"Ignore him, let's continue on our way," said Gray as he turned back and continued walking.

"The church can offer you food, shelter, and protection from the demons that fill our land. All that we ask is that you use your god given gifts to help others as well. " continued the clergyman as Gray walked away.

"Hey, you! Can't you hear the priest talking to you!" shouted one of the people who were queued up in front of the church.

"You should be grateful that the church is willing to help out delinquents like you," said a thin man as he left the group and approached Gray.

Gray continued walking, paying no mind to the man.

'There will always be people like this. When times get hard they turn to 'gods' for help. If a god really existed then they are the ones who put us in this situation in the first place. But I guess these idiots were brainwashed into believing this rubbish, can't blame them anyway.'

"Are you ignoring me you little shit!" shouted the thin man angrily as he ran towards Gray and attempted to pull him back by the shoulder. However Tesse pulled out her sword and glared at the man, threatening to chop his hand of if he continued.

'Oh, what's this? Is my little toy trying to protect me.' wondered Gray as he watched the situation without so much as turning his head.

"People like you make me sick. Using the gifts that god has given us for your own selfish means. Everyone should be using they're powers to fight the calamities we're facing yet you walk around aimlessly instead of joining the cause." protested the thin man once he saw Tesse's threatening glare.

"Leave them be. god does not force his will upon his children, sooner or later they shall see the light and come running to his doors, and we shall welcome them with open arms," said the clergyman as he raised his arms to the sky.

"B-but father," complained the thin man as he stared at Gray in annoyance.

"I bet every single one of you here got shit-ass abilities, and that's the only reason you are looking for protection at the church," sneered Gray as he stared back at the thin man.

The thin man lost his cool and grabbed Gray by the collar, however, this was a big mistake. Tesse cut of his hands without hesitation, causing the man to scream in pain. She was about to finish the job before the priest interrupted.

"Please leave it at that. Although I agree that he provoked you, any more and I will have to deal with you myself," said the priest as he walked to the man lying on the floor.

A few other people dressed in white robes stood at the church doors and glared at Gray as if warning that things could get ugly if he made the wrong move.

A white light came from the priest's hands and he healed the man, causing the man's amputated limbs to reattach.

"We're leaving," announced Gray as he and Tesse walked away quietly.

"Father, how could we just let them go?" asked one of the people dressed in white robes.

"One had the eyes of a killer, while the other had the eyes of one who was already dead. We cannot help those who do not wish to be helped," replied the priest as he looked at the two walk away.

'There are only about three people here with combat abilities, and even their abilities are trash. I can't risk failing this mission just because of two rascals' thought the priest.

"K-killer? Aren't they just kids?"

"We cannot blame them, many people have done terrible things in order to survive the trials that god has given us." said the priest as he fell down in exhaustion.

"Father are you okay?" asked the thin man who had been healed.

"It's nothing, its just that my abilities drain so much of my energy," replied the father.

'Of course, I'm lying. The only side effect my ability has is that it can only be used for a set amount of times each day, however, if everyone knew that, then they would question my power,' thought the priest as the other people dressed in white robes carried him back into the church.

"Interesting," whispered a young girl dressed in white robes, as she stared at Gray and Tesse with a smile on her face.

***

As Gray continued walking towards the tower, he found many such priests preaching the word of god and collecting followers. Large numbers of people crowded the front of churches, seeking protection, food and shelter.

'I see what the church is doing. They're monopolizing the people in the hopes that some of them will have good abilities. You can't expect me to believe that the church would just open its doors to so many people for nothing in return,'

'There's a difference between stupid charity and profitable work. The church is still an organization run by rather intelligent people, there's no way that they're doing this without getting something in return. Otherwise, they would go broke in a few years, and then what?' thought Gray as he passed by another church.

As he neared the tower he found a large group of people crowded outside the tower gates. There were more than three hundred people, and all of them were divided into groups of four or more.

"What gives you the right to determine the order in which we go in the tower! In case you haven't noticed the government holds no power anymore!" shouted someone from the front of the crowd.

"Please understand that we have to maintain order. Only a hundred people are allowed at a time on the first floor of this tower. And there's also an issue of safety, we can't just let everyone enter without ensuring that they have the adequate skills to survive,"

"Many people have already died in this tower, and we want to avoid casualties as much as possible," replied a female voice.

'This voice, it sounds familiar,' thought Gray. Indeed it was, it was the voice of the captain of the Emergency Response Division, Agent Ria.