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FICTION

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Chapter 24-b: A Hope against the Dark

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This was quite the dark room to be taken in, but I was glad I wasn't going in there as some sort of prisoner, but rather as a witness due to what had recently happened.

The situation where 'Hitogami' had been spotted trying to attack Zenith and I caused a stir upon the local administration, extending as far as the royal court as now I was being interrogated on the matter as it was clear to them, through other testimonies, that I knew more on the matter. There were a few Millis priests around to further expand on the topic but also bring a few documents that weren't known to the public.

I was provided the chance to read them, and I felt realization dawn as I was given some insight on what the church had been hiding away when it comes to Hitogami, and why they had 'created' Millis out of what was the reputation of the Old Christian God. Genesis, the world that existed now was an union of multiple ones where many gods suddenly found themselves drawn into the same 'battleground'.

There wasn't much to say about it, beyond the fact that the one once known as Hitogami was no longer 'alive' in the sense of persistence within the world. Something of a memory, a shard, still existed, which ultimately led to the formation of a 'justified' religion in the name of 'Millis'. Saint Millis was, in fact, the principal 'founder' of the religion due to her connection with the weakened deity, and manifested his will through her miracles.

The existence of the Devil in God's clothing was a concept that had stunned the theologians themselves, but it brought an answer to a few questions related to the 'Kill or Not Demons' dilemma. As it come out from that conversation, The Saint suggested hating on the Demons born and loyal to the Fake God and to accept those originary from other deities as potential allies.

Everything slowly made sense, but I doubted the Church itself was going to make radical changes due to how many powerplays were at hand.

Still, the story I had explained things to an extent: in a similar reality from where I came from and back during Charlemagne's reign, fragments of the world together with the Christian God were suddenly yanked into this new reality. By bringing the Christian God out of its usual boundaries, the deity lost a fair amount of his powers, and with the attachment he had with his once favorite Angel and potential heir to Earth's rule, Lucifer saw the chance to win a war that would have continued for eons- There was no mention on how and when it really happened, but many documents suggested that, around Saint Millis' rise into the ranks of the 'new human church', many took part in weakening Lucifer's newfound might.

To an extent, that worked as seals were applied and who is now known as Hitogami lost a fair amount of its powers and was now weaker than most Gods. Yet, none of that served in fully containing the threat. Hitogami had greater freedom than he had back in his original Earth, and with the sway he had through some people that worshiped him out of the charm his original self owned and his 'divine and benevolent' aspect would entice, there was a sizeable issue within all continents until the Fake God was brought down.

The entire discussion was, as one would expect, tedious as some truths came out- these people were trusted men by the king and, while I wouldn't say the man was a good guy or a flawless monarch, it was clear he was shitting bricks with what had just happened, and I could tell that the Church was going to proclaim a crusade on Hitogami.

This was all intense but... there was still a big question that the men of the king needed an answer of, and, to a degree, I wanted to know too: why Hitogami tried to attack Zenith and I? Why did he try to kill us despite the fact we didn't know about him? I thought it was just Longinus giving him the creeps, but he didn't even seem to be aware of it.

So, what was compelling him to assassinate us?

The answer came in the form of a supposition from one of the older priests: what if it was something close to Saint Millis? Or rather, what if Lucifer was trying to prevent the arrival of a potential saint born from Zenith and I? I was an excellent warrior when it comes to weapons, while Zenith was aspiring to further expand her magical potential. A child born from us was going to be quite powerful as they would have the potential to ultimately become the strongest fighter ever and a potential god-slayer if they could use Longinus too.

The worst part of this theory was that I could see it as a strong possibility. Looking for comparisons I remembered that many protagonists of Castlevania, most of those Belmonts that had access to magic, ended up becoming among the strongest beings possible, Richter and Julius being among those that could easily crash Dracula's army without breaking a sweat.

So... where did that leave us?

I had a feeling that this was going to push for me to have a child with Zenith, but I was very cautious over the notion of going for it. We were in no shape to currently take care of and educate any child just yet with what we had at the moment, and even expediting the plans to move in a better locations felt a bit sudden if not troublesome due to how few places could really safely keep a child away from trouble.

I had to think more of this, but I was glad that I didn't get forced to take on any escort as, with what I could prove of the basic religious 'spells' that the priests confirmed could work against any dark influence, I was best guarded without having anyone that could get controlled by Hitogami.

I was allowed to leave hours after that interrogation, skipping lunch and dinner, but just making it back home before midnight. The house was mostly quiet, with Roxy studying over what had happened, while Eli was sitting by the couch in front of the fireside, writing something in a journal.

Nothing unusual, but I did find Zenith in my bed without Ghislaine. It was possible she just wanted to spend more time with me, something reasonable as we had just married and yesterday had been quite intense as a 'wedding-consummation marriage'.

"Zen," I hummed the woman opening her eyes and looking surprised at my return, reaching for a kiss before literally giving her all for what was meant to be our night.

We were both tired and we didn't do much compared to usual, but I decided to not use the contraceptive spell, knowing it was best for us to put an effort in actually having a child. Time was going fast, and it was best to entertain the idea of family now that troublesome prods from the Millis Church were goign to push us in that corner.

New plans were to be made, new training to be explored and, hopefully, get ready to put down this big threat before it caused us more trouble. Geese's betrayal stung a lot, but there wasn't much for us to say or do beyond plan what to do next.

Starting with filling up a new open spot within the party.

AN

Smallish chapter, so, this is more of a Side-Chapter.

Also, two clues on who is going to join the party: 1) They are twins, 2) it's a tiny crossover. Not to the point of changing the setting in FFN since, if I had to change from regular to Xover on the basis of tiny element, then most of those stories bringing up religious elements in such a fashion should also go Xover with the 'Christian Mythos' stuff. So yeah, it's just two characters, and you will recognize them. (And no, the girl will not be paired with John, I am sorry, but there's a limit in how big the harem can get.)