Chapter 45: The Plot
The Guest Chambers of the Pilgrim's Spire were luxurious, draped in heavy silks of white and gold. However, for Alexius and accompanies, they were unmistakably a prison, heavy iron bars reinforced the stained-glass windows, and the door was guarded from the outside by a full squad of Cardinal Morcant's crimson-armored Paladins.Archmage Ignis held the small vial Alexius had presented in the throne room up to the candlelight, examining it with a sneer. "A high-grade Elixir," he drawled, tossing it back to Alexius. "A pretty trinket. It might cure a fever or any wound. Against a Demon Lord's curse? It is just ordinary water.""I know," Alexius said, catching the vial and tucking it away. "The Elixir was just a prop. We also cannot do the legendary Grade Exilir of Purification in a day. However,..."He sat in a high-backed chair,"The real cure isn't in the bottle. I already possess the means to cure Pontiff's Curse."'That Goddess overdid, though it played out in my favor. I just need some hours to fully condense that power, " Alexius thought.Amara, who had been methodically checking every window and alcove for magical surveillance, interjected his thought," Your Majesty. They are surely plotting something.""Morcant cannot afford to wait three days," Queen Amara added,"If you fail, he wins. But if you succeed, he loses everything. The Progressive faction gains the Pope's favor, and the Conservatives are exposed as incompetents or traitors. He has to kill you before the first dawn."Alexius nodded. "That makes them predictable."Across the complex, in the dim, opulent study of the Conservative faction's headquarters,Cardinal Morcant paced the floor, his crimson robes swirling around him."Three days," he spat. "The audacity of that boy! To accuse the Curia of treason in front of the Holy Father!"Bishop Valerius sat in a shadow, drinking a goblet of wine. He looked composed, though He knew the true extent of Alexius's power, something Morcant was dangerously underestimating. "He is not just a boy, Your Eminence. He is a calamity. He conquered the South without drawing a blade. He leashed an Archmage. If he says he can cure the Pope… I believe he can."Morcant stopped pacing. He turned to Valerius with fury. "If Pius lives, he will name a successor from the Progressives. Beaumont will take the throne. The reforms will destroy the sanctity of our traditions. Humans will be forced to bow to elves and beasts.""Then Pius must not live," Valerius,"Or, at the very least, the 'cure' must be interrupted. If the Prince dies tonight, escaping custody… or resisting a search… who is to say his 'ritual' wasn't an assassination attempt all along? You would be the hero who stopped a regicide."Morcant stared into the fire for some time, then "Sir Dominic," he called outFrom the shadows of the doorway, a figure stepped forward. It was the commander Alexius had seen earlier—the young, zealous Sword Master of the Order of Conservative. His red armor was covered by a dark cloak."Your Eminence," Sir Dominic bowed."The heretic Prince possesses dark artifacts," Morcant lied, "I have received intelligence that he intends to use this 'ritual' to hasten the Holy Father's death and bind his soul. He is a threat to the Faith. You understand?"Sir Dominic's eyes burned with fanatical light. "Yes, I understand. He must be purged.""Go," Morcant commanded. "Take your most trusted shadows. Do not wear the colors of the Order. Leave no evidence. But ensure that when the sun rises, the Prince of Leo breathes no more."[Time Remaining until fully Condensed: 1 Hour]The heavy oak door to the guest chambers, the lock to the Alexius Room, opened with heat magic, not to make a sound.The door creaked open.Six figures slipped into the room. They were clad in tight-fitting black leather, their faces obscured by hoods and masks. They moved like high-level Experts. Leading them was a seventh figure, taller, wielding a blade that hummed with a suppressed, holy aura.They moved toward the bed where Alexius appeared to be sleeping.The leader raised his sword, poised to drive it through the heart of the sleeping figure.Clang.The strike was stopped inches from the bedsheets. A pair of black daggers, crossed in an 'X', blocked the holy blade.Cilia materialized from the darkness beside the bed, her golden eyes glowing with predatory amusement. "Room service is late," she whispered.The leader—Sir Dominic in disguise—widened his eyes. He shoved Cilia back with a burst of Sword Master strength and slashed horizontally."Ambush!" he hissed.The room exploded into chaos. The figure in the bed vanished—it was an illusion cast by Ignis. The real Alexius stepped out from behind a heavy curtain, his Sovereign Aura flaring to life, flooding the room with a crushing, kingly pressure that made the six lesser assassins tremble."You dare bring assassins into the house of God?" Alexius demanded,Two assassins rushed him. Queen Amara intercepted one, her scimitar flashing in a deadly arc, decapitating him before he could scream. The other lunged for Alexius, only to be blasted backward by a casually flicked fireball from Ignis, who sat in the corner sipping tea. The assassin hit the wall and slumped, smoke rising from his chest."Sloppy," Ignis critiqued. "No flair."The battle centered on Cilia and Sir Dominic. The two Sword Masters moved faster than the eye could follow. Dominic was strong, his technique perfect, his blade wreathed in the white fire of the Holy Arts. Cilia countered each strike; she flowed around him."Heretic filth!" Dominic roared, abandoning stealth as he unleashed a [Holy Cross Slash], a wave of energy that shredded the room's furniture.Cilia ducked under the energy wave, closed the distance, and slammed the hilt of her dagger into Dominic's wrist, numbing his hand. With her other hand, she punched him squarely in the throat with an aura-infused strike.Dominic gagged and stumbled back, his concentration broken. Before he could recover, the tip of a sword was pressed against his throat.It does not came from the beast woman he is fighting, it comes from behind.The Grand Prince stood there, his blue aura flaring, holding the zealous Sword Master at bay."Yield," Alexius commanded.Dominic glared, blood trickling from his mouth. He looked at his dead subordinates, then at the overwhelming force facing him. He dropped his sword."You are a demon. Do you think this is the end?" Dominic spat."Shut up, I am nothing but an ordinary guest of the Holy See," Alexius mocked. "And you are a failed assassin."The door to the chambers burst open again. This time, it was not assassins, the official guards—Cardinal Beaumont's men and the Neutralist Templars, drawn by the noise of the fight.They stared at the carnage: dead bodies in black, the room destroyed, and Alexius holding a blade to a masked intruder.Alexius reached out and ripped the mask off Sir Dominic's face.The arriving knights gasped. "Sir Dominic? The Commander of the Conservative Faction?"Alexius looked at the Neutralist captain who had just arrived."It seems Cardinal Morcant has a strange way of ensuring his guests' safety. Attempting to murder a visiting head of state inside the Holy Palace… I wonder what the Neutralist faction will think of this?"Sir Dominic remained silent, his eyes burning with hate, but he knew he had failed. He had been captured alive.Alexius sheathed his sword. "Secure him," Alexius ordered the stunned guards. "And wake the Cardinals. We have much to discuss before my ritual begins."[Quest Update: Save the Pontiff]
[Time Remaining until Curse Consumes Host: 1 Day.]