Way of the Knights

Chapter 626 - Allfather

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Inside a dark room, a man sat in a make-shift throne. 

There was a beam of light, the only source light present in this very dark room, focused on him as he sat on his throne. 

The man's leg was crossed, his posture relaxed and slightly lazy, he had his hand support his tilted head. The man's face is hidden behind a shadowy mirage, only a pair of feature-less eyes were visible in them. He wore a robe which was half black and half white, on the black part of his robe, a white orb ornament hangs attached to the collar of his robes. On the white part of his robes, there is another ornament which hangs on his waist, this time its a black orb.

The robes covered most of the man's body, leaving only his head, hands and feet uncovered. The man was also wearing a pair of wooden sandals, from his exposed skin, one could see that the man's skin tone was pale, unhealthy pale. All of his nails on his right arm and right foot had a white paint, on the other side, it was black. 

There was formless pressure this man was releasing without actually trying. The way he sat down his throne screamed confidence and dominance, it's as if nothing in this entire world could deter him or hurt him, forget about killing him. 

Such formidable pressure was felt by several people kneeling in front of the man currently, causing their backs to be drenched in cold sweat. 

None of these kneeling people dared to look at this man in the eye. In fact, they didn't even dare to raise their heads to look at him since doing that would comparable to blaspheming him. 

*Tap*

The souls of the kneeling men shook and almost flew out of their bodies. It wasn't like the man on the throne did something huge nor did he raised his voice towards then. He merely tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne and it already caused them to feel like the world was ending. 

From then on, the man would continuously tap his finger at varying intervals. He didn't say a word, and didn't do anything else aside from this, yet the people kneeling in front of him would jolt every time he tapped his finger. Some of them were even sweating buckets. 

This occurred for quite sometime until the man finally decided to say something:

"They haven't figured us out yet."

The man's voice sounded strange, it sounded like a kid, adult and old man spoke the same thing at the same time. 

When the kneeling people heard his words, they felt as if they were released from something that's tormenting them for a very long time. Some of them even audibly sighed in relief.

"That being the case, it is not a excuse for you lot to get complacent." The man said, causing the formless pressure to increase. 

The people who were kneeling in front of him almost knocked their heads on the stone floor. They felt like their insides were being crushed into a mush but didn't dare to let out any sound in fear of arousing the man's ire. 

"Continue with the current operation, there is no need to rush or get impatient. Time is on our side after all." The man stated, "So long as you continue the Holy Mission, Salvation will come to you. Isn't that so, my lovely Children."

"It would be as you say, Allfather." The kneeling mean replied. 

"Now, off you go. Godspeed." 

"To you as well, Allfather." 

After saying that, the kneeling men disappeared from the dark room. Leaving the man on the throne alone in the darkness. 

Silence permeated the room, the man kept staring at an empty distance before a sigh escaped his lips. 

"The Reckoning is almost upon us." The man's voice echoed across the darkness. "The arrival of God is approaching."

"…"

"I can hardly wait, but haste makes waste. Failure is not an option." 

"The Prophecy shall occur." 

After saying the, darkness started flooding the room, converging towards the man in the throne. Attempting to swallow him whole. The man didn't do anything against this, he remained unmoving until the darkness covered everything only a pair of featureless eyes…

…which closed not long after that…

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"Ugh, no matter how many times I experience it, I just can't get used to it."

"Yeah, me too. He's just too freaky!"

"Every tap of his finger feels like it's shaving away a few years off of my natural lifespan." 

"Still, thank god that we're just overthinking things. I thought that we were really in deep shit this time."

The men who were gathered right now on a table and enjoying some food and beverages, were the same men that were kneeling in front of the man in the throne a few hours ago. These men had been loyal subjects of that man for years now but whether it's out of their free will or not, still remains a mystery. 

"Since he said that out moles weren't exposed, then we don't have anything to worry about anymore. The man had never been wrong so far so we could just continue doing the usual."

"That's right! We could just treat the broken signal we received a false one. Also, didn't the same agent who sent the broken signal said it himself that everything is fine? We should've believed him right away, that could've spared us from that awful meeting." 

"Don't say it like that." One of the men reprimanded the previous guy, "Even though it feels unpleasant reporting to him about some matters, we still have to do it since he's the only one who can truly confirm it. Like he said, we can't be complacent, it's better this way than us making a grave mistake. You saw what happened to the last guy right?"

"Dude, how can I forget? Up until this point, the memory of it still terrifies me." The previous guys shivered visibly. 

"Yeah. That man doesn't tolerate anyone who doesn't follow his simple rules. That guy must still be suffering up until this day in Hell."

"Having your body and soul ripped into millions of pieces at every waking moment, only for you to find yourself immortal, unable to die nor be numbed of the sensation. A torture that will last for eternity."

"Oof, stop it! It's giving me the chills. Let's not talk about that poor guy anymore."

"Now, if you don't want to be the next one, then be sure that you follow his instructions to the dot."

"That's right, and if you follow him until the end, he will take you to the promised place, where Salvation would comfort our souls and will allow us to wash our sins away."

"Yeah. Well, I think that's enough talk about the mission he gave us. How about we focus on the plans we laid down? I'll start first."

"Since we just sent another batch towards the other side, I don't have any plans on nurturing anymore for now. I think I would just focus on bolstering the strength of the troops and adjust the plan according to the intel they'll give us."

"Well, it's been a few years since I've nurtured some so I would do the opposite. My troops are doing just fine and we covered enough ground to become a formidable fortress."

"You two had it good. I need to not only raise another batch of moles and also expand the operation site as well. My foundations are still unstable so I have a lot of work to do."

"Don't sweat it too much. You're still new to this so just take your time but be wise about it. I don't think the Allfather will blame you for that." One of the men comforted the previous guy, "As for me, I'll remain consistent I guess. I'm the oldest amongst us so I'm a few steps ahead of you."

"Unless he calls for my aid, I think I'll remain hidden in the dark. Can't risk getting caught, I can feel that our enemies are wising up and if a confrontation occurs, me and my troops will most likely be called first. You three remain vigilant as well, from what I can tell, the plan is nearing its final stage. Don't let your guard down."

"Roger that." The three replied to the de-facto leader of the Allfather's Children. 

"Well then, since we've recovered and had a nice meal and rest. Let's return to our bases. Oh, don't forget to wear the badges okay?" 

Saying these, the kneeling men all stood up, changed their clothes, removed their masks and wore a bright yellow badge that releases a unique energy fluctuations. Once they've removed their disguises and wore the badges, each of them felt like they were no longer the people from a few seconds ago. 

"Now then, gentlemen. Let's head out. We shall see each other again. Godspeed."

"Godspeed, Brother."

In a place, far away and hidden. A man, sitting inside of a ritual circle and surrounded with sparkling glow of runes, opened his eyes which carried a profound gleam in them. A smirk appeared on his face as he murmured: 

"So you people are the culprits eh…"