170 The Fallen King (3)

Adrian adjusted his sitting position on his throne as he continued. "The Ritual was odd and slightly disturbing. It contained a list of materials that we had and a few unfamiliar Runes that we needed to draw around the Altar, and like every Ritual, it required sacrifices... Human sacrifices.

I should have known then and there.. I should have questioned it or at the very least hesitated. But no. The moment I read that it needed a sacrifice, my thoughts went straight to those Immigrant Prisoners.

I am unsure if that Evil God planted the thought in my head and removed any chance of doubt from me, or was it due to the urgency of the situation, my wrath and or the fact that I had an alternative for the sacrifices instead of using my people. I did not even ask what the Ritual was for. I only heard it say that it would help us and i was in.

I shared this discovery with my people. They did not hesitate under my orders as they moved and prepared everything.

A Heart of a Golden Lion.

The Fangs of an Ice Serpent.

The Claws of a Shadow Wolf.

Last but not least, the Eyes of a Silent Hawk.

These were the materials we needed. We set up a proper Altar in the middle of our City with runes covering the whole area.

5 Prisoners were brought over as they were tied and sat with the rest of the Materials.

We were not even supposed to kill them ourselves, but leave them there, and since the word sacrifices was used, we knew what fate held for them.

We then chanted a certain honorific name. This was the final step.

This is what was spoken...

Folgrea, the God of Darkness.. That was the first line.

The God of space and Corrosion.. That's the second line.

The entity that walks among the unknown.. And that's the last line."

Link frowned and asked. "Is there a reason why you keep on stopping between each line? Does saying the full honorific name get this entity's attention?"

"Indeed!" Adrian answered. "If the name is spoken fully and without stops. This entity's gaze will fall upon this place, then god knows what might happen to us..

Anyways, as I was saying..

After we chanted the name, nothing happened for a few seconds. The area was deathly quiet as we waited for something. Then, the Runes glowed as an oppressive aura fell from a dimension we can't comprehend. A crack broke the sky with a pulling force as it took the materials and Prisoners. We all looked in awe, fear and happiness.

We thought.. Was this our chance?

We were wrong.

After everything vanished inside the crack, the Runes were wiped away as well, then we saw something fly out of my castle.

In the distance, I saw the same blurry blob i spoke with, flying towards the crack quickly.

As it got closer, and unlike last night, its body was in the light, fully clear, my heart sank.

What the hell is that?.. I thought.

The blob was one made out of squirming flesh and maggots. Blood dripped off of it as it vanished inside the crack as well.

My people looked at me, hoping for an answer, but I did not have one.

The crack stayed in the sky, and we heard the screams of agony coming from the 5 prisoners as the echo of tearing and ripping entered our ears.. Something was eating them.

Then evil, malicious and hoarse laughter left the crack. Making the land shake and our bodies weak.

Each and every person that heard it fell on their knees, as if praying to this godly entity. Tears fell from our eyes and blood dripped from our ears...

It was at that moment that we knew. We felt it.

We were going to die.

My memories of what happened last are blurry. I remember an earthquake, screams and laughter... That f*cking laughter" Adrian took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and sat quietly for a while. Link did not speak until he saw him open his eyes back.

"Then you were stuck here?" He asked.

"Yes, I was stuck here for 2 435 Years, 5 Months, 4 Days, 8 hours, 42 Minutes and 13 Seconds" Adrian chuckled. "Don't mind the details. there wasn't much for me to do down here"

"So the name of this God is Folgrea?" Link asked.

"Yes!"

"Do all Gods have Honorific names?"

"Yes, even in the Orthodox churches, they use the Honorific name of their Deity to pray" Adrian explained.

"Then if I speak the Honorific name of an Orthodox Deity, will 'His' attention fall on us?" Link asked.

"No, it will most likely go without a response"

"Why?"

"Rarely do Orthodox Gods or Goddesses answer prayers" Adrian sighed. "The only people that get a reply constantly are said churches, popes, deacons and so on. For the common folk, it is close to zero!"

"Why is that? Why are the Evil Gods the only ones that give attention when their names are spoken?"

"Let me tell you something" Adrian looked at Link. "If you pray to an Evil God right this instant, what do you think will happen?"

"We get it's attention and it kills us?" Link shrugged.

"Not only will it kill us, but it will feed on our souls as nourishment or if we're lucky, makes us slaves and or it's servants"

"Then why don't they attack the people straight away? Why do they wait for a prayer to do that instead of just attacking everything?" Link asked.

"Do you think the Orthodox Gods are just for show?" Adrian chuckled. "They keep balance and order, protecting our realm from such Entities and preventing their descent. That is why when you speak of said Evil God's name, it is similar to you offering yourself, giving it the means to do as it pleases!"

Link was shocked by this. He never thought that such things existed. He ignored and paid little attention to the religion in this world. He saw his parents pray more than ones, but like back on earth, they got no response or their prayers fulfilled.

"Such topics and information are mostly useless to us. As long as you do not speak an unfamiliar Honorific name, you'll be fine kid" Adrian spoke after seeing the look on Link's face. "I fully know my anger and resentment towards an entity like that is useless and a waste of time, but I can't help it!"

"Is there anything I can do?" Link asked.

"The only thing that'll let me rest in peace is if you kill that Bastard" Adrian laughed. "But i have another solution that'll help free me!"

"What is it?"

"Kill me!!" Adrian muttered.

"WHAT?" Link was taken aback by this. He found the man nice and pitiful, but hearing his request made him feel reluctant.

"Killing a wraith using Orthodox means purifies it. Plus, I've lived long enough, I should be on my way to meet with my people and beg them for forgiveness!"

"You've done nothing wrong, your majesty!" Said Link.

"I've made plenty of wrong choices, kid, and even if I didn't, I am their King, and they perished under my rule. Begging for their forgiveness is what I have to do" Adrian stood up, taking a deep breath as he looked around his throne room. "I have something i want to give you before we do this"

Link took a step forward and asked. "What is it?"

Adrian reached into the emblem on the carpet in the middle of the throne room. Link watched how his hand sank in and pulled something out.

A golden sword made of pure light was revealed, radiating holy and pure aura.

"This should not stay here. Take it!" Adrian said. "Use it to kill me and keep this sword. Maybe one day you'll have a use for it!"

'That's the sword the King of the Rechanguard Kingdom used to declare war!' Link thought to himself.

With slow and reluctant steps, Link grabbed the sword and looked at Adrian one last time.

"May you find peace!" Link spoke.

"Thank you!"

WOSH!