The air felt a little thinner as I read those words. I knew instantly that he was telling the truth. Without his timely, forbidden intervention during that nightmare, I would have been nothing more than a memory—or a stain on the ground. That fight had been a terrifying glimpse into a power level way beyond my current capabilities.
"I'll meet with him first," I declared.
I was consumed by curiosity regarding his identity. He hadn't yet revealed which shrine he belonged to. Given his knowledge, if he hadn't already told me that the War Shrine was annihilated, I would have assumed he was one of their high-ranking deities. He might belong to one of the other legendary Human shrines.
One thing was for sure: he wasn't from the Death Shrine. My reasoning was simple—that place was a sinking ship. In my opinion, it was already festered with internal struggles so fierce and bloody that I doubted they could spare the cognitive resources to observe a mortal like me.
