Briefing.

Is a meeting room in the Waning Moon Associations law keeping HQ five people sat around a desk. Three of them had just come from outside, they were Akihiko, Ryuunosuke and Gaius. The other two were the Head and a thirty some year old woman. The Head had just asked Gaius if he knew about a certain cult.

“No. Never heard of them.” Was his answer. Akairyuu nodded, before stopping to think.

“The Cult is an old enemy of the association.” He began. “We have been enemies since before our founding, though the Cult didn't know about us at that time.” He paused to catch his breath. “You might be wondering how is that possible.” At those words he stopped, seeking a certain reaction.

“Not really. It's obvious they were enemies of the Founders, but they didn't know they came here and founded the association”

Akai looked annoyed and grunted. “Hmf. Of course you have to take the fun parts away.”

The other three were a bit surprised at those words, they had never seen the Head so relaxed. Exactly what was their relationship, they wondered.

“Alright, I'll shed the theatrics. The Cult is as its name says, a cult. It worships a Rank 9 entity, Cheng Ming. Meaning rule, order, and enlightening. It is not her birth name, but one she chose after deciding she knew the way to enlightenment. Her original name is lost. Do you follow for now?”

“Yes.” “Yes, Master Head.” Answered Akihiko and Ryuunosuke, while Gaius nodded.

“Good. Our relationship with them is simple. One of our founders, we don't know which one, was her offspring. Whichever of the two it was changed their surname to that of their spouse. Who was their father is unknown, for there are too many candidates.

See, Cheng Ming believed that enlightenment could only be reached through the fulfillment of one's desires. That once one was fulfilled they would achieve bodhi. She claimed she had fulfilled all her desires once, and that lead her to enlightenment, but before becoming an arhat she took the vow of the Bodhisattva, swearing to lead all sensible beings to bodhi through her guidance, and not separating from the circle of reincarnation until she had done so.

Needless to say she is considered heretical by nearly all branches of Buddhism, since that is the opposite of their philosophy. And while her claim of being a Bodhisattva is contested, her power is not. She showed signs of immense might prior to being expelled from the world, defeating twelve Rank 8s and two Rank 9s in a single hour. However, as I have already said she was expelled from this world. We don't know how, just that the Founders were involved, and brought records of how they did it to these lands. Records we safeguard.

Unfortunately she had gained a following by then. Her Cult seeks to bring her back and for that they scour the world in search of ways to do it. And a hundred years ago they found out about our records, and have since tried to steal them. So we must always be alert of them, or a great calamity would descend. After all she was not a true god, and gods hardly intervene directly in the affairs of mortals. We'd have to pay a steep price in order to recruit entities capable of defeating her, and all of humanity would suffer. Thus it is our sacred duty to safeguard the records, for Humanity's sake.”

Once he finished speaking he evaluated the feelings of his subordinates. Akihiko looked resigned, he already knew. Ryuunosuke was trembling, sweat flowing through his temples and eyes dilating, he could feel the terror coming from him without having to activate his Senjutsu. But Gaius? Gaius looked impassive, as they were discussing the weather.

“Nothing special then.” He commented.

“What?!” Exclaimed Ryuunosuke, unable to understand his calm. “You just heard there is a world ending threat out there! And only the association stands in her way!”

Gaius chuckled. “Again, nothing special. I might not remember everything, but I remember at least six hundred such events since my time. Portals to Hell, Angra Mainyu’s machinations, several Rank 9 entities that sought the end of the world. World ending events happen at least once a decade around the world, and they obviously have never triumphed. One more is not much, honestly.

Also she isn't so much ‘World Ending’ as she is civilisation ending, if my take is correct.”

“Wh-at?” Ryuunosuke collapsed in his chair, hyperventilating.

“Gaius.” Said Akihiko reproachfully. “Couldn't you break it to him more gently?”

“I don't know how.” He answered sadly. “How do you sugarcoat the fact that the world is in constant danger? How do you collapse someone's worldview gently?”

Akairyuu nodded at that. “In my experience it's something you should do fast, if it comes to it. Letting them keep their hopes up would do more damage in the long term.

Listen Ryuunosuke, pay attention to my next words, and then you can have your crisis. But this is important, now that you know the truth.”

“But, but. How can you… How can you all?”

“Time, mostly. You know of world destroyers but then you see nothing happen and it fades away.” Answered Akihiko. “It's not as bad as it sounds honestly.”

Ryuunosuke reacted to those words. He slowly breathed in and out, many times. Eventually he nodded, still trembling, but willing to keep listening.

“Well done. Now I have yet to speak of the Cult’s modus operandi and their beliefs. They obviously worship Cheng Ming, calling her the True Bodhisattva. They believe in causing pleasure by any means, watching a fountain, having sex, drinking tea, getting drunk, drugs, whatever gives you pleasure. That by itself is not bad, but they know not self control. They will kill you for your fountain, they will rape you, they will steal tea, they will rob a bank for drinking and drug money. They work like addicts, and some are indeed addicts, but some are high functioning. The grunts are common thugs, like the man you apprehended, but the higher ups know when to stop in order to maximise benefits. They are pragmatic, which coupled with their lack of morals and fanaticism makes them very dangerous. Questions?”

Gaius leaned forward. “Yes. How do they reconcile their happiness to all with their lack of empathy. Or are they just hypocrites.”

“That is actually what makes them dangerous. While they are willing to kill and steal, they prefer to ‘convert’ the people they need. They kidnap them and ‘show them the light’, which usually means being pumped full of supernatural drugs until they are hopeless addicts who will follow their every whim in order to get their fix. Or as they say ‘teach them the wonders of unrestricted bliss’. It's how they recruit, by turning their enemies and the less fortunate, such as the homeless, into slaves to their instincts and, being the only ones capable of fulfilling them, to them.” He said the last with disgust.

A loud metallic sound rang through the room. They all turned to the source and saw Gaius had crushed his armchairs, and saw behaving weirdly. His joints cracked, his pupils dilated, his teeth ground against each other, his muscles tensed and his skin reddened.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ryuunosuke jumped away from him, while Akihiko and the woman prepared for battle.

“How. Many.” He barely managed to whisper. “How many members.”

Akairyuu managed to understand what he meant.

“Our current estimates show that they are extended through China, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan. Membership is thought to reach the millions, however the majority don't even know about the Cult and are mundane. Even many of those who know are mundane, and support the Cult through other means. Spies, former soldiers, hackers, anyone who had a skill they wanted is converted.”

Gaius stopped trembling and began smiling. “I see. Is there anything else?”

“That's the rough overview. What you should know is to not trust anyone you haven't been able to contact in three days, they might have been converted. Aside from that you will receive a more detailed report of their operations later.”

“For what purpose. Since this isn't common knowledge I suppose it is supposed to be a secret?”

“Normally yes, but I trust you three, and I now need people who I can trust with a secret.”

Ryuunosuke intervened. “Does that mean something is wrong?”

“Yes. If normal people are being inducted in the Cult now it means they are advanced in their plans. I want you three, along others, to sniff out the cultists and destroy their little rat holes. Can you do it?”

Akihiko nodded. “Always, as long as you take care of my family if I die, or worse.”

Ryuunosuke gulped when they looked at him. “They, they are a danger to normal people no? Then my friends and family are involved, I'm scared, but count me in.”

Akairyuu smiled proudly at him, pleased with his answer. He then moved his sight to Gaius who was silent, looking at the ground. “And you?”

He looked up and smiled widely. “My pleasure. Where do I sign up to rip their guts and strangle them with their intestines?” He said with a tone like that of a child asking for sweets. He then punched his leg.

“No, you idiot, you are now beyond that, remember? You are no longer like that.” He whispered to himself. He raised his head, rage gone, and answered calmly. “I'll do it.”

“Good.” He signaled to the woman. “It is then time to present you to Amagi Ai, head of the operation. She will detail your patrol routes and how to recognise the converted.”

She rose and pulled down a board with a map of the city and several photos.

“Thank you for the introduction Head. Now, in this map you can see we've marked the bases we have already discovered, they are all minor but they already show a pattern. If you will take these dossiers…”

Once the briefing was done with Akairyuu dismissed them.

“That is all, all of you except Gaius are dismissed. Gaius…”

“Let Ryuusuke and Akihiko stay, if it's what I think it is I want them to know.” He interrupted.

“Very well.” Accepted Akairyuu.

“Then I'll leave now. I'll see you tomorrow at 8:00.” Ai informed before leaving the room.

The room fell silent, before Gaius began to speak.

“If you want to know why I reacted like this you must know about Diocletian and his persecutions. How much do you know?”

“It was the tenth and bloodiest of Christian persecutions.” Answered Akairyuu.

“That makes it sound so impersonal, Akai. But living in them was a nightmare. Do you know why they began?”

This time Akihiko answered. “You refused to worship the emperor.”

“That is right. We are forbidden for worshipping other gods. That made us reject worship of the emperor, but we were still loyal citizens of the empire. From patricians to slaves, we only wanted to be allowed to worship freely. However our religion was banned, because we ‘threatened the stability of the empire’. We had to meet in secret, we had to hide our faith, as if it was something shameful, as if it made us to be lesser.

But even then we were satisfied, while society shunned us we were happy as long as we could worship God in peace, and follow our faith. But Diocletian was not satisfied with us keeping our heads down. For him we were a danger, and couldn't be allowed to exist. For him we were a dangerous cult. And so, he started the persecutions.

They were terrible, our property was stolen, our lands given to others and our places of faith destroyed and desecrated. They hunted us like animals when they sniffed us, they forced us to abandon our faith or die. Our sisters were raped and sold to slavery or killed, our brothers executed. They crucified and burned us. They tortured us for days. They spared neither the old nor the young, our people had to run and hide. We were exterminated, thousands died. They murdered our men and enslaved or killed our women. People condemn Nero, but Diocletian was worse in our eyes.

My family was lucky. Constance Chlorus, Caesar of the Western Empire, didn't really enforce the persecution much, and we were able to bribe safety for us and those that seeked refuge with us. We supported five hundred of our brethren in those dark days. But even then we had to live in fear, for what would happen if they decided to ignore our bribes? While I stayed in the mountain I feared seeing soldiers come for me, informing me that my mother and sisters were disgraced and sold, and my father killed. I couldn't even worry for myself, I was too busy being scared for my family. And so day after day I prayed, hour after hour, from dawn till dusk. I stopped taking care of my body until my father visited me and forced me to take care of myself and asked me.

“Do you hate them, Gaius?” “Yes.” I answered, “they pursue us for a misunderstanding, they are monsters!” I shouted. He laughed and told me, “there you are wrong, Gaius, they are human like us. The Lord asks us to love our enemies, to forgive and pray for them, there is a reason for that.”

I couldn't understand, so I began to pray for something more, understanding. Three years passed in fear when Constantine the Great rose to the throne, and stopped the persecutions, forever. He legalised our worship.

Even if it was only in the Western Empire we were finally free! Free to wear symbols of faith on us! Free to say we were christians! Free to go out on the streets and be able to proclaim, I am Christian, follower of God, and no one could act against us for that. I knew there would still be discrimination, but I didn't care, the law was on our side. I felt as if my prayers were answered and I thought I heard a voice. It said “Like I freed the Jews from Egypt I have now freed you. Go, and find your faith.”

I prayed for three days and nights in thanks, and when I rose I had seen why. If we had fought, would have Constantine been able to free us? Our enemies were human, their malice born of humanity. We should not curse them, but understand them, love them, and wish that they would see their mistakes and repent. Love your neighbour, because we didn't curse them, they couldn't deny that we weren't evil. Love God, because as long as we loved him we would hold our faith in Him and others would see it and be impressed. He taught us to love, to not discriminate. And because we followed His precepts we were able to deny Diocletian’s accusations.

Christians should not hate, but understand and love. We should not wish them harm, but for grace to reach them. Love our neighbour, as long as we didn't forget that we didn't have to fear. Do not reject others, and you won't give them grounds to reject you. We couldn't defeat our enemies in force of arms, but we defeated them with love. We loved and Constantine loved us back, and freed us.

Diocletian took our homes, our dignity and our lives. But our hearts were with our neighbours, and our faith with God. He couldn't take that, and we were be rewarded in both Heaven and Earth. Our martyrs rose among the saints, and the living were freed. A miracle had happened through our devotion.

I was happy, and managed to let go of my hatred. At that point my spirit lifted and I gained awareness. Senjutsu was a gift I won through my faith. My faith was rewarded.”

Gaius stopped talking at that point, lost in memories of his happiest days. Ryuunosuke asked confused. “What is the relationship of this story with the Cult?”

Gaius was startled, he had began rambling. “Sorry. My point is that the Cult does what Diocletian couldn't. They take the hearts and souls of their victims. They violate their most sacred right, the right to be good. They enslave their minds while Diocletian could only slave our bodies.

Bluntly put, they press all my buttons. And I remind you that I became a hermit to combat my bloodthirst, my wrath. Even if I no longer wish to murder all those who look at me at the eye, my wrath remains. I restrain it, but it still exist. No longer is it unjustified, but it is.”

Akai nodded, understanding Gaius better. “Then I guess you will root them out with “great ferocity. Or not?” He smiled mischievously.

“Heh. I wish to harm them, but I'll fight for them, so their minds will be theirs again. And I'll make sure to protect others from them. I will destroy the Cult. That I swear.”

He looked around nervously. “Do you get it now?”

Akihiko smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “It's honestly more verbose than I like, but I get it. You hate what the Cult does. Simple. I like it. Count on me.”

Ryuunosuke smiled, relieved to understand his rage. “I also get it. I was scared before, but now I understand it. You're actually pretty nice, aren't you?”

Akai laughed. “I see you already made some friends other than I! I call myself your friend, of course I understand it.”