The iron gates of the Salvation Temple groaned as they were torn open by rusted farm tools and blood-soaked fists. The fog that had clung to the village followed them here, crawling across the marble stairs like a feral beast. Felix stood at the front, his robe discarded, his body slick with sweat and dried blood, the green shimmer of his eyes pulsing in the gloom.
Behind him marched an army of the broken made whole—men and women who days ago couldn't stand, now running with sharpened axes, kitchen knives, and crude hammers. Their skin glistened with vitality, their plague scars healed, but their souls had turned dark. A thousand whispers of Demise echoed from their mouths like prayer.
The temple courtyard lit up with a blinding flash as the first of the lower clergy emerged from behind the white stone pillars, wielding staffs etched with golden runes. Light burst from their fingertips—raw, searing magic fueled by their so-called divine faith.
"Stop this madness!" one of them shouted, his voice cracking. "You serve a demonic spirit imitating a false god! You are already cursed, stop this act of heresy!"
But the villagers did not falter.
A blast of white fire struck a man in the chest, burning through his ribs and knocking him into the dirt—but he did not rise again, coughing blood and screaming. His flesh tried to stitch itself together but the fire kept burning at his body, eating away the bacteria that regenerating him.
Another woman was struck across the arm, the limb falling limp and torn—but it wriggled, twitched, and grew anew. Only the head or heart could end them now. They knew this instinctively, as if Demise himself whispered the method of survival into their marrow.
Felix leapt first. He brought a sharpened blade down on the neck of a priest, cleaving through flesh and bone. The man screamed as the greenish glow from Felix's eyes flared again, and within seconds, three more novice priests were dead at his feet.
The divine magic cracked against the walls. Bolts of light carved gashes into the stone, and briefly, it seemed like the villagers might falter under the holy storm.
Then the higher-ranking members of the Temple stepped forward—cloaked in pristine robes, their faces veiled, their presence overwhelming. They raised their hands, and from their palms came torrents of celestial fire.
One big magical rune was raised in front of the church members, and the flames burst ahead of them.
Dozens of villagers were reduced to ash in seconds. Screams filled the air. Limbs flew. Bones shattered. The street was painted red.
Felix turned, horrified, just in time to see a bolt of light strike him square in the chest. The world went white for a moment as his body was flung backward, crashing into a column. Pain coursed through him, and his limbs twitched.
"Where did you get this power?" one of the high clerics barked, stepping toward him. "What unholy powers have you people tampered with?"
Felix tried to speak in defiance but only blood came out. He slumped forward.
Around him, the villagers were dying. Their bodies—once made strong—twitched and collapsed. The bacteria within them dissipated into the air like smoke, the greenish haze abandoning them, spiraling skyward.
And all of it went to one place.
Xiang Zainan felt it all at once.
The rush of spirituality was a roar in his ears—a tide of green mist flooding through his incorporeal veins. Dozens of deaths, dozens of souls, all funneled into him like wine through a crack in the world.
He rose from the graveyard soil, finally ready for the moment where he would take the center stage on the battlefield.
When Xiang Zainan had gotten to the edge of the carcass field, back at the Salvation Church, numerous bodies of the dead villagers started to deform and become a puddle of dark red blood with hints of flesh and traces of black liquid.
The edge of the huge puddle of suddenly ignited with green flames and crackled as Xiang Zainan sent his own life essence to it.
From the edge of the Temple grounds, he appeared—a storm of writhing shadows. His form was indescribable, a seething mass of spiritual energy in the form of a contorted blob. His spirituality slowly started to recover though, and then take the form of a humanoid mass again.
He began to discretely attack the clergyman one by one. When one church member started to rest for a few seconds, he watched horrified as a massive hole was struck in his stomach from nowhere.
Another clergyman was surrounded by ten villagers all fighting ferociously but still losing. "Divine Light Magic: Body of -"
'That wont be necessary.'
Just as he was about to finish his chant, his body convulsed and grew to the size of an elephant, just to disperse and blow up sending pieces of flesh, brain, and fecal matter everywhere.
He had tried to just use his bacteria to infiltrate the bodies of all the clergyman, but he found if their Spirituality was at least half of his, then his bacteria could not go into their bodies.
With Xiang Zainan's appearance to the Temple, millions of airborne bacteria and pathogens showed up with him, with both the people of the temple and the villagers inhaling them in.
Seeing this, the remaining Salvation Sect members knew something was amiss and began to chant the incantation to see that which cannot be seen. "Provide us with sight against evil so that nothing goes unseen, Divine Light Magic: Blessed Eyes"
But this action ultimately led to their undoing.
This spell gave them sight against anything that the human eye could not see: emotions, magic power, and a creature's Life Essence. In this case, they saw the true form of Xiang Zainan's life essence.
The remaining clergy staggered back, horrified at the atrocity that had shown up. One of the female priests dressed in a shorter robe with battle armor shouted at the top of her lungs.
"What these wretched people now serve is no God, but an evil spirit. The village has fallen under control of an Evil Spirit!"
Hearing this, the resolve of the other priests strengthened, but the appearance of this monstrosity still made some of them want to go home and cry to their mothers.
His appearance in their eyes could only be described as a monster. To them, his form was constantly shifting inside his humanoid mass of spirituality. Mutated crows, dead human corpses, faces of animal carcasses, and writhing flesh all appeared inside of Xiang Zainan, although he himself could not see this.
Just looking at him felt like death.
Seeing that these people could finally look at him, Xiang started to act.
Thunderclaps could be heard everywhere as if the sounds were reverberating off of anything present. With those thunderclaps, also came the low cawing of crows. They seemed to be coming from every cardinal direction.
'I have always been one for theatrics, so I think it's the right time to introduce myself once and for all in person.'
A great flock of one-hundred crows descended in spirals, circling the battlefield like a ritual. Their eyes glowed a malicious dark green. Their mouths all suddenly opened, to let out a terrifying screech that could burst eardrums at close range.
"HWWWAAAACCCCC"
Hearing this, all the priests who were dealing with the villagers finished up incapacitating them, and hurried to the other priest's sides right in front of Xiang Zainan. Right now, there were a total of twelve priests standing firm and ready to confront him.
Six were assistant priests, four were regular priests, and two were at the position of high priests. The powers they gained from the scriptures were limited to what rank of priest they were. Though it is possible to break through to the next rank during battle, it is usually only done through praying or worshiping for a certain number of times, and the resolve of one's own belief.
He suddenly raised his incorporeal hand, and bacteria and germs in the air all began to surge at one point in front of him. A four meter long spear made of what looked to be black flesh and writing small green tendrils, appeared directly in front of him.
The spear hummed with power as it started vibrate rapidly, taking in the spirituality that Xiang Zainan was entering into it.
As soon as the priests had seen the spear even begin to form, one of them took the lead and chanted another magical scripture, activating another divine ability. This time, the middle-aged man picked up a discarded sword, cut his hand and spilled the blood on top it in one swift motion.
The sword started to thrum with magical energy as the priest spoke the incantation for his spell.
"The Lord is my light in the darkness, my shield against evil, and my spear to persecute the wicked. Divine Light Magic: Spear of Salvation!"
The sword lifted out of his hand, and instantly became swallowed in white flames. The flames expanded and molded into the form of a three meter long spear made entirely of bright white fire that could blind the naked eye.
It appeared as if God's own vengeance had taken the form of that spear to punish the evil spirit in front of it.
'Fighting fire with fire or in this case, spear with spear. Excellent, This provides the perfect opportunity to see how I compare with the people in this world in terms of raw strength.'
The moment the priest's spear finished charging up, it went flying at Xiang Zainan not a second after Xiang sent his. Both spears collided in a second, and a miniature shock wave exploded across the grounds.
The white fire spear burst forth with intensity as it began burning at the bacterial weapon, causing it to completely dissipate and go flying at Xiang Zainan.
'I should have expected this. Whatever power it is that these priests wield - has obviously had a special effect on my bacteria this entire time. No matter'
When the burning spear entered into a range of one meter, it again collided with an opposing force. But this time, it wasn't another weapon or bacteria, but Xiang Zainan's own telekenetic power. Albeit a much stronger version.
He had given up half of the range for his normal control, for a stronger effect. He called this newer version 'Spiritual Pressure'.
Xiang Zainan's spiritual pressure fought with the middle-priest for control over the flaming spear. This lasted for what felt like hours in just a span of a few seconds.
Ultimately, however, Xiang Zainan had won.
The spear immediately changed trajectories and did a full 180-degree turn. It was sent flying with a sonic boom straight into the priest's abdomen before he even had a chance to react. The white fire immediately started burning the man's body and before anyone knew it, he had become a charred corpse.
But the two high priests still stood. And three of the assistant leaders stepped forward, trembling, but not broken. They drew blades glowing with divine runes and pointed them at the plague god.
"In the name of the Great God of Salvation," one whispered, "we shall vanquish you."
They charged.
Three assistant priests, second only to the High Priests and then the Temple leader.
The first priest, Asteros, emerged from the shattered remnants of the inner sanctum, his towering form casting a long shadow across the blood-slicked tiles of the desecrated temple. He is actually above the rank of priest - almost being at high priest. But he said his duty in life was to serve, not become the one who was served.
Asteros stood at an unnatural height—three meters tall—strong and imposing. Despite the faint tremble in his hands, he held his staff high, and it pulsed with searing divine light. Glyphs engraved into the wood flared alive, glowing with the full blessing of the ancient God of Salvation.
"You—thing," Asteros growled, his voice deep and dry like gravel. "You dare profane this sanctuary with rot and blasphemy?"
Across the altar, Xiang Zainan hovered, a swirling storm of dark green mist. Hollow eye sockets glowed faintly from within his spiritual shell. Even though he had no facial expression, using the blessed eye spells, the priests could clear see that his emotion was one of malevolence.
Asteros took a step forward, staff striking the ground with a thunderous crack that echoed through the collapsing chapel. Then he roared:
"By the flame that purifies! By the light that heals! I cast thee down!Divine Light Magic—Holy Light!"
A spear of radiant energy surged from his staff—blindingly bright, a condensed shaft of judgment wrapped in angelic hymns. It lanced through the air and struck Xiang Zainan's form dead center. The explosion that followed shattered nearby stained-glass windows, bathing the battlefield in multicolored shards of light.
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then the light peeled away like wet paper, revealing Zainan's warped form undisturbed—shifting, undulating, then reforming into perfect clarity.
Asteros' brows knit together in grim determination. "You won't be able to keep regenerating your life essence for long, but I doubt you can even fathom what I'm saying anyways."
Before he could speak another word, a second voice rang out from behind him.
Thalia, the second assistant priest, stepped forward with fury burning in her violet eyes. She was young, barely thirty winters, her armor stained with soot and blood. Her short, fiery red hair blew wildly around her as the energy around her ignited in a halo of light.
"In the name of the God of Salvation, and by His Radiance—BE CLEANSED!"
She raised both hands high as wind howled around her and thunder growled from the heavens. A magic circle appeared from beneath her feet crackling with ambient energy.
"DIE BITCH"
She slammed her palms together.
A vortex of radiant lightning exploded from her body. Bolts of blue and white shot through the air, cracking and splitting the very stone beneath them. The spell converged into a massive chain of divine electricity that struck Xiang Zainan mid-hover with earth-shattering force.
His figure contorted, but in something like amusement—as his form was sent hurtling through the air, slamming into the far wall with enough force to leave a crater.
Smoke rose. The green mist dissipated.
A moment passed, and Thalia dared to lower her hands, breathing heavily. "That was all of my power. I cannot generate any more scriptures for the time being, but at least the bastard's dead."
As if she jinxed it, a gurgling sound echoed from the rubble.
Then it came—a sound like bone grinding against bone, wet and meaty, unnatural and wrong.
From the smoke slithered a vast, shifting shape.
It was Xiang Zainan, but no longer human-shaped or. He had twisted his spiritual form into a grotesque dragon-like horror. Gathering the bacteria and flesh from the villagers corpses to encompass his figure.
He was now the size of a carriage, made entirely of decaying flesh, shattered bones, and dark pulsing membranes of bacteria. His entire figure kept squirming as if each individual cell was alive and trying to escape.
On his head were three green eyes, and two white horns with black tendrils covering them.
His mouth opened—not to roar, but to laugh, a chorus of dead voices echoing through the chamber.
"Then cleanse this, priestess."
He exhaled a strong sonic beam of virulent green light. It was not magic, but a direct concentration of his spirituality he launched as a condensed plague. It screamed through the air like a banshee.
Thalia raised her arms in defense, trying to muster up any magic power to cast the defense scripture.
But it wasn't enough.
The beam collided.
Her arms shattered instantly.
Her arms shattered instantly. With her armor corroding in seconds, blackening and peeling away as her skin blistered, cracked, and vaporized. Her scream was brief—mercifully brief.
Then she was gone.
Nothing remained but a smoking, collapsed heap of robes and charred flesh.
Her holy light was extinguished.
Xiang Zainan stopped firing, his laughter fading into a cruel silence as his gaze returned to Asteros.
"One left," he hissed.
Asteros looked down at Thalia's remains, eyes quivering with fury and confusion. This was an Evil spirit yet it engaged in banter with Thalia, not just acting on impulse to dominate and destroy. It seems the Salvation Church's teachings were wrong.
"She was my student," he whispered, voice low and deadly.
He raised his staff again, divine white flames beginning to bloom along its shaft.
"Do not worry, for you shall join her shortly."