80 Legend

"They're within you and me, Blaise." His eerie words echoed through helm, bringing a haunting silence.

As a heaviness covered the entire helm, the rays of sun flickered. There was the heavy breathing of three angles, who were still trying to process his terrifying words.

It echoed in their minds, and with each resounding, they felt the world turning dimmer and darker with no light. As the words lingered in their minds, there realised that there was no light in the eternal darkness, leaving them shivering.

'This is our world?' Blaise thought, his heart trembling, looking out into the darkness.

'There is no light. There is no light at all.' Lucas thought with a broken heart, his thoughts losing control as the darkness slowly consumed him.

'Although I suspected this. Why do I still feel this way?' Diana had a sad smile, her hands pressed to her chest as she breathed heavily. 'It's our world; A world without hope or light.'

The darkness was heavy and suffocating. It was twisted and crazy, like the abyss of creation. There was no light. It was just empty. It was indifferent. There were no boundaries to the abyss, only endless, empty darkness where everything ends. Forgotten and buried.

"Drink the coffee." A voice echoed in their minds, breaking through the darkness and pulling them out of the abyss.

They didn't ask or speak. They took the white cup and drank the coffee. They didn't care, even if their tongue got burned during it.

"Aucuses". Lilith said with a sigh. "You are pushing them over the edge. It won't end well."

Aucuses remained silent, eyebrows furrowed. He can feel their desperation, despair, fear and pain in their hearts and minds. It was forming a dark abyss in their hearts.

He knew Lilith was right. He pushed them to the edge. But the truth has to be told, cruel as it may seem. They need to know. He didn't want them to live in ignorance. He knew how they felt because he also had been there and went through it all. It changed him drastically, and in some ways, it was the catalyst for his ascension to godhood.

Not only him, all the gods have experienced it, albeit in different ways. The truth was something one had to know and come to terms with it. This was also a necessary phase that one had to go through if one wanted to attain divinity or godhood in the end. If this were not the case, the consequences would be unimaginable in the future.

'They really need therapy,' Aucuses thought with a sigh. He looked at them, who were slowly recovering due to the divine coffee. But their minds and their hearts were still scarred. These scars cannot be healed at all by his authority. They need help, professional help to deal with the scars.

"Can you ask Amanises?" Aucuses asked suddenly, looking at Lilith.

"I can ask her." Lilith nodded, turned and looked at the angels, who seemed to be improving on the surface, but their hearts told a different story. "But I don't know if she'll agree."

"I'll pay the price," Aucuses promised without thinking. His brows furrowed in concern and worry as he stared at the angels.

Lilith nodded and said nothing more. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

An aura of tranquility soon descended over the table, with bright stars twinkling around them. The heaviness and depression in the air disappeared as a sense of peace swept across the helm.

Numerous night moons and vanilla flowers appeared from the stars and descended on the angels and gave them a blessing of night.

Aucuses noticed Amanises' gaze lingering on his angels. She also gave him a fleeting glance before the divine aura receded and the stars vanished.

Lilith opened her eyes, turned to him, and said. "She wants to talk to you in person after you return to Earth."

Aucuses nodded. He didn't think much into it, for he was focused on his angels of him. He can see that their emotions are settling and the scars in their hearts and minds are healing, albeit slowly.

Their complexion and condition visibly improved, as they should have achieved a sense of peace through the blessing of the night.

Aucuses sighed, he must say, the authorities of Amanines were too convenient. The authorities used by Amanines here were Soul and Night, while she still has Darkness, Concealment, and Misfortune.

He put those thoughts aside and focused on Blaise, who finally seemed to have some strength to speak.

"The Pillar will awaken within us. Is that why the paths of the mysteries have been suppressed and considered cursed, my lord?" Blaise asked, doing his best to be calm and composed.

"Yes, the higher one climbs on the paths of the mysteries, the more the pillar will awaken. Let's say, if one now becomes the god of these three pathways, Lord of Mysteries will fully begin to revive within them, using their bodies as a vessel." Aucuses answered, placing his hand on his chin. "Why do you think Bethel and Amon never tried to ascend to become gods, despite many opportunities in the past? That was the reason. The six gods also do not want a god of that pathways to be born either, unless the time and fate are right."

Hearing this, Blaise went silent in his own thoughts about the pillar and mysteries.

"Lord." Diana spoke, leaning forward in her chair and adjusting her glasses. "But isn't God Almighty also a pillar?.."

She began to rationally focus on this knowledge and cast doubts on it, thus distracting her mind from wandering into the terrifying darkness.

Aucuses smiled. "As expected of you, Diana. You noticed that." He complimented her. "The will of God Almighty is powerful, but it pales in comparison to the will of Lord of Mysteries."

"In recent times, the Almighty's will has weakened. This is why I, Leodero, and Herabergan can become gods without fear of the resurrection of the Almighty within us."

"Milord, was the weakening related to the Ancient Sun God?" Diana finally put forward her guess, her hands knitted together nervously, as if she was afraid of the answer.

Aucuses was silent for a moment before speaking.

"Let me continue the legend. In the end, you will have the answers to your questions and doubts."

Diana nodded as Blaise and Lucas began to focus on him. Despite the fact, the truth was horrible, they would rather know it all, than live in ignorance.

Aucuses continued. "The pillars have fallen. However, they left behind arrangements that would ensure their successful resurrection in the future. Lord of Mysteries went a step further to make sure his arrangements weren't disrupted by future generations. "He" sealed all the sefirot expect Sea of Chaos on one of the continents of the Earth, before his death. The seal can only be opened when a new Lord of Mysteries is born."

"So there needs to be the birth of a Lord of Mysteries before the apocalypse ..." Diana gasped in horror, "The Lord of Mysteries should have predicted that the Apocalypse would happen. Even more, "He" may have foreseen it in in the future many will try to suppress "His" pathways and stop "His" resurrection. But, by doing this..." She was completely lost, for in that moment she clearly realized the horror of a Pillar.

Lilith shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Blaise and Lucas began drinking the coffee again.

"Yes." Aucuses nodded, his tone still calm. "You are indeed right. The Lord of Mysteries knew that in the future, many would try to stop "His" revival. So to ensure the success of "His" plans. "He" sealed the Sefirots and blocked the ways of the Great Old One for future gods. The Lord of Mysteries knew that the barrier was not eternal. So "He" left this arrangement, which would compel the future gods to allow someone to become Lord of Mysteries in order to break the seal on the serfoits."

The helm fell silent with a heaviness that covered the air as his words echoed out.

Aucuses felt the silence and continued on the legend. "So that's why the Sefirots are sealed. Now let's move on to the last part of the legend, the one you know. It's about the ancient sun god."

The creator's name attracted their utmost attention, as "He" was always covered in mysteries.

"The Creator awoke from the Sea of Chaos with the first blasphemy slate. "He" was already a God of the two pathways of the sun and hanged man at that time. However, the Creator quickly realized that Almighty had already begun to awaken in "Him". And, in an attempt to stop this, "He" separated a part of the "Self" with the authority of Degeneration, and let that part share his burdens. "He" only partially succeeded, as "He" couldn't stop the resurrection, but "He" managed to slow it down."

"This part was the king of the king of angels, the left hand of heaven, The Dark Angel, Sasrir."

His words caused gasps of surprise across the table.

Aucuses continued without giving them the chance to ask about it. He didn't want to drag this out and wanted to end this legend quickly.

"The Creator launched a crusade against the ancient gods to retrieve the authorities belonging to Almighty. With the help of Chaos Sea, The Creator was unrivalled, "He" managed to get all the remaining authorities; Tyrant, Visionary and White Tower. And at the beginning of the third era, "He" took control of the sea of chaos and eventually succeeded in ascending to become the Half- Great Old One."

"The only thing that prevented "Him" from becoming a pillar was the will of Almighty. The Creator could no longer suppress the will of the Almighty. "He" tried in many ways, but it all failed and it became completely inevitable."

"Desperate, "He" had came up with a grand plan; a plan to kill himself in an attempt to stop the resurrection of Almighty. Make no mistake, the Creator was far from being a saint, who would sacrifice himself to stop a pillar. "He" should have left behind some plans that would have ensured "His" survival and success in the end."

"Sasrir, the dark side of the creator, formed Rose Redemption with Amanises, to kill "His" main self. All the gods and most of the kings of angels were part of it."

"The fateful day had arrived. The Rose Redemption besieged Creator. In the end, we succeeded. However, before Creator could enforce "His" other plan to ensure "His" survival, I betrayed "Him" and disrupted it. Leodero and Herabergan quickly joined my side, and the gods, as one would expect, did not interfere. They simply stood by and watched betrayal and fall of creator."

"What? I'm telling the truth." Aucuses said, catching Lilith's glare. "Don't think all of you deceived me; I've always known all of you wanted 'Him' dead as well."

Lilith snorted at that and turned away, while Aucuses ended the legend with a sigh.

"The Creator has perished."

"His fall had many ramifications; the will of almighty has been greatly weakened. The barrier was also beginning to deteriorate. "His" remains crumbled to form the second blasphemy slate."

It completes the legend.

His angels were silent as they digested the vast amount of information in their minds.

"The legend should be enough to understand the true history of our world," Aucuses said as his gaze swept over them. "Well, before I let you all go."

He pulled something out of thin air and threw it at Diana.

It was Sequence-1 characteristic of the Hermit pathway.

Diana caught it in her hand. It took her a moment to realize what it was. Then, her mind went blank.

Blaise and Lucas were stunned, their eyes widening. They knew the gravity of what had just transpired.

Their Lord wants Diana to become the Hermit!

"Diana, rise to become King of Angels after your recovery." said Aucuses solemnly. "Then begin to prepare for apotheosis ritual. I will give you the uniqueness of hermit when you are ready. I expect you to become a god before the end of this era. Finally, you don't have to worry about Artisan, I'll make sure he doesn't dare interfere with your preparations."

Diana held the blank look. Her dream had almost come true, she should have been happy, jumping and partying all day, but there was only sadness and pain in her heart.

Eventually, she looked at the Lucas, who did his best to encourage her with simple and silly actions.

Diana and bowed to her lord, tears gushing from her purple eyes as her trembling hands held the characteristic.

"Thank you, milord." She said this in a strong and sincere voice, despite her pain in her heart. "I am eternally grateful. I will ascend, before the end of this epoch, to become a god."

Aucuses smiled, while sighing inwardly as he observed her mental state. Even though he expected change, he was still very worried, when he saw how much it affected them; Diana, despite her dream coming true, was not happy at all.

Still, he waved his hands at the sunlight. It began to converge before the three and morphed into his sacred emblem.

"You can stay on Voyager for a few hours to gather yourselves together. Then, inject your spirituality into the emblems, and it will transport you to Backlund's National Library. Hermes is the librarian there. He will be able to help you once you have given him the emblem." He issued the final instructions.

His angels nodded solemnly and took the emblem without hesitation. They bowed to him one last time before leaving the helm.

After watching them go in silence, Aucuses leaned back, shoulder slumped. He took the cup of wine from the table and began to drink it.

He and Lilith were the only ones now at the helm. And, he chooses to remain silent even after sensing her glares.

There was only silence between them, until Lilith spoke up, sighing in defeat.

"You were far too daring, Aucuses. You have offended all the outer gods by doing that. I can assure you that "They" are enraged and "They" are going to target you specifically in the future."