Bishop Caelus' Point of View
I stared at the holy knight kneeling in front of me.
"You summoned me, Your Excellency?" Augustus asked as soon as he entered my private chamber and kneeled,
He was the one who led the search for the otherworlder. Used to be a hero and now, one of the knights I'd twisted, broken, and rebuilt just like what I have wanted. One of the few I actually trusted.
"I'm guessing you've got good news for me, Augustus?" I asked. "Anything about the skill I want?"
He didn't look up.
"My apologies, Your Excellency. We've been trying, but with my skills, Search and Analysis, nothing's turned up yet."
I walked past him, trying not to let the frustration show too much. Of course, she wouldn't make it easy. Sora was too damn clever and killed herslef before I could rip that Ultimate Skill from her. The skill's existence was the only thing standing between me and everything I've worked for and that's why I wanted it for myself. Without knowing where it is... I can't make this world mine. And just when I found one of them, it slipped away from me before I could even harvest it.
What I want, what I need, are the High Order Skills. They'd turn me into a god. The ultimate skills everyone had desired.
The first one's Seraphim. According to everything I've read, it's the Deletion skill. Sounds exactly like what it does, it erases stuff. Skills, magic, everything. Just gone. If Sora had been in her prime, as the White Wise Witch, she could've wiped me off the map. Me, my powers, my entire existence. Probably would've, too, if not for that ridiculous High Luck and Fate Manipulation I stole. My fate manipulation weakened her, and thus she couldn't even use the skill properly until she decided to delete herself and her existence using that Seraphim itself.
Then there's Throne. That one's all about the Rebirth skill. Basically, immortality. Reset your body, mind, everything. Eternal life on command. The most sought-after skill, if you ask me.
And the last one is Cherubim. An Imitation Evolutionist skill. It copies and evolves. Self-upgrading. Yeah... you can see why I want them.
Those three are everything. With them, I'd have real power, undeniable, unstoppable power.
"Your Excellency," someone said, knocking at the door. "Regina's here. She wants to speak with you."
"Send her in."
The knight bowed and let her in. Regina stepped through the door with that creepy puppet of hers and dropped to one knee the second she saw me.
"My lord. There's been... a slight issue at the Pit."
I turned to her slowly.
"What kind of issue?"
"One of the souls went missing. One that's been locked up for years, long dead."
I froze. Then I felt my anger bubble up fast.
That soul was mine. I'd taken it after stealing its skill. It was part of the plan. I was going to feed those souls to Beelzebub and evolve me into a Supreme Demon Lord. I've been patient. Careful. Adept at playing the long game. And now someone's messed with it?
"Regina…" I said through clenched teeth, my fury leaking out as Beelzebub stirred inside me. "I picked that place for a reason. It was where I kept my food. For the damn banquet. For my evolution."
She was sweating, eyes down, shaking a little.
"I-I'll look into it, my lord. Please, just give me another chance."
"Regina, we've been collecting these souls for years," I said, tone calm like we were talking about something as boring as supply stock. "I can't afford to lose even one, especially now that summoning's slowing down. Honestly? I'd gladly take yours in exchange for that soul."
She flinched. Yeah, she knew I wasn't bluffing.
"Please, my lord, I beg you," she said, practically on the verge of panic. "I'll find the missing soul, just... please, spare me."
I stared at her for a second, let the silence hang. Long enough to make her sweat. Then I waved her off.
"Get out."
Once she was gone, I turned my attention back to Augustus, still kneeling like a statue behind me.
"Change of plans," I said. "Put the High Order Skills search on hold. Focus on finding any otherworlders. I want them brought straight to me."
"As you wish, Your Excellency," he said, standing up and walking out without another word.
Once the doors shut, I finally let myself think. Something was off. No soul's ever broken free before. Not from my chains, and especially the illusion I put them all through. And no one should be able to see them, let alone mess with them. Whoever did that has some guts; I give that to them. But nobody stole something from me that still breathing today. They all ebd up dead and rotting.
"Kleus," I called.
"Yes, my lord?"
A figure stepped out from the shadows near my throne. Kleus, the former Archon of this city. I'd killed him ages ago, ripped out everything he had. Then, thanks to my skill Leviathan: Copy, I took his form and all his skills. Now he serves me, whether he likes it or not.
"Look into what happened at the Pit," I said. "Regina will be running in circles chasing the missing soul. I want you figuring out what kind of rat crawled into my pantry."
"Understood, my lord," he replied, then vanished.
I moved through the crowd like some divine savior, hands raised in a fake blessing, eyes glowing with all the warmth of a well-practiced lie. They reached out to touch me, to kiss the hem of my robes like it meant something. It was pathetic.
"Oh, Your Grace! My crops failed again this year. What should I do?"
"Holy one, my daughter's ill, please, bless her!"
"Can you hear the gods? Do they still love us?"
Please. If the gods were watching, they would've smote me ages ago.
But they're not. They're gone or hiding. Cowards, the lot of them.
I plastered a kind smile across my face, nodding, murmuring blessings, doing all the things a good little bishop's supposed to do.
"Have faith," I said to a teary-eyed mother. "The gods are with you."
Lies. Sweet, rotten lies. The only one watching over them is me, and trust me, that's not a good thing. Every prayer, every offering, every stupid little hope they placed in me... I collected it like spare change. And they kept giving. Believing. Hoping. It was laughable.
They think I love them. That I'm their beacon in a cruel world.
But the truth? I love the control. The blind obedience. The quiet power that comes from being worshipped by fools.