Temperance

"My father, Azik Eggers."

Haiter remembered the man who ruled the Balam Empire at the height of its glory and might.

At the time, they were a force to be reckoned with and feared by the entire world. Even if he didn't care much about the empire in general, it would be a lie to say he didn't wish to see it regain its lost status under the leadership of his lord.

"Azik…the critical component…" Sia muttered, her eyes wide with realisation. "So, Evernight Goddess..." she trailed off into silence.

"Evernight Goddess?" Haiter looked at Sia, puzzled.

"You haven't told him?" Lucien fixed his stare on Sia.

"No, my lord." Sia admitted, looking away.

"Well, it appears you both still have much work to do on unity." Lucien spoke sharply, crossing his hands. "We are one organisation on the path of liberty and war. We can't afford discord between us. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." They nodded unequivocally, understanding the stakes involved.

"Good." Lucien hummed contentedly before turning to face Haiter. "As for my father, the Underworld emperor chose him as a vessel for "His" reincarnation. This plan had a significant impact on my father's condition, making him go through the cycle of undying as well as memory loss repeatedly to prevent him from losing control."

Haiter and Sia took a minute to process the information, then Sia glanced at Lucien tentatively, as if she wanted to ask a sensitive question.

"Yes," Lucien simply answered her unspoken question calmly. "He doesn't remember anything now..." he paused. "Including me."

"I'm sorry, my lord." Sia spoke soothingly.

"Don't be." Lucien shook his head forlornly. "I never met the man."

Haiter also wanted to say something to his lord, following Sia, but after seeing the look of his lord, which all but suggested they drop the subject, "The Evernight Goddess, my lord?" He ventured.

"Oh, "She" probably discovered the underworld emperor's plans and devised some countermeasures to prevent "His" revival." Lucien leaned back in his seat, his chin resting on his palm, "one of them undoubtedly being keeping a close eye on the vessel of reincarnation."

"So…" Haiter sighed and closed his eyes. "From the start, the artificial death was doomed to fail."

"One way or another." Lucien stated flatly, nailing the coffin shut. "Evernight Goddess or the God of Combat would have prevented the resurrection of the Underworld Emperor."

"I understand." Haiter took a deep breath and faintly nodded, putting the matter to rest. "Anyway, my lord, the uniqueness is rightfully yours now."

Lucien hummed. "Tell me about its recent condition." He inquired, thrumming his armrest.

"The Artificial Death is becoming dormant." Haiter reported. "Its consciousness was created and powered by faith, but with the replacement of honorific names, all the faith of the southern continent is gradually being directed to you instead of Artificial Death."

"That's better." Lucien concurred. "And the gods..."

"There is no need for concern, my lord," said Haiter. "The Artificial Death is present within a mausoleum built by the Underworld Emperor himself."

"Even the Gods can't find it."

"So," Lucien asked Haiter for final confirmation. "Is the artificial death completely secure?"

"Yes." Haiter nodded unequivocally.

"Still," Lucien insisted. "My father needs to be found."

"My Lord..." His angels began to worry.

Lucien raised his hand, silencing them, and then he spoke in a tone that left no room for argument. "My father is far too much of a variable to be left to the whims of the orthodox gods." He met their eyes with certitude. "I'll find him myself."

Under his fixed gaze, Sia and Haiter could only nod in agreement.

Lucien calmed down. "Don't be too concerned." He said soothingly. "I understand the stakes involved here, so I will only look for my father after I am completely certain I can bring him back." He immediately continued after seeing relief in either of their faces. "Moving on.."

"The Temperance Faction of the Rose School of Thought." Lucien passed the report he collected on the Temperance Faction to his angels.

"They survived?" Sia exclaimed in surprise after examining the first page of the report.

The Temperance faction was one of two factions within the Rose School of Thought. It promoted temperance of desire as opposed to the other faction, which promotes indulgence of the heart.

In fact, when the Chained God founded the Rose School of Thought at the beginning of the fifth epoch, it was united under the philosophy of temperance, but everything changed when an outer god known as Mother Tree of Desire corrupted Chained God, and through him, "She" began exerting "Her" influence on Chained Pathway.

This is what prompted the Rose School of Thought to split into two factions—Indulgence and Temperance—and they clashed, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the Temperance Faction.

Sia was not surprised when she heard the news of destruction, since the temperance faction never had chance against the Indulgence faction, which was backed by a literal outer deity. She'd even heard that Temperance Faction leader Reinette Tinekerr had fallen in the end.

But after reading her lord's report, she immediately reevaluated her initial assumption that none of the Temperance faction had survived.

"My lord." Haiter spoke up, looking up from the report. "With so few survivors, they may as well be dead."

Sia had to agree with Haiter on this. The survivors were both too low and too weak to be of any use to them.

"You are right." Lucien nodded. "However, they still have some worth. They may be able to lead us to Reinette Tinker. She also survived the conflict between the Rose School of Thought factions, though not without injuries, to the point where she was forced to transform herself into a spirit in order to survive and recover."

Haiter took the liberty of speculating. "So, my lord, you want us to meet with these survivors and draw her out through them?"

"Sharp as ever, Haiter." Lucien praised, much to the contentment of Haiter and chagrin of Sia. "Despite her state, Reinette should still keep an eye on her people. We can take advantage of this and send her an alliance proposal." He paused and looked solemnly at his angels. "I believe we can all agree that Reinette is needed to totally eliminate the tumour that is slowly spreading on the southern continent."

"Yes, my lord." They concurred, recognising the underlying meaning in his words. They had to admit that their lord was ambitious; after all, he was already planning to rid the southern continent of the influence of the outer gods. Not that they were complaining; they were more than happy to see it come true.

"One more thing: the survivors are in Backlund." Lucien warned. "So this mission must be carried out as discreetly as possible."

"We have a branch there," Haiter said. "A demigod leads it. They are proper and regular in the books of Loen."

"Good." Lucien gave a faint nod. "Inform them immediately of my mission; the sooner we get Reinette on our side, the sooner this conflict will have a chance to end."

After they unequivocally agreed to his order, Lucien took out parchments containing the changes he intended to make to the religion of Death. He had made up his mind, but he still decided to go over his choices with his angels because, unlike him, they were the experts on southern traditions and cultures. They all eventually finalised the changes after his angels approved of his selections; it seemed that he was merely worrying himself heedlessly.

Lucien directed that the changes to the religion of the Dead be implemented gradually, beginning with the change of the sacred emblem from an inverted mausoleum to a white rose blooming brilliantly in the darkness, and then gradually progressing from there so that people could easily adapt to and accept it.

After all of this, Lucien concluded the issues for the day, and so Haiter and Sia began their daily briefing on the conflict between the Numinous Episcopate and the Rose School of Thought. 'No wonder warcraft is called art...' he thought as he listened intently, learning from their decisions and plans for the conflict.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, Lucien was alone in the hall, sipping his coffee and peering at the report on human trafficking networks. His mind was racing with plans for how to effectively eliminate these horrifying networks from the face of the earth.

Apart from his disgust with the concept of slavery, there was another reason for his desire to destroy these networks: he intended to absolutely ruin Augustus' apotheosis ritual before it could even begin. He even planned to expose the atrocities he committed to the world.

Lucien pondered how the people of Loen would react if they learned that their beloved king had kidnapped not only southerners but also his own people to become his slaves.

But, in the end, he shook his head, dismissing not only this plan but the majority of them because there was something he hadn't factored in.

Something that bothered him greatly.

'The Seven Gods.' Lucien pondered heavily as he gazed up at the night sky through a stained window.

—————-

Astral World.

"How long has it been?" A god beamed, literally, as his smile emitted radiance that blindingly illuminated other gods and goddesses assembled in the dark hall.