After hearing Alex would be attending his sermon, The Cardinal of Benevolence had invited the entire school to attend, stating ‘no one should beyond the words of the divines’. With the Academy as a whole sitting along the benches in the assembly hall, Johan stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat.
The hall itself was awash with a rainbow of colours streaming in through the stained glass windows. Windows depicting scenes from the founding of the Dark Continent’s history.
“Hello all, I am Johan Pleidies; it is a pleasure to be reading from the first book of the divine,” he said with his usual warm, welcoming tone that put people naturally at ease. Very few had ever seen, let alone read, the first book of the divines, otherwise known as the book of beginnings itself. This was partly because the other pantheons didn’t advertise the origin of existence.
From what little was known, the Northern Pantheon used their only copy as rolling paper to smoke some premium magical herbs. The Eastern Pantheon had turned it into pulp to make new paper to republish it, only to realise they didn’t have a copy to transfer it from. The Dune Sea’s copy wasn’t lost due to as stupid reasons as the other pantheons; theirs was enshrined in the mausoleum with the death of their patron deity.
Only the Southern Pantheons Book of Beginnings still existed. This is not to say the gods didn’t just do what gods do best and bullshit their followers. The very… ‘enlightened’ Northern Pantheon made up a story about killing a giant to make the world. The Dune Sea explained it as the father god enjoying his own company.
However, Johan had gotten his hands on a rare copy of the original text. As he stood at the podium looking out over the expectant gazes, he felt it was time opening the old and worn-looking book he began.
“In the beginning, there was nought but the void. The void was, by its very nature, nothing. There was no up nor down. There was no before or after, for time did not exist. The only thing to exist in the void was The One Above All,” his voice reverberated around the hall thanks to finely tuned acoustics when it was built. The students and faculty couldn’t help but murmur in response to the idea all existence sprung from a single being.
“The One Above All was a being of infinite power and mass that knew all, for there was nought that was unknown to them. None could match their power nor presence. But as this was the void, there was no one else, for there is only The One Above All.”
“Praise be unto them!” A number of the Theocracy attendees in the audience chorused out.
“The One Above All was unaware of their isolation, for they were all there was and all there should have ever been. For the void is formless and quiet,” Johan paused to look over the rapt crowd. Even Alex was paying keen attention as this was a text he had wanted to read himself.
“It was aeons or perhaps mere seconds, for time was yet to start when something passed through the void. This one is known as The Other, and It is because of The Other that The One Above All now knew what they didn’t. The One Above All now knew it was alone.”
“Praise be unto them!” A number of the theocracy attendees chorused, now accompanied by several students, sat near them.
“It is in their now-known loneliness that The One Above All began to fall into the depths of madness, for this was The Other’s true goal. It is in The One Above All’s madness they fractured into many parts and shook the void but twice as it descended into chaos. It is from this chaos that existence arose.”
There was another wave of murmurs. Most descriptions of creation spoke of it rising from a chaotic realm. To have this reaffirmed by the Book of Beginnings was comforting to know, at the very least.
“Further Aeons passed within the Chaos when a voice shook all of the nascent existence. The voice boomed. ‘COME AND WITNESS ME!!’” Johan’s voice boomed around the assembly hall and held such a tone that many could feel it reverberating in their chests.
“And thus the Builder took form. He spoke unto the void, and in the first words ever spoken by a mouth, he said, ‘It is by my hand that all existence shall take shape’.”
“Praise be unto the Builder maker of all,” many voices chorused as more students were swept up by Johan’s sermon.
“The Builder, upon seeing the chaos put his One Above All given gifts to work. He began to put together the foundations of existence. But he was without guidance, and after one thousand millennia, his creation collapsed and died,” Johan lowered his head seemingly in prayer for this lost existence that only garnered a brief mention.
“It was in its collapse; the chaos shook once more with the boom of a new voice. ‘COME AND WITNESS ME!!’” As with before, his voice carried around the hall and reverberated in the chests of all present.
“And lo and behold, for the wife of the Builder took form. The Architect, upon arriving in the chaos, declared to all existence. ‘Behold for I shall design all he shall build for while he shall make existence it shall be by my design’. Thus the House of Order was established.”
“Praise be unto the Architect designer of all,” half the hall now chorused in response.
“A thousand-thousand millennia passed with the Builder and the Architect working hand in hand. Creation was a utopia that future generations would forever seek,” Johan lowered his head as if in prayer once more.
“It was at the end of this age of creation that the nascent creation shook as it had twice before. A new voice boomed into the now calming chaos. ‘COME AND WITNESS ME!!’. For it is with this voice, the Destroyer took shape, and he said unto all of creation. ‘I shall bring destruction where there is order. I will destroy all the Builder shall make. For that is my sole desire.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Praise be unto the Destroyer may he ever enable the renewal of existence,” voices chorused as more and more voices joined them.
“And so the utopia ended as the Destroyer brought his wrath upon existence. All the Builder created, he destroyed. It was during this era of pandemonium that existence shook once more with a voice. ‘COME AND WITNESS ME!!’” This time his voice rattled the hall's windows as he spoke the words.
“And so the wife of the Destroyer took form. For she will be known as Entropy, and she spoke unto existence. ‘Behold for I am Entropy, and I shall bring myself into all. All the Architect may design shall no longer be perfect and will fall to my domain’.”
“Praise be unto Entropy, for she prevents stagnation,” nearly the entire hall chorused.
“And so the House of Disorder was formed, and the era of chaos rose anew. With both houses locked in seemingly eternal conflict. There was no end, and all existence began to crumble around their conflict. This conflict lasted countless aeons before all existence shook with such power that both houses stopped their conflict to look upon the source. ‘COME WITNESS US!!’” Two voices spoke unto existence, and they did.”
Johan paused to look over the audience, which was all rapt with the scriptures he was reading. He was glad he had convinced the Theocracy higher-ups to allow him to read this story. It would let them get even a little foothold in this land; he would be happy. As that would help prevent needless conflicts.
“The voices then took the forms of a radiant beauty and a gaunt man. They spoke unto the two Houses. ‘Look upon creation and see what you have wrought’,” the radiant figure roared, shaking the House of Creation to their very cores. For Mother Life had taken shape and would not permit such needless conflict anymore.”
“Then the gaunt figure spoke unto the House of Disorder, ‘Look upon the destruction you have wrought, and despair’, for Father Death had taken shape and would no longer permit chaos to return. For it is with these last two Pure Divines that the House of Balance took shape. Never taking a side and forever maintaining balance.”
“Praise unto Mother Life and Father Death, without whom we would be nought.” The entire hall spoke in unison, minus a few faculty seated around the hall.
“With peace established, the Four houses unified in order to bring creation to be. The creation in which we now reside. Their first steps were to procreate and bring into existence four Greater Divines, the second highest order of divinity,” Johan paused to glance at Alex, who, while focused on the sermon, had yet to utter a single sound.
“They are the son of the House of Order, the child known as The Strong! It is upon his back that all bonds can remain. The House of Disorder, in mockery of the Order’s son, had a daughter and named her The Weak! For it she who shall perpetuate decay in all its forms,” Johan paused as he noticed some focused gazes from certain audience members.
“The House of Balance had a Son named Gauss, for he shall be mighty but also weak. For he shall shine with light. The last child born to the first four houses is Gravtas; she was born silent and is the only one permitted to affect her parent's domain.”
There were confused murmurs amongst the crowd about where this fourth house suddenly came from, as there was no mention of it so far. But they decided to wait patiently to see if their presence would be explained.
“Children of the Dark Continent, we are but mere mortals born to this realm to fulfil the duties of the Gods above us. Gods the second lowest station in the divine realm. But Gods, nonetheless, I will close with this statement, my children. Our rivalries are very much like the House of Order and the House of Disorder. We oppose each other for little reason than it is in our nature. We must follow their example, become like the House of Balance, and bring peace to all our people… I thank you for your time,” Johan lowered his head to the audience, who returned a loud applause with cheers. Johan, in response, looked bashful at the praise being thrown his way as he hastily made his way to the back room to rest, supported by his guards’ arms.
Very few in the audience noticed the clear onset signs of going manaout. What little suspicions they had held so far were now confirmed. The Cardinal of Benevolence was truly a terrifying user of magic that even real grandmasters had yet failed to pierce.
“See, sir… he truly is magnificent,” Daisy praised.
“I can see why you’d think that,” Alex replied noncomittally.
“He has such a way with words,” Bea added.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“The words were my favourite part,” Tasha added herself.
“I’m sure they were,” Alex replied, trying to keep his expression as calm as a lake on a windless night.
“What about you boys?”
“I still think he is a great man,” Gunter replied, looking towards the door Johan had retreated through.
“I can’t help but worry about him. He looked rather pale when he went to rest,” Kline said, also looking longingly towards the door.
“What about you, Maxwell?”
“I have to admit…” Maxwell began before trailing off as he fumbled with his fingers.
“Yes?”
“I was wrong to suspect him. Someone who could elevate the words of the divines to such heights is clearly too pure to have ulterior motives!”
“I see…” Alex began before trailing off, looking at his clenched fists that were starting to go white.
“What did you think, sir?” Daisy asked, practically pouncing from her seat.
“I shall pass on your praises; I am still set to have dinner this evening. I imagine it is going to be very interesting indeed.”
“Who else will be at the dinner, sir?” Bea eagerly asked.
“Not you, kids. It will be a small affair with a few of the bigwigs of this region. I imagine Elissa and Yuu will be there. Sloth will definitely show up when I tell him about how this sermon went.”
“See, sir; you just had to get to know him!” Tasha beamed as she slapped him on the back.
“Yes… Now I have seen him properly with my own two eyes… I can see why you lot praise him so much…”
“Oh, look at you, sir… Shaking with excitement already!” Daisy added, noticing how Alex’s fists were shaking.
“Now, if you excuse me, I need to speak to a few people so we can have the dinner go off without a hitch. Certainly don’t want any interruptions or unwelcome guests.” As the class watched Alex walk off towards where Elissa and Yuu were sitting, Maxwell turned to face the rest of his classmates.
“Guys, I got an idea… I know where they are going to have that dinner. I’m sure Mr Johan wouldn’t mind if we inconspicuously joined. If we get discovered, he would probably let us join.”
“He likes that quote, ‘Tis better to ask for absolution than begeth for permission’,” Daisy replied.
“So it’s settled we will sneak into that dinner?”
“Yes, I know a few guys in the servant's quarters who can lend us uniforms,” Bea added, planning to use her family's debtor connections to help their scheme succeed.