Chapter 89: From The Shadows Stalk The Wretched

What was the oasis? It was a large piece of land, the holy land, a territory brimming with benefits. It was even said that one could not be considered an emperor until they have claimed a piece of one of the 12 holy lands. They were areas of abundant magical reserves and wondrous magical elements that even gods coveted.

Onias and Siion especially coveted it and although Onias was wary of entering, he still had his plans to conquer it. Scitus's sudden arrival was most beneficial to those gods and he was likewise an eyesore to Miar who wanted nothing more than to crush Scitus. Her thoughts weren't entirely selfish in nature, she feared that the other greater gods would use him as a way to conquer the land, after all, Scitus was the first god to lay claim to the Oasis and not have it rot away into sand.

"you majesty." Miar sat upon her throne with a pensive look which would cause even the most brutal a men to submit to her. She exuded a majesty that was difficult to fathom without first experiencing it. her gaze shifted into focus as her eyes turned to the man who stood before her, a man of a similar radiant elegance to her but nowhere near as profound." I fear armies among Siion's and Onias's ranks has begun to move as well." Her eyes furrowed however even in her righteous anger, her fine porcelain skin remained beautiful and pure. He clenched her fists tightly causing the air around them to momentarily ripple as even the fabric of space feared her wrath.

"Onias. He hasn't moved in decades. His actions have always been extremely careful and meticulous." Miar quietly remembered all those tricks Onias has played on others. it wasn't just herself, he even tricked his progenitor, the one who granted him his status as a god. He betrayed him in his time of greatest need and then took hold of his nation. Her only ally was Ansil, however, he was incredibly passive, most of his strength was only because of the respect many lesser gods showed him.

"Send a letter to Minvaral. He will assist me here, he still owes me after sending me that spy." The spy she spoke of was, of course, the very same one which convinced her to eradicate her dark elf population. The world saw it as a simple case of madness but the web of lies that caused that dark day went far deeper than any of them could ever imagine. Onias was more terrifying than any of the other gods on the continent understood, Only Miar and Sia knew how wicked his methods could be. Which brought up the question on both Sia's and Miar's mind, "What terrible thing lies on that continent that he is so fearful of even entering?"

The question loomed over Miar like a mountain. It could have well been a ruse but even the mention of the subject would stir something in Onias that was impossible to ignore. In his eyes, Miar still saw greed, he still coveted the holy land, however, something held him back from pushing forward as he did so many years ago. But now that ever-patient man had moved his armies, he couldn't be allowed to enter holy land, even more than Siion, Onias could not be allowed to possess it, Miar was certain of that.

"What should it say." The white armored servant asked. "prevent Onias from progressing, stop Siion if you can, but you must absolutely stop Onias from entering the holy land. "

Her judgment wasn’t far off. Both gods were quickly moving their armies.

At the center of Golden City, the most magnificent city in Gora, Siion's nation, sat a golden castle. That golden castle shined brilliantly beneath the golden sun, it was beautiful and majestic that most would not think that it was built atop blood. Thousands of slaves were forced to work and drained of their life mana, for the singular purpose to convert rock to gold. During those times, Siion didn't want the world to know that he was building with simple stone and then turning it to gold, and so he first transmuted the stone from several stone mines located some distance from its intended destination. The trail from the gold mines to the castle was later known as the Trail of Golden Tears. However, that name was only said in quieted whispers, behind closed doors, only when there was a great celebration, and only when it was certain their god was preoccupied.

And thus, was the tale of the Golden City, known to those weak and pathetic slaves as The city built on Blood. But who of them could shout and wail to the many who entered, that it was a tainted city. The visitors reproached their cries, all they saw was a magnificent city in which all things were constructed from gold or silver, a city of majesty.

Within that golden castle, in one of the centermost rooms, was a throne built of God stone, a magnificent material formed only when a golden diamond alloy, a material which was magically united by a powerful alchemist and mage-smith, was dipped in a pool of liquid mana where it would remain for ten years until it transformed into god stone: the material would be more durable than adamantium, more flexible than a spider's web, and more attuned to magic than Mana stones. The process and mana required to form the mana pool alone required more mana than ordinary lesser gods possessed, and it was an extravagance that many gods cherished dearly. However, Siion was no fool, he eliminated the homeless, and crippled or orphaned children of his nation and sucked them dry of their mana and even their life mana until they were nothing but husks of dry mummified flesh, only in that way could he avoid angering the general populace and with those detestable methods he prevented large and costly uprisings and even managed to remove a "burden" off the streets of major cities.

Upon that throne sat a corpulent man whose hideous figure was inconsistent with his holy status. His figure was reminiscent of monsters imagined in the most terrible nightmares of children; when gazing upon him, no one would believe that he was once the handsome man that had won the hearts of an entire nation and won the love of the dragoness Terra, those many years ago. His form was an abhorrence that even he detested with delirious fever, but it was the price he paid for his ambition. That thing he stole from her wasn't so simple, and it had cursed him and to that very day, there was no cure, or spell that could break the hatred of that curse place upon him; only when he entered the god's realm, could he gain an ounce of respite. Even so, he was unwilling to part from that which he had stolen, it was the centerpiece of his empire, the very fabric that transformed him from a lowly mortal, into a powerful god that ruled over millions of people, he would never surrender such a magnificent power, no matter the cost.

And that cost was a horrible, unending hunger and a disfigured form that traumatized those of weaker will.

There he sat, upon his thrown, as his greasy folds jiggled and spread across his god stone throne. "Do you have any idea what she's done to me!!!" A-sun stood before him shouting in nearly incoherent sentences as the curse placed upon him slowly burned him inside. His punishment was simple, laughable in comparison to Siion's punishment, A-sun was cursed with impotence; a supposed message to Siion himself. The message was amusing to him, "what foolish girl, I don't recall forcing myself upon her at any point in my life, of that I am proud." His mind wandered towards those days where he held her close in the darkest nights, he was fond of those innocent days, in a strangely pure and honest way. But he did what he had to, otherwise, he would still be a pathetic mortal, whose life would be at the hands of some barbaric king.

"Enough!!!" Siion's voice boomed through every room in that golden castle; A-sun immediately complied. "Why don't we just kill her?" A man beside A-sun spoke. The man had intelligent eyes and his demeanor and form of dress, a black royal robe, further cemented the idea in people's minds, this man was a strategist. Siion turned his engorged eyes sideways, the temperature in the room fell several degrees as if the man had unwittingly touched a reverse scale. "forgive me, your majesty, ignore that suggestion." The black robe was quick to back down. The other five in attendance, even the ordinarily dense A-sun, made a note to never bring that subject up again.

"More importantly, I want you, Mek-dih, to organize a small army and head into the holy land. While Scitus is occupied with Mern, we'll send an army to kill his population. The other gods will complain, but in the end, he is but a god with no allies. At worst, Miar will start a war with us, but her nation isn't unified as it was once long ago, Onias made sure of that, that clever bastard." Siion's eyes suddenly flashed as his gaze turned to his subordinates, the six strongest beings in his nation, three of which had the ranking of hero. The six men felt a chill go down their spines, his gaze told them that they were nothing more than bugs to him. "I'm sure you all understand what betrayal entails."

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!!" the six men stood up straight and shouted in unison.

"Go Mek-dih, Leave no one alive." The black-robed man nodded before departing.

As these two gods formed their plans and moved their armies, Onias was planning something far more devious than those two could have possibly anticipated.

“The time is ripe. It’s time for you to return Sia…”