Chapter 3: The Holy Knights and The Church
"Hmmm...mmmhmmmm...what the..." were the first words out of Zaylen's mouth as he woke up. It was the odd feel of laying naked not in a bed, but on grass. It took him a moment to remember just where he was after that, and who he was laying next to. His face turned red as innocent thoughts sped through his brain. "Oh no...oh no oh no. I slept together with someone naked! Isn't that how babies are made!?"
However, as he calmed himself down...
"Wait, no. I slept naked with my older brother, and my younger brother. Right...it needs to be a boy and a girl".
And then, after making all that fuss, he looked over at Azalen, who was just sleeping there in a carefree way. Even though Zaylen had shouted, he was not even budging and inch. And then, Zaylen's eyes wandered to the location of his brand.
"Oh...wow...he really is the Sloth Sin. Why is his brand there though? Seems really embarrass...ing..."
And then, reality hit Zaylen again.
"I just...slept naked outside...oh wow, of other nobles heard about this, they would freak and make fun of me and be annoying".
He then stood up, and paced around for a bit.
"Alright, how do I wake him up...maybe like this?"
Zaylen stepped his bare feet onto Azalen's stomach, with no reaction. He then tried jumping up and down, but still nothing. As a result, Zaylen sat down right on top of Azalen.
"Alright...what did my brothers do to wake me up? If he is a Beastkin as well, his weaknesses should be...ah! The ticklish pelvis bone!" Zaylen announced, and tried to tickle his pelvis bone area. This resulted in Azalen starting to giggle, but in his sleep and then his face got all bashful and embarrassed. "Alright, that was close..."
Zaylen was starting to have some progress, but it seemed it was not enough.
"Oh! Here is one! Azalen, we have nothing to eat for breakfast!"
"...I...like...waffles" Azalen mumbled in his sleep.
"Hmmm..." Zaylen pondered, thinking. "I could try kissing him I guess, but I would rather not want to. There is no water for a bath...which we both really need. I dont see any musical instruments...and its like, the perfect temperature in this place, so I cant just wait for it to cool".
It was a real conundrum. However, he then considered one thing he has not tried yet. Therefore, he got down and laid on the grass again, and decided to whisper right into Azalen's ear.
"If you dont wake up right now, you will have to do everyone's chores".
Immediately, Azalen shot up and awake in an instant.
"What was that?! I am good, right?"
"Nooo" Zaylen replied as he sat up with arms crossed.
"Oh, hey Zaylen. Why are you sitting here naked?"
"You are doing the same".
"Oh...I just fell asleep here huh? You didn't try to carry me inside?"
"There was a note on the door that mentioned if you did not say the correct passphrase, all the traps would activate and annihalate us".
"Oh...so we have just been both struck out here the whole time then?" Azalen said, a bit embarrased.
"Yeah. So would you mind letting us in?"
"Ah, sure" Azalen said as he lept to his feet. He went over to the door. "Open open".
"...seriously? Well, whatever" he said, as the two went in. It appeared to be a completely normal tavern, called the Boar Hat. "Well, since we are already naked, we might as well do Rak-en-shor".
Azalen looked over at him. "Really? We are both fugitives, being hunted, and you want to adhere to that now?"
"Hey, we are safe here right? Besides, Rak is pretty easy. You just have to have a meal with other people naked and have discussions and such".
"I am guessing you are a pretty strong follower of The Church if that was the first thing you thought about".
"Well, its more the Faith then the Church. Lately, I dont like how the Church has been twisting it...the worship if our Faith, of Elizabeth-sama our Goddess" Zaryen said as he started feeling up Azaren's body.
"...seriously?"
"Well you know, the Faith teaches us that by knowing the body of a friend, by being close with them, is one of the best ways to become comfortable with them and get to know them. Yes, the first three standards set by the Faith, the Trinity Statement: 'The more embarrassing something is, the more it will help build character. The more you know about each other's bodies and see them, the better you will bond. And no matter how dark a person might be, you should always reach for that light of hope'".
"...alright, alright!" Azarel said, as he manipulated Chroma in Blanket Form to get some food for them out of the pantry. The two quickly took their seats, and soon enough Chroma came back and lowered itself onto the table with a haul of food, and made itself like a table cloth.
"Thank you for the food!" they both said, when Zaylen noticed something about Azarel. His face was flushed red with embarrassment.
"Azarel-kun...are you embarrassed? But, back then in that place, you had been their captive for like eight years? And you just slept outside naked".
"Well...I was still drowsy then..." Azarel said, fidgeting. "Also...it might have something to do with my demeanor, or my magical power. Whenever I get active or into something, I tend to not mind. Also if I am not truly awake, or drowsy, I am numb to things. Its just...right now..."
"Ehhh...so the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins can make a cute face like that?"
"Eh?"
"And hey, look. We both have the same cute shoulders, the same adorable hips..." he said.
"Eh...ehhhhhh?!" Azarel said with a shock as Zaylen gave him a rather lustful look. What made it even more weird was that some of his inner thoughts considered that what he said was true. However, the expression was replaced with laughter in an instant, which turned Azarel all shades of red. "That...you faked me out!"
"Sorry...its just. I wanted to see how you would react!" Zaylen mentioned. "Sorry sorry. Lets continue eating".
That said, Zaylen also had a red face. From what Azalen could guess, he probably made that joke in some weird attempt to overcome his own nervousness and embarrassment, and was just trying to put on a strong face as a prince.
And so, the two of them dug into the food. It was rahter delicious, even though it should have been sitting there for eight years.
"How is this so good?"
"Time doesn't really flow within Realm unless someone is inside it" Azarel explained, still a bit embarrassed. In an attempt to focus on something that didn't involve him, he looked over at Zaylen. "So...that power you used there...was it Ark?"
"Yep" Zaylen said, as he pointed to his right eye. Suddenly, it changed from a silver color to a red. A trait that those who carry celestial blood in them have. "The power of Ark has been in the Royal Family for generations, believed to be from the time of the original Seven Deadly Sins. Some believe we even got our blood from the then Queen, now Goddess Elizabeth-sama. However, the Church recently used those records and claims to declare us as heritics, as subverting the faith to manipulate the masses and hold power, and cast us out. But its the Church that are the real enemies! To make matters worse, the Holy Knights also seem to think somehow we are the ones making everything worse...either their higher ups are in on it, or they got fooled by The Church as well...not to mentioned fooled by the nobles who like to play people for power".
"I see...I think I understand the situation now. So, to go up against that power, you want to recruit the current eras Seven Deadly Sins then?"
"Exactly! I dont think that you would just kill Harozen, the one who helped and saved you from terrible fates. It doesn't make sense to me".
"Alright then. In that case...we will need to find them".
Zaylen gave him a look.
"You don't know where they are?"
"Not a clue".
"I see...well, I suppose we could always use intuition and a compass!"
"Before that...do you have a map in that bag of yours?"
Zaylen nodded, and the two of them stood up and headed over to the bag. Zaylen got out the map, and then unfurled it on an empty table as the two stood and looked over it. Azarel turned a bit red though because Zaylen had grabbed his tail for some reason. The Faith pretty much made it far more morally and socially acceptable for people to be harassed and treated this way. There was a long standing joke that the Church of Elizabeth had been partially set up, or was based on the ideals of, some powerful Demon.
It was claimed that this was considered normal and accepted by the heroes of the Holy War 2000 years ago though. Well, Azarel supposed it could be worse, with extremely active and unwanted heavy harassment in public, and become even more morally corrupt. (Really Meliodas? This is all your fault you know. People tend to use heroes as examples after all...)
"It looks like...there is a Holy Knight fortress this way, this way, and this way. Hmm, what is this here?"
"The Valley of Shadows. But it has already been searched multiple times by Holy Knights".
"What about this place?"
"That? Its just a common forest. There isn't much hunting game though, but still".
"What about here?"
"That is Heimsberg. Supposedly, there is a serial killer around there causing issues, and also the Holy Knights are putting people, including women and children, into forced labor camps in the mines for crimes they apparently committed. Apparently being the key word".
"Alright then, lets get dressed and head out. Should still have some clothes here that we can wear to blend in".
The two went to his changing room, with the two of them ending up changing in the same room. Azalen was not a fan of that though, but mostly because he hated people seeing where his Brand was. That said...the outfits they chose weren't that much in terms of blending.
Azalen was wearing clothes that made him look like a schoolboy, though it was his shortsleeve version, while Zaylen was wearing a white and blue sailor's outfit.
"These should not stand out too much, right?"
"Yeah, so long as they are not extremely devout holding Gathering, where everyone goes naked. There are some places where people are more lax about things, so only places like where I am from, The Capital, is like that. The Church used to be more lax too I hear, but lately its been a bit more strict".
"...you know, all of these rules and requirements...this is why I never really showed up for a lot of religous stuff".
"But the Faith was made this way by the Goddess to help make everyone familiar with each other, be more open, hold less secrets, and be a better community!"
Azalen wanted to point out that the community basically betrayed him, but it occured to him the counter argument would be
Either way, they could now travel without drawing weird gazes and suspicions, so they gathered their traveling gear together, and left Realm. Suddenly, the exit behind them swirled into a black void, and then turned into the blanket form which folded itself and stuck itself on Azalen's back.
"So, you get any ideas where the others might have gone after that?"
"Nope, not a clue. But, I know how to start searching. We have to go on the southwestern road, towards this place".
"Aurora Beach?"
"Yeah. Trust me, this plan should work just fine".
"But...we will have to go right past a Holy Knight Stronghold. What if something bad happens?"
"We are searching for the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins. Something bad had already happened, and something bad will happen again".
Zaylen sighed. "Allright".
Surprisingly, their travels were actually fairly peaceful. No one randomly jumping out to attack them, no monsters charging out to try and kill them, no beasts coming out to try and eat them. It was an entirely peaceful day.
"This is weird. Before, we would always get attacked on the road".
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, but usually it was weirdos who tried to challange us...oh hey look, a town is approaching".
"Yeah, thats the town of Jerzyin. It was built against the rocky cliff by families who worked in the fort above. Anyways, we should probably be careful. There is a contigent of Dawnknights there, as well as two Holy Knights stationed there. Kerzen and Illuria".
"Dawnknights...Dawnknights...sounds familiar, but I cant remember it".
"Ehhhh?! They are basically Knights that are close to HOly Knights in power, but lack proper magical abilities. They are basically the bridge between normal Knights and Holy Knights! They basically outnumber us you know?"
"Oh yeah..." Azalen said, as he looked over at Zaylen and measured his combat ability. Which was quite surprising for someone who should have been sheltered.
Physical Power: 500. Magical Power: 600. Spirit Power: 200.
For reference, a weak child might have a score of 10. Total. The average Holy Knight these days had 400 or 500 total when inducted. Zaylen on the other hand had a total of 1300. Granted, the numbers were relative, and it was entirely possible he lacked the ability to make use of his full power. But it did explain his abilities earlier, despite being drugged.
That said, that was the Average Holy Knight at the point of induction before they had true experience and battles. Many of them trained to raise them further. The advanced Holy Knights got up to 1000 total power. The Elite Holy Knights would get up to 2000. And various Exceptional HOly Knights might reach 3000 at some point. Which left the ones who would become Grandmaster, with 4000 total power at least these days. The Master Rank, that only a handful would be able to reach.
Either way, it was interesting. But there was a huge difference between having power and being able to use it effectively.
As they entered the town, they couldn't help but notice something strange though. There was a strange air to the town, and while there was activity, it seemed far less lively then the city they had come from. And that wasn't because of a difference in size or population either.
"...it seems that no matter what we did, we would have stood out huh?"
"Yeah. Hard to blend in this situation".
Indeed, it did not take long for them to understand the strangeness of this town. While there were people out, there were no children. No laughter, no energy, nothing like that. The village was made up of only adults and elderly.
"How long?"
"Zero" Azalen replied, as suddenly two sources of magic power could be felt approaching from above. Indeed, it appeared two Holy Knights had jumped off the cliff, and they landed about twenty meters in front of them, weapons in hand. An overwhelming aura could be felt from them as well.
"Well well, look at what we have here. Two useless, wasteful children wandering around on their own" one of them said, a venomous sort of joy heard in his voice.
As for the other one, he carried himself in a more serious, but still malicous manner.
"There is an order in the land to recruit all children in these lands for special education and living, to ensure that their time is used productively and their bodies developed to be properly strong".
"Well we are only passing through, and not of this land".
"No matter, we will be taking you with us immediately!"
"I have not heard of this though. YOu are probably making this up".
"We are not. All children are sequestestered, and raised in a specially maintained envirornment while they train and learn. Children are expensive after all, constantly growing and ruining things. This way, we can keep them there isolated, and never have to buy clothes for them until they stop growing as adults other then a shirt on occasion. All of this was declared to be allowed by the teachings of The Church".
"Well now. I must say, that seems in perfect balance between logical and messed up" Azalen mentioned.
Zaylen however was already blushing. "We are not going to go along with it right? Cause that is usually what heroes do, to save the children they go along with it to find out where it is".
"Hmmmm...maybe next time, to make sure we get the logs of where all the children went. But that other city we were just at is the closest place to this town, and no one took anyone there. Therefore, its only this town that the knights here have taken from, which means they are in the fort on that cliff. Which means...the easiest way is just to deal with them".
"Um, hello? Do you not realize who we are?" the HOly Knight questioned, as various Dawnknights came out and surrounded them. "We are Holy Knights, the heroes of the realm. Do you really think you can escape us?"
At those words, Azalen took out his blanket.
"Chroma, auxilery function. Play battle music".
"Hey, what are you whispering? And what, do you think hiding under that blanket wiill save you?"
"Well, it could, but so could other things. Chroma...release restraint".
Suddenly, the concealment effect of Chroma was released, and a shockwave of magic power errupted from it. Leaving only Azalen and Zaylen unharmed, all of the Dawnknights were blown away, and only the two HOly Knights held their ground.
"What the..."
"Chroma. First Form. And...lets practice Razorwind!"
Suddenly, a spear shot out from the blanket and attacked them with high speed razor sharp slashes, which they were barely able to dodge as they jumped back.
"Remember this Zaylen. One of Chroma's greatest strengths is its ability to use multiple forms at once, being able to duplicate itself" Azalen mentioned as he stepped forward. "Chroma, Nineth Form: Laser Orb!"
The Spear turned into an Orb suddenly, and fired lasers that while they initially dodged, began to chase them around and not let them go that easily. This forced them to use their power to block, at which time Azalen appeared behind them, floating in mid air with the other Chroma in Spear Form.
"OH shi..." one of them said as they were knocked down to the ground.
"You damned brat" anther one said, suddenly appearing from behind and grabbing a hold of his clothes to try and throw him. He flew away, but the Holy Knight would not give up. "Spacial Degeneration!"
Suddenly, Azalen's clothes started to deteriorate and fall apart, causing him to blush...but also...
"Wait...is that a brand...of...the Feline Sin of Sloth?!"
"You...you pervert!" Azalen shouted as he covered himself, completely embarraseed. He then glared at the Holy Knight, as he pulled what was left of his shirt down to cover while the Spear smashed that person into the ground.
"Here!" Zaylen shouted, tossing him the shirt he was wearing. Azalen put it on as his own disintegrated, and was happy that it was big enough to cover himself. "Alright then. Now, you are going to pay for that! Those were some of my favorite clothes!"
"...dont you have at least nine more sets of those same clothes, not to mention all the other ones?"
HOwever, no one heard Zaylen's tsukinomi.
"Now, Chroma: Spirit Orbs! And also...Chains! Restrain the Holy Knights!"
The chains wrapped themselves around the Holy Knights, while he had his Spirit Orbs fire a massive attack on the fort.
"Hold on! Azalen! Calm down! The children!"
"Don't worry...its all good" Azalen mentioned, as chains also rushed into the fort. IN that instant, they began to grab each and every child there, and pulled them out safely before the fort was destroyed. By the time it was rubble, not only had the children been evacuated, but Azalen was kind enough to pull the normal works and such out of there too, resulting in zero casualties.
Azalen then flew down to the ground, touching it with his bare feet as the Spirit orbs turned back into a Spear.
"That was...incredible!" Zaylen said, as the chains titaned even further around the Holy Knights behind him, causing their armor to break apart and fall to pieces. And then, just to make extra sure it was fine, Azalen kicked them both in the stomach and sent them flying into the cliff wall, giving them severe injuries so they wouldn't be able to harass the townspeople anymore.
"Yeah, thanks. Now come on, lets get somewhere safe so I can enter Realm, and we are not just standing in the middle of town both half nak..."
As Azalen was speaking however, suddenly Chroma appeared to turn into a shield as Azalen turned around, and blocked an attack that nearly hit him directly. A third Holy Knight had appeared, and it appeared to be a female with long red hair, a large sword, and she was engulfed with flames. She kicked off the shield, and landed on the ground.
"...looks like we will have to put that on hold for a bit".
"You...this amount of chaos...so the rumors are true...one of the Seven Deadly Sins has appeared once more! And you look just like how I remember you!"
Azalen however looked at her face, and drew a blank.
"Have we met?"
"Shut up you monster!" she screamed as she moved even faster then the other two Holy Knights combined. Azalen barely had time to block as her blow hit his shield, but the force still forced him to dig his feet into the ground so he was not blown away, and instead only skid a few meters. Furthermore, a massive fire attack was launched at him afterwards.
"Chroma, Second Form! Swords!" he shouted, as a Sword appeared in his hand while multiple others appeared in the sky and flew right at her. Swords seemed simple at first, but it was actually complicated, as you both had to deal with the swarm of swords, and Azalen himself holding one.
"And Chains! Restrain!"
And at the same time, chains shot out of the ground and tried to hold her. However, she seemed to errupt with a briliant flame that knocked the chains away and let him operate freely. Furthermore, several snakes made of flame emerged from it and came right at him.
"Seriously? What is with all this hate?" Azalen asked, as he had the spear appear again and disperse the flames by blocking it and spinning incredibly fast.
"I will kill you!"
"Chroma!"
Chroma turned into several orbs and fired off wind, water, and ice attacks at her, while the other one turned into an orb that shot those lasers as he dodged her attacks.
"YOu! Its because of you my father was hurt...that he could no longer be a Holy Knight! You are the one who cut off his leg! And you stole his memories! How dare you not remember!"
"I dont recall doing that at all. Then again, I dont remember anything from that day".
"Dont you dare speak of such things, just to irritate me!"
I really dont though...I suspect Maria is behind it though. I need to find her quickly.
HOwever, despite all the attacks and the words, she just kept coming at him.
"Alright then. This was the plan after all" Azalen muttered, and Zaylen overheard.
"Wait, what?"
"I really dont remember what happened..."
"Gira! My name is Gira!"
"Oh...wait? Lil Gira? That adorable girl that was the daughter of that one knight that lived nearby?"
"So you do remember, you bastard!"
"I remember you, but not that day. That said, you are powerful. I really do admire all the progress you made...so I will use my Magical Power, Spirit".
And then, a powerful aura was released from him that fired immediately at Gira. She tried to block instinctively, but the attack bypassed her defenses and shot her far and high into the sky, with a bright glowing pillar left from Azalen's attack.
And since it seemed his full power attack knocked her far away, he was able to relax and land on the ground again. He quickly grabbed Zaylen's hand though, and dragged him into a run as they fled the town.
"Come on, we gotta get outa here before more Holy Knights show up! I dont have bottomless stamina after all!"
"I am running I am running! But, exactly what was the plan?!"
Azalen shot him back a playful smile.
"An announcement to the world, and the rest of the Sins".
"Well now" Markus said, looking at a pillar of light in the far distance. He was standing around some unconscious nobles, helping himself to their valuables. He instinctive touched his Brand, the Magpie Sin of Greed. "I guess the Captain is finally awake, and ready to be found".
Maria looked over at a bright pillar of light off in the distance, and remembered the feeling of the magic power it belonged to. "So someone woke him up huh? Looks close too. Guess I should start making my way to him".
Anin, the Peacock Sin of Pride, looked over at the lightshow off in the mountains. "Cool! Its show time! Time to play with the Captain!"
Siegfried was drinking in a tavern, when he heard soemthing in the background that interested him.
"Did you hear? One of the Seven Deadly Sins appeared in the northern hills!"
"I hear he caused a huge ruckus in town, and then charged towards an important HOly Knight Fort and destroyed it! Some even say its the Captain, the sin of Sloth!"
Siegfried chuckled as he heard that, and then took another drink.
"About damn time, Captain".
Seth was just flying in the sky, across the southern mountains, when he saw the huge pillar of light.
"Really Captain? Did you have to make that big of a show? Fine, fine...I will come. I guess its finally time for us to make our move, but next time, we need to make sure the Captain doesnt take such a long nap".
And elsewhere, in the distance...the Sin of Lust overheard it as well.
"So, I guess its time for us to make our move Captain".
And meanwhile, in the Capital's Church, the Pope stood at the top of a pillar.
"So...he has finally woken up? Let us hope...that all of our preparations will be more then sufficient".
He then looked backwards, and looked at a boy they had chained up on the wall. He was battered and bruised all over.
"And if needed, we always have our trump card".
And so, with a beacon shooting up to the stars, forces in the world began to make their moves.
AN: Well, that was fun! Hope you enjoyed, and remember to leave a review! Have fun everyone!