Capítulo 232: Confrontation

"First get to the treatment center near the Dukes mansion, and then the followers of goddess Gabriel will help you and your family."

"Thank you, may the goddess bless you!" The man smiled as yet more people started helping their sick families towards the treatment center before turning his attention to the next one. He was surprised at how quickly people were taking to the new goddess, not that he was one to talk, but when they compared her to the church that hadn't helped them during the times of crisis it was understandable. The man then recalled how the followers of the goddess cured his children of the sickness and how she descended from the sky in their hour of need to help them, faced with how much effort their saviors were putting in the man figured the least he could do was help people get to the treatment center so that even more could be saved.

"May I know more about these followers of Gabriel?" A voice suddenly said to him. The man turned towards the speaker happy to share his firsthand knowledge of them, before realizing he was now face to face with the high priest of the church and several temple Knights. Before the man could say or do anything the temple Knights seized each of his arms and held him down while the surrounding people quickly cleared an area around them. The high preset then looked the man in the eye and said,

"I will give you one chance to return to gods grace, tell me about the followers of this false goddess and spit on her name." The man didn't know what to do at this point, on one hand it wouldn't be too hard to give the high priest what he wanted while lying, but on the other he didn't want to betray the ones who saved his children. Making his decision and his peace, the man looked the high priest in the eyes and said,

"I will not. The goddess's followers saved my children and she herself appeared and saved this city, while you and your God left us to rot until it was convenient for you. I will not turn my back on such a being." The high priest frowned when he heard the mans response before turning and saying to the crowd that had been following him,

"Do you see now good people, the dangers of this false divine? Not only has she seduced the innocent from the righteous path, but she has also convinced them that the divine should move at our convenience. A being that moves at the whims of man, is no divine at all!" There was a cry of agreement from those who followed the high priest while those who had yet to get treatment themselves or for their families looked down and wondered what they were supposed to do. The high priest then turned back towards the man and said,

"As punishment for turning your back on gods benevolence, you shall be purged! May you return to the right path in the afterlife!" At the high priests words there was a wave of cheers from those who followed him while a single woman cried out in fear and despair. As the man was forced to kneel while one of the temple Knights drew his sword, he turned to high priest once more and asked,

"Tell me high priest, when you die will your God even notice or care?" The high priest snorted at the mans words, as the temple knight sword fell and removed his head.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" A woman's cry rang out, probably the mans wife, while those who followed the high priest from the church cheered at the heretics death. The high priest then ordered the Knights to move on while also bringing the head with them, leaving behind the recently widowed woman as she cried over her husband's headless corpse.

***

The captain of the guard looked around the warehouse as people continued to be treated for their illness, and fought back a tear from happiness, a feeling that was shared by everyone around him. Now that people were being cured in greater numbers they ensured that the high class adventurers were some of the first, this way they could prepare for a trip to the Grand Gruen Volcano in order to procure more Serene Stone so that they wouldn't necessarily need for Alex's group to heal each and every person. When what was happening around was combined with the miracle that was just witnessed by the city, the captain of the guard felt that they truly were blessed by the goddess. This feeling didn't last however as one of his men came and reported something disturbing to him.

"Sir, we've gotten several reports of the church marching through town with and escort of two hundred temple Knights! They are making their way here while also executing anyone who acknowledges the goddess Gabriel or those who serve her!" The captain was stupefied at this news, the entire city had just escaped destruction and now the church was murdering their own people in the streets?! What made matters worse was that they were marching with so many temple Knights while he only had a couple dozen readily available without recalling the few that were still able to patrol. After thinking for a moment the captain said to the man,

"Quickly, run to the oasis and report this news to the duke, this action of the church is blatant rebellion against the ruling body of this territory! I'll gather what men I can to hold them off if they try to force their way through." He man who brought the report saluted before swiftly running off to find the duke at the oasis, while the captain turned back towards the massive crowd of people within the warehouse. He just couldn't believe the church was reacting so extremely to the spread of belief in goddess Gabriel, especially when they sat back during this outbreak and refused to proactively help. He quickly gathered what few men were helping organize people and rushed to the street to waylay the church, while also neglecting to tell the followers of Gabriel as he felt they were helping them too much and he didn't want to rely of them for this as well. Unfortunately for the captain a certain pair of rabbit ears twitched when he received the report, and she quickly went around and spread the information to the others present that were unable to heal.

"I say let the Knights take care of it, we can't do everything for them~Nya." Kuroka said as she manipulated the energy inside her current patients body until they returned to normal. Shizuku however said,

"True, but here's also a few of us that can't heal so the least we can do is help keep the church away." As she and Kaori already heard all about Ehito's and the church from Alex and the others she didn't hesitate to place herself against them, especially when she learned they had no intention of returning them to their world. Kuroka narrowed her eyes at her and asked,

"But can you fight them~Nya? If I recall you're pretty close to that fake hero, and he was really naive when it came to fighting against other people." Shizuku flinched at Kuroka's words and replied while also trying to ignore the quip against Kouki,

"I don't like the idea of fighting against other people, the thought that my blade may cut their flesh and kill them honestly makes me want to cry... But it must be done and I resolved myself to do what's needed." Seeing her resolve everyone else looked relieved as those who were thinking of joining the Knights had all engaged in battles against other people before and wouldn't hesitate. After all agreeing Shizuku, Shia, Tio, and Gasper all headed outside to stand at the side of the Knights as they waited for the church to show up. The captain frowned when he saw them join them, but right as he opened his mouth to say something Shia interrupted him,

"We aren't really helping heal, and we're better at doing things like this anyways." Though the captain didn't want to rely on them for this as well, he could only sigh as they were grossly outnumbered anyways, which was also the reason why he was waiting for the church to show up instead of going to them. They didn't have long to wait though when Tio's eyes sharpened and she said,

"This one smells blood, I wouldst presume that it is them." Shia also nodded and said,

"I can hear metal armor clanking so you're right." With the warning from the two girls the captain turned towards the two dozen men behind him and shouted,

"FORMATIONS READY!" At his order the Knights formed a shield wall while the only spellcaster available started preparing a defensive formation, even if they were joined by the four from Alex's group they were still drastically outmatched so the captain decided a defensive approach was best. The only flaw to his formation was the severe shortage of hands available, and the fact that Shia and the rest were acting on their own in front of them.

The rabbit girl had surprised everyone just by being on the front lines, but when a giant Warhammer appeared from nowhere just to be casually slung over her shoulder they were all dumbfounded. Tio meanwhile felt that slinging fire and wind spells around wouldn't be good within the city, so she simply dragonfied her arms and summoned her wings to fight hand to hand. Shizuku thought for a moment before unsheathing the wakizashi to hold in her right hand, and the tantō to hold in her off hand, though she specialized in using the larger katana Shizuku decided to try fighting with the two blades since she had them. Finally Gasper who looked like a walking oddity from being dressed in a cosplay nurses outfit while almost being as buff as Alex and having a girlish face, instead of getting ready to fight hand to hand like everyone thought a couple magic circle formed near his hands while his eyes started glowing a bright red. Though everyone was confused about him, they didn't have time to think about it as the church forces came into view. There was a sudden intake of breath from the Knights while several people around them that still needed to be treated screamed, as there was no less than thirty heads decorating the poles held by the temple Knights. With a look of rage the captain of the Knights stepped forward and declared,

"High priest, you and the temple Knights behind you are hereby charged with murder, and traitorous acts against the dukedom of Ankaji! Surrender in order to face the Dukes justice!" The high priest looked genuinely confused at the captains declaration and asked,

"Captain, how can we be traitors when we simply follow the will of God? These men and women are the real traitors, they grew up in a world rules by God, and turned their backs on him the first chance they got! Tell me you aren't with them, tell me you as well aren't a traitor! Prove your faith by turning over those followers of the false divine, the filthy animal of the rabbitman race, the fallen and disgraced vampire and dragon race, and the apostle that turned against her own comrades and the god they serve; and feel firsthand the benevolence of God!" The captain felt disgusted by the high priests words, and simply replied,

"Then I will either detain or fight you to the death so that the families of those you murdered will hopefully sleep easier knowing justice was served to their family's killer." Hearing that the captain had absolutely no intention of doing as he insisted, the high priest simply acted disappointed and said,

"I see, perhaps the Duke will see fit to appoint a captain better suited for his position once he returns to reason as well." The high priest then removed a parchment of paper from his sleeve and started chanting as the circular lines on it started glowing, causing everyone got into battle ready positions while the spellcaster deployed the defensive barrier he had erected. As the high priest finished chanting the parchment shone with what seemed to be a holy light before an intense beam of the holy power condensed and shot forward at the captain and his men while Shia and the others seemingly watched for some reason. The captain knew he had no hope of surviving such an attack, and all of those behind them knew the same, but if they failed to block it then it would breach their line and those who still needed treatment would suffer, so their stances never wavered as the beam destroyed the barrier protecting them and moved towards him. At that moment however,

"That's enough of that." A voice said as what seemed to be a hole opened up in space itself in front of the captain and the beam was swallowed inside. No one knew what happened until an explosion overhead sounded out, as the attack directed towards the Knights instead collided with the barrier over the whole city.

"We leave for a few minutes and you guys throw a party? Come on!" Everyone turned towards the speaker and saw Alex standing there next to the duke and several more Knights; except though he had cracked a joke with a kidding tone, his expression was hard as he looked at the people from the church. However, even after his display of the age of gods Spatial magic, none of them flinched as the high priest even stepped forward and said,

"Welcome champion of the false goddess, may I presume you have come to learn of the grace of God?" Alex smirked and said,

"I'll have nothing to do with such a coward, instead I came to deal with the bunch of murderous madmen who worship him." After hearing Alex refer to their God as a coward the followers of the church frowned, but when he referred to them as madmen they became angry and the high priest declared,

"Mad? Us? No champion of the false goddess we are simply exercising gods will, madness is believing in something as impossible as peace with filthy animals and the blasphemous demon race, as well as the disgraced vampires and dragon race. Madness is kneeling to a harlot who seduces decent men and women from the righteous path, and who claims that humans originated from the same place as those disgusting other races! Bowing only to the will of the one true God is not madness!" After hearing the high priests speech the followers of the church cheered while Alex's expression hardened even more. He then stepped forward and approached the priest and temple Knights slowly while the girls and Gasper wisely started stepping back, knowing not to get in his way. As Alex slowly stepped forward the high priest and the temple Knights felt an increasing amount of dread even though he had yet to do anything, but once he stopped in front of them Alex simply spoke a single word.

"KNEAL!"

As this lone word spread to the surroundings everyone had a look of confusion, before the sudden combination of pressure and gravity magic forced every single follower of the church to their knees. To those watching who weren't effected by Alex's pressure and gravity, they could only feel a rising amount of tension as the air itself seemed to hum with power. Alex took the last couple steps until he was in front of the now kneeling high priest as he struggled to find his feet, before saying in a quiet voice that still carried to the surroundings,

"It seems your gods will is not the only thing you'll submit to. Now, do you think your God will intervene on the behalf of one of his faithful, or will he leave you to rot?" The high priest smirked and said,

"Say what you will, but my faith will never waver." Alex simply shrugged and replied,

"I know, but what about them?" As the high priest looked around to see who Alex was indicating he saw the hundreds of gathered people watching the display, and realized what Alex was after. Before he could say anything however Alex continued,

"Now these people watched as right when they started recovering from disaster the church tried to steal their loved ones, how those who were supposedly against the other races the most even turned on their own people in the blink of an eye. Do you think they'll truly stay faithful?" The high priest didn't know what to say as he now felt as if he had been dancing on the palm of the person in front of him, the only thing he could think of to do was to look Alex in the eye and say,

"You are a demon." Alex laughed lightly at the high priests words and replied,

"Close but no cigar, and I actually didn't plan any of this you know." He then turned around and started walking back towards the warehouse while the Dukes men moved in to restrain the temple Knights, before seeming to recall something and turning back towards the duke.

"By the way, the goddess preaches peace and loving each other, but the laws of man still need to be taken into consideration. These men murdered your people and acted openly against this areas ruling body, yourself. Do with them as you usually would." Leaving those words behind Alex grabbed Shia and the protesting Shizuku by the waist as he reentered the warehouse, followed Tio who was panting at being ignored and Gasper who was long used to Alex's behavior.