My heart raced as I struggled against the invisible force that held me in place. Fear gripped me tightly, but I refused to let it consume me, tried to break the spell that bound my soul with all of my will.

It was hopeless. Ishira's divine magic and the sacrifices of the villager's Vows 12 years ago somehow made Giovashi absurdly powerful, gave her the ability to cast spells at a level far higher than my Infoscope had defined her own as.

"Everyone but the barmaids, Overseer, Dante and Destiny... please leave," she ordered.

The patrons in the back got up, looking dazed, their eyes glassy. They exited the pub quickly.

"You can speak," Giovashi addressed us. "Feel free to move your eyes and mouth only."

A small part of the binding spell let go of me. I was able to move my eye muscles and mouth. Nothing else worked. The tiniest degree of magic in relation to [Infoscope Astral-Phantom Observation] returned to my eyes alone. I peered at Giovashi through the Astral and the physical world.

She was an absolute monster, wreathed in the radiance Ishira's divine power. I saw something that looked like human souls chained to her in the Astral, a whole army of ghostly, brittle stars pulsing all around her.

"What do you want, Arch-Priestess?" Kliss growled. The Overseer was clearly trying to raise her armacus, but she was also pinned to her seat with magic, unable to move.

Giovashi Incandictia smirked, her mismatched eyes gleaming with violet coronas in the dim light of the pub.

"Oh, just a little chat with our esteemed Overseer of Skyisle and her newfound... friends," she replied.

Kliss glared at the Arch-Priestess, eyes filled with hatred.

Giovashi chuckled darkly. "Let's just say I have a proposition for you, Overseer. One that could benefit both of us. But first, let's talk about your plans for Skyisle."

Kliss narrowed her eyes, her voice laced with defiance. "I have no interest in hearing anything you have to say, Giovashi. Your plans are not in the best interest of this village or its people. Skyisle belongs to Equality!"

"That's where you're wrong, darling," Giovashi said. "Skyisle belongs to me."

Kliss scoffed at Giovashi's assertion. "Ishira no longer holds Skyisle. Its future lies with Equality! What does your false Goddess offer? Fear? Submission? I've seen the destruction and suffering caused by that damned dragon you brought to Skyisle. The Empire won't let Skyisle fall under your influence again!"

The Arch-Priestess laughed, her voice echoing through the pub. "Again? You still don't understand it, do you? I own Skyisle. You're just a little, simple pawn while I am its Monarch, the rightful owner of this little fine vale. This land has been mine alone since the fall of Tricameron!"

"I will never forsake the principles of Equality!" Kliss snapped. "Kill me and my Inquisitor will come, find wherever you're hiding and execute you!"

"Oh but I have no intentions to kill you," Giovashi said. "Magenta! Fetch me a chair!"

Magenta, who had been frozen in place, snapped out of her daze and hurriedly brought a chair over to Giovashi. The Arch-Priestess gracefully sat down, her gaze fixed on Kliss.

"Let's have a civil conversation about our roles, shall we?" Giovashi said, her tone dripping with mock politeness.

"You're wasting your time talking to me," Kliss hissed. "I will never betray the trust of the people I'm responsible for! I won't subject them to Ishira's manipulations!"

"I wish to speak to your Master, not the little flesh puppet he inhabits," Giovashi smiled. "I want to converse with the Overseer's Vow, the Astral-born child of Goddess Equality."

Something changed in the expression of Kliss. Her eyes suddenly turned dead, staring past the Arch-Priestess.

I observed a flicker of something unnerving passing through the Overseer's gaze. "What do you wish to speak about, servant of Ishira?" Her lips spoke in a cold, even, emotionless voice.

"What's your plan for these two adorable human spawns, Equality's Child?" Giovashi asked, waving her hand at me and Delta.

"They are aberrations and they must die," the Overseer's Vow replied with the lips of the girl it inhabited. "They speak an alien tongue. They know far too much. They are children of Cassandra, a Sentinel of Almn-Inia."

"So, you wish to kill them, yes?" Giovashi arched a gray eyebrow.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Yes," The Vow replied. "They are a threat to us. Their legacy must be kept buried and forgotten."

"Do you intend to harm their mother, Cassandra Alana?"

"Yes," The Vow said. "Cassandra must die. She is an Inian Sentinel. All three must be executed, their bloodline must end. The Inian Necromagi are a threat to our Empire, a threat that must be exterminated wherever it is found."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Geovashi said simply. "The Alans are of great value to me."

"You have no authority over me," the Overseer's Vow said. "I answer only to Equality."

"Then, be gone from my sight, Astral-born," The Arch-Priestess of Ishira said. She raised a hand and pointed it at Kliss.

I saw a blast of brilliant, violet-tinted divine magic, like a wall of flames radiating from Giovashi. It ignited the Astral all around the Overseer's Vow. The Vow dove into the depths of the Astral to escape the flames that sought to consume it.

As the flames of divine magic engulfed the area where the Overseer's Vow had vanished, a tense silence settled over the pub. Kliss blinked, looking confused.

"What... was that?" Kliss asked, her voice trembling. "What have you done?"

"Just a little taste of Ishira's power," Giovashi said. "I drove your Vow away for a bit, so that you could make another."

"What?" Kliss blinked.

"You will not be able to control the Overseer's Vow, foolish child," Giovashi commented. "It is stronger than your will or the rules you've made up in your head. It will try to use your armacus, wield your own hand to execute my little Destiny and Cassandra. Swear another Vow to Equality now, a Vow to protect the Alan family and to be their… best friend. You don't want them to die by your own hand, yes? These two children are your little friends, are they not?"

There was a potent pulse of [Charisma] an entire violet ray of it that struck Kliss.

Kliss blinked, her entire face twitching. Her eyes looked at us, filled with panic and uncertainty.

"If I make another Vow to Equality... will it really protect them?" Kliss asked, her voice wavering.

Giovashi smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Of course, darling. With a new Vow, you will have the strength to stand up to your existing Vow, won't be constantly thinking about stabbing these poor, innocent children in the back. I suggest you let go of your hateful emotions, be kinder to the people you Oversee. Hatred is a potent emotion, a worthy sacrifice to Equality that you love so much."

Kliss gulped. She clearly knew that she was being manipulated, but she was also unable to resist the radiance of [Charisma] pouring from Giovashi's violet eyes.

Second by second, she broke under its pressure, submitted to Giovashi's words.

"F-fine," Kliss said.

"Yes. Be their friend and protect them from harm," Giovashi repeated, violet fire dancing in her eyes.

Kliss took a deep breath after another minute and spoke, "I wish to make an [Unbreakable Vow] to [Goddess Equality] to protect the Alan family and aid them. I will not let any harm come to them and be their friend. I will sacrifice my [Hatred] to it."

I saw the creation of a Vow.

Gold threads descended, poured from the astral, reached into the depths of Kliss's soul. A new, Astral-based life blossomed from her core, devouring her mana, feeding off her soul to sustain itself.

I watched as the Astral Fungi continued to spread, intertwining with Kliss's body. It seemed to merge seamlessly with her, becoming a part of her being. Gold threads extended, reaching out like delicate tendrils of a plant seeking sunlight. A second mushroom-like head bloomed above Kliss.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" Giovashi said.

"N-no," Kliss muttered. Her soul looked far less bright in my Infoscope now. Her body trembled as she was still unable to move.

"As for you, Dante," Giovashi turned to me.

I gulped, not sure what to say.

"Tell me, the absolute truth. What level are you?" She asked, her voice laced with powerful [Charisma] magic that scorched through my entire soul.

"I am level... fourteen," I confessed, unable to lie, unable to stand against the monstrous pressure, a violet fire that pulsed in my head.

"What?!" Kliss's eyes snapped to me.

"What's the highest spell you can cast, Dante?" Giovashi resumed.

"Level twenty one," My mouth spoke the absolute truth.

"WHAT?!" Kliss barked, her emerald eyes growing wide in panic.

"What are you plans for Skyisle, Dante?" Giovashi asked.

"I want to heal the land and help the people stand up to monsters like you," I said simply. "How many souls have you devoured, Priestess?"

"How have you broken though the level barrier, child?" Giovashi inquired. "How is that you can see my dedicated followers?"

"Mathematics," I said, trying to keep my answers are brief as possible.

"...Mathematics?" Giovashi blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Mathematics that only I know," I replied, unable to stop. "Knowledge from another world."

"Aberration!" Kliss uttered, her expression that of abject horror.

"My brother is a brilliant... agromancer!" Delta injected herself into the conversation, not affected by the truth-spell targeting me. "He just wants to help Skyisle!"

"Now, that's unexpected. An Astral Phantom that's not craving power. You weren't supposed to be born a kind Agromancer who can heal Skyisle, child," Giovashi tapped her chin. "You're too bright, too capable, outshining my chosen one, getting in Destiny's way. You're interfering with my Vision of the Future far too much. I'm afraid that won't do."

I struggled to move, to do something.

"What are you planning to do with my brother?" Delta growled.

"Nothing too painful," Giovashi said. "I'll simply remove his magic, fix the narrative of the future."

"What?" Delta gasped. "WHY?!"

"He's not the child of the narrative chosen by Ishira's power bound by the blood sacrifice of your mother," Giovashi said. "You are. Don't worry, he won't die... he just won't be able to cast spells anymore."

"No!" Delta shouted. "You can't take away his magic! It's a part of who he is!"

Giovashi smirked. "Oh, but I can. With a simple application of my power, I can sever his connection to the Astral forevermore. You'll still have a nice brother to play with, just not one who can use such high-level magic."

She reached out to me with her hand and touched my forehead.

Violet fire poured from her fingers, engulfed my entire soul, pushed me out of my body. I felt something vital tearing within me.

As the violet inferno consumed me, I felt a sense of panic and disorientation. I felt, saw that I was being torn away from my physical form, was falling away from my body into the infinite, dark abyss.

"Dante!" Delta's scream sounded through my head before I heard nothing as my soul snapped off from my body completely.