There’s a saying in the empire, ‘No matter how far a star or galaxy is, you can be sure the empire is there.’ An Empire so vast and ancient that it did not know the limit of its borders. The tales about its foundation, how they let their home planet to venture into unknown space, about how they found themselves to be alone in the universe, no matter where they went there wasn’t any sign of life, let people in awe till today. 

The Empire once stood as a symbol of Hope and pride. But the more it expanded the harder it became to maintain its ideals and unity, their inability to travel or even transmit information faster than light speed became a great problem. Till the point where the Empire as a unified nation existed only in name, wars between nobles became common as gradually chaos arose. 

And with this, The Luminarius Church saw the chance to consolidate its power. They considered themselves superior to the people—as they had divine abilities that came from the stars—so they separated them into castes. And so they believed things would always be like this, but unbeknown to them, winds of change were coming.

It was a chilling evening on Yista. The city was filled with lights, Colored billboards could be seen everywhere. The slums were crowded with people coming and going, minding their business. A certain pain and anxiousness could be seen in every person's eyes. Yista was a very harsh place to live, a freezing and impoverished place. Very far from its sun, so far in fact that almost all the sunlight it receives is artificially made. In this barren planet full of slums, a man of average height with gray hair could be seen walking through the streets with a scowl on his face. This man Kaiten was not native to this dirty, hopeless place. He was actually from a second-class planet where he lived a pretty good life. He had a promising future and a loving family, but five years ago a tragedy happened.

On that ominous day, everything he had was taken away. His parents died in a horrible car crash, leaving Kaiten and his sister Orphans. Unfortunately, their parent’s savings weren't much and his uncle refused to take them in. So orphans and without money Kaiten and his sister, Eris, were forced to migrate to this fifth-class planet, Yista. All their dreams were destroyed in this process. 

Kaiten was exhausted, going home after a long day of work. His salary was barely enough to sustain his home. Eris, his sister, was too young to work. She studied at a local school. He had nothing to complain about, many had nothing to eat. On the sidewalks, people were begging. Some children, some adults, some old folks, all extremely thin and weak; unfortunate people who had no luck at all.

A foul smell permeated the air. In those narrow streets, cars were rare to be seen, as a small number of people could have them. On the sidewalk by the side of the little market, a little girl was sitting on the floor. Her eyes were hollow, devoid of light. Kaiten couldn't contain himself when he saw her, he squatted to her eye level took some coins from his pocket, and gave to her. The girl quickly stood up and thanked him, as if she couldn't believe it. Kaiten flashed a small smile as he watched the girl disappear into the midst of the crowd.

"That's a waste of money," said the woman at the small Grocery store's door. 

That girl remembered him of his sister and made him think what would be of her if he was gone. With grief on his face, he thought he had to work even harder so that Eris would never experience this fate.

"That girl is doomed and you know it. Instead of going around giving money, you should think about your little sister," said the woman with a grim look on her face. 

Kaiten knew that unfortunately, the woman spoke the truth. the fate of that girl was sealed. Yista was a harsh place where was not wise to be generous, as no one knows the day of tomorrow. 

"Well …I only tried to help," said Kaiten as he got up and went into the store.

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"So is Eris better now?" 

Kaiten looked back at her with a discreet smile "She's okay now. She just needs to take her meds on time."

Eris had problems with health since she was little even when their parents were alive. Her sickness is difficult to treat as it remains undiagnosed. He had taken her to the church two to three times, but even a priest could not cure her indicating how serious the sickness was. Maybe a bishop could cure her, but they had no way to see the bishop. They could only rely on medicine and drugs, which only treated the symptoms.

"That's great to hear! I'll go to the cathedral tomorrow to confess, and while I'm there, I'll pray to Yehrm for Eris’ health."

The Luminarius Church, the de facto power in the Empire. The church relied not only on its tradition, which dates back for way more than a millennia, but also on its large number of devotees, and the divine power held by their clergy. a divine power to cure the sick, restore their limbs and their vision, and perform many more miracles, making those who witness believe they are divine beings. Angelic beings in whom there is no evil.

Principally their highest clergy who wore halos of light above their heads and used their holy power to speak with authority and sublimity. The clergy did not age and some would even say they do not eat or sleep. The Pope is as old as the church and was worshipped in a way that seemed godlike, but only after Yehrm, the sun, from which they believed their divine powers came.

The church's elevated status also comes from its capability to combat demons. Little was known of how a person became a demon. People who had no illness suddenly began to lose their rationality, developing an insatiable hunger and thirst for blood as if cursed.

People knew well what happens when a demon appeared: hundreds, thousands of corpses, homes destroyed, whole families with what remained of their corpses mixed, as the demon did eat their limbs, guts, hearts, and entrails. The trail of destruction it leaves. The tales, the myths that appear about this, leave people with nightmares at night. So people deeply respect the church as without the church there's no way to stop them. Only the holy power can kill the creature.

Many tried to explain why that happens. were they demons disguised as people? were they normal people who were cursed? not even the church had the answer. A lot of theories existed about it, but one thing the holy doctrine was sure! they are enemy of Yehrm, enemies of the people, enemies of the church, and at whichever sign someone was in the process of demonization, he should be eliminated.

As Kaiten walked through the narrow alley, he heard what sounded like footsteps behind him. When he stopped and looked back, he saw no one. The neighborhood close to his house was a little dangerous. However not so much compared to other places. 

He was going to arrive home a little late because he had worked extra hours today and taken a new shortcut. Well, it seems like it was a horrible idea.

On his path, there's an ambush. Thieves were there silently waiting for a poor bastard. they were carrying little knives. They had disgruntled looks and were clothed in rags. The tallest man, who seemed to be the leader, blocked Kaiten’s path and approached him. The other two were on Kaiten’s back, taking him totally by surprise.

Here guns were prohibitively expensive, so people only used knives and little daggers for protection. Kaiten had one at his trembling hands but against three men it was useless.

"Put your fucking dagger down!" the thief on the right yelled.

Kaiten was troubled. He had just received his salary, and if he were to be robbed, he would have to starve for a week.

"Are you fucking deaf? put the fucking dagger down!" yelled the thief again as he and his partners circled Kaiten. 

Kaiten didn't even have time to think as he felt a stab in his back. It was like time had stopped, or in a better description, it was in slow motion. He bit his lips as the pain was too strong, and then it happened that power that he for some time had ignored surged like an uncontrollable Tsunami. He fell on the floor as his mind became veiled by madness.

The thieves perceived something was wrong as their minds were taken by a crippling fear; they wanted to run away but their feet didn't obey them.

All of a sudden everything turned black, they couldn't see anything. It was like they were blind. Kaiten ignoring the pain got up. His mind was still a little clogged but he was now conscious. 

Looking at the thieves Kaiten knew instinctively what to do. He extended his hand, and in a second the men crumbled into dust, their clothes slowly fell on the floor as the black dust flowed into his hand. Kaiten then put his hand on his back and in an awkward and sluggish way removed the knife from his back. He became in awe, he didn't feel any pain, quite the contrary he felt strong as an ox. Feeling like everything was a dream, he took his things and continued on his way home.