3rd POV
William dashed to the altar and gently picked Aiden's head on his lap. The Aiden infront of him looked a lot different than before. The Aiden before was angelic and divine, this one however looked pale, sickly, emancipated and … taller. Much taller.
William frowned a little and thought, 'Was brother always this tall?'
And it was true. Before the baptism, Aiden was a little more than a meter tall but after the baptism, he was more than a head taller. And this made him look a lot skinny.
As William looked over his body, a few things caught his eyes. His body was streaked with stretch marks, common if one was to increase by at least 10-15 cm in a small while but other than that, a ring-shaped marked appeared on his limbs and neck. Light at first but then these rings started to expand and within a few horrifying seconds, Aiden's hands were burnt until his elbows, same for his legs and necks which were burnt to the knee and his entire throat respectively.
William looked shocked and helpless at the scene and a sudden sense of loneliness drifted into him but he didn't let it wallow him. Turning towards the remaining twenty or so still alive, he cried for help.
"Help! Please help! My brother is burning!!!"
The word 'burn' brought the trauma back for the people but there was one man who rushed from his place in his shaky legs and crouched down near them. The man who came was in his thirties with a dark complexion. He had short black hair and his face crisscrossed with scars. A short beard and a pair of emerald eyes adorned his scary but determined face.
"What happen, kiddo?" asked the man, still a little jittery from all the shock but he steeled himself. William turned to him, his eyes teary from seeing his brother being burned, "Please help my brother, he's burning."
"Don't cry kid, crying won't help your brother." Said the man in plain clothes as he pulled Aiden from William's lap into his and tried to check his heartbeat. He didn't touch his wrist and neck to check for pulse because they truly were burnt badly but his heart was stable.
After hesitating for a bit, he lightly touched the burnt area near his neck. He thought that given the degree of burn it would ooze blood but nothing happened. Aiden looked skinny but his skin was tough for some reason and this perplexed the guy.
He frowned before taking out a few packets from a pouch which was hidden under his plain clothes and tore it open.
"What are those?" asked William suspiciously but the man didn't mind at all.
"Healing powder." He replied before spraying it over Aiden's burn.
"Hnngg!!" Aiden twitched unconsciously but only for a moment. The man smiled a little replied, "Good!"
"What do you mean?" asked William worried as he saw the man pick Aiden up in his hands.
"Your brother is stable. I don't know what caused the burns but it seems like the baptism unlocked one of his hidden potential, thick skin. In simple terms, even though the burn is severe it isn't severe enough to cause blood loss. There is a high chance that he can be cured completely."
"Really!!" asked William in joy and the man nodded his head affirmatively. "Yes but for now lets go to the Church of Holy Light. It's the only place which can provide the necessary treatment to at least take him out of this critical situation."
"O-okay."
The man turned towards the other men who were only now able to stand up straight. The man looked at them and ordered in a military tone, "Men, pick up the lucky few survivors and rush towards the Church of Holy Light."
"B-b-but captain—"
"No buts sergeant. The lives of these people depend on our hands. Now, move out."
"Yessir!" came a weak but organized reply. Immediately, the remaining men started to pick up the survivors who were mainly a few children and a few elderlies here and there. Looking at the organized way they were handling put some peace in William's heart and he asked the man who helped him.
"Who are you, sir?" he asked in a meek tone, afraid of his possible high status.
The man felt William's respect and laughed a little. "I'm a nobody, kiddo."
"A nobody can't be a captain." William countered and took the man by surprise. He didn't think William would be this intelligent for his age. He smiled and replied truthfully this time, "I'm the captain of the Reconnaissance Unit of the Church of Holy Light of the Lexington sub-chapter, Morgan."
"Woah! You're really not a nobody. Figured so." He nodded his head proudly, trying to be a little comical and lighten up the despairing mood.
"Haha!" Morgan laughed at William's antic.
…
After a few minutes, the men along with the lucky survivors exited the church and headed towards the area where the Church of Holy Light was located. The situation at the church was grave but only after they came out did they know the true extent of the destruction and that they had been lucky big time.
Outside, the streets of Lexington which was usually crowded with people was devoid of any life. Houses laid collapsed, streets cracked, a limb or two here and there and the ground littered with holes. Terror sparked in the faces of the survivors when they thought of the holes but other than a few medium sized critters nothing came out.
They quickly bypassed such areas and took safer areas to reach the inner area of the town where the church was located. And the nearer they went, the louder the fighting became. But fortunately, Morgan took out a strange bead and uttered their current area before breaking it.
The bead cracked with a gentle azure color before vanishing into the air. They waited for a few moments with their heated breaths but then a small squadron of fifty soldiers appeared led by a man in a bulky steel plated armor which was now covered with ichor and blood.
"Morgan! You finally came back, brother!!" he shouted in happiness but he was met by a string of curses.
"Yeah, fuck you, you little motherfucking lazy baby!! Weren't you supposed to guard the area around the Church of Craven, Louie?!!"
The other person, Louie, was also in his thirties like Morgan but he had a more childish face. And currently, he looked a little sorry and guilty at Morgan.
"I-I'm sorry but what the hell happened over there?" he said as he eyed Aiden in Morgan's hand.
"A miracle and a disaster." Morgan replied sarcastically but Louie too shrugged his shoulders and repeated, "Heh! Here too. A disaster and a miracle."
"Why? What happened?" Morgan asked but Louie shook his head. "Time is less. We need to get a move on. I will tell you what happened on the way."
"Very well."
…
As they dashed towards the church, they saw many corpses, a quite a contrasting sight compared to the dead silent area where the Church of Craven was. These corpses belonged mostly to the Church of Holy Light and civilians but they died not by the attacks of the monsters but by blades and swords of humans.
Morgan looked at these corpses and saw many familiar faces. His expression turned ghastly and he asked in horror, "What the hell happened here, Louie? Answer me honestly."
Louie sighed but didn't lie to him, "Like I said, a disaster and a miracle. After the sudden outbreak of monsters from underground, we lost nearly half of the civilians and a quarter of our forces. We're outnumbered and there was no way in which we could've blocked them but by God's grace, the Crusader Knights and the Templar Knights from Saint Norden's Cathedral up North came at the right time. They stormed the city and killed every single one of those critters. But…"
"But what?" Morgan demanded.
Louie bit his lips before sighing and declared what he found. "Well, these knights were on a mission. A mission to purge evil in our town. Our Bishop Lorenzo was found a follower of the evil cult of Beelzebub and was thus executed on spot. Along with the other elder priests who were all followers."
"What?!! Did they any proof?" barked Morgan but Louie could only give a small nod.
"It didn't take long for them to uncover the hidden lairs of the evil cult. We found Bishop Lorenzo red-handed while he was feasting on-on a young child. He was executed on spot, like I said."
Louie's eye then fell on the unconscious Aiden and he asked in a hushed voice, "Is that the Angel?" he asked.
Shock spread over Morgan's face, "How did you know", he asked and Louie could only give a wry smile. "The knights came for that too. You will get all your answers in the ruins of our once great church."
…
They reached the Church of Holy Light and like Louie previously said, it was in ruins. The tinted glass, the pillars even the altar was destroyed. After enquiring, Morgan understood why. "The knights said that any building which houses the evil are evil and therefore even if that house contains a statue dedicated to Our Lord, that statue is nothing more than façade. An illusion to hide what's behind it and therefore must be destroyed to reveal its truth."
Morgan felt conflicted and anger at the explanation but didn't dare to speak up. After all, the people who did these were far more powerful than he could ever hope to be.
After entering, the first sight that the survivors saw were the hundreds of knights in shiny knight armor standing like statues with their eyes fixed on three men. Out of these three men, two wore extravagant golden knight armor while the other was a white hooded priest with a long beard. His face was hidden perfectly but he did occasionally scratch his beard. The old man also carried a long wooden staff on which he supported his body.
Louie entered the hall and kneeled infront of the three, "Sire Simon, Sir Roland, Your Excellency Bartholomew, I've returned with my friend Morgan."
"Where is the Angel?" barked the one named Simon. He was a tall man, almost 170 in height with a fierce golden hair and was tallest among the three. He also looked like he was the head of the three. The other knight was red-haired and was called Roland while the last, the priest was named Bartholomew.
Louie turned towards Morgan and he obediently stepped forward with Aiden in his hands.
"Show him to me—"
"My oh my!" all of a sudden Bartholomew stepped forward, interrupting Simon. He stepped forward and removed his hood, revealing his face to everyone. Turns out that Bartholomew was really old, the skin of his face was saggy, large bags were under his eyes and his white beard almost covered his entire lower face and throat. But none of that could hide the happiness and gentleness in his blue eye.
"Y-Your Excellency…" Morgan said a little hesitatingly as he saw Bartholomew coming close to him but Bartholomew immediately raised his hands and said in a craggy but exuberant voice, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm a friend. Of you and the little Angel there. Don't be afraid." He said as he slowly placed his hands under Aiden's head and body and took him from Morgan's hands.
"My oh my, look at his face, look at his body, look at his glamour. He's destiny is as bright as the sun—oh! I get it! I get it! I get who is he devoted to! But look at these burns! My oh my, Beelzebub did quite a number on him. We need to treat him immediately." He said in urgency as he cast a few healing spells on him. "We need to take him to the capital of Asteia at once—"
"No, Your Excellency." Interrupted Simon with an angry tone. "He's going straight to the Saint Norden's Cathedral at once. That is what our orders say," he said sternly but Bartholomew simply laughed with amuse.
He clutched his staff and only glanced a little at Simon and said with a smirk, "Are you ordering me?"
"No, I—" Simon tried to object but then a heavy pressure cascaded and with a thump he kneeled on the ground, his face distorting with pain. "N-no, Your Excellency." He said with difficulty but the instant he said, the pressure vanished.
Finished with this ordeal, Bartholomew turned back towards Morgan and said in his gentle tone, "Does this little Angel has any family in this town?"
Morgan turned towards William and said calmly, "Your Excellency, he's William, Aiden's brother." He pointed towards William and he stood infront, a little nervous.
Bartholomew smiled at William and said, "William and Aiden, nice. But where are your parents, little Will?"
"F-father died in the church but both my mother Lily Archard and eldest brother, Jovian Archard left the town for work. I-I'm William Archard by the way and he is Aiden Archard." William bowed a little as he gave his introduction.
"Work? For what?" he asked a little curious.
William appeared a little hesitant but answered truthfully, "My brother Jovian is an adventurer in the Adventure Guild and as for my mother, she w-works in the P-Peach Association."
"What's that?" Bartholomew asked.
"It's a brothel, Your Excellency," answered Louie honestly only to garner a hate gaze from Morgan. 'Are you an idiot?' said the gaze.
"Blasphemous!" cried Roland but Bartholomew swiftly turned him down.
He rubbed William's hair and said in a pleading tone, "Child, I must ask you to make a difficult choice but first tell me, do you trust me?"
William looked a little uncertain before answering honestly, "I think I can."
"Mind your manners, child. He's the—"
"Can you please stop interrupting me, Roland?!" barked Bartholomew angrily before turning back to William.
"Very well, since you trust me, please hear my suggestion. Do you want to go with me to the Capital of Asteia and complete Aiden's baptism and save him or do you want to stay here and wait for your family to return? I mut warn you though, I can help your brother by constantly healing but I can't guarantee his health."
"His baptism isn't finished?" William asked shocked.
Bartholomew smiled wryly and answered, "It's a long answer but in short, no. So, what's your answer?"
William looked conflicted, after all he had never been subjected to such grave, life-changing question. These were usually handled by Jovian and Aiden but now one of them was in death's bed. He thought for a minute before resolutely looking at Bartholomew, "I choose to go with you to treat my brother. I can always come back to find my family later but I can't lose my brother. Not like this."
"Good!" Bartholomew patted his head again before turning around and looking at Roland.
"Prepare my carriage and ready the convoy. We're heading towards the Capital of Asteia at once. Also bring the other survivors of this catastrophe. We must regroup and re-strengthen ourselves before meeting with the Abyss monsters. Also, William, Morgan and that child over there will go with me."
"Eh?" William cried astonished before turning his head where Bartholomew was pointing. When he saw who he was pointing to, he was a little shocked. It was the same girl who came to baptism with her zealous grandfather. It must be fate that they met like this.
But Roland refused instantly, "I'm sorry to say but we can't have that, Your Excellency. We can't have a lowly reconnaissance captain and two children of low birth where one is a child of a whore travel with you, Your Excellency."
William looked a little angry at having his mother being called whore but he didn't burst out. In his stead though, Bartholomew did. He sneered at Roland, "If your logic is true then everyone lower than you are insect even this Angel in my hands. Also, beware of whose kin you insult. Every Angel has a personality and a temperament. As for this one, it's pretty bad. I will give you a friendly advice, stay on this Angel's, in fact stay on every Angel's good side and you'll be okay, stay on the bad side and you will be burned to death." He said scornfully before turning towards William.
"Come with me, child."
"Y-yes, Your Excellency."
"Haha! Forget the honorifics, just call me grandpa Bart."
"Oookayyy… grandpa Bart."
"Hahaha!!"
…