SHK CH 583 (Patreon)

God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning and so went the second day.

With the sound of the second trumpet, something described as "a great mountain burning with fire" plunges into the sea and turns a third of the ocean to blood. Soon after, a third of all sea life and a third of all ships will be destroyed.

Words of a scripture

A new day came for Sol as he entered the Church. The world may have been in war but this place was still one of the few oases for him as he knew that he could rest in all certainty that he would have no one bothering him.

In such a moment where everything new was nothing more than a source of headache, it was important to know that he could come here.

Sadly, his goal this time was not to rest or even to enjoy a moment with Camelia. No. He was here for something much more important.

Reaching the small chapel, Sol stopped. He did not have to wait for long as a gentle voice came from the other side,

“You know you can enter at any time right? Not like I can stop you from doing so.” Aurora’s voice was as beautiful as she was. It had a clear tenderness showing her age but at the same time a certain maturity that went beyond the experience she should have.

“I know that you cannot stop me. But I believe that one should be polite to his allies.” He chuckled.

Entering the chapel, Sol was reminded of the first time he discussed with Aurorar in this place and how it changed everything. Sol knew that one of the reasons he had managed to get the goddesses off his back was Luxuria. Without her, the so-called rules meant absolutely nothing and Invidia would not hesitate to attack.

But here down in the mortal world, the one who had been most essential to his plan was none other than her.

Aurora Castitas. A woman full of mysteries and power that defied all understanding. Power so high that she could even hide from the goddesses without any fear and could hide even more people.

This power alone, while not much usage in combat, was such a game changer that Sol could only have doubts about what kind of person this woman might have been in her past life.

At first, he thought she might have been a false god.

Only such things would make sense. False gods were all entities who, for all purpose and intent were equal and sometimes, superior to the goddesses themselves. But they all lacked something and that something stopped them from taking the final step.

The fact that a false god would die and reincarnate was not impossible. Very unlikely, sure but definitely not impossible. Sekhmet was the proof of this as while she had not reached the level of False god she definitely was a very powerful demigod.

Now though…Sol realized that he had been ignoring one other possibility. One so outlandish that he had not even thought it was possible.

“Aurora…Can I count on you for the war?”

Aurora showed a puzzled expression. “Have I not shown enough by now? Or were all my efforts for naught?”

“You did and I am thankful for your work. But I believe that soon. Something will happen and by then you will have to make a choice. Will you stand with me or against me? I do not know the answer to this question.”

Sol advanced toward her. His gait was slow but menacing and the world seemed to change even as he walked, “The cold rational side of me is telling me that I should kill you now. That I am no different than my father in letting someone who can obviously stab me in the back walk so free and that I may regret it if I do not end you now.”

His hand approached her throat as if it was ready to crush it at any moment.

“Yet you do not crush my throat. What is stopping you?”

Despite having his hand around her neck and knowing full well that Sol could kill her in a flash, Aurora showed no fear, only interest and curiosity.

Slowly taking his hand away, Sol shook his head, “Why? I do not know myself. I cannot answer this question. Is it guilt? Gratitude? The false belief that I am charismatic enough to change a possible enemy into an ally?”

She raised an eyebrow, “Do you not believe in the restriction you put on me?”

“I do believe in them but not so much that I will let my guard down. You are a woman who can fool even the gods and you are an entity so old I am sure my current experience is nothing but a grain of dust compared to yours. It would be nothing but hubris on my part to think I can completely control you through threat alone.”

Sol was not naive. Against powerhouse, threats could only go so far. There was a limit to what he could go and force her to do and Sol knew that when shit truly hit the fan, having a willing ally would be far better than an unwilling one.

This was one of the reasons why he had changed his approach to Echidna. Threatening someone as mentally unstable as her could only be a temporary solution. Only by giving her what she wished for was she sure that she would give 120% for what he needed her to do.

“So. What do you propose?”

“I thought deeply about this. One of my ideas was to make you my woman but for some reason, this idea seemed very repulsive to me, and from your current expression it seems like you feel the same.” He smiled at the small expression of disgust she showed.

It should have bothered him more but Sol found that he simply did not care. What he cared about was knowing if the woman with the greatest assassin-type skill he knew would betray him.

“I decided to make things simple. Once this war ends. You can choose for yourself. Leave Lustburg or stay. If you leave, I will consider my debt to you paid by not going after your life. Of course, I will keep my restraints on you but I will ask nothing of you and you can do anything you want. Of course, if you come later as an enemy I will be without pity on the other hand. Once this war ends, you can stay. The restraints will be weakened and I will consider you as one of my allies in the truest sense. But you will have to show your soul to Isis and tell me the truth about everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything. Who you are. What you are. Where you come from and most importantly…If there are more who are like you and where they might be.”

Sol observed Aurora as he uttered those words but her expression did not even twitch at those words. One might have been fooled by this but Sol could feel how her aura wavered for a short moment and thanks to that, he knew that he had hit bullseyes.

“Why make things so complicated?” Aurora sighed and massaged her forehead.

“I wish to give you a chance. What I am doing is honestly stupid and reckless and I might even regret it in the future. But I feel like I would regret more not giving you this chance.”

When he finished, Sol turned and started walking away. A bitter smile formed on his face. Lilith once decided that he should be more intimate with women because she wished for him to learn how to not fall for their tricks so that he would not end like his father.

But here he was making contracts with crazy or mysterious women who could backstab him at any moment.

He wondered what Lilith would think if she learned about this. Even if she was now more carefree than ever, this would be more than enough for her to become very angry.

Well, I will cross that bridge when necessary.

She would perhaps understand since letting Aurora alive wasn’t just because of his feelings.

His eyes became cold as he remembered Lucifer’s prophecy.

“The End of the world is coming. A new Era is approaching. Doomsday will soon be upon us and at the end of all of this, ‘They’ will finally arrive.”

“He did not know who ‘They’ were but what he did know was that he needed to be ready to welcome them. Whether they were enemies or allies.