The Cardinal of Sin

Prologue

"It's still unconscious."

"Of course it is. Don't worry, the [Constraint of Umbra] will hold."

The human looked over at the prisoner. It was, as mentioned, unconscious and strapped across the saddle of one of the spare horses. It was small. It was dressed in white clothing with a red scaled undershirt. It barely looked like it needed to be contained. Face down it looked almost like a human child, except for its ears. They were long and pointed.

It was not human. It was a dark elf.

That's why there were shackles secured around its wrists. They were not iron shackles. They were almost beautiful, nearly delicate. Filigree work traced its way over the material. No one in the Slane Theocracy knew what the material was. No spell and no metallurgist could identify it. Not that it mattered. It was one of the treasures. An artefact left to them by the Six Gods. Despite being six hundred years old, the shackles were immensely powerful. They could subdue any creature.

They were not one of the greater artefacts. Those had other arcane abilities. The shackles, the [Constraint of Umbra] were functional.

"I think I should worry!" Midge Hunnisett said softly, careful not to be heard by too many of those riding with them. The [Constraint of Umbra] cut all stats by seventy five percent. It was them which was keeping the elf restrained, not anything else.

"The dragon was a pain," Kaan Utkin admitted, not caring about discretion.

Durk Esser snorted. "If the Black Scripture's Extra Seat hadn't loaned us these artefacts we wouldn't be here."

"Yeah, but we are," Kaan pointed out, brandishing an oddly shaped spear.

The Treasury Guard hadn't loaned them any of the High Artefacts. Those were not allowed to be used unless you were Godkin, or had the authority from the Cardinals and were extremely lucky. Not all the High Artefacts would work for everyone, and even if they did, what was the point of putting some of them in the hands of relative weaklings? Their effects were negligible then. But she had loaned them some of the lesser Artefacts and in some ways, those were more useful. The High Artefacts had too many conditions on them. They were costly to use. These Lesser Artefacts were more suited for every day usage.

The spear, [Frysta Javelin] had been used to bring the dragon down, shooting it out of the sky. The Windflower Scripture had then swarmed the beast. They all had their assigned tasks. Several had put it down, hacking at its throat with huge axes in an effort to ensure that it did not get up. It was not their usual play. They were usually far more discreet when they gathered information.

"We need the information this little pest has," Durk nodded to Kaan Utkin.

They both looked at the dark elf. It seemed so innocent. So small. They knew it wasn't. One of their spies in the Empire had reported on events that had somewhat lead to the battle of Katze Plain. This elf was one of the Sorcerous Kingdom's emissaries. It was far stronger than it looked. And it had to have information.

"How did it come to this?" Midge asked.

It was a rhetorical question. They knew how this had happened.

Ainz Ooal Gown. Such a being should not exist. The Undead tipped all the carefully wrought balances.

"What was that moron Jircniv thinking?" Durk Esser spat. It might seem out of place for a mere citizen of a neighbouring country to speak of the Emperor so, but the Scriptures were not mere citizens and the Windflower Scripture had access to far more information than other citizens. To them, the Emperor seemed to be just the first domino.

The Empire officially bowed to the Sorcerous Kingdom. The Re-Estize Kingdom didn't but anyone who could rub two brain cells together knew it was simply a matter of time. Even those without brain cells knew! They had been weakened by generations of war against the Empire and with the battle of Katze Plains... The Sorcerous Kingdom had not made a move towards Re-Estize. It didn't have too. All it needed to do was wait.