Collapsed Earth, a few kilometers underground.
Azzad traversed on a huge dark passageway surrounded by steel-like walls embedded with glowing green lines.
It lighted up the path until he arrived in front of two huge doors. It had a set of lines too, though they did not glow unlike those in the walls.
The lines connected to the center, where a transparent crystal ball with a diameter of 1 meter could be seen.
“Azzad greets the Sentry.”, he ghostly spoke.
His sound echoed throughout the passageway, creeping anyone if they were there.
A humming sound was emitted.
The lines in the doors glowed brightly, flowing from the edges towards the crystal ball.
It shone and projected a half-bodied figure of a figure with peculiar features.
“Void.”
It paused for a moment, “Speak. Why are you here at this time of the day? Give me a reasonable answer, for I have a lot of things to do and I don’t want to waste my time talking nonsense with you.”, coldly saying in a robotic voice.
“The successor is here. I have felt the presence of Master’s essence inside him.”, Azzad replied.
The figure’s ‘eyes’ glowed in excitement.
“Master’s will is still alive! After all the waiting, His legacy continues! Praise be, our Creator, Lord Nerval!”, laughing after his statement.
The figure’s laugh was cut-off when it realized something else, “And? Is she also here? That Dark Witch who is so deadly in love with Master?”
“Yes, albeit fragmented into two.”, Azzad responded.
“Strange how destiny does its work. So be it then. Her strength isn’t enough to help him. The past has proven that. We will create another one to help our Young Successor.”
The figure paused, thinking of something.
Azzad suddenly said, “One of the Templar Executors has infiltrated the Imperium. The Young Successor had already met him.”
This intrigued the figure, “Is that so? Does the Young Successor know about their special identity?”
“No, or, not yet. They do seem a bit close if I remember.”
“Those Templars sure want to use the Young Successor for their plans. Unfortunately, they’re bound to lose no matter what.”, the figure mocked the Templars then his expression suddenly turned cold.
“Those Templars have wanted to infiltrate the altar for a long time now. They’re lucky Master has locked-up this world, restricting my power-level to transition stage, or else they wouldn’t even reincarnate to their next life.”
It snorted.
“Since the Imperium has already been infiltrated, it only leads to one thing then. War is coming, and that war will help the Young Successor find his well-defined servants as well, and the worthy one to be our Young Successor’s other Mistress.”, the figure concluded, “And the beasts?”
“Only four of them.”
“More than enough. When the war escalates, bring the Young Successor down here with his servants and the four beasts you have mentioned. And his viable Mistress, if alive.”
The figure’s ‘eyes’ glowed again, “Best if she’s dead. Our plan will be more reasonable if that happens.”
It chuckled, then turned around.
“Great Sentry, is it really necessary for the Young Successor to go out?”, Azzad asked.
“Yes, this locked-up barren place is not worth a thing for the Young Successor. There are still many other places he needs to visit… and conquer if he can.”
Azzad remained silent.
“If that is all, this meeting is adjourned.”
Hearing the same silent treatment, the figure slowly faded in Azzad’s sight, “For the Master. For the Successor. For the Universe.”, his last words echoing in Azzad’s consciousness.
“For the Master. For the Successor. For the Universe.”, Azzad bowed then left the area.
…
Imperium Capital City, Imperium Ward.
Elder Sylvia entered Zachariel’s room.
She looked around before approaching him.
`Externally, he looks okay.`, she gathered her life mana essence to conduct an internal investigation of his physical and mental condition.
For her, healing wasn’t all about taking care of the physical body. The mental health of a patient should not be ignored as well.
She grabbed Zachariel’s left arm and held it tightly, transferring her life mana essence inside him.
…
[ Warning: Foreign substances detected ] [ Assessing further parameters… ] [ Assessment complete ] [ Expulsion in process ] [ Evoking user ]…
Elder Sylvia noticed her life mana essence counter-flowing back to her in an extremely aggressive way.
Green light flashed and she coughed up blood. Some of it landed on Zachariel’s blanket and bed sheet.
A strong force then threw her to the wall on the left.
‘Boom!’
The room shook. The residual force cracked the wall and shattered the window glasses.
Zachariel immediately rose his body with wide eyes.
He breathed for a while and noticed the messy room he was in, `What happened here? Why am I back in the same room again?`
A burnt smell assaulted his nose. He sniffed twice and noticed a figure unconsciously laying on the ground with blood splattered around her body.
`This is?`
…
On the outside, the commotion caught everyone’s attention.
“Is this another attack? Why is this day full of violence?!”
The crowd started to panic.
A group of Imperium guards arrived at the scene.
“Halt! The Imperium guards will take care of this. Now, back away.”, the captain announced.
They pushed everyone away. This angered some of them, especially Luiz, `Damn it, can’t they be a bit soft?`
‘Bang!’
The door was abruptly opened. The guards stormed the room.
The captain guards noticed the wounded healer then looked at Zachariel, “Explain yourself, student!”
“Sir, I don’t know what happened.”, Zachariel coldly replied. In fact, he had nothing else to say.
The captain smirked, “Is that so? Arrest him!”, pointing at Zachariel.
Zachariel narrowed his eyes, `Is this how things go?`
He didn’t understand much about how would the Imperium guards behave in situations like this.
Two guards domineeringly walked towards him, pulling both of his arms to his back without a care, and cuffed his hands with anti-magic attributes.
The guards then kicked his knee, making him groan, `Something’s not right.`
The captain approached him and knelt, grabbing his chin and stared at Zachariel’s eyes.
“Brat, do you know why you’re being arrested? Public assault of an Imperium servant, destruction of public property, and an alleged connection with the dark underground faction!”, the captain exclaimed.
`Connection with the dark underground factions?`, Zachariel was confused, then he realized that the students were interrogated earlier.
`This must be because of my relationship with Amelia. Her madness must’ve led to the assault of those wraiths earlier, but I don’t think she was the main perpetrator of their assault. It must be another person, but the Imperium must be protecting them.`, he carefully analyzed, and he was dumbfounded again.
`Why am I able to think of things like this right now?`, his thoughts were cut off when the captain talked to him again.
A wide smile formed on the captain’s face, “You’re going to be courted soon, and your family will surely miss you. Blame yourself, brat.”
Zachariel remained silent. He didn’t think arguing with the captain was worth it. He’d rather take it on the court.
Zachariel’s silence pissed off the captain. He was expecting the student to cry and plead for mercy.
“Tsk, drag him out!”, ordered by the captain, “Hey, someone get this healer out of here.”
Zachariel was dragged out of the room. Another healer went inside along with the other guards and carried the unconscious ‘Elder Sylvia’ out of the room.
Zachariel’s classmates saw him being restrained by the Imperium guards, leaving them shocked to the core.
“Zachariel, what happened? Why are they arresting you?”, Luiz panicked.
“Stay out of the way or we’ll arrest you as well for being his accomplice.”, the captain guard threatened.
“Damn-“, Luiz tried to act back but Luka held him back. The latter shook his head in dismay.
He knew what happened, `They must’ve shifted the blame to him.`
The interrogation done earlier allowed the Imperium guards to gather information and plan their next move.
Luka then took a secret glance at Diega and saw a gleeful expression on her face, `Just as what I’ve thought.`
His hand was shoved by Luiz, whose face was trembling in rage.
`F***, just you all wait! Once I get stronger, no one’s going to stop me from helping my friends!`
He was irritated about how power was the primary measurement of authority in the Imperium.
The rest of the Class W-1A students had a worried look on their faces. Many of them held the same thoughts as Luiz, especially Lia.
She gripped her fists tightly.
Instructor Rufus had only arrived as well, `Is this a plot from His Imperial Majesty?`
“All of you, come with me.”, calling out his students.
“Sir, what about Zachariel?”, Iria asked.
“I’ll deal with it. You go back to your dorms. There’s a group of carriages waiting for you outside.”, Instructor Rufus commanded.
“Yes sir.”, Iria could only oblige.
After a few minutes of walking, they’ve arrived at the entrance of the Imperium Ward.
Instructor Rufus turned around.
“Staff will deliver food to your dormitory rooms during the duration of the blackout. You are not allowed to go outside unless it’s during class time, understood?”
“Yes sir!”
“I’ll be leaving now. Go back and don’t stray outside.”, Instructor Rufus sternly emphasized.
The students gulped. It was rare for Instructor Rufus to be this strict on them, especially outside of class.
“Iria, go handle it.”, Instructor Rufus waved his hands.
“Come guys, let’s go now.”, Iria urged.
She didn’t want to stay outside for too long. It was too dark and the wraiths might still be lurking somewhere else.
The rest of them orderly grouped themselves and went inside the carriages.
Instructor Rufus was observing the departing students when he suddenly noticed the trees rustle for a bit.
He turned his head around, spreading his mana essence to sense the surroundings, `Strange. There was no wind, and they didn’t leave a trace either.`
His guard didn’t go down and waited, `Tsk, let the Imperium guards handle this. Oh, speaking about the Imperium guards…`
He snorted and went to the Imperium Barracks where the jail was located.
…
‘Bam!’
Instructor Rufus slammed the table.
“What do you mean by he’s already scheduled for a court hearing tomorrow?”
“Exactly what it is in textbook description, Rufus.”, a captain guard coldly retorted.
“Slader, stop being sarcastic with me. What happened there isn’t their fault, and you fully well know about that.”, Instructor Rufus reasoned out.
“Rufus, your student, and his… sister, caused an unprecedented disaster that costed the lives of many Imperium servants and its people.”, Captain Slader explained.
“Nonsense! Those two might be Prospect candidates, but they sure don’t have the sufficient power to summon those wraiths! What kind of freshman are they if they could summon platinum-level fighters and a many at that?”
“This is the decision of the higher-ups, Rufus. Moreover, your student didn’t stop his sister from going insane. In fact, the girl even murdered a student.”
“And so did Prince Kane, Slader! I have listened in earlier as well, and Prince Kane was the one who released those wraiths!”
This angered Captain Slader, “Do not dare attempt to tarnish the name of His Imperial Majesty’s successor, and the Child of Destiny, Rufus. Make another one and I will sue you alongside your student as well.”, giving a deathly stare at the instructor.
“You bastard! Are you loyal to the Imperium or His Imperial Majesty only?”, Instructor Rufus inquired.
“His Imperial Majesty is the Imperium itself. I will bow to no one but him. Now, get out and stop wasting my time. I’m only delivering justice to the oppressed, nothing else. I still have other things to do.”, Captain Slader narrowed his eyes.
Instructor Rufus felt indignant, `Delivering justice my ass!`
They were protecting Prince Kane from being persecuted by the public. He gripped his fists tightly and struck the wall on his way out.
“Slader, I’m going to return this favor to you soon.”, he threatened.
“Are you threatening me?”, Captain Slader didn’t back down.
“You think I don’t? Want me to send you a letter of death threat to make it more legitimate?”, Instructor Rufus suggested, then closed the door.
‘Bang!’
Captain Slader snorted and leaned back on his chair.
“Diega…”
He thought about her, `I wonder how you are right now, my beloved daughter.`
…
Somewhere in the city, inside a building.
Another meeting was held again by the revolutionary faction.
“Matthias, when are we going to broadcast this recording?”, Elder Kent asked.
“During Zachariel’s court hearing.”, Matthias replied.
Maverick was confused. “We have to wait until he’s being persecuted?”
“Yes. Human behavior is complex, yet very simple at the same time. Many would believe on the Imperium’s verdict due to their authority and nothing else.”
“If you were a commoner right now, wouldn’t you also think of what the Imperium authority thinks?”, he asked them a question.
Many of them pondered on the question.
`He sure is right. I wouldn’t have much of a choice but to believe in the Imperium as well.`, Maverick thought.
“At first, they would believe that Zachariel and Amelia were the main perpetrators of this incident.
“But how many of them would turn their backs once this recording is broadcasted? A mysterious source of information that contradicts the Imperium’s verdict. A mysterious source of information that shows what truly happened.”
Matthias spread his palms over the table.
“This is where the ‘complexity’ begins. They would think of the situation properly now, and during that point, we would then know who is loyal, and who is not loyal to the Imperium.”
“We would know their true intentions. I’m not just talking about the public; I’m talking about the many ‘Imperium servants’ as well.”
“It’s best to create as much confusion as possible. The more confused the public is, the more sides there will be, and the better our plans will work out.”
Matthias wanted to create a grand chaos in order for them to proceed smoothly in their plans.
Elder Kent nodded in affirmation. “I see. And the rumors?”
“We’ll first spread the rumor about what happened earlier, then once the confusion starts, we’ll keep on spreading new rumors every day.”
“Once the rumors intensify, the Imperium will surely make a way to take care of them When that happens, we’ll disguise as them and commit mass injustice to the public.”
“The public will no longer know what is right or wrong, but only on what is publicly shown. The human behavior is really simple, don’t you think so?”, Matthias smirked as if victory was already on hand.
He chuckled, “The Imperium must be kept busy all the time, while we wait until the battlefield exercise arrives.”
…
Imperium Jail.
Zachariel was brought in by the Imperium guards. The hallway was brightly lit and one could see who was behind each bar.
The stone wall and floor were cold to the touch, making some of the prisoners shiver in coldness.
A variety of them was present. Old, young, disabled.
The guards walked for a while until they reached the last prison cell available. One of them walked up and opened it.
The other guard kicked Zachariel towards his prison cell.
Unprepared, Zachariel was flown to the ground head-first. He was unsettled about this but held it inside for the time being.
The guards jeered at him then left the area. They didn’t even uncuff him.
He tried his best to sit down on the ground and leaned on the wall. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
“Oh, my, my. What a familiar face.”, a womanly voice resounded.
A girl suddenly sprang out of the ground and grabbed ahold of the bars.
“Aren’t you… Zachariel Strom!”
