"H-How big is the Shard?"
In most cases, Shards were not bigger than the size of a clenched fist, but there had been extremely rare exceptions throughout the years. The biggest ever recorded was as big as a melon, but the trail they had been following indicated otherwise.
"...It occupied the entire back of the carriage."
Only with that affirmation did Alwyn finally realize why the wall at the back had been left empty, without shelves nor boxes.
'So… three meters in width…'
In short, it was a giant mass of condensed soul. If destroyed, a Reaper could get immense power, potentially becoming even stronger than the lower deacons of the Church. But that obviously depended on the initial Tier of the Reaper. It was an object that could possibly reshape the hierarchy of the Church, maybe even the entire world order.
The same went for Revenants.
They did not have to destroy the Shard to gain the benefits, but to absorb its energy through contact. And the fact that an already powerful Revenant of an unknown Tier was in possession of such a massive Shard could only spell disaster.
Kingdoms fell throughout the continent by the hands of these monsters, and theirs would not be the last if that truly happened, as it was the one with the majority of Reapers.
If the Empire could not defend against such an opponent, the other races were already doomed.
"Why the hell were you transporting such a thing in one of the most dangerous areas of the whole Empire?!"
"I told you it was an order! We could only follow it! And the Shard was supposed to be Gariss' reward for the mission, that's why he was so enthusiastic about it."
"Shit!"
The two remained silent for a while, not knowing what to say or what to do next. They could only review the information they already had.
"…What the hell were they thinking? They can't be that stupid."
Alwyn lamented.
"Indeed. There must be something else to it…"
"Then please don't withhold any more information from me. Tell me everything."
Eline had already expected such a request from him, so she promptly replied.
"There isn't really much else to tell you, you already know what my orders were."
"Fuck... Kaidel Windblessed told me that the Church had made some deal with the elves. Don't you know more about that?"
"No. Sorry."
"Then we can only make hypotheses... Let's suppose the elves were struggling against the Revenants. They don't have many Reapers after all… They would obviously ask our Empire for help."
Strangely enough, Shards mainly fell on the human territories, so the other species did not have many champions to defend their land.
"And they must have paid an enormous price for that. Such a Shard has an unimaginable value, they were probably forced to pay beforehand. But as far as I know, the elves have not entered our territories yet, it must not be artifacts, but something immaterial. Maybe an alliance."
"An alliance, huh? Doesn't sit right with me. They don't have anything to offer of value other than their own lives."
"...And maybe that's why the Church planned to betray them. If the cargo doesn't arrive at the Last Frontier, after a while they would most definitely send an envoy to Skyreach. An important one, given the importance of the alliance. And you already know the implications of that."
"No way… Have they actually orchestrated the outbreak of a war?"
"Might be."
'Motherfuckers…'
Alwyn had been caught between a major conspiracy. Something of that caliber could not be handled by a mere human. Did the gods know about it? Were they currently laughing their asses off?
In all the rounds he had experienced, he never had to survive an ordeal with such low probabilities of success.
"There's still something bugging me... Why did the Church send only five low tier Reapers and five beggars for such an important mission? If you weren't supposed to reach the Last Frontier there was no point in keeping up the appearances… And why the hell did they order you to camp in the middle of the plain for two days? With such a precious cargo, nonetheless…"
Eline suddenly had an epiphany.
"Are you perhaps suggesting…"
"...Yes."
They had been sent there as live sacrifices. Kaidel had told Alwyn that they would not need to get close to the Whispering Woods, but here they were, guided by the puppet of a siren. A beast that had never been sighted in that area before.
They wanted them to bring the gigantic Shard inside the forest for a powerful Revenant to absorb, so that it could evolve by many Tiers.
They wanted to create a weapon of mass destruction.
But to what purpose?
Eline spoke in a somber tone.
"If that's the case, there's no other choice. We must continue in our search."
Alwyn was not happy with that decision, but it was really their only choice if they truly wanted to survive. There would be no place in the entire continent where such an almighty abomination wouldn't bring destruction. In that entire world even.
"I guess so…"
And with that last line, as the sun started to move towards the Greyshard Range, Eline helped Alwyn get on her back, and the two of them continued their journey along the rundown road with grim looks on their faces.