Sirius' mind was ablaze. It felt like a dream, hazy, full of inconsistesies, but he knew it was real, for there was no trace of the storm. This was different from ending a deer or a rabbit. Animals usually accept their fate. But this... Slowly his soul was settling inside his body, following some immaterial connection between the two.

Sirius felt his body forcefully inhale. His body stood up and limped towards the leader of the attackers. His body raised a stone pedestal to sit. His body's cold gaze was directed at the man of the church, who was barely breathing and bleeding profusely. His body united with the mana and raised man's arms on rocky columns, wrists clenched in stone shackles.

"Who are you?" Sirius felt his body ask in raspy voice.

"...you..." The man was barely conscious, and could only whisper.

"I repeat. What do you call yourself. Crimson Crusade?"

"Die..."

Sirius' body threw ice needles into man's arm, leaving three frozen spots. The man groaned.

"Your faith will not save you. You better talk." Sirius' domineering voice filled the night air with tint of rage. "Are you from the Order?"

"no... and yes..." A man whispered, his head hanging low.

"Explain yourself."

"The Gods will punish you..."

"Seth." The snake slowly appeared from the air and looked with worry at Sirius. "Bring me the vials with nightbloom extract and mint alcohol distillate from the side pocket."

The snake was confused, but after a couple seconds disappeared from the reality, only to appear with two vials in its mouth. Sirius' body grabbed them with dense mana and put them on its lap.

"Thank you." Sirius felt the body hold an ice needle and dip it in the extract and stab his thigh. Without a word the action was repeated around the wound. "You know... The nightbloom is a strong painkiller, but if you overdose, the heart stops beating. Funny, isn't it?"

The man lifted his head a little, his eyes full of defiance.

"You will not get anything out of me."

"Oh, I never intended to. You are too zealous to divulge the secrets. Even under torture."

"..." A hint of fear crossed the man's eyes. "You don't have the guts..."

"Yesterday I would agree." Sirius dipped another batch needles in the extract and threw them in man's limbs. "After witnessing the events just now I know that your organisation is pure evil. Not that I didn't suspect that earlier..."

"We are the holy..."

"Shut up, or I will paralyse your throat and you will drown in your own saliva."

"Ugh..." The man grunted, but got quiet.

"Now excuse me." With these words Sirius poured some water from the everlasting vial in his wound. He poured until the wound was relatively clean, and then splashed a little of the distillate into his wound Despite the powerful anaesthetic, it burned like hell. Sirius screamed, slammed his fist on the pedestal and flailed in pain. After some time he calmed down, sweating bullets and heavily breathing. His face became a cold slate once again.

Sirius stood up, using his staff to support himself. He walked up to the man.

"Name."

"...what?"

"Your name!" Sirius slapped the man.

"Velar..."

"Now tell me, Velar. Are Silver Order and Crimson Crusade by any chance connected?"

"Yes..."

"Will they come after me if you die?"

"Yes. They won't stop, until the demon like you roams the world."

"Oh, that's great. That means I can get more information from less iron-willed." Sirius smiled, but his eyes were as cold as before.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You won't be able to..."

"Oh, why?"

"The God's embrace awaits us in the end!" The defiant man raised his head and screamed right into Sirius' face. Some long seconds of silence passed.

"Is self-destructing not working, Velar?" The man's eyes widened, as his last resort failed him. "I am in control right now."

"How..." Velar slumped again, dangling by the arms.

"Did you forget who I am? Why do you think they fear my achievements?"

Sirius placed the arm on man's chest and looked at him with the Mind's Eye, getting the idea of his Astral Body.

"You have a terrible Astral Body. It is so rough and uneven, entangled onto itself, limiting the flow and capacity. I don't even know how you survived this long. Also I feel a trace of the Thought Constellation, must be a recent acquisition of yours."

"What are you talking about..."

"Oh so you don't know. Your soul. As you develop it, your magic becomes more powerful. The baptism is the condensation of Mana Pool. I skipped all the nonsense with the church and went my own way. As you can guess, the quality is much better. Now, I always found it rather interesting that 'divine retribution' focuses on bones, so stay still."

Sirius began pulsing mana inside man's chest. He felt the faint resistance coming from the ribcage, so he increased the strength. He moved and vibrated the mana inside the man's body, making him grunt, but unable to move, the nightbloom still immobilising his muscles. As Sirius rose the vibration strength, he felt cracking amidst the crazed screaming of Velar. Sirius stopped and removed his hand. With a wave, his seat moved under him, and he slumped on it in thought.

"Do you want to stay alive in case someone rescues you, or die here now?" Sirius said after some time.

"Just kill me already..."

"No-no, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to kill you out of mercy. The mana storm just now battered your body enough, so you will die due to blood loss anyways. I just wanted your consent to be a test subject." With that Sirius took out a knife and pointed at the man's throat.

Then suddenly something settled inside him, his thoughts merged, combined and aligned with themselves, and Sirius screamed, nearly falling from the pedestal. The images of him killing a boy, the strong grief and regret, the pain in his thigh, cold and calculative mana manipulation, everything that happened after his soul left the body bombarded his minds, real and ethereal alike. Sirius vomited to the side and slumped on the ground. He felt disgusted with himself. After finally gaining the complete control of his body, his old self was back, but with something still amiss.

"I hate you." Said Sirius while looking at Velar from below. "I hate all of your church, each and every one of your people. You wanted to kill Sirius, the Child of the Prophecy? You succeeded. Now face the rogue mage Sirius." He stood up, still leaning on his staff. "Send your people, assassins, mages, zealous fanatics and ones who are under you against their will. I survived your previous attacks, an I learnt. The more I fight, the more I know, and the more difficult it will be for your puppets to find me, even so kill."

Sirius revelled in the fear this man, twice his age felt right now. He whispered, while looking right in those terrified red eyes.

"You feared for what I might do. Now you must fear of what I will do."

The mana stirred, and Sirius gathered a dense ball of mana, manipulating its very foundational structure, putting one shell over another, connecting the mana pathways inside. He stood high above the terrified man, shakily lifting the staff into the sky. A bright crimson spark rose from Sirius' weapon into the sky, exploding up high above, fiery waves swatting the clouds away. Under the second sun in the night, Sirius took his items and left.