It was over. Akshan was seduced by the false queen, and thus, he refused to turn against her. Lombac couldn't help but shed a tear at such an unfortunate turn of events. He returned to the meeting hall.
"Chrunus will welcome me, and Valar will fall... eventually." He pushed the door open and entered the hall. The advisors waited for good news, yet he had naught to deliver. Instead, he straightened his back and shouted.
"It seems this is the final day of our lives!" He approached his seat. "We will fall, but in the name of Chrunus, we will bring down as many of them with us as possible."
Yet the reaction he received was not what he wished to hear; instead of roars of support, they mumbled among themselves before they turned to him.
"Forgive us, your holiness, we have thought about this while you were gone, but we do not wish to fall with you." One of the men rose and bowed.
'What?!' He screamed in his mind as his eyes widened in sheer disbelief. The men before him were traitors; everyone in his kingdom had betrayed him.
The church, and now the advisors. "You treacherous dogs!"
"Forgive us, Lombac, we won't throw out our lives, even for Chrunus." The men rose to their feet and turned their backs to him.
The king's fists clenched; he had lost his kingdom without as much as a fight. The church had failed, and the elemental was destroyed. "That is a lie, not even the first legion of Valar could destroy such an entity." His mumbled voice could not reach the advisors.
His very fingers trembled as he reached behind his back, with a slide, he retrieved a dagger, it was small and made of silver. It was never meant as a main weapon; instead, it was used in desperate times and in self-defense.
'I will kill them... I will kill them all! These treacherous bastards!' He slammed his hand against the table, "Guards! Kill these fools!"
The king Lombac was no fighter, nor was he overly strong; thus, he had to avoid fighting multiple people at once. However, his guards were numerous, so he would wash his hands with the traitor's blood.
They turned to him, their eyes were wide in shock, yet not surprise. "King Lombac, please stop this!"
"No, you started this!"
The man raised his hands in panic as the guards burst into the hall.
"Kill them!"
Spears instantly surrounded the advisors; this was the dead end for them. They had refused to die for Chrunus, so they would be punished by the supreme god after death.
However, just as the heads of the advisors were about to roll a voice echoed around them. "No, you will seize this idiocy at once!"
The collective gazes snapped toward the entrance. In there stood a person in a dark robe and a hood that obstructed his face. The king, despite technically being a ruler of Zigurat was of lesser authority than the high priests.
Thus the guards dared not stand against his orders.
"You would foolishly kill those who followed and supported you, King Lombac?" A small chuckle escaped the hooded figure, "Or should I call you, Puppet King?"
Clang
The dagger he held hit the ground as Lombac stared at the hooded figure; it was one of the priests of Chrunus. He had thought they had abandoned him, yet one of them stood right in front of him.
He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed. "High priest, it's an honor! I thought you had abandoned us."
"I have come to tell you that the rest of the clergy had been killed, and I was the one who ordered your advisors to surrender. We cannot win."
His teeth clenched, and his nails dug into his own palms. "Even you...how could you betray humanity!" A small drop of blood escaped his hand as his fingers dug into his skin.
"Lombac... Lombac, we have not betrayed humanity. Chrunus had led us into destruction; what happened in Valar was good." The priest lifted his hood slightly, just enough to reveal a small smile.
"How... dare you." His voice cracked.
The priest tilted his head, "How dare I? The others got themselves killed by the forces of Valar. I refuse to let my home get destroyed because the puppet who played a king was too foolhardy."
His fists relaxed, a small chuckle escaped his lips before turning into a fit of laughter, "Chrunus is testing me... that must be it! He sent me a false priest to kill and prove my worth!"
Even the guards stared at him in disbelief, the king who ran the nation into near ruin by obeying the church and Chrunus had threatened one of the high priests.
"The god of Chaos smiles upon me, traitors. And I reckon you cannot say the same!" He leaned down and picked up his dagger. "He loves those who are loyal."
"Lombac, do not do anything stupid." The priest raised his hand toward the king of Zigurat.
His body slouched forward as he held the dagger in his limp arm, the crown slid down his head and hit the ground. At the very moment it touched the stone floor, he launched himself at the traitor priest. "Die, traitors of humanity!"
"[Lesser Gravity Orb]," the priest launched a single dark sphere from his palm.
"Ugh!" Lombac grunted as his body twisted. He had no chance to even scream as another orb hit him right at the head.
His body deformed and bones cracked under the gravitational influence of the spheres.
The king Lombac of Zigurat had fallen, not by enemy hand but by the traitors in his midst. "Done, now let's welcome Akshan." The priest grabbed the edges of his hood and pulled it back, then he reached inside his robe and retrieved the journal.
"In the name of Celara..." He approached the mangled corpse of the king and spat at it.
His gaze wandered to the advisors and the guards who remained. "Chrunus had made this mess, and we are here to fix it! You may call me Ramon, I am the first priest of Celara!"