Low-Fantasy Occultist-Chapter 321
It wasn’t often that Nick was caught entirely off guard. He had become very skilled at staying alert at all times, and even when active magic was blocked, his passive awareness was enough to alert him when someone approached.
But to confront the Deep Diver, he had to focus completely on the ether, especially as he triggered his trap and set off his latest creation. [Call of the Void] was not a simple spell, nor one he could cast without extreme caution, as it risked pulling too much into his soul.
That, it turned out, had allowed someone to sneak up on him for the first time since Akari showed off her mastery of the [Stalking Gait].
“Desperate times require desperate measures,” he finally replied once he had his instinctive, very violent reaction under control.
It wasn’t like he could really hurt the man anyway, not unless he was allowed to.
Bishop Umlaut tilted his head and smiled down at him, exuding a calm, graceful presence.
The last time Nick saw him, he was fighting a creature driven by hatred for the divine, whose sole purpose was to destroy his temple and kill his priests. He appeared to be doing quite well now, but once again, Nick had no direct insight into his emotions, something he was discovering was quite common among high-level individuals.
Whether through artifacts, discipline, or magic, they all protected themselves from the ether, which had the side effect of blocking his view in a very distracting way.
Still, he doubted the man was as peaceful as he seemed, considering the tragedy that had befallen his people.
“Isn’t that the truth?” Umlaut hummed, looking down at the temple. They were standing atop the closest building, a residential townhouse that probably hosted religious guests and was now empty, making it the perfect spot for Nick to leave his body to fight the vengeful spirit. It also, as it turned out, served as an isolated place where strange old men could sneak up on teenage boys.
Nick stayed silent. He had long since shed the need to bow to religious authority, and Umlaut didn’t seem to expect anything from him at the moment.
“I would ask where you learned of such methods, but I’m afraid I’m not in a position to make demands,” the old man continued, running a hand over his bare chin. “Much of the disaster that has befallen us rests on my shoulders, after all.”
If that wasn’t an invitation to ask for clarification, he didn’t know what was. “What do you mean?”
“I am the leader of the western congregation, my boy,” Umlaut replied. “I kept tabs on all my priests, no matter where they lived, and knew nothing of the chaos that took hold of one I considered among my best.”
Nick looked up for the first time, surprised. Umlaut didn’t seem to hold any resentment toward Alexander, at least not in the way he would have thought, despite his leading the charge against Sashara’s worshippers and clearly being the brains behind the operation.
“Is that it, then? A prayer for the dead and some reminiscing about old times?” Nick didn’t exactly want a religious conflict to break out, but he felt this reaction was much too underwhelming.
Umlaut, however, didn’t rise to the provocation, instead closing his eyes and sighing. “I am a simple follower. I shall go where Her flame guides me, without asking questions.”
Then, before Nick could do anything else, he shook his head. “But I will add something in my prayers. I will ask that she let me bring that one wayward spark back into Her warmth, so that I may atone for a portion of my sins. Yes, his light will only be purified when it’s back where it should be.”
His words were perfectly even, his tone steady, yet something about his choice of words, or maybe the emptiness in his eyes, sent a shiver down Nick’s spine.
He didn’t feel sorry for Alexander. The man had made his bed and now had to lie in it. Still, he appreciated not being the one forced to deal with a Prestige-tier priest driven by religious frenzy, who seemed determined to rip his soul out and offer it to his goddess.
He gulped, wondering whether he should try to run, but the moment passed without incident, and Umlaut returned to his calm self.
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“That was not why I came here,” he said, and Nick tilted his head and made a noise of curiosity.
“Were you already looking for me, then?” Duke Anton had warned him that he would likely attract some attention from the priests flooding into Alluria soon, but he had hoped to have a few more days.
“I was. You see, I really appreciate your help in protecting the city and wanted to express that properly.”
Nick shook his head. “I’m afraid I wasn’t very helpful in your situation. I left everything in the Grandmaster’s hands and only stepped in at Ulter’s temple.”
“Yes, I know,” Umlaut didn’t seem to think that mattered much. “But it was thanks to your intervention that the [Ritual of Heavenly Fall] wasn’t completed. That would have had severe consequences for us too, far beyond what that sad creature they unleashed on us could.”
So he knows. I wondered, given the secrecy under which the Circle of Pure Souls operates, but it makes sense that the upper management of a major religion would be aware.
“I only intervened to disperse the ritual, but I’m afraid I don’t know exactly what it would have accomplished, beyond it being very bad,” Nick replied. He could infer much, especially after seeing a smaller version of it in Honeyton, but the magic the Pure Souls had been casting this time was far greater in both size and power. He doubted it would have stopped at just removing the domain.
“Hmm… I suppose a good example would be the poor thing you just took care of,” Umlaut said, vaguely gesturing above them. The ether didn’t exactly have directions, but Nick understood what he was talking about and nodded to show it.
“It was born from the intense negative emotions triggered by the other day’s events, and it lingered for a few days as it completed its formation. Without your intervention to exorcise it today, it likely would have gone unnoticed for a little longer until it gained enough courage to materialize. At that point, a dedicated exorcist would have been assigned to remove it. There would have been some damage, but ultimately, everything would have been handled.”
That made sense. Nick had seen Marthas exorcise a Lesser Demon with ease, and while spirits weren’t considered outsiders by the World, they could be dealt with by similar methods, meaning the temple should have had someone capable of handling the Deep Diver.
“If Alexander had been allowed to complete his ritual, things would have been different, I’m guessing,” he said mildly, earning a soft huff of laughter.
“Indeed, that is the truth. You mentioned you're not familiar with the specifics, and I won’t bore you with a long lecture, but suffice it to say, there is a reason why nobles and kings allow religions to spread and establish what are essentially fortresses in the cities. We are the shield against many dangers that knights and mages alone cannot confront, not with the same skill and efficiency we do, at least. If the ritual had been successfully completed, the domains would have been stripped, and a gaping hole would have been ripped into the fabric of reality. You can imagine that a few newborn spirits would have been the least of our worries then. Especially since the spiritual backlash could have likely killed a large portion of the city.”
Nick stared.
Some of that he knew. Marthas' exorcising the demon and fighting the Fae Queen alone were good examples of how religion could be useful to society, but, according to Umlaut, the domains and gods generally acted as stabilizing forces, keeping the chaos of extra-dimensional beings in check.
Considering the infinite size of the ether and the limitless dimensions beyond it, he wasn’t sure it would have led to a full-scale invasion like the Bishop was suggesting, but it definitely wouldn't have been pleasant.
“Yes, I see you understand. Your service was one worth being lauded indeed, son.” Umlaut repeated, and this time, Nick didn’t dissimulate.
They stayed silent for a while longer, both reflecting on what might have been.
Does Alexander know? Would he care? Revenge is a strong motivator, but it can also blind someone, and he’s clearly already past caring about the consequences of his actions.
Nick didn’t believe the ex-Vicar wanted to bring about the end of the world. He wasn’t a crazed demon-worshipper, nor a psychopath, but his internal logic had clearly shifted far from what would be considered normal.
And then there are the higher-ups at the Circle. I understand Alexander's motivations. The rest is not so easy to decipher. They might be using his anger to pursue even more sinister goals.
He’d like to think of everyone as rational actors, especially when they held so much power, but he couldn’t, not now that Umlaut had told him what would have happened.
“There is one thing I’m curious about, though,” the Bishop said after a moment, and Nick tensed up, knowing that all that talk had been to arrive at this moment, after his shields were lowered.
“There is no child I know, no matter how talented, who could have reached your level without significant outside help,” he said, his previously kind eyes boring into Nick’s. Umlaut remained where he was, with his hands folded inside his robes, but something about his stance suddenly became suffocating, as the full weight of his regard fell on him. “So, did Marthas know this would happen? Has he not learned his lesson and is still running experiments, wielding people like tools?”
“What?” Nick asked, confused. That was definitely not what he’d expected, but after a moment, he could see how the Bishop might think he was some kind of secret pawn or an apprentice sent to infiltrate the Tower.
His reaction didn’t seem to be what Umlaut was expecting, but after a long moment of scrutiny, he relaxed his stance, and the oppressive atmosphere dissipated. “I see. I suppose that is an answer, too.”
With that, he vanished in a burst of fire, briefly lighting up the night and leaving Nick alone on the rooftop, more confused than ever before.
“What?” he asked again into the empty air.
Setting up the [Ritual of Abnegation] to effectively protect his test room from the Tower’s spatial distortions and the surrounding mana took some time, but Nick still made sure to complete every step carefully.
He was currently skipping class, but he doubted anyone would come looking for him, given that the substitute who was teaching their Battle Magic course seemed determined to go through every bit of dueling theory first before letting them practice against each other.
Yet, despite the tensions among Tholm’s other apprentices and their firm belief that a conflict with Hone’s people was inevitable, he wanted to make sure nothing could get in the way.
It definitely wasn’t because he’d become paranoid about being watched, not at all.
Pressing the chalk on the floor to complete the last sweeping line, he stood up and examined his work critically.
Compared to his previous uses of this specific ritual, it might have seemed underwhelming, as there was no mysterious shimmering, nor did the runes glow with inner light, but that was a simple result of his increased skill and control, which allowed him to concentrate all of his mana on creating the separation between the room and the rest of reality, as he intended, rather than letting it surge wildly to create an atmosphere.
Once that was done, he snapped his fingers, and the first divine relic he would examine today appeared on the worktable.
Chapter 321
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