The Female Knight of Doom - TFKOD 02: Future King

The moment the priest disappeared, activity burst forth on the porch.

Only one guard remained at the side entrance of the temple. He had brown hair and did not resemble a Templar Knight.

He was just an ordinary guard. His appearance was neither harsh nor intimidating.

After the priest left, the children instantly regained their liveliness. Some of them looked directly at the friendly face of the guard.

They were so bold that they asked him, “Who was that priest who brought us here? He seems so young.”

“That’s Lord Etienne, the youngest priest in the country,” the guard responded. “You’re in luck. He arrived here only two months ago, and I heard that a dove landed on his shoulder during his coming-of-age ceremony in the capital last year.”

“Wow!” the children marveled.

“The capital? Is he a nobleman?” Another child asked.

“Like the city lord?”

“The noblest of noble bloodlines. Our city lord is no match for him,” the guard relished the children’s awe and began sharing the temple’s most popular rumors.

“When he first arrived, his noble appearance and demeanor astonished the temple apprentices so much that they thought the God of Light had descended to the Human Realm. You all saw it. His hair sparkles just like the sun!”

The children, who had long since seen Lord Etienne’s hair, all acknowledged with one voice, “Ah—”

Hearing this, the guard puffed out his chest, pleased.

“Lord Etienne is the most noble and benevolent acolyte here at present. If he could stay here, he would surely become the youngest acting priest… if only he could.”

“Won’t he stay forever?”

“I heard that he was sent to Poztar to gain some experience, so he’ll be all set to take charge when he returns to the royal capital. The masses were thrilled with the prospect of his imminent journey to the capital. In a few short years, he would be serving as a priest and, in the fullness of time, might even become the high priest of the country!”

The guard was in the middle of his speech, frothing at the mouth, when the gate to the inner temple unexpectedly opened, revealing Lord Etienne and startling the former into silence.

The latter didn’t say a word, but his eyes told a story.

He looked at the guard, and his gaze made him shrink back.

Lord Etienne was kind and gracious, but his greatness was still lacking. The guard winked at the children when he wasn’t looking.

The children giggled and followed his lead. However, they didn’t dare burst out laughing. Instead, they smiled broadly, their faces lighting up with joy.

Lord Etienne ignored the gestures, maintaining his dignified manner.

“The preparations are finished. We’re going in now.”

The children, who had seemed so naughty just moments earlier, rose from their stools.

They were as gentle and tame as a flock of doves. They formed a line and followed Lord Etienne out of the porch and into a smaller temple along the designated route. There were no statues, only an empty altar with no offerings and a few kneeling cushions scattered about for prayer.

“This is the altar of the Thirteenth God, known as the God of the Future,” Lord Etienne disclosed.

“The gods made a covenant with him, bestowing upon him the right to choose believers before them. You must pray to him first before entering the Great Hall to be selected by the other gods. You have learned the prayers in a general sense, but it’s important to understand that the prayers to this god are distinct from the prayers to the others. You must memorize them and kneel here to pray.”

A temple apprentice distributed small cards with a prayer written on them.

Alice, who recognized a few words, noticed that the card contained only a few words: “Great God of the Future, may you close your eyes tight and never be awakened.”

The prayer was bizarre and unique from what she had learned from her mother.

She was puzzled, but she heard Lord Etienne speak.

“Prayers are typically conveyed to express reverence for the gods and to seek their blessings. You will see that this god is completely different from the others. The God of the Future is not an easy god to approach; he is also known as the God of Doom. When he awakens, all existing gods will perish and all order will be overthrown. We can only pray that he never awakens. When you do, do so with all your heart, and make sure that your strong human desire will prevent his awakening.”

This was the first time she had heard the name and story of this God of the Future. She was intrigued when a silver-tongued child next to her spoke.

“Why would the God of the Future wish to destroy everything?”

“The scriptures clearly state that he is the God of the Next Generation.” Lord Etienne explained, “He exists to destroy and create a new realm from its ruins. This process will be extremely cruel, but even the gods must respect the wishes of man, and this may grant the circumstance to be deferred… until the time when this realm is truly in disarray.”

He had a solemn expression and ignored the child who had asked the question.

Instead, he craned his neck and looked up at the ceiling as though he had envisioned something dreadful.

Alice had many questions, but she knew it would be inappropriate to ask them right away, so she remained silent.

Lord Etienne offered no further explanation, knowing that most of the children wouldn’t understand and that it would be futile.

He summoned a few temple apprentices and instructed them to organize the children. He told the children to kneel before the altar one by one, close their eyes, and recite the prayer silently.

This ceremony was nothing compared to the crucial one that would take place later. It was an informal prayer to prepare the children.

The small temple was tiny, and the order was chaotic. The God of the Future was dormant anyway; perhaps people did not feel the need to show him much respect.

The children who had undergone the procedure followed the temple apprentices into the next hall.

Those who had not yet had their turn stood at the back and memorized in silence. Some could not read, so they stood in a corner where temple apprentices taught them to memorize.

Alice quickly memorized this simple prayer. Still, she hesitated to go forward and stood at the back of the line.

Following her mother’s passing, she exhibited an unusual amount of resentment for her age. She despised the world and the gods for not helping her mother. Now, she had no choice but to choose one of them for her future.

However, Lord Etienne’s words introduced her to a new concept.

She wanted to become a believer in the God of the Future.

An adult would think it was outrageous if they knew what Alice was contemplating.

But she was young and had a simple mindset. The God of the Future was exactly what she wanted. Among the gods, he was an outcast, much like her.

These two similarities alone were enough for her to identify with him and choose to follow him.

Besides, she didn’t have time to think about anything else now that the few children in front of her had finished memorizing and were following the temple apprentices enthusiastically.

When she came to her senses, she realized that she and Lord Etienne were the only ones left in the small temple.

He was convinced that she had failed to memorize the prayer and approached her to inquire about it.

“What’s wrong? Are there words you don’t understand? It’s okay. It’s very simple.”

He towered over Alice.

Swiftly, he pulled up a kneeling cushion and knelt next to her, aligning their heights. With his hand around her shoulder, he held the card up in front of her, pointed to it, and guided her to read it word for word.

Alice’s body stiffened; she had never been so close to a man before.

Lord Etienne had a faint incense scent mixed with his own, giving off a vague fragrance. She tensed up and felt apprehensive when she caught a whiff of it.

Lord Etienne, who had been presiding over such ceremonies every month lately and often came into contact with children her age, did not seem to find anything inappropriate about it.

He pointed to the card and began to teach.

Unable to admit that she had already memorized it, Alice reluctantly read it twice after him.

Realizing that she could recite it, Lord Etienne made her do it one more time before turning toward her, “All right?”

Alice bowed, her body language conveying her unease.

Lord Etienne rose and found a kneeling cushion for her, placing it directly in front of the altar.

Before reciting the prayer, she raised her head, “Lord Etienne, what is the divine name of the God of the Future?”

He was caught off guard by the question but responded nonetheless.

“The divine names of the gods that we currently know were all personally given by the gods to their followers. No one has become a follower of the God of the Future yet, so no one knows his divine name.”

It was an unfortunate answer, but it made perfect sense.

Alice shut her eyes and recited a prayer she had made up.

“O’ great God of the Future!

I choose to be your devotee.

Wake up and see me.”

After the prayer, nothing happened.

Alice stared at the altar before her and felt disappointed.

Her prayer was clichéd, and she found it hard to believe that the God of the Future would be impressed by it.

The question was whether this god even existed. After all, everything about him was legendary, and he didn’t even have a divine name or a statue.

She was presumptuous to pray to him like that.

However, it was more likely that he was too slumbering to hear her prayer.

Lord Etienne watched her stupor. He found the child odd, but he didn’t think much of it. He concluded that she wasn’t used to praying on her knees.

He took her hand and helped her stand up.

“Let’s go. It is time for you to go and accept the judgment of the gods.”