Failure

Sia Palenque Eggers was many things, but a betrayer she was not. Nonetheless, she had heard what they call "behind her back" when they thought no one could hear them in the comfort of the shadows:

'Blasphemer.'

'Traitor.'

'Deceiver.'

'Kinslayer.'

She should tell you that these naked and undraped comments had no effect on her, but it would be a lie, for she bore these words in her heart. But did she regret any of her choices that led her to this moment?

No.

She never did.

Sia had lived a long life, with millennia of memories brimming her mind. From the War of Gods to the Fall of Four Emperors, from the collapse of the Bayam Empire to the anarchy that followed, from the arrival of Roselle to the colonisation of the Southern Continent, from the birth of an artificial god to the persecution of her people, she had seen it all. Now the real question was: what did she do in any of the events that shaped the era?

Nothing.

However, she was at the level of someone who could lead Orthodox churches and secret organisations, someone who could be considered the pinnacle of the extraordinary world for less-informed beings, and someone whose name could be sung in tales and legends.

Ultimately, she was a none other than a Grounded Angel.

Yet Sia felt utterly powerless. The longer she lived, the more she realised her insignificance. She couldn't do anything but comply in the face of trends of times, and it's not like she didn't try; rather, she tried everything she could to make a big change to the stage, yet every time she failed.

And her greatest failure against the trend was when that wretched emperor Roselle discovered a new and safe sea route to her land, ushering in the colonial era.

Sia tried to stop them, and even Haiter, the insufferable man, supported her plans.

She wanted to remind the northerners of the history they had forgotten—of what happened when the Southern and Northern Continents collided and of how Death would have destroyed the entire Northern Continent if it hadn't been for the Seven Gods.

She wanted to remind them of the Pale Disaster—the Wrath of Bayam.

Sia Palenque Eggers railed the entire might of the Numinous Episcopate against the northern countries that were attempting to colonise the southern continent, but what she ultimately faced was the trend of the times, which now came in the form of the Beyonders of the so-called Orthodox Churches.

The Seven Gods must have noticed her actions, so they dispatched their churches to pursue her and her organisation, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to root them out.

They, unsurprisingly, failed. This result was too obvious for her; after all, unlike the Orthodox Churches, which were reducing their forces to a bare minimum after the beginning of the fifth epoch, she and Haiter had always focused on strengthening and expanding their organisation, to the point where they were on the verge of regaining the might the Eggers Family had in the fourth epoch. They would have done so by the turn of the century if it weren't for the constant conflict and chaos on the southern continent.

In any case, the war between the numinous episcopate and the orthodox churches allowed the northern countries to colonise the southern continent right under her nose.

Even though Sia had won the conflict with the orthodox churches, she had failed her people, her empire, her continent, and her home once again. She could even do nothing to the northerners anymore, as she knew if her organisation pushed them too hard, what awaited her was a divine punishment from the gods. There was a limit to the patience and tolerance of gods, and she didn't dare try to test it.

Even if she didn't want to, Haiter did. He was, as always, daring and reckless, to the point where she sometimes wondered how he survived to become an angel.

Haiter was the leader of the Artificial Death Faction. Though they never saw eye to eye from the start, the dire situation following the end of the fourth epoch forced them to put aside their differences and band together to form the Numinous Episcopate in order to pull together what was left. At first, their goals were similar: to resurrect Death. But, as the years passed, Sia realised how pointless her efforts were.

It was dubbed the "artificial death project" by Haiter. He desired to bring uniqueness to life and resurrect Death through it. The existence of the Hidden Sage inspired him to devise this plan. But Hidden Sage was surrounded by mysteries and unknowns; no angel clearly knows how the Hermit uniqueness came to life, and there was also the fact that the Evernight Goddess and God of Combat would not sit back and watch as they attempted to resurrect Death. All in all, this was a foolish and dangerous endeavour.

But Haiter clearly believed otherwise; he was so obsessed with Death that he wanted to proceed with the artificial death project despite the risks and uncertainties.

Sia decided to oppose Haiter after much deliberation in order to put an end to his folly. In return, she was called a betrayer and a blasphemer in front of all. They soon fell out, dividing the Numinous Episcopate into two factions.

Haiter went ahead with his plan, and guess what? He failed spectacularly; even he was affected and injured by it, forcing him to sleep for years to recover. All that came out of his plan was an artificial god that couldn't even be considered a living being—a shell of what was Death, a mere fantasy of a zealot.

But, as you might expect have guessed, even failure didn't deter that insufferable man, who was still determined to complete his plan one way or another.

All the while, Sia was focused on finding the Son of Death, having decided to bet on him. She recognised that if anyone had a greater chance of restoring Bayam to its former glory, it was him; after all, he was once their emperor, ruling them in Death's place.

The man in question was Azik Eggers. Her relationship with him was fine, but she never really got to know him because of the chaos of the fourth epoch—everyone, from mortals to gods, was drawn into the whirlpool of war in that era. They already had a lot on their plates, so socialising was the last thing on their minds. Azik even pursued Death to confront the Blood Emperor, who was a mad god, but the most incredible thing was that he lived to tell the tale. After that, he became a legend among the Bayam, revered by their people.

Unfortunately, all legends must come to an end, and Azik was no exception—after the fall of Death and the collapse of the Bayam Empire, he inexplicably vanished without a trace.

Now, Sia was determined to resurrect the long-forgotten legend, but she couldn't find Azik. There was no sign of Azik Eggers, no matter how much she searched and scoured the world. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.

Sia, on the other hand, didn't believe in coincidences; someone or something was blocking her path to Azik. Whoever they were, they had enough power to keep him hidden from her, but she didn't give up hope, determined to find Azik no matter what.

As the years passed, the situation on the southern continent worsened. Loen, Intis, and Feysac have been constantly fighting for more power in the colonies. The forces of the outer gods also emerged, pouring even more oil into the chaotic fire and enabling it to rage throughout the southern continent.

Still, Sia had found no leads on Azik Eggers, and just when she thought she was about to fail again, a message from that organisation was delivered directly to her.

She was aware of the Twilight Hermit Order, how they were controlling the trend of the times, and even who was leading it. After all, only Adam, the Angel of Imagination, had the power and might to influence the path of the entire world, right under the noses of the seven gods.

To be honest, she despised that organisation and everything it stood for because it reminded her of how insignificant she was in the grand scheme of things. But the content of the message they delivered forced her to set aside her reservations and focus on it solemnly, as it revealed the existence of another direct descendant of Death who was seeking her audience.

She was sceptical and cautious at first, because all direct decedents of Death except Azik died by the end of the fourth epoch, but she ultimately decided to keep an open mind and hear his case, despite being fully aware of the risks involved—after all, the meeting had been arranged by the Twilight Hermit Order, possibly even "Him"—but she was desperate.

Sia Palenque Eggers did not want to fail again.

That's how she ended up here, alone, on October 19, 1349, in front of a door to a hotel room in Kolian. It would be a lie to say she wasn't surprised by their meeting location, which was far from what she had expected, but the simplicity of it all soothed her heart, and so she raised her hand and knocked on the door, which immediately opened on its own, as if they already knew she was standing outside, but she couldn't sense anything behind the door.

Sia entered the room with caution and was greeted by a young man who was handsome in his own right. He had bronze skin, average height, and a chiselled build. And he had a sun-kissed glow about him, which was enhanced by his aura, that was a contradictory mixture of serenity and grimness, but it seemed to strangely suit him all too well, and his silver eyes had that same youthful look that she occasionally reminisced about in her dreams of the past.

"Hello." The lad greeted her politely, his voice very distinct, as if he already knew something about you that you yourself didn't.

"I am Lucien Eggers."