A great catastrophe was coming tonight… all Mathew could think about was how inconvenient the timing was.
Or maybe… the precise time of his arrival into this world was all by design.
Mathew had always struggled to believe there was some sort of all-powerful someone watching from the heavens, guiding his actions and destiny… But now he knew for certain that there were a couple of enigmatic beings, called Alchemy and Sequence.
Perhaps they were watching him right at that moment.
He was much too suspicious of the two of them to feel comforted. In fact, the thought made his skin crawl.
"So… this catastrophe… what is it exactly? Can you give me a visual description?"
Aesop looked at him with squinted eyes: "Are you still testing me, Master?"
Mathew sighed. "Yeah, you got me… But please still answer to the best of your abilities "
"You have not told us much of this catastrophe, Master. You merely said that you saw in a vision the catastrophe that would destroy the world, and that only with the Iron Mind and the guidance of the Lady could you stop it. The fact that you have returned to us can only mean that you now have the power to triumph."
Mathew placed a hand on his metal face and inhaled deeply. His own breathing vaguely reminded him of the sound that blowing air into a tin can made.
"I am the one who has to stop it? How do we even know the catastrophe is coming? How can you be sure the calendar is accurate?"
Aesop frowned. "I would never doubt you, Master. You created the calendar yourself using your Truesight, a boon given to you by the Lady. With it, you were able to see the exact time and location of the catastrophe."
Truesight? What did he mean?
"So this Truesight… what is it exactly? What abilities does it grant me?" Aesop knitted his eyebrows together, thinking hard before replying.
"The true sight granted to you allowed you to see events in the future, specifically the catastrophe. It also allows you to see and temporarily enter into the divine realm, seeing the essence of holy and profane things. It even allows you to commune with Gods. It was with this favor of the Lady that you were able to Ascend to speak with her on behalf of the world."
This was interesting, but didn't actually give Mathew anything concrete to judge his powers by.
During the test, when he was searching for the spear of Mathias… for a moment, he could see through walls. And there was also the fact of his night-vision. Perhaps these were also part of the Truesight.
"Can Truesight let me see through walls? What about seeing clearly in the dark with no light?" Mathew asked, curious. If he was going to survive long enough in this world, he would need to figure out the extent of what Mathias Dread could do.
"Perhaps. You never revealed all of your abilities to us, Master. We are not worthy of such information."
Aesop seemed to be lacking in the critical thinking department. Perhaps all Mathias's followers were incapable of thinking for themselves.
The previous owner of his body had really made things harder on Mathew with all his informational gate-keeping. Or maybe the priest himself had really not known as much as he had pretended to.
"Is the Truesight… somehow going to be used to stop the catastrophe?" Mathew tried.
"I am not sure, Master. From what I understand, it is the function of the Iron Mind to contain the catastrophe. That is why you decided to fuse with it. It is the strongest tool in your arsenal."
"The… Iron Mind? What is that?" Aesop shot him an odd look and continued slowly.
"The Iron Mind… It is what has replaced your mortal skull, Master. Surely you wouldn't forget such a drastic change in your life?"
"Of course, I am just testing your knowledge on it," Mathew said, trying to project confidence.
"Of course… From what you have told us, The Iron Mind is one of the most powerful blessings ever bestowed upon a mortal. It cannot be destroyed by any being that walks this world… Why even a God would struggle to damage it."
So Mathew was indestructible. That was good information to be aware of. Or… maybe it was only his head that was indestructible? What would happen if his head were cut off? Would he still die?
Mathew immediately pictured a fighting style where he used his unique skull as a shield. It was too comical to envision, and caused him to almost lose his composure.
"What else does it do? The Iron Mind, I mean. Besides just being really tough."
"I do not know much more," Aesop said uncertainly, "The way it was described to us, the Iron Mind seems to be a high-level container of sorts, perhaps even a cage. What it is meant to hold, I could not say, but it must be something that requires a prison that cannot be broken."
Mathew nodded his understanding. Perhaps that was what allowed his soul to be transplanted into Mathias. Maybe it was his soul that was meant to be held within the Iron Mind.
He smiled grimly.
Was his soul really worth such a priceless entrapment?
Aesop looked to the large candle burning in his hand. Each section was normally marked with a different shade of red or pink. It was a 12-hour candle, meant to tell the time of day. It was on its last section, almost melted to a stub.
"Master, it is almost time. We must prepare. The location of the catastrophe is but a small walk away from the temple."
It really was a short distance away, just barely over a 10-minute walk.
This was Mathews first time leaving the temple since arriving in this world, which apparently was named 'Tellus', and so this was his first time getting a look at the land around him. Needless to say, it was quite disappointing for a magical land.
The 'Kingdom of Doria', if you could call it a kingdom, was a country in the middle of nowhere. The land was rocky and barren, weeds and dead plants were scattered everywhere. The landscape looked extremely uninhabitable.
Why the 'Dread Cult' had chosen such a location to take up roots, Mathew couldn't guess.
In the end, every single one of the acolytes, around a hundred people, had come with Mathew and Aesop.
This did strike Mathew as vaguely comical, seeing as how Aesop had just stressed the importance of protecting the blessing held by the statue of the Lady, but he supposed that saving the world from destruction probably qualified as the priority.
"We are here, Master Dread. This is the spot you showed us." A rather burly figure in acolyte robes was speaking.
He held a large, crude wooden club in both hands. Mathew had learned his name was Chares, and that he once was a farmer. He had left his farm and his family to follow Mathias years ago.
The people of this Cult really were funny in the head, Mathew concluded.
Everyone was armed with something from the weapon room where Mathew had killed the Nightspawn creature. Spears, bows, clubs, and daggers. Mathew had left his own spear back at the temple, feeling that if there was really a world-ending catastrophe coming, it probably wouldn't be stopped by a few robed LARPers with pointy sticks.
He would have to rely on the mystical powers granted to Mathias by his mysterious 'Lady' above, such as the Truesight and Iron Mind. Hopefully, if things were too much to handle, Sequence and Alchemy would step in and help out.
Or maybe they were just watching from the white void realm with amusement, perhaps even sharing a massive bowl of popcorn or something.
Mathew still had doubts about whether or not anything was even going to happen tonight. It was hard to conceive or visualize a catastrophe that no one seemed to be able to explain in clear terms.
But the calendar of Mathias, claims of Aesop, and words of Alchemy, all seemed to line up.
If the whole reason he was transported to this land and confined to this body was to save the world, he hoped that he could fulfill that purpose tonight and be granted passage back home in his own body.
He looked to the candle in Aesop's hand, now a puddle of wax in a brass dish, and watched it burn until the flame finally extinguished. Everything was plunged into darkness, with only Mathew able to still see clearly.
"It's time!" Shouted Chares to the rest of the acolytes. "Prepare yourselves!"
Mathew looked around at the acolytes surrounding him, each one unmoving and steady, with full faith in him. It kind of bothered him.
They were trusting him.
Something within him stirred… A reflexive desire fueled by the expectations of the acolytes… HIS acolytes.
They wanted him to save them, expected him to, so he would. There was no other option when someone needed help, asked for help, expected help.
Gasps came from the people around him, and Mathew looked to them, but everyone else was casting their eyes skyward. He followed their collective gaze, and that's when he saw it:
Up in the sky, a massive light was pooling. It took the shape of a nebula, one you would see in photos or paintings of the cosmos, and it was the bright, brilliant colors of magenta and electric blue.
This cosmic flame grew and grew, blocking out any sign of the night sky, covering up the stars.
The entire sky was burning.