Chapter 87: The Repayment of the Debt!

"Where is Robert?" Anise asked again. Her voice was raspy and desperate.

She completely ignored the grand title the woman had just bestowed upon her.

The beautiful priestess blinked in confusion.

The golden light from her wooden staff flickered slightly as she looked around the empty, pristine marble chamber.

"Robert?" the priestess echoed softly.

"There is no one else here, Champion. The sacred summoning circle only brought your soul across the astral veil. You arrived alone."

A cold spike of panic pierced Anise’s chest.

’The last thing I remember is the crimson light enveloping my very existence. Where has that mysterious voice brought me?’

She had pushed him. She had used the strange kinetic force to blast him out of the cave, but did he actually survive the avalanche outside?

’Did I fail? Did he die in the snow while I was pulled into this place?’

Then, the silence of the grand citadel was shattered.

’The man you call Robert lives.’

She heard the voice. The Voice that had promised her the life of her boyfriend in exchange for doing a task.

Anise gasped, her hands flying to her temples.

’He breathes the air of your old world. He survived the falling stone because of your sacrifice. The pact between us is sealed.’

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over Anise. The suffocating tightness in her chest instantly vanished.

’Robert is alive. The horrors of the bleeding altar and the walking dead had not claimed him. My sacrifice actually meant something.’

But the Voice was not finished.

’Now, the cosmic scales must be perfectly balanced. I pulled your soul from the crushing ice and forged this new vessel for you in the Light.’

The ancient presence seemed to press down on her mind, demanding absolute obedience.

’You shall reclaim the lands of humanity. You shall drive back the demonic hordes that plague this continent. You are the blade that will strike down the encroaching dark. Avenge the fallen. Reclaim their stolen homes. This is the equivalent exchange. This is your debt. Pay it.’

The heavy, vibrating pressure inside her skull slowly receded. It faded into a quiet, lingering hum before vanishing completely.

Anise knew, with absolute certainty, that she would never hear that divine voice ever again.

’The Voice had done it’s part, now it is time for me to do mine. I will reclaim the lands for you. I will kill those demons and reclaim the Continent.’

"Champion?" the priestess asked gently. She took a cautious step closer, offering her free hand.

"Are you unwell? The astral transition is known to heavily disorient the mind."

Anise looked up at the woman. Her emerald eyes met the priestess’s worried gaze.

"I am fine," Anise stated. Her voice was much steadier now.

"Tell me your name. And tell me exactly where I am."

The priestess let out a relieved breath and offered a deep, respectful bow.

"I am High Priestess Isolde," she answered smoothly.

"You are currently sitting in the heart of the Grand Citadel. It is the absolute center of the Holy Temple, located within the capital city of the Human Continent."

Isolde gently grasped Anise’s hand and helped her down from the raised marble pedestal.

Anise’s bare feet touched the polished stone floor. She felt incredibly light, as if the gravity of this new world affected her differently.

"You called me a Hero," Anise noted. She pulled her simple white tunic tighter around her shoulders.

"And you said you have been waiting for me. Why?"

Isolde’s beautiful face fell. She moved and gestured Anise to follow.

"We performed the ancient summoning ritual out of absolute desperation, Hero," Isolde explained. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Our world is bleeding. Our people are being driven to the brink of total extinction."

Anise walked beside the High Priestess.

It was incredibly difficult to imagine a world this beautiful being on the verge of destruction.

"Who is destroying your world?" Anise asked quietly.

"The Demon Army," Isolde replied.

She stopped walking and turned to face a massive tapestry hanging on the wall.

The woven fabric depicted a horrific, bloody battle.

Grotesque, horned beasts with leathery wings and burning weapons were shown slaughtering men and women in shining armor.

"Two decades ago, the Demons breached our borders," Isolde narrated, her voice trembling with barely suppressed grief.

"They did not come to conquer through diplomacy or honor. They came as a plague. Their elite assassins infiltrated our capital and mercilessly murdered our King."

Anise stared at the woven tapestry. The images of burning villages and falling soldiers sent a cold chill down her spine.

"With our King dead and our armies disorganized, the Demon Lord launched a full scale invasion," Isolde continued.

"They poured across the western borders. They burned our crops and salted the earth. They mercilessly slaughtered our men in the fields and looted our vital resources."

Isolde closed her eyes, a single tear escaping to run down her pale cheek.

"They show absolutely no mercy, Champion. They raided the villages of the poor and innocent farmers. Tear the children away from their mothers and killed them right in front of them. Some of those Vile creatures even raped the wives in front of their families. They left nothing behind. Absolutely nothing."

Anise felt a sickening knot twist deep in her stomach. The sheer scale of the atrocities was unimaginable.

She was a researcher. She spent her life studying rocks, weather patterns, and historical anomalies.

She had never fired a gun. She had never swung a sword in anger.

"You have lost land to them?" Anise asked, trying to keep her analytical mind focused on the facts.

"We have lost one tenth of our entire continent to their endless greed," Isolde confirmed, opening her tear filled eyes.

"Our rivers have turned into the rivers of the blood, the green forests and the farmlands turned into ashes. The remaining armies are fighting the war of Attrition. A war destined for our loss. If we do not push them back, humanity will be completely eradicated from this world."

The High Priestess turned to Anise and dropped to both knees. She bowed her head until her silver hair pooled on the polished marble floor.

"We have nothing left but our faith," Isolde wept openly.

"The ancient texts promised that a Hero summoned from the astral void would possess a soul pure enough to wield the Absolute Light. You are our final hope. Please, Champion. Save our people."

Anise stood silently in the grand, echoing corridor.

She looked down at the weeping High Priestess. She thought of the Voice in the dark cave.

The cosmic entity had explicitly demanded that she reclaim these stolen lands. It was the absolute condition of Robert’s survival.

She closed her eyes. She pictured Robert’s face.

She saw his frantic, terrified expression as he swung his ice pick at the frozen corpses to protect her.

He had been willing to die for her without a second thought. He was safe now. He was alive because she had accepted the deal.

’I am not a soldier,’ Anise thought to herself.

’I do not know how to fight demons or command armies. But I know how to survive. I know how to endure the freezing cold and the crushing pressure of the highest peaks.’

She opened her eyes. The fear and uncertainty were completely gone.

Anise reached down and firmly grasped Isolde’s shoulders. She gently pulled the weeping High Priestess back to her feet.

"Do not kneel to me, Isolde," Anise commanded softly. Her voice resonated with a new, undiscovered authority.

"I am just a woman who made a very expensive trade."

Isolde looked up, her teary eyes wide with awe as she felt the radiant, comforting warmth of Anise’s holy magic.

"I do not know the layout of your lands," Anise stated, her hazel eyes hardening into a mask of pure determination.

"I do not know the tactics of your Demon Lord. But I owe a massive debt to the entity that brought me here. And I always pay my debts."

Anise turned her gaze toward the massive wooden double doors at the end of the grand hall.

"Show me how to wield this magic you claim I have," Anise ordered the High Priestess.

"Show me your maps. Tell me everything you know about these monsters."

Isolde gasped, a radiant, hopeful smile breaking through her profound sorrow.

"You will help us? You accept the holy mantle?"

"I accept the deal," Anise clarified, her voice echoing flawlessly against the marble pillars.

"If the demons want a war of eradication, we will give them one. I will push them back to the hell they crawled out of."

"Of course! My Champion!" the priestess kneeled before her again.

"I told you not to that! Get up and teach me about this world of yours. Teach me to fight." she said as her voice was filled with confidence.

’I will see you back in Heavens, Rob. If it exists.’