Chapter 108 - Members of the Kadath - Deus Ex Machina (Patreon)

When he woke up again, he was in the place that he relatively recognized as the Astral World, starting at the weird place within the dome that was supported by huge stone pillars on which were sculpted images of the Mythical Creatures.

In the middle of the dome, there was a long bronze table with five seats at each side and one seat at the end of the table. However, what caught his attention was that, behind the end seat of the table, there was someone already sitting.

"Welcome, the first member."

Layton Soremburg was an ancient entity; when he was at the peak of his strength, he was no weaker than any King of Angels, without officially even reaching the King of Angels through the Advancement Ritual, and his knowledge was dwarfed even that of some of the True Gods.

Yet, everything crumbled down like the house of cards when he was nearly killed by the Five-Headed Dragon God many centuries ago when the Sixth Epoch: The Age of Gods started during the start of the Orthodox Supremancy when he got into the conflict with the Church of Seven and Order of the Black Worm.

The second one passed the information to the first one, which attacked his forces and disrupted important rituals, which left him weakened, and if it couldn't become worse, the second one also facilitated the descent of the Avatar of the Dragon God.

And the rest was history as he had ended in the Fargrave hiding from the gaze of the True Gods of Faerûn.

'I can't see... either King of Angels, True God or... and this place seems to be Sefirot? This is getting more problematic than I have initially thought.'

The moment he entered this place, he realized that something was wrong when everything went blank, and he couldn't use even a single of his abilities. Even though he was now crippled, he still retained several of the non-combat-related abilities that allowed him to save his life several times in the past.

"How may I address Your Excellency?"

Layton Soremburg asked carefully because he really suspected that the being on him was someone around the level of the True Gods, if not above, or someone who was right now in the process of revival.

"You may call me Mercurius."

The man on the chair behind the end of the table answered as he then motioned for him to sit down on one of the seats next to him. His face was blurred, covered by the mist and it was even hard to tell if the person sitting on the chair was male or female, something that Layton Soremburg was able to tell only with great difficulty.

"We are still waiting for someone."

Hearing this made him pause as soon enough, something akin to a crack in the space appeared in the dome, and a blinding light illuminated the entire dome as another figure walked out of the crack.

Soon enough, a man clad in pure white clothing holding a book exited the crack, but his face was also blurred by the mist, as it seemed that nobody would be able to learn each other identities that easily.

Whoever summoned them here was doing everything to maintain secrecy at the highest order.

***

Some Time Earlier, Unknown Location

A majestic cathedral with pitch-black stone columns stood in its grandiose detail. Just one look at the structure would create a feeling of dread and an unquenchable desire to see what was inside the cathedral.

Inside this cathedral, each column, arch, and dome's surface is embedded with the bones of different races. In the middle was a cross that was more than a hundred meters tall, crafted from an unknown material with intricate details that were engraved on its surface.

At the same time, the cross itself was releasing a weird aura, something that was very hard to describe, but it had a certain kind of uncanny feeling to it. It was something very subtle, yet at the same time, really disturbing.

It was as though countless souls were sealed inside.

In front of the cross, a blurry figure stood there as though he was watching everything with compassion. This was a cathedral of corpses, but instead of appearing eerie, it was filled with holiness.

Really weird contradiction in life.

The blurry figure soon became more and more transparent. It was a man wearing a simple white cloak, and if Valkorion saw him, he would tell that he looked like the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, at least in terms of clothing, because he wore exactly the same outfit.

He looked like a middle-aged man yet with a certain youth to his face, with his golden hair and beard that was giving him rather a serene appearance like that of a wisened and compassionate man. 

The only other notable features about him were his golden eyes and the cross that he wore around his neck with the golden buttons on the white robe that he wore. Aside from that, he looked like any ordinary priest that one might find in some Orthodox Church.

The man was praying in front of the cross until he stopped as he looked at the cross intensively for a few moments.

"Everything is moving in an uncertain direction. And even they are acting in a different way compared to their predicted trajectory... well, this much was expected since the fall of 'Them'."

The man said gently as he finished his prayer and strode across the Corpse Cathedral, which was based on the combination of unholy holiness.

"Yet it seems... that the fall of them needs to be accelerated to achieve the wanted results. The other pawns already did a good job, and through this, Westeros will be weakened, and 'They' won't have any other choice than to fight 'Him' head-on, resulting in a state of mutual destruction because 'Their' followers are too weak. What an ironic result of paranoia."

Just as he was muttering something to himself, he felt that something was happening in the Corpse Cathedral, which should be impossible. This was the geniue Divine Kingdom; even though it was a bit weakened due to the passage of time, it was still an actual one. 

He didn't do anything because he actually didn't foresee any threat from whatever was happening in front of him, though it was clear that this was the work of the True God; considering the qualities of this Divine Kingdom, this must be work of someone above the level of the True God.

"Hmm... I thought that I was thorough in hiding my traces across history. And the Twilight Hermit Order are considered minor heretics at best and nothing else. Nothing that grand or important to attract the attention of 'Them' ... Not even 'They' should be aware of the true identity of Adam."

He muttered mainly to himself if anything else, as he seriously considered various possibilities and what this what was happening could mean to him. In the end, as he didn't feel any malice or threat from it, he let it happen and soon enough realized that it was an invitation to the meeting. 

***

"And here is our second and last member for this gathering. Please sit down here."

As soon as he woke up, he was greeted by a male voice in the place that he immediately recognized as Sefirot.

One in the hands of an unknown being. 

Most possibly True God or...

For the second part, he didn't even want to think about it.

Or it was someone who was recovering his power.

Either way, it was the most complicated situation, even as it was right now.