Chapter 16 - Rebels of Val Foret (End) (Patreon)

"It is said that, in the beginning, the Six fought side by side with mankind. Even so, the deities themselves seldom appeared before mortals, and instead sent loyal servants to convey their divine will to the Oracle. These servants are known as Messengers, and they number twenty-four. Umbra and Pryna the Divine Dogs are Messengers of the Six to the Prophet, as the Carbuncle is the Messenger of the Six to the Oracle." 

- Orange Fundamentalism Bible, Cosmogony of the Holy Fundamentalism Order

***

When Kordillus blasted apart the huge doors that led to the Inner Sanctum, the Glaives that were standing next to him bolted into action almost instantaneously. Nyx Ulric and Luche Lazarus were among the best of the Kingsglaives as they made use of the chaos and led their troops into the massacre.

While Kordillus knew that it could be dangerous to use the Pyromancy in places like the Chapel, where almost everything was made of wood and could be set on fire, he also needed to achieve the necessary chaos and confusion.

Which would be taken as an advantage by his troops, because they were numerically outnumbered rather too much for his tastes. Yet with him blasting the main doors to the Inner Sanctum, he managed to kill a good number of them. 

Besides Kirdillus, Ciri already used her Magic as she warped between the hostile troops, and with each swing of her blade Zirael a life was taken. Everyone concluded that only really skilled warriors and combatants would have chances to defend against Ciri's combat style of Warping.

Not to mention the really terrifying part was that she could warp almost indefinitely, which was the most frightening aspect of it.

As she bore the Elder Blood, she had acess to the near limitless amount of Magic Power, because as long as she was drained of what her body could bear at the Silver-Tier, she could just activate the Elder Blood and refill herself through the Elder Blood's connection to the Chaotic Source or Fade.

This was an ability that was nothing short of overpowered.

Even Kordillus envied it, despite having the First Flame Blood... albeit the Bloodline of his was dormant while Ciri achieved at least partial awakening. Kordillus didn't know what he would need to do to achieve the awakening of the First Flame Blood.

But he knew that once it happened, then the effects would be...

Out of this world.

Because if the Elder Blood was a representation of Magic and Space-Time...

Then the First Flame Blood was represented by Fire that created the civilization, and fire that came with the destruction of the civilization.

Kordillus strolled into the Inner Sanctum of the Chapel of Andraste, which was now turned into a battlefield, and someone was dying every moment. Though Kordillus didn't care about the ongoing battles between the sides, his eyes turned to a specific location.

The Altar of Andraste, where his targets were standing.

Unfortunately for them, they were trapped here like rats in a cage.

Which must be pretty uncomfortable for them, as heck.

Though for the Cleric Priestesses Amabilla Chappelle and Petellia Martiana, this was nothing of a shock, because they recognized the man who was casually strolling toward the Altar of Andraste and occasionally incinerating some unlucky man to ashes.

The current Crown Prince and soon-to-be King of the Orlais Kingdom.

The Mahdi of the Holy Fundamentalism Order.

The Prophet.

Kordillus Drakon.

The greatest adversary of the Cult of Andraste since its establishment.

"You didn't expect someone like me to show up, didn't you?"

In Kordillus's eyes, both Amabilla Chappelle and Petellia Martiana looked rather... 

Plain?

At least compared to Ciri or his mother in terms of appearance, they were indeed pretty plain.

Nevertheless, saying that the two Clerics of the Cult of Andraste were overcome by sheer shock would be a huge underestimation of the situation. While they expected the slim possibility of someone trying to attack them...

It was a pretty much outlandish thought...

That the Crown Prince of the entire Kingdom would come here, from the Capital of Val Royeaux, and even with his personal entourage, he arrived at the warzone. Neither Cleric Amabilla Chappelle nor Cleric Petellia Martiana was fighting, and even though they were Steel-Tier, they couldn't really fight properly.

Before they could say something, Kordillus was already standing in front of them as a pair of Magical Chains materialized around them, and they were bound in place.

"You don't need to speak anything, dears... everything that you know about that heretic sect of yours, would be extracted directly from your mind."

Kordillus stated that several Knights noticed that their leaders were being in process of being captured, immediately rushed toward him with the clear intention to kill anyone who dared to endanger their Priestesses.

Most of these Knights were zealots.

They were brought into the Cult, like the generations before them and those before them. 

The loyalty toward the Cult of Andraste and its Clerics was absolute for these Clerics.

Before the five Knights managed to reach Kordillus, the Crown Prince of the Orlais, cast Fire Whipe Pyromancy, as several whips of fire appeared above them, and with a wave of his hand, they shot toward the five heavily armored knights.

Faster than anyone could even blink, the fire whips wrapped around their bodies, as they started melting their armors, when the men fell onto the ground in agonizing screams and shouts. 

It didn't take even ten or fifteen seconds until they died.

"Now... where were we? Ahhh, yes, I remember!"

Kordillus then cast another spell as he knocked the Clerics out and let them be bound in the chains. He wasn't going to chat with the two women, because he was sure that they wouldn't say anything to each other... 

Of course, they would most probably curse him to death or something along those lines, but that was considered a waste of time. Thus, he directly knocked them unconscious as he waited for the battle to end.

In the following five or six minutes, the last fighting subsided.

The remnants of the enemy troops were killed, as the Kingsglaives didn't take survivors. Kordillus was pretty much explicit in his orders that the sole survivors would be Priestesses Amabilla Chappelle and Petellia Martiana; other personnel are to be killed on sight. Not like they would be of any use to them. 

Most of them were just ordinary soldiers or Knights that had little to no actual knowledge of the things behind the scenes. On the other hand, the Clerics who were instigating the entire thing should be aware of some secret bases of the Cult of Andraste in the Orlesian Heartlands.

"The resistance has been exterminated. Lazarus has gone through the building to search for the documents and things that we can take with us."

Nyx Ulric, the highest-ranked remaining Kingsglaive holding the Rank of Captain, reported to Kordillus, who just nodded as the entire operation proceeded rather splendidly. Their task force suffered no casualties, which was excellent news, and some Glaives suffered only some injuries of various degrees.

Among the Kingsglaive, Ulric was usually the one who was part of the detachment to the Prince when he went out. 

"You have fifteen minutes. After that, we are leaving the place and returning back to the Inner City. I want to be out of the Val Foret tomorrow at the latest."

Kordillus gave out the orders to Captain Ulric as they needed to get out of this place as fast as possible while also taking the crucial things with them. Kordillus knew that this place for sure had some valuables that the spies brought with them, meaning some gold or other things.

Obviously, he would take it as his personal spoil of war. 

Then there was the topic of the documents and information from the Cult of Andraste, because he knew that the Clerics must have been sending some reports or anything to the Cult or to one of its branches.

These materials were of utmost importance to him and to the wider Orlesian Kingdom. 

Captain Nyx Ulric saluted the Prince as he went to carry out his orders. In the meantime, everyone was doing their tasks, because everyone was in a hurry to handle the things as needed, Kordillus spoke with Ciri on one side.

The Lady of Space and Time was sitting on the Altar of Andraste, kicking her legs in the air as she complained about the things. 

"Yes, yes... You were so brave today and certainly the most beautiful warrior on the battlefield."

Coaxing Ciri was something that he mastered long ago, and it was a skill necessary for a good living. Even though she was already an adult, she was sometimes behaving anything but such, and it was rather mentally taxing.

Obviously, she was a bit spoiled and haughty, especially about certain things and the fact that everyone within the Orlais was already treating her like the future Queen, which was at this point already more than certain.

"Stop teasing me, alright?!"

Ciri smacked his head because she found his teasing annoying once again. She then just pouted at being misunderstood because she didn't want to act as a means of transportation for everyone present, and his Kordillus's jokes about portals were bad.

In her opinion, he certainly wasn't as funny as he thought that he was, but there was actually no one who would dare to say it out loud or to his face. Nevertheless, Ciri could say it, and she often did; she was one of the very few privileged people in the Orlais to actually speak with him casually.

Kordillus Drakon wasn't really known for being the most approachable person around.

"It's not teasing if it's true, alright?"

While the two of them were talking, the remaining Glavies quickly completed the tasks assigned by the Prince as it was time to leave the chapel. They were highly efficient in their tasks, but that much was given because the Gladiators were the elite unit of the Kingdom that was personally trained by Vanderim Drakon.

Nothing less was expected and accepted from the Kingsglaives.

Not to mention their Commander, Titus Drautos, was a man of extremely high expectations that many would call unrealistic.

Once everything was gathered, and it took them even less than fifteen minutes, Kordillus and Ciri literally marvelled at the sight of several chests full of gold coins. Most of them belonged to the different Kingdoms, but gold was gold.

It could be melted down in the Royal Mints into their own Gold Coins. Despite everything that was happening all over Thedas, the Cults of Andraste, or the Disciples of Andraste, as they were called in the past, were rich.

Richer than most.

That was for certain.

Well, they gathered a lot of money from their followers and then, at a later date, from the enemies they destroyed. Not to mention, cleaning out the remnants of the aftermath of Blight was an immensely profitable business, because tons of gold and valuable things became ownerless.

And to the luck of the Disciples of Andraste, it was them who managed to scavenge a lot of wealth left behind by the destroyed nations and cities during the 1st Blight. Everything that fell into the hands of the Disciples of Andraste, who over the past hundred and fifty years developed into the Cult of Andraste.

They were filthy rich.

"Ciri, you are up."

After everything was done and Kordillus inspected the papers that Nyx Ulric brought with them, he told Ciri to open the Portal back to the Inner Area of the Val Foret. Seeing that she was called, Ciri was filled with happiness, because they were finally leaving this damned place.

Much to her delight.

She instantly utilized her Elder Blood and opened the Portal directly to the Inner Area of the Val Foret as they evacuated. Kordillus was actually the last person to evacuate from the place as he took a look at the Altar of the Andraste.

Before he crossed the Portal, he set it on fire.

At least the rebels would be occupied for a long time quelling the flames in their chapel.