At the crack of dawn, the bell rang for the church.
Wives, husbands, and children wandered out from their homes into the cold. There were murmurs from some about where their grandpa or dad was, and an undertone of anxiety.
When the church doors creaked open and everyone sat down, a side door around back clanked open, followed by a set of footsteps.
Aya, her eyes, once innocent and blue, now glinting crimson, made several of them gasp.
"Aya! What happened to you?" an elder lady gasped, standing up.
Aya's gaze pivoted to her and she remained silent. She was the love of Boris, and if he wasn't out fishing, they'd be talking. Her gaze then wandered to the rest—to the two councilmen who couldn't make it and looked tense, to the elderly wives, some of whom looked innocently scared while others appeared apprehensive.
Her hands rose toward the stone ceiling, and she closed her eyes. "How many of you knew what Boris and the council had planned? I know at least two of you knew."
"Aya, what are you talking about?" her nearest neighbor, a younger woman who had given birth recently, asked with a worried expression.
But Aya tilted her head and silently gazed upon her, then to others who shifted uneasily.
"I can't tell… I would've run away scared if she didn't help me…"
With a loud clap, she clasped her hands together like a priestess as red energies flared out around her. They licked the church walls and danced across the aisles amid the fearful screams and shouts of the village tenants.
"Oh God," her voice echoed as her eyes opened. Her voice drew everyone's attention, and when they met her crimson gaze, their irises turned a dull red. "Please tell me, whom amongst these sinners knew about the night's horrors, but said and did nothing!"
The two councilmen's ruby eyes glowed.
Several elder ladies' eyes, including Boris's wife's, glowed.
Her neighbor's eyes glowed.
And many others.
Aya felt a pang twist through her chest, and she grit her teeth before letting out a sad laugh. The dull glow disappeared from the eyes of the children and those who did not know, which included some of the men and many of their wives.
They looked around frantically, some shaking their loved ones and calling out their names.
"What's wrong with you? Let him go!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Let go of my mommy and daddy!"
Aya's hands unclasped and her cold voice echoed through the church. "Leave. Find a new home."
"During winter?! That's suicide!"
"I can't do that! How will I feed my—"
The elders, the councilmen, the people who knew, all began to scream violently. Everyone not affected immediately ran with terrified looks.
As their screams continued, unlike divinity flowing into a devoted follower praying to their god, crimson energy flowed out of them. Bit by bit, their hair fell out, their nails ripped free, some coughed up blood, others had ligaments snap violently, and worse.
Soft clapping echoed from the small entrance as Seraphina stepped in with Erik.
"Not bad," she nodded, looking around with approval as blood began to creep up and coat the walls. "Needs a bit more, though. You shouldn't have let them go."
"They weren't involved."
"Yet if any of them survive, you'll join the corpses in your church of prayer."
With blood teardrops falling from her eyes, Aya looked up as the crimson mana flowed skyward. She had yet to notice the sky slowly becoming tainted red, and she smiled.
"That's fine."
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Name: Aya
Race: Vampire
Status: Corrupted Newborn Saintess
Age: 18
-Upgrade-
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Status:
Average Lifespan: 65
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 20
Potential: 100
Magic: 60
Fertility: 10
Special Traits/Abilities: Blood Manipulation, Red Mist, Heightened Senses, Corruption, Corrupted Blessing, Domain Buff
Special Note: While inside her domain under the red sky, all stats double. (A.E. Magic 60 -> 120)
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"Well, I'll be damned," Atlas breathed. "Seraphina's obsessed with the Green Primordial Dragon and is creating her own following. When did this happen?"
"It happened during your war," Wisp replied, settling back down on top of his console with a chirp. "You were busy, and I honestly did not expect her to become a Corrupted Saintess. There was no prayer outside of her normal church goings."
Atlas tapped his fingers against the monitor, frowning. "Devout and earnest prayer. She didn't feel the need to flaunt her belief because she believed it wholeheartedly."
"The classic story of your world," Wisp commented. "Bitterness and regret."
Atlas opened his mouth but couldn't find the words.
"Eh…" His head bobbed side to side. "I… can't really argue with that anymore. None of it is intention—" He paused. "Ah, no. I did put those goblins on the Eastern Continent, so I can't say that."
His gaze drifted back to the monitor, where dwarves who had sailed with their dragons to the Eastern Continent, made contact, and were now sailing toward the Western Continent, their boats filled with willing and adventurous human passengers.
In two of the boats, a crate with Metallum Animatum creatures was hidden away. Dwarves were taking them out, channeling mana into them which turned them into liquid form, and were adding it to the pots of food that would be served to the human passengers. Their own pot was kept separate.
"Well I'll be damned again," Atlas exclaimed as he watched a dwarf mix it into a soup and some humans later eat it without complaint or suspicion. "They are experimenting on humans!"
"Shall we send in Myra or Celeste?"
"No, not yet… They've already done it. Let's see if it's a success." His globe rotated once more, settling on the Green Primordial Dragon's location.
Both Wisp and Atlas tilted their heads in surprise.
"This is interesting…"