Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 408: Reflection [1]

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The drums echoed loudly throughout.

They surged through the Academy grounds, echoing loudly and rattling the surroundings. Behind the drums came long lines of people in varied robes, heads bowed as they carried incense sticks and banners.

The smell of incense spread throughout, causing my nose to momentarily scrunch up.

“….”

I wasn’t the only one bothered by the smell as several cadets showed similar reactions.

And yet, nobody said a word.

….We weren’t allowed to say a word.

No disrespect was allowed for the walk of the Seven Churches.

All we could do was stand in silence, watching as the disciples walked past while the tendrils of smoke from the incense curled through the air.

‘It looks no different from the religious walks I’ve seen back on earth.’

Be it here or in the past, gods were worshipped.

It was just that…

I was one of the presumed gods.

It was a thought that ran through my mind on several occasions, making the entire thing feel a little weird to me.

‘Well, at least I’m the only one who knows that.’

Things wouldn’t be as nice if people knew.

“Hm?”

In the distance, several carriages appeared, drawing everyone’s gaze. Adorned with golden patterns and various emblems, they were unmistakable. With just a glance, I knew these carriages carried the delegates of the seven churches.

The Cardinals.

Ranked just second to the Pope, they were some of the most powerful figures throughout the Empire and as my gaze fell on the Carriage of the Church of ‘Oracleus’, I felt a pair of eyes stare in my direction.

‘Hm?’

I suddenly felt my body grow weak.

It felt as though someone had ripped my consciousness out of my body for a split moment, making me lose sight of myself.

The sensation was only brief, disappearing right after the carriages moved past.

“Haa…”

But it still left me shaken as I looked in the direction of the carriage.

‘What the hell was that?’

I looked down at my hand.

…It was trembling.

“What?”

***

—Should we let him in or get rid of him?

A muffled voice echoed within the quiet space of Atlas’s office. He sat on his desk with a cold and detached expression.

“How strong is he?”

—He’s fourth tier, at the materializing stage.

“…So almost tier 5.”

Atlas quietly mumbled while leaning back on his chair.

Ta, ta—

His fingers quietly tapped onto the wooden table as he fell deep in thought. There was a situation. A member belonging to the Nocturne Order, the sister organization of the Inverted Sky which operated in the Aetheria Empire, had infiltrated the place.

It was just one member for now but Atlas was sure there were more.

…The two organizations belonged to the same person and yet weren’t exactly the same.

They had a different hierarchal system than the Inverted Sky, and they weren’t exactly on the best of terms.

‘They’re probably here to collect Caius, or kill him.’

Atlas could tell at a glance what their objective was.

But there was an issue with the entire situation.

And that was that…

“They didn’t talk to me at all before coming here.”

It was a complete disregard for his authority.

Genesis…

Atlas’s expression turned colder.

“Fine.”

He quietly stood up from his seat.

“….Since you have no regard for me, I’ll have no regard for you. Good thing I know the perfect person to handle this.”

His mind was made up.

Checking his pocket watch, he headed out of his office. There were a few guests that he needed to tend to.

***

The walk lasted for a total of thirty minutes.

We were only permitted to leave once the last disciple had passed the spot where we stood.

‘What should I do?’

I looked around me.

Unlike before, it was quite loud outside with all the students talking to one another while heading away from the place.

I glanced to my right and spotted Leon talking to another cadet.

As if sensing my gaze, he turned to face my direction and excused himself before heading in my general direction.

“You’ve keep acting weird since earlier. What are you doing?”

I shrugged.

“….I don’t know. What are we supposed to do now?”

“We’re supposed to go to mass. It should start in an hour. Do you know where the one you will be attending is?”

“I know.”

I had been told the place beforehand.

It was in the Rottingham Hall which was about ten minutes away from where we were.

The schedule indicated that the mass was to last about an hour before the confessional hearing began which was the main event of the entire gathering.

I wasn’t looking forward to it but it was compulsory.

‘But before any of that, I need to find Atlas. I need to find a way to pry some information out of him.’

I had only one thought in my mind and that was to find more information on the situation. I couldn’t afford to be seen as a murderer.

Therefore, after a little bit of thought, I decided to bid Leon goodbye and head in a different direction from where I was supposed to go.

‘…I don’t think they will notice if I’m a little bit late.’

There were more pressing and important matters that I needed to attend.

“First things first…”

I rummaged through my pocket and took out the communication device that Atlas had given me. I thought for a moment before finally contacting him.

“I have something that I want to ask.”

I took a quiet breath and waited for a reply.

It came within a minute.

—Come find me.

A location was sent shortly after that.

‘He’s not far from here.’

…And unlike Delilah, he was also reachable. That made things a lot easier for me as I decided to go to the location that he had sent over through text.

As I made my way between the buildings, heading toward the destination, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in one of the classroom’s glass windows.

“Umm?”

My steps came to a sudden stop.

Blinking a couple of times, I frowned and moved my head closer.

‘What is the…’

There was something off about my eyes.

The color…

They felt a little bit lighter than the usual hazel color they had. They almost seemed… red?

‘Is it the glass?’

I placed my hand over the glass and tilted my head to see if there was a difference. However, regardless of how hard I tried, the color of my eyes remained the same.

“This…!”

Shocked, I took out my pocket watch and looked at the glass plane within it.

“Eh?”

Hazel eyes.

There was no problem with my eyes.

“So it was the glass.”

I felt relieved by the thought and raised my head to look at the mirror.

‘As expected, it was just the mir—’

I stopped mid-sentence as my entire body turned rigid.

“….”

There, my reflection stared at me.

Its eyes were red and its expression was twisted.

I kept my cool while staring at the reflection.

And then…

Bang!

I flinched as the reflection smacked the glass.

‘Give me back my body!’

His screams echoed loudly in my mind as I took a slight step back.

‘Give it back!’

He shouted again, this time louder than before.

‘…I’ll take it back!’

I felt my breath get stripped from my lungs as his face twisted further, sending chills down my body.

But he was gone as fast as he arrived.

By the time I blinked, he was gone.

What stared back at me was the sight of my very own reflection.

Along with it were a few words of my own;

‘…Didn’t do it. He did…’

***

“….It’s nice to see you again, Lord.”

A tall man with short graying hair and a thin mustache greeted Atlas. He was dressed in a red cassock, a long golden necklace hanging from his chest. The pendant bore the symbol of Sithrus—an open palm.

“It’s been a while, Cardinal Stein.”

Atlas warmly greeted the Cardinal back, extending his hand in an offer of assistance which the Cardinal promptly refused.

“Ah… I w-woudn’t dare.”

He had someone else help him down the carriage.

Atlas retrieved his hand and didn’t say much. It was hard to tell how he felt about being rejected. Behind the smile of his, nobody truly knew how he felt.

“I assume all preparations for the mass are ready, cardinal?”

“Yes, yes. All is ready.”

“Mhm, that’s good.”

Spreading the influence of Sithrus was always important.

The Mass was a great way to inspire the cadets to become devoted believers of Sithrus. Only in such a way would they be able to fulfill their goals…

“….Lord?”

“Yes?”

Hearing the Cardinal’s hesitant voice, Atlas turned his head.

“How may I help you?”

“That…”

The Cardinal frowned subtly, evidently troubled by the question he was about to ask. Eventually, however, he managed to muster up the courage to speak,

“Are the rumors true?”

“Rumors…?”

“Yes, t-the one about your successor.”

“Ah.”

Atlas had a look of realization, chuckling lightly.

“It’s possible, why?”

“That…”

With a deepening of his frown, the Cardinal suddenly asked,

“…I was just looking through the list of attendees for the second year and I found that he’s not present in the list. Is he not a followe—”

“Tut.”

Atlas placed his finger over his lips and the Cardina found himself stripped of his voice.

“….!”

It was a shocking turn of events.

Especially since the Cardinal himself was also strong.

And yet, under the suppression of Atlas, he felt completely powerless.

The smile on Atlas’s face remained warm.

“What ‘he’ does is none of your concern. As my ‘possible’ successor, what he does is my responsibility. What he does is not something you should worry about. Is that clear?”

“A-ah, yes.”

The Cardinal hurriedly nodded his head, his body trembling as he felt cold sweat run down his back.

“Good.”

Atlas appeared satisfied by his behavior and nodded faintly.

“Off you go. There’s a mass you need to attend. I will be joining you in a bit. I hope everything flows well.”

“Y-yes, yes. Everything will go well.”

Hurriedly lowering his head, the Cardinal nodded several times before leaving. Atlas stared at his departing back with a warm smile on his face.

“….”

His smile continued to stay warm until a few seconds passed. And that was when his face turned cold.

‘Looks like the rumors are spreading quite a lot. It’s not like I didn’t expect it, but the situation is a lot worse than I previously thought.’

Atlas was already aware of several members of the Inverted Sky present within the Academy.

Their motives were quite clear.

They were the ones he had warned Julien about.

‘The situation is also a lot more troublesome than I thought…’

The fact that Julien hadn’t selected Sithrus as his god made things quite troublesome for Atlas. It gave a valid excuse for the members to openly target Julien.

But more than that, Atlas found himself frowning.

‘Why did he select the Church of Oracleus?’

Atlas knew all about his family situation.

They were believers of Mortum.

…His allegiance with Oracleus didn’t quite make sense. Something was off. Especially since he had selected ‘Oracleus’ of all gods.

‘The Seer.’

The most enigmatic and mysterious of the seven gods.

….The one god who had never shown himself, and the one god Sithrus was wary of.

‘Why him?’

Atlas’s frown deepened as he became lost in thought. Just then, he sensed a familiar presence behind him. Turning his head, he saw Julien approaching in his direction. His complexion appeared a little pale but Atlas didn’t put much thought into it.

“Good, you came at a good time.”

He had indeed told Julien to come to him.

There was a task that he needed to give to him.

“….”

Julien’s steps came to a stop and Atlas opened his mouth.

“There’s something that I need you to do.”

Julien’s face didn’t change, almost as though he had seen this situation coming from miles away. Oblivious to the changes, Atlas continued,

“….There’s someone that I need you to kill.”