Adtraic Verity: Journey For The Truth
Chapter 47

The wagon continues its long travel through the forest. The wanderers see the dark rain clouds passing away from the sun and then feel the bumpy movements of the carriage pushing them upwards. The wooden wheels roll over tiny pebbles and through small reflecting puddles.

Drimi took a deep breath and laid next to Sally, exhausted from using most of her magic toward Phthonus. Sally lightly titters and kindly rubs Drimi’s head with her soft fingers.

The breeze from the wagon’s speed blows through the wanderers’ hair, with remaining droplets sliding off the leaves.

As the ambient sounds of the forest fill their ears, Phthonus takes a deep sigh and whispers to the wanderers.

“I’m sorry for the interruption. Are you two sure you really want to hear this story? I have to give you a warning that this story is…”

The wanderers nod with curiosity rising through their limbs.

“Yes…”

Sadiki falls silent and bites his l*p, nervous about thinking what their reaction would be.

As the wagon rolls along the pathway, Phthonus takes a deep breath and starts to tell the story.

“He… was an amazing individual…”

* * * * * * * *

… who had the kindest heart, enriched from the divine element of his blessings.

Pladtioa, before his arrival, was once covered in mud, slimy forests, and swamplands. No one, not even the filthiest, would ever dare to set foot in here, except its dwellers or monsters. It is said that The God of Purity literally appeared from thin air as if it was a gift from the gods.

He was given a reward for erecting the Great Fountain in the first place. Though he never asked for it, the people of Pladtioa granted him heavily with rule and fortune.

His voice sounded very soothing, almost… young, but… quite hearted and tame. The God of Purity was somewhat mixed in all aspects.

“I… never asked for this, but I appreciate it.”

Another man leaped out and bowed to the God of Purity.

“No, sir, please take these rewards. You deserve it.”

The God of Purity accepted the first offer and chose to change the nation for the better. From there, he would be declared the new King of Pladtioa.

With his abilities, he could carve and reshape the nation’s landscape only by using his hands. He possessed power like no other, a status that matched a god’s level. There was indeed no competition, to begin with.

Soon, temples were constructed near Milmoor, spreading out The God of Purity’s blessings throughout the land. Swamplands are bathed in beautiful greenery and purified lakes.

Flowers started to bloom, wildlife began to thrive, and vegetation sapped into the cleansed soil.

However, after a few years elapsed, The God of Purity’s life took a dark, horrifying turn.

The sin of greed started to sweep the people dry, cleansing them with every ounce of currency in sight. The city of Pladtioa grew more stingy, demanding the citizens a payment they could hardly make up with.

It wasn’t The King who was giving the taxes; instead, it was the fault of the people themselves who corrupted him to an extent. The King’s blessings started to drown the land.

Fractions of Pladtioa were given more benefits than others, forests began to rot from the longing drought of greed. Monsters grew angrier and began to mutate. But that wasn’t even the end of it…

Before The God of Purity (The King) knew it, the people rushed to his castle and demanded more blessings. His power was milked dry; only his corpse remained. His wife tried to protect him from the citizens’ anger, but that only brought more pain.

She was then brutally abused, torn dry, and her goods stolen from the people. The King felt this warm feeling surging through his heart for the first time, seeing her brutally wounded. He then sealed himself away from the people, driving the nation into anarchy.

Soon, the taxes rose to drastic amounts. The land started to rot from lack of blessings, and then vandalism spread out throughout the nation. Monsters slew humans, not because out of evil, but for self-defense. The citizens were growing restless, disgusted by their own acts that they couldn’t understand.

But what really pulled his last strand of patience was the look of his whole family, slaughtered in front of thousands of citizens. The burning feeling multiplied inside him, with pure wrath surging through his eyes.

* * *

The wanderers’ eyes broaden in shock, hearing the words of Phthonus. They can’t understand what the God of Purity felt during that time, and they almost tried to stop Phthonus from speaking. However, their curiosity pushed them to know.

“What happens next?”

As the wagon slowly approaches the opening of the forest, Phthonus breaks his resistance to share more and faintly whispers.

“If your curiosity is that strong, I guess I will try to give you the full story…”

He looks up to the sky and whispers.

“Forgive me…”

* * * * * * * *

Gods were never to be given emotions; their capabilities couldn’t handle such a vital principle. The only method of receiving emotions for a God is to have enough energy built up within your heart from the actual feeling you received.

But The God of Purity’s emotion wasn’t received by this method; it was from the wicked gifts from his own lover, his wife. It appears she was carrying a baby inside her while also feeling joy; the God of Purity wanted to make them the prince or princess. However… that day never came.

During one cold evening, the entire nation revolted against their ruler, begging to receive blessings and gifts from The King, why also drowned in their greed.

Inside the castle was the dead corpse of his wife, with the newborn crawling and crying on a puddle of crimson. They eventually heard the psychotic, broken laughter from The God of Purity from outside.

The ground trembled, trees collapsed, and flames spread throughout parts of Pladtioa. The citizens look around, panicking and screaming as they see mountains sink into the ground.

A brown fox swiftly escorted the newborn girl away from the castle and toward safety while The God of Purity unleashed his wrath upon the nation. Little did they know that she would be the new Queen of Pladtioa decades later.

Meanwhile, at the castle, The God of Purity’s anger was multiplied by a thousand, forcing him to be unstable with his power. The entire world watched as Pladtioa descended into anarchy.

He wreaked havoc upon the nation, wilting it to a pulp and sinking the entire town underground. Ravines formed, stains of destruction splattered on the region, and floods of debris spewed through Pladtioa.

He swung his divine blade and pushed the entire chunk of Pladtioa far from the rest of Gincad. Disturbances splatter throughout the oceans, with the citizens screaming in horror.

Monsters fled away while the sky filled with dark pink storms. The God of Purity turned his own citizens into disgusting monsters. He cursed others to transform into the land itself against their will.

Some say his storms were his tears that filled the craters of destruction into stagnant pools of water like Deepenpond. He buried his temples into the ground and brought ruin to the majority of Pladtioa.

After ten long days of his wrath, the old Pladtioa was buried, and nothing but The Fountain, The Child, Him, and the grass remained. His anger died down, and he used all of his power to transform Pladtioa into its purest state.

Flora began to bloom, the green rolling hills sprawl out from the ashes, and the landscape shaped up once more. He then abandoned Pladtioa, never to be seen again, only leaving his daughter to finish the rest of his work.

* * *

The tree’s shadows cover Phthonus as he traces his last words from his quivering lips.

“It was then that The Queen of Pladtioa took his place. Only the souls of the cursed citizens were the only ones left to tell the tale…”

The wanderers paralyze in fear while feeling the sunlight blind their faces. Phthonus bends his head down while hearing the feared whispers from the wanderers. Asahi sighs and shuts his eyes.

“That… can’t be possible. Does that make sis and me the only gods that can handle the power of emotions?”

Phthonus jumps up.

“Hold on, you two are gods?!”

Aletha responds while covering her mouth, imagining the horror that came from the sickening story.

“Yes… we had our powers stolen,

As a bird flocks over her head, she touches her heart and softly says to Phthonus.

“I am touched by that tale. I feel like The God of Purity was truly an amazing individual, only corrupted by his own insanity. I never would guess that this tame grassland could have experienced so much chaos.”

Asahi add on while staring at the blue sky.

“Not only that… I never thought it was possible to move an entire chunk of land far into the ocean. Only the most powerful gods could do that. I thought Pladtioa was always like this.”

Drimi replies while placing her dark mask over her mouth and kicking Sally’s feet.

“Yeah, Pladtioa has by far the most impactful past compared to the rest of Gincad. It’s hard to believe that it was the first nation to exist. Perhaps that’s the reason why this nation remains to be pure, even after so many hits it has taken.”

Phthonus pushes his dark hair to the side and points forward. The wagon juddered up the large bumps and churned through the steep hills. The trees slowly swerve back and forth, exiting the small forest behind them.

“Here we are!”

The wanderers swiftly crawl forward and poke their heads away from the wagon. The sight of a massive, glistening, bright, teal blue body of water is revealed to all of them. The landscape is shaped like a vast bowl. The enormous lake is at the bottom, and the ample greenery scatters along the rims.

The landscape is oddly deep as if a crater formed here. Small straw buildings were scattered around the bowl, with ancient stone debris buried under the soil. Pathways stretch from top to bottom, some at the side and others circling the rim.

Beyond the glittering horizon, they can see another massive set of forests and mountains. Asahi mutters as the wagon rolls down the hill.

“The forest and mountains look so tiny from here.”

Aletha tilts her head and shouts with an excited look on her face.

“Yeah, and I can hardly see Milmoor, too, and the city of Pladtioa is nowhere to be seen. How far have we traveled?”

Phthonus nervously scratches his head.

“By my observations, we have traveled through both the Cliffthon Expanse and Creation Lake. We are still distant from Dreamtoe cliff, but we are also near The Forest of Plados.”

Asahi tremblingly smiles as he slowly tilts his head toward the seemingly tiny mountains in the distance.

“S-So you are telling me that those mountains over there… i-is our destination?”

Phthonus releases a long sigh and replies.

“Y-Yes. We still have a long way to go, but we will get there. For now, let’s just rest here. We still have a lot of time before our deadline. Why not relax for a while? The water down there is drinkable and purified.”

The wanderers yell out with a surprised tone.

“Really?!”

Sadiki swiftly replies as the wanderers, Drimi, and Sally jump out of the carriage.

“Yes. Oh, and it seems I forgot to give you the name.”

Asahi bluntly replies while drying off the droplets on his attire.

“What name?”

As the flourishing breezes blow on Phthonus’ silky dark hair, he points up to the sky and replies while his dark skin shimmers from the sunlight.

“The God of Purity! He sometimes goes by the name, Plados.”

The wanderers back up in shock while Drimi and Sally laugh at their foolishness.

“Really?!”

Phthonus sarcastically replies, while hearing the giggles from Drimi and Sally.

“Yes, really. Now hurry up!”