CRACKLE! POP! Thick smoke billowed, flas shooting in all directions. After a while, the Cannons, blasted sky-high by the massive explosion, plunged into the sea in twisted shapes with a series of PLOPS. The fragile human remains and ship debris, already burned beyond recognition, mingled with the pitch-black smoke and ash. A gust of wind scattered them across the entire Long-range Fleet. This obliterated every visible and tangible piece of physical evidence of the cri. An intense, acrid stench imdiately followed, instantly filling everyone’s nostrils. It gave them an even more visceral understanding of the explosion’s horrific intensity. Only a few splintered, charred sections of the ship’s bottom remained at the site. Thanks to the wood’s natural buoyancy, they continued to burn fiercely even as they slowly sank.
"You’re saying this was a signal flare... misfire?"
Behind the [Sun Crown Priest], on the Church Warship, a group of Reformist Clerics and Judgnt Knights stared dumbfounded for a long ti. Their faces, usually more machine-like than human with their cold, hard expressions, couldn’t help but collectively lose composure. So Knights even gestured wildly, desperately trying to connect the still-raging fire dragon before them with a tiny "signal flare." They undeniably failed.
The lee, ranged, and support trio, serving as reinforcents, were also among them. Brendan, the [Ard Priest] from the "Holy Ard Forces Cathedral," gripped his Gun Sword tightly, his grey pupils gradually losing focus as he said,
"A signal flare? If that was a signal flare, then what is the purpose of my existence, or that of the Holy Ard Forces Cathedral?
"Signal flare! Signal flare!
"I would trade all my accumulated equipnt for such a signal flare; I would consecrate it as a Sacred Artifact on the Cathedral’s altar!"
The Holy Ard Forces Cathedral was said to have been built to commorate the Knights’ Western Expeditions of old. Its Holy Altar displayed a vast array of weapons of every kind: Knight’s armor, lances, cruciform swords, Crossbows... Among them were Sacred Relics from the Old Continent’s many wars, items that had once influenced the course of world history, alongside the most potent gunpowder formulas known today. This particular Sect staunchly believed that weapons were created to uphold the Creator’s dominion over the world. To them, more ant stronger, and bigger ant beautiful; they fanatically pursued all manner of high-powered weaponry. Yet today, their long-held devoutness was nearly shattered by a re "signal flare."
Nearby, Herman, the [Doppler Swordsman] shouldering a greatsword, mumbled a strange verse seemingly plucked from thin air, "I do not believe fish have only a seven-second mory; I do not believe day and night are inverted, or that black and white are indistinguishable."
His companions were accustod to his manner of speaking. Though he often rambled as if drunk, his aning was usually clear enough. His reasoning seed ticulous and flawless, yet he would never believe, not even on his deathbed, that a signal flare initiated this. Unfortunately, the effect of the [You’re Not the Murderer] attribute was undeniable; no amount of argunt could link those murder weapons to the true culprit.
The young Nun, her face full of rcy, refrained this ti from her usual unsettling, mad pronouncents. Instead, she earnestly prayed for the deceased,
"The Creator is my shepherd; I shall not want.
"He makes lie down in green pastures; He leads beside still waters.
"He restores my soul; He leads in paths of righteousness for His na’s sake.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with ; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort ..."
The Nun’s class was Third Order [Glorious Sacrifice], specializing in restorative, enhancing, and specialized prayers. Whether the deceased still needed her prayers or not, her words brought great comfort to the onlookers. The usually stern Judgnt Knights and Priests from the Tribunal aboard the ship found their impression of this Nun greatly improved. Although her usual words and actions seed sowhat at odds with traditional interpretations of doctrine, she was proving to be very reliable when it mattered most.
After finishing her prayer, the Nun looked at her fellow believers, sighed with profound compassion, and said,
"Their corpses were scattered everywhere after death; it’s truly tragic. Not even I can send them to Heaven.
"Such a pity, so pitiful, so lantable."
Hearing this, all the Knights felt a pang of shared sorrow. After all, Church doctrine strictly forbids the "mutilation of the Corpse." Typically, when the Church’s Tribunal declared soone a heretic, the punishnt involved mutilation of the Corpse. This included additional punishnts such as deliberately decapitating the heretic after death or burning the Corpse. Similarly, if a believer committed suicide, it was a severe violation of Church doctrine. In such cases, even if the suicide’s Corpse was intact, the Church would mutilate a part of it as a punishnt and a warning to other believers. According to Mysticism, a person’s soul is intimately linked to their physical body; after death, the soul reflects the state of the Corpse. Damaging the physical body within seven days of death is, to so extent, harming the soul. Most crucially, if a soul is not whole after death—regardless of whether its Divinity or Beastliness is more prominent—it cannot ascend to Heaven.
Seeing the Judgnt Knights nodding in agreent, the Nun continued, "The Religious Tribunal always charges to the front lines, battling all sorts of Heresy, Evil Spirits, and Bizarre entities—who among us can guarantee they’ll return ho whole every ti?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers