(City of Galrannor)

(Local Temple Of The Varion Church)

The city was in chaos.

Elisa quietly stared out of a window and saw countless fires in the distance. Loud screams and the sounds of intense fighting could be heard.

Claire had left the church two days ago and still had not returned.

Cough! Cough!

The former saintess knelt down in pain as a series of violent coughs ravaged her already thin and frail body.

She hadn’t slept properly since Claire’s disappearance.

A shadow fell across Elisa’s face as she stared at the flecks of blood that landed on her palm.

The ability to use both holy and black magic came with a tremendous price.

Elves were an unusually long-lived species, but Elisa’s lifespan would be no longer than that of an average human.

But she had never once hesitated to go down this path.

In order to infiltrate the Varion Church, Elisa was prepared to do anything.

Her people needed the strength to compete with humanity or else what awaited them was slavery and destruction.

Elisa closed her eyes and stretched out her right hand towards the nearest wall.

She rotated her palm clockwise and then counterclockwise as she muttered a few incomprehensible words.

A beam of dark energy burst out of her right palm that filled the room with an aura of death and decay.

“Nerium vontains eprer nrhe!” Elisa chanted quietly.

A portal made completely out of darkness appeared on the wall.

One solitary figure strode out of the portal and dropped to his knees as he approached the dark elf princess.

He was an inhumanly beautiful dark elf man who wore a simple brown cloak that covered most of his body.

“My princess… I have come with a report,” the dark elf spoke respectfully.

He did not even dare to raise his head and meet Elisa’s eyes as the princess’ fierce reputation was well known.

“Speak,” Elisa whispered coldly as she moved over to a nearby chair and sat down.

The dark elf scout cleared his throat nervously as a terrible chill descended on the room. He could feel frost begin to form on his legs.

There was something about Elisa that even her fellow dark elves both feared and admired.

It was her power.

She was the most talented black mage since the ancient era when their forefathers ruled the continent.

The dark elf wiped the beads of sweat that had begun to form on his brow and then spoke,

“The heads of three of the major crime families have all been killed. In addition, several high-profile members of the underworld have also been found dead.”

“The city is in a complete panic. The holy paladin who accompanied you has now been confirmed to be a tier one knight.”

“No one can stop her murderous rampage. Opinions differ on her actions, but most believe that she has been sent by the pope to clean up the city.”

“Dark forces have tried to kill her, but no one has succeeded.”

“Some gangs have even decided to flee the city overnight.”

Elisa leaned forward and listened carefully to the report given by the dark elf scout. This was beyond her expectations.

Her original plan was to quietly lay a curse connected to the surviving children that would punish the ones who abused them.

But Claire had gone a step above.

She was singlehandedly fighting a war against the major crime families….

And winning.

She was a tier one knight?

This was bad news for the foreign races as every tier one powerhouse was equivalent to a one- man army.

No… Claire was not just a normal tier one knight. Elisa had never seen a tier one knight with two translucent wings on her back or eyes that shone with a golden luster.

What should she do?

Elisa maintained her cold expression, but numerous thoughts were running across her mind.

For once the princess who prided herself on her ability to rationally plan and strategize was at a complete loss.

No… she needed to see her.

It was undoubtedly a foolish decision, but Elisa felt as though her mind was suddenly clear.

Listening to reports was one matter but seeing Claire with her own two eyes would help her to get a better judgement on the situation.

“Do you know her current location?” Elisa asked calmly.

“Her actions have been rather high profile so it will be easy to track her down,” the dark elf scout quickly replied.

“She was last seen at…”

.

.

.

.

(Headquarters Of The Merisa Family)

(Unnamed Alleyway)

I have to keep moving!

A woman dashed frantically through an empty street as the sounds of fighting got louder and louder.

She wore an expensive green dress that had been stained with blood, mud and filth. Her once proud appearance now resembled a frightened beggar.

She appeared to be in her early twenties but there was an aura of ruthlessness surrounding her body.

Lisa Merisa was the successor to the Merisa Family and had spent most of her life surrounded by wealth and power.

But now… she was no better than a rat fleeing from the cat that chased her down.

Lisa’s hands trembled slightly when she recalled the death of her father.

A beautiful short-haired woman wearing the white armour of the Varion Church flew down from the skies.

Her father summoned his personal guard to stop her, but their swords shattered against her impenetrable flesh.

With one casual swing of her sword, the monster cut her father’s body into two pieces that crashed lifelessly to the ground.

In the ensuring chaos, Lisa had taken the opportunity to escape but she knew that the danger was far from over.

The holy knight who had killed her father spoke about his sins and a place that she was very familiar with flashed across her mind.

The local temple of the Varion Church.

Lisa like many of her peers enjoyed the feeling of toying with those who were weaker than them.

Father Simon ran an operation out of the local temple where he would provide young children for the underworld bosses to play with.

Lisa did visit the church a few times to torture the girls whom she felt were slightly prettier than herself.

But she didn’t do anything else!

Fear gripped Lisa’s heart as she saw a large shadow loom over her body.

The angel of death had arrived.

“Please… I can give you anything! Money! Power! Slaves!” Lisa shouted loudly as she desperately pleaded for her life.

The few gangsters that were out on the streets immediately fled the scene when they saw who was chasing down the former heiress of the Merisa Family.

“I can donate! I can change! Doesn’t the Varion Church preach about forgiveness?” Lisa hurriedly yelled in fear.

“I will repent! I will repent! I will repe…”

Her voice trailed off as Claire’s sword pierced through her throat and neatly lopped off her head.

The holy knight stood silently over the corpse as the last golden thread connected to her body slowly disappeared.

Two days.

It had only taken her two days to hunt down every single sinner who defiled the Varion Church with their filthy desires.

Claire’s eyes shone eerily in the darkness as the power began to whisper once more in her mind.

This was just the beginning…

Why stop here?

New golden threads flowed out of Claire’s body and this time they did not stop in the hundreds but kept going…

Hundreds… no thousands… no millions…

Claire gripped her longsword as countless faces and location flashed across her mind.

From the most damning sins of murder, sexual abuse and assault to the lighter sins of thievery, bribery and lying.

They were all guilty.

She would hunt them down…

She would kill them all…

“Claire?” a quiet voice called out and interrupted the holy knight’s murderous thoughts.

Elisa stepped out from behind the shadow of a nearby building and approached the holy knight whose white armour was covered in blood.

Claire turned around and stared at the approaching former saintess with eyes that glowed with purity and righteousness.

An unknown force gripped her body and forced her to move like a puppet dancing on a string.

A small voice was screaming at her to stop but Claire walked towards Elisa with slow purposeful steps.

Words flowed out of Claire’s mouth as she fell under the influence of the mysterious power that controlled her body.

“I see you… I see what you really are…”

“Dark elf.”