Father Maxime’s POV

“Spiders??? Where did they come from?” I screamed when I heard the news of a swarm of spiders occupying the city. Not only that, the southern gate has been destroyed by what seemed to be a sorcerer riding a skeletal dragon.

“Yes, Father! So far we have managed to keep the area around the Cathedral secured but we don’t know how long it would last!” reported the messenger.

“What about the citizens? Has everyone been evacuated?” I asked.

“We are unable to reach those in the southern and eastern district because of the undeads and spiders. Everyone else has been evacuated to the shelters.”

“We can’t leave them to themselves like that. Send out our army to save them!” I ordered.

“That won’t be necessary!” a voice recalled me where I was, inside the hall of prayers together with the other deacons. “We have summoned the heroes to come back and lend us their aid in this time of need. In a few moments now they will be walking out of those doors and cleanse our city of the foul abominations! Fear not! For God is our side!”

“But those are just heroes only in name. They are not chosen by the Gods. “I retorted.

“Silence Maxime! Are you saying that the Holy Father’s chosen are not worthy of being called Heroes?” one of the deacons shouted back at me. These old farts didn’t care about the lives of the people out there. They only cared about themselves and their position by sucking up to the pope.

“That’s precisely what I am saying! It has been years since the Gods have not given us a sign. Don’t you think it was because they saw how we have become and forsaken us? We need to go out there and save the people, not holing up inside like cowards! We are better than this!”

“ENOUGH! Father Maxime, I will not tolerate any blasphemy inside our sacred halls. The army stays!!!” so the old man finally spoke.

“If none of you are willing, then I will go by myself!” with that, I turned my back to the pope and walked away. He and his corrupted idea would doom us all. I could not let this happen.

These spiders couldn’t come out of nowhere. The wall of Caelum even extended to the underground, they couldn’t dig a tunnel into our city that easily without anyone noticing. The scout has reported that the spiders came from the eastern district. But the eastern gate was left untouched, at least before the spiders invaded. And there was nothing but the….. IMPOSSIBLE! Could it be that they came through the Gate?

That would be the only logical conclusion. But the Gate was supposed to be closely under watch. Even if a few spiders somehow managed to pass through, it would alarm the guards. Also it was supposed to allow only ten to twenty persons to go through per hour. Yet we have seen that more than one thousands have passed through a just few minutes. How could this be?

Anyway now it was not the time to find the cause. The Gate seemed to be my best bet so I should go there first. But what I could do by myself? I could probably handle a few spiders but not this many. Not to mention the undead horde and the mysterious sorcerer. Damn it, if only I had more strength!

As I went to the exit, I spotted two persons sneaking in the corner. I knew them. They were cadets of the special class, the one in which the Church trained their children to become heroes, in hope that one day the Gods would choose someone from that class. Some of them were children who volunteered. You could imagine what an ‘honor’ it was for a family to have their kid participating. There were even cases where their own parents forced their child to participate. Others didn’t have a choice. They were orphans the Church gathered from the streets. If they refused, where would they go?

And all that was just the start. I knew the truth; the hardship these children have to endure. Staying locked up in a building for most of their lives, in fear that they might be ‘corrupted’ by the world outside. The children, cut off from the world, only knew or heard about it through the eye of the Church where they saw themselves at the top, looking down on the rest. Every day being brainwashed by what their teachers told them, being told they would become heroes some day while they were raised like cattle. Only a few managed to succeed the program and were chosen as these so called heroes by the pope. The others would continue and serve as substitutes in case of necessary.

On many occasions have I tried to stop this program from continuing but like always my voice was ignored by the rest of the congregation. Just since when did our religion, our faith step so low, I wondered?

The two I saw belonged to the second category: the “failed heroes”. Yet they kept on clinging on that hope, that perhaps one day they would become a hero. While I didn’t support this kind of teaching, I didn’t have the courage to tell them the truth. For some it was the only thing that kept them going on. What would you do if the one thing you lived for was a lie? I couldn’t. That was why I tried to change our organization, step by step, slowly but surely, in hope that one day these children would have something to live for, for me to have something to live for.

“Viviana and Lucas, what are you doing here? You are supposed to join the others in the shelter” I called out to the two, surprising them both.

Realizing they have been spotted, they decided to walk up to me. Lucas was the son of one of the captains guarding the walls of the graveyard. So far I have heard none survived from their onslaught but the young man refused to believe it until he saw his father’s corpse. Quite naïve and sometime hard headed, in truth the boy was a kind child at heart.

His companion, Viviana, was an orphan at the church for years now and was Lucas’s childhood friend. Caelum, despite proclaiming the equality of all races and such, was not a kind place for non-humans to live. While the discrimination was rather subtle, meaning no slaves were allowed here, the difference in treatment was rather obvious. And even with that, being a beastman like she was, she managed to find her way to follow her childhood friend in volunteering in participating in the special class. She was the kind of person who rarely talked about herself or her past but she would not hesitate to jump to your aid when you truly needed it.

“Father Maxime, we want to help the citizens. We are heroes, or at least going to become one. It’s our duty to help the people!” said Lucas.

“Like the idiot said, I want to help, Father! Please let us go!” pled Viviana.

“This is different from the training you had! One mistake could cost your lives. My conscious can’t let me ask you to do this.” I replied.

I knew they were stronger than me thanks to the special training they had. But ….

“Don’t worry Father! We ourselves want to do this!”

“…Very well! But promise me that you will stick with me and not charging at dangers. The most important thing right now is shutting down the Gate in the eastern district and helping the remaining citizens to escape through the northern gate.”

“Yes Father!”

As we traveled to the location of the Gate, I could see with my own eyes the horrors outside. The once beautiful white streets of our city now were dyed with a crimson colour as blood of the innocents were spilled. It used to be filled with laughter, the noise of merchants selling their products, the preaching of God’s words by the deacons.

And what was left now? Only death. Could this be our retribution? For the church’s wrongdoing? Have we strayed that far from the righteous path?

“Father, stay down!” Viviana signaled me to crouch down.

The area surrounding the Gate was crawling with spiders with many more continued to come out of the Gate. It seemed my theory was right. We would investigate how this happened in the first place but that could wait for later. Right now we needed to find a way to shut it down.

Observing the area closely, one particular creature caught our interest: a large spider holding a skull staff standing near the Gate. The way it acted, giving instructions to the others, suggested it was the leader and also the one controlling the Gate.

“Lucas and Viviana, see that spider with a staff standing over there? I need you to take that staff away from that spider as quick as possible to stop the incoming spiders!” I said.

Giving me their acknowledgment, the two proceeded with the plan.

* * *

“Father, several large mana concentrations are coming toward us!” Sinforma spoke through the dragon.

“So they finally send someone decent enough. Perfect! I want to reevaluate myself a bit after the recent changes! Do not interfere Sinforma! Focus on the city!” Alastor gave his order. Upon acquiring Chaos, Alastor has been able to transform his body in a dark creature. Even what seemed to be his cloth right now was actually part of his skin, including the ‘cape’. In this form, his physical power was exponentially higher and he fought like a beast, ravaging the battlefield with incredible speed.

“Of course, Father!”

Alastor jumped from the dragon and landed on the ground, creating a hole with it. And there he stood waiting for incoming heroes of the church.

Without warning several arrows flew toward the dark beast. However he could see them coming very slowly as if time itself has slowed down. Gently took a step to the side and avoiding them all, these arrows could only hit his after image and pierced the ground behind.

Using his beast eyes, he could spot enemies hiding in dark place. Seeing the archer hiding behind the chimney, Alastor swung his hand forward and extended meters away, catching the assassin right off the bat. Slowly retracting back midway, a warrior jumped down and tried to cut the long arm holding his friend. Yet the sharp blade could not cut it, not because the hand was hard but because it was so elastic that it rebounded the blade back.

“Three…four…five…six! Are you supposed to imitate the group of the chosen heroes by the Gods? If so, it’s pathetic!” Alastor arrogantly spoke.

Knowing their tactic has failed and their number revealed, all six decided to show them self. One of them, who appeared to be the leader and held two swords in his hands, stepped forward and pointed one of his blades toward Alastor.

“Vile demon, we are the chosen of Gods! We inherit the will of the past heroes and therefore we will never lose to the likes of you!”

“Well said, captain!”

“Now show me how the five of you will do it then!” said Alastor.

“Five? We are six….”

Suddenly Alastor’s arm enlarged and engulfed the archer he was helding. The sound of bones cracking as well as flesh being torn apart were the only thing the group could hear as their friend was being consumed. Finally the arm turned back to its original size, along with the archer’s body has completely vanished.

“Not anymore you aren’t!”

“You…YOU MONSTEEERRRR!” shouted the dual swordsman.

“Hahahaha! I will eat all of you alive!”

The dark beast now no finally showed his true form. The head, with no eyes or nose had only a mouth full of sharp teeth. The fangs, sharp enough to pierce metal without effort. The body was pitch black that seemed to suck out the light of everything.

In a single second, tentacles shot out of Alastor’s body and impaled all the five heroes at the same time. But these didn’t kill them immediately, merely incapacitating them as they have avoided all vital parts. It was Alastor’s intention after all, as he preferred his meal …. fresh.

* * *

“VIVIANA, DODGE!” shouted Lucas.

Hearing the warning, the girl has evaded the spitting web of the spiders. The two were having a hard time to approach the commanding arachnid as its minions were just too many. It seemed now would be a good time to use their trump card.

“I call upon the spirit of the sacred flame. Lend me your servant! I summon thee, Ilfrit!” chanted Viviana.

Summoning magic. A special magic that passed only through certain ancient bloodlines who have made a pact with an elemental spirit. Abiding to the pact, the summoner would send their mana to the spirit and in return the spirit would aid them in combat.

A ring of fire surrounded the girl as it stopped the spiders from taking any step further if they wanted to avoid getting burned. Above her head flew a living flame in the form of a beast with two horns. Its roar was so loud that it scared some spiders away. Then the ring rotated quickly before exploding and killing all the spiders in the area. This sudden attack was what they were aiming for.

As the spiders were confused, Lucas quickly dashed through their lines and grabbed the staff.

“You little brat, let go!” screamed the spider as it was trying to shake off the boy.

“Eat this you creepy insect!”

In a single motion, he swung the sword and cut off the spider’s head to the side, making it body fall down to its knees. Green blood poured out of its headless neck like a geyser.

“Ah disgusting!” the young man shook his cloth, trying to take off all the blood. He took the staff off the hand of the dead insect and smashed it to pieces, making the Gate losing its light and shutting down. One spider didn’t have enough time to pass through ended up being cut in half.

Seeing their leader has fallen, the remaining spiders quickly fled in every direction, leaving the entire square empty again.

“Congratulations you two!” said Father Maxime as he came out of his hiding spot. The entire time he was amazed by the two’s performance. He knew they were strong but not at this level. It was weird that they were not picked for being heroes candidates.

“Hahaha it was nothing! These insects merely have the size but not the brain. They are no match for me!” rejoiced Lucas.

“Said the idiot! If not for me, you would be eaten already!” scolded Viviana. And she was right. While Lucas was no weak man, he was too reckless for his own sake and for most of the time, it fell down to Viviana to bring her childhood friend back alive in one piece. “But speaking of that, the spiders and the undeads at the same time seem too much of a coincidence. Who do you think is behind all of this and why?”

“That even the congregation has no theory for now. But I assume that everyone thinks it’s the demons.” Said Maxime.

“It’s always the demon’s fault. We should have killed all of them when we have the chance” rumbled Lucas.

“Lucas, I understand your sentiment but we can’t just put everything on the demons. And even if it is true, then we could only blame ourselves. We brought this on ourselves when we killed millions of their kind in our crusade. In history, there was only a few times when they were the one who attacked first. But that were exceptionally rare. Everything else was done by us.” Explained Maxime. He had a sorrowful expression on his face, making Lucas not wanting to retort back.

Despite being a priest of the Church of Light, he held no animosity toward demons and has even helped some to escape their slavery lives.

To him, this was just a cycle of hatred that no one even remembered how it started in the first place. Then why did he and everyone else have to continue to pay for it? Will it be an eternal conflict between the two sides? Perhaps it was enough. Perhaps it was now time to end the cycle of hatred, to cast their differences aside and join hands. Alas it was merely a thought in his mind at the time.

“Sorry I kind of space out there. Back to our subject, the spider’s invasion might have been halted but there are still hundreds of them soaring the streets. Not to mention the undeads too. To speed things up, let’s divide into three groups: each of us will take one direction and try to rescue as many as you can!

But avoid all confrontation! Your mission is to rescue as many residents as possible, not slaying! The longer you take, the lower the time you have to save someone. Please keep that in mind! Once you are done, direct everyone to the northern gate and we will escape through there! Remember do not attempt to fight them by yourself!” instructed the priest.

“Yes Father!”

Deciding each other’s way, Lucas immediately headed toward the southern region. Despite being warned by Father Maxime, Lucas could not stop himself from charging at the undeads. However he still understood that it was his priority to save the people first. But if it wouldn’t be his fault if some undeads were on his way.

As soon as he walked through the southern district, he could see how bad it was compared the others. Buildings burned down as the fire spread from house to house. The streets were filled with corpses that started to come back alive. Some with their bodies relatively intact, others were trapped by rubbles and desperately tried to crawl out.

In face of all these horrors, Lucas could only steel himself as he walked past through every single one of them while trying to remain undetected. Deep inside, a burning rage started to take over him.

“Whoever did this, I swear I will kill you!” the boy spoke out his resolution.

Suddenly he saw a group of undeads approaching. These one were special. They wore the church garb and walked together as a group, unlike the others. At the center was an old man wearing the pope attire and a very long golden staff.

An idea sparked inside Lucas’ mind. He was in the mood of killing something and these undeads, while being different, didn’t seem that difficult. The one in the middle was probably the boss and therefore should be the first target. He could do it in a single strike.

Preparing himself in a valley, the boy’s eyes fixed on Vyncis. Clenching his sword, he sprinted toward the group. They have just seen him. They couldn’t have time to react. He could do this.

But no. Something jumped down between him and flung the boy against the wall. Who was that? Who stopped him? Slowly standing up, he lifted his head to see the culprit. A headless figure in armor riding a skeletal horse: a dullahan. In his hand held a head that presumably belonged to the knight.

As Lucas saw the face of the head, he was dismayed by the cruelty of truth in front of him.

“Father?”