Disciplinary Priest, Part One (The Theocracy Arc Begins)

They had thought they had already defeated Beasts One through Six, but—

The appearance of the "weakest" Beast, the seventh, changed everything.

"I'll drive every Beast back into hell, then defeat you as well, Beast VII..."

Author's Note:

--

This interlude only explains the background and plants a few seeds.

The next chapter returns to Aya's story.

Commandment Priest, Part 1 (Theocracy Arc Begins)

Tonight's darkness was as hard as iron.

The small town built of red bricks and tiles was as peaceful as ever. Night shrouded the streets around the castle, while Gothic spires pierced straight into the clouds.

This was a church. Every town in the Slane Theocracy had one, and its scale depended on the size of the town. This was a medium-sized border town, so its church was fairly imposing.

The Slane Theocracy was a religious nation where church and state were one. The nation's leader was also the leader of its religion, and the stability and unity of religious faith were the most important matters to the Theocracy—the foundation upon which the nation stood.

Therefore, every town had a church, and every church had its own priests and clerics. The church's clerics answered directly to the Theocracy's temples and were not under the jurisdiction of political institutions. While handling the town's medical needs, they also bore the duty of maintaining religious faith.

A pitch-black carriage stopped in the square before the church, and a man stepped down from it.

He was around fifty years old. His resolute face bore many wrinkles, and the hard lines of his features carried the weathered traces of years spent in wind and sand. Dust clung to his gray-white cropped hair. He wore a somewhat faded black robe, cradling a battered, parchment-bound Old Testament in his left arm, while his