Knights Apocalyptica
Chapter 236: Giant Centipede Things

Do not be deceived by the lot cast on us through this life.

We are servants of her Holy Flames, since our world was wrought and brought about through a great cataclysm. This was her gift to us. Those who lived before had indulged in their sin; they nestled themselves in the luxuries of their lives. Displays of this sloth and divergence can be seen everywhere in their Old World texts. For this, they were condemned. For this reason, the Rifts still tear into our world today—a testament to what we’ve faced and what we must overcome.

As a price for their sin, we live lives of hardship. But do not deceive yourself into thinking this is a punishment any longer. This is the Goddess forging us into living a better life. One better than you can scarcely imagine. Hallowed be her name.

-Cardinal Bereth, Rebirth Sermon 202, Complete (3rd Era, 202)

The Cardinal leaned out on his podium and surveyed his congregation. Every day, it had swelled, growing from the already numerous fervent believers of the church to a near flood of people. Whereas before he’d only gazed out at certain members of the more devout nobility, now he saw many more familiar faces. With them and their influence over their Caverns, more common folk arrived at this sacred chapel.

Brazier burned everywhere within, casting it all in a light orange and red glow. They burned bright, massive pyres fueled by prayer and faith, as even now his people hummed in acknowledgment to the Goddess.

He smiled, looking at them. They were so many pieces of fuel for Her holy fire. They were scared. He could feel their fear palpable in the air.

With such a change, who wouldn’t feel fear?

This is especially true since his priests had been diligent in their duties of informing the public of the dangers that such people brought to their religion and armed them with the knowledge that the Goddess did not feel favorably about these changes.

Everything was lining up. He had informed his people. With those chains around their necks, some of the nobles here had become true loyalists. And She, above, while not happy with him for failing to track down the silver fires still, could contend that he brought her more followers and was moving along with her aims for this Kingdom.

The more loyal soldiers they had in their Church, the better prepared they would be for future trials.

"Praise the goddess," the Cardinal said, his hands out wide as the eyes of his congregation raised to look at him in his holy glory. The fire around them burned brighter, the heat now sweltering, feeling as if they'd stepped into an inferno itself. Her loving embrace was here, his skin crawled as he felt the presence of Her eyes on him.

It wasn't often that She cared about this sort of gathering, but today he could feel it. Feel it in the way that his skin scorched, the way it felt like She was searing through his mind, using his eyes to look out on what he saw. He felt a flush of pride.

Had his congregation been so good at catching her attention? Had his speeches inspired Her people and their holy prayers to reach Her ears?

It wasn't often that he felt like enough in her eyes. This sort of overwhelming presence nearly always accompanied some condemnation of his failure. After all, he was a mortal. Failure was a very mortal thing to do—but if she gazed on him now without her loving hate, he must be doing things well. As he scanned the crowd in their prayers, he turned over his actions, reflecting even during his sermon.

Things were turning around. Despite all the frustrations, despite making personal visits to ensure that the nobility was cooperating with their interests, he persisted. And that had earned her grace.

He needed to isolate and thank her benevolence with fervent private prayer.

"I will be turning over the rest of this sermon to our Bishop, Josephine. Please heed her words with the same faith that you show mine beneath the eyes of the Goddess. She is the one renowned and praised for her ability to look deep within herself and reflect all that is holy. Please give her the respect that you show me. Faith be to the Goddess." The Cardinal declared.

With this, in unison, his congregation repeated, "Faith be to the Goddess."

"All is good," he continued. "One last remark before I leave my stand. It is good to see you all out here today. I feel her eyes upon us in times of uncertainty, where we feel like our whole world is tumbling out underneath our feet. When the Kingdom that we have relied on for so long is taking strides to buck the traditional values, and instead instill in us a need to do business with those who do not obey Her religious grace… A troublesome time indeed. But have it in your heart, you are not alone. Look out amongst you and bear witness to such ardent followers who arrive. Show respect to the one who has cultivated us in this position. We are together.” He raised his hands high in the air, his voice carrying Her will and influence.

Every movement of his tongue felt like he was licking sweet, glorious fire. It was painful to talk, wonderfully painful indeed.

"I want each and every one of you to look inside yourselves today and acknowledge the fact that you are enough, that you are doing the Goddess's will. We have hard times ahead of us, that much is certain, but if we stand with the community and come together beneath Her loving, fiery grace, then we shall rise like the ashes that this world has risen from once more."

"Praise be to the Goddess," he repeated, this time louder, his voice radiating across the congregation. He saw their eyes light up. Some of their fear vanished as they repeated his chant again and again.

"Praise be to the Goddess."

With a smile, the Cardinal gave his congregation away, he stepped away from the podium, shaking the hand of a woman in the same red robes as he. His bishop, a devout servant who would no doubt perform well in delivering her final remarks and leading them in more prayer.

With his job done, the Cardinal retreated from the main auditorium and headed back into the depths of the chapel in the third cavern, not toward his office but rather to his private place of worship.

Each step brought more sweat to his brow.

Her eyes remained on him.

As he felt his skin prickling with that heat rising inside of him, he knew She was still with him. Her touch was heavy on his soul, wrapping around it with those eagerly fiery hands.

Yes, yes, yes, she had paid attention to him. He'd been doing well, surely, for her to be so intense, although he hesitated as he walked, unsure just why She was still following him. Her attention was very rarely so direct, aside from when She needed something. While it was good for Her to witness one of her congregation's meetings, it felt odd, out of character. The Goddess had much going on; the mere fact that she sought to follow him for this long made him realize something more was going on, since the punishment for his failings hadn’t come.

He hastened his step, getting further from the public. A sense of urgency blazing in his mind demanded he move faster.

Good, he did. Not a minute later, a fiery portal erupted. Blazing as if it had opened from hell itself. A familiar chained man stepped through; the chains were heavy as he plodded along. This time, he didn’t come alone, followed by another with a large mask on his face and fewer chains.

Outsiders, yes. But not heathens.

From what he took from these odd sect members of the Goddess's Worshipers, the chains they wore represented their weight and faith. The higher they rose in their rankings, the more chains they wore.

It was the second one who dipped his head politely as he arrived. Though the first simply grunted an acknowledgment. "Cardinal," he greeted plainly. "We are all worshipers before her eyes."

"Raise your head," the Cardinal said.

The two of them exchanged looks then. He felt his skin crawl as the Goddess sensations sharpened.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

All of them felt it, as devout followers. It was as if the very fiery eyes were upon them in person; this was what she had been watching for, not the congregation, as wonderful as it was. Terrible embarrassment welled in him for misinterpreting Her will…

I will do better. He swore to himself, already assigning another punishment of penance.

"We have a need for your help," the first man mumbled, his voice thick like molten rock.

"Of course, I have heard our Goddess's instructions, and whatever you wish to need assistance with, we will do so in whatever manner we may aid," the Cardinal acquiesced. He had been given his directives, and he understood her will in this matter. In no uncertain terms.

The man cleared his throat. "We have seen a glimpse of the silver fire." He looked towards the man with fewer chains, who nodded his head.

This time, the second man spoke. "It was but a flicker, barely perceptible in the overall fight. But we think we have discovered who is blaspheming Her will. And we have a name. They dared to do it in the light of the sun.”

"Name them," the Cardinal said, his attention rigid, his eyes widening. Such a wonderful clue to be dropped in their lap was a holy blessing. Even as the man's words were coming off his throat, he felt her gaze firmly sear through his mind. He felt Her looking through his eyes. One of his hands went to his face, his nails digging in as he scratched it twice, waiting, his eyes bulging out as She and he stared and heard the name uttered.

“Sir Erec of House Audax.”

That was the name of the man who was wielding fire like hers. That was the name of the person who must die, die, die.

The Cardinal cackled madly as Her rage and joy rampaged through him. The target, they had a name. They had the person. And now it was time to enact a holy and righteous fury upon the one who dared to bring her fires into this world once more.

And as the two chained men looked on in concern, the Cardinal’s mind seared and ran, already churning over ideas of how to bring about her glorious will.

— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —

The first couple of days of the hunt had been a rather busy affair for Erec. A lot of fighting. A lot of killing. Just the way he’d liked it. After the birds, they took down a ‘level-four’ monster, then a couple of ‘level-threes’. Experimenting with their fighting styles.

Bedwyr would try to reach for his mantle every time, only to come up short. It was, as Erec thought, because he was too new to the ability and the fact that the monsters they were hunting, while somewhat challenging, weren't enough to put them at a level of danger where he needed to. That, and his brother didn’t have a handle on a ‘trigger’ to use it.

For Erec, it was a natural extension of Fury. He dug in the fire far enough, reaching the silver flames.

He said as much to his brother on their first night of camping out, talking over what they knew about these changes, which was very little. The best they could figure is that his brother had no such natural trigger for his Mantle, since it didn’t derive from his talent. His talent advanced every single time he gained a new virtue. It was like a switch constantly flicked ‘on’.

Still, they continued. Killing a lot more monsters over the next days. One of which was an ape-like beast that smelled like rot and had mold covering its shaggy hair. Another was a small, misshapen human with a bulbous nose, dark blue skin, bloated features, and command over putrid water.

They even ran across another type of bird. A large regal thing which had traveled quite far from its mark on the map. Without Garin’s ability to track with his birds, they’d have never encountered it.

As the days went on with the hunt, the group moved further from the city. The hunt continued until three days before the actual start of the tournament.

They’d planned to only be out here for about a week. But as things went on, the thrill of the fights and training was a good relief and counterbalance. None of them wished to return early, aside from Garin, but he gave up seeing the way the mood was.

“There will be plenty of time for socializing, during the tournament, I guess,” Garin reluctantly agreed.

Strangely, Sir Matt gave them his blessing to stay the full length of time.

There was something that made Erec quite pleased about being on the road. The way it felt to drive through nature, the freedom of plotting his course and hunting monster after monster at his discretion, was a sensation unlike any he'd felt. During the expeditions, he'd felt very much the role of a student, going around, learning, observing what he could. On the rare occasion, he fell into the handy role of a warrior when it came time for him to lay his axe down in the name of their safety and to slay monsters. But here, where he was directing their course, he felt like a true knight.

This was Knighthood. They executed a mission in the way they were determined to be best, learning to rely on their judgment, tactical skills, and ability to evaluate and eliminate a threat. Slowly, day by day, they started expanding their horizons. They took out a level 5 monster, capping off yesterday by their efforts to take out a level 6 monster, which had strained Erec.

The beast had been a giant centipede that spewed gouts of ice and snow. In the end, he’d chopped its head off after Enide shot out one of its eyes.

That had finally been the first fight to stretch him enough to bump up his Virtues, rewarding him with the wonderful status screen he loved to see.

Agility: Rank C - Tier 5 → Rank C - Tier 6

Perception: Rank D - Tier 3 → Rank D - Tier 4

A couple of days later, after closing in on another monster, Erec finally brought up his plan."I want to try a level 7." Erec said, his hands toasting in the fire as Enide rested her head against him, Bedwyr grunted from the opposite side of the fire. “Level 6 was a test. Gwen took some damage to her Armor; so did Olivia.”

Which was true. Both of them, even now, were tinkering with their Armors near the caravan, having to do field repairs. After an Armor took damage… It often needed multiple sessions to fix it in an expedition, ensuring the functionality was maintained. For the most part, Gwen had taken the brunt of the damage, things having gone wrong since that first firebird burned parts of her plate and affected the wiring beneath.

"Yes, it did," Erec acknowledged. "But with all of us, it went down way too easily.”

“A Knight Initiate shouldn't be able to fight a level 7 monster," Matt said. He wasn't near the fire but wasn't too far away, lying in his sleeping pack as he watched the stars above.

"Really? You don't think so?" Erec asked.

Conclusive proof showed that they could down a level 6. And it hadn’t even been stressful. Sure, they’d planned, but the ice-centipede was far from the most dangerous thing they’d faced together.

It was odd to hear Sir Matt talk, too.

For most of the journey, the man had been quiet, occasionally complaining, but mostly silent. He'd been eating, sleeping, and staring at the sky, as if he were just waiting his time away and doing penance for some sort of transgression. Erec thought he was being a bit dramatic. At the very least, he could walk and talk with them. But he got the impression that the big guy had no desire.

"The normal initiate shouldn't be able to beat a level 7," he looked at Bedwyr and Erec. "But, if I remember looking at that map, there's a level 8 not too far away."

At this, the group paused. All of them swinging their attention to the Master Knight.

"Go fight that," he continued. Beating his point in the head with a blunt instruction.

Erec's mouth dropped. "You just said we shouldn't be able to beat a level 7."

"I said a normal initiate wouldn't be able to beat a level 6. I've personally beaten you like a pulp before and seen you live. So, if you're going to challenge yourself, find something that pushes your limits. Otherwise, what's the point?"

The words resonated in Erec’s soul, and he felt it flicker in agreement. While Erec's friends had seen gains to their virtues, he’d only seen the one notification. Fury had been pulled, and he'd fought with it, working in a way to bring out his Talent and explore his abilities. But he hadn't necessarily gone all out in that sort of way.

One fight. Erec thought, I just want one to really go for it.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Garin said as he patted Fido next to Bedwyr.

Matt snorted. "You're talking to me about dangerous? I've seen some of the classified reports of your guys' expeditions. I don't think it's any more dangerous than anything you've done before. Besides, you have me here. So, if things go all to shit, I'll just kill whatever it is bothering you."

With that, they exchanged a look. Being pushed by the Master Knight and Erec, knowing just how tough this particular one was, made it compelling. Actually, it made it impossible to resist. With a look at his allies, Erec pulled out the map and made a mark of where the monster was. "So, I guess we're fighting… This.” He pointed out the spot on the map. When Sir Matt had taken the time to spot this, Goddess only knew.

But sure enough, he was right. It wasn’t that far away.

Erec rubbed the back of his neck. Threat levels went up to a singular level 11, but even up there, it wasn't a cataclysm-level threat. Truth be told, jumping from level 6 to 8 would be an interesting difference, and he didn't know how strong that necessarily meant this monster was. There was a wide range in these levels, and it was a brief scouting assessment, not a concrete measurement.

Bedwyr stood up and looked at Erec, his eyes for a second taking on an otherworldly gleam. "It seems we're going to go for a real hunt after all."

Erec wasn't sure why, but those words felt like a call back to a more ancient time. He smiled, feeling his fire flicker inside with a touch of silver in response. This was right. Knights needed a proper challenge in a hunt, or as Sir Matt said, what was the point? "Right. Well then, we need to come up with a plan," he said, outlining their next day's mission. Tomorrow, then, they would get to test themselves.