Umara stared at me for a few seconds longer after the MONARCH disappeared.
“New suit?”
“And improved.”
“Hm. So how do you feel? You’re not casting the spell.”
I smiled, giving her a thumbs up.
“All good so far. In fact, I’m feeling better than I ever have. That tempering did wonders, though I do in fact continue to feel myself adapting to the changes. All organs were adjusted, including my brain. Neural pathing and focus is definitely better, but the change to my hormones has brought adjustments in thought process and attitude, enough to set off some soft alarms in my Mind Palace. I’m feeling so good that it thinks I’m hearing voices again.”
“...I’m not sure how bad of an issue that’s supposed to be.”
“Eh, I’m fixing it now.”
I spoke as some of my Quantum Psionics were adjusted. The adaptability that Maxwell’s Living Arrays accommodated was working its wonders about now, making it so that any sense of discomfort I felt was rapidly rectified.
Feeling better, I looked at Umara, the two of us silently staring at each other. I noticed her face heat up given enough seconds.
Then I threw a glance at Maxwell.
“Alright old man, time for some history.”
“Must we speak about this in such a direct fashion?”
“Yes.”
“...Fine, let’s go find a place to lounge.”
Giddy feelings flowing through my improved bones, The three of us moved to a comfortable room, Erhan bringing us snacks.
Umara was just as eager to hear things as I was. The man was a mystery and the details were bound to be juicy.
After another minute of him adjusting his thoughts, Maxwell finally spoke.
“Now that you’re familiar with them, I’ll tell you outright that the source of my heresy is precisely those evocations utilizing Living Arrays. The ability to interact with the Outer Waters is a forbidden ability within the Church, even among those of the Order. It opens doors that nobody ever should. But since I pioneered it, nobody truly knew how dangerous it was until the time of the Kingslayer War.”
I didn’t nod or acknowledge, simply listening. I already knew enough about the Kingslayer War. It was the last war that had ended in the death of a Scourge King, specifically the King of Temptation. However, there was an annoying lack of details pertaining to the ultimate battle itself.
Two major consequences came as a result of that battle and the subsequent victory. First was a large period of peace. Second was Maxwell becoming a heretic. Extremely few people knew why the second happened.
The old man continued.
“My son Valdemar had exercised his genius throughout our campaign. After rebuffing the Scourge and locking them in the northern region outside the land bridge, we gave the King of Temptation just enough room while cornering it to prevent them from outright fleeing. From there, we mobilized everything we had. Every Sovereign in the Church was activated and spread across the war zone to engage nearly every Scourge Sovereign that had poured forth from the land bridge in an attempt to hold the last of their territory. That was the opportunity we took to step in ourselves.
“The big issue was ensuring the King of Temptation could actually be killed. Surrounded by a two hundred thousand strong army of Royals with five Sovereigns with it, we launched our operation alongside the best of the Order like Anderson, Hallowlight, Medraut, Franks and Hawkson. I was also there, at the time Authority 10 and having developed the majority of my signature Call at the time.
“At first the battle went well. I had killed multiple enemy Marshals and assisted in the deaths of the Sovereigns. Our troops fought desperately against the wider army, utilizing every weapon at their disposal to maintain the balance. It was a bloody battle, but with our momentum, we were to secure victory.
“We killed four of their Sovereigns, Anderson unable to secure the death of the King. We also lost some of our Sovereigns. By that point, we were about equal in strength. One King and Sovereign against our four Sovereigns. I had also joined the battle even if my ability to harm a Sovereign was limited. We fought for hours, we were worn down. Then, the Betrayer Hawkson turned on us.
“Delivering decisive and unexpected blows, Hawkson managed to kill Medraut and Franks, before being put down by Hallowlight, but not without her paying for it with grievous injuries. Without intervention I was sure she would die, and without her assistance, Anderson’s battle with the King became desperate. He was losing and I could feel the flow of battle moving against us all too clearly. We had lost our momentum, and if we had fallen there, our army would have been wiped out and the King would have gained the opportunity to launch a counter offensive that may have lost us the entire war, going so far as to put humanity in dire straits.
“So, I made the only choice I could and stepped in.”
Maxwell sighed and seemed to age, his hand motioning toward me. I took out and lit a cigar for him, which he took a puff of before continuing.
“I had been Authority 10. I had been working for years to breach the Great Barrier, refusing to advance until I had. I spent my time refining and attempting to correct my foundation to give me the necessary power to achieve my goal. I was convinced I could’ve. I was the most powerful summoner to ever walk the world. Nobody had gotten as close to breaking the Barrier as I. Nobody could summon creatures as powerful as mine were. I didn’t just pull creatures from my dimensions. I reached beyond them and into the Outer Waters. I was summoning entities that knew no form into the world, calling upon the tiniest fractions of their strength to fight my battles and winning. I was able to fight above my level.
“But in that moment, during the desperation of our battle, I knew I’d die. The King of Temptation was immune to the lesser powers of the Waters. My summons could only harm it in the physical world, not how I knew it would have to be harmed in order to kill it. So I made the one decision I knew would damn me, the last decision I ever thought I’d make.
“I advanced. Without breaking the Barrier, I initiated my advancement into Authority 11. At the same time, I opened my soul and used my evocations to reach toward the Outer Waters. Except I wasn’t looking for some random entity or spirit. My projection couldn’t find any that were capable of engaging a King properly.
“So I used the one connection that I knew could bring a suitable fighter to me, and I called upon my Guardian Angel.”
My eyes widened, Maxwell pushing forward.
“My angel accepted my call, but his power was too great for me to accommodate. So I initiated a marriage with a single request. In exchange for all the power that I was acquiring through my advancement, I needed the angel to fight the King. That seemed to be enough, and he descended upon the world, taking nearly half of my soul in exchange, as well as all the power I had to give.
“I couldn’t tell you much of what happened after that. I was disoriented for the first half of the fight, and the second half was filled with the pain of my soul being torn apart as the King started to kill my angel. Nevertheless, my angel had done his work.
“When I finally gathered myself, my angel was dead, and Anderson had delivered the killing blow, finishing off the King of Temptation. Our enemy was defeated and the Templars had finished their bloody battle below. But that left the aftermath, which is likely along the lines of what you’d guess.”
Maxwell went silent, giving me a few seconds to think in silence, more dots connecting in my mind than he could probably think.
Maxwell’s guardian angel had died in its battle against the King. Ignoring the implications that came from an angel losing against what I initially assumed was a mostly physical being, I focused on the angel’s death itself.
One glaring connection was made in my mind.
“The Nephilim. That’s how they were made.”
Both Maxwell and Umara glanced at me, both confused. My eyes focused on Maxwell’s.
“From Earth, where I come from, we have our own biblical stories. The Nephilim that appeared on this world are directly named after the Nephilim that I knew from those stories. In them, the Nephilim were the children born from fallen angels reproducing with humans, beings of vast strength and stature that were revered on the Earth as giants, kings, and warriors. Only another person from Earth would know that specific name, and assuming they were named such because an earthling was responsible for the creation of this world’s Nephilim, then I’m willing to bet that their creation was sourced from your dead guardian angel.
“Did you recover the body of the angel? What happened when he died?”
I asked, Maxwell looking slightly more horrified than before.
“The body was recovered, but admittedly, we couldn’t recover everything. There was likely something as little as blood or tissue samples left behind, and if the Scourge got their hands on them…”
“Which they did. So, the Nephilim were spawned from a genetic or magical fusion of angel and human. Whatever they managed to do, its resulted in the new type of corruption that’s been plaguing the world ever since.”
“Oh my God…”
Maxwell clutched his head in his hands, making me sigh.
“Don’t beat yourself up too bad. Killing a King is still arguably more beneficial than having prevented the creation of the Nephilim.”
“I allowed them to desecrate a sacred being.”
“Yeah, well, comes with the job.”
I let out a long sigh, Maxwell staring at me in beffudlement.
“Why are you so relaxed about this?”
“Because this isn’t something you should be crucifying yourself over. You killed a King and then gave the Scourge an opportunity to usher in a new line of Corrupted. By my accounts, your first accolade, not to mention your work on the Call, far outweighs the mistake of spawning the Nephilim. I mean, if we’re being honest, as interesting as your history is and as thrilled as I am to finally get you to tell me about these things, I frankly couldn’t care less about what part you you may have played on a strategic scale in my current war. Not to mention that I’ve seen what the Scourge has done in all of its unholy exposure. What they do to the people of the villages and cities that they take over on the weekly is significantly worse than the deed of twisting angelic genetics for their own gain. So sorry if I don’t react so strongly to what you’ve told me. At this point, something as little as that is background noise in my brain."
Maxwell went silent, sitting there and staring at the floor for a minute before taking another puff, smoke moving with his breath.
“Given how much you know about the war and the Nephilim, how many people has that creation killed?”
“Is it the raw number you want to hear, or how that number compares to a world where you hadn’t done what you did?”
“Both.”
“Then as for the first, several million so far and no end in sight on that projection. As for the second, not a damn thing would’ve changed. The Scourge were going to work their magic regardless of if they had the Nephilim as an ace in the hole. Maybe in a more direct fashion, but nonetheless. I was never expecting anything less than what’s happening now.”
He went silent again. I glanced at Umara, seeing her slightly awkward as I shrugged.
I finally broke the silence, calling Erhan and having him bring a bottle of wine. He poured us some glasses, and I spoke.
“Well, as much as I love depressing topics of war and massacre, I’d prefer to hear about the reaction of the Church. I’m not sure what punishments usually come from heretical branding so if you could enlighten me.”
“...Well, it's not like I wasn’t a special case. I was crippled after the battle so I had no choice but to sit out the rest of the war. When it ended and everyone finally got time to convene in regards to my case, the verdict was passed down that my actions resulting in the death of a being I had no right summoning was, in practice, a form of heresy regardless of the outcome. Thus I was branded, excommunicated, but ultimately not sentenced to death. Instead, they took everything from me. The Albarain Peerage, which I headed as Paladin, was taken over by Valdemar and renamed Korpela after my late wife. He went on to suppress news about my branding and after he received the Icon of Victory for his leadership in the war, that goal was easier than not. Especially so after news about Hawkson was spread. His betrayal was far worse than my heresy and took the spotlight, saving me from most of the hatred.
“Although I should have been put to death under most circumstances, my work on the Call was deemed too important. The Pope sent me to Luna and her Polaris Family as a form of imprisonment. I was told to work on my Call and eventually take an apprentice who would inherit my work and prove its worth. When that happened, the Call would be sent back to the Church where they could properly disseminate it, uplifting the power of the Summoner class as a whole.
“It took me decades to refine the Call, especially since I no longer held the power I once did. It took me years just to learn how to refrain from using the crystalized portion of my brain and nervous system, and even longer to learn to manage the pain again. After that, I had to engage in my work while operating as a far lower intellectual level. Decades I spent on paving a path to Authority Nine and Ten, a proper path without the inferior crutches and compensations of the normal Summoner Calls. I managed it a few years before you arrived. Although the work hadn’t been finished, Luna knew that I was no longer capable of advancing it further. So she finally started searching for an apprentice. There were several that came and went. They were all too stupid to handle it. But then you showed up, sent by the Tavera Family.”
“Yes, I showed up…”
I muttered, staring at him weirdly, a few more dots connecting in my brain.
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“...What are the odds that the sole person to arrive from another world in the last handful of years was snagged off the streets and sent to you completely by chance?”
“Apparently high, and I’ve paid for that ever since.”
“They’re actually so incredibly low that they may as well be zero. Which means it wasn’t by coincidence. A moment.”
I brought up my Aerial, dialing a number and waiting.
The voice answered soon enough.
“Huh? Who is this?”
“Plex, it’s me.”
“John? What’s a rich man like you calling me for? I doubt you need a job or anything.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I had a question only you and the Key Master could answer. You knew I was a Versal, right? That’s why you pulled me off the street, so I could be evaluated and sent to Maxwell.”
“Figure that out all by yourself? I gotta say, for being what the papers call the most powerful summoner in the world, it sure took you long enough. By the way, isn’t that a bit narcissistic? I know you own those companies. Who jerks themselves off like that?”
“Yeah, it was good talking to you too. We can catch up later when I get back to talk to the Key Master.”
“Yeah, no thanks. Getting your attention is a great way to get myself hunted by a Sovereign. I’ve got a business to run, you know? The end of the world means the drug business is booming.”
“Right. Does the Order take a cut out of your profits?”
“Of course they do, the cheap bastards. They work me like a slave to fund Luna’s dirty operations like they aren’t rich.”
“Uh huh. Well, have fun with that.”
I smirked a bit, finishing up the call and sighing.
“Of course, it all just worked out a little too well. I guess I shouldn’t complain though. Since it landed me where I am today, I’d do it all over again. Anyway, I suppose I should keep these new revelations in mind when it comes time to talk to Valdemar.”
Maxwell sighed once more.
“I don’t think my son hates me, but yes, keeping my name out of the conversation would be wise for you. In fact, if it hasn’t been brought up then it’s likely he still isn’t aware of our connection. Perhaps the fact that they’ve hidden it from him though is enough of an indication about his attitude toward me.”
“Maybe. Still, thanks for telling me. Maybe in the future you’ll be forgiven by virtue of giving a genius like me the unparalleled power that is the world’s best Summoner Call.”
“With what you’re doing right now, you should worry more about whether there’s going to be a future at all. Which means I need to hand off your next advancement formation. It’s technically incomplete, so while I’m here I can answer your questions about it. For now though, I need more rest, and you need to consolidate your power.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We ended our conversation with that, Maxwell retreating to his room while I went on with my day, catching up on the status of my Iron Legion and giving Umara more attention.
With all that had just happened, from the recent destruction of a major Nexus to my advancement, my workload was only increasing.
And despite now being mostly deaf to it, I could still feel the tides of the world shifting, a feeling that brought back my aches of paranoia and hypervigilance as I looked through reports and endless pages of data.