0800 hours, 4 July 0145...

The empty street stretched out before me as I dashed towards the Grande Maria Great Church. The devotees had already gathered for prayer at the Grande Maria's Great Church when I arrived, the street empty since I stayed up late playing Monopoly with my friends last night.

But to my surprise, I suddenly heard Christine's distant falsetto singing, originating from that church.

Just by listening to her voice, I can tell it's Christine. I can still remember a few days ago, when she was practicing singing in Minerva's underground church.

But it would be a waste of time for me to stare down at this deserted city. If I show up there late, I'll be in deep trouble.

As I walked by each empty street, I saw something out of the ordinary happening.

"KILL... ALL... AUTHONOIDS!!!"

Enormous infected androids rampaged along this desolate street, damaging property and repeatedly yelling their death threats.

Seeing those infected androids impede my progress erupted my head like a volcano. With no mercy, I sprinted forward and dropped-kicked one stray android.

BOK

One poor android lost its balance and slammed against the wall of the next building. The latter are becoming more agitated and are now standing above me, rushing at me with their rusty swords.

"INTRUDER ALERT!!! MUST… KILL… EVIL... AUTHONOIDS!!!"

I deftly avoided their overhead slashes, unleashed my left hand's claw, seized its head, and brutally slammed it to the ground. I effortlessly shredded their steely bodies into pieces with my hands, like a toothpick.

Furthermore, I snatched one of their rusted swords and slashed their steely bodies to pieces with a stylish acrobatic flip. As the carnage unfolded, Christine's distant, beautiful singing made this massacre beautifully gruesome.

Upon closer inspection of one of those androids, I saw a red crescent emblem on their heads. I would venture to say that Crescent has already made it to this city to cause chaos at that church.

Just as I thought I had no way to evade their swarm, I noticed an LPG tank lying in the neighboring destroyed, deserted grill joint.

As I did a stylish flip to evade their relentless slashing, I snatched the scattered lpg, tossed it over the android herds, pointed my Kiryu at it, and held the trigger down until it produced a pulsing wave.

And all of a sudden...

BANG

An enormous explosion shook the whole neighborhood, and I ducked behind the wall of the abandoned building to escape the engulfing fire.

After everything had calmed down, I peered out from behind the cover; the fire had dented the nearby building, and the android corpses were scattering throughout the little crater.

Regardless, I hurried to the Grande Maria's Great Church despite my fear that the Cleanser Squadron would hold me accountable for the damage.

***

I rushed inside the church by the side door and sat down on the empty seat close to the worshippers as the four minutes ticked past. Unfortunately, I arrived at the time when Christine had already ended her performance at the altar, and she was pausing for a long breath after her last falsetto chorus.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

There's no mistaking that Christine has returned in her same long-sleeved white dress after spending her time training at HQ. The devotees silently applauded Christine's performance as she bowed and descended the altar stair.

After the opening had concluded, the Great Pope, Enzio Busso, ascended the altar, made his way to the preacher's table, and preached with a voice that belied his years.

"Long ago, the Great Demon, Tsumaki, rebelled against his own brethren. He drew his sword for the sake of mankind."

"Though, despite his heroic efforts, I fear that we will bear witness to the great sacrifice."

"The great sacrifice was when one of our brothers, who redeemed themselves for the right after their wrongdoings, ultimately met their demise at the hands of our brothers."

"Thus… I'm afraid there is nothing we can fight but to grovel for a definite answer by the righteous hands of the father."

"We, frail humans, always fail just when we are about to succeed. It brings us to the realization that, as we advanced, we frequently deviated towards heresy."

Unfortunately, his sermons are so generic that they bore me to death.

I get my phone out and put on my EarPods so I can listen to music to distract myself from the boring sermon. Even if the nearby devotees believe it's inappropriate, it wasn't a huge issue as long as they could concentrate on the sermon instead.

Earpod Music: Kyrolis - Stimulation

This hard-rock DNB song revved up my heart rate as I subtly bopped to the beat while keeping my composure in the church.

Observing my immediate surroundings, I saw Nolan and Axel seated on the left side of the entrance. Lisabelle and Kyouko sat close to the entrance on the right side. Commander Marisa and Katoki sit in the exact center of the front row, next to the altar.

I glance over to Antonio and his companions, who are standing by the right exit, ready to go up to the altar for another performance once Pope Enzio Busso concludes his sermon.

Antonio glanced back at me with a slight suspicious glint in his eye, as if he were doubtful of my somewhat improper demeanor in a place where everyone else needs to repent.

But he quickly averts his gaze to the front, as if nothing had transpired.

Christine came up to stand by my side and smiled softly at me. Despite her gentle smile, I sensed a subliminal warning that I should be careful how I act in church.

In response, I stopped the music, took out my earpods, and placed them in my bag. Afterwards, she joined the other worshippers in sitting on my right and proceeded to listen to the Pope's sermon.

"If these events happen again, we must brace ourselves for the upcoming obstacles. Our beloved righteous hands of the father, Sanctoria, will shelter us from the storm."

"Let us pray."

Following his example, the worshippers bowed their heads and clasped their hands together in prayer. With the exception of me, I wore my earpods and resumed the same music I've listened to.

Because the monotony of this church was devouring me, I had to get out and go somewhere else. But just as I was about to leave the church through the right entrance, Christine whispered a warning and gently drew my back.

"Tsuyuki, where are you going?"

I glanced over my shoulder at her and responded quietly, maintaining my silence.

"I wanna go to the restroom."

However, as I attempted to leave, she rose from her seat and gently reprimanded me from behind.

"But it's not over yet!"

"It's alright, I'll make it quick!"

Without a moment's hesitation, I swiftly crept over to the exit on the right. The reason is that Commander Katoki or Antonio would scold me severely if I dared to walk properly, even if it made a little noise. This urged Christine to prevent me from breaking away on my own and forced her to follow my lead.

But out of nowhere, a scorching pain shot up my neck and into my head, devouring my brain. Christine walked behind me and placed a worried hand on my right shoulder as I drew back in pain and clutched my forehead, where it had only just begun to lessen.

"Tsuyuki, something wrong?"

But I could tell this headache was strange, as if someone had manipulated the pain to make it decrease and increase simultaneously.

I had a feeling of approaching doom as I swiftly glanced up at the artistic glass dome from above. My terrible gut feeling was right at that moment.

TSYANG

An unknown female figure doing a front flip came tumbling down from above, shattering the artistic glass dome. She sent her boots crashing down on the preacher's table in front of the Pope with a resounding thud.

As I got a glimpse of that female figure, it was Onigashi!

Or her real name was Rukia!

Yes, the same bastard who stabbed my chest and slaughtered my prior allies back in the Harimal Forest!

Pope Enzio Busso was visibly startled, pausing his prayer as he beheld Rukia's unexpected appearance. As if something malicious were about to happen in his eye, he met her intense crimson gaze, which seemed to torment his own soul.

With her right hand, she tightened her grasp on her katana.

And then...

JSLOSH