To call San Ilia a proper "city" would be incorrect. San Ilia was, in fact, a fortress. Technically speaking, all of the city resided inside the outer walls, with a moat running through its entirety and bridges interconnecting the walkways between individual buildings. It was very much a "Venice meets Vatican City" place, except heavily fortified.
Then, San Ilia Castle would be a castle inside the fortress. A long line of heroes waited for an audience with the guards, which would then allow them audience with the king.
Noah could see faces turn as the guards simply walked past them and escorted him inside. Some curious, some envious, some even outraged, but all suffering from the bane upon humanity that long lines consisted of.
As they walked past the heroes, he decided to finally speak up again, whispering to the guard behind him. "I thought the pope would not meet with an unbaptized Hero? I'm not even a Hero at all." he commented.
The guard shook his head. "I would not presume to know why his majesty has decided upon this. Please carry on." That particularly unhelpful exchange over with as the guard distanced himself, they walked past many people who stared at him in the same open curiosity, and he decided to pass the time during the walk by checking out the art pieces.
As to be expected, all of them were of Ilias and her angels; being an art student, he could appreciate the sweat, the labor and the sheer skill that went into making these.
He didn't know much how he felt about the subject, however. 'Angels are slightly more interested in humanity's wellbeing than monsters are, but the moment shit hit the fan and they're ordered by Ilias to do something, they will gleefully execute Order 66'. he thought grimly.
As they walked in silence, however, Noah caught sight of a statue that he did not expect to see there. It portrayed a young woman with long hair chained to a rock through her arms, legs, and wings. Her expression was one of pain, and a blindfold lay on her face, with only a few pieces of cloth to protect her modesty.
"Who's this?" Noah found himself wondering. The statue seemed definitely out of place.
"Ah, her?" The younger of the two guards accompanying him chimed in. "That'd be the Heretic, chained to the rocks of Hellgondo for interfering with the fate of humanity, unable to witness Ilias' light."
"Huh." Noah said, noting to himself that there were a pair of glasses on the ground as part of the statue, tauntingly out of reach of the angel. "Interesting."
"Please, let's not make the King wait any further." The other instructed. "Let us keep going."
And thus, in short order, the fledgeling mage was brought before the king. Immediately, Noah's mind went to the image of the Pope; a wisely old man as leader of a religion with very similar vestments.
"Is this Sir Noah, then?" The old man asks, and the guards nod. "Thank you. Please be off; we will be speaking in private."
The thought of it bemuses Noah. Already, the not-looked as fragile an old man as they came. Then to also have a private audience?
It would take less than five seconds for Noah to draw his crossbow and start firing. This was one careless king. Regardless of Noah's inner thoughts, the two guards nodded and left, leaving only the two in the room.
"Noah Romero..." the King breathed, his expression sorrowful as he leaned back into his chair. "It is true that you have defied the Goddess' teachings and copulated with a monster, yes?"
At that, Noah froze, his expression one of cold fury and horror. After a few moments passed, he seemed to slightly recompose himself, though the contempt in his eyes was enough to make the king shiver. "Not of my own volition, as one might imagine, but yes. I'd rather not speak about it though."
"Of course, of course. That's good..." The King spoke, but the returning glare from Noah quickly made him continue. "I-I mean, that's bad! It's good that we were able to find you. It's just as I was told. 'On the day of the Spring Equinox Noah Romero, the Dark Avenger will awaken from the resting place of former Heroes in order to conclude what they could not.'" He spoke, looking at Noah.
"...what?" Noah's jaw dropped. That was the single cringiest sentence he had ever heard spoken unironically about himself. Dark Avenger? "You must be joking."
"I am not, young man. Naught but a few weeks ago, Ilias' very own divine visage came to me in a dream. Her beautiful radiance, her magnificent body, her divinely lustrous hair..." he breathed with a smile on his face, and Noah's tentative respect for the man was quickly dwindling. "A-anyways!" The head priest recovered. "What I meant to say was that Ilias had divined your arrival ahead of time, and we've since been preparing for it. Tell me, young man, how fares your training?"
...the fact that Ilias could accurately foretell that he would be here was worrying. Wait, though- a few weeks ago? Noah got here months ago... then perhaps it was less foretelling and more pattern recognition? Slap it onto a chronologically significant event- apparently, today was the spring equinox?- and you have yourself an easy prophecy made.
That, however, still required intimate knowledge of himself and what he did. It was... fine, it's not like he had a habit of speaking to himself like some people he knew of, but it would mean that he would have to work even harder to keep a lid on his own thoughts.
And it still didn't explain why she was interested in him or how she'd learned of his name, but not interested enough to hop into his dreams and go "Ho there, world traveller!", and that scared him.
"My training... well, I would call myself a decent shot with my weapon of choice." He tentatively offered before taking a breath. "Otherwise, I've been toiling away at magic for the last... eight months?" he asked, more as a question to himself. "Recently, I've been able to conjure minor sparks, but little more."
"Ah, it is understandable." The King offered in encouragement. "You're doing quite well, however; most mages spend their first 10 years of learning the theory, so you're not behind them by much, and the following years then they gain the ability to produce minor cantrips. Give it another few years and you'll have your first full spell mastered- eight months is simply too short of a time to achieve greatness with a spell, so don't beat yourself up over it."
...wait. "Excuse me sir, I believe you've misinterpreted me. I have begun dabbling in magic as of the past few months, and after making it through the theory, I've begun casting in the last month or so." At that moment, Noah believes that if he had walked into the room with a dead fish and slapped the king with it, the reaction might've been less gobsmacked. As the king choked on his own spittle, Noah's eyes narrowed in understanding. Ah. "I gather that's not normal?"
"Ah... no, not at all! Why, that is simply marvelous! Ilias' blessings clearly fell upon you, young man, to be bestowed the gift of such an understanding mind!" The king replied, excitement clear in his voice.
"Um... thank you for your praise, sir. But what exactly is the reason I was called here?" Noah asked.
"Ah, yes, of course!" The king marches on. "As the Dark Avenger-"
"Slow down." Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is "the Dark Avenger"? Not to rain on your parade, but while I've been... preparing, in case anything bad happens, I have been precisely in one violent encounter with a monster and you know how it ended." he grumbled.
The King blinked. "Has Ilias' light not shone upon your path, informing you of your destiny and the actions you must undertake?"
"She has not... perhaps she meant for you to do so in her stead, as foreseen in this meeting?" Noah offered, cringing at his own bullshit.
"Of course! The wisdom in your words is befitting of your role." The King nodded to himself. 'That should not have worked.' Noah thought to himself.
"You see, the first and most important commandment of Ilias' faith is this: "Thou shalt not have intercourse with monsters." The king told him, and though he clenched his fist, Noah nodded. "That is the case for a reason. When man lays with monsters, especially when it occurs multiple times, they will experience a pleasure so dark and grand, it will go on to debilitate them forever. Such people who attempt to face monsters in battle again are surely doomed to fail, for they are not capable of keeping a straight head and will simply surrender to their opponents."
Yeah, that seemed silly to Noah, but in the "I can see this happening in a H-game" way. There's many times where Luka is not physically incapable of continuing his quest, especially in the early game, after being defeated by a monster. Despite that, the boy goes full horny mode and just gives up on his dreams to have a monster wife. He'd never heard of this in game, but it seemed... plausible.
"A Dark Avenger, then, is a special type of human who defies all of this; unlike regular heroes, unless kept in a constant state of exhaustion, capture, or being killed, he will most surely bounce back to his feet even after being raped and continue the holy fight against monsterkind. Furthermore, in the past Dark Avengers have been known to be more resistant than most to effects that would seduce or charm lesser men."
.
.
It was only his sheer will not to laugh in front of this old man and the particular distaste that Noah held for the topic that managed to get him not to burst into guffaws. Already, the above concept was stupid to him; but the idea that this cringeworthy edgelord title, treated like essentially a superpower, was simply the result of not having a rape fetish?
"I see." He managed to get out, before taking a calming breath. "So, what exactly am I supposed to do, then? Just keep on training? As I have already?" he offered tentatively. "as I am to undertake this holy mission, I doubt that right now I am any more impressive than the heroes that roam these halls, your majesty." He paused for a moment. "Actually, considering my current progress with magic, perhaps I could peruse the castle's libraries for learning? My wellspring of knoweldge has just recently ran out."
"Hmmm, of course, young man. But I'd thought it beneficial to send you on a quest, to help you acquire fame and allies across the region..." The King pondered to himself.
'Abso-fucking-lutely not!' Noah thought to himself. "With all due respect, sire, but I am given to believe that the position of Dark Avenger is not one that is widely known?" he asked. "And especially given my potential, would it not be better for me to hone my power in secret, so that I may one day strike at the Monster Lord's armies without them ever learning of me beforehand?"
The more Noah spoke, the less sure of it the King of San Ilia seemed, but the moment he mentioned striking at the Monster Lord, the King's mood did a 180. "Oh Ilias, thank you for gifting us a hero with wisdom and zeal far beyond his years..." he briefly prayed, before returning to stare at Noah. "You are right, young man. It appears I am getting overeager in my haste, due to rumors that the Monster Lord has recently become of age to begin ruling her subjects. But hastily made plans won't solve anyone's issues."
The King hastily pulled a ring off of his finger. "I keep this on me for emergencies, but it seems that this will better serve you. This signet ring is for members of the Royal Guard, but today, an exception shall be made. Presenting this ring is much the equivalent of heroic status, and will allow you the authority of one. After all, you are very much the spiritual successor of the great heroes that slew the former Monster Lord, and this ring belonged to the leader of their ill-fated band. I trust it will have its rightful place with you." The king said, presenting the signet.
"...thank you, your Majesty." Noah replied, suddenly unsure of what to say.
"Go forth and make them proud, Noah Romero."
As Promestein walks through the halls of the San Ilia Castle, the inside of her mind is awhirl with machinations and schemes, though on the inside, she is smirking. Oh, how she wishes she could have been there to savor the moment where her almighty creator would get punched in the face.
The set of reports from the miniature Artiste are nothing extraordinary, but any and all bug reports concerning the mending together of different sources of flesh is appreciated. In particular, her rough and distracted approach produces all sorts of interesting results that someone as precise as herself couldn't possibly make without actively trying to mess things up. That, Promestein can freely admit, is a weakness she possesses; she's gotten too good at what she does to achieve that one in a million type of mistake that actually turns up positive results.
As she leaves the library and prepares to return to her true form, however, she notices a human male loitering in the main corridor, intently looking at a statue. Her statue, to be more precise; the most unflattering depiction one could have of themselves, and Ilias' way of constantly rubbing the past in her face.
Looking the human over, he doesn't really look like anything special; but of course, the devil is in the details.
Dark energy rolls off of the man in waves; while a lesser being might confuse this for a monster's intimidating presence or abundance of power, in a human this would simply mark him as unable to metabolize the dark energy within himself that came about as a result of suffering critical ecstasy at the hands of a monster. That dark energy then must be tied for him, as it is the result of his own union with a monster, but the body's rejection of it keeps the energy outside. Of course, this would normally result in a quick and agonizing death as the dark fuses with the flesh, and yet, it's like it isn't even there, as the energy keeps pushing for something it can't interact with.
Further evidence is the absolute nothingness that Promestein can perceive inside the boy's mind. Neither telepathy nor mind reading function, as though the human in front of herself were nothing more than a mindless beast, but she knows the truth. It's not that she cannot access the mind not because of any superlative qualities on the man's part or any fault on her own end; there simply isn't any mental compatibility as the creature in front of him, despite looking, acting and probably being in some form a human man, is in fact an extradimensional alien. Two completely different beings, the humans of this world and the one in front of her, that reached a similar evolutionary conclusion.
It appears that, through her research, she had briefly forgotten that this event was supposed to take place today. This is the man that has been giving Ilias such a potent headache by simple power of manifesting where he shouldn't have. However, the idiotic goddess decided that instead of taking any intelligent approach to the situation, she would simply have him become one of her servants or die defying her, since she couldn't manage to break into his mind. It wasn't a terrible idea, but the Goddess had simply decided that since she couldn't use her magic to understand what was going on inside his mind that it was simply impossible to learn.
Of course, Promestein thought, sometimes the simpler approach was truly the best. But it's not like something that Ilias would ever conceive of.
"Good evening there." Promestein offered with a nod, breaking whatever thoughtful trance the boy had gotten himself into. Simply asking would garner answers in and of itself. But imagine if the Great Ilias, Goddess of Radiance and she who knows everything, would debase herself to do such a thing as asking a question. "Have we met each other somewhere?"
"Uh, I don't believe-" the blonde began replying as he turned around, before freezing at the sight of Promestein. Even as he moved to shadow his eyes with his hat, she could see in equal parts fear and hope in his eyes. It's not like he recognizes her from the statue; the only detail shared is the glasses, as what little resemblance human hand could hope to place is shielded by both different clothes and maturity attained over thousands of years. Ah, just as thought. "Maybe in passing." He coughed. "I don't believe we're acquainted, however."
He truly wore his heart on his sleeve, didn't he? Six words spoken and she had him hook, line and sinker.
"A shame." she continued. "Perhaps we should amend that. I am Promestein, one of the Royal Researchers here at the castle." she said, and casually put out a hand to shake his.
Even through the thick clothes he wore, she could notice the shadow of fear hanging over him intensify. Slowly, as though he was afraid she might rip his arm off, he offered a weak handshake. "A pleasure." he replied. Promestein felt herself frown minutely. Perhaps, an enemy... or maybe just a frightened subordinate? It's not like the possibility for her to be brutal even to an ally isn't there in the multiverse, but still...
As she contemplated this and released his hand, he took a deep breath. "Would you know where one might be able to find resources about magic? I find my magical abilities... lacking. It would help to learn why."
Promestein cocked her head at the nonsequitur. A mage? So young, and without any monster or angelic blood? That would require a mana-rich environment that simply doesn't exist outside of Heaven... or this world. Hm.
"Perhaps, a question for a question then?" she asked.
"I... sure. What kind?" he asked, and she began thinking to herself. What might she inquire about that would not alert the Valkyrie that was shadowing the man to any sort of foul play? She needed to be able to pass this off as an innocent question...
"Well, just an idle curiosity. Assuming you had access to infinite resources and were told to go about defeating a slime monster in the most efficient way possible, how would you go about it?" she asked. "I've been curious to see the way different types of heroes think."
He hummed in consideration.
"Well, the obvious answer is fire. Just throwing lots of fire all around until the thing evaporates." He replied. "However... given that a stronger slime monster would have access to water magic, that would hardly be effective against anything I would actually need the aforementioned infinite resources for. Instead, given that slimes- and earth golems, for that matter- are usually made of just one type of material, I could see the merit of wind based techniques- or specifically, vibrations being used as a weapon, provided you could do it at the correct frequency."
"An interesting approach." And exactly in line with what the currently plans of the Amphisbaena Doll feature. Good to know that her designs aren't for naught, and that the world-crosser is someone who doesn't need instructions on her plans. "Well, thank you for your time. There's many books in the underground library that you could peruse for your magical issues, so I would recommend asking the Head Librarian for help. She's a bit shy, being all holed up in her books, but she could probably be persuaded to help you."
"...I see." He replied. "Well, have a good evening."
"You as well." She said, a genuine smile creeping on her face as she pondered the potential ramifications of this occurrence and how to make the most of this situation. Oh, what a wonderful gift you've made me... Me.
Isn't it just the worst when people keep assuming things about you without having gotten the whole story? Let's see how long it takes for the castle of cards to start crumbling.
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