The Soul Illusion, its origins unknown, lay in the deepest depths beneath the Apostles Base. It was the innermost chamber, its existence known to no one but the four bishops.
On the surrounding walls, enormous murals unfolded like scrolls of history, their jade borders gleaming amid gold and silver embellishments. Though a thousand years had passed, their colors remained as vivid as ever.
Yet even the current Apostle Bishops had no idea who had created these murals!
The murals recounted scattered fragments of the Apostles Organization's history, but they also recorded countless spells in unknown languages and symbols. Almost all the Apostles Organization's most distinctive, essential spells had been deciphered from the murals on this chamber's walls and passed down.
The chamber was empty, hushed and mysterious. The floor resembled a still lake, occasionally stirring with subtle, invisible ripples.
At its very center stood a thick, unadorned Stone Pillar, ancient and austere in its elegance. Like a mighty tree brimming with tenacious life, it sank its roots deep into the floor and towered up to the ceiling.
The deep, ink-black ceiling resembled the night sky. Gems of every color studded it like twinkling stars, casting an entrancing glow. Golden threads linked the gems, crisscrossing like branches before converging on the central Stone Pillar to form an immense canopy.
In this enchanting, magnificent space, anyone whose will faltered even slightly would be drawn like a moth to a flame by the mesmerizing sight beneath the canopy. Their soul would sink into it, eventually dissolving in this dreamlike world.
"What exactly happened? Did something go wrong at Hogwarts?"
Second Archbishop Publius Maro pushed open the chamber door. Seeing Archbishop Kevin Fawley, who had arrived in the Soul Illusion before him, standing before the Stone Pillar with an unusually grave expression, he hurried