The region of Lescatie, three weeks after Druella's defeat.

The hooves of carriage-bound horses clattered against the stone road. The evening sun watched said carriage as it went its journey, guarded by armored horsemen on both ends. Upon the carriage was the flag of the Order, standing with pride as it flapped in the wind.

Within the carriage sat a woman, with long teal hair and dressed in maiden garbs of the Order. Her eyes were full of tiredness, yet her slight smile a faint sign of peace as she looked out the carriage window. On the other end sat a man in gold-trimmed silver armor, his helmet hiding his face. Sasha looked at, the man, Cpari who was also looking out the window. She found it odd he was still fully armored, but then again, she remembered back in her younger days as a hero, some other heroes never removed their armor while on duty, not even the helmet. The few who told her they did that, said it was to be ready at a moment's notice for battle. Or at the least something like that.

"I would've thought that you would have had me brought to Holy Eleris via teleportation magic. Not by horse carriage, let alone having you come along. Are you not supposed to stay at Lescatie?" Asked Sasha, turning to the window and watching the shadows now dance in and out of the passing trees.

Capri replied calmly, "Yes I would be there, but now that the army from the Order has arrived, I am no longer needed to lead the rebuilding. Besides, I have faith that their new general can manage Lescatie without me. As for you, I am hoping to buy you as much time as I can."

Sasha tilted her head slightly as she gave an inquisitive look, "What do mean by time by time specifically? If I may ask."

Capri looked to the window as well and sighed, "I have been there long enough to know how the court, and in turn, how his Holiness will rule. They will see you as a traitor who almost caused Lescatie to fall. They will no doubt execute you," he then muttered to himself, "Or worse."

Sasha's smile faded as she felt the pain in Capri's words, guilt sinking its way into her heart as she was reminded of her sins, "You want me to enjoy my last few moments before I die then?"

Capri took a deep breath, "I was hoping to get some sort of case in your defense. But alas I cannot think of anything that would help."

"I have already admitted to my guilt. and I am willing to accep-"

Capri cut her off, his voice hard and stern as he turned sharply at her, "That won't change anything. They won't lighten their sentence due to admittance. Not for something like this."

The two went quiet, neither one knowing what to say next. The hours felt like the clouds above, slow yet fast. The sun eventually began to tuck into bed across the hills, its faint rays still gleaming through the window of the carriage. During the whole time, Sasha just watched the road as they went through forests and villages.

Meanwhile, Sasha noticed something odd. For every village they passed, they were mostly empty save for a small group of soldiers. If it weren't for those soldiers, she would've thought they were going through ghost towns. Almost every building had damaged doors, broken windows, and all other kinds of damage. She remembered visiting these towns before in her time, she could recall how almost each village was thriving and full of life. Full of people with dreams and ideals of their own.

"What happened to all these towns? Where are the people?" Asked Sasha.

"All gone," replied Capri, "Druella had to weaken Lescatie. So, she blocked off all paths to Lescatie and had her army take over any town or village that was remotely within the region. These towns have been reclaimed but... The people were all too far gone, so we had to kill them all, children included."

The word children pierced Sasha's heart, "Is- Is such cruelty needed? At least for the children?"

Capri retorted quickly, "Cruelty is the only thing that's giving us a chance, Sasha. There is no cure to monsterization and every time we show an ounce of mercy, they exploit it; causing a city to fall... or almost fall."

Sasha felt her heart sink even further. She knew he was referring to her. She wanted to object, but she didn't know the right words to say. Capri continued, slowly calming down more and more with every sentence, "I know you hate it, but again, it is all we have to stand against them. Every time we think we find a weakness to drive them back with, we either find we were lied to, or they overcome that weakness, pushing back tenfold. It is as though reality or fate itself refuses to let us have a single. true. victory."

"That is until," Capri went silent for a moment. Sasha could see him silently make a sharp deep breath as if something had dawned on him, "during the siege on Lescatie, were you praying?"

Sasha looked back at Capri perplexed, "Yes, I was."

"What were you praying for?"

"For the chief god to forgive me and to save the people from my actions. Why?"

"The red hooded angel, they said they came because of the prayers of a faithful and repetitive woman whose strength was fading."

"Well, then that means that god has forgiven me. Right?"

Capri turned away from Sasha, "Perhaps."

That statement, perhaps. Sasha could tell something was wrong. Did he doubt her? She had to know, "Why perhaps? Do you not believe that the chief god would answer someone's prayer?"

The commander looked at Sasha and glanced out the windows briefly before hesitantly saying, "Some are not so certain the Red Hooded angel is in fact an angel. The reason being is that they never said they were from the chief god. There is also the fact we have no record of them within the holy scriptures. I would not be surprised if there are high ranked members within the church who also doubt the Red Hood's divinity."

Sasha knew those were good points. But there was no possibility that was not the chief god's doing. She had prayed to the chief god, not any other god.

But Sasha had to wonder, was that all Capri meant? If it was just that, she did not see reason for him to be so on edge. There was something else, something that caused him to doubt divine intervention. Whatever it was, she would have to help him. She recalled the times she was in confessions, perhaps if she tried something similar, he would tell her, "Is that all? I feel as though there is something else. Please, whatever it may be, it is safe with me. I promise."

Capri reluctantly hunched over; his hands clenched together as he stared at the floor. He spoke up in a hushed tone, "You will not accuse me of heresy? At least publicly?"

"Well-," Sasha stopped. She was certain he spoke so quietly that the cart driver couldn't overhear them. She hunched over herself, whispering, "Yes. Of course, please, go one."

Capri stammered, trying to process what he was about to say to Sasha, "I doubt the divinity of the gods, let alone the chief god. In all my findings they appear as nothing more to me than people. People with... too much power in their hands. They are flawed, finite, changing, and selfish in some respects. Just to name a few examples: Hel usurping a previous god, the gods who turned to the mamono, and the supposed recent death of the ancient chaos gods."

"Then what is a god to you?"

"A real god?" Capri thought for a moment, "A god of gods."

"Do you mean the chief god?"

"Not exactly. A god in my opinion is the ultimate being. The apex predator of reality and beyond. That may not be a good way to describe it so I'll rephrase... A real god to me is something infinite, immortal, unchanging, greater than anything else in every way, and most of all, something that is unable to be truly comprehended by mortals."

"So how is it not the chief god? They are eternal and all powerful."

Capri chuckled dryly before going dead silent. Sasha could swear that she saw Capri's bloodshot tired eyes staring at her beneath the helmet, "Maybe so, but the original chief god left a long time ago."

A droplet could have broken the silence when those words were spoken. Sasha stammered, "What?"

"You never noticed? The scriptures in their entirety do not refer to the chief god to any gender whatsoever. No actual depictions of them save for being an entity of light. Neither for most of the Order's early history up to before the current era was the chief god depicted as anything but a white glowing figure. Yet suddenly near the start of this era, according to old documents, there were depictions of the chief god as a goddess being made and now, we only depict the chief god as such."

Sasha was speechless as she processed his words. She never noticed those things, the holy scriptures never stating the chief god having gender yet the feminine depictions, such as the statues in Salvarision Castle nearby Lescatie. But that wasn't enough evidence. It could have just been a coincidence, the chief god could certainly just decide what form they take, right? They could make themselves appear as whatever they wanted, whenever and they would still be the same being.

"How do you know this?" Asked Sasha.

"When you interrogate enough heretical scholars, the need to learn the truth can make you search for many things. Including things the Inquisition would find heretical."

More villages passed by. Sasha tried to reason her guilt away, mentally telling herself she wasn't responsible for those villages. Druella was probably already dealing with them before her betrayal. But at the same time, she still felt responsible. The guilt and shame remained.

The carriage stopped, its steeds replaced and the horsemen leaving as a new group of them rode up into their place. Then, as soon as a new rider for the carriage came up, they continued on as Capri said, "Get some rest, Sasha. Soon we will stop somewhere to replenish ourselves and then, we will arrive at Holy Eleris."

Sasha said nothing, for a seed of doubt had entered Sasha's heart. Was her prayer really answered by the chief god? Was she even praying to the real chief god she believed in? No, her prayer was answered by the chief god when the Red Hood was sent. She had to remain strong. She could only pray that the chief god would give her the strength to think of how to help Capri.

(A/N)

Ok, so I do apologize with how long these chapters are taking. Even though College and Work are sapping most of my time, I will try and give myself a deadline for these chapters again like back when I first started. You folks shouldn't have to wait this long for chapters this short.