At the heart of the city of Carisville lies the Vatican palace...
It was a massive castle that spans for miles and dwarfs nearly any other buildings in existence. Its color on the outside was as white as snow, and it had stayed that way for centuries. Symbolizing the purity and the divinity of the Holy Lands which was favored upon by the Great Gods
And the interior of the castle was just as, if not more beautiful than its outside parts. Every nook and corner of the walls were seemingly made of gold, and there were many ancient relics, artifacts, and even grimoires from an era in which the divine beings were still roaming around the earth.
Considering that it has been up for thousands of years, and is older than even most of the dragons, nobody knew exactly how such a structure came to be
The most common belief was that the blueprints of the building were made by the goddess of wisdom herself
While others believe that it was a joint effort between the humans as well as the dwarves during the era of Pope Darius the XI
And there were even some stories saying that It was once a temple that the dragons forced the humans to build for their own amusement, though this story was the one that is considered preposterous by many...
And whatever the case may be, the fact was that this was one of the most important places in the world. It's a symbol of the love that the Great Gods had for their creations, a community of love and peace, as well as the biggest place of worship in all of the continent...
And as one of the lucky few who had the opportunity of managing such a place, Archbishop Isaac couldn't help but feel proud.
He was a middle-aged man who was somewhere around his fifties and was strolling the luxurious hallways of the castle with a smile. Isaac was wearing a long white robe that stretched down to his legs, as well as a Golden staff, and a ring with a crimson orb on his hand...
And walking happily beside him was a bright and cheerful-looking girl who was wearing similar-looking garments. Her hair was as blue as the morning sky, and her eyes had the same green hue as the Elven forest...
"Come on gramps, don't walk too slow now. This is the only time we'll finally have dinner together in years. Before you know it, someone will probably nab you and ask you to bless their carriage or something"
"Ahaha, come on Marie, don't be like that. Considering you're a deaconess, you'll probably be asked to do similar things in the future if you continue down this path"
"Yeah I guess so..."
Merie's voice trailed off as she glanced at the windows on the side, seemingly lost in her own thoughts...
"Oh by the way gramps, what's up with that meeting of yours earlier? It was awfully long, I already had three separate dreams by the time you were out of that room"
Isaac couldn't help but show a grimace
"Oh you know, just the usual. It was supposed to be just a meeting about how to use the donations that we've gathered for the city, but it turned into a full-on debate once Archbishop Lester got a little too...passionate"
"Ugh I swear...that guy always creeped me out. Not only is he an extremist who enforces his ideals like a maniac would, but he's also a lecherous little pervert that gets off by staring at the other nuns or something. Come on gramps, you need to kick that guy out, he's an embarrassment to the Holy order!"
"Calm down and don't speak too loud, someone might hear us..."
Isaac looked around before letting out a sigh of relief. Lucky for them, nobody really roams this part of the castle around this hour so they were safe...
"Look, you may not like him, but Archbishop Lester has extremely tight connections with almost all of our financial backers so we need to thread this situation carefully"
"I get that but...Couldn't we just live off the donations of the people or something?"
Isaac shook his head in response
"It's true that we receive a lot of those, but I'm afraid it isn't enough. The Holy Order is extremely massive, Marie. As such, if Lester were to do something like cut off our backers, then it may risk the entire collapse of the order itself..."
"Ehhh...But that's...unfair"
"It really is. So for now, all we could do is try to make him fix up this attitude of his"
"Haaahh...Even if you do that gramps, your words would probably pass by the other ear. I thought that being part of the higher-ups of the order would make life easier, but I see that isn't the case"
"It definitely isn't. Which is why Marie...there's still a chance to-"
"Come on Gramps, we've talked about this already...I don't care if this job will put me at risk, I'll still do it. This isn't just me following the footsteps of ma and pa or something, I genuinely like doing this"
Isaac could only stare at her smile blankly. Deep down, he could see the image of his younger self in her, being just as passionate about serving the Order as she was. How he'd wish to go back to those days
...The truth is really a cruel thing sometimes...
"Alright, but just so you know, I won't be disappointed in you or anything if you decided to leave"
"Not gonna happen anyway, because I won't leave. Anyway, enough of this depressing talk. Where are we eating?"
"I'd be fine with eating here"
"Hmmmm, the food here isn't bad but...they serve the same menu every day, it's getting a bit bland at this point. Oh! I heard that Delshion is having a fantastic special for tonight, we should go there"
"Delshion, huh?...Was it that hip and trendy restaurant that started in the Empire recently? Are you sure we could get a reservation there?"
"Oh come on Gramps, you're the Head Archbishop of the Holy Lands! If they see your face I reckon they'll immediately let us in"
"That's a bit too much but...Well, I'll see what I can do"
"Yes! Alright, once we're done with that we could-"
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, an ear-deafening explosion was suddenly heard. Its power was so great that it literally caused the entire palace to shake momentarily, something that has almost never happened ever since its creation...
Isaac and Marie ran towards the nearby balcony and stared at the sight in horror. Most of the southern part of the city was mostly engulfed in flames now. The once beautiful buildings and humble homes of the people were now in literal taters, and the holy statues of the gods were crumbled.
Nelson tried to come up with something based on his extensive knowledge of the city...
Was it an accident perhaps?
Something like that once crossed his mind, but he immediately dismissed it. There were no flammable things in that area that could've caused an explosion of such a massive scale. Which could only mean one thing...
They were under attack...
As if to confirm his suspicions, both of them suddenly sensed a powerful magic energy that was surging from somewhere. It was suffocating, and both of them could feel the intensity through their skin...And as if to make things worse, it wasn't the only one...
North, South, West, East...In every part of the city, they could sense something powerful and sinister that was lurking about and was probably tearing their city apart. He didn't know if it was an ancient artifact or a magic spell, but one thing is for sure, he had to do something or their city would fall apart before the sun rises
"Marie, run back to the shelter and hide until all of this is over"
"What? No way! You expect me to sit back while all of this happening?! I'm a deaconess for gods sake, I can go out there and help-"
"Yes, you can help Marie. But not in the way that you're thinking about. With the way things are going, the city will be placed on lockdown and there will be civilians who'll evacuate to the shelters as well. They will need every help they could get"
"Come on Gramps, don't do this to me! Let me help you, I can't be a burden anymore-"
"We don't have time for this. Take care of her, Shiori"
"Understood"
The shadow of Isaac suddenly wiggled. And emerging from the darkness was a woman who was wearing a black body suit. She quickly swooped in without warning and got into Marie's blind spot. But before she could do anything, Marie has already drawn her sword and slashed her...
Or at least, that's what she thought would happen...
In reality, she had only sliced nothing but air. And before she could regain her stance, she felt a slight prick on her neck which caused her consciousness to immediately shut down. Shiori gently removed the needle from her before carrying her at her back
"I know I'm not getting paid to say this, but she's not half bad. I'm sure she'll actually be useful out there..."
"Even so, I can't risk her getting in danger. Get her somewhere safe, please. And take care of her"
"...You can't keep hiding her anymore from her true nature like some little brat, you do realize that right?"
"I know. But now is not the time to talk about this. Just do as I ask, please..."
"...Alright, it's your funeral..."
Shiori then disappeared into the shadows. And once they were off, Isaac activated the feature that his ring had, and the scene immediately changed from the hallways of the Vatican castle to a certain dim room that had many workers who were running around in a panic
This was the control room of Carisville city. Through the use of advanced magical technology, as well as the help of some ancient artifacts, they were able to monitor whatever goes on in the entire city in real-time and relay communications to their soldiers from afar...
They were the only city in this world that had such an advance and complex defense system. And because of this, they were able to enforce the law and order, making the city one of the safest places on the continent in which women and children don't even have to worry about wondering alone at night
But now it was chaos. In all the years of Isaac serving as the Head Archbishop, he had never seen things get as hectic as this. The composed officers that he'd usually see were now running around, barking orders and quickly relaying all of the new information that is being shoved in their heads...
"What is going on..."
"Archbishop Isaac, glad to see you here"
An elderly-looking officer walked up to him with a grimace
"Aamon, Please tell me that things aren't bad as they seem to be"
"I hate to be the bearer of news, but it's unfortunately just that"
Isaac took the paper that was handed to him. And upon reading the damage report that has only happened for the past three minutes, he couldn't help but clench his fist and grit his teeth. To put it simply, the city was under attack...and they were being demolished...
"...Who the hell are these people?"
Isaac could only pray to his gods that they'd help them survive this wretched night...