“Request explanation. Why do you wish to make contact with Ina?
“Houhou, it seems he knows something.”
“Houhou, it seems the beast person is called Ina.”
The twin priests twisted their faces daringly and suspiciously.
“We are purifying beast people so that an Azure Skies never appears again.”
“We are purifying beast people so that they never strike against humans again.”
“Beast people are just beasts, lower than humans. Their only path to salvation is to become subservient to humans.”
“Beast people spawned from beasts. They have no place to live except in the shade.”
“And so, we purify them.”
“And so, we purify them.”
They went back and forth, espousing the typical teachings of the Fair Skies Church.
Human supremacy.
Beast people were god’s failed creation.
They had monsters as ancestors, and as a result, they were a lower grade of being compared to humans.
And so, they should be enslaved and treated as tools, or purified if they rebelled.
They said that was the role of humans, the successful creation of the god incarnate Ubiquitous.
“You carry a low degree of trust. And thus, you will not make contact with Ina.”
Throbbing veins were clearly visible on the heads of Ebiru and Damon, since there was nothing to hide them.
“What did you say? Are you opposing the Fair Skies Church?”
“What did you say? Are you turning your back on Lord Ubiquitous?”
“Affirmative.”
An alert suddenly went off in Qualia’s thought circuits when he saw the bloodstains on their hands.
These two perfectly matched the characteristics of the people of the Truly Wonderful Fair Skies Church who unilaterally hurt beast people. And so, there was only one optimal solution to take.
No matter if he was going against a god, or turning his back on his judgment, that optimal solution stayed the same.
“Ina is currently selecting flowers to execute her plan to ‘offer flowers along with words to individuals whose vital activities have ceased’. Any individual who takes action to disturb that will be labeled a threat.”
The priests did not understand what he meant at first, but then burst out laughing.
“A beast praying to the deceased? Please don’t make me laugh.”
“Praying with these flowers? Please don’t make me laugh.”
“There is only one way to send the deceased to god’s side. Praying through the Fair Skies Church.”
“There is only one way to send the deceased to god’s side. Praying through the Fair Skies Church.”
After both laughed so hard they almost collapsed, they looked at Qualia with mocking eyes.
“Only Lord Ubiquitous may offer this prayer.”
“Only followers like us may offer this prayer.”
“You think this is for a filthy beast person to do? Unforgivable.”
“You think this is to be done with flowers from this tiny store? Unforgivable.”
“You are wrong.”
Qualia interrupted them when the static coming from them went over a certain threshold. But he threw them a question before declaring them to be a threat.
“Request explanation. What words do you offer when you pray to individuals whose vital activities have ceased?”
“What the dead seek is communal ascension. We give them words to send them to god’s side.”
“What saves the dead is without exception ascension. We give them words to send them to the heavenly world.”
“Request that you stop explaining. You carry a low degree of trust.”
The priests frowned. Even that was very similar between them.
“Communal and without exception do not fit here. Words to offer to the deceased should all be different based on the individual. Your actions are not prayer.”
“Wh…”
“At…?
“It is judged that what you perform is an imitation of prayer.”
The two priests glared at Qualia, and looked further back into the store.
Qualia read the patterns of hostility and bloodlust in them.
“…I see. I understand.”
“…I see. I accept.”
“Is this store a gathering place for heretics?”
“Is this store a hell where traitors gather?”
“Crime. Sin.”
“Punishment. Sentence.”
“The store burning was not enough.”
“Burning the flowers will do.”
“In the name of the Fair Skies Church.”
“As Lord Ubiquitous wills it… Double Incident!”
A red magic circle appeared underneath Damon, and an intensely hot pillar of fire surrounded him.
The bursting flames gradually contracted, and gathered in his arms. He was unharmed, but a scorching heat that seemed to be from another dimension covered his arms from the shoulder down.
Touching it would not burn, or even turn something to ashes.
It would certainly evaporate it.
“Purify, Damon. Along with this foul boy and girl.”
“Purifying, back to sacred ash. Along with the store.”
Damon extended his arms, drawing the sacred flames closer to Qualia and the flowers.
The scarlet fists opened to take everything with them. A single finger would be enough to vaporize Qualia and Ace, let alone the whole fists.
But Qualia was not watching the flames. He watched the flowers on the ground while the light of his 5D printer ran.
“Type SWORD BARRIER MODE.”
Damon looked dumbfounded for the first time.
His flames from another dimension were blocked.
“It can’t be! My Double Incident that rivals even god’s sun…”
The beam activated from the photon weapon erased the flames.
Qualia, the flowers, the ruins of the store… Nothing was burned.
“Gaia.”
“You have been labeled a threat. Neutralizing.”
“Reverse.”
Qualia declared them a threat, and next to him, columns emerged from the ground and dashed.
He judged it to be from the skill of the magic doll known as Ace, and learned where the attack was going.
“Guah.”
“Nuh.”
The tips hit the priests directly, and both hit the wall behind them hard.
The two priests looked as though they were glued to the wall, and Ace frowned as she spoke to them.
“You are wrong. Don’t put fire on the flowers. You should apply water to them through a watering can.”
“Gu… Ha…”
“If you burn the flowers, burn the store, you will burn Ina’s wishes. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
This attack seemed to have finished Damon, who spit blood as he fell to the ground.
Ebiru remained stuck on the wall, silent.
After confirming this, Ace turned to Qualia.
“Threats neutralized.”
“You are wrong. One threat has not been neutralized.”
Ace faced forward again, where Qualia was looking.
Damon’s fire had been extinguished, and his eyes looked blank, but Ebiru was simply quiet.
His consciousness was clear, and he smiled.
“A magic doll of all things… But my body is also special. It is equipped with the exceptional element Steel. It can become even harder than steel.”
The skin they saw through the ripped clothing was silver.
His body was muscular, and was coated with metal through some sort of magic. It boasted good enough defense to withstand even a magic doll’s skill, and it continued to grow as it towered over Qualia and Ace’s.
He placed his palms on the ground, and it cracked, as it did when he stepped forward.
Ebiru had the gentle smile of a priest, but his body was terrifying as he approached.
“In place of my incompetent brother, and in place of our esteemed god, my Silverware will crush both you and what remains of this store.
First, I will take that boy’s haughty head and bring it as close as possible to the ground. Then I will pluck all these weeds. Lastly, I will give my love to that magic doll and offer it to our god, and give my love to that beast girl in the back before puri…”
“Type GUN.”
“Fyi…!?”
The steel did not stop Ebiru’s shoulders from being shot.
To the beams, steel posed as much resistance as a regular body.
“Agah…!?”
Qualia’s optimal solution stayed the same.
Ebiru was about to scream from the pain, but Qualia blocked his mouth with his hand.
“Request that you refrain from raising an alert. Ina is performing the very important activity that is selecting the most optimal flowers. Your static will hinder that.”
“…”
He could not even scream before passing out.
And needless to say, he could not pray to his god either.
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