Chapter 12: Zorea, Goddess Of Healing
By the time it was 10 PM, we were in front of the church. Just as I was about to go inside, a priest stopped us.
"If you wish to speak with the goddess, you must be alone inside the church. No one else is allowed—not even a priest."
My brother turned to me.
"Go, Andre. This time, you're on your own."
The moment I stepped through the door, it closed behind me. I walked toward the goddess's altar, but I felt a powerful mana pressing down on me—it was at least as strong as my brother's.
I tried to activate my own mana to shield myself. I couldn't say I was successful, but even though the pressure didn't ease, I still managed to reach the altar.
I placed Elro's dagger on it as an offering and made my request.
"I wish to speak with the great goddess Zorea."
The dagger disappeared from the altar. That meant Goddess Zorea had accepted my request.
I withdrew my mana and waited for her.
Two minutes later, a beam of light shone down on me from the highest stained glass window in the church.
Then I heard a soft voice.
"To call upon me, you must have a wound or illness no healer can cure."
"G-Goddess Zorea…"
It was the first time in my life I had spoken to a god. She had long green hair, green eyes, and skin as white as snow. She wore a pure white dress.
"Yes, child. I am Zorea. Now, tell me your trouble."
"S-soul fracture. I can't feel my legs."
"I see… If you could remove your limits, you must be either a Verblade or a Ster Estrella."
"I'm from the Verblade family. My name is Andreas Van Verblade."
"Verblade, is it? Does Cauron know about your condition?"
"No. We chose to come to you without telling him. He's…unpredictable."
"You did the right thing. I've watched all the lords since they were born—Cauron is utterly mad. The things he has done are unforgivable. If Alshvar allowed me to intervene in this world…"
"My father? What did he do?"
"It is too soon to tell you that, child. If we meet again after you pass the Verblade trial, I will explain everything. For now, allow me to heal your legs."
She reached her hand toward my legs. A light began to glow from her palm.
When she touched my legs with it, I could finally feel them again.
"Forgive me for this…" she whispered, placing her hand on my face.
A light flashed, and I felt my eyes closing.
The last thing I heard was:
"This will protect you from the Verblade family for a time. When the moment comes, find the Shadow, child of prophecy. Learn the truth of the Verblade past, and make your choice."
The goddess must have put me to sleep for a short while, because I woke up in the morning. But I felt different—as if my body had grown stronger.
I immediately got out of bed and went to find my brother.
"Can you try hitting my hand with your aura?"
"Andre, you just woke up and now you're asking me to hit your hand?"
"Just try it, please."
"All right—but don't pass out again."
He activated his aura, shaping it into a regular sword, and struck my hand. But there were only scratches.
My brother looked shocked.
"How is this possible!? My aura is strong enough to destroy a castle in a single strike, but it only left scratches on your hand!"
I guessed this was what Goddess Zorea meant when she said, "This will protect you from the Verblade family for a time." She had given me a blessing. My body was like steel.
If I could withstand my brother's aura, I could withstand anything.
Well, he had only touched me with his aura, but still—even that was enough for him to dominate an entire battlefield.
"This is a gift from Goddess Zorea. After healing me, she put her hand on my face and said it would protect me from the Verblade family for a while. I think it's something similar to Kuon's power."
My brother's eyes went wide. He tried to speak, but he was so stunned no words came out.
"Y-you actually met a goddess face to face!? And she gave you a blessing!?"
"Didn't I have to meet the goddess to heal my legs anyway? About the blessing—when I told her I was a Verblade, she spoke badly of my father, but she also said it was too early to explain everything."
"Andre, you didn't need to meet her in person to heal your legs. Just placing an offering on the altar would have been enough. A light would have shone down through the central window and blessed your body. Any wound, disease, or fracture would have been healed. But…the goddess accepted you personally. What else did she say? Tell me everything."
I described everything that had happened inside the church and repeated all the words the goddess had spoken.
"B-By Alshvar himself… This is impossible. Even if you are the child of prophecy, it shouldn't be possible. Andre, is it possible that your soul comes from another realm? Could you actually be a god of war?"
I was scared—he seemed like he might have figured something out. But then he shook his head.
"No…that's impossible. A summoning ritual brings the whole being into this world—it can't just transfer the soul. It's impossible."
It sounded like my brother was contradicting himself.
"Hey, if I were a god, do you really think I would have struggled so much to kill Elro?"
"You're right… Blessed talent, child of prophecy… In the future, everything will be up to your choices, Andre. From now on, think carefully about your decisions. Choose your allies wisely. My advice is that, since your talent in magic is stronger than your swordsmanship, you could go to the Ster Estrella family."
"Ster Estrella? Do you know anyone there?"
"Yes… Someone with the same rank as me. If we fought, I could beat him thanks to Verblade techniques, but it would cost me dearly. I probably wouldn't be able to use mana or aura ever again."
"He's that strong? If he's the same rank as you, he must be the army commander of the Ster Estrella Empire."
"That's right. And he's also the eldest son of his dynasty—like me."
"So…you've met him?"
"I'd be grateful if you didn't tell Father about that."
"Why is Father so strict about everything anyway? Is there some special reason he takes enmity so seriously?"
"No. He just craves absolute power. He believes he should rule the entire continent. The only person who could rival him is the current Emperor of Ster Estrella, Orion Van Ster Estrella. With his power, he could create an entire new continent—but doing so might kill him."
These people…what kind of power was this? Even as emperors, one could create a continent and the other could destroy them.
Now I understood why they were the two most powerful empires…