Blessing or a Curse

The head priest smirked.

Before Lumi could even do anything, the head priest used his divine power on her, which she easily deflected with her own divine power. The gleam of golden light was gone in a flash, like two stars colliding into dust.

"There is no place for you in the normal world, Child." The head priest uttered. Although he was an old man, he was powerful and intimidating. His presence alone was a symbol of power in the temple.

Lumi, at that very moment, knew it was futile to use her divine power on the head priest. He was her teacher, after all. Everything she knows, he already knew.

"You are this temple's catalyst." He said, standing up as he looked down at her. "You belong here, and only here."

The head priest then lifted his hand, which then summoned the Templars—the knights of the temple. They surrounded Lumi; swords and spears pointed at her.

Lumi chewed on her bottom lip as she remembered the holy cell where she lived for 10 years. It had no window, but it was filled and adorned with decorations that speak beauty and elegance. It had theology books, flowers, a comfortable bed, and the statue of the Goddess Herself.

They told her it was where the goddess confined herself at the brisk of temptation.

But for Lumi, it was nothing but a meticulously designed cage.

"Take her back to her cell." The head priest ordered; voice cold like the breeze of the night. The word 'cell' alone made her blood boil.

"Now!" The head priest repeated with a glare to the templars before he turned away from Lumi.

"I am not going back to that place again!" Lumi spat, and without hesitation, she charged at the head priest and lunged her dagger mid-air, where it was able to graze the old man's shoulder.

The head priest barely dodged her attack. With brows furrowed from both surprise and annoyance, he slowly backed away from Lumi as the templars surrounded her.

"That place? That is the blessed cell of the Goddess, Child!" The head priest said as he watched Lumi be seized by the templars.

"Let me go! Let me go!!!"

"Foolish girl…" The head priest murmured as he pressed his palm against his wound.

Lumi struggled. She was given the opportunity of a lifetime. The temple was terrorized by an unknown individual, and it allowed for her escape. An opportunity to leave. Be it a blessing from the Goddess or a curse from the Devil himself, she doesn't care.

She cannot waste this opportunity given to her. She had to escape no matter what!

The head priest then ambled his way forward, glowering at her.

"Those explosions, how were you able to do them?" The head priest asked. "Who is the traitor that you have conspired with!?"

Lumi laughed.

"YOU THINK I DID IT?"

The priest's eyes widened, but before he could speak, another explosion sufficed from above, which then destroyed the roof of the Hechal and shook the ground. Lumi used this chance to escape from the templar's grip. She ran towards the sword a knight dropped and then charged at once at the head priest who was disoriented.

But then—

A cloaked person fell from the sky and landed in front of the head priest, stopping Lumi from stabbing the old man. The person who appeared was clad in a tattered black cloak, and he towered over Lumi as he blocked the moonlight.

With a swift motion, the unknown person dashed towards the head priest and drew his greatsword, which was almost the size of Lumi's frame.

"Where is the numen of the Fallen God?" The mysterious person, who was clearly a man, asked as he pointed his large blade at the head priest.

"Who are y—" The head priest blinked as he realized the gravity of the situation. The man's blade felt ominous as its tip grazed the skin of his neck.

And at this point, there was no time to question anything or anyone. "What are you all stalling for? Get him!" The head priest exclaimed.

Lumi watched as the knights got preoccupied with stopping the man who suddenly ambushed them.

The man easily lunged off the templars one after another, throwing them mid-air as they fell to the ground. Several templars were slammed to the wall, which caused them to fall like ragged dolls to the ground. The remaining templars tried to resist and fight him, but the man swung his claymore, rendering them useless.

Lumi bit her lips as she tightened her grip around the sword, realizing the power the mysterious man has.

This was an opportunity.

A blessing.

A curse.

Her next actions will decide her fate once and for all.

Lumi then ran to attack the head priest and pointed her sword against his neck.

"Talk or I'll tell him about the numen!"

"Lumi… you foolish girl…!" The head priest angrily retorted as he glared at Lumi. "How can you do this to us!"

Lumi saw this as the only chance she could ever get.

She lifted her head to look at the man, whose cold unfeeling gaze she had felt ever since she dashed to attack.

"I know where the numen is!" She said. "I will help you, in exchange, you have to help me get back to my family—"

"No—!" The head priest used his divine power to inflict damage directed toward Lumi.

Lumi's eyes widened, too late to anticipate the blow, but then instead of getting hit—

The cloaked man shielded her, his dark greatsword absorbing the gleam of divine power from the attack of the head priest.

The hood of his cloak fell down from the sudden wave of divine power, revealing his face.

Lumi lifted her gaze once more to the man towering above her. The man had pitch-black hair and cold, grey eyes. His eyes—they were empty, like that of a dead man's.

"Now tell me," he said rather dangerously. "Where is the numen of the Fallen God?"