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Inquisitor Daniel took us down to the streets, letting us join the crowd of people they’d collected to keep safe.

All the civilians here seemed terrified, obviously aware of what was going on around them. That was good. Well, not good, but at least they had a chance to run.

“You guys saved all these people?” I asked, happy that anyone around here was able to get rescued.

“We attempted to save more, but alas, these are the only ones who chose to walk the narrow path alongside us,” Daniel said.

“Huh?” I tilted my head in confusion. “You mean, you gave them a choice?”

“All have the choice, but not all are able to choose salvation.”

In other words, we couldn’t save everyone.

“I can’t stand knowing people are still out there,” I said, getting a bit more passionate. “There’s still time to get more people, since the demons haven’t spread everywhere. We need to warn them.”

“Ahh…” he frowned with sorrow. “I too hope more can see the glory you have been blessed with, but their hearts are still dark with the seed of evil.”

I think he was referencing scripture, which referred to humans as ‘seeds of evil.’ Only those who ate the ‘good fruit’ were able to choose between good and bad. Otherwise, they’d be stuck only doing evil things.

To me though, that wasn’t an excuse to not try and help them. I’m supposed to protect humans, not just good ones, and not just bad ones. Both.

“If you really like me that much, then I have an order for you…” I spoke.

Suddenly all the inquisitors stopped and turned to me, their eyes were bulging under those silver lined hoods, awaiting what I was about to say.

“I shall be your instrument, holy one,” Daniel said.

“If you find anyone, and I mean ‘anyone,’ you bring them with us.”

He was staring at me for a second, all the way up until a wide smile broke out across his face.

“Glorious day!” he threw a fist in the air. “You heard the words of the Eighth Star! As she has declared, so shall it be done!”

“So be it!”

The other inquisitors silently threw their fists up in the air, some scattering around to go find anyone in the area still not affected by the demon curse.

Some of them actually returned with people, but they’d taken it upon themselves to tie them up and carry them. Not exactly the way I was thinking they’d do it…but their efficiency was to be admired.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right…” Yamin mumbled to herself.

“We'll deal with the legal problem later,” Marek commented.

~☆☆☆~

The Reaper was keeping his distance. With all these stardust users in one place, he’d definitely want to think twice about chasing us down.

His dark minions were more daring, but hardly a threat to the skillful inquisitors who silently twirled their blades, cutting down dozens of demons at a time. We were all safe with them around.

“Leave no abomination standing!” inquisitor Daniel announced. “In the name of the Eighth Star of God, lay waste to them all!”

That merciless order brought their enthusiasm to new levels, pushing their speed and strength past what I'd thought were human limits.

“I'm glad they're on our side,” Marek said.

“Hmmm…” Yamin hummed in a disapproving tone. “I don't know if I trust this guy…”

Regardless of if they were led by a crazy man or not, they were getting us to the cathedral quickly. That was worth trusting them for now.

Speaking of which, we finally reached our destination. The city block around here was lit up well by stardust lights. I wanted to say I was relieved, especially after seeing Uncle and Indena were both there already, but a mob of people were standing at the steps too, not letting them go past.

“Oh no…what’s this all about?” I sighed.

Whatever was going on, I had a really bad feeling…

“Begon, bringer of the flaming witch!” That was Sister Ruth’s voice. “Such a godless creature shall not enter these hallowed grounds!”

The mob of people and clergy were just as enthusiastic about forbidding Indena from entering as Sister Ruth was. Some of them were even holding up what looked like sharp kitchen utensils and clubs. I could only hope those weren’t going to be used as weapons.

“Give me a break, stupid Deula!” Indena barked. “I’m not a damn witch, so shut up and let us through.”

“Never!” Sister Ruth’s voice aggressively sang. “We will not allow such a thing!”

I ran in and got between the two groups, turning to Uncle.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

He shook his head and gestured to the nun and civilians blocking the door.

“They refuse to let Indena inside. And her foul mouth hasn't been helping the situation.”

“Oi, old man, not like you’re saying much,” Indena said to Uncle.

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“They’ve already made up their minds,” Uncle said. “Nothing we say will change that.”

Inquisitor Daniel shoved his way forward, standing at the bottom of the church steps.

“Sister Ruth, what are you doing?” he uttered, losing his smile. “The Eighth Star must get inside, so make way.”

“I would never follow the will of that false angel and her childish ways!” Sister Ruth shouted, prompting others beside her to cheer.

“You’d dare spout such heresy, Sister Ruth?” Inquisitor Daniel gave her a fowl stare. “Such daring words declare you an enemy of the Eighth Star!”

Uh, enemy of who now?

“Then enemies we will be, Daniel! And if you side with this false Krinai Inno, then you are our enemy too.”

The inquisitor's face fell further into rage. He gripped tightly to his axe, letting the sharp crystal end fall to the ground with a loud noise.

“You will have no other warning,” he said, his anger quickly growing. “She will get inside, one way…” he raised up his weapon to let it sit on his shoulder, “...or another.”

The inquisitors readied up their weapons as well, one even drawing a rifle from a rooftop. All the civilians crowded around Sister Ruth in fear.

“Stand firm, my friends!” Sister Ruth chanted, glaring at Daniel with a very mean scowl. “For today, we shall become martyrs in the name of truth!”

Nobody would need to be a martyr if they all weren’t being so stupid! This was going to be an absolute bloodbath if we didn’t stop it.

Uncle grabbed the inquisitor's weapon and yanked it from his hands.

“If you resort to violence, I'll have to step in.” Uncle glared at him.

“How dare you snatch my tool?” Daniel snarled.

“Tools like this shouldn't be turned against misguided civilians.”

Now some weapons were pointing at Uncle, one of them being the rifleman.

The anger of the people didn’t feel right. They were just way too aggressive with each other. I felt a terrible presence looming in the air. Next to each of the people’s virtual nametags, even the inquisitors, was an affliction icon that looked like a really mad face. They must have been enraged by something.

Surly enough, the Reaper hovered above us, casting a very dark presence over all the humans. He was manipulating their emotions to feel nothing but rage and anger for each other. It was working all too well.

“Please, everyone, just listen to me!” I announced. “The Reaper is affecting all of you with rage for each other!”

“Silence!” Sister Ruth shouted. “We know what you are, you evil devil, posing as the Eighth angel!”

“I’m not a devil!” I shouted back.

“Lies! Snakes gather in your soot coloured hair, your skin is cold, your face is like that of a hyena!”

What on earth was she seeing? I mean, the snake part was right, but soot coloured hair? Cold skin? Hyena face?

“Oi! Can it, Chastity Belt!” Indena called out to the old nun. “She ain’t a devil, so quiet it with that!”

The nun reaffirmed her stance and everyone in the crowd seemed to agree with her view.

We’d seen people who were unaware of any problems around them, now we’d seen people who were seeing things that weren’t true. It must have been the Reaper’s curse.

“Guys! Just look up! It’s the demon above you! He’s causing this!”

But none of them listened to me.

The tension in the air got thicker. Everyone's fingers wrapped around their weapons just a bit tighter.

Was I fast enough in my combat mode to catch all the weapons before someone got hurt? What about the rifleman on the roof? He was still aiming at Uncle, but who knows what a stray bullet might hit.

I didn’t know what to do! All I could manage was teary eyes and a weeping tone. These people, their anger for each other, it all felt so needless. they were supposed to be part of the same church. Yet here they were, ready to slay one another. Hopelessness filled me like a freshly poured drink, and I dropped to my knees from the weight of its burden.

"Stop it...everyone...stop it!" They still didn't listen to the cries of a child. I was no angel at all.

-BE STILL. HAVE NO FEAR. SAY AS I DO-

A calm voice entered my heart. It was familiar, like I'd heard it before. When it spoke ethereally to me, I felt warm, and the blue glow of my heart turned white.

-Put Down Thy Weapons. A House divided Cannot Stand-

I'm not sure I totally understood what that last part meant, but it sounded like a call for peace, and that was good enough for me to give a try.

"Okay...mysterious voice." With hesitation, I rose to my feet and climbed up to the highest point of the stone walls beside the stairs. "Everyone..."

My voice wasn't carrying far enough. I was too nervous in front of this crowd, and there was way too much at stake if I messed up.

"Ghhhaa!" one of the civilians let out a battle cry as he gained the courage to charge in. "I'll die today if it means protecting the truth! So be it!"

He was heading for an inquisitor with a really big sword, one that I'm sure would have cut him down with ease.

The inquisitor had a mask, but beneath it his face must have been just as enraged by the Reaper's curse. He reeled back the foreboding blade, preparing to chop away at the pitiful knife wielding civilian. There's no chance Uncle would get there in time to stop either of them.

Without a single second to spare, I found a reason to lose my speech anxiety.

"Everyone! Put down your weapons!" I screamed as loud as I could. "A...uh...a house divided can't stand up!”

My voice echoed powerfully over the whole area. Silence fell otherwise. Not even the breeze uttered a sound.

All eyes were on me.

-Thou Shalt Love Thy Enemy. Do Unto Others As Thou Would Have Done To You-

“Love…” I raised my voice and shouted even louder this time. “Don't hate each other! Put down your weapons and Love one another, even your enemies! And...do to others what you want them to do to you!”

A few seconds of silence continued after I finished speaking, then weeping sweeped over everyone like a disease. I didn’t say anything sad, but they all seemed to cry like it was a funeral. Even Uncle shed a few tears.

The inquisitors and the civilians all dropped their weapons. Both fell to their knees and started praying for forgiveness.

“Shrimp, what was that?” Indena wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thanks for making it rain, now I can't see anything…”

It wasn't raining, she was just crying.

“That was beautiful,” Yamin added after doing a figure 8 with her hand. “Angelic even.”

Angelic? I was just shouting. Whatever I did, I was relieved to know that it stopped people from wanting to hurt each other.

“Uncle, do you know what I just did?” I said in my normal tone.

I went to hug him, but he instinctively pushed me back for some reason.

“Hold on, you're a bit too hot to touch right now,” he claimed.

Indena poked me and I heard a sizzling sound.

“Ouch!” She put her finger in her mouth. “Christ! How the hell did she burn me?”

Woah! My temperature was really high! It had to be related to that power I just used. If I burned a fire mage, maybe this was some sort of magic ability I unlocked. But who was that voice? It might have been an AI, but I didn’t see any traces of it in my system.

“Uncle?”

He shook his head. “I'm not sure how you did it, but it definitely happened at the right time.”

It really did. It seemed the Reaper was gone too. For now, anyway.

Now we just needed to get past Sister Ruth, who was also still crying and praying.

I approached her and she looked at me with a sorry face.

“Forgive my arrogance…” the nun said. “I did not realize you truly are blessed to be our Star.”

“It’s okay,” I said, not wanting to hold a grudge. “But please let us through, okay?”

She allowed us to go inside the church with a kind gesture of her hand. We needed to find the bishop. I’m sure he’d know what to do to get rid of this demon!