The Cardinals were taken by panic; their plan had failed spectacularly.
It was such a horrible loss that they lost influence over the entirety of the Royal family and were declared a heresy.
Not only that, the 1st legion refused to act on their orders. The general would not aid them.
He, too, was a heretic.
What's worse was that once the Apostate Queen had declared Chrunus a heresy, many citizens cheered; they dared rebel against Chrunus.
"We must unleash the Chaos Elemental 'Ljetitsinu', he had been sealed under our eastern temple for so long, but this situation requires him!"
The mists that enveloped them were thinner, almost enough to reveal their appearances.
There was a simple reason why their mists were so thin and not impenetrable as they were. The 12th Cardinal had been destroyed.
He had been sent to supervise and guide the Chaos elementals, and most importantly, to make sure the damage was kept to a minimum as Aurelia was dealt with.
But instead of Aurelia being disintegrated by Chaos Elementals, she was able to repel them without any difficulty.
The final message delivered by the 12th described her as a beacon of order that dispelled any and all chaos around her.
Even the greater elemental 'Carazar' was destroyed, and one of the rare sentient elementals was lost.
Overall, the Church of Chrunus had suffered a major defeat, a major defeat that left a bitter taste in their mouths.
"We have lost a Cardinal, and Carazar, and for what? Nothing!" 1st Cardinal shouted, the mist swirling wildly around him.
"Chrunus will punish us." 2nd Cardinal spoke, his voice cracking in fear.
"We must fix this. We must kill Aurelia ourselves. We cannot leave a threat. We must not disappoint Chrunus, no matter what." The 3rd Stated calmly.
Never before did they have the displeasure of tasting defeat. Chrunus made sure to empower them enough to repel anything or anyone.
And yet, one of their own was eradicated by a single girl who, for all intents and purposes, was supposed to be an easy target for even the weakest of elementals.
Fortunately, the information reached them through the piece of the Cardinal, and as such, they weren't completely blinded.
"We must ambush her ourselves... 12th has died because he was alone, the beacon of order won't stand against our combined force!" The 11th shouted, his voice forcing the mass of mist to churn.
For a mere moment, the mist thickened.
"This cannot be left to lesser or even greater elementals! We must unleash Ljetitsinu!" 7th Interjected.
"Agreed, we must destroy Aurelia. No price is too high."
"If we fail. It would not only mean our end, but the influence of our lord would diminish." The voice stopped. "Even if this city is destroyed, the damage done to Chrunus must be controlled."
The citizens of Valar betrayed Chrunus by cheering for the Apostate queen; they had to be purged.
The loss of a large city would be a terrible price, but it was a price they would need to pay.
Chrunus did not care how many humans died, as long as every living being worshipped him.
And unfortunately, it seemed that the entire Valar proved itself worthy of the purge.
The Cardinals worked hard to make sure that all traces of the lesser gods were erased.
Who would be a fool to defy Chrunus, especially if that god had granted them the power that rivaled some of the weaker divinity?
The god of chaos deserved their utmost loyalty.
All others were merely destined to serve the supreme god of Chaos.
"We must commune, we must report. We must warn Chrunus before unleashing the supreme Chaos Elemental."
"We must not, we have failed." The 7th spoke, his misty shroud churring at the statement.
"7th speaks true, we must fix this ourselves. Chrunus sees all, he expects us to fix our mistakes." The 1st agreed, it was foolish to show themselves to Chrunus after such a massive blunder.
"Chrunus does not tolerate failure; we must depart at once."
The mists churned once again, enveloping them in such thickness that light seemed foreign.
As it dissipated, they found themselves at the location of the temple.
Or where the temple was supposed to be.
As the mist coalesced into the forms of 11 cardinals, they found themselves on a flat terrain.
The residual holy energies still stung their very bodies.
"The temple..." The 1st Cardinal, still shrouded in mists, fell back.
"What happened..." The Cardinals looked around, and nothing remained of the temple that was in charge of keeping Ljetitsinu's seal secure.
The mists dispersed around the 3rd Cardinal, revealing his elderly and yet vigorous form.
He kneeled where the seal used to be, his blue eyes peering deeply at the ground where the entrance to the world of chaos was.
Where the Scar once was, now was ordinary ground, and yet saturated with an almost infinite amount of order.
"The force of Order.... they destroyed Ljetitsinu... IMPOSSIBLE!" The Cardinal shouted.
His voice shook the area and cracked the ground.
Was it Aurelia? It was impossible, no matter how powerful, nobody could destroy Ljetitsinu.
This was a bigger war; they could not afford not to commune with Chrunus.
Even if it cost them their power and even lives, they had to speak to Chrunus now and prepare for war against something worse than a mere Apostate Queen.
"We must commune." The mists churned around them instantly.
The 3rd Cardinal rose to his feet, the mist covering his form once again.
Their fate was not uncertain, but in the name of Chrunus, they had to win against the forces of Order.
[Dark Communion], while the communion would be shorter due to the lack of the 12th Cardinal, it would suffice.
The dark mists churned around them, obscuring the world as it created a bubble of Chaos so that the Cardinals may commune with the supreme god.
"Chrunus. Our Lord. We have failed. We bring dire news." The Cardinals fell to their knees as the storm settled once again, forming the direct connection to Chrunus once again.
The raging storm threatened to tear them apart before the voice reached them, "Speak. You Failed. Explain."