Andrea had not rested even once during those five days. While the outside world healed, her thoughts had only grown colder.
"So you are saying you want to quit your position as an astral warden??" A sound reverberated across a dark hall.
The hall was enormous, almost cathedral-like in scale, but instead of stained glass and holy symbols, it was filled with cold marble pillars and stone carvings depicting the heaven’s council’s history.
Andrea stood facing the wall in front of her; meanwhile, the voice that had just sounded came from one of the four thrones resting in a line several feet above where she stood.
The thrones were carved from black stone, massive structures embedded into the elevated platform like immovable monuments.
One had to raise his face to look at those figures; the difference in elevations of both Andrea and the primarchs was a symbolic setting.
The raised platform symbolized their authority - those above judged, and those below obeyed.
It remained a custom from countless years; however, today, Andrea felt the difference in these elevations too glaring.
The physical height suddenly felt less like a tradition and more like arrogance carved into architecture.
She did not raise her head and meet their eyes.
The shadows of the primarchs stretched across the floor, long and oppressive, yet Andrea kept her gaze fixed forward as if those shadows did not exist.
She did not want to; she did not bow when she arrived today.
That alone had already caused subtle ripples of tension within the hall.
Normally, every Astral Warden would bow upon entering this sacred chamber, acknowledging the authority of the Primarchs.
Her posture was straight, and even her shoulders refused to bow in front of the immense pressure they were being put through.
Invisible pressure pressed down on her like a mountain, as a result of the combined aura of the Primarchs.
Yet Andrea remained unmoved.
"Yes, Primarch," Andrea spoke with a cold expression that refused to betray what was going on through her mind.
Her voice was steady, calm, and completely devoid of hesitation.
But beneath that calm exterior, memories and realizations from the past five days had already solidified into something unshakable.
"Why??" another voice sounded from one of the seats.
For a brief moment, silence filled the hall again.
"I was blind; fighting Bellial made me realize that I was shackled by my decisions. I realized that I did not deserve this position. I want to leave the council and just fulfill my duties as the principal of the academy."
Andrea spoke; she meant something entirely different, but she was sure that these people would mistake her words to be self-loathing when, in actuality, they meant the complete opposite.
In truth, her words were not born from weakness but from clarity.
For years, she had believed the council represented justice and balance.
The battle with Bellial had shattered that illusion.
"There is no need to blame yourself; I think you should take some time and think about it." Another primarch spoke from behind the dark.
The figure speaking was barely visible, hidden behind layers of darkness and faint starlight radiating from the throne.
To the outside world, the Primarchs were revered as near-divine beings, those who were just a step away from being gods.
Yet to Andrea now, they only looked like silhouettes hiding from accountability.
"I’ve had five days to come to this decision, Primarchs; I think I am sure about this," Andrea said.
The primarchs went quiet for a moment. The silence that followed was heavy and unnatural, stretching across the hall like an invisible veil.
Andrea knew they were communicating mentally.
A few moments later, she felt the primarchs shift on their seats.
The movement was subtle, but the pressure in the room changed slightly, and her shoulders relaxed.
"Fine, you are freed from the responsibility of an Astral Warden; from this day on, your decisions will either not concern the heaven’s council at all or will completely go against it," a primarch declared.
The words carried the weight of final judgment. For countless individuals, being dismissed from the Astral Wardens would mean disgrace, but for Andrea, it was freedom from something that had lost all meaning and relevance.
Andrea just nodded silently and took her leave.
She did not look back.
From today, she will do everything in her power and expose the flaws and schemes running deep among these people who refused to protect their own people.