Flor's face was pale, whether from pain or fear, no one knew.
His lips trembled as he stammered carefully, "I... I'll answer! Legend says the Holy Lord brought light and warmth, driving away poverty and fear, protecting us from the monsters lurking in the darkness...
"He gave us the prophecy of Judgment Day. When that day came, the temple would collapse, and the dead would bury their dead..."
The first half resembled Father Rachi's account, but the latter half was new information. Asakura Yuko keenly caught the key words and asked, "How did the Holy Lord drive away poverty and fear? What exactly is 'Judgment Day'? And what does 'the dead will bury their dead' mean?"
Flor said, "The Holy Lord transformed His authority into food and let us share it. We ate the golden leaves He bestowed upon us, and from then on, we no longer felt hunger. Nonfatal wounds healed quickly, and the priests said we were the people closest to God.
"However, gifts come at a price. The prophet said that only by preserving the purity of our faith would the Holy Lord continue to protect us. But for some reason, there have been more and more heretics in the city, and we have never been able to stop them from growing stronger. The Lord is angry. He is about to withdraw His protection and drive us out of the promised land.
"When He no longer protects us, night arrives. All sorts of unspeakable dangers lurk within the night, tempting us into corruption and taking our lives. All who die gather in the graveyard, and the dead of old take shovels to bury the newly dead... These days, the nights have been getting longer and longer."
In reality, "Judgment Day" was nothing more than rhetoric used by