After less than a minute of waiting, Zeke saw a SAR squad flying in on their bulky transport. "You don't need to worry anymore, little ones. Our medical personnel are here now. They can save you from the brink even without the ability to reverse time."

The small Zenni man breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Terran... I... I would like to know the name of my savior."

Zeke smiled and responded, "Little one, my name is Ezekiel, but you may call me Zeke. Though, give your thanks, not to me, but to our great Lord Basillius. Without the guiding light of the Redeemer, I never would have been able to save you."

As he said that, the SAR transport landed. A door opened in the side, revealing a group of people dressed in pure white cloth with a single red cross marking the uniforms. They sent a storm of nanites into the rubble, eating it away in the safest paths possible. Once the wreckage was removed, the nanites picked up the three Zenni, carrying them to the transport.

As the cloud passed, Zeke caught sight of the father who had asked him to save his wife. The man's brown and black fur was matted with blood and there were several pieces of rebar and other debris lodged in his body that the nanites were meticulously taking care of.

Zeke sighed to himself and shook his head sadly. "Such a good and wholesome people... The Azarians must be cleansed from this universe. I cannot allow them to spread the evil taint any farther." he said resolutely.

The SAR transport quickly closed up and shot towards what Zeke assumed was its next beacon. Zeke turned toward the drop pod, feeling a bit anxious about what was about to happen. Nevertheless, he headed back. He needed to explain himself to Mai and Mattias.

Back at the pod.

Mattias was watching Zeke's battle again on repeat like a kid watching an action movie. Mai on the other hand, was feeling nothing but dread. 'How? How do I handle this...? I thought all of the cults had been rooted out by Basillius... All the really evil ones were supposed to be destroyed and the ones that weren't evil were all forcibly disbanded with all members on watch... So where did Zeke come from? One of the benevolent ones? Did they somehow manage to evade surveillance and rebuild their faith?'

Her thoughts were broken up by yet another shout from Mattias that caught her off guard. "By Basillius' brass ass! Zeke's such a fuckin badass! The spinny dodge into midair slice for a fucking twofer! Ohhhh... I'm so asking him if he can teach me to do cool shit like that..."

Mai quirked her eyebrow at him, "Mattias... Please, never say 'By Basillius' brass ass' ever again. That... I just can't even."

Mattias paused the video and looked back at Mai with an exasperated expression. "Excuuuse me? That line was pure art. That's right. Art. It's better than everyone else saying shit like 'By Basillius' left nut.' right? At least mine rhymes."

Mai just facepalmed herself and muttered, "Basillius, grant me the strength to deal with these idiots. Please."

As she dropped her hand, she saw Zeke rounding the corner. "Ah. You're finally here. So, please explain yourself. I need to know before I make my decision."

Zeke nodded his head and casually said, "My church does not perform sacrifices to the veil, nor is my church loyal to Mael. I am an acolyte of the Church of the Redeemer. I'm sorry for hiding it for so long, Mai."

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He took a breath and gave her an anxious smile, "I did not want to deceive you, however, for the safety of the church, I was forced to stay low. This war has changed things. No Redeemer would choose to hide their power over saving an innocent life, so I'm certain more of my brothers and sisters will be forced to reveal themselves soon. I may not even end up needing you to hide it in the end, but I would appreciate it if you did, for now."

He gave her a solemn bow and prepared for her verdict. She looked at him for a moment before deciding she had a couple more questions. "What did you do to gain your power? I saw you use veil-fire, so there's no use denying it. Humans have a nasty tendency to die or go insane when exposed to the veil. So you were either a sacrificial lamb sent in with the batches of believers, or you were forced."

Zeke simply shook his head. "No... I was neither. Redeemers do not permit such things. We were and still are regular people. None of us jumped into a rift out of blind faith, nor were we coerced into doing so. Our Grand Priestess is capable of seeing which Terrans are compatible with the veil before we ever get exposed to it. We only pick from our own, as well. We've never forced or coerced someone into becoming a Redeemer. It would not align with the will of the Great Redeemer."

"And what is 'The Great Redeemer's' will?" Mai asked cautiously.

Zeke adopted a soft smile and looked toward some distant part of the sky. "Our Lord Basillius... In our church, we see him as a savior, a redeemer. He has shown us the way, through his actions."

He gazed back down at Mai with a solemn expression, "The will of the Great Redeemer, the Anguished Savior, is simple. Bring peace to all. Save the suffering, those huddled masses of anguished souls. Give them the light to continue on, to forge their own path! Save the suffering! Those who are steeped in evil! Give them the holy fire! Illuminate their path with the cleansing flame, and free their soul from the evil they trudge within! Free them of the evil within and grant them peace!"

His voice had reached a fever pitch as he continued recounting the will of his god. His solemn look was replaced with one of religious fervor. At the end of his little sermon, he caught his breath and looked back up at Mai with a sincere smile.

"I.. apologize. It just... It felt so wonderful to finally be able to tell you two... I uhh. I ended up getting a bit carried away. Well... Simply put, we try to emulate Lord Basillius. I personally went down the path of veil swordsmanship. The Great Redeemer's path of the blade. Though," He looked toward Mattias, "We do also have a branch of acolytes that follow his path of the gunner. As acolytes, we learn one path."

Mattias' eyes lit up and he looked down at his SAW with excitement. Mai on the other hand looked somewhat concerned. "How... How many of you are there? How many members of your church?"

Zeke tilted his head slightly at her question. "I... I don't actually know. I am only an acolyte myself, though that will change as soon as I bring my finished hilt back to the main branch. If you want an accurate number you will have to wait for that, otherwise, I can just make a rough guess."

Mai rolled her eyes, "Then guess, please."

"Well... based on the number of churches I know of... Roughly a hundred thousand or so acolytes... As for priests? Probably a tenth of that through the entirety of lesser priests and the higher priests. As for the regular members, there are a few million at least. Why?"

Mai was utterly shocked at the numbers. "That's... What? Where have you all been hiding this whole time?!"

Zeke looked at her in confusion, "Uhhh... here? Almost all of us serve in some capacity. Where else would we get to see the Great Redeemer up close? He's only been out here leading the charge for the last four centuries."

Both Mattias and Mai asked simultaneously, "And you haven't been caught!? Right under his nose?!"

Zeke shrugged, "Pretty much every ground war that's taken place in that time had him run through cleansing it before we could even get set up. What need would there be for us to come out of hiding when the Great Redeemer himself is cleansing a world? Here though? The Great Redeemer can't help, he's taking on entire worlds alone. It's time for us to step up and help him in cleansing evil."

Mai sighed heavily and shook her head. "There's not even a point in me reporting you then. You aren't from one of those wacko sacrificial cults, nor would it matter if you were apparently. My report would likely just end up in the hands of one of your members... Guess I just gotta hope the Emperor takes your unveiling well. Absolutely fucking wild that there's so many of you and you were never caught..."