The Hermit's words left every member stunned. For a moment, they wondered if they had heard him correctly.
The Night Emperor fell because the Six Gods besieged him? Alger, the Hanged Man, could hardly believe it.
Klein, the Fool, was equally surprised. Hadn't the Six Gods supported the Trunsoest Empire? Why would they suddenly turn on the Night Emperor?
Cattleya, the High Priestess, thought, So the Six Gods really were the key to the War of the Four Emperors. The Night Emperor had already defeated the Black Emperor and the Blood Emperor, yet he still couldn't stand against the Six Gods. Of course he couldn't.
She found herself wondering what had driven the two sides apart.
So she asked, "Mr. Hermit, why did the Six Gods do that?"
"I've received two pieces of information about it," Odys said. "I can't determine which explanation is correct—or which was the main reason."
The other members sat up straighter and listened quietly.
"The first is that the Six Gods attacked the Night Emperor because he had been corrupted by an evil god," Odys continued. "There's evidence that he was corrupted.
"That conclusion comes from an analysis of a Sealed Artifact formed after his death. Supposedly, the artifact bore traces of an unknown corruption.
"That led to the theory that the Night Emperor himself had been corrupted."
Cattleya asked, "What kind of Sealed Artifact was it?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Odys said. "I only know it's now in the hands of the Church of the God of Combat."
It was Trunsoest's Brass Book, but Odys had no intention of spelling that out here. He had already said enough.
Besides, with intelligence of this caliber, being vague made his account more credible.
Cattleya nodded slowly and asked no more. She knew the abilities of such