Holy knights scrambled to their feet and gathered into formation. Some rushed to Pope Senedict's side and tried to protect her.
And so, it begins. The clear warnings of impending tribulation did not seem to disturb her, but it wasn't her years and experience that made her calm in the face of an invasion. She simply knew resistance was futile.
The pope wasn't the only one who felt this way. Cardinal Cartelaya, the one with the Eyes of Fate, shared her sentiments. Both of these great women knew something about the future, and their knowledge left them feeling trapped and helpless. Their gazes briefly met, but they soon turned their eyes away when Cardinal Cartelaya looked just above the pope's head. Her eyes turned cold with shock.
Just then, a shriek caught everyone's attention and made the council grow silent. The stillness made the noise that followed all the more pronounced. The hinges groaned as the council doors were split open, letting a cold breeze blow countless petals from the open hallway. The petals were long and crimson, like those of a Dead Man's Flower.
Then came the sound of bare feet slowly tapping against the marbled floor and metallic ornaments of a gavel chiming together like bells. Everyone turned their gaze to the girl entering the council.
"I-it's her!"
"No!"
The young woman wore a ceremonial robe of white and purple. Her wavy blonde hair, mint green toward the ends, and her blue eyes sparkled like starlight, which was quite rare for a demon. But despite her beauty, her imposing presence choked the breath out of everyone who recognized her.
"I am Evixinous, the Apocalypse of Chaos. I shall use this place as my base from which I shall propagate the Gospel of Chaos and Evil."
She flicked her gavel and made its chime ring out. With that, blood started splattering between the petals of Dead Man's Flowers still fluttering through the air.
"Ahhh!"
"R-run... Ugh!"
"God, help us! No!"
All hell broke loose. The supreme temple of Order and Goodness was crushed without any hope of defying the top-ranked Demon Lord.
"N-no! Please!"
"Help us, Strict Order and Goodness!"
"Dear God! We are your sheep! Please watch over us!"
Every flick of the gavel extinguished another prayer. The surviving followers of Order and Goodness eventually realized that praying would only get them killed. So, they hid and remained as silent as possible instead.
"You're hiding now?" Evixinous asked as she leisurely stepped over the large pools of blood decorating the floor and started playing hide-and-seek with the survivors.
"Ah! God, why are you testing us like this?"
Magram pleaded to his god as he crawled under the platform and trembled in fear. He then realized no help was coming from God. Everyone in this hall would soon die. Humans were powerless before a demon of such might.
The Divine Emissary of Voiceism and the master of the holy sword were the only people who could face the Demon Lord, but both of them had turned their backs on Order and Goodness. At this point, Magram felt a rush of regret as intense as his anger and despair.
If only I had known this would happen... The Vatican should have tried everything in their power to convince the two to stay. And Magram wasn't the only one thinking along those lines.
We shouldn't have sent the Divine Emissary away to Feronsa... If only we had kept the master of the holy sword here so they would both stay... Why did the Order... I mean, why did we push them away?
Those who were still breathing lamented the choices they had made.
Ring!
Death came to yet another.
"I found you," Evixinous murmured gleefully after dispatching another victim.
And so, the game of hide-and-seek continued. Five minutes after the slaughter began, the Vatican of Order and Goodness fell into Evixinous' hands.
The exterior of the buildings immediately changed once the city changed hands. The white marble turned dark, while black thorny vines and crimson Dead Man's Flowers started covering the walls. The Vatican was no longer an appropriate name for the city. It was now the Grand Temple of Chaos and Evil, and the place began to ready itself for the coming of the true Chaos and Evil.
â
The Vatican wasn't the only city affected by the invasion. El Torini was a seaside city located in the far eastern end of the Holy Kingdom of Elfenheim, which had experienced a dungeon sink caused by an S-class dungeon known as the Flying Fortress of the Fallen Sky. The rich merchants of the city knew it was their massive donations to the church which had saved them from the incident, so they felt further motivation to lead pious lives ever since.
The day was no different from usual as people gathered in the fancy grand cathedral their donations had built. The extravagant organ crooned a heavenly tune while the choir praised God with voices clear and lovely enough to bring tears to members of the congregation's eyes.
After the performance, it was the grand bishop's turn to spread the gospel with his oratory skills. He shared a parable, recounting how God had complimented a merchant after he took out a loan and found entrepreneurial success. The story touched the hearts of the city's merchants time and time again. And now, it was time for prayer.
"Strict Order and Goodness, your servants have gathered in your church after a day of diligent workâ"
Thud!
"Oh, is that an earthquake?" the grand bishop asked after the unexpected sound interrupted his sermon. He waited a moment before continuing, "Ahem... I suppose not. Let us close our eyes once again in prayer. Your diligent servants who follow your will by toiling in the secular world are here before you. Strict Order and Goodness, please bless them with riches."
The benediction was the last part of the worship service, after which, everyone would get to enjoy their favorite partâsocializing. They could finally brag about the donations they had recently made. It was a favorite pastime of members of the church to compare who contributed more to the cathedral.
And so, the merchants eagerly waited for the prayer to end, peppering the prayer with amens and Hallelujahs here and there as their excitement grew. Soon enough, the grand bishop said the last lines of prayer.
"Please God, may you answer the faithful of your flock and watch over El Torini in times of trouble and turmoil. We pray in the name of the Strict Order and Goodness. And we say..."
Amen. Every service, the prayer would always end with that word. Therefore, the congregation kept their eyes shut and clasped their hands together as they eagerly waited for the grand bishop to utter the final word.
Huh? Why isn't he ending the prayer? What's going on? Why isn't he saying it? They waited for some time, but the word never came. Eventually, some of the merchants risked upsetting the grand bishop by opening their eyes in the middle of a prayer.
"Ahhh!"
A truly shocking scene awaited them in the pulpit.
"Yes! Finally, a fitting place for me! I am Tezrihal, the grand bishop of the demons, and I am thrilled to see a flock of sinful souls! I proclaim the Gospel of Chaos and Evil to you, filthy humans!"
The creature, which took the form of a demonic goat, had horns as grand and majestic as a crown. The scene was a cliché of religious depictions. The demon breathed out fumes of demonic energy as he held his human counterpart by a leash tied around the human grand bishop's neck.
"I-it's a demon!"
"Run!"
The merchants screamed and ran for the exit, but Tezrihal denied their efforts. An ominous melody rang out from the pipe organ and blasted demonic hymns at the humans.
"Ahhh!"
â
A medium-sized church in a tiny city located on the northern tip of Vinchester Kingdom was holding a particularly sad funeral. A young woman in a white dress had been placed inside her coffin, leaving her groom-to-be in grief and distress.
The young baron, who lost his bride days before their wedding, wailed and grieved for the dead with the family that was supposed to become his in-laws. He was about to faint, and someone had to support and lead him away from the coffin. Then, a white veil was placed on the deceased's face, and the lid of the coffin was shut.
"No... Hevnia... No..."
The baron called the name of his lover one last time. He could no longer see her face and body, and it felt as though the world had come crashing down upon him.
Thud!
A heavy tremor shook his body. Perhaps his heart had dropped to the floor from the grief and rattled the world around him. The young baron raised his gaze.
Creak.
Much to his surprise, the heavy lid opened, and the bride propped herself up from the coffin. It was a miracle, or so he briefly thought. But it soon turned into a horrible nightmare.
"H-Hevnia... Howâ?"
Once the veil dropped to the floor, he could see the bride had turned into a skeleton. Her bones clattered as she moved.
"Ahhhh!"
"Help!"
The attendees of the funeral were in panic. Right then, a cloud of darkness seeped out of the skeleton bride's shadow and began to take form. Soon, the upper body of a giant skeleton with gems and accessories dangling from its bones materialized in the human world.
"This church isn't too shabby! Foolish mortals! You shall worship Chaos and Evil if you wish to keep the flesh on your bones!"
â
And so, the calamity came in the night and swept through the entire continent of Serentra. Ominous meteor showers passed over the pitch black sky while demonic energy corrupted all buildings with crosses on them. The phenomenon occurred simultaneously in big cities and remote villages alike. The residents living close to churches saw the blackened buildings and the Dead Man's Flowers as dark omens of things to come.
"My goodness! What's happening to the church building?"
"This must be the end of times indeed..."
"Mommy, there are pretty flowers growing on the church walls. What's that flower called?"
"No! Don't go near it!"
The demons invaded the churches, and they did not discriminate which religious order the churches belonged to. In other words, the churches of Voiceism suffered from the same phenomenon.
"What the hell? What is all this now?"
"It's barely been a few weeks since we brought down Inferinos!"
Hestio and Ephael immediately ran out to the garden of the Church of Saint Agnes when they felt a tremor. The meteor shower in the sky made them realize something demonic must be occurring, but they had no time to appreciate the light show due to the changes that suddenly started happening around them.
"Brothers!" Ash cried out. "There are weird things sprouting out of the garden!"
"Those are Dead Man's Flowers! Why are they growing near the church?"
"Huh? Wait... Hilde, look! It's not happening over there!"
"What do you mean, Ephael?" Hilde asked, following the direction of his finger to an area away from the church. "Are you saying the Demon Realm is only encroaching upon holy sites?"
The Church of Saint Agnes was essentially the Vatican of Voiceism. And yet, it was being corrupted by the forces of the darkness crawling up from the Demon Realm. This wasn't supposed to happen since divinity was naturally resistant to demonic energy.
But they had no time to ask questions. The knights of the Silver Citadel started cutting and burning the vines growing up the church walls, and Hilde lashed out with her Tier 7 divine power to pulverize the Dead Man's Flowers. Despite their efforts, the plants of the Demon Realm kept sprouting out of the ground.
"Darn it! There's no end to this!"
"Brothers! Hilde is about to faint!"
Hestio and Ash were crying out in desperation when they heard a voice.
"Incinerate."