The rain over Port Vexis carried the heavy brine of the harbor and the cold draft of the northern coast. Water ran across the basalt cobblestones, washing away the dirt of the market square and pooling around Lucid's bare feet. He stood on the wet stone without boots, wearing only his damp trousers and the buoyant life jacket fastened securely across his chest. The thick mist of his crimson aura hovered around his face, obscuring his features as he observed the silent square.
Lucid opened his mouth to speak, though his voice remained muffled beneath the swirling red fog.
Arthur stepped directly in front of him before the words could form. He stood tall in his polished light armor. Rain dripped from his short blue hair as he addressed the white-robed acolyte standing in the center of the sunlight.
"Yes," Arthur stated clearly. "We come from the Kingdom of Vex. We uphold strict Luminari values."
The young acolyte did not answer immediately. His bright amber eyes lingered on the three of them, studying Arthur's armor and scanning Ayame's dark robes. His gaze stopped when it reached Lucid. He inspected the bare feet, the orange life jacket, and the crimson mist shrouding Lucid's jaw.
A long moment of silence passed between them while the rain continued to drum against the surrounding buildings.
"You," Arthur began, gesturing toward the shattered skull of the sailor bleeding onto the stones. "That was murder."
"Hush," the acolyte commanded.
The priest lowered his gaze to the corpse at his feet, then jerked his head upward with a sharp, sudden motion.
"Yes, I did indeed!" the acolyte declared, his voice ringing across the plaza. "Unbelievers have no place in these sacred lands!"
Lucid watched the priest and considered the rigid balance of power across the scattered realms. There was only one dominant ideology with absolute authority: the Luminari teachings. Two other belief systems existed in the shadows, yet anything that deviated from the Luminari doctrine was condemned as heresy and targeted for immediate destruction.
The first rival doctrine was the Eternal Dusk of Gasp, a secretive order that worshipped the fading twilight. The second and far more hated doctrine belonged to the Carpists, who followed the Crown of Thorns. Their ideology was built upon a unique human concept of shared suffering and self-sacrifice. Because of that human foundation, the Carpists suffered far greater persecution than the followers of the Eternal Dusk. They were hunted across every border and despised by rulers and priests alike.
Lucid knew that if he claimed allegiance to anything other than the Luminari Church, he and his companions would be targeted for execution on the spot. They would be reduced to nothing. He evaluated his own physical condition. The ordeal inside the collapsing domain had drained his reserves. His encounter with the black hole had stripped away nearly eighty percent of his total strength, leaving his muscles heavy and his internal energy depleted.
He turned his head slightly and looked at Arthur and Ayame. They were all sponsored individuals under Queen Elara, the newly crowned sovereign of the Kingdom of Vex who had ascended the throne after her father's passing. Their mission in Port Vexis was already complicated without initiating a religious war against the High Church of Ateris, the foreign kingdom where this acolyte originated.
Lucid nodded slowly toward the priest. "Yes."
The acolyte smiled, his pale face catching the golden sunlight breaking through the storm clouds.
"Ah, how benevolent," the acolyte said, his tone dripping with condescending approval. "You conceded! You see, we have noticed many things that are not quite right with this place. It seems as if the rate of unbelievers grows by the day."
The priest gripped his polished staff with both hands and tilted his head.
"Do say, what does this newly crowned queen wish to do with it?" the acolyte asked.
"Huh?" Lucid uttered.
Arthur glanced back toward Lucid with a sudden warning in his eyes.
Before either of them could adjust their footing, the acolyte swung his tall staff downward. The heavy brass tip crashed toward the cobblestones with tremendous velocity. Broken stone and wet debris erupted into the air.
Lucid moved instinctively. He crossed his bare hands above his head and caught the descending tip of the staff in his palms. An insurmountable downward force slammed into his arms. He could not deflect the strike, nor could he push the weapon aside. He relied entirely on the internal reinforcement of his Chain of Heart and the dense structure of his Pierce Spine technique to endure the blow.
A sharp crack echoed across the street as the stone slabs fractured directly beneath Lucid's bare feet.
The young acolyte glared down at him from across the shaft of the weapon.
"You dare talk back to me!" the priest shouted. "Insolence!"
Arthur drew his sword instantly, the steel ringing as it left the scabbard. He was too late to intercept the attack. The staff vanished from Lucid's grip as the acolyte retracted the weapon and thrust the blunt end directly toward Arthur's chest.
"A sword," the acolyte said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "The Luminari teachings are entirely against violence. Why would you, a child of our Mother, carry such evil intent?"
Lucid looked at him in an accusing manner.
"What! Says you!?"
The staff blurred as it accelerated through the rainy air. Arthur raised his blade and parried the strike. The collision of brass and steel generated a violent shockwave that blasted across the plaza, scattering the nearby crowd. The citizens stumbled backward, yet their faces remained indifferent, their wide smiles fixed in place as if they were inanimate objects pushed by an unseen wind.
The dust cleared from the center of the avenue.
"Wait!" Arthur shouted.
He extended his open hand forward and halted his advance. Blood dripped steadily from his nostrils, staining his upper lip and splashing onto the blue uniform.
"We are followers," Arthur insisted, his voice strained. "We are devout believers. I even visit the High Church from time to time."
Ayame flinched at the sound of the collision. She stepped out of the shadows behind the acolyte, her dark robes swirling around her form. The thin fabric lightly revealed her pale skin, and the single horn protruding from the top of her head shifted, growing larger as her combat intensity increased. She held a curved dagger coated in fresh blood, aiming the tip at the base of the priest's neck.
The acolyte turned his head slightly and caught sight of the horn.
"A non-human," the acolyte whispered, his amber eyes widening with disgust.
"Heresy!"
He spun on his heel and swung his staff in a wide, vertical arc. The heavy wood struck Ayame's head before she could complete her dodge. An audible crack resonated from her head. The kinetic force lifted her off the ground and launched her across the plaza, smashing her body into the wooden wall of a nearby merchant settlement.
Arthur and Lucid stood shocked by the sudden speed of the retaliation.
The young acolyte turned back to face them, his robes fluttering in the ocean breeze.
"I do not care whether you are one or not," the acolyte declared coldly. "All non-humans must be erased."
He raised his staff and pointed the brass tip directly at Lucid.
As the weapon locked onto him, a suffocating, threatening pressure thickened the surrounding air.
Lucid did not hesitate.
He summoned the full power of his Pierce Spine trait. He lunged forward through the heavy pressure, driving his bare hand forward like a spear and plunging it straight through the acolyte's stomach.
An intense red aura erupted from the point of impact, radiating energy across the wet street and illuminating the falling rain with crimson light.
Arthur rushed in beside Lucid, his broadsword held low and ready to sever the priest's legs.
The young acolyte coughed, yet his expression did not falter. He pointed the short end of his staff toward the cobblestones between them.
A blinding burst of white light consumed the entire plaza.
A second went by in absolute brightness. The concussive blast struck Arthur full in the chest, knocking him backward across the stones. Blood splattered,
Lucid stepped a couple of paces back to regain his balance. White light burned around his right hand, crackling with destructive heat. He looked down at his arm. The holy burst had completely blown away his entire right forearm, leaving only a severed stump above the wrist.
He stared at the missing limb with a mildly inconvenienced expression. Within seconds, thick crimson threads of aura extended from the wound, weaving together until bone, muscle, and skin reformed into a pristine new hand.
Lucid looked back up at the bleeding priest, ready to return the strike tenfold.
"Oh, now you have done it," the acolyte said.
"I will murder you!" He yelled, his voice cutting through the air.
Alice spoke directly into his mind at that exact instant.