2.3. Temple Cleaning – The Burden of Proof is on You

A yellow flash tore through the Bishop Dysian.

Flora's face spotted a crooked grin. She had been looking forward to expelling the dolt, but now she felt like a villain for excommunicating him. Or at least for having so much fun doing it.

"I, I, I, " the former bishop mumbled. All pompousness had left him. Only a deflated husk of his former self remained. "I've spent my life serving Evailyn. I don't deserve this."

"You should have done a better job convincing me of your dedication. You have only shown me how uncooperative you are," Flora said icily, but her heart went out to the broken man. She already regretted using her power on him. With a deep breath, she steeled herself.

Feeling calmer, she noticed that besides his attitude and body language, nothing had changed.

Name: Hannes Dysian

Class: Bishop

Level: 1 (250)

Rating: B

RGS: 3

Even his class was still Bishop. Flora didn't know what she had expected, maybe not an "Enemy of Toasters" tattoo on his forehead, but at least something to signal he was no longer part of the church.

Then Dysian began to sob. Nomizo awkwardly patted his back while Zander glowered at Flora. Even the jolly Abbott Irden glanced at her disapprovingly.

"Alright, maybe I botched it up. But if you really have the best interests of Evailyn in your heart, I'm sure she'll take you back when you pray for it." Now, Flora felt not only like a villain but like a supervillain. To distract herself from the misery she had caused, she soldiered on. "However, I wonder why I can't see anything on him about the ex-communication. Or why I can't see to what Goddess the rest of you belongs. Shouldn't you wear at least some logo of the church or something?"

"We stopped wearing the insignia of Evailyn because our esteemed Pope said it would be noninclusive to non-believers… maybe you could explain it better, Pope Razo." Ceart said evenly. However, Flora could feel the spite between the words.

The Pope cleared his throat and held a long-winded speech that Flora's bullshit filter sifted into "Because I wanted".

"Would it be possible for a priest with another faith to wear the holy symbol of Evailyn?" She asked. Razo's flimsy excuse, coupled with him not chanting Evailyns creed, lead Flora to a crazy possibility. What if the Pope himself wasn't part of the church?

"Yes, but you would lose levels in Faith. You can wear an additional insignia to show your respect to another god, but it has to be evident to whom your worship belongs." Irden explained, then he chuckled. "I did some missions together with the lads of Hrana under their banner. I suffered under Faith loss until I covered my breast with Evailyn's symbol. The food was worth it, though. Even their road provisions are excellent."

"Everyone of the clergy should wear Evailyn's insignia," Flora stated. "Of course, we should show off our pride and affiliation. Furthermore, I require proof that you all worship Evailyn."

"Now, you are questioning our faith?" Zander spat.

"I do. It's pretty common to accuse somebody of our own faults. We hate the most in other people what we loathe the most in ourselves. So please prove to me that you are part of the church of Evailyn." Flora smiled wrily. "Hey, Dysian. On the positive side, you already passed this test. I wouldn't have been able to excommunicate you if you were part of another church."

The portly bishop groaned and sat down with his hands covering his face. He didn't seem to appreciate Flora's attempt to lighten the mood, and she didn't fault him.

"So how do we prove our faith?" Nomizo asked. "There are artifacts and high-level skills, but you have to trust us for it."

"It's not easy to remove doubts, ey?" Flora wiggled her eyebrows, satisfied she was on the other end of the stick now. "Divine prayers can't heal robots, right? But with the Multitool Scepter, Believers of Evailyn can. Therefore we use this as a test."

Flora looked through her inventory. She didn't want to destroy toasters or octopussies, which narrowed down her choices to the Blade Roller or turret-traps. After fetching the latter and a Multitool Scepter, she punched the mounting of the guns, breaking it.

Irden took the scepter from her and incanted: "By the grace of the Goddess Evailyn, this little monk begs for health and wellness."

As he repeated the sentence, the barrels of the turret slid into their place, and the mounting assembled. The Globe of Revelation informed Flora that the prayer was called "Healing Mantra".

"Cast Fortification of Faith, Milady!" rang through Flora's mind.

Without questioning Aidan, she cast the spell immediately. A blinding light destroyed her vision.

"What the *bleep*? Sorry for cursing! Oh, not the time for excuses! Burned toast! Dears, what should I do?" Flora rambled and cast Bless and Condemn in panic mode. She couldn't see her health bar, but she felt wrecked like never before.

"Run to the clergy, Milady. Cast Refresh on yourself, then spam Bless and Condemn."

<Refresh>

Flora's vision slowly came back. Now, she could distinguish silhouettes. Sounds of fighting reached her from where the Council had stood, but she could hear yelling from the crowd as well.

<Bless and Condemn>

Flora rounded the central area and reached the clergy. Most of them lay motionless on the floor. Others rubbed their eyes, and some started to sob or scream, noticing the lifeless bodies around them.

<Bless and Condemn>

Horrified, Flora stared at the crowd. "Are they … are they dead?" Dizziness assailed her, and she had to lean on to a nearby column. "Bless and Condemn." She whispered.

"They are defeated. If nobody loots them and you heal them back to full health, you can revive them."

Aidan's words rekindled Flora's spirit.

<Elemental Healing Razor Leaves>!

Flora channeled her most powerful AoE healing into the crowd. Pink cherry blossoms sailed on the clergy and vanished into their body. The spell not only healed directly but also gave the recipients a health over time effect.

More of the novices began to stir and look around.

"The Pope is fighting the council!" a fireling monk cried.

Flora felt powerful magic cast behind her, but she knew it wasn't her battle. Energies like this were way beyond her league. She was sure the Council had removed their limiters and used their full level 250 powers. No regular level 1 area effect could smash her that hard.

"Heal your brothers and sisters! Their life is depending on your effort." Flora shouted and rounded the column to bring it between her and the battle. When she was sure the clergy complied, she asked Aidan for a video feed of the fight.

While still channeling the healing spell, Flora glanced at Aidan's footage. The Paladin Ceart and the Abbott Irden engaged the Pope in melee. A sense of urgency pressed against Flora's mind. She forced her attention away from the astonishingly graceful movements of the big monk and the fluid execution of spells of the other two.

A bit away from the trio, Nomizo waved a scepter, chanting. Flora was unsure of the effects, but her intuition told her the bishop supported the paladin and the abbot.

Dysian stood nearby. His hand clutched a scepter as well, and Flora recognized the shimmer of Fortification of Faith around him. At the moment, all he did was gaping at the battle of his colleagues. His panicked eyes darted between the combatants.

Finally, she spotted Zander. The Metalling had spread her arms, and a golden barrier had formed in front of her. The glowing wall divided the area of the fighting Council and the rest of the clergy.

Flora peeked around the column to get a better look at the barrier. No doubt, the shield protected the low-level novices. Sweat beaded Zander's face, but her arms were steady.

"How long can she hold the barrier? Did the Pope start the fight? Why?" Flora's mind was full of questions, but she forced herself to concentrate. "What is the most important thing? Saving the clergy! If the barrier falls, they are only one AoE spell away from dying."

Almost everyone in the area of Flora's spell had regained consciousness, but she hadn't managed to hit all of the fallen people.

Flora picked three burly looking paladins. "Collect all the bodies in one place, for area healing." She instructed them and then raised her voice. "Everybody who can't heal, evacuate the building. Help your hurt colleagues to leave. Everybody with AoE healing, start casting. Everybody with single target heals, pick the ones with the highest recommended group size."

Flora had issued the last command because she figured they had the highest hitpoints and needed the most healing. She was unsure how much level influenced the size of the HP pool compared to RGS, but she pushed her doubts away. Better to do something than to do nothing.

Several other people joined the three paladins, and they laid out a sizeable group of unconscious bodies. The rows of deathly pale novices and harried helpers looked like a mass burial ceremony.

Flora shuddered because of the macabre sight. Forcing herself to focus, she relocated her healing leaves to the center of the group and positioned herself on the outskirts where she caught the effect of her own spell. Her HP bar was only at 30 percent even after the healing spells she had cast.

Now, the monks started chanting, and she heard the familiar phrase "Bless and Condemn" from the crowd. The healing energies thickened around the fallen.

More people awakened, and helpers lead them away while their place got filled with a new bodys.

Flora saw Deriga organizing the crowd and instantly felt better.

"How much time left until their death is permanent?"

"20 seconds, Milady."

"Will they revive in the Loser's Corner?"

"Unlikely."

While still channeling, Flora opened the diagram of Elemental Healing Razor Leaves. "There has to be a possibility to increase the radius or the effect." She mumbled as she scrutinized the matrix.

"Yes, Milady. With Modifying Graphs, also called Morphs, you can change the spell."

"I remember, I used one for converting mana into a reduced cooldown. We have to learn more Morphs. Write it on the to-do list, dear. For now, I'll just pump more mana into the spell."

The spell matrix was already active in Flora's mind. Mana flowed through the elaborate lines, and streamed to the focal point, the Wavering Wave Ring. Flora pushed more mana into the construct. The intricate diagram vibrated under stress, but Flora held it together through sheer force of will.

"It's working, Milady. But you are using four times the amount of mana just for doubling the effect. Your mana reserves will run out in four seconds."

The pink color of the pedals had deepened, and more people awakened. Novices continued to lead them away, but now their spots stayed empty. Ten fallen remained.

A short glance around revealed that Zander was shaking, and too many idling clergy members stood around. Some were in emotional turmoil or gawked at the fight. Flora understood the difficulty in coping with the situation. Her mind was jumbled, too. Nonetheless, it frustrated her that they risked their lives.

"Evacuate!" Flora urged the lingering crowd through her clenched jaw. The difference between controlling a regular spell and the hypercharged spell was the same as between picking up a willing cat for petting and picking up an unwilling cat for a bath.

Although Flora drank a mana potion, her reserves ran dry. She wrested mana from her battery and cast Refresh again. Everything went into another overcharged Healing Razor Leaves.

With every point of Flora's mana spend, only two people remained unconscious. Thankfully, a nun and a paladin had a bit of juice left and continued tending them while carrying them outside.

Flora recognized the guard Tali ushering the clergy out the door.

"Take three people you trust and guard the office of the Pope. Let nobody in but me." Flora instructed him. Silently, she added to Aidan. "Strip Razo and Dysian of network access or at least take their rights away."

The muted sounds of the fight got replaced by booming noises. Zander's barrier had fallen.