Arrodes

Under the light of the sun, Aucuses got off the carriage, looking at the steam cathedral.

It's been a year since the ascension of Artisan and eleven years since his invasion of the southern continent.

Eleven years flew by for him. Even though a lot happened around him, he remained the same as always.

There have been a lot of changes in the past few years. The most influential change was due to ascension of Artisan. His ascension caused the entire human civilization to have a significant leap in every sector. It finally broke through the limitations of civilization, laying the foundation for a future steampunk civilization.

There have been inventions being made almost every day, making the lives of citizens easier and more comfortable. A major advancement in steam engines completely reformed the entire travel industry, which reduced the minimum travel time between major cities from days to hours. It accelerated urbanisation even more.

The revolution was not only limited to the industrial sector; many others were also affected. The most major one was the Art Revolution, or as it goes by another major name, The Renaissance.

The Renaissance began due to the revolutionary change brought by a single artist. That artist was given the title of "Father of the Renaissance" as an honour.

The artist was none other than Apollo. The Renaissance was sparked by his painting "Lady of Silver Moon," which depicted the Queen of the United Empire, Silvia Abraham, and his song "House of Memories."

Apollo's art and music didn't get that popular at first, but the situation changed when the Church of Eternal Blazing Sun announced that Apollo was the blessed of the Sun God. It was said that the Sun God personally sent a divine oracle to inform his church.

As one could already expect, the unique art of Apollo was blown up with popularity and acclamations, as the status of blessed was made public. Thus, resulting in The Renaissance.

Aucuses' eyes twitched as he thought of his other identity. This was not his plan at all.

It was Diana and Lucas. They were behind the entire renaissance. He just told them to use his other identity, Apollo, when displaying his paintings. However, they ended up causing such a ruckus by using the identity of Apollo.

He wasn't angry at them for this, as their intentions were to help him from the start, even though they didn't get his approval or instructions beforehand.

Overall, the renaissance benefited him greatly. He got numerous anchors through his identity of "Apollo", so much so, he was actually considering whether to add the title "God of Music and Art" to his honorific name.

However, this was just a passing thought in his mind. His attention nowadays was always fixed on preparing for the upcoming war, the situation of his angels, and Lilith.

Diana almost digested half of her potions. It may take another half a century to completely digest it. Meanwhile, she has already started forming her own organisation. She took control of the remnants of the Mosaic Ascetic Order. With them as the foundation, she started developing her organisation. This origination was recognised as orthodox by his "Golden Order" not long after its formation.

Aucuses will have to grant her Hermit Uniqueness soon, as it will be essential for Diana if she wants to analyse the laws of the world and, from them, create one on her own.

Then, there was Edward, his angel of redemption. Edward's condition had gotten considerably worse in the past month. All of his actions to prevent this failed one after another. He was finally forced to consider the final option.

Putting his heavy thoughts aside, Aucuses walked towards the steam cathedral while making sure of his concealment.

He is in Elanso, one of the small towns in the United Empire.

This town believed in the God of Steam and Machinery. And, actually, it has no significance in the grand scheme of things.

He still came here, though, just to steal a mirror from Artisan. He wasn't worried about attracting the attention of Artisan by stealing the mirror, as the mirror was only considered a low level artifact by the church of the god of steam and machinery. Even if it was stolen, this wouldn't even reach the ears of Artisan..

He was so cautious because he didn't want anyone to know of his next actions. That mirror was the most important part of his plans. He can't have it known to even those who are closest to him.

Aucuses didn't want to waste any time, as he wanted to go meet another god before the advent of night. So, he teleported directly into the core of the cathedral, where all the artifacts were kept in a sealed state.

He found himself in a dimly lit room surrounded by various artifacts. They were all placed on a black platform with chains around most of them.

In the middle of it all was a silver mirror, lying quietly on the platform.

He walked towards it and picked up the mirror with his right hand, poking its surface.

"Arrodes, I know you already sensed me."

"So, don't try to hide or act anymore, otherwise I will throw you into the sun…"

Aucuses threatened, seeing no response from it.

The silver mirror trembled, as if it was afraid. On its surface, clear words begin to take space.

"Oh, The Great and Merciful Sun God, forgive me for my previous impudence. You can ask me any question, great sun god…"

Aucuses' mouth twitched as he read that. He somehow felt as if it was looking at him like a dog whimpering for forgiveness.

"Any?" He asked, with raised brows.

"Yes, any." It immediately replied, as the words on its surface shone brightly.

Aucuses peered deeply at the mirror before asking. "What is your origin, Arrodes?"

The forming words on the surface flickered, as an eerie aura filled the room.

"I came from underground…" It said, with words flashing blood red.

"Not that. You know what I am actually asking about, Arrodes, don't you?" Aucuses said, his tone low as a whisper. "So, let me ask again, what is your real 'Origin'?"

"My origin…The underground…It's.." It said, but suddenly the words glitched and disappeared. The mirror became visibly dim and withered, while his surroundings became quite, abnormally quiet.

'Did I break it?' Aucuses thought, ignoring the atmosphere. He opened his all-seeing eyes and examined the mirror.

Arrodes was fine. But its condition is strange, as if its consciousness went dormant while attempting to answer his question.

In the mirror, however, he sensed a connection. He can even see that the connection has been strengthened further now.

Aucuses didn't pry into the connection. He already knew where Arrodes was connected to.

The Chaos Sea!

Arrodes is connected to the Chaos Sea. Aucuses knew of this fact way beforehand. In the original timeline, Adam used Arrodes as an anchor to summon the chaos sea and then placed the second blasphemy slate in the chaos sea, just before he walked into the true creator and began to merge with True creator, in a bit to revive the Ancient Sun God.

At that moment, Adam had already begun to slowly regain his control over the chaos sea. So, when the Ancient Sun God finally revives, he will have complete control over the chaos sea. It was a perfect and flawless plan.

Coming back, Aucuses was now holding the same mirror that had access to the chaos sea.

Attaining such an important artifact, which will ensure that he will not completely lose to Adam outright, should have made him feel at least exhilarated, but his eyes told a completely different tale.

He was hesitant. He was hesitant enough to consider the mirror, despite it being the most important and key part of his plan, as this would be his doorkey to the chaos sea.

But, it's origins…

Aucuses deeply suspects that the mirror was made by God Almighty "Himself". His hand holding the mirror trembled with that thought.

It was a far-fetched guess. He knew that, but the striking hints and actions of Arrodes in the original story, though….

Aucuses took a breath to supress his restless emotions. He looked at the mirror in his hands silently, as his hesitant eyes became firm.

He cannot let go of this opportunity, despite the dangers that may lie ahead of him by making this choice. He wants to win in the end. It isn't going to be easy, as he needs to give all it takes to even have a silver of chance against The Creator and The Almighty.

He finally sighed, putting away the mirror in his kingdom. He added 'fix the mirror' to his long list of agendas.

Aucuses disappeared from the steam cathedral, teleporting himself to the Amantha Mountains.

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On the highest peak of Amantha Mountain, Aucuses stood, looking at a towering and illusory black door.

"Amanises..."

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