Standing at the top of the church steps, the priest glared down at Enel and shouted, as though the boy had just said something that infuriated him.
"Am I wrong? If it weren't for all of you, would my father have killed himself?"
Enel, only around fourteen or fifteen at the time, still had a frail frame. But even so, he screamed at the priest with all his strength.
"Enel, you can't talk to the priest like that. That's disrespectful to God!"
A worn and haggard-looking nun knelt beside Enel. Though she wore a nun's robe, the golden cross was conspicuously missing from her chest.
"Hmph, your father defiled a nun of Anscar. An unforgivable sin.
But thankfully, he came to his senses in time and recognized his wrongdoing by ending his life.
Otherwise, even your mother would have had to face God's punishment. Do you understand, you sinful spawn?"
An old nun behind the priest spoke up, her words dripping with contempt toward both Enel and his mother.
"Enough!"
The priest glanced at the nun behind him, then turned his gaze toward Enel's mother.
"Annika, today you must make your decision. Enel is already grown. You have no more excuse to delay."
"No, please, Father! This is too cruel for Enel!"
Annika panicked upon hearing the priest's words, as if he were about to do something horrifying to Enel.
"If you don't do it, then your sin will never be forgiven by God. You'll live the rest of your life merely as a follower, never redeemed."
The priest's voice hardened into a threat as he saw her hesitate.
"Father, let me take Enel's place! I'm ready for it!"
Annika rose to her feet as she spoke, and the lower part of her dress was already stained with blood.
"Ah, it's the Scourge Belt... I can't believe Annika would go that far!"
"Yeah… the pain of that belt isn't something just anyone can endure..."
Though the priest's presence kept the other nuns from speaking openly, they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Annika's actions were far too shocking. The Scourge Belt was lined with spikes that dug into the flesh of the thigh with every movement. Only the most devout dared to wear it.
Even Enel was stunned. He had always hated this woman, yet here she was making such a painful sacrifice for him.
For as long as he could remember, Enel had suffered constant humiliation in Birka. To him, the church was to blame for it all, he even came to hate the god they worshipped.
His mother, who always submitted to the church's will, had indirectly caused his father's death. So Enel had never shown her any kindness.
"If that's how it is… then let her take Enel's place," the priest finally said after a long silence.
"Stop! I don't need your pity!"
Just as the priest was about to return to the church, making it official that Annika would take Enel's punishment, the boy cried out.
The priest froze in place and turned, a bit surprised by the outburst.
"You want to tear off my wings, right? To preserve the church's purity, isn't that it? Fine! I agree!"
Enel made his decision.
In truth, he had known what the priest wanted since he was ten, those wings were the only feature left to him by a father he'd never met.
But to the priest, they were a stain on the church, a blasphemy against God.
He'd seen this day coming. If not for his mother's desperate pleas over the years, it might have happened long ago.
"Enel!"
Annika, eyes red with panic, pleaded for him to stop. She didn't want her hard-earned mercy from the priest to go to waste.
"I said I don't need your pity!"
With that, Enel drew the small blade he carried and raised it toward his own wings. In his heart, he swore a silent oath:
Just wait... One day I'll destroy this wretched place completely!
I'll never bow to so-called divine will again. One day… I will become God!!!
Cling!
Just as the blade was about to slash downward, a long sword appeared between the edge of the blade and Enel's wings.
The blade snapped cleanly in two upon impact with the sword, the tip clattering to the wooden floor of the church with a crisp sound.
Enel slowly opened his eyes and saw a tall figure standing in front of him. The man had been the one to break the blade.
"Who are you? How dare you interrupt a sacred ceremony!"
Clearly, the priest had considered Enel's act part of a divine ritual. Having it disrupted enraged him.
"God? That kind of thing only fools children."
Ashen looked at the priest with disdain. Over the past few months, he'd met more so-called gods than he could count. Even Toral had been revered as a guardian deity. He was sick of it.
"Hmph, lost lamb. God is omnipresent. You dare question His existence? Then I shall deliver His judgment in His stead!"
The priest was thoroughly enraged. Blasphemy was unforgivable in his eyes.
He raised the Bible high, chanting under his breath. Behind him, the nuns clutched the crosses at their chests and began chanting in unison.
Annika glanced at Ashen, then at Enel, but ultimately didn't join the priest's side.
Woom...
As the chanting intensified, waves of spiritual pressure pulsed toward Ashen, growing stronger with each beat.
"Heh… interesting."
Ashen smiled slightly. Now he understood why the church had been allowed to exist for so long, and how the people of Birka tolerated them.
Now he knew why the merchant back in town had been so hesitant to speak. The answer lay in the church's hidden power, spiritual attacks.
And these spiritual assaults could stack. With dozens of people focusing their will at once, the force became overwhelming. An ordinary person wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Ashen even suspected their attacks had hypnotic effects. Just looking at the nuns' fanatic expressions was proof enough.
Woom!
After getting a feel for the incoming assault, Ashen lost interest. He unleashed his own technique without hesitation.
The moment he activated his ability, high-frequency soul vibrations burst out from him and swept forward in a torrent toward the church.
In that instant, the church's spiritual onslaught collided with Ashen's soul assault.
And in the next instant, the dreaded power that had long kept the people of Birka in fear melted away like snow under the blazing sun.
Ashen's soul shockwave didn't falter. It surged ahead like an unstoppable avalanche.
"Ah!" The priest, caught in the center, collapsed instantly. One by one, the nuns behind him dropped like dominos.
Their spiritual cores shattered. Even if they regained consciousness, they'd likely never be the same, some might never recover their minds at all.
"Hmph! If you're going to fight with that, you're still centuries behind."
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