Rieren wasn’t the only one staring, of course, though most of the others who were had a lot of awe upon their faces. She didn’t really get to see and enjoy it as much as she might have wished to. There was still the consideration of all that the Abyssal had revealed.
Of all that she herself had shown so willingly.
For, if there was ever a need for proof of what the Gravemark Puppeteer had said, then Rieren’s display of overwhelming strength and prowess was more than enough evidence.
At least, for the time being, they were more concerned about the wellbeing of the Sect Leader. The surviving Elders had gathered around him, the desperation in their movements quite obvious even to onlookers who had never seen them before. Nobody wanted Solmir to die, least of all those who he had helped raise to their current positions.
“Is there nothing that can be done?” Elder Veylie asked in dismay. She barely held herself from looking around at them all for an answer none of them could deliver, though the impulse to do so was clear as the day Rieren’s ability had let in.
“My flowers are only holding him in place,” Elder Alm said, gruff and unsure. “But… but I do not know…”
Rieren watched closely. In the chaos of the battle, she hadn’t been able to take note of details or properly identify what exactly was wrong with the Sect Leader. Now, it was all too obvious.
There was clear evidence that the Gravemark Puppeteer had obviously tried to drain him. Rieren had noted that earlier. What she hadn’t seen was that the draining had left little lacerations and wounds all over him, all of which were bleeding out. One of the disciples was trying to heal him, but it didn’t seem like it was working.
The Sect Leader gasped. He was trying to speak, though his voice was weak and Rieren failed to make out a single word.
“Rieren,” Elder Veylie said. Her dark eyes held Rieren in place. “Do you know what is causing this? What the Abyssal did to him?”
She glanced once more at the Sect Leader’s body. He was painful to look at now, not just because of his state, but also for all the memories of Evos—and Starloper, by extension—it brought. “I believe it may have been attempting to do to him what it had done to the body within its carapace.”
“And how do we reverse it?”
“I cannot say, Elder.”
The Elder turned back to the Sect Leader with no small amount of vehemence.
“Then what good are you?” Essalina asked. Rieren turned, standing unflinching under Essalina’s imperious and challenging eyes. “All this power and progress, and you can’t actually help when it matters. What was the point of it all, then?”
Rieren wished to know that answer to that too, if she was being honest. Logic dictated that her past had been about ending the gods’ stranglehold upon the system. That her actions had allowed everyone to explore it, and thus, even if she didn’t have any and all answers they might seek, she had granted others the ability to find those answers for themselves.
But then, what was even the point of arguing such semantics with one such as Essalina? Did it even matter if Rieren truly was worthless and powerless in their eyes?
Her resolution was fast becoming clear to her and it didn’t involve Essalina, or the Sect, or even Amalyse and her father for that matter. All these things she could do without. Would have to do without. It was fast dawning upon her that the point she had re-emerged out into the greater world in the last timeline was being forced upon her again, here and now.
As the Abyssal’s last words had said, her presence would soon be known to everyone, thanks to the monster’s webs.
“At least she killed that Abyssal,” Amalyse said from behind. “What did you do, Arteroth? Get bullied by it until someone could save your hide?”
Essalina didn’t even bother responding to Amalyse. Considering how much of an insult it was to say such things in public, especially in front of her own soldiers, it was telling that she didn’t move her glare off Rieren.
For Rieren’s part, she couldn’t pay much attention to them any longer. With Temporal Recollector’s effects fading, an acute headache was wrapping around her skull.
She didn’t understand it at first. Temporal Recollectors were created for and used by the wealthy who had aged in the previous timeline to enjoy their youth again for a limited time. It hadn’t had any negative drawbacks, certainly nothing that had been reported publicly. So what was this spiking pain taking root in her head as the last of the item’s effect faded?
Her eyes widened. Time. Of course, that was it. A Temporal Recollector brought the memory of a past to life, but that memory technically hadn’t even occurred in this timeline. She was forcing it to draw across an entirely different timeline.
And now it was making its displeasure felt at such an act.
“She needs to be brought into justice.” Essalina levelled her black sword straight at Rieren. “She needs to surrender and divulge all that she knows.”
Rieren pressed a hand to her temple. Great. Now lights were flashing in her field of view. The bared threat sending everyone into a tizzy wasn’t helping matter.
While the disciples responded in anger by drawing out their weapons, the Arteroth soldiers were all prepared as well, pulling out their spears and flashing their black-and-gold flames on the spearheads.
“She’s already been telling us all that we need to know,” Amalyse said. “It’s not like withholding information is a crime.”
“It is when the Emperor demands cooperation. Withholding such vital knowledge is nothing short of treason.” Essalina didn’t lower her sword, but there was a strange twist to her face. “But I shouldn’t even bring up one who is being so willfully manipulated by others. This Emperor of ours is nothing more than a pawn for the gods.”
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“Watch yourself,” Silk said, voice dangerously low.
“I merely speak the truth. Are you all willing to stand by while knowledge about you is gathered and any actions you might hope to take against them is neutered before they can even take root in your minds? This cooperation is a lie. A fabrication for the benefit of not the empire or the people of the Elderlands, but those who seek to take advantage of us all.”
Despite the pain, Rieren was just glad she could think. None of it was a lie. None of it was anything they could deny. If the Abyssal’s words were true, then the gods’ Banishedborn followers were indeed manipulating the Forborne Emperor himself. In other words, the ones who truly stood to benefit from much of all that had happened so far were the gods.
And most of them knew full well that their immortal deities were not benevolent towards the Elderlands or its inhabitants at all.
“So, what,” Amalyse said. “You think apprehending Rieren will stop anything?” She shook her head. “The gods are using the excuse of her existence as a means to tighten their hold upon all of us. You heard that monster, didn’t you? Rieren is far from the only target.”
Essalina ignored Amalyse’s counterargument. “Elders. Make your decision. Who do you stand by? This charlatan who has lied to us all? The Emperor who is a mere pawn of the gods?”
It took a moment, but Elder Veylie finally stood back up to stare at the Arteroth scion with unflinching dark eyes. “What are you saying, Lady Arteroth? Choose your words with care.”
“I am saying that, in light of the information that has been released to us all, the Arteroth clan will no longer heed the commands of a so-called Emperor who has discarded all his subjects in such a manner.”
“Are you saying that you are hereby seceding from the Elderlands itself?”
“Not at all. The Arteroth simply condemns the rotten corruption stemming from the imperial court. We will no longer abide by the laws a corrupt Emperor sets forward. We will not stand back while the Elderlands is turned into a tyrannical extension of the Celestial Realm.” She turned to Rieren. “And we will not stand idly by while those such as her walk free.”
In a sense, Essalina shouldn’t even be having any arguments with Rieren. If the Arteroth scion was taking a stand against the gods, then Rieren would fit right in. She hated those divine bastards too.
Except, things never tended to be so simple, nor so black and white. Trusting freely was too dangerous. Forget the gods, Rieren was still far from strong enough to survive the direct attention of the Emperor and his Masked Avatars. Letting her knowledge out publicly would have invited fatal scrutiny.
Rieren had survived thanks to her prowess, her tact, and a little bit of luck. But that survival had come at a cost. She only had to look around at the remains of the once-great Lionshard Sect to see it.
Would the outcome have changed for the better if Rieren had been open about the truth from the beginning? No. The gods had only pinpointed her location at the very end of Lionshard Sect’s existence, when they had all flung themselves into the dungeon to survive the Banishedborn’s swathe of destruction. If Rieren had been revealed earlier, they would have destroyed the entire mountain itself on the very first day of the apocalypse.
But Essalina seemed to think that Rieren’s reluctance to reveal the truth was cowardice. Betrayal. Easy for her to say since she had no vested interest in the Sect’s survival.
While they were arguing, Amalyse had walked over to Rieren. “Are you alright?” she asked, brows furrowed in concern. “You don’t look much better than the Sect Leader.”
Rieren stared at her.
“Okay, maybe not that bad,” Amalyse admitted.
“So what is your answer, Elder?” Essalina asked, imperious as only the brat of an Archnoble could ever be.
Rieren’s shoulders tensed. If the Elders decided to side with Essalina, she was in no condition to do anything about it. Cursed Temporal Recollector. She’d have to find—
“We will not turn our backs upon our own disciples,” Elder Veylie said. “No matter who they are or what they might have been accused of doing. Until we determine what is the right course of action, we will not be swayed by others either. No matter who they may be, as well.”
Rieren was unable to breathe for a few moments. That answer… a part of her had hoped that the Sect would always be behind her, that her fellow disciples and the Elders she had worked so diligently under, would all know her for who she was. Would know that none of what she had done had been out of malice towards anyone but the gods themselves.
And yet, despite her hope, receiving the reality of it made her heart tremble in a feeling she had never thought she would feel. A feeling that she needed a few moments to identify.
Belonging.
It wasn’t just the Elder who looked resolute about that decision. All the disciples were staring with barely hidden hostility at Essalina, their hands still gripping their various weapons tightly.
“The Arteroth have greatly assisted you in your endeavour to retake Lionshard mountain from the abhorrent Abyssals,” Essalina reminded them all. “Is this how you repay such generosity and goodwill?”
Elder Veylie wasn’t taken in by that argument either. “You make demands that are far beyond any reasonable claims. Lionshard Sect is grateful for your assistance in matters, but you will not tread upon us or anything that we hold dear. Is that understood, Lady Arteroth?”
The Elder waited a while, but Essalina didn’t reply. She didn’t move either, though.
“If you have no further business here, you may leave,” Elder Veylie said. “The Sect has a great deal of rebuilding to do. Once we are properly established again, we can speak more about any remuneration you were hoping to find here. Though, I suppose you do not wish to prolong our cooperation any longer, considering it is nothing more than a fabrication.”
This time, Essalina did look like she was about to reply. But Elder Alm interrupted her.
“He is dying,” the Elder announced. Over a century of his life, he had mastered the art of appearing neutral and unemotional no matter the circumstance. But for once, he had let the façade break, allowing a glimmer of impending grief to slip through. “I do not think I can hold him back any longer.”
“There really is nothing any of us can do?” Elder Veylie asked quietly, all attention torn from the Arteroth scion.
No one said a thing. They didn’t even move. It was heartbreaking to realize that, even after having defeated the Abyssals and secured the Sect’s continued survival, they were about to lose something so dear to them all. No wonder Elder Veylie was so adamant about not letting anyone else die.
“I believe I may be of assistance here.”
Rieren looked to the side, startled as much as everyone else, as Kervantes appeared. She hadn’t seen what had become of him in the midst of the chaotic fight with the Gravemark Puppeteer.
But more than his surprising arrival and even his incredible statement, it was the glow from within his chest that froze her. That kind of light could only indicate one thing.
“Are you… offering us the Dungeon Core?” Elder Veylie asked.
“Offering sounds somewhat malicious somehow,” Kervantes said. “Though, I blame that on how you humans tend to twist your words with your connotations and all your other pesky little inclinations.”
“Kervantes,” Rieren said, cutting off his rambling mostly because it was making her head hurt worse. “What do you intend to do to the Sect Leader?”
“Why, nothing. The man is more or less dead.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“Well, perhaps I should rephrase myself. The body that your Sect Leader used has been… used up, for lack of a better term, by the Abyssal who kept him trapped. The connection between his spirit and his physical form has nearly been severed. As such, he is nearly dead.”
Realization was beginning to dawn upon Rieren. Of course. “A connection that the Dungeon Core can reestablish.”
“Exactly.”
“How?” Elder Veylie asked. “Does this Core of yours possess miraculous healing powers?”
“Not quite. Rather than healing, I would phrase it as your Sect Leader taking on a different connection to keep himself still alive in this world.”
Several of the others still looked confused, and since Kervantes was still being cryptic for whatever reason, Rieren decided to spell out the automaton’s intention for them all. It was best they all got on the same footing as soon as possible.
“A Dungeon Core,” Rieren said, a little haltingly. “He wants the Sect Leader to become the next Dungeon Core.”