"There is one more thing that is bothering me. I think that man had something that let him know the location of the artifact. Although I don't think he was fully aware of the exact location of the artifact, I know for sure he was just able to locate the general area where the artifact was." Maria said.
"Fortunately, the artifact itself got destroyed somehow. When the artifact was destroyed, I was able to sense it immediately, but for some reason, he was able to tell what had happened as well. I just hope, now that the artifact doesn't exist anymore, there won't be any other attacks here. The artifact he used looks like a compass. I tried using that compass; unfortunately, nothing happened when I tried operating it." Maria said with a bit of relief on her face.
"You could tell that the artifact got destroyed because you were in contact with it before; you must have linked with the spiritual power of that artifact. But how could he have known about the destruction? From what you explained, it must mean, when the tear of lumina was destroyed, the compass must have stopped working. That must be why he was able to find out about the destruction of the artifact." Augustus surmised after contemplating for a while.
"It's for the best that the Tear of lumina was destroyed, I think they were just after that. Now that it is destroyed, they have no reason to attack this town." Maria said.
"No, this might not be the end. I don't know what they are after; however, I know that there are many other artifacts similar to the tears. From the events that happened today, it feels like just the beginning. We will have to warn everyone who has such artifacts to be careful." Augustus said while stroking his beard while deep in thought.
"We should just advise everyone who has such an artifact to bring it to the capital. I am 100% sure no one would dare to attack the capital, no matter how foolish they are." Baron said with a smirk on his face. He finally felt, he was able to add some value in this discussion.
"No, that would be very hasty. That would only ensue panic upon the masses. We must discuss with the pope about the matter first.". Maria said. Upon hearing her words, Baron instantly felt sour; he felt insulted. However, he didn't let his emotions show on his face.
"Yes, I believe what you say is right. All I am saying is just some speculations, we cannot plunge the Empire into panic before we don't know the whole truth." Augustus said, supporting Maria. To this baron grumbled within himself.
......
While the meeting was ongoing, the entire continent was in a state of turmoil. Dolores's arrival had created a huge wave that was swallowing the whole continent.
Inside a dimly lit hall, a man was seated as if he were meditating. The hall looked grand, as if it were some kind of throne room. However, unlike a throne room, there was an altar in place of a throne. The man was facing towards the altar as he kept on meditating. If an ordinary person walked inside the hall, they would instantly fall unconscious or start vomiting from disgust. Around the altar, hundreds of human heads were placed, as if they were offerings of some kind. Upon closer look, one could see that the entire hall was filled with blood.
In the darkest corner of the room where light wasn't able to reach, a mountain of corpses was stacked on top of each other. None of the corpses had their heads intact. If someone looked closely at the hill, they would be able to tell that the corpses belonged to warriors, as most of them were wearing armour. The mountain didn't just contain corpses of warriors; some were dressed like maids. Some were wearing ordinary clothes, while others wore luxurious clothes.
The list didn't end there; the most horrifying part was, there were even corpses of small children among the pile. Almost all of the heads were in front of the altar, their expression were still visible on their faces, the expressions they had before they died. Some had anger, fear, terror, sadness, etc. You could tell that an entire village was slaughtered to form the mountain of corpses.
The entire hall was massive; it could have easily held a gathering of more than a thousand people. Even though the hall was so big, the entire floor of the hall was covered with a puddle of blood. One could only imagine just how many people must have died for so much blood to be spilled.
In the middle of the huge hall, the man who was seated in a meditative posture looked unfettered by the world around him. It was as if he was unaware of his surroundings; he was only focused on his meditation, nothing else mattered to him, not even the puddle of blood he was sitting upon.
KNOCK KNOCK "Sir, there has been a huge mishap." Two men wearing black robes with red stripes came knocking inside the hall. They had instantly managed to disrupt the man who was meditating.
"I told all of you not to disturb me when I am performing the ritual. Do you not understand just a simple order?" The man asked in a fit of rage, his eyes that were shut till now were wide open. His eyes looked otherworldly; his eyes were completely different from a normal person's. The entirety of his eyes was in dark red color, resembling the color of blood.
"Sir, we had to report on this matter; this is urgent. Please forgive us," said one of the men while both of them prostrated on the ground.
"Tell me what it is that you want to report." The red-eyed man asked as he raised one of his eyebrows. He seemed intrigued; these people had never dared to disobey his orders before, so he was instantly curious.
"The expedition team headed for the retrieval of the Tear of Lumina has been wiped out." One of the men answered while shivering.
"What? How is that possible? There is no possible way that could ever happen. Tssk and here I thought you disturbed me for a good reason. Fuck off if that's all you wanted to say." The old man with red eyes said.
"Si...Sir, they were really wiped out. We have lost an entire fleet of monsters; they were all killed by Maria Vale. She must have been guarding the artifact." One of the men said, a little hesitant to speak at first.
"Huhh? Yeah, if that Valkyrie was the one guarding the artifact, I think it could have been somewhat impossible for them to retrieve the artifact. However, I gave them a special gift before they went out. With that pill with them, you have nothing to worry about." Said the old man confidently.
"Th... That is not the problem, sir, according to the intel that just came in. Dolores Vardane appeared in the city of Blackwater, and she was the one who killed and subdued the team." Said one of the men while prostrating, he didn't dare to lift his face to see the old man in the eyes.
"You mean, a woman who has been dead for a millennium?"