21st Century Archmage

Warning: Heavily implied rape.

I came to the temple, the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy that had been built with golden bricks. I didnt have it built because I adored the Goddess, but because Neran was the deity my goddess Aramis served, and I wanted to give her the best. It was a small recompense for choosing me, who had nothing, and following me through wind and rain.

In the circular apse was a golden cross. She was kneeling with her hands together before the Holy Relic of Neran, offering a devout prayer, so absorbed in whatever she was praying about that she didnt notice I had come in. Falling loose down to her waist, her long, silverish blue hair gleamed under the dim light of the magic lamps that produced the sacred atmosphere permeating the temple with the high vaulted ceiling.

The sight of her was a balm for the mind. Aramis was someone who exuded the warmth of a mothers embrace from her entire body.

“Oh Holy Neran… This feeble servant prays to thee. Please grant Nerman, this garden of the gods, with blessing upon blessing, and permit this land peace. May you show all of the young lambs that thy will is not light, but almighty. This young servant of yours… prays with tears. I beg of thee to not reject my request.”

Aramis sobbed quietly. Her thin shoulders were shaking from her weeping. I felt my heart pang, deeply touched by the feelings of this noble woman who was just as worried about Nermans wellbeing as I was. Her intense wishes plunged into my soul like stars in the sky.

“This servant has another wish… May thy hand of mercy protect that person. May you grant that person the blessing of overcoming all the worlds evils, filth, and envy to guard over thy young lambs in good health.”

‘Aramis…

Aramis was earnestly praying to the gods for my sake. My heart thumped wildly.

“He is the person this young servant loves and respects. I know these are feelings I should not dare to have as thy servant, but… like the love and respect I have towards you, I love him just as much. Oh Holy Neran, you who knows and understands my heart in full… I pray for thy forgiveness and blessing. May you prove with thy strength that love is never a sin.”

When Aramis said that she loved and respected me, I bit hard on my lips. Even without hearing this, I had known how she felt, but this was my first time getting such a passionate confession of love. From what I heard, a priest in the service of God must never get close to the opposite sex. Only priests who revered the Evil God, Kerma, prostrated themselves before the altar of lust. For the priests of the other temples, from the moment they were chosen to the moment they died, they had to live with only God in their eyes.

But Aramis, a priestess the people revered as a saintess, dared to make a request of this nature to God, saying that God knew her love and asking for proof with Gods power for the sake of someone she loved as much as God. She was firm and confident before her love. Even in front of a transcendental being, a deity, Aramis never belittled or concealed her love.

‘For you… I will overcome all adversity, without fail. My beloved woman.

Even before God, an existence that was everything to a priest, my girl wanted to be blessed and did not beg for permission to love. If only to protect her, I absolutely had to surmount the upcoming trial. Because the moment I fell, so too would Aramis love.

‘Poltviran, wait for me. Im coming!

Just in case, I finished the magic array Id been working on with sheer force of will. It was a great castle wall defensive array that the beastmen, territory mages, or prisoner mages couldnt even touch. With that, and my loyal Nerman knights and soldiers, we could definitely endure the onslaught.

‘Huhu…

A cold smile appeared on my lips.

I could never forgive them. I would purge them in the name of love. That was the only way to prove that Aramis love was being blessed in the name of God…

* * *

“AAAAAHHH!”

On some unnamed plains at one of the origins of the Perkone River, in clear view of the Rual Mountains, hundreds of wyverns were dotting the plains. The command had been given, so the soldiers, civilians, and knights of the surrounding territories had prepared supplies like food for the armys comfort in advance.

One tent was located right in the middle. From within the enormous magic tent airlifted from the Imperial Palace, came a womans cry. Silence magic was cast on the tent, so it should be impossible for most screams to be heard, but the womans pain was intense enough to penetrate the spell.

Despite the scream coming from within the tent, the crimson-cloaked Skyknights of the Imperial Guard standing guard in front remained stock still. Their Emperor was essentially unable to sleep if he had no woman on his bed. The Imperial Skyknights were incapable of condemning their lords behavior as dirty or shameful. The master of the empire had more than enough right to do what he wanted with the likes of a countryside nobles daughter.

“Huhuhu…”