Fate of Mirithia [LitRPG, Isekai]

Meera watched Lainor take the seat beside her without a care in the world. It was like he was oblivious to the hateful stares of the sorceresses in the room. Many had gathered here. Some that never came to these meetings. All for the sake of protecting the princess, but everyone knew that was bullshit. They just wanted to protect their own leaders, in case Lainor turned out to be an assassin.

That thought had crossed Meera's mind, but she had to take this risk, and with the number of sorceresses present, no matter what Lainor's plans were, she was confident that she could take him down. Regardless, she had one chakram in her hand, ready to cut out the cultist's throat, if he even twitched in the wrong direction.

Beside him sat his grandmother, the old runeweaver. She had recognized the runes on the heart, so Meera figured she must know something as well. Ilona was in the room as well, and everyone hoped she could gain something from this meeting because she hadn't even begun her research before the cultists attacked.

"So, who should begin?" Lainor asked, looking around with an aloof smile.

"Since you came to us, why don't you unveil the mysteries of the runes, as you said?" Meera replied.

"But isn't it rude not to begin with introductions?" he said.

"If I introduce you to the women in the room, then you will never leave, and I figure you will want to keep your cover with the cult, so it's best you just get on with it. The people in this room have lost a lot of dear ones to your brothers and sisters, and I'm not sure I can guarantee your life if they all attacked you." She quickly added. "Nor do I want to."

He smiled. "Please. I had nothing to do with the attack. I wasn't even in the attack. I was patrolling the forest, as I was commanded. It's Elrasil you should be really mad at. He's the one who ordered the attack and sent the dragon after you. By the by, no one at the Spire thought you would be able to take it down. Excellent work, I must say."

Meera's nostrils flared. "Are you going to get on with it?"

"Yes, of course. I was only kidding. Trying to lighten the mood." He turned to the princess and bowed his head. "Your Highness."

Rehia squinted her eyes but said nothing about how he knew who she was. Some of the sorceresses were very much surprised as they hadn't expected that. And there was one sorceress that sat quite exasperated—the sorceress of foresight. Meera figured he was doing something to block her from reading his mind. If Meera didn't have her pride to think about, she would ask him about it later on.

"As Meera said, let's get on with it," Rehia said. "You're here to tell us how to destroy the wall and gain entry into the Spire."

"Well, only one of those things is possible, Your Highness," Lainor replied. "And it is not the easier of the two."

The room tensed once more. Meera could practically hear the murderous intent of the sorceresses. Some had their Mana swirling, but didn't look like they would attack. Meera didn't know what she would do if they did indeed attack Lainor. They must hold him responsible for the deaths of their sisters as well. After all, the cultists had moved their Gateway Mirror before the war with the dragons, cutting off their retreat, which resulted in many more deaths.

"So, you've come here to waste our time," Rehia said.

"Not quite, Your Highness," Lainor replied. "I am here to provide a solution to all your problems. The wall is nigh unbreakable. Even if all your forces joined together to create a mighty attack, they still wouldn't be able to put a scratch on it. As evidenced by Meera's attempt."

"Then our cause is lost," Kithra said.

"What are those runes?" Rehia asked, ignoring the skeptical sorceress's comment. "Can they not be undone?"

"Not quite," Lainor said. "Those runes are in a language called Ashtarian."

Ilona immediately did an audible intake of air. Her eyes were wide, and she practically shivered under all the eyes that fell on her.

"You know this language, Ilona?" Duinith asked.

"I do, mistress," she replied in a slight quivering voice. "It's the language of the Cosmarians. The oldest language. The first language. Some say it is the language of the gods, but no, it came from the Cosmarians. It's the language that all other languages come from. Now it makes sense why all those letters seemed similar to so many ancient and extinct languages."

"Correct, my dear." Lainor gave an inaudible clap. "The language is indeed Ashtarian. So, the runes can only be undone by one who understands Ashtarian, and since none of you are Cosmarians or know one who can teach you their language, you cannot undo the runes. So, the wall will remain standing strong, unless you do."

He let that sit as everyone mulled over his words and the revelation about the wall. If this were true, she did in fact know a Cosmarian. Could he teach her the words? The vision of the dirty old man, caring for his flowers and laughing randomly to the wind, came to her mind. She shook her head; she would have more luck in getting a pig to fly.

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"There is one other way the wall can be brought down," Lainor said. "Though I cannot speak to the validity of this method. It's mostly just a rumor or gossip, if you will, around the barracks. Some say, an archdragon's flames can melt the wall and the runes stored within." He paused to survey everyone and then smiled. "Judging by the looks on your face, you don't know an archdragon that you can call upon. Maybe we should do things my way."

He was right. The sorceresses would be stupid to call up a regular dragon, let alone an archdragon. The said dragon would annihilate them first before it even looked at the wall.

Meera almost spoke up that she was an Ascendant. Couldn't her flames work on the wall, but she decided not to reveal that fact to someone whom they didn't even know would be an ally. So, she bit her tongue and kept that secret to herself. "Which is?" Rehia asked.

"Let me guess," Meera interjected. "Go in the cover of night, sneak into Elrasil's room, and slice his throat as he sleeps."

Lainor smiled. "Just about."

"Who's to say that you won't give us up the moment the deed is done?" Meera said.

Lainor shrugged. "On that, you will just have to trust me."

"Fat chance."

"Think about it, Meera," Lainor said. "I can bring you in under the guise of a cultist. At night, there is only one guard outside the Hierarch's room. If the two of us are together, we can easily take care of him, and then we need to send Elrasil from this world. If anything goes wrong, then you can simply fly out of there, with me, of course, as they will know that I have assisted you. If you fail, then we are back here, but if we succeed, then there is no need for needless blood to be spilled on both sides."

"And what about the cult's response?" Meera asked. "They won't just disperse to the wind if we manage to kill your leader."

"They will be angry, yes, for a little while, but Elrasil is the glue that is holding the whole place together. With him gone, the cult is gone. Trust me, I know. He's charmed me into his service until he tried to get rid of me."

"And now you want your revenge. That solves that riddle."

"Does it matter why I want to kill him, as long as he's dead and you've achieved your goal with no bloodshed?"

He had a point, but Meera still couldn't help but feel that he had an ulterior motive. Firaan sat with crossed arms and a frown on her face, almost pouting like a little kid who couldn't play with their new toy. The others were looking to Meera, as if she were their savior. The bastard had turned them. They clearly didn't want to die for the princess's ambition.

"Jephena," Rehia called. "Please escort our guests out of here. Lainor, we need to think about what you've said."

He stood and flourished a dramatic bow. "I live to serve the house of Varsha."

Rehia clearly didn't buy his fake loyalty, but she masked it quite well. Jephena escorted Lainor and his grandmother out of the room. The older woman gave Meera a saddened look, one that Meera couldn't decipher. She frowned at her, but she was gone soon.

The princess sighed. "So, what do we think about his words?"

"I know an archdragon that could bring down that wall," Meera said. "But the moment I wake him, he's going to eat me whole."

No one found the joke funny. They gave her such acidic looks that Meera thought she was going to have to face them here and now.

"Geez, it was just a joke."

"Your joke cost us everything," Duinith slammed her fist on the table.

"It was foretold almost a century ago that you would," Meera retorted. "Maybe it was deserved for what you were doing with that dragon's corpse."

Duinith shot to her feet and leaned forward. She looked like she was going to jump over the table and tackle Meera. However, Meera kept her calm and spun her chakram on her finger.

"You could barely hold back the cultists, and you want to take me on," Meera said. "Did you forget what I did to that ice dragon? Do you want me to rip out your rotten heart as well?"

"Enough!" Rehia snapped as she shot to her feet. "I've had it with this constant bickering. You two will fall in line, or I will make you fall in line."

Meera was a little taken aback, not by the princess's rage but by her Mana. This was the first time she had seen the lithe girl swirl her Mana, and it felt empty like it would swallow everything and leave nothing behind.

Meera raised her hands in a gesture of backing off, and Duinith sat down again. Though she didn't look at Meera or the princess. Rehia glared at them some more before finally taking a seat herself.

"Now, what do we think about his plan?" She said, in a perfectly normal tone, as if that outburst hadn't happened at all.

Meera looked to Firaan. "You couldn't read him, could you?"

She shook her head. "No, I've never met someone who had their mind trapped shut so. The last person that came so close was your brother, but with him, it was like he was deliberating chasing me along a different path, but with this cultist, it was like he had shut all his thoughts and memories in a box. I could access nothing. Couldn't tell if he was lying or telling the truth. Nothing."

"It's a trap," Duinith spoke, slowly looking up.

Meera nodded. "On Gethys, the whole thing was to get rid of me. I didn't know why then, but I do now." They all looked to her expectantly. "I'm the Arbiter from the Great Prophecy. Verdiana's prophecy foretold of my coming."

She took out the yellowed parchment that held the prophecy and dropped it on the table, letting them read it one by one.

"I see," Rehia said. "That makes a lot more sense now. So, they wanted to kill you, so you couldn't fulfil your part, which no doubt will doom us all."

Meera nodded. She didn't mention to them that there was supposed to be a second champion. She did not doubt that half of them would've left in search of this new champion. No, the Destroyer would remain hidden until he or she decided to show themselves.

"Truth is, if it were anyone but Lainor coming to us with that plan, I would've gone along with him," Meera said. "I'm sure some of you have noticed that I've been hiding my level from you."

No one nodded, but they didn't need to. Their sharp looks were evidence enough. She activated Misidentify and stopped the effect of altering her level, though she kept her Ascendant aura hidden.

"Identify me now."

Their eyes widened in alarm. Even Duinith drew a sharp breath as she realized that Meera was not as weak as she thought. Rehia, however, smiled with a hungry gleam in her eyes. She opened her mouth, no doubt to try to convince Meera, but she raised a hand, stopping her.

"I know what you're about to say, and I'll do it," Meera said, standing up. "I'll kill Elrasil, but I need to have a chat with Lainor alone."