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The once magnificent and sacred temple was now a hellish inferno. It burned to the ground overnight, painting the night sky an apocalyptic red color. On the summit, the ethereal crystal palace crumbled. Its walls shattered into tiny pieces like a broken mirror.
Not a single soul survived. Burned into ashes along with the temple was its master.
It was the only passage that mentioned the head priest, the master of the Temple of Helios. He never made an appearance nor his name was mentioned in the novel.
But when I was drowning myself with books back in Hutchrene, I happened to read something about the Temple of Helios in one of the Sunnivan history books.
The temple was as old as the empire itself. That section of the book gave too much emphasis on the name Maellan that it was impossible to go unnoticed.
Before Maellan became the head priest, he was first the head magician of the empire back when it was still a small kingdom. He founded the temple the moment he started hearing god's voice. He was blessed with an infinite amount of divine power and it allowed him to fight alongside the first emperor of Sunniva.
After the establishment of the empire, he assisted the emperor in its expansion, conquering the entire continent. His name went down in history as the most powerful magician.
However, once the empire obtained peace, he secluded himself in the mountains where he built his temple, never to be seen again. The temple continued its relationship with the empire, but the head priest never showed himself in public. It was during the 7th emperor's reign when the temple finally took its hands off from political affairs.
The temple of Helios remained as a place of worship and welcomed every citizen. They've been delivering oracles and have constantly offered divine protection for the empire.
The temple flourished however its master was slowly being forgotten.
Maellan grinned, feeling satisfied to see the surprise on my face. “Ring a bell?”
I blinked and felt myself shrunk.
In this world, anyone can help me kick the bucket. But there's one certain person that I can't afford to offend and that's Alaric. Now, the list has a new addition.
And it's this smiling pretty man in front of me that seemed completely harmless. This person is a myth. He was written in various Sunnivan history books and his name was passed down like folklore.
No one, even the imperial family or the oldest families in the empire, knew that he was still alive.
Yet he was standing in front of me. A living myth that could easily take my life with a snap of his fingers.
I cleared my throat. “My apologies.”
He touched his chin while raising a brow. “I was expecting that it'd take you a while to recover from the surprise. You composed yourself surprisingly fast.”
He stared at me for a moment and I tilted my head in another direction to avoid his gaze.
He shrugged. “I guess I no longer hold as much influence as I did before.”
Anyone would have a hard time composing themselves once they saw a legendary figure like Maellan. It's just that I already knew he was still alive when I read the novel and I already expected various deviants to appear out of nowhere.
I am different from the rest of the people in this world.
“Anyway, you don't need to apologize. Continue being rude,” he said before turning his back. “Follow me.”
YOU ARE READING
Henrietta's Self-saving
Fantasy[CURRENTLY UNDERGOING MINOR REVISION] Life for Dianna Cruz was dull and repetitive. The only thing that kept her going was her job as a military officer. Everyday she would wake up, eat, work, and sleep. But her life took a different turn when after...
