Berenice had been studying a stack of papers when she heard the soft sound of footsteps right outside her office. A smile graced her features as she quickly stood up, brushing the dust off of her dress. When the doors opened, she was met with one of her fellow cardinals.
"Ah Dominic, it's good to see you. What brings you to my office?" The cardinal of fire asked while wearing a motherly smile.
"Good morning Berenice, I just wanted to say hello, after all it has been a while since we last saw each other." The cardinal of wind had been busy managing his work load and hadn't left his quarters in some days, with the exception of showering and eating.
"Have you finally finished revising the reports of the Catharsis Scripture?" Berenice asked her friend.
"Yes I have, though there was nothing that peaked my interest." Dominic answered.
The Catharsis Scripture had been tasked with assisting the Draconic Kingdom with their beast-men problem. They had left Kami Miyako a month ago and had just recently returned the day prior. The only reason that the cardinal of wind dispatched the Catharsis Scripture and no other was their on-going war with the elves. This century long war had costed both sides a massive amount of resources. The upside was that the theocracy was slowly but surely cornering the opposing kingdom.
"So I presume that everything went smoothly?" Berenice inquired.
"Indeed it did." Dominic answered.
After some minutes of conversation the cardinal of wind spoke.
"While It's been good chatting with you, my friend I have something to discuss with the pontifex, See you later" Dominic said as he left the room
'He never changes does he, always working away for the benefit of the theocracy. He should let himself relax more often, he'll exhaust himself if he keeps going like this.' Berenice thought as she made her way to the terrace.
Dominic always had something to do, be that revising paperwork or managing the funds of the theocracy.
It was a peaceful morning like any other, citizens walked down the streets with smiles, people entered and left the cathedrals, and merchants started setting up their stalls.
Suddenly the ground started trembling.
"What is going on?" Berenice asked herself while grabbing hold of the railing. Nothing similar to this has happened for a long time.
The only instances of when the ground trembled were in the past when their mighty gods faced the Eight Greed Kings.
Before she could find the other cardinals the tremor ended.
As she walked back inside the capitol building, she couldn't help but wonder if something terrible might happen soon.
As she made her way to the door Thousands Leagues Astrologer bursted into the room.
"Lady Berenice are you alright?" The young girl asked.
"Yes dear, though I am a little dizzy after that sudden earthquake." The woman responded.
"Thank the gods! I just wanted to inform you that the other cardinals are holding a meeting in a couple of minutes. I believe the person who ordered the meeting was no other than the Pontifex Maximus." The blue-haired girl informed the cardinal.
"Well if he was the one that ordered it, then there is no way that I couldn't attend." The elderly woman said with a smile.
"Should I escort you, my lady?"
"Please do"
As they made their way through the building they talked about what may have caused the tremor and why the pontifex was calling the meeting.
"We have arrived." Thousand Leagues Astrologer said as she opened the door that lead to the meeting room.
"Ah, Cardinal Berenice, it's so good to see you." said a figure that was hidden amongst the shadows.
"it's good to see you as well Maximus, how have you been?" Berenice asked.
"Good, good." The pontifex replied.
The Pontifex Maximus, the highest position in the Slane Theocracy. The current pontifex was originally a member of the Black Scripture. Through the years and hard work he managed to rise to the position of cardinal of light. A decade later he was nominated pontifex after the previous one retired. Though no longer a member of the Black Scripture, he was still a warrior and always will be.
There were 13 people in the room including Berenice. Six of them were sitting on a round table, five of which were the other cardinals.
They were Ginedine Delan Guelfi, the Cardinal of Water.
Dominic Ihre Partouche, the Cardinal of Wind.
Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the Cardinal of Earth.
Yvon Jasna Dracrowa, the Cardinal of Light.
Maximilian Oreio Lagier, the Cardinal of Darkness.
And of course, the pontifex.
Of to the sides were the captains of the six scriptures.
Captain of the Sunlit Scripture, Nigun Grid Luin.
Captain of the Windflower Scripture Alizeh Flos Folium.
Captain of the Catharsis Scripture Rosalyne kruzchka Lohefalter
Captain of the Clearwater Scripture Safí Neró Katharos.
Captain of the Holocaust Scripture Sinere Tristitia Lugeo.
And captain of the Black Scripture Novus Mortem Plaga.
Berenice walked up to the round table and sat next to her fellow cardinals.
"Now that everyone is present we may begin." Stated the pontifex.
"As I am sure everyone knows about the earthquake that happened a few minutes ago. I'm not sure if anyone noticed or payed attention but with the earthquake came a blinding beam of light that soared through the skies. Something about that beam felt unsettling... " The pontifex spoke.
"The pontifex is correct. It seemed to emanate a dark aura unlike anything I've seen before" Dominic stated reinforcing the claims of the pontifex.
"Forgive me, Maximus, I was inside and didn't get to see it." Raymond replied.
"I have no idea what caused the beam but it is pretty safe to say that the earthquake was somehow related to it." Yvon concluded.
"This is pretty worrisome." Maximilian added.
The Pontifex Maximus nodded and continued. "Another thing that I noticed is that the shockwave seemed to have come from the border of the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire."
"Then it most likely came from the Forest of Tob, E-Rantel, or the Katze Plains." Berenice concluded.
"Exactly, Captain Novus, I want you and your second in command to go to the Forest of Tob. You will be assisted by the Sunlit scripture and Captain Nigun." The pontifex stated.
Both captains nodded.
"Captain Safí, you and your scripture will be tasked with investigating E-Rantel under the guise of a rich merchant and her employees."
"Understood"
"And finally, captain Rosalyne, you and your scripture will go to the Katze plains with the help of the Black Scripture's extra seat. I know that the plains isn't as dangerous for you or the extra seat but, we have to be cautious in the off chance that a group of legendary undead appears."
"I hear and obey my lord" Rosalyne said as she bowed.
"Sadly, we cannot deploy the Holocaust Scripture because of our war with the elves. Speaking of which, captain Sinere how are our defences doing?" The pontifex asked with curiosity.
"The left flank is falling, we are also running out of supplies, so I would like to request that after this mission, we have the Catharsis Scripture assist us."
Sinere answered her lord
"Of course, I shall make sure that you and your troops receive the supplies that you need. " The pontifex Answered
After a couple more minutes of discussion the pontifex concluded the meeting
"I believe that with that we have talked about everything that needed to be discussed. I want everyone to depart as soon as they are able to."
As soon as their god dismissed them, the scriptures went to equip themselves with the necessary gear.
"Hey, Nigun?"
"Yeah? What is it Novus?"
"My second in command will not be joining us until we reach E-Rantel. I believe he was tasked with keeping an eye on the emperor. After that, we will leave for Tob."
"Ah, that makes sense. No wonder I haven't seen him in a while." Nigun finally understood why he hadn't seen his comrade in so long. Alright, let's get this expedition done quickly." Nigun stated.
"Sounds good to me," Novus replied. The captain of the fabled Black Scripture hadn't been able to leave Kami Miyako for quite a while. There was nothing that caught his interest inside the golden city so he had been stuck with having nothing to do. Though excited at the prospect of being able to leave the Slane Theocracy's capital, he couldn't help but wonder what type of thing or being initiated the shockwave. The Pontifex Maximus usually never attended meetings, so for him to personally instruct the scriptures on what they needed to do was worrisome.
As Thousand Leagues Astrologer made her way back to her room she heard someone calling out to her.
"Ah, Astrologer could you spare me a moment?"
When she turned her head she was startled.
"L-lord pontifex! Is there something that I can help you with?" She asked not knowing why the leader of the Slane Theocracy was wasting his time with her.
"Yes actually, I wanted to ask if you could keep track of the scriptures during their investigation with your scrying magic." The pontifex was worried. He had never seen that amount of power condensed into one location before. The closest thing that he could compare it to was the revival of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord or the existence of another Greed King. He had read that the Eight Greed Kings possessed powers that could rival the Dragon Lords. What was emitted was only a shockwave which usually became weaker the further they reached. The pontifex had no idea what kind of foe had made himself known.
"Of course, my lord I shall start right away."
If another Greed King had indeed appeared, then that would be problematic. Very problematic. Everything that their gods had built in these last 600 years could be destroyed. The Greed Kings destroyed everything in their path as if it were just a game. They had even managed to kill most of the old Dragon Lords. The Dragon Lords were no joke, the only time he was in the presence of one was when he traveled to the Argland Council state. He had read that what is now known as the Katze Plains, a deserted plain filled with undead that can be counted by the thousands was once a grassy field. Filled with rivers and trees.
"Lord Pontifex! are you alright?" Astrologer asked seeing the leader of the theocracy space out.
"I'm fine, don't worry. I was just lost in thought." The pontifex answered returning back to reality.
"Anyways, please inform me if you spot anything unusual. Any piece of information matters when it comes to matters such as this" He said as he shifted the topic.
"I hear and obey" Thousand Leagues said with a monotone voice.
After the pontifex said his goodbyes to Thousand Leagues he returned to his quarters to research more about the Greed Kings.