I was wondering what to do, this Celestina named Athena seems to be the leader and speaks on behalf of others, I like the willpower in her eyes.
She has answered all my questions honestly from what the Serpent Spirit said, her situation can also be understood, just like Vanessa in the past, she saw the truth about the Church of Light and tried to run away.
Unlike Vanessa who didn’t have a plan and acted without a practical plan in mind, in addition to telling her family what she was going to do, this Athena was cautious and thought about the consequences of what she was doing all along.
Apparently, she waited for an opportunity to run away, and that opportunity seems to be me, she believes that because I am with Vanessa who is someone who has experienced the same difficulty that she is experiencing now, I would be able to help her in the same way.
“(I like the way she thinks, but let’s see her character.)” (I)
I look at her and the others behind her.
“Before I decide anything, I want to sincerely hear what you think, I want the answer from all of you.” (I)
I look at everyone seriously and spread my Aura to pay attention to their expressions, eyes, and Aura at the same time, the only effect I activated on my Aura was ruler.
“Do you have any prejudices against other Breeds?” (I)
“No!” (all)
“Do you have any prejudices against Demons or Demi?” (I)
“No!” (all)
“Are you prejudiced against those who have elemental affinities other than the light element?” (I)
“No!” (all)
“Do you have any prejudices against other religions and devotees of other Gods?” (I)
“…” (all)
“No.” (Athena)
“…” (I)
I look at everyone and feel a fluctuation in their Aura with my last question, no one but Athena answers the question, I look at the Spirit Serpent who nods his head showing that everyone has answered the truth.
“Why didn’t you answer the last question?” (I)
One man among those who didn’t respond looks at Athena who nods at him before answering.
“Your question was too vague, sir.”
“Many of us hate Heretic Gods and have our doubts about the Demon Gods, some of us are even survivors of situations where believers of the Heretic Gods have done atrocities.”
I look at the Spirit Serpent on my shoulder who nods in confirmation before yawning sleepily.
“(What he says may be true, but I’ve learned from Lilith and Lilian that not all Demon Gods are bad.)” (I)
“(I don’t know much about most Gods, but I apply the same way of thinking to different races.)” (I)
“(I won’t judge all Heretic Gods and Demon Gods as bad, I’ll decide for myself after I understand more about them.)” (I)
“Do you understand that not all Demon Gods are bad?” (I)
“Yea!” (all)
I look at Athena who was the one who answered all the questions.
“Athena, aren’t you prejudiced against other Gods?” (I)
“After what I discovered about the God Baldr and the Church of Light, I don’t know how far the things we learned can be true, the impact was so great that I decided to see what is good or bad for myself instead of hearing it from someone else.” (Athena)
“(In other words her faith broke, the shock must have been too great for her who grew up surrounded by faith to lose it.)” (I)
“(I think I should ask Vanessa first, I’ll leave the decision to her.)” (I)
“I’ll ask Vanessa, wait a while while I get in touch with her.” (I)
I’m going to need a lot of concentration for that, so I called Freya, Diana, and Yuki who came out accompanied by My Shadow Fairies, so I don’t need to open the Dungeon gate.
“Keep an eye on them for a while.” (I) 𝑜𝑣𝘭.𝘯𝑡
“Freya, you have the best eyesight, keep an eye out if anyone from town approaches, okay?” (I)
“Alright, master.” (Freya)
I sit cross-legged and close my eyes, my Familiars are all long gone, so reaching for them with my mind is taking a heavy toll on my mind.
I try to reach Layla first, but what I see from her eyes is a sea of ??broken bodies, so I switch to the vision of Nix who was fighting in her Dragon form against a Bone Serpent in a lake of blood, I tried to reach Orion but I couldn’t, he must be inside a Dungeon.
I switched to Sakura’s vision and found her arriving at the tower carrying some injured people, inside the tower were Vanessa and Irina healing dozens of wounded, but none of them had serious injuries.
“(Sakura?)” (I)
“(Master! I’m surprised you can reach me at this distance, I can feel it’s so far away.)” (Sakura)
“(Can’t keep this for long, I’ll send you info, talk to Vanessa and in 30 minutes I’ll get back to you again.)” (I)
“(Alright.)” (Sakura)
I send Sakura the information and images of everything that happened about these people from the Church of Light, inside the information I also had my questions for Vanessa about her decision about them.
My connection with my Familiar only lasted less than 3 minutes, but when I opened my eyes again I was panting, this was more a reflection of my mental fatigue than my physical fatigue.
“Let’s go somewhere else, we’ve been here too long.” (I)
I took them all about 5 kilometers away which took a couple of minutes with our mounts, Diana was riding Yuki her Frostwolf Familiar while the Church of Light people were on Shadow Horses, I did this on purpose to see their reactions, it seems they don’t mind being around a shadow element monster.
After finding an area far away from where we fought, not forgetting that we took the bodies with us, I make everyone stop while I wait for the time to pass until the time I spoke to Sakura.
I sit facing the people of the Church of Light, then close my eyes as I reconnect with Sakura and share her vision, she was facing Vanessa in a separate room with just the two of them.
I spread my hands up creating a condensed light hologram of Vanessa, I plan to reproduce what I see so everyone knows what Vanessa says.
With Sakura’s permission, I use her mouth to talk to Vanessa.
“Could you think about what to do with these people?” (I)
“I believe that whatever decision you make will be right, Father.” (Vanessa)
“But I believe these people should know that in order to free themselves from the influence of the Church of Light they must become Vampires, I would be happy to receive them as my children if they so choose.” (Vanessa)
“I know your faith in the Gods has been shaken, you don’t have to be devoted to Goddess Selene if you don’t want to.” (Vanessa)
“But know that staying by my Father’s side and my side has a cost, your loyalty!” (Vanessa)
Vanessa’s last words were very firm and serious, she knows how much I value the loyalty of those around me, even though Lilian wasn’t someone to be trusted from the start.
“My Father will give you all the freedom you want and a place you will always be able to return to.” (Vanessa)
“You have two choices, become part of the family or leave now, choose!” (Vanessa)
I held on as long as I could, as soon as Vanessa’s last word was heard by me and transmitted through the hologram I created, I closed the connection with Sakura.
My mind was heavy and my head was aching like it had a hangover, I put my hand in this one and realized I had a fever too.
Sigh
“Are you okay, master?” (Diana)
“Want me to make you some tea or fetch you a potion?” (Freya)
“I’m fine, I just need to rest, but first I want to hear their answer.” (I)
“I’m too busy to waste my time, so you guys have 15 minutes to decide, after that I’m leaving.” (I)