This is a multimedia webnovel with giant city-crushing monsters, a valiant man who dares to fight them, a hero who loses himself on a righteous path, and a darkness which conceives a profound love. But I suck at descriptions, so I strongly encourage...
"We're about to meet the girl who handles all the Interfectus predictions. I want you to come with, but you don't have to pay attention. I need to keep relations good with these guys just in case you get yourself killed. You'll never need a forecaster yourself since you have that crazy power," Lazaro explained.
Hatasuko retorted, "I'm not going anywhere."
Lazaro scoffed and knocked upon a door on the right side of the street. After many seconds of hearing papers folding and footsteps rushing, the door opened to reveal a red-haired woman. She had mathematical equations written all over the walls, countless papers, and even her own arms. The papers that littered the floor were simply hand calculations, though she kept the results organized on her desk. There were several maps of Agrideī all around the room, all with countless notes and markers strewn across them.
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Madeline said from the edge of the tempest, "I've decided that you're ready to know a truth known by very few people. Do you remember earlier when I said that I once served the most powerful man in the world?"
Hatasuko was stunned that she could communicate with him while he was awake, but he welcomed this surprise. As the red-haired woman spoke to Lazaro in length about the reasons for her prediction, Hatasuko let himself travel to the edge of the tempest in the depths of his own mind.
"Yes, of course I remember. Is he someone I could somehow meet?"
"I think not. It would be a meaningless visit with a meaningless man. Hatasuko, what exactly do you think about the concept of a god? I know that many people would hate him for letting this happen. Some even believe that he's responsible for the Interfecti – that he unleashed them upon us as a punishment. What do you think?" Madeline asked.
Hatasuko answered, "I'm afraid I never really put any thought into this. I know that some say they can speak to a god or feel his presence, but I've never felt anything but the tempest. I don't know if any god is real. I don't know if he cares about our plight, and I don't even know if he could stop it. Sometimes I want to believe in him because it could validate my destiny in some roundabout way, but I can't say anything with certainty."
The voices and screams in the tempest quickly faded away. Other than the sound of Lazaro speaking to the red-haired woman about her predictions, the world fell completely silent. Hatasuko could not even hear the footsteps of people walking through the streets in the background.
Madeline penetrated the silence and said, "There does exist a god, but he does not live in any other special dimension. The truth is that he actually has a physical body. His name is Caelicola, and he lives in silence at the corner of this world. He sees all things, knows all things, and can transfer himself anywhere at once. He can create or destroy anything in this world. When I was alive, I was his servant until I came to understand that he does not want to intervene. When I got sick of watching people die, I left. As fate would have it, I was killed shortly after in an Interfectus attack. I believe that that happened for a reason; I believe that destiny chose me to enter the tempest so that I can guide you to the path of salvation."
"Come on, Hatasuko, we have to get going," Lazaro declared with a firm voice.
Hatasuko nodded and ran over to the other side of the room. He stepped cautiously to avoid stepping on any papers, though he doubted that the red-haired woman cared about the scratchwork on the floor. She had already returned to her disorganized desk where she sifted through a stack in silence. Lazaro and Hatasuko both stepped out into the luminous streets of Bones City as countless civilians walked by in both directions. When they both stepped into the crowd and began marching west, Hatasuko realized that his mentor carried fewer gold coins than before. This meant that Lazaro had actually paid money for information that was meaningless to him. It was a payment that would only be worth anything if Hatasuko and his Interfectus-finding talent were to disappear.
"But Madeline, what is the path of salvation? Why won't God, or Caelicola or whoever it is, end the nightmare for us? He's omnipotent. You say that he can destroy anything, but I can't even scratch an Interfectus. How am I supposed to save anyone?"
Madeline answered from the edge of the tempest, "Hatasuko, it has to be you. You are the only person who has ever withstood being touched by the darkness. You have a heart strong enough to endure the tempest. No one else in Agrideī can carry the ultimate weapon."
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Hatasuko's conversation came to a temporary end when Lazaro knocked upon the door to another building. This part of Bones City stood on a small hill, and therefore they could stare out over the city as they waited for an answer. Hatasuko narrowed his eyes and gazed over the western horizon as the starlight forced the sea to shimmer. The waves looked small from this distance, but they continuously rolled ashore while glistening from the lights in the sky.
The door finally swung open. A thin man stood in the doorway with an apathetic stare; he did not even seem to care that Lazaro had shown up again for the first time in a long time. The man simply turned and walked toward his desk at the far end of the room. When Hatasuko stepped inside, he realized that this place looked like the red-haired woman's house, though it was significantly more organized. There were papers and calculations everywhere, but the man organized them in piles and stacks.
"What would you like to know?" he disinterestedly asked.
"I need a four-day forecast for Sentia and the whole journey there. I believe I'll take the river to the intersection, follow the next river south, and then we'll row the rest of the way through the ocean," Lazaro said.
"Alright. I don't receive many requests for the weather that far away, so this will take a moment. You can wait here," said the thin, tired man as he stepped into a second room.
Lazaro nodded and took a seat on the couch beside a stack of papers, but Hatasuko did not say anything. He wondered how this man planned to forecast the weather, but his curiosity and attention were then captured by Madeline's words.
He asked, "Madeline, what is the ultimate weapon? What do you mean by that? I don't think I have ever heard that phrase. I was always told that we are hopeless and defenseless."
"I learned everything about it in the days I spent with Caelicola. It is a truth unknown to the human world. Though we cannot see it and we cannot sense it, every person in the world has a unique power that exists in their very core; this power is the essence of the human soul. It has never shown itself in this world because we as people do not possess the right fuel for this power, so it can never present itself. But I will teach you how to create this fuel. I will teach you how to access this power. Hatasuko, are you ready to step onto the path of your own destiny? Are you prepared to shed your humanity and become the first Astrodeus?" she asked.
"Please, Madeline, you must tell me everything! If there is any strength or power that I can use against the demons, I have to know about it!"
"Then keep the door to the tempest open. I will tell you everything as the time draws near."
[[Please note that this upload is much shorter than usual. There is still one more part to this chapter, it will be up soon. The next part is much longer than usual. It was just the easiest way to cut up the chapter]]
