Chapter 167: What happens if Sauron loses his contact lense?

My footsteps echoed across an empty corridor. Murals and tapestries hung on the walls, depicting ages gone by. Priests gave water to the thirsty, and knights fought valiantly against monsters. Each one showed a different good deed enacted by the church.

Above each of the tapestries was the symbol of a single eye.

I was wearing my purple robes, the patterns gathering together in the middle of them to form the same eye I saw on the murals.

"How much do you think they know about the Crijik’s true appearance?” I mused aloud to Gold.

He responded with a chirp and rustled his feathers as he gazed at our surroundings.

Much?

I’d visited several churches in this lifetime, and each had a different depiction of their respective divine. Even now I could see statues of the Crijik displayed proudly across the corridor's sides.

Each one was depicted differently.

Some had tentacles, others had scales. One had three heads and another six arms.

On each was a single eye. No more, no less.

Gold chirped again.

Creepy.

I chuckled and examined each carving curiously, taking my time within the megastructure I'd entered. Some of them were carved out of stone, others out of marble. There was even an ice statue, waves of cold radiating off of it.

Three days had passed since the talk with my guards.

The church of the Crijik spanned the world. Their name was known from the peaceful farmlands of the south to the wild and untamed frontier cities. They worked on behalf of their divine to fulfil the expectations they believed the Crijik had of them.

It wasn't easy to schedule a meeting with its leaders.

“Two days?” I’d asked my guard.

It had taken my guard a day to get back to me after talking with the church.

I think I shouldn't have asked him so sharply. My words had petrified him to the spot because he thought I was angry.

Two days was a lot quicker than I thought the wait would be. That was a good sign. I was worried that the parts of the church that weren't convinced yet wouldn't want to meet with me. Or would make things difficult for me.

School was already over for the day, but I’d gotten to work on a new project while waiting.

Inside my inventory was a white piece of spongy flesh, with cuts embedded into it and hints of green simmering above its surface.

Oubliez’ symbol.

I brought it out and handled it carefully. I’d gained a lot by perfecting its inscription, and I'd already been on the verge of a breakthrough.

[Symbol Inscription(II): Level 3]

The level up had put a spring in my step that still hadn’t left.

Gold squawked in indignation.

"Still haven't figured out how to put the symbol into a shield?" I scratched his neck and made my way down the corridor.

Gold chirped in reply and tapped his long leg out towards the symbol.

He'd been just as interested as I was in working with it.

Not all symbols were compatible with each other. But he was certain that parts of the concept that the symbol represented connected with shields intimately.

Technically the lump was the flesh of a monster, but it came out feeling like a soft tree root that looked like it had been bleached.

I put it back in my inventory and brought out a notebook.

"I've got a good feeling about this week." I flipped through its pages. "We've got less than a month until we go to the burning lake, but if I can put this into an array by then I'll be golden.”

Gold hopped down onto my arm, his wings fluttering at the edge of my vision as he moved. He gazed down at the notebook, bobbing his head as he read through the pages.

The book held the observations about the symbol compiled by myself and my dad over the course of months.

There was one line in particular that drew our attention.

Hidden, normal, glaze, veil, nothing, unseen, covered.

The words I’d written were waypoints and descriptors. They were the existing concepts that were closest to what Oubliez’ symbol represented. The exact meaning wasn't clear because the concept was new.

Gold chirped.

Shield. Veil. Glaze.

"I believe you. You don't have to say it every time." I spoke.

Gold was excited. Every symbol represented a concept.

The concepts he was listing overlapped with his area of expertise, shields.

Theoretically, he could create a shield that made people invisible. Or at least harder to see.

Thankfully, testing out a symbol that hid things wasn't as dangerous as figuring out a symbol that sucked the blood out of anyone using it.

"Here.” I conjured a rock for Gold to work with.

It was a regular rock from my garden, not one made using [earth creation].

Gold chirped in thanks and placed it under his wing.

Symbol. Regent. Create?

His intentions were clear to me now that we were alone. It was harder to understand him when he was chirping up a storm or keeping his voice low near strangers.

"Well, that's the question, isn't it?" I put the notebook away. "I think I can do it now that I have a basic understanding of the symbol.”

I wasn't trying to create a regent using the symbol, that would take a longer amount of time, but I could create a symbol array to add on to a current regent.

I was thinking about adding it to my mask.

My mask only shielded my physical and magical features from being seen through. It didn't make me invisible to physical eyes.

In other words, it kept my identity secret, but it didn't prevent people from knowing I existed.

Oubliez's symbol could add that function of hiding.

I’d spent the last few days working on the symbol, and soon I would be ready to move on to testing it on proper materials.

Acquiring those materials was a separate matter.

In truth, I was hoping to carve the symbol into silver. I'd recently acquired a large amount of silver ore from William’s father, Master Wilhelm, that I'd been using to hone my skills.

Part of it streaked through my hair right now.

It also served as a solid material for symbol arrays and regent creation. It wasn't a top-notch material, but it wasn't something to sneeze at either. It could hold plenty of mana and since the main regnet already existed it would be enough.

All I needed was time and testing.

"Master Silver?” A voice called out to me.

I paused, and Gold’s head perked up.

The sound of songful whistling tickled my ears as a joyful rhythm of steps echoed in the corridor. In front of me a robed figure descended a stairway, auburn hair cascading down his shoulders.

“Bishop Kavenaugh.” My lips parted into a smile. "It's lovely to see you again."

"And I am honoured to see you as well." The bishop bowed low. “In much more auspicious circumstances this time.”

I nodded.

I’d asked my guards for information on the cardinals. They were elected by the congregation of bishops. Each cardinal represented a different faction within the church.

Bishop Kavenaugh was part of the small faction that was convinced I was the genuine article.

That was why my guards had taken me to his church when Gerial was attacked. He had volunteered to guard me himself.

"I'm not keeping them waiting, am I?" A flutter of concern waved over my heart.

I didn't want to piss off the people I'd come here to talk with.

“I'm simply here to guide you.” The bishop shook his head with a smile. “Ophelio is also here, but I won the coin flip.”

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. From the grin widening on his lips, I didn’t think he was.

We took our time moving through the corridor and he noted my interest in the depictions of the Crijik.

“Each one is crafted by a master.” The bishop’s chest swelled with pride. “Generations of followers bringing reality to the imagination of our divine.”

I followed his explanation of each statue as we made our way towards the stairs, and I spotted a trend.

"Why aren't any of them human?" I tilted my head.

There was all manner of monstrous and esoteric depictions of the Crijik, but no humanoids. I’d have thought it would be the opposite, with the statues being based on the Marked ones of the Crijik.

The bishop glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What we know of the divine mostly comes from visions. Its appearance included.” He gestured towards the statues. “However, most believe the Marked ones to be a human representation of something we cannot grasp. Or a vessel. But not the divine itself.”

"How many on the council believe the Marked are the divines themselves?" The words slipped out of my mouth.

“Not many.” Bishop Kavenaugh shook his head.

The prevailing theory around Marked ones was that we were just vessels waiting to be filled. The human parts of us, our mind, and our personality, didn't matter.

It was the potential for a divine to puppet our flesh that gave us our status.

Personally, I wasn't a big fan of that theory, but it was the reason why the church could accept that two Marked ones were possible in the first place.

Gerial and I didn't matter individually.

What mattered was that there was more space for a divine to try and manifest into the world.

"Through here, sir." The bishop stopped at the stairs. “Would you like me to bring you anything?”

I shook my head.

The idea of having someone wait on me hand and foot was disturbing. Maybe it was my upbringing back on Earth, or my general dislike of slavery, but I didn't want to abuse the powers afforded me by my status.

Asking for information, however, was another thing.

"I'd like to know more about where I am." I rubbed my neck. “I know I'm in the east, but where exactly are we?”

Portals were a convenient tool. Dropping in from one city to another was as simple as crossing the street.

I knew that the portal had dropped me into the east, but all I knew about the east was that in that direction lay vast swathes of fertile land and burning deserts.

As for the natives, I hadn't seen a single soul from the moment my portal dropped me into it except for the bishop.

I had the feeling that this section of the building wasn't available to the public.

"We are at The End.” Bishop Kavenaugh’s voice rose joyfully. “I've heard that this is your first visit, is that correct?”

“It is.” I nodded.

The End?

That didn't sound very appealing.

"Wonderful." The bishop clapped his hands together, bounding up the stairs alongside me. “Then I shall be the first to introduce you. If you look outside, you'll be able to see the city proper.”

At the top of the stairs was another hallway, this one leading out into a junction that split off into various different wings of the building.

Between the junction and me was a long stretch, red and gold carpet laid out for us to walk on. There were windows to the outside and I glanced through them curiously.

“Oh my—” I blanched as I realised how high up we were.

Below me were several buildings as tall as skyscrapers and surrounding them were lush and fertile mountains. The entire city was located within a valley that stretched out for miles.

Gold’s head perked up and he tapped the glass, bringing his eyes to the window.

Tens of thousands of people milled below, their figures colourful despite being as small as ants. It wasn't as high as Gesti Sky, but I hadn't been expecting us to be off the ground.

"This structure is known as the Eye, the seat of the church's power.” The bishop didn't comment on my outburst. “And below us is The End, the largest congregation of followers of the Crijik in the world. Some call it a holy city, but the church does not endorse that title.”

My fingers pressed against the cool glass, and I activated my [mana sense].

A cacophony of colours burst into life across my vision. The city was alive with mana, and its inhabitants became stars, twinkling brightly even against the afternoon sky.

It was beautiful. And terrifying.

The concentration of mana below me was too high for ordinary people to survive in. My dad would collapse if he visited, and in minutes he would be dead.

Most of the people I could see were emitting the same amount of mana as bronze mask magicians. From beside me came an even stronger power.

Bishop Kavanaugh was at least a silver mask. Perhaps even stronger.

"I'm not surprised it's called a holy city." I admired the mountains. They were also rich with mana, lights clinging to them closely. “Does living here change people? Not everyone can adapt to this environment naturally.”

Newborn babies and children wouldn't be able to survive unless there were some measures of protection against the mana in the surroundings.

"Every child here has the protection of the church.” Kavenaugh confirmed. “And we have found that most acclimatise to mana early. Children are measured at the age of three, not five, and we've found that many survive the first night.”

My head turned sharply toward the bishop, and he nodded in confirmation of what he'd just said.

I knew how connected the first night was to the Crijik.

Was it favouring its followers?

The End was below me, but it was the people inside this building that interested me the most. They stood at the head of an organisation that was spread out across the world.

I couldn't imagine how powerful they were.

“How many of the cardinals remain unconvinced?” I asked him.

Despite the hassle of verifying my status, I could understand the need for scepticism. But I wanted to know who my potential obstacles were.

It wasn't going to be an easy task convincing them all.

"Nine of the twelve have their reservations. Of those nine only three are holding out because they believe you are an imposter. The others simply wish to test you more before they can admit it out loud.” A voice spoke out from beside me. “I will admit, I am one of those three.”

My eyes directed towards the voice, and I saw a man looking out the window beside me. His gaze was directed onto the city below, but his posture was turned toward me.

Gold squawked in surprise, and I jolted at the sudden intrusion, a shiver running down my spine.

The man was covered in a purple robe, but his hands were exposed, lines of green and blue swirling across his skin.

My [mana sense] hadn't detected him at all.

"My apologies for the surprise visit, master Silver, and master Gold.” The man chuckled. “I simply could not hold myself back from meeting you both.”

He turned to face me, and his hand stroked his jaw. His fingers brushed over a stiff dark beard, and I could see his eyes filled with curiosity.

Then I registered what he had said.

"I'm honoured to meet a cardinal of the church." I spoke gently. “May I please know with whom I am speaking?”

I didn't bow, or salute. That would be beneath my station.

Gold also let out a cautionary greeting, shaking his feathers. He'd been acknowledged, and I could see his chest passing out in pride despite his caution.

"Of course you may." The man's lips parted into a grin.

He held out his hand and his robes pulled back, revealing more of the green and blue swirls.

They were symbols, carved directly into his flesh.

"I am Wahyu, cardinal of the church.”