Chapter 156 Greeting

At the headquarters of the Church of Light, on the planet of Eneron, an elderly Shade could be seen sitting peacefully in a large garden. Resplendent plants of all types grew from the earth in this garden, beautiful roses that gave off pink Auras to glowing tulips that dripped sunlight, to an even larger assortment of wonders.

This elderly man, wearing a long white gown with the insignia of the Church of Light on it, looked around at the beautiful garden, a look of pure bliss on his face as he smiled.

"Inner peace…" He mumbled, his eyes closing as he entered a meditative stance. The elderly man took a deep breath, causing the air around him to shiver with force. This sheer display of physical power, the ability to cause a minor storm simply by taking a breath, made it apparent that the physical body of this elderly man was at a ridiculous level.

The wind buffeted the various plants, but for the most part, was unable to damage them. All of them were quite unusual specimens and extremely resistant to physical attacks or blows.

As the wind shivered, however, a single petal from one of the glowing roses slipped off, fluttering through the air. This petal eventually floated until it was right in front of the elderly man.

He took a second deep breath, this time breathing through his nose.

The rose petal shot upward, right into his nose.

"ARRRGH!" The elderly man let out a hoarse yell as he quickly exhaled, sending the rose petal fluttering back out. A second wind storm formed as he opened his eyes and sputtered, glaring at the offending petal and rose.

"How dare you! Traitorous Heaven's Blush Rose! Offend this Shade again and you shall be beheaded at dawn!" The elderly man sputtered at the rose and patted his chest as he looked at it angrily, and slightly hurt, as if it had betrayed him. As he spoke, a heaven shaking Aura burst forth around him, full of ancient power and might.

The rose, not unexpectedly, ignored the elderly man and the powerful Aura that the offended Shade unleashed.

"Excelsior Gamin! Excelsior Gamin!" Before the elderly Shade could take further action, an armor-clad Shade burst into the garden area, from a path that led to the enclosure.

"What?!" Excelsior Gamin, one of the three mighty Excelsiors of the Church of Light, powerful generals that were second only to the High Priest himself, turned to look at the armored Shade in an irritated manner.

"I beg your pardon, Holy Excelsior, for the interruption." The armored Shade wore a full set of white plate-armor, save for a helmet which he held in his hands, and had a courageous air about him. He dropped to one knee as he looked at the powerful elderly Shade, however, his voice full of passion as he continued,

"A matter has arisen that requires your intention. Bishop Hamon of the Ripple sent me to report to you."

Gamin looked at the armored Shade expectantly. From the armor he wore, Gamin could tell that the Shade was a Captain in the Church Guard, the planetary fighting force that defended the headquarters of the Church of Light.

The armored Shade didn't continue, as if waiting for orders or a response.

"Well spit it out, dammit man! Don't you know how old I am?! I could die before you finish reporting!" Gamin glared at the armored Shade, shaking an elderly fist.

The Captain visibly withered as he heard this, his voice shooting out rapid-fire as he quickly made his report.

"One of the Wizard teams sweeping the Eastern Worlds for Vampires has encountered an unordinary situation on the planet of Plantera and is requesting advice. After hearing of the situation, Bishop Hamon was unable to determine a response and has asked that the matter be decided upon by thineself."

"Oh?" Gamin's eyes lit up as he heard this.

"The planet of Plantera? Why, many of my plants here are from that World. Truly a unique World in its own right, with all of its wildlife." Gamin smiled.

"Uh, yes sir." The Captain responded, stumbling over his words slightly and pausing.

Gamin's smile turned into a frown and he glared daggers at the other Shade, gesturing for him to quickly continue.

The Shade Captain quickly continued,

"The, uh-, the situation was as follows. Two Lord Class Wizards, Gavin and Patricia, have discovered a Vampire within the city of Fort Sutner. However, upon closer examination, the readings appear to have come from the wife of a relatively new hero arising from the populace, a powerful Shade Swordmaster." The Shade Captain wiped a sheen of sweat off his forehead as he continued,

"The Shade, a Lord Class warrior by the name of Inigo Montoya, showed incredible skill and is on a heroic journey to heal his wife." He paused for a moment as he frowned slightly and continued,

"She apparently suffered from serious injuries to the soul. His mission involves him traveling to the Demon Race's Ruins on Moria to vanquish the Demons there and take their treasures, to help find a cure for his wife."

Gamin looked intensely at the Shade Captain. He folded his hands together, his face scrunched up as he contemplated what the Captain said.

"To vanquish the Demons? Didn't they already get vanquished once? How many times can you even vanquish a Race… That seems like it would give pretty bad diminishing returns… Young folk these days…" He shook his head sadly, as if disappointed in the youth of today,

"A question, I have." Gamin spoke authoritatively, as if his words had immense importance.

"Yes, Excelsior!" The Captain bowed as he replied, his body shivering. To be able to help one of the legendary Holy Excelsiors… what Captain wouldn't jump at this opportunity?!

"One of the Wizards you mentioned as part of that group, you said his name was Gavin?" The Holy Excelsior continued, his eyes flashing.

"Yes sir!" The Captain banged on his chest, a fire in his eyes.

"Interesting…" Gamin looked down at his hands, a frown appearing on his face.

A quiet pause ensued.

The Captain looked at the Excelsior expectantly.

The pause stretched on for roughly 15 minutes.

At that point, confusion, worry, and unease filled the Captain's eyes as he could no longer contain himself. He spoke up,

"Excelsior… Do you know that Wizard? Is he a threat? Do I need to alert the Bishops? Perhaps one of the Axios Teams are within the headquarters presently!" The Shade Captain spoke with fervor, his entire body shivering.

Gamin looked up,

"No, no. It's fine." He shook his head and sighed,

"The problem is much worse than that. They cannot solve it." He rested his face in his hands, a tone of defeat entering his voice.

Tears appeared in the Captain's eyes. Alongside that, fierce determination and horror. He made a promise then that he would die to defeat whatever vile evil this Wizard was, even if it could send one of the Holy Excelsior's of the church into despair.

"What is it, Excelsior. Speak of it and I shall resolve it, with my life at stake!"

"Ah, to be young again." Gamin looked up, smiling sadly as he shook his head again,

"The problem is not resolvable, young Captain, but I admire your courage." He patted the Captain on the shoulder warmly as he continued,

"My name and this young Wizard's… Gavin and Gamin… they are too similar… What if someone mistakes his misdeeds or achievements instead of my glorious own… My reputation could be at stake… what if he is a nefarious robber of bakeries…? Do you think I want to be known as the Bread Bandit…? Not that I ever was known as that before, mind…But if I had been…" The Shade Excelsior hung his head in his hands again.

The Captain blinked. The tears dried off his face as the horror and determination faded. He stared at the Excelsior incredulously as his heartbeat returned to a normal rate, his violent emotions fading.

He then held his hands out to the side as if to say 'Why are you the way that you are?'

"But this young Shade hero that has arisen, though, now this sounds quite interesting…" The Excelsior stood bravely up from his despair, his shoulders hunched slightly as if he was now carrying a great burden but bearing it with supreme grace. That, or that he was getting up there in age.

"You are dismissed." Gamin breezed past the stunned Captain, vanishing as he leapt up into the air. Powerful gusts of wind whipped around him, each gust containing a faint sparkle of light as he floated upward in the sky.

Soon he was over a thousand meters in the air, looking down on the grassy area where his large, one-mile wide garden was located. In the distance, he could see the towering castle city that made up the headquarters of the Church of Light. A large lake lay several miles off to the side of the relatively small, but daunting, city, a favorite haunt of the currently absent High Priest.

"The High Priest did say he was looking for a new 'Angel.' Someone to capture the hearts of the common people, to resonate not only with Shades but with members of the other races as well…" The Holy Excelsior rubbed his hands together,

"Going on an epic journey to save your badly injured wife, a journey where you are destined to slay evil beings and conquer their ruined lands…" The Excelsior smiled.

"That sounds interesting indeed. Interesting enough…" As he spoke aloud, he made a decision. His body blurred, moving so quickly it was as if he literally teleported, headed in the direction of the headquarters of the Church of Light.

Leaving behind stray gusts of wind, moving chaotically in patterns and directions that not even the High Priest himself would be able to determine...

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

"Everyone, it's him! It's him!"

"The Great Hero Lord Inigo has arrived!"

"Out of the way! I must see him! We must cheer for his epic journey!"

"Quick! To the front!"

Hurried conversation was drowned out by cheers and yells of adoration as Dorian was carried into the city on a covered palanquin, wearing a luxurious golden vest and gem-studded silver pants. Laying down on the palanquin next to him, wearing an expensive looking blue gown, was Helena. The sides of the palanquin were covered, allowing her to rest free from prying eyes.

It also freed her up to allow her to glare at Dorian, as she was currently, and mouth,

'This is all your fault.'

Dorian looked back at her and then shrugged helplessly.

How could he have known it would turn out like this?

After he reached the edge of Plantera, Dorian had joined a high-speed caravan that was traveling across the World Bridge. His progress had been surprisingly quick to him, with the World Bridge being one of the shorter ones. In a single day, he and Helena had crossed over it and onto the Normal World of Gabel.

Even more fortunately, their next destination was located on a World Bridge right next to the one they'd arrived on. Dorian had spent the next few hours traveling towards it with another transport group, and eventually crossed on to it.

A night had passed and soon he had fully skipped past Gabel and arrived on the Normal World of Marlin. They were making incredibly fast progress under the cover of him traveling as a hero to heal his wife.

However, upon arrival on the Normal World of Marlin, as the transport company he had used arrived in a large City known as Ticko, he had been greeted by a huge gathering. The City Lord of Ticko himself had, for some reason, sent out a huge procession to greet him. They were gifted luxurious clothes and carried forward on a large, glowing palanquin.

There was even a full-time choir in the background singing him praises.

♪"Praise the Great Hero Lord Inigo!"♪

♪"He has come to vanquish the Demons!"♪

♪"Evil will always fall before him!"♪

♪"For on his path, he shall succeed!"♪

Dorian listened to the choir and looked out at the roaring crowd. He could see peasant boys screaming their hearts out while maids and maidens swooned at the sight of him. Wizards and warriors alike roared aloud their support, gesturing at him. The warriors of the City Lord forced a way through the crowd as Dorian was led towards the inner city area, carried forth like a king.

...♪"Praise the Great Hero Lord Inigo!"♪

"This is starting to get out of hand…" He muttered, faking a smile and a friendly wave as he welcomed his new, adoring fans.

.