Solar Mage

Chapter 56: Agon II

"ARRIVING AT DEST–"

Wow– that sure was quick, it hasn't even been a single second since I stepped in and we've already arrived! Sagey definitely has the right to call himself unmatched, he can create warp gates so fast, they could be used in combat to redirect attacks like Terminus did in the most famous novel, The Wizard of Space and Time!

My vision of the dark tunnel ends, the last view being a blinding green light, as I exit the warp gate that closes immediately after I step out, almost falling, but managing to keep myself up. Appearing before the Grand Temple of Pyro, shining brightly, reflecting intense white light from the sun with its spotless, sparking white marble exterior.

Agh– my legs hurt, I want to lie down. But this place really is bright... It wasn't this bright the first time I came here, when it was high noon; but I guess this is a good thing because it means everything in the church is fine even though neither Dustin nor the other cardinals are here? It's suspicious, but maybe Dustin's shadows are just running the church in his stead. Whatever the case is, I just need to hurry up and get the ingredients so I can finally rest.

I take a high squat for a few seconds, motivating myself in my thoughts and just resting for a bit before recovering the energy to continue, as I walk into the Church.

In my undisturbed stroll, I examine the surroundings while focusing on my thoughts.

No guards huh? That's weird. The Grand Temple of Pyro is really more of a military headquarters of operations instead of a place for prayer, so there are normally guards stationed at every entrance to keep the regular civilians and potentially dangerous intruders out. So why have I not seen a single holy knight or priest at all the entire time I've been in here?

My mindless stroll comes to an end, at another gate, as I reach the end of a hallway, in the Temple's exclusive room of prayer, without a single person to be seen inside or out.

Still no one huh? Hmm... should I just go in to pray enter the Realm of Flames for a little bit? Time flows faster inside anyway, and I did promise to pray and see her the next time I get the chance.

I raise my foot in the direction of the room, before setting it back down on the ground in its original position.

No, I haven't made amends with Tin yet. I can't face her, not after what I said to her. Her healing right now would be nice though...

I take a left and walk up the stairs, to the Executive Board room. Following another one of my memories, taking the direction I remember Dustin took me to, to the Task Room.

If there is anyone in the temple, they'll definitely be at the Task Board Room!

As I continue to the Task Board room, I hear the sound of grunting, not from just one, but from many grunting constantly.

What is that noise? People are grunting, could they be training? But from where?

I look around the hallway, before returning my gaze to the end of the corridor, the Task Room.

It can't be from the Task Room, it's usually full of chatter,and the noise doesn't echo through the hall from that direction.

I bring my sight back from the Task Room, slowly following the wall on my right, until it stops at an ominous window in the wall, a much more reasonable guess to where the noise comes from. I walk up to a balcony in the wall, the only source of light peeking through its windows, other than the light coming from the stained glass windows.

Is that noise coming from outside?

Looking out the window, using Body Enhancement and Heightened Senses, my face remains the same, hiding my emotions as I try to fully figure out the situation.

Half naked men, wearing no armor or any clothing other than pants, are on the ground, in uniform rows across the dirt platforms.

There sure are a lot of them, and they seem to be training, doing some sort of Push-ups on the floor. This must be the training grounds then, and since this is the Grand Temple reserved for official members of the church, that must mean that they are Holy Knights! So this is where they were, I was afraid that the church was abandoned by all of its members, or even worse– that the corrupt faction took over, and killed all of them. But, where are the priests?

My eyes roll in their sockets, shifting my focus from the half naked men doing intense exercise, to my left, to the direction all of the Holy Knights are facing.

"TRAIN HARDER YOU USELESS MAGGOTS, IT'S THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO AND THAT YOU'RE GOOD FOR!!"

A loud and familiar, annoying voice could be heard coming from the far end of the direction the Holy Knights faced.

This voice? Is that Agon II?

I immediately turn my head to him and stare with a wide smile, in great amazement and amusement.

Ha, wow– they really put Agon II in charge of training the Holy Knights? What were Dustin's shadows thinking; having a priest oversee knight training? How amusing. Well, as long as he turned a new leaf, and agrees to help improve the quality of my– I mean– the church, it should be fine. Even if he only became a bishop because of all the elixirs and interventions by his father, he still has the mana and divine power of a bishop, so he'll be a little useful.

"IF I COULD HAVE THIS WORLD MY WAY, NONE OF YOU WOULD EXIST IN MY SIGHT YOU DIRTY SWORDSMEN!!"

Arthur's face stays smiling from former amusement, and disbelief of what he just heard.

What.

My eyes widen, my smile gone, now staring intensely at Agon II, exuding a great invisible killing intent, shooting straight out of my eyes, to Agon.

The killing intent travels quickly, as Agon falls down on his wooden platform, above the training grounds, as he shakes in fear, other armored guards on the platform, running to help him up.

There has always been a long standing prejudice against swordsmen because as everyone knows, there have been six mages who have reached the 9th circle before, and there has even been one that has reached the 10th circle. However, compared to mages, there have only been three swordsmen who have reached the stage of Grandmaster, said to be equal in strength to that of a 9th circle, Great Sage. However, none of those Grandmasters reached the stage after that, and all of them reached the Grandmaster Stage in the later half of their lives. This is important to note, because unlike mages who just need to meditate, or cultivate mana, swordsmen need to be actively and constantly training their bodies in order to get stronger; which is much harder to do when they become old.

Even if I'm a mage, and no longer a swordsman, I can not just let this man who has never touched a sword in his life, talk bad about all the heroes I respect and revere so much, including my master who taught me everything about swords that I know!!!

Without using Swift Wind, or any mana to strengthen my body, I jump down the balcony, and enter the training grounds in a loud boom and a large explosion of dust. I walk out of the dust cloud, unharmed, with my eyes locked onto Agon II, like the eyes of a hawk set on its prey.

Projecting my voice with mana, and a face with a smile hiding a much more wrathful emotion, I shout:

"How's it been Agon II? Have you been having fun playing with what's not yours?"

The Holy Knights around me stop their grunting and exercise as I walk by them, their complete attention directed at me, as they watch in silence. While Agon II trembles in fear with every word I say.

"Don't you think what you said about swordsmen was quite mean? I'm sure if Dustin heard you say that he would shed a tear."

I shout as I continue walking past the Holy Knights, before taking a right and resuming my march to Agon II, now in the middle of the rows, stepping on the marble tiles that separate the sections of the training grounds.

"Truly, like father, like son."

I finally stop my march, as I arrive at an opening, where the rows of sweaty, half-naked knights end. A single man with long blonde hair, in the center of a half circle, before the platform that the cowardly Agon stands on, continuing to do push-ups through all the commotion.

Who is this? He is placed apart from the other soldiers and continues to exercise even though he can hear me. The mana and the strength I can feel coming from his body is that of a Royal Ranked Swordsman, despite looking like he just turned 20! I am curious, but that can wait, I must take care of this filth first. Pyro, please just give me the strength to continue my act for a little longer. God– why did I have to jump down from that high balcony without using mana just to look cool? I can barely feel my legs at this point!

"You know, I just came here today to check out the vault, but I was confused as to why, no one was out guarding the Temple. So I looked around, and after all my searching, I finally found the reason. Do you care to take a guess?"

I say, now smiling brighter than ever, though Agon II swings his arms around as sweat falls from his bald head.

My smile gets wider, now baring my teeth like a wild beast, and revealing my eyes, glaring at him so hard, flames could be seen erupting from them.

"I come to find a cowardly old man, with the mind of a child, standing over Holy Knights like he, himself, was Pyro!!"

Flame Claws appear on my limbs, enveloped in swirling, bright orange flame, as Agon II, pushing his bodyguards, shrieks in horror.

"HI-IEEEK!! VERAN, DON'T LET HIM GET ANY CLOSER TO ME!!!"

How pathetic, if he was going to scream for help, he could've at least acted confident like before. I haven't even done anything yet. But who is Veran?

Suddenly, the blonde man between me and Agon II stops his exercise session, holding his position mid-set before pushing himself off the ground, and standing up, before turning around to me, and picking up his sword off the ground, then beginning to unsheathe it.

So his name was Veran huh? I was curious about him anyway, so let's see how well I can fare against a Royal Ranked Swordsman.

But... Sagey, I'm not attracted to him or anything, but he's a good looking guy right? Right, I turned off his function for being able to hear my thoughts. Well, whatever.

Just as he takes the tip of his shiny sword that reflects the light from the sun out, he charges at me, the wind delayed, not even noticing that he began running.

Hmm... he's definitely fast, but compared to Dustin and that second homunculus, this is a speed I can keep up with! If I was still in my prime condition... right now, I might be able to block one of his swings?

Just before I get ready to react to his downward swing directed at my head, I sense a stronger, and faster person with a dark aura sneak up from behind me, swinging his sword upward and parrying the other sword.

Woah– so fast! I wasn't even able to detect him until he had already gotten within swinging range! But this dark and sneaky aura, is it an assassin? Or could it be?

In a split second after the parry, I look down, behind me and see a man wearing full black cloth, easily fending off the blonde haired man's sword.

"Don't worry about Revan, sir Apostle, I'll take care of him."

I knew it! It was one of Dustin's Apostles!

Immediately responding, and taking the opportunity, I fly up to the platform, and fly high above it, before holding my arm out, with my hands outstretched, turning back to face the Holy Knights.

"HEAR ME! I AM ARTHUR VENTRIKE, YOUR LONG AWAITED APOSTLE AND LIBERATOR. UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF PYRO, I WILL NOW EXECUTE DIVINE LAW!!!"

My voice booms, across the giant training grounds, while the Stigmas on my body shine as brightly as the sun, high in the sky, as I hold a giant ball of flames four times the size of the platform in my hands that covers the sun.

All the Holy Knights' gasps echo throughout the training ground, as they start bowing down, on their knees, in a deep prayer position.

My mana circuits hurt...