City of Sin

Book 2, 200

Secret Of Sunset

Once night fell, Kellac visited Richard at his residence. Being notified of this in advance, a barbarian warrior brought him to the backyard where he met Richard in a visitors’ area.

Richard had returned to Bluewater a new man, his army now a decisive force. With Sinclair having visited the oasis before, even if the buildings on his lands at the fringe of the city were fine the servants had either died or escaped. For now, he had booked the entire inn he had stayed in before.

The original customers could only begrudgingly accept being moved elsewhere. This was a strong and thought-provoking hint: the Golden Warflag was not afraid of anyone and did not care for gold.

With him robbing the second-class caravan, everyone in Bluewater now knew of Richard’s grudge with Red Cossack. Some even thought back to his battle the first time he had arrived here; even though this mage was still very young, his ferocity did not lose out to veterans who had been here for many years. Nobody dared to come out and blame him, only able to fling shade at him from behind his back.

As per Kellac’s request, Flowsand was present alongside Richard. The only one outside of the three was Phaser, who was stood by the side of the hall covered from head to toe with a cape and helmet. Kellac’s eyes had glimmered with fear upon first seeing her, a shocked expression on his face as he couldn’t contain himself for a moment.

Phaser did not reveal any part of her skin, with even the lower part of her face covered in shadows. She felt two spots on her body burn as Kellac’s gaze landed upon her, as if scorching iron had been placed on her person. Shaking uncontrollably, she took a step back as her bladed left hand trembled slightly, letting out a threatening low buzz.

Richard felt a sense of danger stirring in his heart at this sight, but he did not let it show on his face. “What’s wrong, Mr. Kellac?” he asked, “Are you interested in my guard?”

Kellac looked deeply at Phaser once more before retracting his gaze, shaking his head in response, “I would never have thought I would see a warrior of the Sunset Shrine here. And she’s even your guard! I haven’t even heard of a sunset warrior being a guard.”

“Sunset warrior? I’ve never heard of this before, could you please explain?” Richard asked with an inquisitive expression. He could faintly sense a strong aura from Kellac’s body. This fellow was supposed to be a mere level 11-12 mage, which would not give him any pressure. However, it was as though a shroud of mist enveloped his entire being, leaving Richard unable to see through him. As such, Richard would not take him lightly.

Kellac did not answer immediately, squinting at Richard as though he was trying to determine whether he was speaking the truth, “How did you find this guard?”

“Coincidence. She needed a job, so I asked her to come and work for me.” He naturally wouldn’t reveal that Phaser was a special unit made by the broodmother. There was an implication in his words that he was unwilling to reveal much about Phaser’s background, and if Kellac was smart enough to read between the lines he would drop the matter.

Kellac nodded, the doubt in his face slowly fading. He raised his head and looked at the large round moon out the window, saying slowly after a second, “The history of the Sunset Shrine can be traced back to a long time ago, when the astral beasts invaded. That time was a huge disaster; these beasts of unknown origin defeated almost every legendary being of the plane. They wanted to pour their energy into it, turning it into an astral plane. If the pathway had been constructed, Faelor would slowly be changed by this energy.

“Failing to suppress them indirectly, the gods eventually joined the battle personally. Paying a heavy price, they finally managed to kill all the invading astral beasts. Not only did the God of War descend to fight himself, several other gods were injured as well. The one who was injured the most was the Lady of the Night.”

“The Lady of the Night? Didn’t she go missing in that battle?” Richard asked. He had seen written accounts about her in Essien’s diary. The battle with the astral beasts had killed almost all the powerhouses of Faelor, leaving a part of the continent in ruins. A greater god was destroyed, while a number of other deities were injured. A few of those whose injuries were more serious had gone missing.

“That isn’t the truth. The Lady of the Night did not go missing, the battle caused her to fall. With her divine kingdom damaged, she had no choice but to give up her divinity for a mortal incarnation as she found a way to slowly recover. However, the God of Day took the chance to send out his most elite soldiers, successfully killing the Lady of the Night.

“Once the battle came to an end, the paladins who had done most of the work were found guilty of blasphemy, with orders given out for their capture and execution. One of the gods that gave out this order was the God of Day.”

Richard’s mouth twitched slightly. He wanted to ask a question, but he held his tongue. Abandonment and sacrifice were a common act amongst nobles, and apparently it wasn’t uncommon between gods either. In both cases, it was always dressed up in a righteous cause.

Kellac paused for a while before continuing, “The paladins were left with no room for survival. They were originally the God of Day’s most elite soldiers, and were each granted some divine power to help them kill the Lady of the Night. When they were successful, they had obtained some of her divine power as well. When the gods gave the order to capture and kill them, they ultimately chose to resist.

“There were a total of 119 paladins. They fought in various corners of the continent for several years, breaking through encirclement countless times through numerous wars both small and big. Because their combined power of day and night, as well as their fallen status, they were called the warriors of the Sunset Shrine. The entire process of their pursuit was an apocalyptic war that followed right after the battle against the astral beasts. It was only after the last of them died that order was restored. Two legendary powerhouses had fallen at their hands, and so many saints that it was impossible to count.

“Battle after battle, a majority of the sunset warriors channelled their rage into curses that allowed their powers to be passed down through rituals. Even with the original 119 destroyed, they had scattered their seeds of hatred and vengeance all over the plane. People occasionally awaken the power of the Sunset Shrine, obtaining the powers they passed on. These are the greatest of heretics; some just pass things on in secret, but many became infamous in the mainland. Some others just go into hiding, secretly choosing to conserve their energy.”