11 Honorific Name

Somewhere hidden in the southern continent.

Lucien and Sia emerged from a sea of colours, leaving the spirit world behind. A withered and dark forest opened up around them, bathed in the crimson light of the moon.

And the air in this place was thick with the aura of death, enough to suffocate living beings until there was nothing but ashes, but they were unaffected, the ceasing aura sweeping past them harmlessly, as if it were nothing more than a breeze in their presence.

"You should have noticed." Sia ventured as they began walking slowly to the heart of the death forest.

"Hmm?" Lucien stated.

"The stars." Sia raised her gaze to the night sky. "They've gone back to normal since our meeting ended..." She fell silent, finishing the rest of her words in her thoughts. 'Though they have taken on a new harshness.'

"Oh that." Lucien shrugged. "Evernight Goddess most likely noticed us."

Sia came to a standstill in her steps, staring at him carefully. She knew they were bound to attract the attention of gods sooner or later; after all, Lucien was planning to become Death, which neither Evernight Goddess nor God of Combat wanted to happen, but she didn't expect them to draw "Their" attention so quickly, and yet, in the face of this, Lucien kept his cool astonishingly well again.

"It isn't only "Her." Lucien continued by putting his hands in his trouser pockets and looking her in the eyes. "The majority of "Them" should have caught wind of us as well."

"Not to be pessimistic—you may have grand dreams, Lucien," Sia walked up to face him sombrely. "However it's nothing new to six gods who have lived for millennia and caused the rise and fall of numerous civilizations—"

"I know, I know." Lucien interpreted with a wry chuckle. "The Gods are great; I acknowledge that, but don't underestimate what we have just achieved." He came to a halt. "It's a lot more than you think."

"Tell me then." Sia pressed, her eagerness and sense of duty betraying her.

Lucien was silent for a moment, looking up at the night sky. "It's not best to talk about that here, don't you agree?" He finally said.

"Yes." Sia begrudgingly concurred.

"Don't be that way." Lucien smiled and shook his head. "I understand how I may seem to you, trying to avoid the sensitive questions and always appearing mysterious and all. But we've only just begun; give it some time, and trust me when I say you'll understand everything eventually."

"You are asking an awful lot of my trust, Lucien." Sia said sharply.

"What to do?" Lucien smiled. "You are stuck with me now, so we might as well see it through to the end."

Sia pursed her lips in frustration, but she reluctantly admitted that Lucien was correct—from the moment she decided to back Lucien, her path was set; there was no turning back, especially now that the gods had taken notice of them. Nonetheless, she wished she could wipe that wilful smile from his face.

"All right, come on." Sia eventually sighed in defeat and walked forward. "He should have probably picked up on our presence by now."

"That's the spirit." Lucien's smile broadened, prompting Sia to merely roll her eyes in exasperation. They dissolved in silence for the rest of their journey to the heart of the forest of death.

And what greeted them was an inverted black mausoleum that wound underground, like a spiral staircase, with no visible entrance. This was the mausoleum where Haiter, the leader of the Artificial Death Faction, slept to recover from the wounds he received when his project failed catastrophically.

Sia lowered her gaze to the mausoleum. "Are you certain about this?"

"Don't you think it's a shame to kill an angel?" Lucien countered, side-glancing her. "The amount of effort and time it takes to become a mythical creature is enormous, and cultivating them is even more difficult, so I don't want to kill Haiter unless there is no other option. There is also the fact that he oversaw the artificial death project, so there was no one better than him to keep the uniqueness of death under wraps from the snooping dogs of gods."

"How do you know the Artificial Death is the uniqueness?!" Sia looked at Lucien, baffled, then realised how stupid her question was. "Well, who am I kidding? Of course, you know!" She continued, ignoring Lucine, who smiled amusingly at her. "Anyway, you are correct," she agreed, telling him about the current situation between the factions of the Numinous Episcopate:

"Even though I attempted to take over the Artificial Death Faction, Haiter was able to keep the bulk of his power due to the complete suppression that comes with the death pathway." When Sia mentioned the suppression, there was a look of distaste on her face that told Lucien she wasn't a fan of it. "So, if Haiter fell, it would cause chaos and only weaken our organisation; even so, Haiter is far too engrossed in his obsession with Death; he will not listen to your reason, Lucien."

"That is where you are mistaken." Lucien shook his head at Sia. "Haiter is a thorough zealot, and the best way to deal with such people is to give them what they want."

"What do you mean?" Sia inquired, her brow furrowed.

"Remember what I said." Lucien smiled. "You will understand eventually."

'Truly.' Sia thought, twitching her lips. 'A charlatan.'

"Come on." Lucien prompted, his figure fading into the spirit world.

Sia looked at the spot where Lucien stood in silence for a split second before following him into the inverted mausoleum through the spirit world. 'Who truly are you, Lucien?' She thought as she caught up with him, and they rapidly made their way to the heart of the mausoleum.

They landed instantly on a long and dim walkway flanked by a black lake filled with bones and corpses that spread into the darkness. The walkway in front of them led to a wide platform with a coffin erected on it, but it was open, with a figure sitting in front of it, his head bowed in ominous silence.

As they approached, the figure looked up. His dark eyes were as dark as an ocean without light, and his slim silhouette shifted slightly, his gloomy robes swaying like dark waves. His aura was cold and sharp, as were his young features, which became even more so in their presence.

Haiter, the leader of the Artificial Death Faction!

'He's recovered his strength.' Sia judged heavily from the aura emanating from Haiter. The reckless man, as usual, didn't bother hiding his recovery, instead blatantly showing it to them.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Sia?" Haiter eventually broke the brief silence between them. "Have you come to see if I kicked the bucket, or have you finally mustered the courage to do the deed yourself?"

"Tell me, Sia, tell me." Haiter taunted her viciously, his words reverberating in menacing echoes throughout the mausoleum; however, part of his attention was also concentrated on Lucien, scrutinising him.

Sia snapped deafeningly, shattering the echoes. "Your dream ends today, Haiter." She declared, unleashing her aura.

"Ridiculous!" Haiter laughed chillingly, rising from the ground as the black lake shook with waves as his aura clashed with Sia's. "You never learn, do you, Sia?" A spark of pale fire bloomed in his dark pool of eyes.

Their confrontation was cut short when Lucien suddenly appeared in the middle of them,"Sia, you are wrong about one thing." He corrected, his hands in his pockets. "Haiter's dreams will not only end today but will also be reborn."

"Who are you?" Haiter inquired, a cautious look in his eyes as he stared at Lucien, who seemed completely unbothered by the confrontation of their auras despite being in the middle of it.

Lucien spun around to face Haiter, striding towards him with brisk steps. "Who am I?" He titled his head thoughtfully. "That's a good question, but where's the fun in introducing myself, don't you reckon, Sia?"

Sia could only nod in agreement, wondering what Lucien was going to do with Haiter.

"So look at me, and tell me what you see," Lucien continued, his voice becoming low and deep, almost a haunted whisper in the darkness. "Tell me what I am?…" he trailed off into silence.

Haiter and Sia subconsciously followed his commands, fixating their gazes on him, and suddenly, they were not looking at Lucien. They weren't even looking at a man anymore.

All Haiter and Sia saw was an infinite, boundless cosmos collapsing—planets splitting, stars exploding, galaxies melting—beneath it all lay a cosmic grave, and in it, they saw innumerable ruins, each singing to them a sombre and painful story to them. Civilisation eternally lost. Names forever forgotten. Everything and everyone meeting their inevitable end, falling into the embrace of Death.

They were astounded by what they were witnessing, especially Haiter, whose emotions were swaying and causing his heart to race; after all, he was witnessing something he had always dreamed of, completely dedicated himself to, and always yearned for:

He was witnessing Death, the Ultimate End of All Things, in "His" true form.

And "He" broke Haiter.

With that, Haiter felt the world spin around him, and the next thing he knew, he was back in his mausoleum, completely breathless and trembling, but he ignored his condition, bolting towards Lucien and kneeling in front of "Him" in repentance. "Please pardon my previous petulance, My Lord." He pleaded hoarsely, his head bowed, not daring to look up at "His" lord. "Your faithful servant failed to recognise you..."

Sia Palenque Egger had her hand over her heart, taking deep breaths as she tried to gather herself, but she was completely unable to do so because she had never witnessed anything like that, even in her long years of life. And even in this state, she was able to notice Haiter completely surrendering to Lucien in piety and repentance; she should have been shocked by the turn of events, but she found herself understanding what had just happened in front of her eyes, just as Lucien had predicted:

Haiter's faith in Death had grown to the point where he no longer believed in their previous lord, the Underworld Emperor; instead, he began to seek and yearn for the concept of Death itself, wanting to understand its mysteries and wonders and willing to sacrifice everything for it. Now Lucien emerged, revealing himself to be the embodiment of all of that and compelling Haiter to submit wholly to him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lucien, who looked down at Haiter with an unreadable expression. "You have yet to respond to my question."

Haiter immediately answered piously, his head remaining bowed in repentance. "You are the Great Reaper."

"That I am." Lucien echoed, allowing Haiter to finally take a heavy breath in relief. Then he turned and looked at Sia.

Sia met his gaze in a moment of reckoning silence, and then she walked forward to Lucien resolutely, joining Haiter. "My Lord." She bowed to "Him" in acknowledgment. At this moment, she knew she had made the right choices today.

Lucien hummed with a smile, "Good." He said. "Stand up now."

They obliged and looked at "Him," though it took Haiter a lot of internal struggle to finally gather the courage and meet "His" eyes.

Lucien continued. "Let's focus on our first order of business:

"Slowly spread word of my existence throughout the southern continent. It will ignite the hopes in everyone's hearts and push them to start preparing for what is to come.

"Then, in terms of the religion of Death, gradually stop promoting the teachings of the fallen Underworld Emperor and replace them with mine. More on this later, but for now, let's start with the replacement of honorific names."

Haiter spoke sombrely. "But, my lord, if we do this, we will end up attracting everyone's attention, including the Gods."

"Most Gods should be aware of my existence; it is already inevitable, so carry on." Lucien revealed, and then continued immediately, noticing his confusion and astonishment. "Haiter, Sia will fill you in on everything that happened later."

Sia and Haiter bowed, acknowledging his order, then exchanged a look before Sia spoke up. "My lord." she inquired. "Your honorific name?"

Lucien declared.

"The Great Reaper from Beyond;

"The Shadow that embodies Death;

"The Ultimate End of All Things."