Paladin 4: Chapter 23 (Patreon)

[Darren, you are not going up that staircase alone!] Cassandra said the moment he told her of their discovery through their telepathic bond.

Darren wondered why Cassandra’s first thought when he told her about a pathway to another dimension filled with otherworldly entities was worry that he’d jump in to fight them.

Granted, he’d done that a few times, but he was a married man now. He had to be a little safer about these things.

[I’m not going to run up the staircase,] Darren promised. [Not yet, at any rate.]

Running up this staircase, in particular, would be foolish. If this was where the Order of the Rod went, odds were some of them would still be nearby when he made it there. And worse, some of Kalaziel’s subordinates would be there too.

“Let’s return to the city,” Darren said.

Kalaziel had taken his assets to the heavens instead of engaging him in a conflict here on the surface. That explained why conquering the Sacred Seas proved so easy. Kalaziel had no intention of fighting for it in the first place.

But ignoring the mortal realm could only mean that something even more important was happening. Something was going on in the heavens, and Darren had to know what.

He sent a message to Asuriel, telling her to turn over command of her army to one of her subordinates. At this point, they were engaged in more clean up than war. Darren needed her at his side, keeping track of what was going on in the heavens. Ashe had proven somewhat adept at that, though she was out of practice and struggled with the nuance Asuriel could provide.

If the two of them working together couldn’t dig anything up, then Darren could do only one thing. He’d have to go to the heavens again and look for himself.

But for now, they returned to the capital of Whiteguard. There was nothing else to do here. There was still so much work to be done in the mortal realm and many preparations to make. He’d conquered his way through the Seven Hells with an army at his back. And now he’d conquered the Sacred Seas as well. How much harder would it be to lead an army into heaven?

***

Over the next week, Darren solidified his control over Whiteguard and integrated it with the rest of the Sacred Seas. During this time of trouble and strife, he provided order and safety. He could ease off when the remaining demons were dealt with, and the threat from the heavens was no more. But for now, the realm needed a ruler with an iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove, at least for Whiteguard and Eastwood.

Limedeep was safe enough now that he could leave the city and its surrounding towns to grow at its own pace uninterrupted by the affairs of its king beyond the need to call on assets there to aid the more troubled regions.

He’d stopped giving away money for free to the locals there since the amount of silver and gold in the city had driven prices uncomfortably high. It would be awhile before that coin made its way out of the city and restored balance to the region.

But all those issues of the day-to-day management would fall to Thalia and Cassandra. They held little interest to Darren, nor did he even think he would be good at them if forced. His management skills were largely limited to throwing the people giving Cassandra and Thalia problems out of windows.

So instead, he stayed in Whiteguard, acting as a symbol of authority and unquestionable power while his subordinates restored order. The cities were still empty, but many of the village craftsmen had moved into the empty towns so they could service all the villages in the area instead of just their home. They were picking up quite a few new apprentices as well since, with the towns virtually empty, farmers were realizing they’d have an abundance of food.

It would be at least a generation or two before Whiteguard returned to normal. They were fortunate that their population had been so high before because now, with so many dead, they were roughly on par with the density of the Blackwind Empire. But in the meantime, they’d have no shortage of food exports and wouldn’t need to fear invasion because they were already under the rule of the most powerful man in the Sacred Seas.

Asuriel arrived in Whiteguard. Their reunion involved much moaning, which was good because it inoculated the palace staff about what they’d have to put up with when Cassandra arrived, only on a much greater level.

After being reunited, Darren set Asuriel and Ashe up in one of the palace chambers and had the two of them browsing their interfaces day and night to figure out what was happening.

“Hmm... they’re covering this up pretty well. But having more than a million people sacrifice themselves and pour their souls into the heavens is something that you just can’t cover up.” Asuriel shared an image with Darren’s sigil. The image moved, and a male seraph with bloodshot eyes and a hood on his head stood in front of a corkboard, speaking manically as he traced threads from an overhead map of Whiteguard all the way back to a portrait of Kalaziel.

“Information is spreading through unofficial news networks. Right now, they’re being written off as quacks, but they’re gaining traction faster than they can be shut down,” Asuriel explained.

Ashe huffed. “Back in my day, there were investigative journalists eager to dive into a story like this.”

“Perhaps we should expose them?” Darren suggested. If no one was doing the job right, he usually assumed it was time to do it himself.

“That... could work. I actually recorded a lot of what I saw walking through Whiteguard,” Asuriel said.

“And I recorded much of what I saw by Darren’s side,” Ashe added.

Talk of recordings and data storage went a bit over Darren’s head, so he left the ladies to their own devices while he hunted down Callum.

The two of them sparred a bit. Darren had to hold back, as usual, but Callum was stronger than ever.

Darren probably would have been able to defend against him without issue if they were both in the fourth order, but even he had to admit he would have found it impossible to defeat Callum if the latter was intent on running away.

Callum was just too skilled at flying and fighting in the air. He’d have been no match for the Darren of old while on the ground, but so long as they fought in the air, Callum fought like he was born with wings.

“You’re really focusing hard on aerial combat, huh?” Callum chuckled as the two of them drifted to the ground after a face-paced fight in the air.

“Seraph fight in the air,” Darren explained. “I need to beat them in the air.”

Callum nodded in understanding. “I suppose that makes sense. For me, I’m just focused on making sure I can stay alive in a fight against a superior opponent. Letting you chase me around has helped me develop a few new tricks.”

Darren had indeed seen Callum’s new tricks. Lately, he’d been deactivating his wings and plummeting head first toward the ground before catching himself at the last moment in a sweeping high-speed turn that sent him weaving through trees and over rocks.

The maneuver was extremely difficult to follow, and Darren could imagine that during a pitched battle, any enemy tailing him would quickly lose sight of him, and he’d make a clean getaway. It was a trick Darren planned to practice himself eventually.

They had another objective while they flew and sparred, though. Darren was looking for apertures leading to the heavens, just like the one he’d found when he first met Asuriel. When he found one, he’d secure a path to the heavens.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he found one.

The first thing he did after spotting it marked its location and try to stabilize the rift. The Protectors in the heavens would try to close it if they found it, so he shrunk it down until it was no larger than a pin prick. He could enlarge it again when he needed it, but for now, this would make it difficult to detect.

His control over Divine Aura was far greater than it had been the last time he’d run into one of these. The rift between the mortal realm and this higher dimension made more sense to him now. It was like a ragged wound torn in the fabric of reality, and with a bit of effort, it could be patched over and healed. That would happen naturally over time, or it could be accelerated from either side by stitching the hole back together with Divine Aura.

After shrinking it down, Darren did the opposite. He built a ring of Divine Aura around the rim of the opening to keep it from closing. Once he had an entrance to the Seventh Heaven that was both stabilized and nearly undetectable, he returned to the palace.

By now, Cassandra and Sasha had arrived, and even Thalia was making a diplomatic trip to Whiteguard.

“I don’t think a diplomatic trip between the Blackwind Empire and Whiteguard has ever been quite so intimate before,” Thalia said as she lay naked in the royal bed chambers.

“Relations are better than ever,” Darren said as he flopped down next to her after several hours of making sure everyone in the castle knew exactly how close Whiteguard and the Blackwind Empire were, now that the Blackwind Emperor and the king of Whiteguard were one and the same. Both countries still operated as independent entities, much like the council of Limedeep and the Blackwind Empire. But all of them were under the rule of the same man.

Normally such an arrangement would make the Sacred Seas into a new empire under Darren, but one nation under his control was already an empire. He had several suggestions from the people hitting his ears already. Some were calling him the King of Kings, others called him the Supreme Sovereign of the Sacred Seas, and still others called him the Divine Ruler.

All were flattering, but he wasn’t sure he’d like to be known as the living god of the Sacred Seas. Still, he couldn’t deny the new title was very good for his Hollowed Idol skill, and he could feel it enhancing his physical abilities across the board. People worshiped him for having united the Sacred Seas, which was a feat no mortal had ever done before.

His countless bodies had created hundreds of legends about him that spanned the entire realm. Many had interacted with him personally and witnessed his powers for themselves. The fact that he could restore health and youth to the old and dying and resurrect the dead probably didn’t hurt his reputation either, according to Thalia.

“I’m no divine being,” Darren said.

Thalia snuggled against him. “Of course not, dear. I’ve met enough seraph to know that they can’t possibly compare to the one and only Darren Heavengrace.”

With his women and companions gathered, Darren realized he had an announcement to make. He gathered them all in Whiteguard’s palace and told them of his plan.

“The fight is not over,” Darren explained. “The Order of the Rod and Kalaziel have fled, but they are not beaten. I fear they are not done with us though.”

“You think they’re regrouping?” Sasha asked.

“Or worse...” Morgana shook her head grimly.

Cassandra looked nervous. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Morgana is right. If Kalaziel thought it wise to pull all his forces into the heavens, it probably meant he needed them for something big. According to what we know, he’s trying to take over the heavens completely. Perhaps he thinks that once that is done, he’ll be able to easily return and reconquer the mortal world for his followers, ensuring a steady supply of human souls to the heavens forever more.”

Darren’s thoughts had run along the same course, and he ran his fingers through Cassandra’s hair affectionately. “You’re right, Cassandra. Which is why I must go.”

“You’ll leave behind your other fifth-order body, right?” Cassandra asked.

Darren nodded. “Yes, but I cannot manage much with it.”

Darren would keep his spare body for backup, but he couldn’t control it while he was busy in the heavens. It would, however allow him to stay in contact and show his face in the mortal realm. With any luck, Kalaziel wouldn’t even realize he was in the heavens. The Prime Saint was no doubt still monitoring the mortal world hoping he would know the moment Darren made his move. But with multiple bodies, Darren could lull him into a false sense of security.

“Okay...” Cassandra placed a hand on his chest. “It’ll be tough to have you so close and yet at the same time so far away. But... if this is what you think you need to do, then I trust you.”

“We all do,” Sasha nodded. “If you can secure some intelligence for us, and maybe even a beachhead, we’ll be much better equipped to help you when the time comes. Though...” She placed one of her hands in Darren’s, reaching up to meet his gaze. “Promise me you will call for us when you need us. I know you must face battles that we can’t hope to participate in, but everyone has been training so hard just to be useful to you. We battled our way through the Seven Hells in preparation for this. If you call on us to invade the heavens, we’ll be ready to answer.”

Darren pulled Sasha into a tight embrace. “I understand. I will call the moment I need you.”

And so Darren shared a tearful goodbye with all his companions. But he could not allow Kalaziel to outmaneuver him again. It was time to take his fight to the heavens.

“Asuriel, Ashe, I’ll be counting on your both.” Darren nodded to his two companions for this journey. The two of them knew the heavens like no one else in his group, and he had no hope of infiltrating the society of the seraphim without their help.

“You can count on us!” Asuriel threw Darren a salute.

“And we’re counting on your two to keep him out of trouble,” Thalia said to the two of them.

“You can count on me!” Ashe smiled back at her.

“Yes, we’ll be counting on you, especially for that, Ashe,” Sasha smiled.

Asuriel pouted. “Bah. Trouble, shmubble. Just wait. We’re going to kick Kalaziel’s ass and be back in time for dinner!”

And with that, the three of them set off for the aperture to the heavens.

<Note>

What's a good title for Darren as ruler of all the Sacred Seas?