While Sol was reminiscing back to the steps that he took until now and thus reaffirming his will to stride forward without stopping in his path, Camelia was facing a very important question of her own.
To bleed or not to bleed?
She was currently deep in the entrails of the church, standing in front of the magic circle she used to activate the Saint Fall ceremony for beloved.
Thinking about it now, it had only been less than two months from her perspective. So many things had happened in such a short amount of time that it was mindboggling. It reminded her of the time of war, back during the time of Mars’ reign, when every moment was precious as it could be their very last.
The day before, she had received a piece of disturbing news from the shadows under Milia’s order. Sol needed to face the goddesses once more in order to obtain absolute permission for healing Lilith.
If she had the choice to speak out her thoughts on the matter then she would have told Sol to act first and apologize later. But as the one doing the healing just so happened to be a divine beast, Camelia understood that they could not move carelessly and do as they pleased.
So now came the existential question. Whether to bleed or not.
The blood she had used for her ritual was not just blood of purity but one that was fused with divine power purified to the maximum limit possible.
Camelia had already paid a heavy price by using the <<Saint Fall>> ceremony to help Sol. Of course, the price had been worth it in the end. As Sol was able to obtain so many advantages that would surely smoothen his path ahead.
But the catch here was that…she had also used her divine blood to activate the <<Holy Territory>> not long after during the widescale attack caused by WoF. A territory strong enough to even resist Lilith’s slashing power at full capacity. In order to create such a territory, the price she had to pay was quite heavy and as a result, she had been quite weakened for a while already.
Now, if she were to shed blood once more then….
‘Am I already being targeted?’
She sighed. Her luck had certainly dwindled quite a bit due to her using her powers extensively and now with Aurora appearing, Camelia did not know how much longer she had to live and tread on the mortal realm.
“Why I am even worrying so much?”
She sighed ruefully. She had one easy solution to this. After all, spells like <<Saint Fall>> and <<Holy Territory>> were never meant to be used by only one person.
They needed the support of both a Supreme Daughter and a Holy Daughter as well as many believers to fully enact the spell in a safe procedure that would allow the spells to achieve their maximum capacity.
If back then, during the attack on Lustburg, she had all those ingredients in hand, then not even Nihil could have broken that barrier so easily.
So right now, the solution was pretty simple. Go fetch Aurora and ask her for help in enacting the ritual.
If so then why was she hesitating so much?
The answer was also plain and simple as the solution itself. She simply did not wish to increase the influence Aurora held in the church before she had become absolutely certain about her moral standards and where her loyalty and aspirations lay.
Camelia was not easily jealous. She wished for Sol to amass as much power as possible even if it meant that she would not be there by his side to witness the scene, She just wanted her beloved to be safe and happy. That’s all.
Camelia did not particularly care about the power of the church either. She had slowly and masterfully indoctrinated most of the current nuns and all of them held a certain feeling of loyalty and love for Sol. Enough that they would never think of going against him unless they were thoroughly rewired by external means.
At the very least, there would be no problem for the next two or three generations of the church. That was her belief.
If only Aurora had been a good and simple girl, Camelia would have been happy as it would mean an additional ally for Sol in his endeavors ahead. But now she was beginning to wonder just what was the girl’s goals.
Aurora was not a normal girl. That much was certain at this point.
From what she knew. The girl called Aurora had to have fallen asleep years ago when she was merely a child.
Even though the years went past and her body continued to grow, her mind should have stayed stuck in her childlike mentally.
This was the norm for patients in a coma. The girl should have possessed a child’s mind in an adult’s body. Someone with basically no experience and without a clue of the real world and how it worked.
But that was not the case for that child— the girl named Aurora. Soon after she woke up, she was already working ceaselessly on rising through the ranks and trying to control the church on her palms. Moving with no hesitation nor confusion and even leading a mass.
She also seemed to exhibit a suspicious level of attachment and attraction toward Sol even though they had never met before in their life. She was fully certain about that fact, having done enough investigations beforehand.
‘Is she able to see Souls like me?’
Camelia pondered on that thought for a while. She had already observed that the girl could use something akin to the same mind manipulation skill as her. From what she had observed, the effect seemed quite weak overall. At least from what she showed till now that seemed to be the case. After all, Camelia had been able to make an entire village love her and used her will to force tens of bandits to die with a smile on their faces even at the time when she had no idea about her powers. [1]
Either way, it wasn’t impossible for Aurora to have the same set of powers as her. But even so, she doubted that it would change anything in the long run.
The reason she was more focused on Souls than anything else was due to the fact she had been blind from her birth until the day of her awakening as the then Holy Daughter of the church. Because of this, even though she had obtained sight and could see the real world in all its shapes and colors, she still found the world of the heart all the more beautiful.
Without her background story, it would be hard to develop the same kind of feelings for an individual.
‘Does she want power that much?’
Camelia began to walk towards the door. So many questions. So many uncertainties. All of this could only be resolved by taking the first step in the right direction.
“Call Aurora.”
She immediately sent her orders and began to wait.
She was so used to living in a world of intrigue and conspiracy that she had forgotten one simple fact.
If she was curious… Then she just had to ask.
Nothing more, nothing less…
It did not take long for Aurora to come down and join her. Even though they had a slightly antagonistic relationship, the vertical relation of power between them was absolute and Aurora could not really defy the order of the Supreme Daughter.
Not that she had any intentions to do so in the first place.
“Good morning, I hope the goddesses will grace us with a beautiful day.”
Aurora bowed gently and observed her surroundings with the corners of her eyes.
“He is not here yet.”
“Oh…”
Aurora let out a short exclamation of disappointment before nodding, “May I know why I was called suddenly. I was preparing for the mass.”
The reasons she had come so fast was because she had expected Sol to be present. But since he wasn’t, she was rapidly losing interest in staying here longer than necessary.
This place was completely under Camelia’s control. No different than a demigod in its territory in a certain way. Though, even without that, Camelia could smash her completely with no problem.
No one would like being alone in front of a beast that could tear you apart in an instant.
“Today you will help in beginning a ritual—”
“I—”
“It’s for Sol.”
Aurora closed her mouth and pondered a little before taking a step back, “What do I need to do?”
Camelia narrowed her eyes. As she thought, this girl was hiding something.
“Before we begin, I have a simple question and I hope that you will give me an answer.”
Aurora tilted her head, wondering what Camelia would ask. But the questions, in the end, surprised her.
“Are you really Aurora?”
[1]: Take a look at Camelia Interlude.
(AN: Introduction of a new small arc. Welp be ready.)
