The Seraphim of Gold.

Veritas opened his eyes and realized that he was back at the crypt. He saw the stone coffin of King Sigourde and noticed the figure sitting atop of it. It was a six-winged Seraphim that gazed upon Veritas with interest. 

Immediately, Veritas felt the increasing pressure attack his Soul. Being in the presence of an Empyrean could not be handled by an Impure Pathbearer. Thus, he kneeled in pain and struggled to keep his Soul whole. 

The intensified pressure caused by the existence of the Seraphim had taken a daunting pain inside of Veritas' Soul. 

He almost lost control due to this. 

Then, the Seraphim let out its majestic voice and spoke to Veritas. 

"Brilliant! Tis Great One had not expected thee to see beyond the truth that I have distributed upon thee. Thou had learnt the complete truth!"

"I must commend thy efforts O, Prince of Elrod. Truly a Brilliant Path that thy possesses."

Veritas could not reply back at the Seraphim's words, he was even struggling to listen to Him. The pressure brought upon by the Seraphim had been too harsh for his Soul. 

"Prince of Elrod, gaze upon thy Soul and seek thine runes. I wish to see thy Path. Do it or perish by my sword.."

The Seraphim conjured a longsword made of gold and aimed it at Veritas' neck. 

Veritas struggled to breath and focus yet he managed to speak under the presence of a divine being. 

"You- were the one that.. turned this city to gold!"

He expressed his feelings, Veritas could see why King Sigourde despised the Seraphim before him. The Seraphim could not simply be described as psychopatic or sociopathic, the Seraphim didn't even know what those words were! He simply acted upon his own ideals and virtues.

'This is the truth about good in this world'

Veritas pondered the existence of Gods and Angels, in the story of the Great Demon and Holy War, those on the side of good upheld the virtue and morality of the world. 

However, in reality, they were just mere unemotionless beings! They thought with logic and used humans as mere pawns for their power.

If the demons were the epitome of instincts and desire then Angels were the representation of logic and calculation! They need not care about the subjective emotions of creatures under them, they merely care about the results!

"Child.. Everything of Brilliance belongs to mine. Thou Path is of Brilliance, surrender it to this Great One or suffer the repercussions."

"Gaze upon thy Soul and open thine runes.."

Veritas, crushed by the immense pressure of the Seraphim, opened his mouth and uttered foul words to the Seraphim. 

"Fuck...you!"

Veritas spat blood on the Seraphim's feet, then he coughed up blood due to the pressure. 

The Seraphim looked at him with indifference, as if judging whether to kill the lower being or continue on with His escapade. He contemplated whether the Path was worth His time or not.

After a moment of calculation, the Seraphim gave Veritas one more chance for survival.

"This is of thy last chance. Gaze upon thy soul and summon thine runes or perish in gold. Such Brilliance does not fit a mortal such as thyself."

Veritas went silent for a moment, his face looked blank and empty, it seemed like the pressure was nonexistent. 

Then, a couple of moments passed by and Veritas returned to his previous state of struggle. The Seraphim gazed upon Veritas with indifference, letting out His majestic voice.

"Thou plan is futile.. where there is Brilliance, there is Me."

"It doesn't- hurt to... try!"

As Veritas spoke with confidence, the Seraphim touched the skin of Veritas' neck with His golden longsword. Blood seeped out from the wound and Veritas screamed in pain. This was no ordinary wound, this was a wound inflicted by a Seraph!

"If you want this Path so much then why don't you take it yourself!"

Veritas provoked Seraphim even more, it seemed weird that the Seraphim had stayed in one place for so long. He wondered what kept the Seraphim tethered to this place and not return to heaven!

The Seraphim paused momentarily and gazed upon Veritas with His pure golden eyes.

"What's the matter? Can't take it? Here.. It's all yours!"

Veritas recalled the destruction of the 4 towers, further seeing it complete with his own eyes proved his theory to be even more correct. 

The 4 towers once stood tall to pierce the heavens, they reached the clouds and were as high as any mountain! However, when Veritas scanned his surroundings from back then. He could see that all 4 of the towers had been cut or slashed. It was either by a great creature or a distinguished individual!

Back then, he thought that a great creature had caused the destruction due to the messy nature of the cut! However! After seeing the whole truth, Veritas realized that it wasn't a cut or a slash! 

It was a battlefield amongst two very powerful individuals!

One was the Seraphim of Gold standing in front of him and one.. was another Seraphim or someone of that level!

Thus, Veritas concluded the fact that the battle amongst two Seraphims would have to be devious and leave at least one to die! 

And the other would have been gravely wounded!

So, the former would be the unknown Seraphim and the latter was the Seraphim of Gold!

"Go on! Read my mind and see if I've reached the tru-"

The Seraphim gazed upon Veritas with cold eyes and suddenly used his sword to cut his neck! Blood splattered all over the place, and the head of the prince rolled beneath Seraphim's feet. 

"A pity.. Thine Brilliance is too great, such waste to be granted upon a mortal. Truly a-"

The Seraphim was astonished and doubted His vision!

The head of the Prince was gone! It had vanished into the Winds, almost as if it had never existed at all!

"An illusion!"

The Seraphim realized it too late and used His power of Brilliance to locate Veritas. He was hidden well but it only took mere seconds to see that Veritas was already at the mountains!

"Insolent Visionshaper!"

The surroundings then turned brightly, from Veritas' perspective it was as if a second sun had existed in the horizon, specifically coming from the heart of the city.

He had devised his plan of leaving the crypt the moment he had received his Path. He gambled to see if the Seraphim would notice that he conjured an illusion using his Path and Attunement while he was being distracted by the conclusion that Veritas had arrived. 

Using Will of the Winds and Visionshaper, Veritas conjured a perfectly replicated body of his with thoughts and actions that he could control. 

It took a great toll on his Soul but it was a necessary risk to escape the chains of the Seraphim!

Thus, by using the full power of Will of the Winds, Windsong, and Eye of the Kraken, he gained tremendous speed in traversing the waters of the city. In a few minutes he had reached the edge of the mountains and immediately headed towards the golden door!

Suddenly, the horizon behind Veritas lit up drastically. A Golden Sun was seen shining ever so radiantly! Veritas dared not to look as he knew that he would immediately lose control upon doing so!

Therefore, he used Will of the Winds and Windsong, consuming a significant portion of his Soul, to run like the Wind!

He had never ran so fast before it felt like he was wind himself. But! The Brilliance of the Sun was much faster, the shining radiance was slowly lighting up the surroundings around Veritas.

It was a race against wind and light! 

Until! Veritas could see the radiance of the golden door! It was almost in his reach!

But.. the Sun was already upon him, he could not see it but above him was a six-winged Seraphim, shining with elegance and power. 

However, Veritas continued to race against the Sun and reach the golden door! Amidst his escape, Veritas noticed golden footprints that lead towards the door. He payed it no mind and continued to run.

Veritas then heard the majestic voice of Seraphim of Gold.

"Foolish Visionshaper! You dare trick a Seraphim?"

The voice was enough to stop Veritas in his tracks, he felt the pressure once more but this time it had been much worse. He felt his Soul fluctuate and crack!

Veritas felt that he was finally going to lose control, he began losing his sense of identity.

His life flashed in his eyes, he saw the greatness of the Kingdom of Elrod, he saw his father fighting against the Demon of War, he saw his mother telling him stories of old, and he saw the knights training at the training grounds.

Not only that, but Veritas saw individual's whose life had been lived by him. He saw Duncan standing resolutely at his post, he saw the peaceful lives that they had. He saw Sigourde, working hard to cut everything, and then he saw Sigourde at the end of his life. 

Veritas' eyes turned sorrowful at the situation, his mind slowed down at the thought that his end was coming. He wanted to see his Father fight more, he wanted to hear the fairy tales of his father, he wanted to spar the knights, and he wanted more!

'It cannot end like this..'

With those thoughts, the Seraphim uttered majestic words once more!

"Fall under this golden blade and be forgotten.."

As the Seraphim had aimed to strike down, the radiance emitted by the Sun from above suddenly vanished. Darkness began to rise everywhere in the surroundings. Veritas slowly looked up at the sky and saw..

"The Eclipse!"

And with darkness, descended a Seraphim. It looked like the Seraphim of Gold but it had darker wings rather than pristine white ones. It looked weak and damaged, as if it had returned from a great battle. 

Then, Veritas heard the Seraphim of Gold addressing the black Seraphim.

"I see! So thine haven't perished yet, Seraphim of Void!"

"I shall never perish under thy blade.."

"Thy have interrupted me once more, now fall under mine blade!"

Thus, the radiance clashed with the darkness, the effects of their battle affected the surroundings! Even Veritas was thrown away by the sheer scale of the battle. However, this was his opportunity to escape using the Seraphim of Void as the distraction for Seraphim of Gold, Veritas used the Winds once more to run.

The door was almost at his reach!

Veritas did not know what would happen if he went back inside the door. He wondered if the Seraphims could enter it but it seemed as if the Seraphim of Gold was tethered to this place! 

So, he ran across the winds and rushed straight to the golden door. 

Then! He had finally arrived, he immediately opened the door and it was only a hands reach before he could leave the place of battle. 

When suddenly, a Seraphim with black six wings fell near him. It looked pale and bloodied, its eyes were devoid of life, and its wings were clipped. 

The Seraphim of Void had fallen!

"Treacherous Fallen Angel, how dare thee to betray the Great Sun God! Now that thee have fallen, thine brilliance is of no more!"

Hearing that voice stopped Veritas in his tracks, he had fallen to the ground due to the pressure! Blood came out of his pores, eyes, nose, and mouth. He was on the brink of losing control!

'I had been so close too.."

"A mere mortal such as thy aren't worthy of dying by mine blade."

Then, Veritas felt his feet harden, creeping up to his legs and reaching his abdomen. 

'F-Fuck!'

He was turning into gold!

Veritas felt helpless, even a weakened Seraphim was capable of doing this much. 

"Perish in Gold.."

Veritas struggled to move his legs and body and the gold only took seconds to transmutate his lower body fully. Veritas was out of options, his Soul had been depleted, he could not use Windsong any more, his lungs had been turned into gold and he felt as if he could do nothing!

But! He thought of a crazy plan! He quickly gazed upon his soul and activated Will of the Winds. Then, everything around him seemed to turn quiet. Every wind and air around him vanished suddenly!

Before the gold reached his neck, the Wind suddenly vanished in the surroundings and the Wind seemed to scream at the Seraphim, provoking Him!

"Go to hell you winged bitch!"

Then, Veritas' head was cut off by a strong high pitched wind. It felt like a storm had passed by so suddenly that the Brilliance of the Sun could not even comprehend it.

Veritas' head entered the insides of the golden door. His consciousness lasted for a miniscule fraction of a second, but that was all it took for him to leave the wretched place.

The decapitated body of Veritas was turned into a golden statue. The Seraphim of Gold looked at it with awe. He was amazed by the courage shown by the Prince of Elrod, he felt as if He had unlocked a new emotion deep within him.

The Seraphim laughed loudly at the scenery.

"Prince of Elrod! thy proves Brilliance to be deserving of a mortal such as thyself. I have underestimated thee, to think that thy would go such lengths in order to save thyself! I must also thank thee for unlocking hidden emotions deep within me!"

The Seraphim of Gold held a massive smile on His face, He was unfamiliar as to what emotions He was feeling.

"Truly Brilliant!"

In that landscape of darkness and radiance, a loud laughter could be heard echoing across the horizon.