Chapter 427:Records.

Chapter 427: 427:Records.

Atheline became quiet.

The Sovereign of Death had still been involved, he knew that. The memories inside Doom Cave had shown enough to confirm Death wasn’t innocent.

But perhaps they’d misunderstood what they’d been watching.

He suddenly stood.

"Bring me everything concerning the beginning of the Sovereign War."

Zelpher sighed.

"That’s several hundred records."

"Good."

"That wasn’t enthusiasm."

"I know."

Hours became another day.

They stopped reading histories as complete narratives; instead, he made them dismantle the histories. They went through dates, names, battles, locations, and sovereigns.

They looked at the order in which each Sovereign entered the war, the order in which they died, which records mentioned the World Tree, which mentioned Fire, which mentioned Death, and which had been copied under Klaith’s supervision.

That was when the pattern emerged.

Atheline stood before an enormous board covered in writing. Lilith came beside him.

"Fire disappears."

He nodded.

The Sovereign of Fire appeared frequently in records from before the war. Then, shortly before the war began, references became scarce.

It wasn’t because Fire was absent, no, it was because records describing his actions were missing.

Atheline pointed toward several dates.

"Look."

Lilith followed.

"The Sovereign of Earth clashes with Death, then Water, then Life, then Darkness." He moved backward through the timeline. "And before every conflict..."

Her eyes narrowed as she also started to understand the pattern.

"Fire."

Most of the visits weren’t openly or directly. It was always a diplomatic visit, a warning, a private meeting, or a message carried between territories.

One account claimed the Sovereign of Fire warned Earth that Death was developing a method to steal elemental authority.

Another claimed Fire told Water that Earth and Death had secretly formed an alliance.

Another recorded Fire informing Darkness that the World Tree was being used to strengthen Life beyond the other Sovereigns.

It shows how the different accusations and fears were spread by the same messenger.

Atheline’s expression changed.

"He was turning them against each other."

Zelpher stared at the board.

"Why?"

He thought about the Unaspected Ruin, especially the things that hunted Sovereigns.

"Because he needed Sovereigns to die."

Silence filled the room, a pin could even be heard dropping.

Lilith looked toward him.

Atheline slowly turned.

"The ruin told me an Unnamed God can steal the authority of a new Sovereign."

Zelpher’s expression became confused.

"You believe Fire was already one?"

"No." He stared at the records. "I think he was trying to become something else."

They found the first reference to Divine Authority that evening inside a damaged theological manuscript stored in a restricted section of the archive.

Half the pages were missing and the remaining pages were written in an ancient High Elven dialect.

Atheline could read portions but not enough, so they summoned a High Elven scholar through the royal teleportation formation.

The translation took hours.

He stood beside the scholar when the man finally stopped, his face pale.

"What?"

The scholar looked toward him.

"Where did you get this?"

"Royal archive."

"This shouldn’t exist."

Lilith’s voice came from behind them.

"That’s becoming a common theme."

The scholar swallowed, then he read it.

"Sovereignty is the beginning of authority beyond mortal law. Those who establish complete dominion over a fundamental Law possess within themselves a fragment of higher authority."

Atheline felt his heart beat faster.

"Continue."

The scholar did.

"That fragment..." he hesitated. "...is called Divine Authority."

Nobody spoke as they processed it. Atheline remembered Draco,sovereign of Ice. Lilith was approaching Sovereign and he himself standing at the threshold.

The scholar continued translating.

"A Sovereign does not become a god merely through strength. Divinity requires authority sufficient to establish existence beyond mortal limitation."

He slowly sat down as it sank in.

There it was, the bridge between mystic, sovereign and Godhood.

It was Authority.

Lilith looked toward the remaining damaged lines.

"What does the rest say?"

"Most is missing."

"What’s readable?"

The scholar leaned closer.

"Something about combining Authorities."

Atheline’s expression changed.

"Combining?"

The scholar nodded.

"Several passages are damaged, but..." he traced the ancient writing. "...it seems to suggest that Divine Authority can survive the death of a Sovereign."

Atheline stood as everything inside him went cold.

"If enough survive..."

The scholar looked at him.

He finished the thought.

"...someone could collect them."

The next breakthrough came from Klaith’s private archive. They found the entrance behind a false section of shelving inside his office.

The mechanism wasn’t magical, that was why previous searches had missed it. It was a physical latch hidden behind a removable stone. The wall opened, dust filling the air.

Atheline stared into darkness.

Lilith appeared beside him.

"That was disappointingly simple."

"Sometimes the best way to hide something from manipulators is not using magic."

They entered the it. The room beyond was small, far smaller than expected. It only had six shelves, one desk, several sealed boxes, and a portrait.

Atheline stopped.

The portrait showed the original ancient World Tree. It was enormous, with branches that seemed to touch the clouds. Six figures stood around it while a seventh stood farther away. The face was damaged but flames surrounded him.

Atheline’s stomach tightened.

"Fire."

Lilith walked closer.

There was writing beneath the portrait in Old Dark Elven.

She read it.

"The Root Gathering."

Atheline frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"I don’t know."

They opened the boxes.

Most contained copies of documents they’d already seen but these copies were older and unaltered.

By morning, they understood why Klaith had hidden them.

The Sovereign War hadn’t begun the way history claimed. There had been tensions where sovereigns had disagreed; some hated each other while some competed for territory and resources.

Death had been experimenting with forbidden aspects of his Law.

Darkness had destroyed the original World Tree during the war.

Life had attempted things other Sovereigns considered dangerous.

None of them had been innocent but there hadn’t been an inevitable war, so someone made it inevitable.

The Sovereign of Fire.

He read the same passage three times, then placed it down.

"He engineered it."

She remained silent.

He looked toward the enormous timeline they’d created.

"He didn’t betray them during the war."

That was the story history remembered.

Fire had fought beside the other Sovereigns and betrayed the Supreme Sovereign during the decisive battle,but that wasn’t where the betrayal began.

Atheline pointed toward the earliest records.

"He created the war."