Chapter 32: Sibling's Quarrel

"There may be a way for us to unseal your powers." Azrael raises his head but his expression does not change. His half-open eyes show distrust, breaking Marchioness Atalante into a cold sweat. This is a Primordial Deity. What I want to say, he may already know about, or at least considered. But... on the off chance that he does not know about this... It may give me the opportunity to gain his trust.

Azrael sighs, "Atalante, I don't think I've told you about the seal cast on me, have I?" She shakes her head. "The seal Azazel used on me is a powerful seal called 'The Seal of Yahweh'. It's the most powerful seal ever created and requires life energy equivalent to a Primordial Deity's. Whatever method you've conjured, I doubt it would—"

"There exists a saint," she interjects.

"A... Saint?"

"Saint Ziola. It is rumoured that a powerful goddess has blessed her. This prompted the church to take her into their possession."

"You say it's a rumour but how certain are you that this is true?"

"Though I have not met her in person, Pope Alexander has spoken quite a bit about the Saint. If we are to take his words as truth, she may have the power to break your seal.

A Saint blessed by the Gods. I wonder who granted this person a blessing. And when? As the other gods refused to observe Gaia, I took it upon myself to watch over the planet. A perk that came with watching over the planet was being the midpoint for everything and anything the gods wished to relay to the humans. Whether it was prophesies or blessings, everything was run through me first. That said, I remember every blessing granted by gods and the recipients of those blessings. I don't know a 'Saint Ziola'. Was she blessed after my persecution? If so, which God was it? "Do you know the name of the God this Saint was blessed by?"

Madame Atalante shakes her head. "Pope Alexander has not revealed that information. It appears the Church wishes to keep the Patron God's name under wraps."

"Why would Pope Alexander go so far? Unless—"

"The God who blessed this Saint might be one of the Primordial Deities."

One of my siblings. That could be why Pope Alexander is adamant about hiding the god's name. "But there's a problem."

"A... problem?"

"This Saint may be the solution to my sealed powers but unless we know the name of the Primordial Deity blessing her, we could be walking into our enemy's trap."

"Our... enemy? Do you mean your siblings?"

Azrael, albeit unwillingly, nods his head. "One of my siblings has betrayed me—that much is undeniable. And while I'm confident Orion is innocent, that still leaves four other siblings."

"Including your twin sister, Lady Gaia?"

He pauses momentarily, then says, "Including Gaia, yes. Any one of Aridam, Gaia, Kartara or Horatia could be our enemy. That said, if we don't know who blessed Ziola, we risk giving ourselves away to the enemy."

Marchioness Atalante watches Azrael speak with great intensity, absorbing his words like a sponge. After he concludes, she says, "You constantly refer to your siblings as your 'enemy', so I have been meaning to ask, do you intend to fight against your siblings?"

"Fight?"

"A battle? War? Duel? Being a human, I cannot fathom the sheer intensity of what a battle between Gods will look like. And as you said, the Primordial Deities are the pillars of the three realms, so I fear what would happen if you and one of your siblings stake your lives on a final duel."

"A final... duel?" Azrael bursts into an uncontrolled fit of laughter. "A final duel... Hahahahahaha..." He wipes the tears from his eyes as Marchioness Atalante's jaw stands slightly agape. "Apologies, Atalante. You've made me laugh more than I've ever had before with that question. But... to answer your question... No. I, nor any of my siblings, will duel each other. We've forbidden sibling quarrels that would escalate into something as barbaric as a meaningless duel. It's as you said, duelling each other would only lead to a catastrophic end to the three realms—and none of us wishes for that." It would also be a pointless duel since none of us could actually kill the other. Seeing as we're lumps of life energy, Primordial Deities will always exist as long as Aether exists. Even Aridam's Destruction Arts and my True Death cannot erase another Primordial God from existence. Maybe if we use it on Aether, it could work but that would kill us as well, which would be idiotic. "We siblings have quarrels like every other sibling. And that is all this is, a sibling's quarrel."

"A sibling's quarrel?" Marchioness Atalante's mouth twitches. Even to her, one of the Ten Wands, this is clearly much worse than a sibling's quarrel. But she does not express this thought verbally because she understands that everything the Primordial Deities do is simply human behaviour—just at a cosmically larger scale. "Well," she says lifting Rasui and Alora onto her shoulders, "If this is a sibling's quarrel, we need only find a way for you to talk it out with your siblings, correct?"

Azrael nods his head, "Correct. But before we do, we must unseal my powers." He lifts Arthur, then says, "And I think I may know a way to get Pope Alexander to reveal the god's name."

"You do?" She looks at Arthur, and her eyes droop. "Lord Azrael, if I may be so bold to ask you one thing, could you not involve this boy?"

"Hmm?"

"Arthur..." She pauses momentarily. Sweat rolls down her cheek as she shakes her head, "No, Acheron Samael... Could you not involve him in this matter?"

"Acheron...?" Azrael's wide eyes squint and his tone deepens as he asks, "Where did you hear that name?"

Marchioness Atalante falls to her knees and hastily says, "I heard the name from Pope Alexander. Two decades ago, when I was still an active adventurer, he and I were much closer than we are now. It would not be incorrect to assume we were best friends. As such, he happily announced the name of his firstborn child to me. Acheron Samael, the name of Pope Alexander Samael's eldest son..." Her body trembles as she continues, "It is also the name of Pope Alexander Samael's late eldest son. Lord Azrael, I do not know why, but as far as the Sapphire Kingdom's registry is concerned, Acheron Samael does not exist any longer."

Doesn't... exist? Does that mean... "Pope Alexander faked his son's death?" She nods her head. "I... see." But why would Pope Alexander go to such lengths? No, what I'm more curious about is why Pope Alexander would rid himself of Arthur. Does he not know of Arthur's worth? Azrael's straight expression morphs into a grin when he says, "Ignorance truly is bliss."

"Apologies?"

"No, it's nothing. Anyway, I was not going to involve Arthur in this matter."

She sighs, relieved. "That's good."

"You; however, will have to play your role as Marchioness Atalante."

"I'm... sor—"

Marchioness Atalante's mouth falls to the ground after witnessing Azrael wear a horrifying smile. "Pope Alexander," he says, looking through Marchioness Atalante, "I never forget when someone has showered me with disrespect. I hope you sleep well tonight... because this will be the last night you have peaceful dreams."