Deus Necros

Titania’s eyes returned to the veil across her body. ”Your theory remains a theory, Ludwig. A compelling one, and an infuriatingly plausible one, but still a theory. I know the gods have been silent. I know Clementine has imprisoned me and allowed things I cannot name without wanting to pull this building apart from beneath itself. But if I am to act against the recognized head of the Sacrosanctum, even indirectly, I need more than the conclusion of a man who walked in from the catacombs covered in blood.”

”That is fair,” Ludwig said. ”Though the blood was very deserved.”

”It usually is with you.”

Before Ludwig could answer, the lantern at his side jerked violently.

The motion was sharp enough that his hand immediately fell over it. The Soul Letting Lantern had reacted with anger upon finding the sealed corpses, and it had trembled again near the veil over Titania, but this was different. The dark flame within the lantern surged upward and pressed against the glass as if it were reaching for something far beyond the catacombs. Shadows spread along the floor in a sudden circle around Ludwig’s boots, then contracted into the lantern again.

A pressure descended into the room.

Titania’s eyes widened by the smallest amount. Misty took a protective step toward the bed, lifting the anchor enough that its lower edge scraped against the floor. Redd tensed at Ludwig’s side. Kaiser, whose borrowed and carefully veiled body still appeared to everyone but Ludwig as that of a pale young nobleman, turned toward the lantern with an attentiveness that was far too composed for a normal man encountering divine interference.

”Never expected him to act... This... openly.” Kaiser said.

A notification appeared before Ludwig.

[Divine Accord Established.]

[Necros has received petition from the Four Divine Patrons of the Holy Order.]

[As an active Apostle capable of intervening within the sealed domain, you have been selected as intermediary and acting agent.]

[The God of Prosperity conveys the following message to Titania, Holy Saintess of the Order:]

[Your Divine Patrons have not abandoned you.]

[Your Divine Patrons are enraged by the corruption festering within the Sacrosanctum and by the severance of their revelations from their chosen Saintess.]

[Their request is simple: Prevent the premature summoning of the Demon King.]

[Complete this objective alongside Titania.]

[Reward: Half a Liter of Pure Nephilium.]

[This accord is offered through Necros and does not alter your obligations under Existence Quest IV.]

Ludwig read the notification once.

Then a second time.

The reward stood out immediately. Half a liter of pure Nephilium was not some ceremonial gift or expensive material to sell later. The purified blood he had previously absorbed had already changed the quality of his body. A reward of this amount could reinforce the body again, expand what it was capable of containing. And allow him to break past his current Level Limit.

It was an outrageously valuable payment.

Which made the omission all the worse.

Titania had been watching his face while the lantern’s flame settled. ”Something happened,” she said. ”I felt the boundary around me react. Not break, but react.”

Ludwig glanced toward her, then toward the notification once more. ”Your gods have found a very roundabout way to finally speak to you.”

Misty took an involuntary step forward. ”They answered?”

”Through Necros,” Ludwig said. ”Apparently, when someone shuts a door in their faces, they need a god with an apostle already standing inside the room to carry the message.”

Titania went completely still.

No rage flared from her this time. No chain brightened. The anger remained, but it was displaced for a moment by something older and far more personal. Ludwig did not know whether it was relief, wounded faith, or the bitterness of finally receiving proof that she had not been ignored after all. After centuries of divine service, months of silence must have gnawed deeper into her than she had been willing to let Misty see.

”What did they say?” Titania asked.

Ludwig read the message aloud. He did not embellish it or soften it. He told her that her patrons had not abandoned her, that they were enraged by the corruption inside the Sacrosanctum, and that they were aware someone had cut her away from their revelations. He told her their request was to prevent the premature summoning of the Demon King, and that if she helped him achieve it, the God of Prosperity was offering him half a liter of pure Nephilium through Necros’s accord.

By the time he finished, Misty had both hands over her mouth. Tears had gathered in her eyes, not spilling yet, but close enough that her effort to remain composed became obvious. Whatever doubts she had carried for Titania during their confinement, whatever fear that the gods might truly have chosen silence, the message had struck through all of it at once.

Titania reacted more quietly.

Her eyes closed, and she let out a breath so slow it might have been the first genuine release of strain she had allowed herself in months. When she opened them again, the pain in her expression had been compressed into purpose.

”They heard,” Misty whispered.

”Yes,” Titania said. Her voice was calm again, but not bored. ”They heard. And someone ensured I did not.”

Ludwig folded his arms.

Titania noticed the gesture almost immediately. ”You disapprove.”

”I do.”

Misty looked at him sharply. ”The gods themselves just answered through your patron. They confirmed Lady Titania was wrongfully sealed away and have offered assistance. What could you possibly disapprove of?”

”Your gods are very selfish,” Ludwig said.

Misty stared at him as if he had just insulted every sacred symbol in the room at once. Redd’s head slowly turned toward Ludwig, not surprised by the statement so much as curious whether even he intended to pick that argument right now. Kaiser remained silent, though Ludwig caught the smallest amused curve at the edge of the face the lantern made visible to the others.

Titania, however, did not react with outrage. She had served divine beings long enough to know that reverence was not the same thing as blindness. ”Why do you think so?” she asked.

”Because they are paying for one problem,” Ludwig replied. He stepped closer to the bed and pointed toward the notification only he could see. ”They want the Demon King’s summoning stopped. Good. Sensible. I also want that stopped, especially after seeing what the people here are doing to produce the kind of desperation needed for their little savior performance. But there is another catastrophe gathering beyond Solania. One that turned the country into a corpse in the future I already saw, and your patrons did not say a word about it.”

Titania’s gaze sharpened. ”What catastrophe?”

”Sloth,” Ludwig said.