Ivo Perilli was a cruel man. He, like other Preachers in his organization, had only one eternal purpose, to bring real teaching back to the Earth who sinned through arrogance.

He, with other Seminarians, decided to take a little more underhanded and drastic measures. After all, for almost 3 decades, their leaders failed to wash away the sin their lord has ordered them to.

Ivo was the one who hid the voice recording device in the spider cave. His goal was simple, he wanted sinful humans to charge into saving the damsel in distress for their lascivious, lusty purposes. And while doing so, leave their orbs and other precious items with their lives.

The world has changed, Ivo was aware of it. Unlike other Preachers, he knew the goal couldn’t be reached by soft means. The hard fist was the only way, so he used a simple device to collect tens of orbs humans left behind by dying at the hands of the spiders.

After all, monsters loved eating other monsters’ cores, but they hated orbs. It reminded them of their eternal enemies making use of their own strength to battle against them. Every so often, Ivo would sneak into the cave to collect piled-up orbs while throwing a couple of sacrifices he caught in the forest. Like them, spiders loved younglings.

It was a day like any other, and he was there to collect his spoil of wars. But this time, maybe because of lack of luck or nefarious infamy of the cave, the forest was empty. He failed to catch a sacrifice for a week, and with no other choice, he led two kids from his organizations, one boy and one girl, to the cave. They were barely 12 years old and were orphans who lived not far from his house. By enticing them to teach them a chant, he sneaked them out of their safe haven.

It was against the Preacher's teachings. Ivo knew that but disregarded it long ago. Two orphans had no hope to learn their divine means and would only burden them on the path of their ultimate goal. Why shouldn’t he exchange more strength for himself by sacrificing two dead weights? It was easy to choose. By acquiring more orbs, he of course would compensate for two sacrifices that had no hope to get stronger. And even if they were to be left alone, another Preacher would use these two children as well anyway. Like they used him when he was small.

“Seminarian Ivo, where are we heading?” Asked the girl innocently. She loved the divine teaching and wanted to learn it to wash the sin of humans who forced them out of their house. She saw the pictures of Earth and was in love with the blue marble. Unlike the Portal World, where they were born and living in, the blue planet was safe and had a better environment.

“We are almost there,” Ivo answered calmly as he looked at the girl charitably. He was going to save her innocent soul, he had no remorse.

“In a while, we will encounter sinful humans and monsters. Stay behind me and watch.”

“Yes, Seminarian Ivo.” Both of them answered with vigor.

While they were walking, a purple pillar pierced through the mountain ahead and reached the sky. Ivo looked at the mountain ahead in disbelief and started to run.

“Seminarian?” The boy looked at Ivo and the girl. They too run behind him. They had no other choice. Without Ivo protecting them, they were dead. They barely learned how to control their superpowers and their powers were not strong enough to kill the weakest monsters yet, without Seminarian Ivo, they couldn’t even leave the forest.

With their short legs, they ran behind their trusted elder, but they were still slower than Ivo. And for some cursed reason, monsters were all running in the same direction. The girl looked at the monster horde coming from everywhere in terror. “We are going to die.”

“Sister, I am scared.” The boy said with tears falling out of his face. Roaches bigger than even them were scuffling towards them. Just as they thought their life came to an end, monsters, one after another, ignored them and moved forward towards the light piercing the sky.

“W-We are alive?” The girl looked at the boy and her body. They were covered with dirt, but they were alive. The cloud of dust was ahead of them showing them the monster hoard was indeed real. Yet, they survived.

“Sister, what should we do now?” The boy asked.

“We can’t go back. We don’t even know the path.” The girl shook her head, “We should go to the purple pillar. Seminarian Ivo will be there.”

“Okay.” The boy nodded timidly. Hardly but steadfastly they walked while keeping an eye on their surroundings. For some reason, the forest was empty. There wasn't a sign of a monster, nor a human.

“What do we have here?” A creepy voice came to their ears, making them shake in their boots. “Two tasty foods at my door. Who should I thank?”

That was the last thing they heard before a red screen covered their vision.

————

“Damn beasts! Open the path!” Ivo shouted angrily.

“Holy son of our mother. Grace mine own soul with an oath. Living under thy shall, dying for thy name. Perish mine own enemies with these flames!”

As soon as the chant ended, the flames rose from Ivo’s hands and moved towards the monsters moving towards the entrance of the cave. Insects had innate fear against the fire, and with such strong flames burning, they started to back up, opening a path of fire for Ivo

“You are nothing against my belief!” He shouted with zeal as he entered the cave only to be shocked. There were tens of monsters and humans in the cave, walking deep into the cave. There was a giant hole in the wall. There were several human corpses on the ground, trampled by rushing monsters. More of them were dying every second.

“Where is the artifact?” He asked himself but it was aloud.

“Someone took it already. Work with us, and we shall sort it out among each other later.” Said one of the humans. He had yellow hair with black marks and an average face. He was the only survivor at the entrance.

“Right,” Ivo answered but didn’t trust them at all. The man was wearing a wristwatch. It could only mean he was a sinner. A sinful man denied the existence of the Lord and went astray in the lies of the army banished them from their home.

He was an enemy. He was going to purge his soul so he could meet with the true savior. But for now, against the monsters, he was going to work together.