"Anyway." Pandora said, changing the subject with the ease of someone who had managed conversations across divine realms for longer than most civilizations had existed, "The Throneveil Shrine is nearly upon the Endless Continent. Will you be entering it, brother-in-law?"
The word kept rolling off her tongue with increasing fluency. She had stopped using "Your Majesty" entirely. Haru found he didn't mind.
"What's inside the Shrine, beyond the Throne of course?"
Pandora's expression shifted, excitement and something underneath it that was more cautious.
"The Shrine is said to be a relic of the Ancient Titan Gods' era, the hall from which the God King ruled. Its interior is saturated with God Monarch Tier Laws that discharge autonomously. A Supreme God caught by them risks death while High Gods die outright. It is genuinely dangerous."
She took a pause, "It is also full of opportunity. Countless artifacts, even the Tempest Titan Banner I recovered from Asher was itself something I obtained from the Shrine. It's a Supreme God Tier Artifact. Inside, such items are as numerous as stars. Godheads. Divine Artifacts. And even things beyond them—"
She hesitated, then said, "There are corpses of Ancient Titan Gods buried inside. And it is speculated, though no one has confirmed it, that the God King's Divine Body and Godhead are also buried there. If the Throne can be obtained, one path to the God Monarch Tier opens. If the God King's corpse and Godhead can be found, another path opens. Neither has ever been successfully claimed across the years of the Shrine falling to the Endless Continent. The throne is the most likely to be obtained. It flies out of the Shrine on its own for Gods to contest. The corpse is said to be buried deeper inside and has never been confirmed by anyone who returned."
Haru turned this over. A living tomb full of lethal law discharges and incomprehensible treasure. He asked the natural follow-up question.
"How did the God King fall? What could kill him?"
"No one knows for sure." Pandora said, "We don't even know with certainty that he has fallen. We infer it from the disappearance of the entire Ancient Titan Pantheon and from the Throne leaving the Shrine voluntarily. A natal God Monarch Tier artifact doesn't leave its owner while the said owner lives. If the God King were alive, the Throne would never have left. The Shrine would never have fallen from Kronforge. These phenomena are the basis of the speculation, but no one knows the actual cause. I suspect only three people 'might' know the truth."
Haru considered that. It was internally consistent. Natal Artifacts didn't abandon living masters.
"You said three people might know the truth." he said, "Who?"
"The first is the Titan Lord Varkath. The Thunder Titans are direct descendants of the Ancient Titan Pantheon, carrying their bloodline and will. Obrys almost certainly preserves records of what happened."
Haru nodded and remembered the 'Mothership' Celestia found in Obrys' core area. It was said to have been inherited by the Titan Pantheon from the Throneveil Shrine itself. It might have some records on what happened to the Titan Ancestor, the 'God King'. He filed that away.
"The second." Pandora continued, with a smile that acknowledged she was delivering something she knew would land, "Is your future wife. Svetlana, the Goddess of Fate."
She explained: Svetlana had been among the first batch of Gods to emerge on the Endless Continent after the Ancient Titan Era. She had mastered the Divine Law of Fate and held a direct connection to the spirit of Endless Continent's Law. If anyone among the native Gods had knowledge of what happened to the Ancient Titan Pantheon, it should be her.
Haru found himself thinking of Svetlana's veil, the one she had told him could not be lifted, because lifting it risked bad things happening. He had never pressed for details. Was the veil connected to the Shrine? To the Ancient Titan Pantheon? He didn't have an answer.
Pandora said, "The third is not from the Endless Continent."
She let that sit for a moment.
"The third person who knows the Shrine and the Ancient Titan Pantheon better than anyone else in the universe is Aschenkranz, the Demon Emperor."
Haru looked at her.
"He knows them best because…"
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What's the story behind Aschenkranz, the Demon Emperor, and the Throneveil Shrine? Stay tuned to find out!
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