Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 118 - 114: The Demise of the Holy Light
"Newcomer, remember to disguise your identity. They’re conducting strict surveillance outside, so don’t get exposed,"
The Awakener pinched his chin. "This Iron Maiden is quite good for you. You’re now a pile of broken bones, inconvenient to move about. Why not hop along?"
"Alright."
The Awakener was very pleased when Aryan accepted his suggestion. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
"Keep it up, newcomer. You might even make a profit from this, becoming the star attraction of the costume party."
Under the Awakener’s mysteriously encouraging words, Aryan closed the lid of the Iron Maiden and pressed down on the ring.
......
Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk.
When Aryan reached the main hall, his unique appearance became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Wow, that guy is so cool!
That’s amazing, why didn’t I think of that!
It looks like it’s going to be tonight’s champion.
My gift, like a curse, not even death can part us.
I’m like a monkey entering an exhibition, receiving applause from everyone.
May the pitiful soul inside this Iron Maiden find peace.
Amidst the chaos of thoughts, that voice was like a spring under the sunlight, moistening Aryan’s nearly parched heart.
Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk.
He approached the person.
A white bird’s beak mask, a black coat like the feathers of a crow.
Aryan saw a sweep of panic-inducing black; the gentleman dressed as a Plague Doctor trembled as he gave a bow.
"Peace be with you, sir."
A small and exquisitely radiant soul.
Hello, Mr. Plague Doctor.
......
The arrival of Lord Raymond was like an earthquake, interrupting the stable initiation ceremony.
It also snapped the strings of Aryan’s heart, plunging her into an indescribable shock.
His Excellency Raymond has become a Lich too!
That His Excellency Raymond, he actually became a Lich.
Anger surged within Aryan’s heart, followed by a sly delight. She was going to become a companion to His Excellency Raymond.
With complex emotions, Aryan walked towards Raymond.
"Praise the Power of Holy Light, His Excellency Raymond."
She paid her respects to Sir Raymond, who was being pressed against a corner by the headmaster’s bone staff.
Raymond, bearing a huge shield of light, fixated on the Iron Maiden before him.
Light flickered through the slits of his helmet, observing the body within the Iron Maiden.
"My sister, my holy light, what has befallen you!"
Listening to the voice of His Excellency Raymond, along with the concern seen by the Eye of Truth, Aryan felt quite good.
"Three keys, Sister of Blessing, Aryan Pembai, I pay my respects to you, praise the Power of Holy Light, His Excellency Raymond."
The inclusion of Aryan swelled His Excellency Raymond’s already considerable pride.
"Tonight is the victory of the Holy Light, Aryan, the Holy Light Almighty Sect welcomes you."
"It is my honor, His Excellency Raymond."
"Tonight is indeed a cause for celebration, but our strength is still too frail."
Aryan remembered the light she had seen not long ago, and proposed her suggestion.
"Lord Raymond, actually, tonight, I am not the only fortunate one to have merged with the Holy Light. At the gathering, I saw a gentle soul. The filth and evil of the Undead had not corrupted him; he may be worthy."
"Really? Old and undying! Stop hitting me, did you not hear? Your house has exploded, go check the third floor."
.....
After returning from the recruitment meeting, Aryan arrived at the Church of Holy Light.
With the power of His Excellency Raymond, Aryan’s body was restored to her rightful form.
The slender bones, elongated phalanges, the pale skull that once had neatly aligned teeth now seemed exceptionally terrifying. Against the stained-glass window with the carved angel, Aryan saw the flames in her own eye sockets.
"Is this what a Lich is."
Mr. Raymond cleansed the empty Iron Maiden with the Power of Holy Light, the eulogy he murmured washing away the fear borne from this instrument of torture.
"You need a new disguise, Aryan. Your bones have only just healed, as tender as a newborn; you need some armor to strengthen yourself. Your next disguise should be in the form of a suit that fits you well. Regrettably, my own armor is obviously much too large."
"It is all right, His Excellency Raymond, I happen to know where to find a new disguise." Little Karen seems still to be training in Cassandra, that set of family heirloom Silver Knight armor should still fit me.
Raymond tapped on the steel plates of the Iron Maiden, drawing Aryan’s attention to him.
"Brother Aryan, after the transformation by the Liches, your power has changed."
"Within you, there lies not only the soft Power of Holy Light, but in your sixteenth vertebra, a Seed of Shadow has formed."
"You have become a Dissenter."
Dissenters, traitors in the eyes of the Holy See, those who adhere to the Holy Light as well as other forces, are an affront to the Holy Light; the usual fate for a Dissenter is judgment."
Aryan felt a wave of sadness. Her phalanges reached through her ribcage to touch that one piece of bone that had turned completely black, a place all too familiar to her.
"Will you judge me, His Excellency Raymond?"
Raymond clenched his fist. "That depends on your story, Aryan," he said, touching the maiden’s portrait at the top of the Iron Maiden, its empty eye sockets weeping silently. "Tell me, Sister, what did you endure in life?"
"I was a nun from Cassandra, blessed with the gift of seeing through hearts. My mentor called it a miracle. After my novitiate, he kissed my forehead and sent me to Dulai Monastery, a city at variance with the Holy Light. Before I left, my mentor told me, ’Child, your power is destined to illuminate your bright future; you will become the tie that binds human hearts, bringing us back to the Golden Age that preceded the Tower of Babel’s construction. An age when people trusted and relied on each other; you will be our light.’ With such a belief, I embarked on my journey."
"But I was wrong. What impeded us was not just differing tongues, but the beastly self-interest that had corrupted hearts. When I pointed out their true desires, there were no thanks, no acknowledgment, only the anger of being seen into and the shame of having dirty desires exposed for all to see. My arrival brought cursing and intimidation to Dulai Monastery; my peers cowered in corners, silently blaming me in their hearts, resenting the panic I brought and the upheaval it caused in their muddled lives."
"One day, the Lord of Dulai met me."
"Do you know what I am thinking, Sister?" he asked with a smile that seemed like a joke.
"Betrayal, defilement, war, and glory. You do not love your wife, you covet your niece, you defy your sovereign, you plot a treason."
"Under the light, I declared his sins."
"Yet, it was I who was punished. I was slandered as a criminally mad felone, a fallen Witch, a black-hearted strumpet. The people applauded my sentence; my colleagues simply watched on with inner peace."
"I endured the torture of the Iron Maiden, crying out in anguish day and night, until the last nail pierced my sixteenth vertebra, the pillar of my life."
"I thought that I, having become a Lich, would hate everything I had suffered."
"But then I saw you, His Excellency Raymond, and the torment I underwent is nothing compared to the insults you’ve endured."
"Miracles not of this earth, a vanished paradise, the brief sun."
"The sorrow of the Holy Light, His Excellency Melok Raymond."
