"The heavens split open, and the Indigo King breathed fire as he descended from the sandstorm;
"The savior behind the veil murmured: 'I am the warp and weft of heaven and earth. I bring an inexhaustible spring.'
"I kissed his shadow, sipped his blood, and tasted the sweetness of honey in the sand;"
"The child of doomsday was finally strangled by tomorrow's umbilical cord."
—"Parthia," Chapter One, "Oracle of the Holy Spring," First Verse.
This book, read by nearly all the Parthians and Free People, was precisely the foundation upon which Holy Spring City was built.
When the Parthian Ancient Kingdom was first established, a Winged Ones prophet wrote thirteen chapters of prophetic poetry titled "Parthia," describing thirteen prophecies that would eventually come true. The first Parthian King consequently divided Parthia's territory into thirteen provinces, naming each after one chapter of the prophetic poem.
Over the long years, twelve of those prophecies had already come true. Coincidentally, those twelve provinces had all ceased to exist by now, reduced to ruins and swallowed by the desert. Only the "Oracle of the Holy Spring" remained unfulfilled... Perhaps that was precisely why Holy Spring City alone still existed.
That was also why the name of Holy Spring City's ruler differed from the names of the rulers of the other Oasis City-States—
The name of Holy Spring City's ruler, "Aymar Nur," literally meant "Spring of Light" in the Avalon Language. It could also be translated as "Holy Spring."
This did not mean that the original ruler had lived until the present day... Rather, every ruler of Holy Spring City had to abandon their original name and take the name "Aymar Nur," inheriting the name of the Holy Spring.
And now—
"My lord..."
A black-robed priest wearing a crow mask and holding a staff murmured