Kalanfu'er, Church.
Holy beams that lit countless motes of fine dust spilled down from the dome above the hall; the magnificent Stained Glass Windows painted with images of saints refracted mottled colors through the air.
Sacred, silent.
A priest dressed in judge-like robes stood upon the altar.
His eyelids were lowered, his lips moving faintly.
The golden Sun Holy Emblem hanging from the crimson silk at his chest flickered with a faint glow under the sunlight.
"Sir, the negative energy inside that merchant's body has dissipated."
Below the steps, a nun in equally solemn attire reported in a low voice.
The priest slowly opened his eyes. There was not the slightest ripple on that kindly, benevolent face.
He lifted his head slightly, and in his aged, tranquil pupils was reflected the figure of the lord he devoutly believed in, upon the glass Stained Glass Window.
"Let him go."
His steady, uninflected voice echoed faintly through the vast hall.
"Yes."
The nun's light footsteps vanished at the end of the side corridor.
The air seemed to fall silent once more.
"Cough, cough—"
A cough carrying the scent of decay rang out abruptly inside the Church.
At the overlapping boundary of towering columns and bright light, beneath the only patch of shadow in the entire hall, a thin, aged figure struggled up from a cold pew.
On cheeks wrinkled and mottled with age spots like rough tree bark, there was a strange smile.
"Failed?"
His lips, bloodless and covered in dead skin, opened and closed lightly, and a hoarse, deep voice sounded in the air.
"The merciful and great Lord spreads radiance upon the world. Sacred rules cannot be trampled upon, and order should be followed."
"Heh."
A laugh of ambiguous meaning rang out harshly.
The old man opened his one remaining