In a road near Acre Town, a beautiful yet modest carriage can be seen. It was pure white and gold in color and looks so clean as if not even a speck of dust landed on it
Even the two horses pulling the carriage and three more horses guarding it on the side and back were pure white in color
The carriage that was surrounded by men wearing white and gold armor that rode on the horses looks so Holy as if they came into this world to purge out all evil
The group of people stops for a while and one of the men wearing white and gold armor opened the carriage door
From it, a man with long white hair that wears a long dress with similar designs to the armor of other men walks out
He also gave off a Holy aura as if everyone should revere and adore him. He has an exquisite facial feature that looks even more beautiful than the most polished piece of jade
Even women will be jealous of how soft and smooth-looking his skin was. Despite being a man, he can surely defeat tons of women in terms of beauty
Despite that, his aura won't arouse any lust from other people. It's like his purity should never be tainted by the vulgarities of mortals
"Your Holiness, we will soon pass by a Town called Acre Town. From our scout's report, the Town is currently experiencing a deadly plague. How should we proceed?" The man wearing an armor respectfully asked
The one that was addressed as 'Your Holiness' looks at the direction of the Acre Town. His pure golden eyes don't have the slightest bit of ripple on it
He looks so detached from the mortal world as if he transcended mortality itself
"We naturally can't turn a blind eye to people's suffering. In the name of the God of light, we will help the sick"
God.... in Archa Realm, the existence of Gods are only in the History Records. This is the era of the Four Great Families, they are the strongest powers in the world
In the current era, the Four Great Families are equal to Gods. They are the law and rulers
Each of the 4 Families ruled a huge and prosperous Empire that have lands much larger than the eyes can see
A single Empire was so big that even adventurers might not be able to explore all areas in their lifetime
Gods are basically non-existent today but this group seems to come from a Church. Whether their existence would be good or bad in this world is still unknown
"We will do as his Holiness decided!" The man that looks like the Captain of the Priest's guards said respectfully
After a short time of rest, their group immediately head towards Acre Town although it was not the goal of their journey
As soon as their group entered the Town, the bad situation instantly entered their eyes
There were people in the streets with all sorts of rashes on their bodies. They would even cough out blood from time to time
Aside from the people in the streets, all the houses around were also tightly closed. No windows or doors were opened but if one listened closely, they can still hear the agony of the people inside the houses
The group of church people looks at the townsmen with pity in their eyes. They look as if they sympathize with the people in this Town making people that look at them feel like they are good people
The Priest gets off his carriage and directly walks towards the people in the street but the captain stops him
"Your Holiness, please don't. Us Paladins also have Holy Powers. His Holiness doesn't need to dirty his own hands" the captain said with a serious voice but the Priest just shook his head
"God wouldn't discriminate against anyone and I'm not dirtying my hands by helping them. I am merely acting on God's will"
With that, the Priest directly walks towards the people in the street but before he can heal anyone, a dark figure suddenly falls down the ground
The figure is a humanoid creature but its body was completely black as if someone pushed him into a sea of black ink
The creature has a ferocious expression on its face. It was also very violent, despite the broken bones in its body due to the strong fall, the black creature still pounce on the Priest
That makes the Paladins angry and they wielded their swords to destroy such a dirty creature
However, the Priest merely waved his hand and a holy light surrounded the black creature
The light purifies it and soon, the creature's soul came out from its defiled body
The soul has grateful looks on its face as he stared at the Priest. "Thank you!" The soul mouthed before it vanishes
Clap clap clap
As soon as the soul vanishes, the sound of hands clapping entered the ears of the people around
When they looked at the claps' source, they saw another carriage and group of people
But compared to the priests and paladins that gave off a holy aura, this group of people was radiating an evil one
The clap's source was a man that was also wearing a long dress just like the Priest but it was completely black in color. He has pitch-black hair and red eyes making him look like a malevolent demon
The man has a bright yet cruel smile on his face as he looks at the Priest
"As expected of the Church of Light's Saint, he has the power to easily purify a Cursed One" the man said with fake adoration in his tone
"As expected of the Church of Darkness, they defiled an innocent human being for their selfish goal" the Priest-looking man that was actually the Saint retorted back
The friction in the air between the two groups was heavy. Both the Light and Dark Paladins have their swords drawn out as if a fight will start any time from now
"Hahaha! Well said!" The Dark Saint replied with a loud laugh. Not minding how the Light Saint was criticizing his and his people's actions
"Anyway, we just came here to check if the kind Church of Light would really stop here to heal the people in need"
"The Saint doesn't disappoint me. Despite the risk of falling behind us, you didn't think twice before giving out your help!"
A frown appeared on the Light Saint's face. He really doesn't like talking with this Dark Saint
"Compared to the Church of Darkness, our Church wants to save as many people as we can. Kindness is not something that your people will understand as long as you insist on walking on your evil ways"
While the world was still operating normally, they didn't know that the two sides that will change the world in the following years were confronting each other today
"Oh please, kindness is overrated. That will cause you and your people to fall behind us. When that time comes, you might cry a river of tears"
After ridiculing them for one last time, the Dark Saint signaled for his people to continue their journey
Since the Church of Light wants to be 'stupid' then that would just benefit the Church of Darkness
They can take the initiative and become the first ones to reach their destination. That would give them a headstart
"Your Holiness... a-are we really going to stay in this town?" The captain of the Paladins asked unsurely. The Dark Saint's words affected him
If they really stay here to get rid of the plague, the Dark Church would be the first one to arrive at their destination
The two churches were still at their initial stage. Getting a head start is a huge advantage
"Don't falter! Don't forget our Church's Doctrines. We will never turn our backs to the people in need" the Saint answered but the Paladin still has an unsure look on his face
"B-But Your Holiness... if the Dark Church arrives first, they would have a huge advantage" the Paladin insisted causing the Saint to sigh at him
"We won't be the Church of Light if we don't help people. Even if they arrive first, that won't decide everything"
With that, the Saint continued what he was about to do if not for the Dark Church's interference
He walks towards the people affected by the Plague. Holy Lights were releases by his pure hands and everyone that receives his light was instantly healed
It didn't take that long before the townsmen knew of his existence and they dragged their plagued bodies in hopes that they would be healed by him
This matter even entered the ears of Baron Kar that was racking his brains on how to stop the plague
When the Baron arrives, he saw the group of church people healing his citizens. He was glad at their help but also wary of their existence
Because of the sudden arrival of the plague, Baron Kar even starts to think that it was this group of people that started it