Chapter 2059 Embers of Love

A journey upstream through the river of time that passed through the Blood Moon Secret Plane.

Past the present, past the years, past the centuries that had come and gone. Until thousands of years were left behind.

An age when war still ravaged the land.

When two kingdoms clashed endlessly, staining the earth with the blood of countless men. An age before the people of this land had been twisted into monsters.

Before their flesh had been corrupted. Before the sun disappeared from the sky. Before the moon burned crimson.

Somewhere within that distant age, amidst the flames of war and the cries of countless soldiers, two people stood together in a secret cavern in the Lamiyan Mountains.

Two people who had loved one another. Two people who, despite everything the world had thrown at them, still had each other.

These were the final embers of their love that burned brilliantly for one last time.

"Shireen…" An elderly man in white clerical robes stood in the dim cavern, his hand caressing the woman's cheek gently.

Even as ugly white hair grew from his arms and legs, and two stumps bloomed from his forehead, the elderly man did not care about them at all. Instead, he was worried about the mutation his lover was slowly going through.

"We don't have much time," Shireen said softly, tears streaming down her eyes. More than two eyes. Four, six… eight eyes. Three more pairs had grown on her temple.

Yet to the elderly man, she looked as beautiful as the day they first met.

She quickly changed the subject. "Do you think God will appear again?"

"Yes, yes." The High Priest of the Sun Temple nodded with a pious look on his face.

Shireen's eyes blurred with tears. "To think… our deities were one and the same."

"The sun and the moon," the High Priest murmured. "Two sides of the same coin."

Deep within the cavern, on one side, lay hundreds of small objects carved from the special ore found within these mountains. Each one had been carefully shaped and inscribed with runes.

Runes carved according to the instructions given by God.

These were the objects that would, thousands of years later, come to be known as Lamiyan Talismans.

In front of the two figures stood two separate molds. One was shaped like a chained whip. The other was shaped like a massive greatsword.

And hanging above the two molds was a gigantic cauldron. An empty cauldron.

Suddenly, in the dim cavern, a flash of divine light erupted.

The High Priest and the High Priestess squinted their eyes, stunned. But they immediately got down on their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground.

God had arrived.

A luminescent figure slowly took shape within the cavern. It floated in the air, its form neither wholly man nor woman. Half man. Half woman. Or perhaps neither.

There was something deeply wrong with the figure. Its luminous body flickered faintly, as though it could barely maintain its existence. Its form seemed to be fading away, little by little, as if life itself was slowly leaving it behind.

"Is everything ready?"

Its voice was deep, solemn, and dignified.

"Yes." The two kneeling figures said simultaneously.

With what little power remained to it, "God" reached toward the hundreds of talismans. One by one, it imbued them with its power.

Then, as though answering some divine command, a strange liquid metal was magically created. It shimmered with an otherworldly radiance before flowing downward into the two molds.

The liquid metal filled them slowly.

To the eyes of the High Priest and the High Priestess, the entire process was nothing short of divine. They could only watch in awe.

As the figure of "God" continued to fade, it poured the last remnants of its power into the two weapons.

The chained whip was imbued with the power of the sun.

The greatsword was imbued with the power of the moon.

And then…

The luminous figure began to disappear. Its once-distinct form faded further and further, until barely a vestige remained.

"Listen well, my children," it said in a dignified voice. "I do not have much time left."

The High Priest and the High Priestess's figures trembled. Their God's voice sounded so feeble, so distant, so full of melancholy.

They wanted to raise their heads and look at their savior, their lord, their god almighty. But they did not dare. Heads still pressed to the ground, they silently listened.

The fading figure looked toward the High Priest and the High Priestess.

Its voice was faint, barely more than a whisper, yet it echoed throughout the cavern.

"Take the whip. Hide it beneath the Sun Temple. Take the sword. Hide it beneath the Moon Temple. Guard them with your lives."

The figure flickered once more.

"You may not be able to use them to destroy the evil that threatens this world… but years from now, people will rise. They will fight. And they will win."

The light surrounding the figure grew weaker.

"So persevere… For the future, my children."

With a final burst of divine light, the hundreds of talismans floated in the air. Then all of them vanished. Scattered throughout the secret plane in the hopes that they would one day provide safety to the people of this world.

The fading figure of "God," the spirit of the secret plane, rose into the skies of this world. Motes of light separated from its body.

I'm sorry, dear master…

I could not protect your legacy…

Forgive me…

As the remnant will of the secret plane finally faded away, it cast a hateful glare toward the moon.

But rest assured, dear master…

I have left behind several arrangements…

I will avenge you…

I promise…

With that, the remnant will of the secret plane finally disappeared.

Far into the distance, toward the east, Jacob de Vile continued to devour the spirit of the secret plane, unaware of what had just transpired.

In the cavern below, the High Priest of the Sun Temple and the High Priestess of the Moon Temple embraced each other one final time.

This was the end for them. The end of their love. The end of their lives.

But they bravely moved forward. Because it was their duty.

The High Priestess gently cupped his cheeks and smiled tenderly. "I love you."

"As do I," the High Priest said as he pressed his lips against hers. "Always have. Always will."

The two retrieved the weapons and stepped out of the cave.

They held each other's hands one final time.

"I'm glad," Shireen sobbed silently. "I'm glad that I got to meet you."

"Go now, my love," the High Priestess said gently.

"If there is an afterlife… I will find you again."

The two separated at last. The High Priest headed west toward the Sun Temple. The High Priestess moved east toward the Moon Temple.

With them, they carried the hope for the future.

The hope that their sacrifices would not have been in vain.

The hope that their sacrifices will allow future generations to see the light at the end of the tunnel.