Chapter
2 – Searching for Trouble
Emerging from the crimson mist,
Astorath finds himself in the ruins of the advanced civilization of the past. Towering
buildings that block out the afternoon sun lay in ruins that have not been touched
for generations and are slowly decaying with no soul in sight. He makes his way
to a destroyed church that was once also a giant mech, which lies in the ruins
of a tower. The mech’s face, cannons, and legs are rusted, yet it’s still
a sight to behold. Climbing up the mech and into the Church, Astorath takes
note of the architecture, statues, and paintings are all ruined and sees that they
have a haunting beauty to them. Before he goes past the altar, he genuflects
and crosses himself.
In the heart of the mechanized
church, Astorath breaks through secured metal doors with his mace and
activates a trap that makes fire spew from the walls, ceiling, and floor. He walks
through it all as if it were nothing and then finds a monstrance that holds a
seemingly still fresh consecrated host, the real body of Christ. After patting
out the fires on him, he again genuflects, crosses himself, and says a short
silent prayer before picking up the monstrance and kissing it.
“Of all the things to leave behind.
I will make sure that You are put in a proper place of adoration and worship,”
Astorath says to himself and to God.
Astorath shields the monstrance through
the flames, pats the flames out again, takes the monstrance out of the Church,
and then walks back in the direction he came until he is found by a man who is
covered in ash, dirt, and rags.
“You there, boy! Where did you find
that monstrance at?” the man asks as he approaches Astorath.
“That church over there. It was
locked up behind steel doors and protected by a flame trap, but I managed to
get it,” Astorath says.
“You’re a tough one, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I-”
Something grabs Astorath’s
attention which confuses and startles the man.
“What is it? Do you sense ratmen,
beastmen, cultists, or both?”
Astorath hands the man the
monstrance before firmly gripping his mace and heading to the direction he is
being drawn to and finds ratmen with their prisoners getting out of a rathole.
He uses his blood magic to crystalize his blood and shoots it at the ratmen to efficiently
kill them and save the captives who thank Astorath afterward and recognize him
as the man who was defending their town days ago.
“Head back home that way,” Astorath
says while pointing in a direction. “Do not worry about food or drink because
you’ll find it along the way and do not worry about any dangers because none of
them will bother you. I have a feeling they’ll be coming for me soon enough.”
The captives thank Astorath again
and head on their way.
“Did you know those people? They
knew your name,” the man asks as he catches up.
“No,” Astorath says while taking
back the monstrance from the man.
“So, you’ve saved many towns from
the ratmen?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Then maybe you can save the people
here from the monsters. More horrible things than ratmen inhabitant it.”
“If this place is such a hotbed of
horrors, then hasn’t the church sent its soldiers to cleanse it?”
“Ha! They’ve abandoned this city
and many others generations ago. Don’t you see that with your own eyes? After
the war that ended the future, the technology that humanity relied on so
much that allowed it to build everything around you and explore the stars was
destroyed and the knowledge, tools, and whatever could be salvaged to repair it
all was lost forever because of mankind’s negligence. To be honest, I don’t blame
them for letting large cities like this rot while only tearing down and rebuilding
others like the ones in the Vatican and the capitals of kingdoms.”
“I see.”
“Heh, I can see that you’re not
too interested in the subject even though I can’t see your face.”
“You’re right. My only concern is
for the things that God has tasked me with.”
“That’s a cold, but reasonable way
to look at things.”
“It’s not my fault that the Church
hasn’t sent any soldiers or help for you and those who remain here.”
“No, it isn’t, you’re right, but you
seem like the kind of boy that wants to do something.”
“The only thing I can do is offer up
my prayers and penance for your sake, which I’ve already been doing to some
extent as the kingdom of Onocrotalus does for the world. I could also…hold our
Lord for now.”
“What is it?”
Astorath heads off with the man
chasing him to see what’s going on until Astorath comes to a stop and hides
himself in the dark. A couple of minutes pass until a herd of beastmen appears
in the distance. They approach with dozens of crates on their backs and
shoulders all of which have the seals of the Church on them. The herd is
comprised of women with the bodies of spiders, a man with the body of a lion
and a secondary head that’s a snake, and a man that’s half bull and half
tiger just to name a few. Both Astorath and the man follow them to a different
abandoned church than the one that Astorath was at. The outside walls are
covered with blasphemous markings and symbols and are decorated with the hanging
and crucified bodies of men, ratmen, and beastmen alike.
“You’re not honestly thinking about
going in there, are you?” the man silently asks.
“Yes. I can hear the silent voice
of God telling me to,” Astorath whispers.
“Is that how you found this
monstrance, the ratmen, and knew that those beastmen were coming?”
“It is. My people practice being in
a state of constant pain and penance so we can hear His silent voice since God
is closer to you when you’re suffering.”
“If you say so.”
Astorath steps out of the shadows
and heads directly towards the desecrated church.
“Wait, do you even have a plan to
face all those beastmen? There are probably more inside,” the man says.
“I do. My plan is to go in there,
hit them with my mace, and use my blood magic on them,” Astorath explains.
“That’s not much of a plan, but if
you think that’s what God wants you to do then do it. I’ll be keeping my
distance.”
“No, I need you there to hold up
our Lord. It’ll weaken the demonic powers there and make it easier for me to
win.”
“What?!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll put a blood crystal
shield around you when we’re in there, and even if you die, you’ll die with God
in your hands and doing His will. What greater honor is there?”
With nothing more to say and
nothing to actually lose, the man reluctantly agrees to go with Astorath into
the church. Despite the straightforward plan, they stop by the doors as
Astorath plans out who to attack first. They watch as the beastmen and men and
women sparsely dressed in the same blasphemous markings on the church carved
onto their bodies.
“The rats have failed to bring in
today’s sacrifice. I haven’t seen them on my patrols,” a woman with half the
body of an eagle says to a man with the face and limbs of a minotaur.
“They’ve been failing us more often
than not recently. Would you and your flying brethren know why that is?” the
minotaur man asks.
“Besides the orcs and the fiery people
of Canis, we’ve heard rumors that the people of the Onocrotalus are intervening
in our affairs as well.”
“Onocrotalus? Isn’t that kingdom
nothing more than a legend?”
“To some it is, but their people do
show their face on occasion and it appears that our plans are pushing them into
action.”
“If anything, this is at least
reassuring to know that our actions are having an impact on the God of the
Catholics. Speaking of which.”
The beastmen break open the crates
with their bare hands to reveal monstrances, statues of Christ, pictures of the
Blessed Virgin, and other holy symbols and objects. Seeing these unrepentant sinners
with these sacred objects lights a holy anger within Astorath forcing him to
move and take the man beside him into the church and in the view of everyone in it.
“That’s the kind of person rumored
to be part of Onocrotalus. Have you come to give that monstrance to us?” the
harpy woman asks. “Your kind isn’t known to betray your Lord.”
“You’re right on that last part,”
Astorath says before lifting his now bleeding right arm.
Instead of blood coming out from
his arm, the blood that Astorath uses for his blood magic comes from the many
monstrances and consecrated hosts and wine. The blood splashes onto and into
the many sinners in the church and crystalizes to immediately impale them from inside
and outside. What would’ve taken ten minutes for a squad of the most elite
soldiers in the Church to accomplish was done in a minute as all the sinners in
the church lay dead and in pieces. In his amazement, the man next to Astorath
looks up at the monstrance before averting his eyes in reverent fear and
thanking God for His mercy.
“How did you do that?” the man
asks.
“The blood of Christ flows through
me while I live in a state of grace and, for that reason, all sources of the
blood can be used in blood magic,” Astorath explains before leaving the church,
“Take care of this place with your people.”
“Where are you going?”
“To do God’s will, of course.”
“What about this monstrance? Isn’t
this yours?”
“I gave it to you, so no, it isn’t.
What is your name so that I may pray for you? Also, give me the names of
everyone I know so I may tell them to Onocrotalus.”
“My name is Alumnus,” the man says.
Alumnus then lists off the names of everyone he knows and then says, “And pray
for everyone else I might’ve forgotten.”
“I will. Thank you for helping me.
God will make sure that your blessings increase.”
Alumnus watches as a crimson fog suddenly
appears that Astorath walks into and disappears in. Now with a church and a
threat from the city dealt with, Alumnus gathers his people to clean the
church, take the crates of sacred objects to be put in a proper place, and
tells them of Astorath’s deeds and of his renewed confidence in what blessed unknown
future God has for them.
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