Chapter 221
Kai (3)
Kai continued. "That symbol has been around for at least a hundred thousand years. That's the earliest confirmed record we could trace it to. It's ancient—far older than many of any of the current organizations. And yes, it was originally associated with the Circle of the Accursed… or whatever names they went by back then."
She didn't pause. "The symbol roughly translates to: 'Sacrificed for the Lambs.'"
There was silence for a second.
"It's meant to represent offerings—sacrifices, made willingly or not—to divine figures. These 'lambs' they worship… strangely enough, they are not the sacrifices. They are the divine. Which raises the question—are they empowering some higher being through those sacrifices, or are they attempting to create one? And more importantly—if these so-called lambs are divine, what kind of divinity accepts mortal flesh as tribute?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "These figures, if they truly exist, would need to be on the same level as the Seven Heroes. And yet… they're referred to as lambs? It's backwards. Or maybe we're the ones misunderstanding."
IAM and Thor exchanged a glance.
"The name Accursed wasn't just a label," Kai continued. "In every historical account we found, their presence was seen as a blight. Whole towns would vanish without a trace. Slums, districts, cities… erased. Wherever they passed, death followed. The gods themselves were said to have rejected them—to deny their place in the world entirely."
There was something final in the way she said rejected.
"But when I met them," IAM spoke up, "they introduced themselves as the Circle of the Divine. Not accursed. Divine. It could mean a few things. Maybe they believe in what they do, they see it as a necessary evil for their own twisted sense of greater good. Or maybe 'divine' doesn't mean good or righteous—it just refers to a being. And they see themselves as its followers… or its creators."
Kai gave a slow, approving nod.
The cult IAM encountered in the Hold had called themselves the Circle of the Divine. They were a twisted group—seen through different lenses depending on which side you stood. To the world, they were cursed. But in their own eyes, they were blessed. Perhaps they weren't just delusional fanatics calling themselves divine—maybe there was something deeper, something far more dangerous behind their beliefs...
It was a cult convinced it was sacred... And a world convinced they were cursed.
"It's an interesting point, but then what 'divine' could they be referring to? Some unknown entity, long hidden in history?" Kai said with a sigh.
As the conversation continued, IAM realized they hadn't even considered the possibility that this so-called 'divine' might be one of the seven heroes. But in a world like theirs, such an idea was almost absurd—like claiming the fastest man in the world had somehow come second in a race. Some things were simply unthinkable, taken as absolute truth.
As their conversation shifted, Kai's gaze settled on IAM again. "You mentioned something about the divine orb," she began, her tone was serious. "From what you described, they used it to… convert corpses—whether friend or foe—into gold dust or sand, essentially extracting their life force. They never explained why, but it seems to have been the ultimate objective behind the tragedies in the Hold and Ironclaw."
IAM nodded slowly, then asked, "Yeah… I've been curious about it. What do you actually know?"
Kai let out a heavy sigh, a flicker of irritation crossing her features. "Don't get me started on that thing. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of technology—or mech—could take life force from corpses, solidify it like sand, and store it in a container. I've never encountered anything so absurd."
A shadow of disappointment crossed IAM's face. His friends' life forces were trapped somewhere inside that orb, and if Kai had any knowledge of how to release them, it would have been invaluable. He murmured quietly, "I see…"
"Who knows where it came from," Kai continued, her voice was low and thoughtful as she leaned back slightly in her chair, a frown tugging at her lips. "Did they make it themselves, or was it given to them by this 'divine' you proposed? If you're right, it could have been bestowed by some higher entity… but then, what would the end goal be? We don't have any leads on why such a thing exists, or what it's meant to accomplish. The only thing we do know is that it explains why all those locations—the Hold, Ironclaw, the Dwarfs' disappearance—were completely devoid of corpses or people. They probably used that damn divine orb to make it happen...And it's terrifying to think what that means for anyone else who might cross their path. "
IAM leaned back slightly, his brow furrowed slightly as he considered the implications of her words. "So… is this everything you know?" he asked, his tone was cautious but slightly persistent.
Kai gave a small, wry smile, running a hand through her hair. she admitted, her tone almost begrudgingly. "Just bits and pieces, honestly. Without the information you gave us, we'd be in so much deeper trouble. What you provided was invaluable. It helped us make sense of things we couldn't have pieced together on our own."
IAM nodded, letting that sink in. The conversation made the moment feel more serious than any discussion he's ever had over a meal. He glanced down at the floor for a second before looking back at them.
Thor, who had been quietly observing the exchange, finally spoke up. "Hey… what do you think about showing him 'that thing'? It won't take very long."
Kai raised an eyebrow, hesitating as if weighing the risk of revealing too much.. "Are you sure?"
"Well… he's clearly not satisfied with just words, is he?" Thor replied, his tone was light but firm, as he was nudging the conversation forward.
Kai exhaled through her nose, muttering under her breath as she looked between the two men. After a tense pause. "Fine… yes. Let's show him."