Chapter 2:

Ady, the Hero of Fate, shifted her weight from one foot to another. The young girl appeared nervous as she waited in an extravagantly luxurious room. She was sure some of the art pieces cost more than her parents’ yearly earnings with the farm.

She had arrived to Thela, only to be accosted by guards ready to guide her to the Great Cathedral. Apparently, the Pope had cast a divination spell to find the heroes, and so, they knew she had been on her way.

She had also been the first hero to arrive. The guards had put her in this guest room to wait for the others. She was technically free to go outside and explore the city, but she was far too anxious. What if she missed the other heroes’ arrival and they had to look for her while she was being a country-bumpkin tourist?

Still, it wasn’t as if she had just stayed in her room for the last few days. She went out for meals and she trained in the backyard with the Church knights. The Order of Grimmiel was made up of faithfuls of the Archons who swore to protect the people, and the knights had been perfect sparring partners.

She had heard that the Hero of Mysteries and Hero of War had arrived shortly after her, and were staying in inns. She hadn’t met them yet. The Hero of Life and Hero of Freedom were supposedly on the Eastern Continent, so it was normal for them to take longer to come to Thela.

Ady fiddled with her clothes, adjusting the breastplate and bracers her father had added to her outfit. They couldn’t refit his armor from his adventurer days, but they had enough to buy some armor pieces.

Knock, knock.

She jolted at the sudden knocking at her door.

“Lady Forgrange, the other heroes have arrived. Her Holyness calls for you.” The voice was muffled by the door, but Ady understood very well.

“I’m coming!” She jumped to her feet and opened the door.

The Church Knight in full plate on the other side gave her a nod and started walking. The young heroine followed him.

Walking through the halls of the Great Cathedral was awe-inspiring. Not only were there depictions of the Archons, but also paintings and sculptures of the previous heroes defeating the Overlords of the past. A cycle of ten thousand years she was now part of. She gulped nervously at that thought.

They arrived before a door that she knew held the Prophet’s office. The knight knocked.

“Presenting Lady Adeline Forgrange, Hero of Fate, Chosen of Balserion.” He called out before opening the door.

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Hwarang opened his eyes from his position, leaning against a wall in the Prophet’s office. The door opened and he saw the last member of their little group.

Young, was the thought that went through his head. No older than twenty he guessed. Same for the elf boy and the devil girl, though it was hard to guess an elf’s actual age, but he smelled of inexperience.

He huffed to himself. Even forty years ago, when he had been chosen as the Hero of War the first time, he had been the oldest at 28. The rest of the party had been a bunch of teenagers.

His second thought about the girl was that the greatsword she carried around looked like a Grossrey blade. He had met his fair share of people wielding those kinds of oversized swords in the monarchic kingdom.

His eyes wandered to the Hero of Freedom. If he had been younger, he may have tried his chance with that one. She really was a stunner.

Then his attention shifted to Astraea Sirius, the big wig herself, as she stood up to greet the new arrival.

“Adeline, thank you for coming.” She gave a small smile at the blond countryside girl.

“Thank you for having me, your Holiness.” Adeline bowed.

“Now that all the Chosen Heroes have gathered, I think it’s time for you to meet each other. We’ll talk about the Overlord situation afterward.” The Pope then sat back down, watching. She had done the same when Hwarang met his old party.

As the senior in that case, he should put his foot forward.

“Hwarang, Hero of War. It’s my second time around, so you can count on me.” He said while thumping his chest with his fist.

“Wait! You’re THE Hwarang?!” Adeline squealed. She was meeting a legend.

“It would be the first time a veteran hero was alive for a second cycle.” The elf commented. “Ah, pardon me. Alban Freenaud, Hero of Mysteries, also a graduated mage of the Ulgah Academy.” He finished his greeting with a graceful bow.

“I guess it’s my turn then. My name is Adeline Forgrange. Please, call me Ady.” She gave a bright smile to the gathered heroes.

“Marigold. Hero of Life. Nice to meet you.” The white-haired devil introduced herself shortly. she pointed to the cat on her shoulder. “Baku, my familiar.”

The last person in the room raised from her seat. She curtsied.

“My name is Rosetta, Hero of Freedom. I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”

Adeline beamed. They all seemed like nice people.

“You may also know me as the Rotten Flower Lich.” Rosetta added as an afterthought.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment as all sound in the room ceased.

Hwarang was the first to move. He lunged towards the undead.

Alban stumbled in sheer surprise. Ady was reaching for her sword. Marigold’s hands started to emit frost.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Before Hwarang’s fist could shatter Rosetta’s skull, a wall of golden light appeared between them, stopping the blow.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Hwarang asked, his head turning toward Astraea, whose hand shone with the same golden light, indicating her as the caster of the defensive spell.

“Rosetta has been defending the Necrotic Rift since the fall of the 7th Overlord, and Marha has chosen her. She finished her sentence and earned a second chance.” The Prophet’s words were soft, but broke no arguments.

“With all respect, your Holiness. Can we really trust her?” Alban asked after recovering from the sudden surprise.

Astraea raised an eyebrow.

“Do you doubt the Archons’ decision?”

“O-off course not!” The young elf stammered.

Adeline was the next to make her move. She moved her hand away from the hilt of her sword and approached the Lich. She extended a hand.

“If the Archons say you’re good, that’s good enough for me.” She said, offering a handshake as a peace offering.

“Fu, fu. Aren’t you just a delight.” Rosetta replied and raised her own hand, not to shake, but to tug the younger woman towards her in a hug.

“Hmmph?!” Ady wasn’t able to react as her head was enveloped by an ample chest.

Hwarang settled down. He would keep an eye on the Lich anyways, but he could see how two thousand years could change someone. One chance, that was all he was willing to give.

“Now that everyone has introduced themselves, won’t you come out?” Astraea suddenly called out.

Everyone paused, wondering who she was talking to.

“I guess I have to.” A young man’s voice answered, coming from the rafters.

Hwarang inwardly cursed. His Mana Sensing was on. Few people could hide from him, especially at such a short range: druids who could camouflage their presence with the world’s mana, and people who had a perfect control of their Essence.

Jumping from the wooden beam he was on, the unknown person revealed himself to be a blue-haired Beastkin.

“Hello, I’m Ira Lughwhein, apparently a hero even if I don't know which god chose me.” He flashed his hand and the glowing, black brand on the back of it.

“That is what I was afraid of. Let me explain.” The immortal prophet of the Archons pulled everyone’s attention back to her before they could erupt in questions about the idea of a sixth hero.

“As you all know, ten thousand years ago, the six Archons spawned from the Void, called forth by Humanity’s call for help. They dethroned the cruel gods who ruled over the world and took their place.” No one interrupted. This was common knowledge.

“However, what many do not know is that, at the time, there were seven Archons.” This was new to everyone. “Lugheria, Archon of Adversity, was the vanguard during the Heavenly War. He was the one who defied Atlan, the God of Power, and opened the way for the other Archons.”

The prophet took a breath and her head turned, analyzing the heroes’ reaction. As they were still silent, she continued.

“However, this battle weakened him and he fell against the Old Gods. Yet, his actions were enough for the other Archons to win the ensuing war.”

“Why isn’t he mentioned in the Book of the Archons?” Marigold was the one to recover first and break the heroes’ silence.

“Because I willed it. Humanity needed an absolute victory. We couldn’t have a godly sacrifice, and the Archons agreed with my choice.” Astraea responded.

“So how do we explain my presence if no one should know about this seventh Archon?” Ira asked, raising the hand that bore the mark as emphasis.

“It wouldn’t be the first time the heroes asked for outside help. I did for the first Overlord. Then to beat the second, a lot of sea Beastkins and a whole naval fleet had to be deployed. A sixth member wouldn’t be unusual.” The ageless woman really seemed to have thought about everything.

“Fine by me.” The wolf-eared hero shrugged. From a pouch situated on his lower back, he took out a bandage roll and started to wrap up his hand. Once it was done, he clenched his fist a few times to make sure it was tied tight.

“Have your worries been assuaged?” Astraea addressed the other heroes from behind her desk.

“So, do we know who or what the Overlord is?” Hwarang asked.

“We do.”

“We do?” The old mercenary was surprised. Generally, the Overlords revealed themselves with big acts of destruction. They either were walking disasters or political entities who couldn’t help amassing big armies, sometimes both. The 9th was a traitor who turned a good deal of the Church on itself when he revealed himself. And he had been the sneakiest of the lot.

“Indeed. He actually wrote a letter. It was carried by an eagle skeleton.” The leader of the Archon Church took a paper from her desk that she extended to the party.

As the closest, Ira took the offered letter. Marigold, Alban and Ady were the most curious and approached to read above his shoulders.

“Snrk.” Ira strangled a laugh. “Well, isn’t he confident.” The others didn’t have any better reactions. Alban’s features crunched as if he saw something disgusting. Marigold’s shoulders shook silently. Adeline was the one who followed in Ira’s footsteps and put her hands on her mouth to stop from laughing out loud.

“Well, what does it say?” Hwarang was curious about what an Overlord could have written to get such reactions.

“Dear Astraea Sirius,” Ira began to read out loud, “my name is Rimu Lauron, 10th Overlord, and soon to be ruler of the world. Unlike my predecessors, I will make you bow. Soon, an unending army of undeads will walk on Shicks and tear any resistance apart. Surrender or serve me in death.”

Ira then turned towards Rosetta who had a small smile growing on her face.

“PS: don’t think the Rotten Flower Lich will be able to stop me from getting what I want. I’ll have the old hag kissing my ass before I get to you.”

Rosetta’s smile was wiped from her face.

“I suddenly feel very heroic. Let’s go kill this dastardly Overlord, and teach him to speak to ladies. Exactly in that order.” The Lich didn’t raise her voice, but the menace in it was clear.

“Since he mentioned Rosetta in his letter, it is clear he is targeting the Necrotic Rift. You know where he will be.” Astraea interrupted the undead’s murderous thoughts.

Ira winced. The Necrotic Rift was an interdimensional portal that opened on a plane full of necrotic Mana. The 7th Overlord, Ulzul Macrit, had taken advantage of a dimensional weakness to open it, and used the flooding death-aspected Mana to create his army of undeads and flesh-crafted abominations.

“Hey, at least, we have a guide, right?” Ady chimed in. Everyone looked at Rosetta.

The Lich had been Ulzul’s second in command. She had survived the battle with the heroes of the time, and vowed to keep the Rift under control in exchange for her life and freedom. In hindsight, she had done her job for the last two millennia, so it had been rude for the others to react as badly as they did when she introduced herself.

“A guide for a trip a continent away.” Ira commented. Shicks was on the Western Continent, Lumeria, while the Necrotic Rift was on the other side of the Eastern Continent of Immat. Technically, they could go west from Shicks and land on the Rift, but the sea between the two in that direction was so vast that it was a trip that would take half a year at minimum, and that if they went in a straight line with the fastest airship available. However…

“We aren’t taking an airship. Those things hate me.” Ira crossed his arms in defiance.

“Are you scared of heights, mister Lughwhein?” Alban asked.

“No. I just have gotten on three airships in my life, and all three crashed.”

“How did that happen?” Marigold tilted her head. She was morbidly curious as every airship she took always landed safely.

“First was a piece of junk that was badly maintained. My fault for trusting what was clearly a drunk pilot.” The blue-haired Beastkin reminisced. “Then, the second had some kind of VIP on it, and a political opponent had hired someone to sabotage the engine. Third was shot down by a bunch of harpy sky pirates.”

“How are you still alive?” Ady asked.

“Footwork.”

“Eh?” The answer only left her puzzled.

“Airstepping is a useful skill.” Hwarang nodded his head sagely, having caught what Ira was trying to say. He also re-evaluated the Beastkin. It took a certain expertise of one’s own Essence to create the necessary foothold to walk across the sky as if it was the ground.

“All of that to say, I’m not getting on an airship. Plus, the only other road by airship is by the Harpy Skydom. We would get shot down so fast, we would be better off swimming.

“So, what do you propose exactly?” Alban narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t an expert in terms of traveling, but he had read books about geopolitics. He knew that the floating kingdom was home to a lot of flying bandits because they were hard to catch in such hazardous terrain. Even the Skydom’s officials had a hard time finding all the possible pirate camps.

“We go South by train, cross Frostspire. We then go East. I know a place called Golgol Port that does regular trips to Eastern Highroad. Best way as far as I’m concerned.”

“Hmm, seems right. You know your way around the road, don’t you?” Hwarang acknowledged Ira’s plan.

“You aren’t the only wandering mercenary around. Been on the road since I was twelve.”

“Haha! We will have to exchange stories then!” The old hero guffawed.

“I don’t know if I have more interesting tales than the Hand of Steel.” Ira replied humbly.

“Ooh! Let me listen in when you do. I’m curious.” Ady jumped in enthusiastically. She heard tales about the previous hero party, and Hwarang in particular.

The heroes stopped talking when they heard strained chuckles. They turned towards the Pope. The black-haired immortal had a hand before her mouth, trying to not her laugh resound in the room. Seeing she had caught everyone’s attention, she regained her composure almost instantly.

“It warms my heart to see you get along so fast. Ira’s plan sounds reasonable. I will make sure you have the funds for your travel. You should rest and get to know each other more in a more comfortable setting instead of in an old woman’s place like mine.” She said with self-deprecating humor, shooing them off.

“Been a while since I have been treated like a kid.” Hwarang grumbled.

“I personally find it refreshing.” Rosetta replied as they all walked out of the room.

“Your Holiness.” Alban bowed before following. Marigold silently bowed as a farewell too.

“Don’t worry, we’ll kick the ass of this rude guy real fast.” Ady gave a wave.

Ira nodded in the direction of the Pope and closed the door behind him as he left.

Astraea kept smiling before she looked up and gave a soft sigh. She rubbed her shoulders and took a bottle from her desk’s secret compartment. Pouring herself a glass, she drank it in one gulp. The whiskey burned down her throat.

She let old memories come to her mind and thought of how they were going to impact the present