The guardian, Bymor, barked some orders to one of the Five Star people, who stayed behind, then caught up to Aaron and the others.

"The public scriptures," Selna was saying, "teach of the three pillars of the faith: the Apostle of Light, the Guardian of the Light of the World, and the Herald of Light.

"The Apostle of Light represents the goddess in all spiritual matters. She rules over the Temple of Light and all its members. Whatever she says is seen as the very will of the goddess, so close is their connection. To offend her is to bring doom upon oneself.

"The Guardian of the Light of the World is the shield of the faith during normal times. He commands the Templar Knights defensively and is the connection of the temple with mundane matters. I'm not sure how the Arcane Circle fits in all of this, but we are ruled by the guardian too." She nodded toward Bymor. "He is also a cunning political player; the best I have ever met.

"And you, Herald of Light, are the sword of the goddess. You can command the Templar Knights at will. You also possess the authority to declare Holy Crusades against those who have sinned so greatly not even the Goddess of Light can forgive them. The very reason the goddess appoints a Herald of Light is that she wants to wage a crusade against someone. Hence your title, 'herald.' You are the harbinger of war, the sign of the goddess' wrath."

Aaron nodded. "Yes, I know about that already. But what can I do other than that?"

"That is a complex answer; that's why I was talking about the other two pillars. In theory, you can do nothing but those things. But in practice, during a Holy Crusade, yours is the authority of the Goddess of Light herself. You can do absolutely anything as long as it's done under the crusade's authority. You can conscript anyone in the empire into the crusade, except the emperor, and order them to do whatever you want. You can order even the apostle herself to do anything. The guardian himself is supposed to send help your way. I don't know why he came in person, but his presence at least proves what I'm saying.

"Serving the crusade is also an honor. The apostle personally blesses the survivors and the clans of those who fell in battle based on their contribution. One or two of the strongest warriors of every clan is heading this way right now.

"In sum, during a crusade, only the emperor himself can rival your authority. The Goddess of Light rarely gets upset enough with sinners to appoint a Herald of Light, but when she does, she uses the full might of Thenor, her Capital of Light in the World, against them."

Aaron shook his head. "Sounds exciting in the paper, but I doubt Bymor here would do anything I asked of him. What can I actually do?" Rules were one thing, human willingness was another.

"Herald, with all due respect, you're understanding the Arcane Circle and the Temple of Light a little too much." She sounded deeply hurt, the way only old women managed to sound. "For the guardian to be the first to arrive after you called for a crusade and bow to you in public is already proof of where the Circle stands. It's not an empty gesture either. Before coming, he gave us a small speech to let us all know we are to obey your every order. Even if you tell us to lick your feet, we are to obey. There are also rumors that he demoted the High Priestess to take her off her high horse because you are told to be intolerant to being disrespected. " She nodded toward the Priestess in the group.

"And that is just the things you and I witnessed ourselves," she continued. "Refusing a conscription notice is an act of rebellion against the Light, for which the punishment is death. I find this bit very confusing, for it's a secret, and people are expected to serve willingly. Only if they refuse do a Templar Knight visit them with the news of the consequences of their choice, to give them a last chance to change their heretic ways. I suppose religions seldom make complete logical sense.

"Either way, if not for respect towards the gods, few would refuse a conscription notice even while ignorant of the punishment for that. The Goddess of Light is adored in her empire in every sense of the world. The very members of the clan would turn against each other if someone refused her call, and the faithful of other clans might also attack that clan."

Aaron was beginning to believe her, but that worried him in another way. "Would even the Masters of the capital come if conscripted?" he asked for confirmation.

"Yes. They are usually too afraid to leave the capital because of politics, but leaving for a crusade means the Temple of Light itself will protect their clans in their absence. By itself, that means the members of most other clans would refuse an order to attack those clans. Those who do attack it would have to deal with the ire of all Devouts in the empire. Only the emperor is stronger than the combined forces of the Temple of Light and the Arcane Circle, but his influence is smaller. If a war between both actually happened, it's hard to say who would win."

Bymor interjected, "We would. I can't say anything about the other subjects, but I can discuss hypothetical scenarios. That annoying emperor has some hidden cards on his sleeve, but so do we, and I'm confident in ourselves."

"What's the likelihood of such a war happening?" Aaron asked.

"High," replied Bymor, to everyone's surprise. "When the goddess declared the Thenor Empire her territory, it had only two — let me repeat, two — Champions. Now, a dozen Masters walk its ground! Some even say a Grandmaster won't take long to appear! Yet the emperor complains all day that he doesn't have the authority he's entitled to, like the damn child he is. I was told his armies and inquisition even have simulated scenarios where they revolt against the goddess! I was working on collecting evidence on that to present it to the Imperial Court, but then I had to come for the crusade."

"Shouldn't you have stayed in the capital then? From what I was told, without you there, the forces of the goddess lost half their Masters."

He didn't reply, which Aaron understood as having to do with matters which the pantheon politics prevented them from telling him. "Very well. I shall take your words with only a tiny grain of salt. Which means I pissed off hundreds of millions of people more than I thought I would with my declarations. Not that I'm complaining." That greatly helped his purpose of toppling the table.

"What do you mean?" Selna asked.

"Haven't your heard? I declared war on the God of Darkness. If the people in this world are such fanatics, it wouldn't even surprise me if some Sage Devout is heading this way as we speak."

The former High Priestess was the one to reply with a mocking tone, "Oh, p**lease." She didn't believe his declaration. An instant later, she seemed surprised at having spoken and her face became ashen. "Sorry."

The former High Priestess was the expected face of a powerful figure of the Temple of Light. She was tall, thin, stern-looking, with bright blue eyes and long blond hair. Her white robe was pristine. Selna had said she had been demoted, but she still exhaled arrogance — even while afraid.

She was the only one of the three to speak until now who looked the part. Bymor, the Arcane Master, looked like a bodybuilder monk. Selna, the former leader of the local Arcane Circle, looked like a frail old woman who would drop dead anytime.

"No," Aaron said, "don't stop now. Why is such an idea ridiculous?"

She looked around for support, but everyone just avoided her glances. Except for Bymor, who looked one step away from punching her in the face.

"I... apologize? Herald?" She clearly wasn't used to saying she was sorry; it sounded more like a question. Even her haughty voice had trouble sounding apologetic.

"Just answer me," he replied with a firm voice.

"There are... consequences for speaking against the gods. Merely badmouthing one might be lethal. Declaring war against a god? Such a sinner would've been killed by hundreds of lightning bolts, their body turned to ashes to sate the ire of the heaves."

Aaron nodded. That explained the king's look back when Aaron had destroyed a Temple of Darkness and declared war in front of the man. "I did it, but no lightning bolt came. I also killed a Priestess whom the God of Darkness had possessed, but I'm fine. I expect him to be quite unhappy with me. I was half-joking about the Sage thing, but that sounds like an actual possibility now." He didn't say he had also destroyed part of the god's soul. That might make even them go against him if gods had such an exalted status in the world.

They stopped walking and looked at him as if he were an alien — which he was. A few seconds later, the guardian cleared his throat and said, "I don't even know how to react to that. You should be dead, yet here you are, safe and sound. Maybe only the apostle can explain it, but she told me nothing. On the bright side, it helps explain why she gave me the power to deal with matters of the temple as I see fit. If the Priests of Light heard you, they must be questioning their faith right now. I gotta visit the local deacon as soon as you give me some free time."

"It's that big of a deal, huh," Aaron said.

It didn't escape his notice that none of them knew about his declaration of war beforehand, which meant the news had also been suppressed. Something as big as this should've reached the very corners of the empire fast. He bet on the Goddess of Light being the responsible for the information blockade if the news was indeed making Priests question their faith.

He would have to think deeply about what to do with the power that had been given to him. He also had to reconsider his instance on the Goddess of Light. She might just be the best ally he had ever had, yet he had been annoyed at minor inconveniences she had caused him.

For now, he had already gotten everything he wanted from that conversation. The mystery of his herald title had been solved. Though there were some holes here in there in Selna's report, he could fill it with his experience. It was now time to deal with more practical matters.

"Bymor, I hereby appoint you the crusade's steward. You shall deal with mundane matters and step up in case something happens to me. So heed my first order: the priority shall always be to protect my clan, the crusade's actual war doesn't matter at all if that causes any of my people to die."

Everyone looked astonished at Aaron. Bymor said, "Herald, that's a little..."

"I'm a straightforward man, Bymor. I could make deals in the shadows to secure protection for my clan, but that would be a waste of time and effort that is better spent fighting the actual enemy. This very crusade only exists because the Timelords attacked my people, and I shall not have men and women risk their lives thinking otherwise." He was upfront about it, then adapted his speech a little to help them rationalize staying on his side. No pointing in wasting the power given to him. "That said, I also shall not pretend to know why the goddess made me her herald. Maybe, in her great wisdom, she knew I would attack the Timelords one day, and she had already deemed them best destroyed. Maybe she has other plans for me and this is but an initial crusade for the forces of light to sharpen their fangs for the real battle. I don't know. Either way, make no mistake, I hate the Timelords with my very soul, and I shall not rest before every single one of them is dealt with."

He released a hint of his death aura, and one of the Five Star cultivators tripped on his feet. The others looked visibly uncomfortable, except for the guardian. He looked speculatively at Aaron instead.

Aaron was taking a calculated risk in appointing Bymor as the crusade's steward. The guardian was the leader of the Arcane Circle, so he had more than enough experience to deal with everything. However, he was a stranger.

Thing is, he was a Master, someone too dangerous to be left out of sight. Keeping him close would make it easier to detect if he did something, the same logic that had made Aaron appoint Lana his maid. Also, putting the man in a place of power would make sure his power in the crusade came from Aaron, and not from any other title he had. Finally, having someone of power as his second-in-command would help Aaron's own orders to be taken more seriously.

He still didn't believe people would let him do whatever he wanted just because the goddess' rules demanded it. That was unbelievable enough when dealing with sapient beings in general, but humans? Humans breathed arrogance, jealousy, and ambition, the core components of annoying politics.

"Former High Priestess, I believe I didn't catch your name," he continued.

"I am Jil."

"No surname?"

"Thenor, if you must. I was abandoned in a Temple of Light as a newborn. The goddess has graced me with everything I have."

Aaron remembered that in the Thenor Empire, all orphans were surname Thenor. "Well, Jil, you're the best healer around. I promised not to conscript you into the crusade, and I shall keep my word. That said, I'm willing to pay however much you want to have you stationed here to care for wounded warriors."

Bymor's look toward her this time was even more murderous. He really didn't like her, or was very good at pretending so.

She kept her back straight, seemingly uncaring of his hatred. But as they walked, she unconsciously got a few inches further from him. "Herald, I see now how short-sighted I was when I asked for such a preposterous thing of you. It would be my pleasure to join the crusade."

Aaron expected something like that when he heard she had been demoted. "Good. I hereby appoint you the crusade's head healer. You shall also read the Ironblood clan's rulebook, but the most important thing for a healer to know is this: the chain of command matters. Not only for orders but also for healing. Those at the top have healing priority unless their injuries are minor. I care more for the life of a One Star Qi Manipulator I trusted enough to place in a position of power than I do about a Champion whose only purpose is to kill enemies in battle like a common soldier."

He turned to the Champion Water Elementalist. He was a short, thin man wearing the black robe of the Arcane Circle. "Speaking of which, I also didn't get your identity, good sir."

"I am Lun Thenor, one of the two Champions of the Greenlake clan, sent here to honor the call to arms issued by the Herald of Light." He bowed.

"You heard what I said. We're here to kill Timelords, but not because the goddess asked it of me. Feel free to leave if you want. The same holds for the rest of you," Aaron told everyone.

Lun bowed again. "I'll also be sincere with you then, herald. I just want to kill Mouth-Men. My family has a history with them."

Aaron nodded. An orphan who hated old enemies of the empire; it didn't take imagination to figure out what had likely happened. "Very well. You'll be my bodyguard for the time being." He was too strong to be left alone too, but not strong or known enough to be given a specific job. Aaron would figure something later. "As for the others, I'm sure the steward will find some roles for you to fulfill. Speaking of which—"

Before he could continue, he felt a Champion Devout of Darkness clad in a hooded black robe enter his active perception's range, at the top of one of the tallest buildings around. The female had a straight line of sight toward him, was looking at him with sheer hatred, as was holding a metal ball the size of an apple in her open hand, as if offering it to Aaron.

It was a magical item that held a particle of Divine Energy within.

She activated it at once, and he felt the particle turn into a skill that shot toward him at extreme speed.