"Is this it?" Jay said, slowly walking toward the Heartforge. The crystal radiated brilliance, with light trails coming towards it. It was still fed by the crest of the people above. It made him sick; he wanted to just destroy it.

But as he was about to do that, he saw Aether pass by him. Signaling him to stop. He stopped at one of the statues, touching it with his palm. He didn't quite understand what he was trying to say. But, while his gaze fell back on the Heartforge, the statue flicked Aether's hand off. Taking back its stance.

They were alive, yet they weren't attacking them... but why? He stared back at the Heartforge. He wondered if he were to destroy it, would they start attacking them?

Then... Aether had really just saved their ass just now. The boy had really appeared out of nowhere, really, he hadn't seen him in the city before. And he knew everyone. After all, he was also... once a priest. The thing was... that not even the priests were aware of this. Or at least not those of a low level like him.

He had no idea what Heartforge really is. When he had broken out of the illusion, he hated himself for months for what he had been doing. That day, when he and Aether met, he had wanted to leave forever, and yet here he was.

He didn't really care where the boy had come from, because he did know that if he wasn't here, he would have never gotten so far.

"So what do we do?"

Aether stared at the statues, not batting an eye at him.

He sighed. "We..." He took a deep pause between his words, as if he didn't believe what he was about to say. "Destroy them all." He glanced over his shoulder at him.

Destroy them all? Could they really do that? With his power, he could break the statues. But could Aether really do that? He had said his power allowed him to hide better... but at the same time, the boy had already proven that he wasn't a bad fighter.

The blade slid into his hand, obeying his command. He drew it back, the tip shining, as if drilled itself into the pure stone, making a small crack. But it had failed to destroy the statue. He had been right, sadly, Aether didn't have the power to break one. He sighed, but suddenly, he heard it again, the sound of Aether's blade hitting the stone.

...

And then again. Jay watched as Aether continuously thrust his blade into the stone body of the statue. He wondered if the blade would last; after all, it was hitting something made out of only stone. Yet, while the tip didn't budge, remaining the same, the crack got bigger and bigger, until finally, the statue fell down right in front of him.

Jay swallowed.

...

"Their not alive."

Jay's eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean? It clearly moved." Aether gripped the hilt tighter, as his hand shook slightly. "There was no message, meaning it's either not dead yet. Or it was never alive in the first place."

Looking at the statue, fallen down and destroyed, there was no way it would have died, so it couldn't have been the first option. So then, was he wrong, had it not been alive this whole time?

He turned to another statue, wanting to see for himself, and after many strikes that hurt his hand badly, the statue crumpled into piece.

What were these statues really? He had... no idea.

...

In the end, they had destroyed all the statues, except the one standing on the throne, which wouldn't budge, whatever they did.

But since they couldn't do anything about it, they shouldn't worry. With the only thing left to do, Aether allowed him to do the honors. Staring at the heartforge, he felt his stomach swirl around. Bringing back his fist, he punched the crystal.

...

Yet just as he was about to make contact, a hand made out of light rose from the ground, grabbing him by his arm.

...

...

Aether sighed, stretching his body. It had taken a lot out of him to destroy all of those statues, and all he wanted was to take some rest. Yet, there was one thing bugging him: why did the last statue not budge?

Sending Jay to destroy the Heartforge once and for all, he examined it. It was just like the other statues, just that it didn't react to touch like the others had done.

It had a very interesting appearance, but because of the rough stone, he couldn't make it up. Plus, his attention was caught by something else.

His eyes darted at the crown resting on its head. He felt... compelled whenever he looked at it, as if his soul was reacting to it. There was something about this statue, and he thought that this crown was one of the steps in discovering what was wrong.

He hasitantly reached out, his hand slowly moving towards the crown, yet as they made contact, nothing happened. He grabbed it, looking at it. And suddenly, the stone broke, revealing something under.

...

[You have gained a new relic]

His eyes widened at those words, a new relic? The crowd was made out of pure gold, why diamond crystals all around it.

...

[Crown of Salvation]-A crown worn by the saviour of the world, it was said that it had been gifted to him by the gods. The relic feeds on light, sealing away something of great danger.

Category-Charm

Class- Harbinger

Knowledge rank-Fragme-

...

Suddenly, out of his arm shot, he remembered correctly, that damn black substance that had been tormenting him ever since that day with Elpis, what on earth was it doing here? Before he could realize it, the liquid wrapped itself around the crown, covering it.

"Damn it!" As he realized that it was devouring the relic, Aether tried to rip it off the crown, but with each second he wasted trying to get it off, the substance devoured more and more of it. Aether cursed, realizing he wasn't fast enough.

And finally.

...

[Your relic has been destroyed]

'Ugh, and I didn't even get to check its ability... either way it was a Harbinger class!' It had been such a waste to think that a relic with such a class would fall through the crack of his fingers because of this cursed thing that kept following him wherever he went.

But as he was in his first stage of grief, the liquid had finished devouring the crown.

...

[You have gained a new relic]

...'What?'

Aether looked down at his hand, where a dark crown rested. The pure gold was now made out of shiny obsidian, and the bright diamonds were now crimson rubies. It was as if it were completely new.

[Crown of Shadows]-A crown created corrupted by the darkness, it shall alone control the end of the world, its power shall put him under the wearer's control, but only if the wearer bears enough sins to be on the same level as him.

Category-Charm

Class- Harbinger

Knowledge rank-Fragment.

Aether sighed in relief; he had not lost it. It was still here, just... different.

Abilities-[Chernobog]

[Chernobog]- A great shadow had once ruled over the world; his influence was unstoppable, no one could defeat him, he was the ruler of the world, and its beginning and its end... This ability gives the user the ability to control Chernobog under the Abyss's command.

It was for sure... and an interesting ability, it was nice to learn once and a while about the past of the stories you enter. Also, this shadow was also the one labeled as him inside the description of the crown. But it made him wonder if he was this strong, who could have ever sealed him?

And how did he create this crown in the first place? He didn't think he was fit to control such a powerful being.

... of controlling such a powerful shadow.

...

It was times like this when he realized just how strong the Abyss was. It was only a shadow, of course, the Abyss could control it; he was their creator after all.

There was one thing, though.

He was close to finishing the book, and he had yet to meet this... shadow.

'Eh, it's better that way.'

Aether shrugged his shoulders, waiting for Jay to finish the Heartforge, but as he was waiting, he heard him scream.

He was caught off guard to say the least, after all, he didn't know what could have gone wrong. But looking back, and seeing a hand of light stopping him from touching the heartforge, he knew something wasn't right. So he had wanted to help.

But as he was about to rush to his aid.

He felt the hand of someone stopping him.

And as he slowly turned his head, he saw it.

...

The angel had broken the stone and woken up.

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