"The stars are aligned. The time has come. The Core awaits us, Johnathan Colt Westerling."
Proclaimed a voice that Sylvester had long forgotten, causing his heart to skip a beat.
A memory from a time he cherished and wished to forget flooded Sylvester's mind at the mention of the name. His first thought was that she might have come from Earth as well, but he quickly dismissed it, as he had lived most of his life as an agent. Unless she was in close contact with him, there was no way she could know his name.
"How do you know that name?" he asked her, while keeping his body ready to strike.
The girl monotonously answered while looking towards the sky, "He speaks to me. He sees the past and the future. He sees realms both this and others. He knows all, when one shall rise and fall."
"What?" Sylvester confusedly blurted.
The older man chimed in, "Kimino has been blessed by the God, dear Apostle of Solis. She has seen you in her cryptic dreams, your past and the future. We come here not to save you but to guide you to the Core Temple, for that is our heavenly duty."
Sylvester stared at the girl's face, sensing no emotions from her. She spoke cryptically as well.
"Where are her parents?" He asked.
"They and all our people were killed by cannibals. She is my granddaughter, and we are the last of Moonwatchers," Hozin answered. "Kimino was one year old when the cryptic dreams began to show. They hindered her ability to do day-to-day tasks and live a normal life. For that, she was exiled at the age of two, and I joined to care for her."
Sylvester moved closer to Kimino and sat down. "Can you tell me more about your dreams? And why do you wish to take me to the Core Temple?"
"I must. God ordered. Answers for Apostle," she replied in short sentences and pauses.
'From my experience after living in this world for nineteen years, I should definitely follow her. But what about Xavia? What if she kills herself in hopelessness?' Sylvester pondered.
"The Core Temple holds Elder magic. Apostle learns. Talk to Mother," Kimino said, as if she knew what Sylvester was thinking.
"Will I become the Pope soon?" Sylvester asked her jokingly. "Will I unite the two continents?"
After a few seconds of silence, the girl responded, "Yes. Yes."
"..."
'I didn't expect her to answer me.'
He patted her head and apologized, surprisingly. "Forgive me for ruining your life. Whoever sits up there has a knack for ruining lives for the 'greater purpose.' If what you say is the truth, then lead the way. However, I have a request."
Sylvester stood up on one leg and looked at the older man. "I demand that you lead me to all the Cannibal camps you are aware of. I can no longer tolerate their filthy presence on these lands."
'Not while I'm destined to rule them in the future,'
Hozin responded to him quickly. "They are scattered throughout our journey, Apostle. Our path will be long and arduous. This place is called the First Camp, used as a base for Cannibal attacks on your kingdoms. But, first, we must head south on the elevated plateau along East Cliff as we cannot climb down the western cliff onto the middle of the desert.
"From the south, we will enter the Death Sea and navigate our way to the north through a volcano, Tribulation Path, and arrive at the Core Temple. If we move quickly, the journey will take six months."
As there was no known map of the Divine Desert in the Holy Land, Sylvester let the Moonwatchers be his guides.
"Let's do that. But first, Chonky, give me a block of wood." Sylvester requested from Miraj, who flew above their heads and meowed in delight.
"Got it."
Thud!
Miraj threw up a thick and big log of tree from his mouth.
Sylvester cut the log into pieces to make an elbow crutch for himself. Although he felt the loss of his leg heavily, he tried to remain positive, believing that a solution would present itself eventually.
"Let's go, then." He adjusted the crutch on his arm and prepared to walk. Thankfully, they did not have to carry heavy luggage, as Miraj took care of that.
"Bring her." Kimono pointed at the back, where little Xylena was resting on the sand, sleeping soundly after God knew how long.
"Is she significant to my future?" Sylvester inquired, recalling Solis's words from their first meeting about her being the key to his destiny.
Kimono nodded. "She is path to your destiny."
'I wouldn't expect anything less after seeing her vision for almost two decades,' Sylvester murmured to himself as he went to wake her up from her slumber. Xylena had curled herself into a ball and hugged a sheet of cloth while sleeping.
Seeing her face, Sylvester remembered his own childhood as an orphan. Furthermore, he understood that out there in the rotten world, there were many more kids facing a much worse fate than even Xylena. And no matter how much they'd shout, no help would ever come.
'I hope my legacy will correct that.'
"Let's go," he said.
Rather than waking Xylena, he tied her on his back with the cloth sheet so she could continue sleeping. She was in such a deep slumber that she barely stirred, apart from a few mumbling sounds.
"Apostle, I can hold her." Hozin offered.
Sylvester quickly refused. "After what she has been through, I can imagine that she would be frightened if she woke up in the arms of an unknown man. Let her be. I don't even feel her weight."
After all, he was still a man with the body of a Diamond Knight. At most, he only had a slight limp from not being used to walking with a crutch.
"Lead the way, please."
"Weee...look at me!" Miraj flew around, meowing.
"Miraj! Stop flying around and land on my shoulder. I don't want you captured by some giant eagle or such!" Sylvester scolded him.
"Maxy! You don't get it! I AM THE EAGLE!"
Woosh!
Miraj attempted to swoop down at Sylvester like an eagle. However, his chunky build made it impossible for him to be as agile as an eagle. His body lacked the necessary aerodynamics and flexibility.
Thud!
Miraj fell face-first onto the soft sand, embarrassing himself in front of the only other human who could see him.
"I'll sit down," mumbled Miraj, quickly jumping onto Sylvester's shoulder. "I intended to do that."
"Sure, buddy."
…
Following that, in the middle of the night, their long journey began. It was an unusual route as they were situated in the northernmost region of the Divine Desert. Still, since they were on a steep cliff-like elevation, they had to walk to the extreme south to descend onto the real middle desert.
There were no trees or mountains, only dry, rugged terrain. On top of that, they could only travel at night because during daylight hours, they had to take refuge in a cave to avoid the skin-melting heat.
Fortunately for Sylvester, that heat meant more solarium, resulting in a full recovery of Solarium Reserves. With that, they didn't have to worry about water or shelter.
Hozin, the old man, also possessed some magic, but it was primarily limited to strange runes that were not elemental in nature, preventing him from conjuring water. Meanwhile, Kimino was simply the living, breathing map.
"Have either of you ever left the Divine Desert?" he asked them while they waited in a chilly cave they had constructed.
"We couldn't even if we wanted to. The only exit out of the Divine Desert was seized by the First Camp, which you burned down. Nor did we have the desire to leave since the dreams Kimino saw predicted your arrival here years ago," Hozin replied as he cooked some meat on the charcoal fire.
Sylvester marveled at their ability to survive in such extreme conditions. "You would have been awed by the Holy Land. Can you tell me about the Moonwatchers? How did you acquire this name? How are you distinct from the cannibals?"
"Once, there was also us," Hozin began. "We were all referred to as Moonwatchers before some of us transformed into cannibals and chose a different god. Our presence on this desert land predates the birth of your Faith of Solis by thousands of years. According to the stories, this was not a desert back then, but a lush green tropical and isolated land. We thrived here as a civilization, but then things began to change."
"Are you familiar with the Faith of Luna? I found ruins in the East where people used to worship the Moon Goddess Luna," Sylvester inquired.
Hozin shook his head. "If they worshiped the moon, they were probably like us. However, I am unfamiliar with the Faith of Luna. Apostle, your Faith of Solis isn't the first religion to emerge in this world either. The world had a history before that, one that we have forgotten."
'Exactly!' Sylvester concurred with that statement. 'I did not come across a single reference to any history preceding the Faith of Solis in the Holy Land or any other library. What was the world like before? Why hide such details?'
"One day you will learn. Truth is out there." Kimono suddenly spoke. "It is your fate."
Sylvester stared at the girl's blank face, amazed that she knew his future without any personal connection. However, a few interesting queries emerged in his heart that he wanted to ask.
"Have you seen all my life? Even my death?"
She nodded quickly. "You will die wh—"
"Stop! Don't tell me that," Sylvester interrupted her hastily. "It is dangerous to know about one's own death. Forget my question, here, eat this."
He handed her a small candy from Miraj's stash. She had never tasted something sweet in her life, so finally seeing a change of expression was much welcome.
Just like that, Sylvester strategically forged a connection with the man and girl, attempting to discover more about them and their motivations.
As for Xylena, she rarely awakened from her slumber during the travel. So Sylvester carried her throughout the entire journey. It was a tiresome and tedious trek with little to do. So he also trained himself from time to time.
It was a three-month-long journey before they finally reached the southern edge of the Divine Desert, from where they descended onto the actual desert terrain with yellow sand.
"That is the guide tower!" Hozin pointed to a distant stone tower on the horizon, casting a lengthy shadow towards the northwest. "Only at a specific time of the day does its shadow indicate the true direction one must take. But, we do not require the shadow to cross the Death Sea."
"Death Sea?" Sylvester felt alert. "Why is it named that?"
"Because Dragon Snakes inhabit this vast desert expanse. They are colossal beasts, hundreds of meters long, concealed beneath the sand. They are attracted to heartbeats. So people living here learn to regulate their heartbeats to traverse this land." Hozin explained proudly. "There are hundreds of them, and they are the reason why it is nearly impossible for most to reach the Core Temple."
Sylvester took a long warm breath. "How strong are they?"
"In your terms, each one is at least comparable to a Grand Wizard level five."
"..."
Hozin was not finished, however. "We will be riding one of them!"
