The pope stared at the general and Arad. He could feel their magic clashing and burning like waves of thunder. It would only take a small trigger for those two to fight.
“Calm down, both of you.” The pope said, walking between them and lifting his hands, “This is a holy place. No need to kill each other.”
Arad turned and looked at the statues, “You’re right,”
the general walked to sit on the opposite chair to Arad, putting his massive greatsword beside him. “It’s not a place for the unholy,” He glared at Arad, “But the gods would have struck you down if they wished.”
Undead, vampires, and ghosts burn when walking into a church due to the excessive holy magic flowing inside. The fact that Arad could remain there only meant the three gods didn’t mind his presence.
The pope walked between them and reached to the statues to pray. A tiny fairy emerged from Arad’s pocket and flew to sit on Amaterasu’s statue’s head. ．
“It’s been a while, humans.” She smiled, glaring down at the pope.
The pope stared at Zephyr, sweating, “Can I please ask you not to sit on the holy statue?”
Zephyr smiled, “Relax, human. It’s only a stone,” Zephyr knocked on the statue’s head, “The gods live above in the heavens, and prayers come from the heart. This is only a representation created by you humans. I doubt it resembles the real thing,”
“Is that supposed to be the wisdom of an ancient being?” The pope stared at Zephyr with a worried face.
“You can see it however you like,” Zephyr flew back to Arad and rested on his head, dangling her legs from his forehead. “You wanted to try and mend your relationship with the dark elf goddess, didn’t you?”
The pope looked around and approached Arad, “Before that, we wanted to apologize for sending one of our men to you, great spirit. We have no intentions of repeating that and will do our best to fix the relationship we have.”
Arad stared at the pope with a puzzled face, “Relationship? She’s letting you live on her land for free. I can’t see how that is called a relationship,” He glared at the pope, “You’re technically using her,”
“We dare not,” The pope replied with a stern face, “After the ancient agreement with the first pope. Zephyr decided to allow the winner of the war to live on her land.”
Zephyr shook her head, swinging her legs and hitting Arad’s forehead, “That’s right, but it isn’t fair.” She said with a smile, looking down at Arad, “This one here doesn’t represent Elis, nor the gods,” She started playing with Arad’s head.
“A dragon slayer and mediator like Alcott,” The paladin general said from his seat, staring at Arad. “You want him to oversee the negotiation?”
Zephyr stared at the general with a grin, “You’re right. I do trust he would get me a nice deal,”
The pope stared at Arad, “Before that, why do I sense Elis’s divine magic latched onto you if you don’t represent her?”
“I fixed one of her shrines on the peak of one western mountain. She then asked me to help a soul in her name. An unholy and cursed assassin that I’m to save in the underground cities.”
The general stared at Arad, “The divine magic quaked. It’s indeed a holy mission befit a paladin.”
“I’m no paladin,” Arad replied with a passive face, staring forward.
“If not now, she might make you one upon the completion of the holy mission,” The general smiled, “The god’s trials are fickle. I do remember mine.”
“What was yours?” Arad asked as he felt the general’s magic calm down.
“I was a humble knight in the past, but one day, I got a vision from Amaterasu while praying to the gods in the church. A little kid, I was to kill.” He smiled, “What do you think?”
Arad stared at the general, “Let me guess, a vampire?”
The general burst laughing, “And I hesitated to do it for weeks. But when I gave up and swung my sword down at his neck. The beast revealed itself.”
The general lifted his hand, clenching a fist. “I could feel the holy magic flowing in my blood, seeking the vampire’s doom. My sword burned with holy flames as it burst into my first smite. In the name of the mighty sun.”
“We heard you punched a vampire,” The pope stared at Arad.
“He was going by the name Chuzuke and disguised as a kid, fooled me for a while before we managed to confront him.” Arad smiled.
“Now I feel bad,” The general stared at Arad with a smile, “Is that how you were turned? Night spawn.”
Arad shook his head, “Actually, no,” He sighed, “I was infected with Lycanthropy in a mission, and a friendly vampire I know infected me to prevent me from becoming a feral werewolf.”
“And to think you were able to keep your sanity with both curses,” The general stared at Arad, “But heed my warning, don’t trust those powers. They drive people to madness as they eat away at your soul.”
Click! The door lock clicked, and both the pope and the general stared back. The other paladins pulled their blades. “The door was locked and we have the only keys.”
A muffled voice came from behind the door, “A click out of one, nothing on two, three is binding…and it’s open.” The door opened, and Jack looked inside, “Holy shit! A lot of them,” He gasped.
SWOSH! The door got pushed open as Lydia glared inside, seeing Arad sitting with the paladins.
“She was right,” Lydia mumbled. Aella told her that Zephyr went with Arad and they might have encountered the paladins, so she came to try and make any fight if possible.
“A paladin traveling with a vampire?” The general stared at Arad and then at Lydia, “I didn’t expect that. As your superior, I’m a bit disappointed.”
Lydia glared at the general with a golden fire glowing in her eyes, “You dare insult the gods?” She grasped the handle of her blade, “As paladins, we only answer to the gods and the greater good. You’re neither,”
The general laughed, “A true hell rider.” He stood, “And what about him?”
He stared at Jack standing outside the door, “A rogue as well. You don’t seem to choose your company well,”
Thud! Jack walked into the inner sanctum, and the moment he set foot there, a wave of divine magic rushed forth from him. The paladin general gasped, staring at the wakazashi hanging from his waist. “Where did you get that?”