"That's absolute bullshit and you know it," Preceptor Elias cut him off flatly, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward despite his 'apparent' irritation.

Priest laughed a genuine, delighted sound that seemed wildly out of place in the oppressive atmosphere of the Soul Sanctum.

"Perhaps," he conceded with a shrug. "But it's true bullshit."

Finally, Preceptor Elias's stern expression cracked into a smile. The two men laughed like they had previously shared similar exchanges that made this particular argument more like a play than a genuine conflict.

Then slowly the Preceptor sobered up, and he gestured with a hand towards the entire Sanctum.

"It's good to be back. And it's good to see you, Priest," he sighed. "Though I have to say, this is the first time I've ever seen the Soul Sanctum this empty. On our descent, we barely encountered anyone besides the Vested carrying out their duties and the handful of Caretakers here for this trial…"

"Everyone's at the World Tear, aren't they?" He asked with a serious tone.

Priest's playful demeanor also dimmed fractionally.

"Everyone who matters," he confirmed. "Four Preceptors. Nearly the entire Outer Circle save for myself and a few others. Half the Caretaker ranks from all across Feraxia. It's the largest deployment in the Ossuary's history. Possibly the largest gathering of soul strength ever assembled in one location."

He shook his head.

"We're preparing for the possibility of war, Elias. Even if we're calling it 'protective measures' officially."

"The Feraxian Archon even came here to vent and probe our stance. If you'd arrived two days earlier, you would have met him. Sunfang himself. He walked these very halls."

"Sunfang was here?" Preceptor Elias's eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. "In the Soul Sanctum? They let an Archon-rank Arcanist into the Soul Sanctum?"

"Oh, we didn't exactly let him," Priest said with a smile. "He stormed in by himself, making demands and blatant threats in the typical dramatic, Feraxian way." He rolled his eyes.

"It would have been an excellent opportunity for you to gauge his soul strength in person. It is rare to get an Archon-rank Arcanist in a soul-energy doused environment like this, where we could subtly measure him."

He smiled, and it was not a pleasant expression. There was hunger in it. The look of someone eyeing a particularly appealing meal.

"He's extraordinarily powerful. Probably the strongest living Archon in the world right now, and if not, then certainly in the top two of the four. For an Arcanist, his soul density is... impressive." Priest rubbed his chin and paused.

Then a smug smile colored his face.

"But I could take him. I'm sure of it. The fight would be difficult, yes, but I'd win." His eyes glittered. "And then I'll claim that delectable soul mass for myself."

Finn, who listened by the side with Althea, felt his eye twitch involuntarily. He and Althea exchanged a quick glance as if communicating their shared disbelief for the casual way the man had just laid claim to the soul of one of the most powerful beings on the planet.

"What did you tell him?" Preceptor Elias asked, focusing more on the actual matter than Priest's greedy remark, as if he was certain the man could do what he just said.

"I simply explained that the Ossuary cannot and will not reveal anything regarding the World Tear at this time. That we're not looking to start a war, but we are ready to retaliate if provoked. That we will not abandon our defensive position or allow unauthorized access to the breach site."

"And?" The Preceptor prompted.

"And I told him that he should remain calm. That everything will be revealed within a week to ten days."

Preceptor Elias raised brow. "Will it actually?"

"That depends on whether the barrier allows entry by then," Priest replied with a slight shrug. "But yes, the Inner Circle has agreed. Once stable access is established and we've had time to conduct preliminary reconnaissance, we'll make a coordinated announcement to all three continental governments — Limited information, naturally," he added. "But with enough truth to satisfy them that we're not hoarding some apocalyptic weapon or preparing to subjugate the world."

"And the Archon accepted this?"

"He did, eventually. But not without trying to reap more benefits by leveraging Feraxia's territorial sovereignty," Priest scoffed.

"He threatened that military action was inevitable if we didn't withdraw our forces from what he termed 'occupied Feraxian land' immediately. Made several rather colorful threats about what would happen if the Ossuary attempted to claim the World Tear's contents as our exclusive property."

He waved a hand dismissively.

"Naturally, I remained diplomatically unhelpful. Gave him a tough time. And after three hours of discussions that went nowhere, he left in a very disgruntled state and ordered the Feraxian forces at the front lines to stand down for the meantime."

"And how long is this 'meantime?'" Preceptor Elias pressed.

"That conversation was two days ago." Priest's gold eyes glinted. "Which means we now have five to eight days before his patience runs out and we're looking at open military conflict between the Ossuary and Feraxia as a whole..."

The two men continued to talk. Analyzing the happenings at the World Tear. And not once did they pay attention to either Finn or Althea.

Preceptor Elias, for all his special treatment of Althea, didn't bother introducing her to Priest. Maybe because he felt Priest could tell a thing or two about her on his own already.

And on Priest's end, he didn't even act like he and Finn had exchanged any look earlier. As if his earlier shock hadn't been real. As if Finn was someone he was seeing for the first time.

It wasn't until after a minute of two of catching up that Preceptor Elias finally turned to them and explained both their identities to Priest.

"Hmm… A Fragment of Order…" Priest observed Althea scrutinizingly. "That's a core fragment. How did you come about getting one?" He asked in what seemed to be casual conversation. But Finn immediately felt a subtle difference in the air from that question. As if the world itself was waiting to hear Althea's response. Almost as if…

He's using his Truth fragment on her… Finn realized. She has to answer his question truthfully.

If Finn himself could feel the compelling force of the man's words, and yet he wasn't the recipient of the question, just how much did Althea, who the questions were directed at, feel?

Finn watched Althea frown and forcefully shut her mouth that had seemingly opened on their own, about to speak.

She stared wide-eyed at Priest for a second, then the look in her eyes slowly changed to one of indifference.

The ancient, detached presence of Order filled her body yet again, breaking the compelling urge that had been placed subtly on her by Priest immediately.

A pleased smile colored Priest's face at the sight.

"She's strong," he chuckled. "And her Fragment is powerful. The Inner Circle might even request audience with her." He added.

But despite the fact he had just praised her strength, there didn't seem to be any wariness in his tone or gestures. He still acknowledged her with the same bored tone, as if her 'powerful' fragment was only so-so.

He then turned his gaze to Finn, finished with Althea entirely. He looked at him with interest. Like he was a new toy to play with. One that he had purposefully allowed himself not to touch, just to make the eventual touching that much more pleasing…

"And you are the vested," he said with a playful tone that held meaning only both of them could understand.

Finn stared up at the man and looked into his eyes with a small smile plastered on his face.

He knows I don't want to reveal that part about myself.

Finn could almost see a playful question in the man's golden eyes. No — he could clearly see the question in the man's eyes.

It said to him:

I know what you are. I know you saw me when no one else could. And I could expose you right here, right now. That's my duty…

But I'm so very bored. And you... you might be interesting…

So give me a reason. Convince me that watching you squirm is more entertaining than handing you over to the Inner Circle for dissection…

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