Two voices echoed in a vast space so dark it was impossible to see anything. "You know I'm right, sister," a male said. His voice was young but raspy, like a heavy smoker who drunk too much alcohol. "Lika is abusing her power in her domain. It doesn't matter if the blasphemer is her herald, she should've smitten him down the moment he dared declare war on me!"

"Is that so?" a lazy, silky female voice asked. "Would you kill your little darling if he declared war on Lika?"

"I would!" the male lied without missing a beat. "We all would! We are civilized gods! Siding with Lika is the same as saying you would also disrespect the rules!"

The female's laugh was a soul-stirring sound that made even the male delighted in it, despite his orientation. "No, Ren, I most definitely would not kill my beloved Kaiser if he declared war on another god," she said. "None of us would. Just move on; it is pathetic for a god to lose in a straight fight against a lower-leveled mortal, but you are young and none of us look down on you because of that. Not much anyway. I'll take my leave."

Quiet returned to the dark space, but Ren's heart was in turmoil. Did everyone know about his shame already? It had been too limiting to use only skills that worked with Champion-level Holy Energy! He was a god, used to skills the likes of which that puny mortal herald couldn't even imagine! That fight had been rigged from the start!

A new visitor, another female, interrupted his thoughts. Her voice was low, old, and tired. "I will help you, little one."

The male snickered. "Even I know better than to accept a deal from you, Yue, Goddess of Deception."

He found it amazing to this day how she had deceived the entire world into believing he was the God of Deception. And she did that while still maintaining a large following of people who knew her true identity — large enough that she didn't lose her position among the gods! He couldn't even let his own Devouts know the truth because the rules demanded the mortals find out about their patron gods' characteristics on their own.

"Hear me first," she replied. "I have a trinket with me here. Taumar sold it to me a long time ago, but I ended up not needing to use it. You can ask him to confirm I didn't meddle with it if you want. I'll give it to you, free of charge, and you may use it — or not — however you see fit. Whether you'll thank me for it in any way in the future will be up for you."

"Such generosity only makes me distrust your help even more," he replied disdainfully.

"Do you distrust me enough to refuse a Vowcher?"

The male could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Lika was the custodian of all holy vows made in the Thenor Empire since it was her domain. Thus, whether to punish anyone who made a vow there was for her to decide. The gods didn't even have to judge if the vow had been broken, they could punish a vower at will.

That was one of the few cases in which they could directly intervene in the mortal world. It was also the most widespread, to the point vows had become currency to the gods. The constant exchange also helped give the mortals the false idea that all gods jointly decided on the punishment for breaking any vows.

But the Vowcher, despite its cringe-worthy name, allowed for a god to steal the custodianship of all holy vows a target was bound to. Even better, it created a false vow if the target had none. It was a rare, valuable, and powerful item. Taumar, the God of Artificing and creator of the item — and the culprit for the stupid name — only made one every hundred years because Shalar himself had forbidden more from being made.

There were ninety-nine gods in Liech, and the competition for the item was fierce. The God of Darkness had bought and used the item only once and had seen no true value in it. However, he was also young enough to never have warred against a fellow god. Now, the item would be invaluable for him in getting rid of the herald.

The only downside to the Vowcher was that a mortal had to use it in the god's name. And for that, the target had to be in range.

"How far from Thenor is the item holder?" he asked.

The female laughed, and her laugh was such a terrible sound it made even the male recoil. "She has been in Illyria for a very long time. She almost died when the royal palace was destroyed, but I saved her."

Ren knew better than to accept the offer, but it was too good to pass. "I have a Champion on the way to Illyria right now. Where can he meet the item-holder?"

Selna was trembling a little as she entered the teleportation room with the Arcane Master, a former High Priestess, two Champions from the Arcane Circle's headquarters, and five Five Star cultivators from the local powers who had begged the Arcane Master to allow them to join the crusade by teleport.

She felt small, tiny even, among so many giants. Only now did she realize that the Arcane Master had reigned in his presence the first time they met. He was doing no such thing now, and just standing close to the Master Shaper was a chore.

She had read about that sensation before. Aura suppression, it was named. It started happening from the Master level onward, pressuring people at lower levels to submit. As a Four Star Entropomancer herself, her willpower was just barely powerful enough for her body not to bow to him against her will.

"Quick reminder, everybody," the Arcane Master said. "This is a Holy Crusade of the Light, recognized by the Goddess of Light herself, called in by her Herald of Light. He will be the one calling the shots, and you damn better obey him. If he tells you to kneel, you kneel. If he tells you to lick his feet, you lick his feet. A crusade is not a walk in the park, it's a call to arms to kill heretics, and we'll kill all heretics, including the ones who try to infiltrate the crusade. The Herald of Light shall be the judge, jury, and executioner, as stated by secret internal rules from both the Temple of Light and the Arcane Circle. If you look down on him because he's weaker than most of you, you'll have to deal with me."

Selna trembled. She had learned a lot about the hidden secrets of the Arcane Circle, but not that. Old organizations like the Circle had a lot of secrets in many layers, and it stood to reason that she had barely scratched the surface.

"If anyone is unsatisfied with it, get the hell out now. Once you're officially in the crusade, you can only leave if the herald allows it." He made a pause.

One of the Champions coughed awkwardly. "Arcane Master, it seems I forgot an appointment I had. I must depart." The room's door was still opened, and the man left at once.

"Anyone else?" The Master asked after another pause. No one moved. He arranged for another Five Star Sorcerer to come quickly, then asked, "Are you ready?"

Selna wasn't.

He activated the formation.

After discussing a few more details with the king, Aaron went to the Royal Market for some long-overdue business. His organization would soon have the land it required, but it would also need different resources to start. So, he went through a veritable shopping spree.

"Here it is, good customer," a merchant said while giving Aaron a bag with some seeds.

It was mid-afternoon by now, and with that transaction, only a couple hundred gold coins remained from his fortune — plus the hundred thousand gold coins the king had promised him, of course. He had also sold every valuable he had liberated from his enemies. The items he bought would only be useful after he returned from the crusade, but he had had to buy it all now. Too many rich and powerful people would arrive for the crusade soon, and the prices would skyrocket in the city.

"Thank you," he said and turned to walk back to Alys Tower.

Midway there, he felt an enormous fluctuation of Space Energy coming from there and picked up his pace. He arrived to see ten people in front of his tower, looking around curiously.

The strongest of them was a Master Shaper, followed by a Champion Elementalist, seven Five Star Arcanists, and a Four Star Entropomancer, about half males and half females. Eight of them wore Arcane Circle's robes, one was a Priestess of Light, and the last one was probably a noble.

The Entropomancer, an old lady from the Arcane Circle, recognized Aaron and revealed his identity to everyone else.

To his surprise, the Master was the first to bow. "Paying respects to the Herald of Light," he said. The others followed his cue and also bowed. "Praise be the Herald of Light."

Aaron approached cautiously. A Master Shaper could easily crush him. "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Bymor Laurus, Arcane Master, Guardian of the Light of the World. I come under the orders of the Goddess of Light to support the Third Holy Crusade. I also bring the authority of the Apostle of Light with me. My Arcane Circle and the local Temple of Light are yours to command, Herald of Light."

"Good. I command you to tell me everything you know about my herald title."

As expected, the man didn't even reply. However, to Aaron's surprise, the old lady did. "Herald, if I may?" He nodded. "I got access to some obscure documents I shouldn't. Only after seeing this exchange did I realize that they were meant to be explained to you, for it was only my connection to you that allowed me to read them."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Your connection to me?" Seeing everyone still bowing, he gestured for them to relax while he talked to the old lady. The respect they had shown until now pleased him greatly.

"I was the local Madam of the Arcane Circle," she said with some shame at the feeble connection.

"Oh. Two of your people tried to rob me. Regrettably, one died, and the other lost his hand in the process. I hope that's not a problem."

She paled but replied at once. "It will be my honor if you allow me to hunt the survivor down for you."

Aaron was surprised. She was good. He liked her already. "There's no need, the matter is solved. Which reminds me, you need a copy of my rules. The king has them. Come, let me show you the way to the man so you can introduce yourselves and tell me how exactly you plan to help me win my crusade."

"If I may, herald?" the Master said while Aaron was already turning.

"Yes?"

"I have more people coming through teleportation. It would be better if I stayed to welcome them, but if you deem it wise for me to go with you, I ask for you at least leave one of mine here with standing orders for the newcomers."

Aaron liked the man already too. He was missing someone to manage the minor day-to-day tasks of any organization. He had temporarily delegated that to the king, but the man had his hands full as the Monarch of the rendezvous kingdom of a Holy Crusade.

"Leave someone behind," Aaron said, "I want to know you better. Have whoever arrives wait here. As you can see, the tower is currently under maintenance." He turned to Selna. "Now, pray tell, what's the extent of the power of a Herald of Light?"