Uriel walked through the streets of Weave, strolling through the different districts, guided by Ananke, who had offered to be his guide through Weave with considerable excitement on her face.
Uriel was telling Ananke about his adventure in the Antarctic Center, and she listened to the story attentively.
"In the end, I achieved my goals. I saved hundreds of millions of people. I managed to eliminate the greatest threats. Although I couldn't save the Antarctic Center from the nightmare creatures." Uriel sighed.
Ananke felt somewhat sad.
"So many lives taken by those vile creatures," she said, clenching her hand.
"My lord, you are incredible to have accomplished so much alone."
"Oh, I wasn't alone," he said as they arrived at another district that was being rebuilt after the latest attack by the corrupted.
"There were many people. I had allies—Awakened, Masters, and Saints. Although I had great influence, there were people who organized, who healed, who provided food, who investigated and created attack strategies. In the end, Ananke, power without direction is just emptiness, devoid of purpose."
Ananke looked at Uriel in a new light.
"You are very wise, my lord."
Finally, Uriel nodded.
"I am the wisest man of all. My wisdom knows no bounds." A strange wind tousled Uriel's hair, giving him the air of a wandering sage full of wisdom.
Ananke blinked several times.
"Where did that wind come from?"
"What wind?" Uriel asked.
Ananke shook her head.
"No... it doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, my lord, we have arrived."
Uriel observed the magnificent structure they were approaching. It was undoubtedly unusual. And large.
'Why does everything have to be on such a massive scale? Were the gods and demons competing to see who had the biggest one or something?' Uriel thought, bewildered.
The construction was enormous compared to the buildings of the floating city-ship of Weave, since most of the buildings were located in the heart of the city, on a solitary floating island that remained apart from the rest.
The artificial island was connected by bridges of white silk rope, reminiscent of a spider at the center of a vast web.
The structure was tall and imposing, built of roughly hewn black stone. Torn white banners hung from its walls, waving in the wind. The overall appearance was hazy and sinister, like an evil temple for dark rituals.
"Could this temple be..."
Ananke nodded.
"Yes, this is one of the most important places in Weave," Ananke said.
"Is it the Weaver's temple?"
"No, my lord. Weaver was elusive and did not wish to be venerated. Besides, it's useless to worship the Demon of Destiny... no matter how virtuous you are, no matter how many offerings you make, he always remains indifferent, immutable, and inevitable," Ananke explained.
"No... this is the Temple of the Nightmare Spell. Of the gift that Weaver gave us so that we would trust in him rather than in the gods, the demons, or destiny itself."
Uriel observed the dark temple with a strange look on his face. He still didn't know many things about the Nightmare Spell. He knew it had been created by Weaver, woven from destiny itself that connected all beings to its threads.
However, Uriel knew that to create something of such power, an immeasurable, almost omnipotent source of power was needed.
He wondered what Weaver's real plan had been in refusing to join the war with his other brothers.
"Let's enter," Ananke said, advancing across the white silk bridge toward the temple.
Uriel followed Ananke to the temple entrance, and they crossed through. The interior was spacious and shrouded in darkness, creating a solemn and mysterious atmosphere.
Uriel could see through the darkness with ease. The interior of the temple had a serene beauty. On the walls, he observed intricate tapestries of thread so vast and intricate that it overwhelmed him. He remembered when the veil of darkness had dissipated for a few seconds from his soul upon awakening from that divine entity.
It was the most beautiful and terrifying thing he had ever seen. An infinity of stars of various colors adorning the darkness in a beautiful vista—each star shone and connected with ethereal threads in such an intricate way that he simply didn't know where to begin looking or understanding.
Uriel observed soft tapestries of enormous spiders that grew freely among the support beams of the hall.
"Do those spider tapestries mean something?" he asked, looking at Ananke.
"No one knows what the Demon of Destiny looks like, you see?... That's why he is often represented as a spider. Because of this, spiders were considered sacred animals to us followers of Weaver. It was forbidden to harm a spider or its web, and we lived in peace alongside many others."
Ananke looked at the temple with a nostalgic gaze.
"I spent my youth in this temple, learning from my mother the duties of a priestess. The spiders that lived here were my friends. They're no longer here, of course... Destiny wasn't merciful to them either. But their silk remains."
Uriel began to walk until he stopped before a large slab of black stone. The slab was rough, as if it had been broken by a powerful blow. From above, a ray of sunlight fell vertically onto the stone column, bathing it in a blinding white radiance.
Uriel looked at the carvings on the stone mass with a strange expression.
On the ancient stone, an enormous door was depicted, its titanic surface wrapped in unbreakable chains. Before it stood a tall figure, hidden by a dark cloak. Only the face—or the mask—was visible: a fearsome demon with ferocious fangs and a crown of three twisted horns.
"Weaver," Uriel murmured, looking at the representation of the Demon of Destiny.
Ananke approached, looking at the stone slab, and without waiting for the question, she spoke.
"This is one of the greatest relics of Weave, my lord. This column was brought to Ariel's Tomb by my elders, then moved here after their exile. It represents Weaver's deeds, from his birth to the delivery of the Nightmare Spell to this people."
"This is a fragment of the mural that tells the story of one of Weaver's greatest deeds—the story of how the wandering demon challenged the eternal abyss."
Uriel looked at Ananke with doubt.
"You mean the Void?"
"Yes. After the gods sealed the Void, Weaver was the only one who managed to enter. Or rather, the only one who entered and managed to return alive. At least, that's what the legends say."
Uriel looked at the slab and compiled all the information he had so far.
First, the primordial Void existed with its creatures—Void entities of terrifying power. Then the Flame of Desire was born, and with it, direction. And from these two factors, the gods were born.
He didn't know how or when, but something happened that gave rise to the Unknown, whose existence is forbidden to know.
Then there was the fact that after the sealing, a vast and powerful Void creature placed itself into existence, infecting the mortal and divine realms of the gods, earning their hatred.
The gods fought and killed the Void creature, whose traces impregnated existence as an indelible mark, and thus true darkness was born.
Up to that point, he understood. However, the rest of the story was disconnected—there were points he didn't understand how they connected. What was the real purpose of creating the Nightmare Spell? How did the gods and demons die?
Why did the Forgotten One become corrupted?
Many such questions swirled in his mind, and he doubted he would find the answers soon.
'Perhaps if I read the terrible truth that Ariel left in the entrance, I could understand more about what really happened in the past.'
It was a risky gamble. Knowing the truth that the Terror Demon himself wanted to forget was dangerous, and he didn't know how it would affect him. Even if he wasn't corrupted by forbidden knowledge, he doubted he would come out sane—or less sane than he already was.
Uriel followed Ananke to continue exploring the temple. Since dusk had already fallen, they decided to leave their exploration for the morning.
Uriel leaned against a wall, closing his eyes, preparing to sleep.
...That night, he had a nightmare.