Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 108: Divine Corruption

If you wanna survive out here, you gotta do a few things.

Avoid the glows, for one.

See a Rift? Run.

Vega? Stay only as long as you got money in your pocket. Stay longer, and someone’s going to get you knee-deep in shit.

Close to the Coast is where most keep, but stay away from the water past it; anyone who tries telling you to sail is playing a game with death. Further inland you go, worse it gets, least from what I’ve seen.

Above all, keep this in your head: Humans can be monsters too.

- Sally Snakes, Surviv’n (3rd Era, 293)

As the sun rose to the middle of the sky, a steel wagon came into view. One of the first things to catch Erec’s eyes on it was VAL—or rather, the Vallum Model that VAL took over and called home. Given that he’d left it at the Academy, it seemed Boldwick had no trouble retrieving it.

They’d spent the entire night out there, not quite sure what was going to happen. Dame Morgana used most of it instructing Garin, claiming she’d only taken the opportunity to teach. All of them knew her real job was to look out for the church.

Accompanying the Caravan was a whole centuria of soldiers and a few Verdant Oak Knights. And then, there were the people Boldwick told would be coming along on their expedition with two surprise guests.

Colin was walking alongside his father, the Unbroken General.

Erec couldn’t look away as Duke Nitidus strode up in his cerulean Armor, not unlike the model he’d supplied to his son for the trial but adorned with a deep purple cape. His screw-like spear rested on a shoulder as he stopped and examined their small camp.

“I informed you that your apprentice wouldn’t be further bothered. Pursuit by the Church is unlikely, as of now. They’ve concentrated on manipulating public sentiment and making their moves against the Royal Family.”

"Can't be too sure. This operation isn't completely in my hands now. Nobody predicted they'd take such a bold action before we returned." Boldwick hopped off the wagon, and a wave of dust blew away as his Armor impacted the ground. "This escort seems a little excessive, especially since it's not too far from the gate, but I'm grateful nonetheless."

"Orders from the Royal Family are followed without question. This expedition has been granted and protected by their authority," Duke Nitidus shrugged. "It was foolish of them to act so rashly. Now it's left the Silver Flames in an awkward position. But enough of that for now; let's focus on the matter at hand.”

"There will be plenty of time on the road to plan for our return," Boldwick walked over and clapped Erec on the back. "You two, get your Armor on. Then we'll get moving."

— -☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —

A minute after donning his armor, they started moving again. In short order, the escort brought them to the closest gate, which opened with surprising speed. Erec and the rest rushed outside, and the gate slammed shut just as quickly. The speed at which everything was happening almost gave him whiplash.

His recent recovery from whatever strange issue had affected him didn't help, leaving him wondering if the past few days had been some prolonged delusion.

To his surprise, the Unbroken General and Colin remained with their group. The old man was already busy explaining some of the finer points of military tactics and how he had commanded the centuria to his son as they walked. However, Colin could have been more responsive to the conversation, barely offering one or two affirmations when his father's tone became harsh and demanding an answer.

It seemed everyone had something to preoccupy them. Olivia was harassing Garin while Gwen, Dame Juliana, and Boldwick were talking and trying to get their bearings while consulting the map. Dame Morgana drifted alongside them as a ghost; she’d left her Armor on the wagon and ignored Boldwick’s calls to wear it. Instead, she opted to remain in her flimsy black dress.

With the sun beating down on the group, Erec wasn’t sure how sound that decision was.

Erec dragged his attention away from them. He was still processing the abrupt twist in his life. The group's almost ease was a weird contrast to how things must be within the Kingdom.

After the move the Church made and his royal fuck up with the merchants, thinking about the situation behind them left him feeling sick.

But nobody else was outwardly too concerned.

"Try to live in the moment," Dame Robin said quietly from his side.

Erec twitched with surprise and turned to her, head still filled with a bit of that fog. "Huh?"

"It isn't that difficult to consider what you must be thinking. Especially with how you looked upon our arrival. As you can see, everyone else is focusing on the present."

"I don't understand why, though. Aren't they worried about leaving the Kingdom right now?" Erec said.

"I'm sure they are. For that reason, most of them decided it was better to focus on the goals in front of them. They've laid their pieces in the Kingdom before they left, and this change will make the Church switch tactics. I'm not sure you're aware, but the Church has been courting the Duke as a major ally. Marrying his son to a house of Doctus was a seal on that alliance—considering that house has deep ties to the Silver Flames. But now he's out here, and they can't rely on his support." Dame Robin kept up easily, and Erec felt a thrum of appreciation for the woman run through him.

Whenever he felt low, she always took a moment to set him back in place. Not for the first time, she reminded him of his mother.

"He did this intentionally?"

"Likely, he wants this Kingdom to be stable and probably put himself into position to act as an intermediary between both sides. I can only speculate, though." Dame Robin shrugged. "Focus on the present, Erec. Out here, each day out here could be your last. Then how ridiculous would it be to have spent your time worrying about things that didn't matter."

It was easier said than done. But the idea of putting his head away from the clusterfuck of the Church and the Kingdom was preferable to torturing himself over it when he couldn’t do a single thing to change it.

Erec let the conversation lapse back into silence as the wagon moved along.

They had their destination, and to follow it, Erec was about to go deeper into the western wasteland than ever before. The nearest ‘civilization center’ was almost triple the destination from the Kingdom to the ruins of Worth.

The sky above was a bright blue with few clouds drifting across it. Far above it was the bright sun, radiant as it blessed their journey with fine weather. With its light, and the day's atmosphere, Erec began to cast out his regret of being played by the merchants and let his mood rise.

The Kingdom was behind them, and ahead was a vast world filled with danger. Anything could happen, as Dame Robin said. But nothing he could within the Kingdom made him feel quite as alive as in moments like this.

No chains were binding him, only a group of people he knew he could rely on.

Let the Church think they'd won—let the Merchants have their way for now. Court life was never where he belonged, and the further he got from his goals, the more unhappy he became. When he returned, he'd deal with them. And he'd come back stronger.

After an hour of marching, he began to feel better. Not just with the mental clarity, but the feeling of unease and brain fog slipped away.

Once it was gone, a piercing white box filled his vision, followed by a burning sensation in his chest.

Soul Advancement: Rank [NULL] - Tier 0 → Rank E - Tier 1

The pain. Erec clutched at his heart as his knees buckled. VAL must’ve sensed something going wrong as it locked the servos.

[Whoa, Buckeroo. Easy now. You alright?]

“What the hell?” Erec asked

Dame Robin turned around and tilted her head at the sudden hold up. It burned inside, a burning, searing pain that kept going, and sweat rolled down his forehead.

It was fading, but too slowly.

Erec desperately pulled up his Blessings sheet to grasp what was going wrong even though it hadn’t been working since last night.

Name: Erec of House Audax

Health: 100%| Mana: 100% | Stamina: 100%

———————————————————————

Virtues:

Strength: [Rank D] | [Tier 5]

Vigor: [Rank E] | [Tier 7]

Agility: [Rank E] | [Tier 5]

Perception: [Rank E] | [Tier 5]

Cognition: [Rank E] | [Tier 4]

Psyche: [Rank E] | [Tier 7]

Mysticism: [Rank F] | [Tier 4]

Soul (Aspect: Fire): [Rank E] | [Tier 1]

———————————————————————

Talents:

Fury

There it was. Right where the messed up Faith had been, a completely new and unexplained Holy Virtue. Or rather, it had been a Holy Virtue before. But that’d changed too, now the sheet only listed it as Virtues. Divine Talents changed as well—now only Talents. Erec scrambled to figure out what it meant as he forced himself to move forward. Aspect of Fire?

This couldn’t be right.

Not unless…

Was the church right?

Was this the Goddess’ scorn? Looking at it with pure face value, this significant change couldn’t be possible unless he concluded that. Their pursuit against him was righteous—panic swirled with the burning pain inside.

Was he to end up like his mother? How would it even be possible to prove innocence in the eyes of the Kingdom with this undeniable proof of him being exactly the type of person they wanted to exile.

A vision of an uncaring goddess on her throne tumbled through his mind, the same vague delusion he’d had months ago after defeating the Stag.

“I’m so screwed.” Erec said, trailing behind the wagon, trying and failing to calm himself.