Ateia flew out of a tub of water in the grip of her captor, coughing and sputtering. When she had gathered herself, she turned around and glared at her captor.

"Let me go!"

The captor giggled.

"Now then, Miss Ateia, don't be like that. Please behave yourself, I would hate it if I had to get...rough."

Ateia's eyes widened. The person was wearing a mask, but Ateia recognized her voice.

“Miss Sidonia?”

Sidonia smirked at her.

“Why hello there, Miss Ateia. Do be aware that I am known by another name here.”

Ateia glared at her.

“Why are you doing this?! Let me go, I have to go back and help Seero!”

Sidonia shook her head.

“Oh, poor Ateia, you haven’t realized, have you? I’m afraid Her Majesty NSLICE-00P is gone for good.”

Ateia grit her teeth.

“That’s impossible! Seero…Seero would find a way! She always does!”

Sidonia smirked at her again.

“Your faith is commendable, but mistaken. No one can survive in the Realms of Mana for long, not even those blessed by them. And without access to the Aesdes, Miss NSLICE-00P wouldn’t be able to escape even if she had the skills. But enough of that. I’m afraid you do not have time to worry about her. You have problems of your own, my dear.”

Ateia tensed in preparation to act but a tendril of water curled from the fountain and wrapped around Ateia’s hands. Sidonia smirked at her and pushed her forward. Ateia glanced around and found herself in a large basement, filled with hooded and masked figures. There was a large magic circle carved into the floor and surrounded by torches. One of the masked figures raised their hands as the others chanted and channeled their mana into the circle.

“Most excellent work, Herald of Rain. I assume our plan was successful?”

Sidonia, or rather, the Herald of Rain, smiled.

“Like a charm, Herald of Twilight. Miss NSLICE-00P will not interfere any longer.”

The Herald of Twilight chuckled.

“Excellent, all is as the Herald of Dawn predicted, then. But where are my manners? We have a guest!”

He spread his hands wide.

“Welcome Ateia Niraemia, Imperial Inquisitor! It is my honor to welcome you to my home.”

Ateia just glared at him.

“Why are you doing this? What do you want with me?”

The Herald of Twilight chuckled again.

“The Heralds of the New Dawn have but one purpose: To break free of the tyranny of the Aesdes and save the world. And you, Ateia Niraemia, will be the key!”

Ateia narrowed her eyes.

“So you’re a crazy cult?”

The Herald of Twilight shook his head.

“We are enlightened. You see, the Aesdes are similar to the Lords of Mana in almost every way, save one: they enjoy the suffering of their charges. Every other Lord of Mana shares their power freely with the denizens of their Realm, and their subjects are empowered by it. As a result, no living thing from a Realm of Mana ever truly dies, from the greatest of kings to the lowest of creatures. Even if their corporeal form is destroyed, they will simply return to their Realm, until they have bathed in the power of their Lord and can take shape once again. But the Aesdes? The Aesdes hoard their power. Barely one in a million may even use the power of the Aesdes, the power of this world, the power of this Realm I would say. And not even a hero can escape the cold clutches of death, much less the rest of us. Ours is the only Realm in all reality to suffer death, and it is the Aesdes that strive to keep it that way. Which is why we will tear down the wall the Aesdes have built, and let the power of the Source flow freely into this world! And then, we shall become gods, and taste the bitter poison of death no longer!”Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ateia just stared at him.

“Yeah, you’re definitely insane. The Realms of Mana are filled with demons and evil! You’re going to destroy the world! And I won’t help you do it, no matter what you say!”

The Herald of Twilight stepped forward, and grabbed her chin.

“No, you won’t. Rather, it is your blood that is the key, Ateia Niraemia. Or shall I say…Ateia Dilectia.”

Ateia froze.

“What?”

The Herald of Twilight chuckled.

“Oh my. They never told you who your parents were, did they? Well, rejoice then, for I will tell you the truth.”

The Herald of Twilight stepped back and straightened his spine.

“You, Ateia Dilectia, are the daughter of Aedinia Dilectia! Who herself was the secret daughter of Emperor Herius! And that makes you the purest descendant of Velus in the entire Northern Empire!”

Ateia’s mouth dropped.

“What? I’m…related to the Emperor? You're crazy. That's...impossible...”

The Herald of Twilight chuckled

“Oh but it is very possible. Your father was wise to hide you from us, but now his failure is complete. And now, we have our key. You see, the masses of this day and age have forgotten the history of the Empire. They dismiss the stories of Velus as fanciful tales, myths to tell children before bed. But we know the truth. And the truth…is more fanciful than any fiction. Velus’s wife was not a saintess, or a hero. She was one of the very Aesdes themselves! And so, the blood of the Aesdes runs through the children of Velus, even to this very day!”

He made a sneer under his mask.

“And that…makes them the ideal conduit for our ritual. Your innate connection to the ‘Holy’ mana, the power of this world, means we can use you to connect to the boundaries of the 'Material Plane'…and then to tear them apart! And while normally the Imperial family is too heavily guarded to approach, a secret, illegitimate daughter is another matter entirely!”

He sighed and shook his head.

“But your fool of a mother killed herself to spite us. And so we gave up on the Imperial family. Emperor Lucius’s blood is too weak for our purposes, and the rest of the Imperial family is protected in the Eastern Court. Until one day, we found you.”

He grinned again.

“And you, dear Ateia, are the greatest prize of all! Not only are you a direct descendent of Velus and the Aesdes, your father was the Hero of Elteno! A mother with the blood of the Aesdes, and a father who was blessed by them! You have the strongest connection to the power of the world of any human in the past millennia! And so, with you as our conduit, our ritual’s power will grow a thousandfold! The walls trapping us in this cold and horrid place will be torn asunder, and we will ascend to godhood! Prepare the ritual!”

Just then, the other figures finished channeling their mana, and the magic circle on the floor began to hum and glow. The Herald of Rain pushed Ateia forward, and the hooded figures bound her to the floor. The Herald of Twilight stood over her, and pulled out a dagger covered in glowing patterns.

Ateia struggled, but she could not free herself from her bonds. She called upon her mana, she activated her skills, but she had none that would work in this situation. In desperation, she tried to activate the Radiant Shot skill, but channeled the mana through her body instead. The Holy mana reacted to the Herald of Rain’s water bindings and broke them. Ateia tried to leap up but the hooded figures tackled her. She was once again bound to the floor, this time with mundane chains.

The Herald of Twilight grinned.

“Let our chains be broken!”

He plunged the dagger into Ateia’s torso.

Ateia started to scream. Her body started to glow, her mana poured out of the wound as a golden and silver light. It streamed into the air, and the ground. There, flowing rivers of golden and silver light began to appear. Ateia’s mana connected to these streams…and they began to flow back into her. Ateia’s screams grew as her body was obscured by light.

And then the magic circle underneath her activated. A red and black light shot through her and into the golden and silver rivers, staining them red. The rivers began to twist and scatter, forming into a circle. Cracks of red light began to form in the air between the circle.

And then…

The air itself shattered.

The ritual had begun.

A Rift formed in the center of the room.

And it continued to grow…

The Herald of Twilight began to cackle. The Herald of Rain smiled. The others in the room began to celebrate.

And within the center of the storm, tears streamed down Ateia’s face as the mana surged her body. She tried everything she could think of. She tried to stop the mana flowing through her, she tried to direct it elsewhere. She tried to activate her skills. She tried to pull up the records of the Aesdes.

But nothing worked. There was too much mana flowing through her to stop, she couldn’t even grab hold of it. Her whole body burned, she could barely even think, and she couldn’t even see the records from the Aesdes anymore.

She couldn’t do anything. She tried to cry out, she tried to plead, but her voice wasn’t working anymore. All she could do was plead in her heart.

“Taog…Seero…Agedia…Father…anyone! Help me, please!”