146 Amelia Jacob
1 January 1111. The Eternal Blazing Sun accommodated the Tyrant Uniqueness, becoming the symbol of 'Power'. He gained the authority of the sky, ocean, lightning and calamity.
The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun changed religious cannon, as the honorific titles of the sun god; 'Guardian of Business' and 'God of Contracts' was removed, replaced by 'Ruler of the Sky' and 'Progenitor of Day'. The title 'Symbol of Power' was added to the honorific title.
The scared emblem of the Eternal Blazing Sun was also altered, as now there was a clear blue sky visible with the Blazing Sun.
These sudden changes, with the abated calamity, made it clear to the world that the Eternal Blazing Sun had usurped the throne of the Lord of Storms, conquering the sky and ocean as his own crown.
The historians recorded all that transpired in vivid detail. As for whether future generations take the facts as fables or factual history, no one could guess.
7 January, 1111. The War between the Empires was on full throttle. The army of the dead laid waste to all life as the ruthless stamped across the grounds of the northern continent.
The Solomon Empire had allied with the Bayam Empire at the beginning of the war. The two empires joined their entire might to go on a frontal assault on the Trunsoest Empire and Tudor Empire.
The small skirmishes between the Trunsoest and Tudor Empires ceased, as they were forced to deal with the coming assault of the allied empires.
Tudor and Trunsoest didn't ally with each other, though. But there was tacit understanding between the two of them, bringing temporary peace between them until the threat of Death and the Black Emperor was dealt with.
20 January, 1111. War. War raged across the lands in between like never before, even dwarfing the holy war. The bards sang the tales of the mighty angels and valiant heroes in the cities far from the frontlines. They didn't label it as a war in their songs, rather a dance, a Dance of the Living and Dead.
Thus, the moniker of the most famous war of the epoch came to be through the songs of the bard and the whispers of the taleteller, reaching into the sharp ears of the historians.
They recorded it: The Dance of the Living and Dead.
3 April, 1111. The Orthodox Churches finally broke their long silence and entered the war after the army of the dead breached the frontlines. The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, Earth Mother, God of Combat, and Evernight Goddess declared their alliance on the same day, entering the war under the leadership of the Archangel, Thunder God, Lucas Reyes.
Meanwhile, the Church of the God of Steam and God of Knowledge also entered the war, siding with the Night Emperor. It had developed into a war that no one could skirt.
23 June, 1111. As the war raged on the frontlines, which had been saved by the troops of orthodox churches joining the war, a new religion sprung up in the Tudor Empire, worshipping the Goddess of Wisdom.
The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun acknowledged the religion of the Goddess of Wisdom as Orthodox while the crown remained silent regarding the religion.
The Faith and Crown. A crack was already visible for those with keen eyes to see within the empire.
The religion of the Goddess of Wisdom blatantly preached that their Goddess was the true embodiment of knowledge, while the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was nothing but a charlatan.
5 March 1112. Tensions between Faith and the Empires were at an all-time high, but a common enemy forced them all to band together, whether they wanted to or not.
The Dance of the Living and Dead continued, as the allied troops finally pushed past the cannel with the combined might of 30 angels. Thus, the counter invasion begins...
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10 years later, on March 6, 1122.
In an army tent near the frontlines, the canals.
A woman with flaxen-coloured hair knelt down on the floor, her hands tightly clutching a sacred emblem of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
She muttered, her voice quivering in despair and misery. Before her were three candles lit up in golden flames and a white knife inserted into the cup of clear water, surrounded by white flowers.
"Eternal Blazing Sun,"
"Inextinguishable Light,"
"Progenitor of Day,"
"Embodiment of Order,"
"Ruler of the Sky,"
"The Symbol of Power,"
"I pray for God's grace,"
"I pray for salvation,"
"Please save my family…."
She whimpered out, her figure trembling as tears trickled down her cheeks, falling onto the ground.
"Please…"
The golden flames burning in the candle still burned the same without the slightest change.
'Believe in the Might of the Gods, not in their Benevolence.'
The gentle yet strenuous voice of her ancestor resounded in her mind, as her heart sank further into pits of despair, looking at the unchanging candles.
"No…No…No…" She sobbed, clutching the emblem of the eternal blazing sun tightly.
However, she refused to give up hope. She took a deep breath, pressing all her wallowing emotions. Then, she prayed, her scarred heart steeling for the terrible words that she was about to utter.
"I pray for your salvation in exchange for the eternal servitude of my family..."
Amelia Jacob was who she was, a saint of the noble and illustrious family of Jacob. They were fierce and loyal supporters of the Blood Emperor, himself.
They were one of the angel families of the realm, with an Archangel as an ancestor. It was more than enough to exemplify their status and origin. They were supposed to be praised, honoured, and showered in glory and fame.
Yet, everything was falling apart. It was already far too gone by the moment she realised the problem.
Her ancestor suddenly changed. Everything changed: his behaviour, actions, bearing. It was almost like he was possessed by someone else. Then, without warning, he completely disappeared from the face of the earth.
Things just didn't stop there. The "change" was spreading like a tumour, infecting everything. The angels of her family began to show drastic changes just like her ancestor, one after another.
She wasn't a fool, nor were the other high-sequence beyonders in her family. She inferred that somebody or something was parasitizing the members of her family, even her ancestor. And it had succeeded without a hitch, without causing even the slightest hiccup.
That revelation sent a chill down her spine, making her heart freeze in terror. And she immediately knew who was targeting her family.
Only Amon, God of Deceit and Son of the Creator, had the power to accomplish this.
Her true nightmare began with her realisation. Her loved ones were immediately replaced the very next hour. They tried to act the same way, though the glaring differences were all clearly visible to her. Then, without even giving her time to process shock, they took out a monocle and wore it over their right eyes and greeted her in unison with their distinctive voices, their lips suffused with a smile, a smile that she will never be able to forget for the rest of her life.
Her mother, her brother, and her sister...
She ran; ran to seek help; ran to escape; ran to warn others. She just ran without daring to turn back, as an amused chuckle kept reverberating in her mind.
She ran to the capital, frontlines, and army camps, wherever she could sense the rest of her family. Yet, what she found broke her heart ever more. "He" was everywhere, waiting for her, greeting her the same way through the mouths of her family.
Everyone and everything was gone.... The last bits of her darkening world would have collapsed if not for the bleak hope, which was also threatening to extinguish with a still echoing amused chuckle.
She didn't dare stop on her journey, her heart quivering in fear at what might await her, if she stopped.
She ran, ran now to find help, to find a way to save her family. But who is capable of rescuing them from the clutches of the Blasphemer, who dared to defy the Gods themselves?
However, there was still hope. She desperately clung to it and prayed for salvation, not caring for the prize or consequences. It didn't matter anymore.
So, she prayed to "Him" with the last of her extinguished hope.
Suddenly, the golden flames on the candle flickered, as a fierce gale swept into the tent. A looming shadow was cast over her praying figure.
She jerked her head immediately, only to directly look into the golden eyes that gleamed with resplendent light just like the eternal sun in the sky. She felt too small under the gaze, almost like a particle of dust...
"Never forget your words," A divine voice thundered in her mind, as she felt something bound into her soul, forcing her completely unconscious. "Amelia Jacob. You and your family shall forever serve me from this moment forth."
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