When the coin guardian had said that the Star had a temple, Dallion expected it to be a much smaller version of the pyramid he had seen in the fallen south. That wasn’t remotely the case. For one thing the temple was more a temple complex containing two dozen buildings. Each building was large enough to hold at least a hundred people. The interesting part was that the buildings were extremely modern, futuristic even: rectangles with sharp edges and multiple floors, made exclusively of steel and black glass. All that was missing were a few neon lights and one would think this to be a cyberpunk fantasy come true. And in the middle of all that stood the temple itself—an inverted triangular pyramid positioned on the top of a mound of stairs. It took someone with a lot of power to construct something of the sort in this world, and no architectural taste whatsoever.

Two massive chainlings stood guard in front of the Star’s pyramid, each larger than the buildings themselves. In many ways, they reminded Dallion of the one he’d hunted years ago, only a lot bigger.

“Get to your buildings,” the leader of Dallion’s group ordered. “Enjoy the space while it lasts.”

Dallion paused, uncertain where to go. Within moments, he found that he wasn’t the only one. While the ordinary cultists hurried to the nearest building, the leader of the group and the other member with disfocus remained put.

“Can’t stand the trash,” the one with disfocus said. “Can’t decide worth crap on their own, but still expect to get close to the steps.”

“They’re necessary,” the leader said.

“For now,” Dallion added, doing his best to maintain his cover. “First time I’ve seen so many get called.”

It was a big risk being so straightforward, although everything considered it was better than the alternatives. Being assertive would let the others drop their guard a bit, and in the event he was found out, getting away from the edge of the complex was far easier than from within it.

“That’s because they haven’t.” The leader slid on her own disfocus ring. The lines of her face lost focus, as if someone were looking at an image on the surface of a rippling lake. “Something big’s going down. Rumor is that the Star got hurt bad. It’s possible he’ll appoint a proxy.”

“A proxy?” the other disfocused asked. “That explains the chainlings. Who’re the candidates?”

“It’s just a rumor. Might be to get our marching orders.”

“Or purged,” Dallion added. He had no idea what made him say that, but it somehow felt right.

“Aren’t you an optimist,” the leader said. Possibly she was making an attempt to appear dismissive, but her body had tensed up just enough for Dallion to notice. “Either way, we’ll find out soon enough. See you in the temple.” She strode off. A few moments later Dallion and the other cultists did as well.

As they walked, more groups appeared. The vast majority were without disfocus, though now and again, Dallion would spot someone who was. Based on the general behavior, he was starting to get an idea of the local hierarchy. From what he could tell, the cultists were divided into three groups. There were the fodder—which were little more than chainlings in the making—the elite, and what could only be described as the clerics. At present, Dallion had only glimpsed a few of them, but they were memorable, with their clothes made entirely of ever-shifting void matter. Unlike the rest, they freely went up and down the stairs leading to the temple, suggesting they were closer to the Star than anyone else.

Maybe taking down the Star won’t be as easy as you thought, Nil said. There seem to be a bit more cultists than expected.

You think? If there were a hundred, Dallion felt confident enough to take them on, but looking around, he wouldn’t be able to do much, even with the element of surprise on his side.

The first thing Dallion would have to deal with were the chainlings. At his present level, the creatures weren’t going to be a terribly big threat. The void matter, though, was going to provide the Star with a tremendous advantage. The clerics were next on the list, not to mention he had no idea whether the pyramid or the buildings were created of the same material or not. Just because they appeared to be made of class didn’t mean a thing.

There were a total of twenty-four buildings surrounding the pyramid. Four were placed almost in immediate vicinity, with the rest spread further out. Suspecting that the ones closest were reserved for the clerics, Dallion made his way to the second row.

When he got there, it turned out that he had been mistaken. Fortunately for him, the disfocus ring he was wearing made everyone straighten up, ending all chatter. Clearly, they saw Dallion as a superior.

What the hell did you give me, general? Dallion wondered.

Suddenly, the darkness rose from all sides of the temple complex, plunging it into the void. When it trickled away moments later, Dallion found that the background had completely changed. Now in addition to the massive trees, there were a couple of mountains as well.

Where are we? Dallion asked within his realm.

East, Aether replied first. Further east.

How far east?

Not too much, but enough to get a breather from the Order. I must have hurt him quite a lot. The clerics aren’t usually this aggressive.

From what Dallionhad seen, that wasn’t the case. War clerics had been sighted roaming the province and beyond even before the start of the poison plague. At the time, Dallion had wondered what they were up to. Was it possible they were preparing to move against the Star himself? As organizations went, they were the only one that had remained active since the previous era.

“I’ll never get used to that,” one of the cultists whispered.

“You.” Dallion pointed at the unfortunate man. “Anything you wish to say?”

“No…” the man trembled. “It’s just that there hasn’t been such a guardian since—”

“Get back to your building.” Dallion cut him short. “All of you.”

The group rushed to follow the order. Several passing by cultists gave Dallion a strange glance, but said nothing.

Not wishing to tempt fate, Dallion turned around and made his way to the innermost row of buildings. Those were a lot emptier. Choosing an entrance at random, Dallion went inside. The floors were made entirely of void matter. The corridor and even the doors resembled those of an office building. All that was lacking were the electronics. Apparently, none of the cultists were otherworlders.

The room itself had no furniture whatsoever. Based on how adept the Star was in manipulating void batter, it was probably the responsibility of the elite cultists to create their own furniture using the floor itself.

Any idea where I am, Lux? Dallion asked.

Sorry, boss, the firebird chirped sadly. No idea since you vanished.

I know where you are, Aether quickly said.

Will you tell him?

Why not? You can’t win against the star with just him. He’ll help to deal with the small fries.

“So, confident,” Dallion whispered.

“Who is?” a distorted voice asked.

Every fiber in Dallion’s body screamed for him to draw his harpsisword and attack the source of the voice. It was through sheer force of will that he kept himself from doing so, turning around instead. A cultist cleric was standing at the room’s threshold, the void matter covering him like a tunic.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dallion said, making himself sound as arrogant as possible. “Is it true that a proxy will be chosen?”

“Is that why you came into my room?” The cultist stepped inside. “No, it isn’t true. The Star has a proclamation to make. You’ll find out when the rest do.”

“Does that mean that you know already?”

The question made the cultist step in. There was no hesitation, just overwhelming power.

So, that’s a top cultist, Dallion thought. There was no telling what level he was, but fighting him wouldn’t be a walk in the park, especially here.

Spikes shot up from the floor, stopping an inch from Dallion’s face.

“Don’t piss me off, newbie. You might be a big shot out there, but here you’re just another puppet.”

A chill ran down Dallion’s spine.

He’s no idea who you are. Don’t worry, Aether said. Only the Star knows everyone. He probably thinks you’re a noble’s relation. They usually hide their faces.

“If I were another puppet, you wouldn’t talk to me this way.” Dallion took a step forward. The spikes adjusted so as not to touch his skin. “Nice room, by the way. Lacks character, but has everything else.”

At every step, Dallion was prepared to get into a fight. Fortunately, no such thing happened. The moment Dallion stepped out of the room, the void matter from the floor rose up, blocking out the doorway entirely. And just in case there was any doubt, more spikes emerged from the dark surface. That served as a perfect excuse for Dallion to get out of the building and explore the temple complex grounds.

For hours, more groups would appear. Watching them made Dallion think of cracklings slowly amassing until there were enough of them to cause an entire item to shatter. Something big was in the words, though there was no telling what. According to the aetherbird, it was all a lie to get as many cultists here to protect the Star from future attacks. Nil, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the Star might make an attempt on Linatol itself. If the countess really was involved, having the capital of her enemy suddenly vanish was all she needed to claim the title of Archduke. On the other hand, if the Star was about to betray her, he might try and go for Nerosal instead. Either way, one thing was clear—Dallion’s initial plan to sneak to the Star wouldn’t work.

For the four hours he had been here, only clerics had entered and left the inverted pyramid. No one else was allowed to approach the stairs, let alone the temple itself.

You can always leave things to me, Aether reminded. As soon as you release me, I’ll scorch the Star and his “temple” to the ground. We’re away from the inhabited world, so no one will suffer, only those who deserve it. Think about it.

The offers were getting harder to ignore. The way things were going, maybe it was better to just go for it and hope for the worst. It was the simplest solution, and there was no guarantee that the outcome would be as bad as the prophecy said. That was the bad thing about prophecies, there was always too much room for interpretation.

Lux, how fast can you get here?

In a flash, boss! Do you want me to go?

Not yet. Dallion made his way towards the edge of the complex. I need to take care of something first. Just be ready to attack directly. There are two chainlings. I want you to kill one of them.

Absolutely, boss!

Dallion glanced over his shoulder. He could easily do a point attack and kill the other chainling. With some effort, he could also aim at the pyramid behind. Even if the structure was undoubtedly reinforced, a spark infused point attack was going to purge off some void matter, making it vulnerable for subsequent attacks.

What do you think, Harp? Dallion tapped the weapon hidden beneath his clothes. Ready to do all out?

A faint melody in Dallion’s realm suggested the nymph was.

Good. Just wait a bit longer.

This isn’t a realm, dear boy, Nil interrupted. I don’t doubt your recklessness, but echoes won’t work here. You’ll be along against hundreds, maybe thousands.

What makes you think I’ll be alone? Dallion allowed himself a slight smile.