A silence cloyed in the air. It cloyed in a tense way far too unbecoming of the gentle breeze that floated about the Winterwoods. Tension seeped into the silence as Li felt his followers gather behind him, the farmers already shifting their feet forward and clenching their fists in preparation to fight, knowing full well of the many years of persecution they had felt from the temple of light. 

In return, the trio of high priests aimed their gold-tipped staffs at the farmers. "And he has already amassed such a gathering, nay, he has scrounged up the heretics of old, the frolickers of the forest, the heathens of the leaf!"

A hiss broke through the crowd as Tia leaped into the air, sailing past the heads of a few farmers before she landed besides Li, her hackles raised and her jaws bared. The horse the priest rode on whinnied in terror, but the priest forcibly cast [Courage] upon it to steel its nerves. Yet noticeably, the man stopped pointing his staff, causing Tia to stand down a little. 

"Are you certain this is him?" said a knight following right behind the priest on horseback. From the white plume at his helm, it was evident that he was the squadron's leader. "I, er, do not sense anything…demonic? From this man. And we know him well as a man of good character that has aided our causes greatly."

"You fool," said the high priest. "You think mine eyes of true light deceive me? No, my hands were foremost in uprooting this accursed faith from the earth many years ago; I know the like of heresy when I gaze upon it."

The priest tore off his mask, revealing a surprisingly chiseled face not at all marked with the wrinkles that would have been normal for a man to have known a faith that existed decades ago. Yet it was a face marred with the wildness of zealotry, the eyes wide with an insanity forged by a sense of delusional purpose. 

"And look at me! I yet remain youthful, blessed by the light. Is that not evidence enough that mine words shine with the light of truth? That our faith in the light is true? That the light rewards us well?"

Li did not wish to deal with such an insignificant thing prattling at him. He took a look at the high priest, then at his two companions, and judged the worth of their lives. They had lived many years, it was true, but years spent taking and taking and taking, never giving. 

All life that flowed had some inherent value, but not all life was created equal. As Li began to raise his hand, Jeanne pushed past the farmers and in front of him. 

"The hero!?" murmured the knight captain, and as his words echoed out, it spread like wildfire through the ranks of the knights, and they all moved forwards, craning their necks to try and catch a glimpse of the celebrity.

"The Light of Life belongs to all, does it not?" said Jeanne as she faced down the high priest. "That is the very first doctrine that our faith teaches. That just as the sun shines its light upon every corner of this world, that all are worthy of life and understanding and respect."

"Hero you may be," said the high priest patronizingly. "But you are far too young to be interpreting doctrine to us. We will overlook your frolicking with dark forces, so leave our sight, little one. You do not understand what true faith is. It is not at all like the falsities that this foreigner promises."

Li put a hand to Jeanne's shoulder and moved her behind him. He came up to the high priest, right up to the horse that he rode on, and the high priest pulled back his reigns, wanting the horse to fall back.

However, the horse was mesmerized by Li, understanding at an instinctive level that life incarnate stood before it. It lowered its head, and Li pet it.

With an understanding nod, the horse bucked its legs, throwing the high priest off its back and into the dirt beside Li. 

The high priest groaned as he hit the ground on all fours, his white robes blackened by soil stains. Li reached down and grabbed the high priest by the golden mantle hanging around his neck. The man was smaller than Li, small enough that Li could raise him high above his feet. 

"False promises? You believe our faith empty?" said Li as he watched the high priest struggle, his legs writhing as he put his hand around Li's arm to try and wrestle free from it. Instead, the priest found that Li's arm was like a mighty tree trunk, immovable by any strength he could muster. 

The priest still gripped his staff with the other hand, and seeing the situation grow desperate, upraised it for a blow. 

Li shifted his grip upwards, taking direct hold of the priest's bare neck. The divine energy flowing through him, rippling through the cracks in his skin, poured forth into the priest in a raging torrent that set the man alight in green fire.

"Is this not demonstration that our faith is true? Can you not feel it burning you, breaking your unworthy existence apart? Is this not greater proof of faith than a youthful face stolen from the lives of others?"

The high priest dropped his staff and dangled limply from Li's arm as the flames melted his flesh. They did not affect his clothing, merely the unworthy life underneath, and even in the miniscule amounts that sputtered out from under the carpet of Li's human disguise, it was still more than enough to breach the warding defenses, magic resistance, and regeneration that the priest's equipment and class skills granted. 

Soon enough, it would reduce the priest into a primordial goop of melted biomass. Perfect for fertilizing the soil beneath. 

The knights and other priests all fell back, terrified at the sudden display of power. 

A cool hand gently wrapped itself around Li's free arm, and in an instant, he could feel the burning, bursting divine energy within himself flickering down. It did not stop the priest from continuing to suffer in agony, but it did clear his mind. He looked to his side to see Iona, her head turned away as she grasped his arm, the green patterns of divine energy moving from his skin and into hers. 

Li tossed the priest unceremoniously away towards his two companions. "If you waste any more time with us, your priest is going to die, though even if you do heal him, he'll look like a melted mess the rest of his pitiful life. That is, if he even lives."

Li sighed, remembering the rush of divine energy that had flowered in him, washing away his finer human senses. He could not have gone back to Old Thane like that. And this air of fear around him, he could just now perceive it. It was not one he was fond of - he did not want to lead by fear.

Still, though, he had a duty to protect his followers.

"I'm going to leave now, and none of you will stop me," said Li. "Because all of you know you can do nothing. The faith I bring holds just as much right to take root within this land as your one of light does, and if you make yet another move against us, then I warn you to be wary of divine intervention as I promise it will be infinitely more worse than anything your god will ever make the effort to cast, if he is even willing to challenge us." 

Li walked past the crowd of knights, and they broke rank to make way for him, a more solemn silence filling the air now as his followers walked close behind, threading through the stunned, wordless and fearful knights and priests.