Chapter 70: The Oracle of the Sky-Winged
What is this? A vision of the future?
Rhodes's gaze was fixed on the holy sword in his hand, his eyes filled with a mixture of shock and uncertainty. Why had it shown him a vision of the future?
He knew that a kind of precognitive magic existed in a later age. The All-Knowing Shurahat of the Demon race, and the Hero of the South, the strongest of the human heroes, both possessed it. To avoid a stalemate of mutual precognition, the two had eventually chosen to eliminate each other. And now, it seemed he, himself, had acquired such a power. Was it a power of the Divine Right Sword, Org? A holy sword that could see the future...
He didn't know why it had shown him these things. Was he meant to change the future? Or was it merely a warning? But he couldn't even achieve immortality. He could use the spell he had created, but the human soul was too fragile; it could not withstand the erosion of time.
A sudden voice broke through his thoughts. Eirik's eyes were wide, fixed on the shimmering sword in Rhodes's hand. He gulped. "That's just insane! You've got two holy swords now!"
Norne shook his head with a wry smile. "It seems you really are the chosen one, Rhodes. I don't get it." The holy sword forged by the dwarves had been waiting for a human to draw it. He couldn't understand why. Were there no worthy dwarves to be the chosen one?
"If those old stubborn dwarves knew that the legendary sword they forged had been drawn by a human, they would probably have a fit!" Somme said with a laugh. He didn't mind; he was just happy that his companion had been acknowledged by the holy sword.
"It really is strange. Isn't it your dwarves' holy sword?" Eirik clearly wanted to be the chosen one himself, or at least have a cool sword like that. He had chosen to be a mage, but at heart, he was still a warrior.
After the initial shock, Serie was now quite calm. "What, are you jealous?" she asked, her tone teasing. She didn't know why he had been chosen by the sword, but to her, it was a good thing. The legendary god-slaying sword was now in his hands. She was already looking forward to the day they would slay a god together.
"Jealous? Me?" Eirik immediately puffed out his chest and pretended to be unconcerned. "Of course not! I just think two swords might be a bit heavy for you. Do you want me to help you carry one?" He slyly reached for the hilt of the 'Light of Ersten', and Rhodes didn't stop him. The stored mana in the sword had been depleted from recharging Serie, which meant it needed to be refilled. And its weight had returned to normal. Eirik couldn't even lift it. He retracted his hand with a sheepish laugh. "Ahem, on second thought, treasures have always belonged to those who are worthy."
The group burst out laughing.
Rhodes shook his head helplessly and attached both swords to his belt. "Alright, that's enough. Now that we have the holy sword, it's time to find the other thing."
The laughter died down. They all knew what he was talking about. The holy relic stone slab, the cause of the Dwarven Kingdom's destruction.
"Right, right!" Eirik quickly changed the subject, not wanting to be the butt of their jokes any longer. "Where's the slab? Don't tell me it's also hidden in a place only the 'chosen one' can open."
Serie walked over to the stone pedestal and lightly tapped it with her finger. "It's this."
In her eyes, the pedestal was radiating an incredibly dense aura of mana, an aura so thick it was practically shimmering. This was clearly the legendary holy relic.
"It's huge," Rhodes said, walking over to examine it. It was several tons, at least. They couldn't possibly move it.
"There's writing on it. It seems to have been carved later," Serie said, running a hand over the text, a complex emotion in her voice.
"What does it say?" Rhodes asked, leaning in close to her.
She was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "The runes are an ancient script. It will take time to decipher."
Rhodes nodded. "No rush. We can stay here a while. We'll leave when we've figured it out."
They had to take the slab with them. A giant power bank like this was too good to pass up. Combined with the charging effect of the 'Light of Ersten', he could surely unleash an earth-shattering attack. And Serie had a spell that could allow them to survive without food or water for a long time. It would be very useful now.
Eirik sighed and looked around wistfully. "So many treasures. Can we take them all?"
Somme clapped him on the shoulder and grinned. "It's not good to be greedy. Let's just leave these things to rest."
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Kingdom.
The nation of the Sky-Winged had no single king, but was ruled by a council of thirteen. Each of the thirteen members of the council had the power to communicate with the Goddess.
Now, at the very moment Rhodes had been acknowledged by the Divine Right Sword, Org, the council of thirteen received a new command from the Goddess.
It was the first oracle she had bestowed in hundreds of years, since the fall of the first Dwarven Kingdom.
[Unleash the Divine Strike upon the ruins of the first Dwarven Kingdom.]
The oracle was simple, so simple that the members of the council couldn't understand it. The ruins were now mostly empty of magical beasts; the majority of the demons and their minions were at the front lines, near the Great Elven Forest. To use the Divine Strike there seemed pointless. Was the Goddess trying to launch a surprise attack on their home base? They couldn't figure it out.
The Divine Strike was the most terrifying attack of the Sky-Winged. All their warriors would simultaneously unleash their strongest attacks, and the combined power was said to be on par with a strike from a god. It was an attack that could destroy any nation or race in the world. A single strike, and even the ruins of the Dwarven Kingdom would be wiped from existence. And right now, the dwarves were supposed to be their allies. To turn around and obliterate their ancestral home seemed a bit... inappropriate.
But since it was an oracle from the Goddess herself, the Sky-Winged had no intention of disobeying. They withdrew all of their warriors from the front lines, and led by the thirteen members of the council, they set off for the ancestral home of the dwarves.
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