ROTLE- Chapter 178- Advocate

Sword held in both hands, he looked down at Clerent. The [Saint] was spent. He had taken a direct strike from a bolt of lightning generated by a greater enchantment. At his level—which Aiden doubted was more than two hundred—it would be a devastating blow.

“Don’t!”

Aiden recognized Tanor’s voice. It was followed by a moment of deep silence, as if the world wished to grant everyone clarity.

Aiden didn’t look away from Clerent.

“You can’t kill a [Saint].” Tanor argued.

Aiden did not take his eyes from Clerent. “Why?”

“They are children of the gods. Choose forgiveness here. It is the right choice. You do not want to make an enemy of the church.”

Aiden wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

There were often tenets taught in the Order. Or perhaps the word ‘are’ would be more apt. It was an organization feared in the shadows and in the light. Great, powerful, and famous, it was the most mysterious thing known on Nastild. From whence did it come? For what reason did it exist? Why was it called the Order?

Speculations existed that even the [Sage]s did not know.

But the Order existed for a reason. It didn’t matter that people did not know what reason it was. It didn’t matter that even those who swore themselves to it did not know what it was. One of the greater mysteries of the Order was in its existence throughout history. An organization known for knowing too much and killing too many, yet somehow, it was always recorded as an official witness or presence in historical agreements. Why?

“Do you know why when you are sent to kill you are only allowed to kill your target and no one else?” the master of the Order had asked Aiden once.

“Because that is the only target?” Aiden had answered, unsure. “And we strive for perfection.”

The master had chuckled in that way that sounds as if you’d cracked an interesting joke. “No,” he’d answered, shaking his head. “It is because of control. One whose sole duty is to kill will one day see life as fickle. They gain their edge, like a sharpened blade, but lose their humanity. People will tell you that you can gain your humanity back, appreciate life once more, that nothing is impossible…”

The master had paused then, let out a quiet sigh.

“I have lived long enough,” he had continued, “to know a simple truth. There are more impossible things than most people know. If you kill long enough, you will lose your humanity, and you won’t get it back. You can pretend to have it back, yes, but once you see life as fickle, you will never see life as important. It will always be fickle. So, no, it is not about perfection. It is about control. Kill only those deserving of it. And when the bloodlust comes, you have enough control to know that not all who threaten you or stand against you are deserving of death. Kill only with a purpose greater than yourself, and not simply because you can.”

Aiden had taken those words to heart. He had never been sure if it had been because they had spoken to him on a subliminal level or if it had been because they had come directly from the master of the Order.

But he had taken them to heart.

Aiden was quiet for a while. Tanor had said that the [Saint]s were children of the gods, that he should choose forgiveness in this moment. Aiden wasn’t stupid, so he gave the words some thought.

In the end, he sighed and said, “We do what we must.”

The sword came down, blood splashed forth as if from a geyser, and the world fell silent.

[You have dealt Clerent Adoth a Fatal Blow!]

[You have slain Clerent Adoth Level 137]

Today, the interface did not congratulate him.

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

The notifications came at him like a tidal wave, rushing, charging. For the first time in Aiden’s life, his interface blotted out his vision so that he saw nothing else.

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

Power flooded him. He staggered once, caught himself before he fell. Then came the weight in his heart, bearing down on him. It was reminiscent of when he’d gained the title of [Giant Slayer].

Then came the pain.

It was horrible, life threatening. It was like someone had taken his soul in their hands and chosen to unmake them, to douse him in so much sin that even hell would not be a place sufficient to punish him.

Aiden dropped to his knee, mouth open. A sound came from him. It was a shriek, a cry, a moan. It was his soul begging for an end to whatever was happening. It was a thousand evils gnashing as they clawed at the gates of hell.

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You are now Level 99!]

[Level 85---> Level 99]

Drool dripped from Aiden’s mouth as pain continued to unmake him. Somewhere in the corner of his mind where pain could not affect him, he knew that it made no sense. He had killed an enemy more than fifty levels higher than him in his past life. It did not come with any pain. He knew nothing of history that implied that any form of level up came with pain.

So why?

His body retched, bile filled him. Aiden turned to the side and vomited. Golden light filled the dirt, covering the grass, thickening the soil.

[Achievement unlocked!]

You have brought massacre in respect of itself. Blood has been spilled for the purpose of being spilled and you have brought death. You stand against the laws of nature and have defeated one you should not have been able to. You have slain an enemy 50 levels higher than you, alone.

[You have earned a new title!]

[Conqueror]

[Effect: +20% increase in damage when facing opponents 1 or more levels higher than you.]

[Effect: 40% damage resistance when facing opponents of your level or lower.]

Aiden’s gut twisted and he vomited again. This time it was black.

What the hell is happening to me?

[You have slain a Saint]

[You have slain a descendant of a Lesser god]

[Achievement unlocked!]

You stand on the other side of morality. You have looked upon the gods with disrespect, unable to reach them, you have claimed one of their own. You have looked the gods in the eyes and spat on their feet. You have slain a vassal of the gods. You have slain a descendant of the gods. You have slain a Saint.

[You have earned a new title!]

[Devil’s Advocate]

[Effect: +20% increase in damage when facing an opponent with an affiliation to the church]

[Effect: +20% increase in damage when facing a Saint]

[Effect: +20% increase in damage taken when facing the Hierophant]

[Effect: 100% resistance to holy attacks from Apostles]

[Effect: +10% increase in damage taken when facing the Thirteenth]

Aiden threw up again. This time it was normal vomit. Still, the notifications were not done. His mind, ever active to the point of independence, wondered why he was getting a title that gave him a disadvantage when facing people. Things like that only applied to debuffs not titles.

More notifications came alive, adding to the cacophony before him. The only good thing was that his pain and discomfort was beginning to subside.

[Congratulations Prisoner # 234502385739]

[You have reached level 90.]

[You have gained stat points]

[You have gained 8 unallocated stat points]

[Your existing stats have gained additional points]

[Dexterity 61 -> 74], [Agility 40 -> 48], [Mana 62 -> 80], [Speed 53 -> 61], [Perception 61 -> 72], [Strength 46 -> 53]

…

[Dexterity 74], [Agility 48], [Mana 80], [Speed 61], [Perception 72], [Strength 53].

…

[You have 16 unallocated stat points]

[Would you like to use unallocated stat points?]

[Y/N]

…

[Congratulations Prisoner # 234502385739]

[You have reached level 90.]

[You have gained a class skill]

[You have gained Class skill Weave Resistance]

…

[Weave Resistance (Mastery 00.00%]

The weaver is his own tool. You are your engraver and your canvas. With your body you weave enchantments into being. But weavings have consequences, survive them.

Knowledge flooded Aiden’s mind. [Weave Resistance] granted him a slight resistance to weavings that affected him, like [Weave of Madness]. It was appreciated, but it felt like a waste of a class skill slot. He could already survive them even if they came with great pain. Then again, the only weaving he had used that had come with great pain was the one related tto the [Enchantment of Madness].

[You have Leveled Up!]

[Level 99 --> 100]

[You are now Level 100]

…

[Congratulations Prisoner # 234502385739]

[You have reached level 100.]

[You have gained stat points]

[You have gained 8 unallocated stat points]

[Your existing stats have gained additional points]

[Dexterity 74 -> 85], [Agility 48 -> 56], [Mana 80 -> 92], [Speed 61 -> 66], [Perception 72 -> 80], [Strength 53 -> 58]

…

[Dexterity 85], [Agility 56], [Mana 92], [Speed 66], [Perception 80], [Strength 58].

…

[You have 24 unallocated stat points]

[Would you like to use unallocated stat points?]

[Y/N]

That didn’t make sense. To reach level one hundred, he was supposed to gain a deeper understanding of his manifesting skill. He hadn’t learnt anything new about [Enchanted Void], or had he learnt something on a subliminal level that even he wasn’t aware of?

What was happening?

[Skill Mana Mastery not detected]

[Skill Mana Manipulation detected]

…

[Congratulations Prisoner # 234502385739]

[You have unlocked Aura]

[Aura]

This is an external manifestation of internal mana. You wield a presence of being in your mana. And the world must feel it.

Aiden was breathing better now. The only discomfort he felt was the weight in his heart, but he couldn’t truly call it a discomfort. As important as getting [Aura] was, it wasn’t a big enough deal to him. Among the powerful, [Aura] was seen as a way to silence the weak without having to kill them. When it came to its display among peers, it was used to determine strength.

Somewhere in the distance Aiden thought he heard his name, but he couldn’t be sure. His interface, however, wasn’t done with him.

[You have achieved another criteria to gain the Existential Title ????]

…

[You have slain a descendant of the gods.]

[You have slain a Saint]

[Remaining criteria: 3/6]

So this was the path he took, Aiden thought, pushing himself up to his feet. He rose very slowly. Still, he was hit by a bout of vertigo. He teetered but caught himself before he fell. He would be lying if he said that the barrage of notifications hadn’t overwhelmed him to a certain extent.

Lying there at his feet was Clerent, or what was left of him. A lifeless corpse, the former [Saint]’s eyes remained wide open, and he looked at the skies above as if they had forsaken him. Perhaps he had not expected to die, not even at the end.

Tanor was right, it was stupid to make an enemy of the church. And the [Saint]s were sacred—sacrosanct. Perhaps that was what had left Clerent believing in his safety. Perhaps not. It mattered very little to Aiden right now. Retrieving his sword from the man’s neck, he knew exactly why he had killed him.

No one can know, he thought to himself.

No one could know why he and Clerent had fought. If Clerent lived, he would undoubtedly tell the church. If he told the church, the kingdoms would know. Ted would become an outcast just as Aiden had been in his past life. He could not allow that to happen to Ted.

There was also the part where he was definitely not ready or strong enough to survive having the church as his active enemy, though.

The [Apostle]s, he thought.

[Inquisitor]s kept the [Priest]s in line. They were also in charge of solving cases that had to do with [Priest]s, including their deaths or slights against them. As for the [Apostle]s, there were twelve, and they were in charge of governing the [Saint]s. If a [Saint] stepped out of line, they had to deal with the [Apostles]. If a [Saint] was slain, the culprit had to deal with the [Apostle]s, too.

The question was who took care of the [Apostle]s if they went astray. It was not the [Hierophant] who was the head of the church. No. It was the [Thirteenth]. The church’s very own mystery. A being so powerful that they could single handedly handle all twelve apostles. The information the Order had claimed that the [Thirteenth] answered to no one but the [Hierophant]. Even then, the [Hierophant] was careful with how they commanded them.

As for who the [Thirteenth] was in this timeline, Aiden had no idea. It had not been known information the Order had deemed him important enough to know.

Had Ted been forced to deal with all of these? When had Ted even gotten the time to meet a [Saint] and kill a [Saint]?

Hold up, Aiden thought, something new coming to mind. Did he meet all the criteria before or after leaving?

Had Ted simply been a [Demon King] candidate before he’d fled from Bandiv or had he become the [Demon King]? Also, if there was a candidacy strategy for the title, then how many contenders could there be?

How many people are on the path to becoming [Demon King]s?

There were just too many questions and too little that he knew. Would the library of Living Truth really have the answers?

Questions, questions, and more questions. Aiden frowned. He was no closer to an answer than he had ever been. If anything, he was farther from an answer.

Focus objectively, he chided himself. He knew new things. Killing a [Saint] gave him candidacy. He also had to be named by a [Saint], at least. All he had to do was keep Ted away from [Saint]s and killing them, and he would be fine… probably.

Turning away, he paused, coming face to face with Tanor. The man had a horrid expression on his face. Aiden couldn’t remember the last time he had ever seen the man so horrified in his life.

“What have you done?” Tanor asked, doing nothing to mask his horror.

Aiden looked back at Clerent’s body as if the question was a stupid one—which it would’ve been if it wasn’t rhetorical. “I survived,” he answered.

“You killed a [Saint].” Tanor’s voice shook as the words came out. “You’ve committed a sacrilege.”

Aiden paused. Was Tanor going to be a problem?

“And what are you going to do about it?” Estabel asked, her voice cutting through the sudden tension. “Besides, what did you expect? Clerent attacked him. Was he supposed to just lay down and die?”

Aiden looked at her. Estabel shrugged.

“[Saint]s are overrated,” she said, unbothered. “I once saw a [Saint] burn down an entire village because they worshipped false gods. The gods might favor them, but they are still humans like you and eye. They cry and they bleed.” She looked at Clerent’s corpse. “Apparently they die too.”

Tanor just stood there, flabbergasted, as if he could not believe what he was hearing from Estabel’s mouth. In the end, his shoulders drooped, armor clanking as they did. The man had giving up.

“What even happened?” he muttered, almost as if to himself as Aiden walked past him.

Aiden paused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know that there was tension between the both of you.” Tanor pulled himself together but didn’t take his eyes off the body. “Something about where you came from. I also knew that he didn’t like you. But why did he attack you like that?”

Aiden watched Tanor for a moment. Had he not heard what Clerent had said before the fight or was he playing dumb for some reason?

You would kill him if he was someone else, he thought. Just to be safe.

The thought made Aiden pause. Was this part of the reason Ted had fled? If he didn’t know what he knew now, the thought of dealing with the [Hierophant], [Apostle]s, the [Thirteenth], and now the possibility of random people knowing would’ve made him paranoid. He certainly wouldn’t have wanted Ted sharing in any part of this fate.

Even now, with all that he knew, the only reason the thought of running didn’t cross his mind was because there was still a chance that Ted could still become the [Demon King].

It seemed it was true what they said about walking a mile in another person’s shoes to understand them. He was beginning to understand Ted leaving.

And all you did was whine like a child.

It was pathetic.

“Let’s go, Alphonset,” he said, continuing down the path that led towards Ted and the others. “There is no [Saint] here. Not anymore.”

He had only taken a few steps when a new notification popped up in front of him.

[????? has triggered a Unique Scenario]

[Unique Scenario: Advent of the Demon King II.]

[Unique Scenario Advent of the Demon King II is in progress.]

For fuck sake.

…

Tan’Athort remained in place, knee to the ground, head bowed. Before him, seated beside the altar, was a being far above him in the eyes of the gods.

“The rise of the [Demon King] has begun,” the being said, voice eerie. “The time is upon us. A child of the gods has been slain. The devil has found an advocate.”

“Should I summon my siblings, father?” he asked.

“No.”

Tan’Athort, [Apostle] of the holy church, paled. The death of a [Saint] was the domain of the [Apostle]s. If not them, then who?

Staring down at the golden ground, his eyes widened in realization. He knew the words that would come even before the being said them.

The [Hierophant] rose from his throne, crosier in hand.

“Summon the [Thirteenth].”