On a morning a week later, Leonidas rose from his bed. He slipped his arms out from beneath the bodies of Eve and Anabel, his body rippling with a healthy light.

Yesterday was the first day of rest he had taken in a long while. For the events of today, he needed to be in top condition. It was about time the Rardins lost their patience.

He proceeded with his rituals, carefully cleaning himself before slipping into a fresh and black tunic that clung to his lean, powerful frame.

The only armor he wore from head to toe was for his tail, the several plates of silver lining up perfectly to maintain the flexibility of his fifth limb.

By the time Leonidas was finished, Eve and Anabel had awoken as well.

The latter donned a half-complete set of plate armor, protecting one of her shoulders and her torso, while she sheathed a two-handed greatsword onto her back.

The former didn’t dress like one might expect for a healer at all, keeping her very same leather armor and even taking her thin sword with her.

Through the window, the waning light of dusk shone through in dark purples and oranges.

Leonidas stood still for a moment, looking at the slow formation of the moon rising into the skies.

His mind went over his plans once more, realizing that everything would hinge on this one bet.

“Are you two ready?”

“Yes.”

The pair of voices came at once with little to no hesitation.

“Are you two sure?”

The question sounded like a follow-up to the first, one intertwined with the same meaning. But, both Eve and Anabel could tell that it was far heavier than this.

After this step, even if the two wanted to turn back, they wouldn’t be able to.

“Yes.”

Leonidas’ crimson gaze glowed as darkness fell.

“Then let’s go.”

…

When the trio made it to the ground floor of the Church, the pair of women were shocked to find Father Barat waiting in silence by the door.

On his back, what looked like a rod wrapped in crimson cloth could be found, peeking over and off to the side of his head at its tallest points.

Leonidas continued to walk forward, clearly having already expected this.

He stopped just a meter from Barat, his figure towering over the latter.

“I thank Her Holiness Yves for Her guidance and grace. This humble servant gives back what was once taken, blessing the next generation with the strength once bestowed to me.

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“From this day forth, I, Barat, relinquish my position as Father.”

When Barat spoke these words, his body glowed.

However, rather than giving him power, it was all being taken away.

His body shivered as the strength was pulled from his limbs.

When the light finally faded, the restrictions on him had vanished, but his body had also greatly weakened.

The number of wrinkles on his face increased, his foundation seemed a bit shaky, and it felt like he might collapse at any time.

The position of Father was one you could hold for a lifetime should you choose. And, though the punishment for relinquishing said position wasn’t as bad as one might expect for an Apostle, there was still a small hint of backlash.

A body having become used to being sustained by a God’s Blessing, only to lose it, became very much akin to a drug addict having lost their supply.

Whether this was true or not, Leonidas hadn’t personally experienced it. But, these were the words the spirit’s tome had used to describe the process.

Father Barat, or, rather, Barat, looked like he might collapse at any time, but Leonidas didn’t look at him with sympathy.

Instead, he took a step past him, pushing through the large double doors and stepping into the cool night air.

Neither Eve nor Anabel understood what was going on. But, before they could follow Leonidas, Barat followed first.

The wind was rarely strong enough to force the movement of Leonidas’ hair, but tonight it seemed particularly eager. As he strolled forward, his steps only seemed to become heavier.

His eyes closed, his will seemingly leading him toward his destination.

His mind couldn’t help but drift to his life just a year ago. How weak had he been? How frail and soft? How insignificant and worthless?

He couldn’t even take credit for his current achievements. Luck had simply shined down upon him, giving him the chance of a lifetime, a chance that he would hold onto for dear life.

Leonidas was keenly self-aware of this.

It wasn’t his intelligence that had dug him out of his pit of despair, it wasn’t his own cunning and savvy, it wasn’t his effort, or sweat, or blood, or tears…

It was luck.

A powerful spirit had taken pity on him and decided to casually throw out a pair of dice to see what might happen.

Nothing more.

That lingering sense of inferiority still loomed over his head, the feeling that he hadn’t earned anything, that he couldn’t earn anything even if he tried.

It was a darkness that enveloped him, one that he couldn’t easily shrug off.

He could still remember the humiliation he felt having his woman taken by someone he hardly considered to be a man.

He could still remember the hopeless despair he felt when his mother died. Her corpse hadn’t even been returned to him. He was forced to go and get her himself.

He could still remember having to clean his mother up in her most humiliating state, her face beaten and bruised, her body covered in sickly juices that filled the air with a foul stench, her once gorgeous countenance twisted and torn with horror and pain.

He could still remember having to lower himself for the first time in his life, going to Gauteron just so that he would have a place to allow her to rest.

He could still remember having to dig her a grave with his own two hands, only having to dig her back up because he couldn’t control his own pride, because he couldn’t sacrifice even a fraction of what she had for him.

He could still remember that sweeping feeling of helplessness when he was forced to throw her corpse off a cliff, and that feeling of despair when he returned to find that it was no longer there.

In the depths of the night, Leonidas’ hair began to flutter more wildly, but it became very obvious, very quickly, that it was no longer due to the wind.

A crimson aura hung around him, a suffocating sort of presence barely being held back by a modicum of self-control.

Barat still had no idea what they were going to do tonight. But, his expression remained placid even as they walked through Violet Waters, even as they entered the noble region, and even as they made a straight line for the estate of the Rardins.

Leonidas didn’t care to explain anything either.

His entire being was coated in blood and steeped in darkness.

His every step only continued to grow heavier, the leaking effects of Tremor making it feel as though the ground itself might collapse any time now.

His fury became tangible, the crimson light around him solidifying, bits and pieces of its breaking off and lifting into the air.

And then, Leonidas roared.

The roar shook the whole of Violet Waters. But, more importantly, it shattered the protective formations around the Rardin estate.