"In the beginning, there was emptiness. Then, he came.
"The Only one God, Marduk, appeared and said the words, let there be light and there was light.
"When he saw the darkness that existed within emptiness, he understood just how lonely it was to stay in such a place and decided to create helpers, thus, angels were born to serve him.
"But after some time, he desired more. He had gotten tired of the monotonous lives of the angels whose sole purpose was to serve him, thus he decided to dream.
"As he fell into a slumber, the universe was birthed from his dream. Paradise, the Infernal Palace, the Abyss, the Spirit World (Afterlife), and Eventide.
"From his dreams, Devils, Cryptids, Otherworldly, and Humans came to exist.
"Unlike other beings, humans were deemed the weakest but also the smartest. By the grace of the Only One God, we have managed to survive for so long, using the wit he blessed us with.
"But after so long, humanity has begun to move away from the creator that has shown them mercy for so long. Oh, how pitiful."
A middle-aged man with a well-trimmed beard, wearing red priestly attire with a cassock that had the emblem of two flaming swords kept watch over a gate with rays of glorious light emerging from beyond the gate.
The man stood behind a podium with a large book before him on a raised platform which happened to be an altar with fancy designs on it.
Behind him, a few chairs were lined up with the center chair a bit larger than the others.
The smaller chairs were occupied by young-looking men dressed in white and gray robes while the center chair was currently empty.
Erected on the wall just above them, the statue of a gigantic humanoid figure draped in a cloak with two horns, a halo behind its head, a tail, and a muscular physique that would put Greek sculptures to shame stood tall with its arms spread apart as though welcoming the world.
"The Lord asks that you return to his embrace, that you turn away from the nonsense spread by heretics and infidels and come back to him. Do not worry, the Only one God is a benevolent God. Just like the Lightbringer, he shines on both the good and the bad."
The middle-aged man preached in a voice that was both enticing and soothing.
The congregation numbered over ten thousand with the church being large enough to contain everyone with no problems at all.
"Hah, what to do?" Alex muttered exasperatedly as he kept his eyes on the priest.
He was present in the congregation but his mind was elsewhere as he wondered how to deal with Nadia.
It wasn't right to lead her on but he also didn't want to completely end their relationship.
Where else would he be able to find reliable allies like Arthur and Nadia for the time being?
If anything, he didn't want to lose them but then he couldn't for any reason ignore his principles.
He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he ever ignored the principles that made him the man he was.
Not only did he have no feelings apart from pure admiration for Nadia, his heart still belonged to another.
A woman he deemed far more beautiful and illustrious than Nadia, waiting for him on Earth.
He needed to compromise to avoid ruining the relationship he had with Nadia and losing the benefits it had.
But to what extent, he couldn't decide.
Sighing helplessly, he surveyed the large church hall with stained glass windows and images on each window depicting angels that were quite different from the beautiful humanoid beings with bird wings he was familiar with on Earth.
Instead, they mostly used symbolisms to mark each angel.
For example, the Angel of Light was symbolized by a ball of light while the Angel of Fire was represented by a sea of flames.
A quick scan later after which he glanced to his right.
He was seated alongside Emily.
The latter wore a veil that covered most of her face and head, leaving only her eyes and the upper part of her nose visible.
He stared intently at Emily as he noticed that she was praying with her palms together and her head down while mumbling something incomprehensible.
He wasn't the real Alexander Regulus that loved his sister, but he wasn't heartless enough to turn away when he saw her going through so much.
She was on the verge of a breakdown and it took everything for her to wake up every morning.
Losing Douglas hit her harder than losing their parents, after all, unlike their parents, she had spent too much time with Douglas to immediately forget the memories.
Alex sighed again as he turned away.
There was nothing he could do for now. Maybe later, he'd do something nice for her.
Maybe a stroll in the park or something… from the memories he had, Emily was also fond of parks.
"That should help." He could only be hopeful in that regard.
"Now come forth and give your all to our everlasting creator, let him know your innermost desire is directed at him. Come!" The priest said in an authoritative voice.
Alex felt the urge to rush forward at that moment, almost like his soul was compelled.
It took him biting his tongue to resist the urge.
It was almost certain now that the church was also a home for the supernatural.
He hadn't doubted that though.
What did strike him as odd however was the creation myth of the church was something of a mash-up of different myths he had learned back on Earth.
Even though it was more like a fairy tale to him, he couldn't deny that every creation myth had some form of information about the society and it was no different from the one he just heard.