The instant the church was consumed and collapsed in a massive inferno, the sky, which had been brightly lit by the sun, suddenly darkened. The two girls, who had been standing under the bright light, found themselves unable to see anything clearly. Their eyes had yet to adjust to the sudden change of lighting, prompting them to scream in unison out of fear.
Then they felt their hands being held tightly by a large hand. A wave of warmth spread throughout their bodies. Gradually, their vision started to recover, and they could make out some of the objects in front of them despite the continuing darkness.
Even with the pitch-black surroundings, after adjusting to the night's lighting, they could just barely make out each other's faces. No one spoke a word, as the situation had left them too stunned to speak. Meanwhile, Jason was holding his breath, focusing his senses to detect any changes in their surroundings.
"What... what should we do now?" Denise and Sofia asked Jason, who had already proven his reliability. It was remarkable that they hadn't completely lost themselves to fear given their circumstances. Denise was a descendant of witches, and Sofia's identity was even more mysterious, enough to attract such a considerable effort to lure her here.
"Stay here," Jason instructed the two girls. "I will give each of you something to protect yourselves." He then pulled out a pen and said, "Give me your hands."
The girls extended their hands, and Jason drew a small sword on the palm of each girl.
"If needed, bite your finger and let the blood drip onto these little swords on your palms. They can be quite useful," explained Jason. He then drew a few symbols in the air with the pen, forming a circle around the girls. The symbols glowed briefly before vanishing in the air.
"Do not leave this circle, wait for my return," Jason warned before whistling. A black cat emerged from somewhere and leapt onto Jason's shoulder, "Wait for my return."
With a flip of his hand, a glowing small sword appeared. Jason flicked it with his finger, and the sword grew larger. Holding the sword, he uttered, "Go—" The sword transformed into a beam of light, taking Jason and the black cat with it and disappearing into the night sky.
"God, what is..." Denise was left speechless with awe. She turned to Sofia and remarked, "I don't know... He's full of mysteries that we can't figure out. It's intriguing."
"Then... let's just do as he told us, stay here, or else we would be a nuisance to him," Sofia said trustingly. Although she had never seen Jason fly before, she had already established a deep sense of trust with him.
So, the two girls sat down, leaning against each other, shoulder to shoulder.
"It's just like a dream. I can't believe I'm undergoing such an adventure," Denise told Sofia. "I've heard about you from Jason, but I don't know whether to feel happy or sad for you."
"I don't want to think of anything. I only want to uncover the truth about my identity. I can't live in a lie," Sofia admitted, staring at the pitch-dark sky. "This is a tough problem. Although I may not find the right answer in this lifetime, with Mr. Jason's help, it may not be as difficult. He is a good person, a very capable one at that."
The two girls fell silent, watching the place where the church once stood, their minds filled with wonderment.
A silent meteor seemed to fall from the sky, landing near the church. The church had been burned down, no longer glowing with fire, and no remnants of its structure could be seen. The real burial ground was revealed after the blaze had destroyed the illusion. The fresh air was again filled with the stench of rotting bodies. The rustling leaves filled the silence. Jason, standing here, was patiently waiting.
"I know you're behind me. Since you're here, you should know that I never negotiate with monsters like you," Jason calmly turned around, spotting a man dressed like a priest in black robes not far behind him.
"Omar?" Jason asked slowly, "That shouldn't be your real name, right? Also... You're not a missionary, so what are you, a monster able to create illusions so real even I was deceived?"
Omar, the priest, remained silent, giving Jason a cold stare.
Jason took a few steps towards him, the distance between them shrunk to merely five or six meters. If Jason wanted to, he could easily strike with his sword. The two men stood in a standoff, each watching the other intently.
"Your target is Sofia," Jason continued. He didn't care whether Omar would respond, so he just continued, "You're the first I've met who could conjure an entire illusionary town that even I couldn't see through."
"Hand over Sofia, and I'll let you go!" Omar finally spoke, looking at Jason with arrogance and disdain. "You can't defeat me. In the end, you're just a mortal. Do you think you can protect Sofia? This is my final warning to you."
"A mortal?" Jason laughed, but his expression quickly turned serious. "I didn't expect there were gods in this world. Or are you a god yourself?"
"No, I'm merely a servant of God," Omar said humbly, reflecting his seemingly modest status. However, that didn't seem to stop him from looking down on mere mortals. "No one can resist the will of God, including you—a humble mortal. Don't be so full of yourself thinking you're very capable."
"I indeed am very capable. Would you like to give it a try?" Jason couldn't resist throwing a jibe. "So this is how God fights against a mortal girl?"
Omar seemed to have lost his patience for banter with Jason. His eyes hardened, and he slowly raised his hands towards the sky. Then he began to mutter something under his breath.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew towards Jason without any warning. The surrounding leaves rustled, and even small rocks were lifted by the wind.
But Jason stood still, his hair, and clothes didn't even twitch. He was unaffected by the wind and remained calm, just coldly staring at Omar.
After the wind, the clouds in the sky began to lower.
The clouds gathered and pressed lower and lower. They were right above Jason. The clouds started to transform, like a low, rumbling roar from the horizon. The cloud formation resembled a giant face that opened its massive mouth and rushed toward Jason.
With a loud "boom," a large tree nearby was completely uprooted and sucked into the sky by the tremendous force from the clouds. Rocks and trees were continuously pulled into the cloud formation, into the giant mouth.
Jason's hair and clothes seemed to puff up as if filled with air. But his body stood still, like a nail hammered into the ground, just coldly watching the man who was chanting with his arms raised to the sky.
He would strike when the time was right. Now was not the time.
"In the name of God, go! Capture the woman who should not exist, or let her rest in peace under the ground! Servants of God, go!" Omar suddenly shouted, pointing his hand from the clouds to the ground.
A creaking sound seemed to emerge from the ground. Then a hand suddenly arose from beneath, and lying skeletons, as if brought back to life, began to crawl out of the ground. They started to sprint in one direction, their strange, grating noise filling the air.
They were heading towards where Sofia and Denise were.
Having invoked God to summon so many skeletons, what kind of God was this?
Jason coldly watched Omar. With a flick of his finger, a bright light flew from his palm, forming a glowing arc in the sky, shooting towards the lower layer of clouds, which resembled a giant mouth...