Chapter 16 - Barbas

Chapter 16

"Behold the Glimmering One, the Dark Lady who dwells in the Overground.

The Bringer of Life, yet Unholy Matron of Yore.

The Crimson Queen of Chaos.

Loveless and Unsung, she is.

- Omicron Scroll."

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"What is this?"

Reve read the scroll again but still couldn't get over the feeling. There was something wrong here.

"I thought the scrolls contained a deep secret of ultimate power. Is this the ultimate power?"

He wondered what was more strange; the fact that it contained the epithets of a hidden entity or the fact that he actually knew this illustrious being.

" 'The Crimson Queen of Chaos'... that is a dead giveaway. It is Tiamat and the drawing, that's the avatar of the Dark Lady." Reve mentioned, frowning.

In the Dark Era of Arcadia, the queen of the titans, Tiamat, was wronged by a group of beings. That which was close to her heart was stolen and a great fury possessed her. She swore to exact vengeance on the world for protecting the sinners, eventually starting the Annihilation Wars that almost destroyed Arcadia and Earth.

But why would Apollyon write a series of epithets of Tiamat? It was almost like he was hinting that she was the secret.

'Well, she is not well known. Even people that are familiar with the existence of titans don't know about her. So, is this what the Apollyonian Codex is all about?'

Perhaps, the ultimate secret was a network of hidden entities he could learn about. He needed to check the other scrolls for further confirmation.

As he inspected the scroll, Calen banged on the door. "Open it!"

Reve sighed, already expecting this, and went for the door. There was no need to hide the scroll from Calen since the latter might have more information on the topic.

Just as he opened the door, Ren called out to them down the hall, so Reve left the door open for her.

Calen worked into the room, smiling as he spotted the scroll, "What is this I see? I knew it! You opened the box. Let's see what you found."

He dashed towards the scroll and picked it up.

Immediately, a frown etched on his face. "What the fuck is this?"

Reve chuckled, "Arcadish… Ancient Arcadish."

"I take it you have deciphered the scroll," Ren said as soon as she entered.

"Not entirely. I have only translated the main text." Reve replied.

Calen couldn't hide his excitement and said, "What did you find?"

Reve pointed at the depiction of the Dark Lady and told them about the series of epithets.

Reve sighed. "It doesn't make any sense. Well, I suppose it does, from another perspective. The Crimson Creed wanted it because it was related to their patrons. But why is it such?"

Calen smiled. "Well, the ancient mages did say it contained knowledge, just not what knowledge."

Ren pointed at the lower part of the scroll, "What about this part? What does it say?"

Reve took the scroll from her hand and said, "I think it is a mention of a devil."

He recited the text, "Behold the devil Barbas, son of the Great Devil Barbatos… This is an introduction to Barbas with his sigil. Apollyon mentioned a lot about him and his characteristics."

He flipped the scroll over and found two symbols etched on it.

"The Pact of the Infernal Truthsayer and the Rite of Aeons. I think I understand… these are rituals."

Reve was familiar with rituals. In fact, he had once studied ritualist magic in a magic school for three years.

So, he knew these rituals were summoning rituals. They were arts used to communicate with outsiders, and the instructions were written down in the scroll.

"Might this be the ultimate secret?" Calen quipped.

Reve shook his head. "Unlikely. Maybe there was never an ultimate secret. I mean, that was a story from before the Industrial Era. People back then lived in make-believe."

He recited every detail mentioned about these two rituals.

The Pact of the Infernal Truthsayer was a divination ritual.

The devil Barbas had lived in both the past and future. He knew every hidden treasure concealed. If asked questions under the ritual, he would be compelled to answer... for the price of an internal organ or more.

Ren said, "Ooooh, that sounds spooky. What's next, 'Beware the devil's truth for it kill more than the blade'."

Reve looked at her and quipped, saying, "As a matter of fact, it mentioned something like that."

While he didn't know much about devils, he knew enough to never trust them. He didn't need the scroll to tell him that.

Calen asked, "What about the other one?"

"The Rite of Aeons… it actually seems nice."

The Rite of Aeons was a ceremony that granted the caster to enter an unknown realm known as the Amaranthine Sea. It wasn't mentioned what the purpose of this realm was.

"But unlike the other ritual, this one needs a sack of stardust. I don't think we can get it right now.."

Calen said, "Stardust… that is really rare."

Ren mentioned, "None of these rituals seem diabolic. I don't think–"

"I never took you for a softie. As for me, I have so many questions for Brother Barbas."

Ren looked at Reve meaningfully.

Reve understood her apprehension. But he wasn't bothered by the act of paying the devil with an internal organ.

He said to Calen, "Can you get it? Don't draw attention to ourselves."

Just like Calen, he didn't care about others and had a lot of questions he needed answered.

"Yeah, I can do that. You don't need to ask." Calen chuckled and left the room instantly.

Reve said to Ren. "We all have burning questions. I will do anything to have mine answered. What about you?"

"But killing someone?"

"I don't care about the cost. Think about it, if you could have the answers to why your family was massacred, how far would you be willing to go to get them? It's not like anyone in Ghostbay is beyond killing."