The Holy Trials 4

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

#####

'I feel like an idiot,' Adam thought.

During Adam's confinement in a cell, he realized he had been too quick to conclude that the woman in the air was an angel. Though not a divine agent of the Lord as he imagined, she possessed an enormous amount of holy energy that seemed endless. Accordingly, God must have blessed her with her immense ability.

As a way to verify whether she was really what he thought she was, Adam only used his skill 'Truth' on her, ready to apologize if, as a result, she was angry or disappointed by him having to confirm something that seemed obvious.

However, she not only did not realize his actions, but her status also caused him to reconsider his initial impression of her.

Tanya von Degurechaff

Race: Human

Level: 26

Faith: 0%

Impurity: 33%

STR: 140

CON: 98

DEX: 113

INT: 248

WIS: 253

CHA: 85

Adam believed it was impossible for a being as refined and holy as an angel to be impure in any way. He was also unsure what to make of the number indicating her faith in the Lord.

Having so much holy energy but not acknowledging God left him torn between admiration and fury.

But in the end, Tanya's status showed that her race was human, which proved to be the strongest argument against his theory.

Despite the absurd amount of holy energy her body contained, Tanya von Degurechaff was a human, just like him, and while she was of course gifted by the Lord, she was not the perfect holy being that he believed her to be.

Furthermore, Tanya von Degurechaff was not consistent... churchlike in her behavior. Obviously, she was not a member of the Church since she informed Adam that she was part of the military of the Empire.

There were not any Church members who could engage in military conflicts between countries, much less serve in the military chain of one.

As a result, Adam's initial impressions of the woman were proven to be inaccurate.

In any case, her actions wouldn't stop Adam from asking her some questions.

It was in his interest to cooperate with her since he had no idea what the stakes of the conflict would be. The decision to rush into battle with very limited knowledge turned out to be a bad one.

Having found little useful information or clues in the diary, Adam decided he needed to talk to people who were alive and who were clearly engaged in the battle—but he did not realize he would be taken into custody the moment he crossed into the conflict.

Being a member of the church might allow him some wiggle room in getting what he wanted from them since the Empire seemed to be a highly religious state. Having no desire to be included in the fighting between these two sides—or more—he would leave as soon as he was permitted to.

A hostile stance toward either of those parties would be stupid in such a situation.

His targets were the abominations that were created from the dead bodies of the fallen soldiers. His involvement in the war would not result in anything good, as his alliance with either of these groups might lead to the belief that this world's Church was involved in the war—something he wasn't aware of.

In his mind, an additional point of contention was whether this world's Church might contradict his own. Then he wasn't sure whom he would follow if that were the case.

The knowledge he had a way to follow the right path through his Sacred Gear gave Adam comfort or at least kept him hopeful.

As the Church member waited for someone to visit him, he heard the footsteps growing closer to him. Having revealed his origins as an exorcist, he had been waiting for release ever since. Though he was merely trained by a retired exorcist, he was not about to tell them about the lack of difference between his official position in the Church and someone who would pray each Sunday.

Ultimately, he could only become a member of the Church after completing the challenges of the Holy Trial.

This fact would probably prevent Adam from finding out any crucial details about the catastrophe.

He was approached by a burly man in front of his cell. There was no equipment in the room to render it meaningful as a prison cell, as it was an odd-shaped room. The Church member figured that having proper cells would not be in the Empire's priorities, though, if the outbreak of zombies was as widespread as he had thought.

Tanya's uniform was the same as that of the soldier in question, only more embellished and less clean.

"Adam, is that correct?" he asked in a hoarse, somewhat tense voice, more to his own ears than to Adam.

"Indeed."

"I have been instructed to bring you immediately to Captain Degurechaff. If you would?" he asked, his tone respectful, which moderately confused the members of the Church.

As Tanya's man unlocked the door, he motioned to Adam to follow him and stepped to the side. It was incredibly unnatural for an imperial soldier to show such courtesy to a prisoner, especially one the people in charge knew nothing about. Adam chose to put these thoughts to the side for now and stood up.

Shaking off his clothes, he tried to remove the dirt and dust that had accumulated on his journey to this room, and his heart sank when he realized that his clothes could not be saved.

Walking in the underground of the small settlement where Tanya founded her base, Adam asked, "Am I being released because I'm a member of the church."

"Captain Degurechaff confirmed the emblem you gave us, and since she is a member of the Church, it is safe to assume that she might have asked me to retrieve you respectfully because she understands the importance of the symbol. Nevertheless, the captain has a history of surprising us many times in the past, so I cannot confirm that for you."

A few seconds passed as Adam's thoughts paused.

'What ties does Tanya have with the Church?' Before he could say anything more, he remembered her status, showing zero faith and a high impurity rating. As Adam clenched his fist, he realized the person he had thought was an angel had actually been an infidel.

'It seems that my mission is not only to cleanse the world from zombies but to also hunt down heretics, too,' said Adam, his eyes hardening as his determination grew.

"I see," he responded coldly. Though Tanya's man seemed to notice it, he did not take offense. After being in jail, Adam would have no doubt been ruffled by the experience, so he brushed it off.

Unexpectedly, Tanya's office was situated underground, not too far from the cells. As they approached the room where Captain Degurechaff was, the strange and unpleasant smell of the cells gradually dissipated.

In the underground, candles provided the only source of light in the office. When Adam walked into the room, he was slightly overwhelmed by the smell of wax, but the smell soon subsided.

Several papers were on the desk and Tanya was reading them carefully from a chair at the desk. Her gaze involuntarily shifted away from the documents she was reading for a moment as she watched Adam and the others enter the room before she focused back on her previous task, seemingly more important than Adam's arrival.

She curtly said, "Thank you, Lieutenant Kayle, you are dismissed."

While he hesitated for a split second, evidently feeling uncomfortable leaving the two of them alone. However, another glance from Tanya prompted him to salute her and leave the room immediately. After the sounds of his boots against the ground had disappeared from her ears, the captain in charge decided to engage the captured man in conversation.

"I'm sorry about him. My men indeed tend to be protective of me, and an unknown like you can always pose a threat, even if you're supposed to be from the Church," she said, setting down her documents and straightening up her back with her hands behind it.

The 'supposed' made Adam narrow his eyes towards her.

"I tell you, Adam, there's a very well-proven method to verify whether the Church emblem you gave to us is true or not. Your test ended up being negative, which is unfortunate. It is not surprising, though, considering that I have never seen an emblem like yours in the church," she said as she walked up to him. She started releasing a flow of holy energy from her body, which caused the temperature of the room to spike, going from relatively cold to uncomfortable hot.

After a few seconds of staring at him dead in the eyes, the menacing woman narrowed her eyes. He was able to feel her holy energy reaching out to him. An ancient-looking rosary around Tanya's neck flickered lightly after she expanded part of her power, its ornamental jewel glistening lightly as it did so.

Her expression softened dramatically as she stated, "I just wanted to verify something. In spite of the fact that I was unable to recognize you or verify your membership in the Church through your emblem, you were still a member. Although I serve as one of their agents, I am not knowledgeable about every component of the Church."

At the same time, Adam's gaze was firmly fixed on the woman in front of him. His mind blanked out all of the sudden not because she was stunning or because she had a bodacious body, but rather because he was stunned to his core by a fundamental change.

Tanya von Degurechaff

Race: Half-Angel

Level: 26

Faith: 100%

Impurity: 0%

STR: 1140

CON: 1098

DEX: 1113

INT: 2248

WIS: 2253

CHA: 1085

When Tanya's energy touched Adam's, he instantly activated his Sacred Gear to see Tanya's status. His reaction was to be utterly bewildered. His eyes were immediately drawn to the various aspects that were strikingly different from what he was used to seeing.

Especially after reading Tanya's race the moment she released her power, Adam's mind froze before working overtime to make sense of what just happened.

"Adam?" Tanya asked, seeing his dumbfounded expression and raising her eyebrows.

Adam's eyes shone with an odd glint as he suddenly said "I apologize."

"What?"

"This demonstrates that I was incompetent because I was too quick with my conclusions."

Tanya, while surprised that he talked this way, did not respond with any noticeable change in her expression, except for a slight step back.

"I hope that you will accept my apology for not being patient enough," he continued rambling, bowing before her. "In addition, I appreciate you pointing out the errors in my thinking!"

"Wait a minut-"

"I hope my mistakes will not tarnish your opinion of me, and that I shall be able to stand by your side against the evil of humanity!" Adam raised his voice once more, at the same time raising his body, his zeal—originating from the realization that this was his first encounter with an angel—burning deep within his eyes, caused Tanya to recoil a little, realizing what kind of character he was.

Although Tanya was described as just a half-angel, which inherently was nonsensical in Adam's world.

In the end, Tanya decided to let the obsessed fanatic finish his speech, in order not to be interrupted.

Keeping his head down, he said, "I ask for the Lord's blessing!" He bowed again, waiting for her response.

Tanya considered how to make the best use of this situation as she watched the clock tick on the wall. It looked like the young man before her was unaware that she separated from the Church a year ago, because of her allegiance to the Empire.

The holy energy that she received from Being X when he realized what would happen to the world he left Tanya in could determine if there was another being that possessed this energy, something she simply used on Adam.

Since Tanya was the only currently living being who had ever had Holy energy in her body, or at least in her world, it was no wonder that she was so interested in Adam, who possessed this very same energy and actively used it to empower his own body.

As soon as he began rambling, she immediately realized that he had been sent by Being X to assist her in fighting the hordes of zombies taking over the world.

Nonetheless, Being X's gifts must always be handled with caution, Tanya thought, as, in the long run, they often prove to be a curse in disguise.

"Ahem, Adam?" she said in an attempt to make him raise his body. It succeeded, and the way he looked at Tanya with reverence betrayed the calm expression on his face.

"Yes?"

With each of her words carefully weighed, she began to speak, knowing that with the help of the man she was facing, she could return to her comfortable life once again. "I see that you recognized the Lord's gift," she spoke, sitting on the desk and crossing her legs.

Tanya had no problem appealing to Adam to get what she wanted, but given his devoutness, she questioned whether this method would work. Instead, she had to carefully use her words and point him in the right direction. Although deeply affected by the zombie outbreak, the Empire still managed to retain a significant amount of structural integrity compared to its neighbors. So, the Empire's top priority was to expand once more into the wastelands, something that she was tasked with.

It would, however, be a monumental task for her to retire and stay away from the frontlines. In order to free herself from her superiors, nothing less than regaining all of the Fatherland's original territory would suffice. Additionally, a religious motive would greatly help her effort.

As a matter of fact, if a religious cause was not invoked, she was doomed to fight undead creatures forever.

Tanya sighed, resigning herself to a fate she would have preferred to avoid. She knew that this would hurt her pride in some way, but it was also a way to pay back Being X for all that he had done to her.

Using the one he had sent her for his purpose seemed to be a great way to annoy him.

"Yes, the holiness radiating from you is unmistakable."

'Holiness?' asked herself Tanya, her facial expression unshifting.

"I see. My objective wasn't to display anything, to be honest, but I had to check if you had any…" she trailed off. "Holiness as well."

"I understand," Adam answered curtly, intently listening to Tanya.

"Until you came here, this holy energy was only possessed by two people," she revealed as her hand lightened into a golden haze. His gaze briefly turned to her hand, then he returned to staring at her.

"The first was me, and the second was someone whose straying thoughts caused me to have to put her down."

Adam remained silent for a moment before nodding solemnly to her words as if he suddenly understood the gravity of the situation.

"Even with the help of Be- of God," Tanya had to fight back the disgust that erupted at this word. The plague that swept Europe is too strong for me to fight alone. Therefore, I believe that you are here to help me through this fight."

Tanya's mastery of manipulating the narrative highlighted Adam's uniqueness amongst mortals as well as his role within God's plan. After all, it wouldn't do if the man in front of her decided to not fight alongside her and instead tried to push back the waves of undead alone.

Ultimately, her plan would have fewer chances of succeeding if he was far away from her.

"I understand. Suddenly I was able to understand why the Lord sent me here after encountering my first zombie. It had possessed the corpse of a man named Ben who had lost everything during the war with Albion," Adam explained.

"Ben right? He was a soldier that I met briefly before… All of this happened," said Tanya.

'Who is Ben?' thought Tanya, wondering if Adam realized how many imperial soldiers were called Ben.

"He was a righteous soul. Though many have forgotten about his death, his memory still propels me towards my objective today," she said, wincing internally at Adam's serious expression.

'Did I do too much? How can I-'

"I see that you are as noble as the writings describe your kind of being," Adam nodded, in his mind respecting Tanya even more.

The woman blinked, opting for the time being to ignore Adam's words, due to the scary implications that rose to the top of her mind at the moment she heard his words and she simply nodded back—because she didn't want to seem arrogant.

"It appeared that he would fight by his last breath against those who killed his dearest friends and transformed their corpses into zombies," Adam said with a grim tone. "But still, he believed in God until the very end—despite the tragedy that befell him."

'Wait for a second, THAT Ben? The one that became delirious—due to having to destroy the reanimated corpses of his friend—who, at the beginning of the plague war, blew his platoon to bits over refusals to engage in suicide missions in the middle of Albion territory, calling his men heretics and traitors?' Her mind was whirling as she pondered how one of the most infamous soldiers could be so revered in Adam's mind.

"The story of his death is sometimes misunderstood in the minds of the soldiers here, so please don't spread it too widely. Nevertheless, you can be assured that he is a hero in my eyes," she said, her face completely impassive.

Despite his astonishment, Adam narrowed his eyes and raised his head, "I understand. Hence, you believe something should be done to make people aware of the reality of the situation?"

"Hmmm," Tanya trailed off. "I believe that humanity as a whole needs to grasp the situation. The fact that entire countries still deny what is happening is unfathomable to me."

'I wonder if he is more knowledgeable than what he lets on. Not everyone knows about the fact that since the plague has only spread in Europe, a lot of foreign countries deny the existence of the virus and refuse to have any contact with the European continent.' wondered Tanya, inwardly acquiescing at Adam's understanding.

Without the help of foreign entities, Tanya knew that it would be very hard to repel the plague, but at the moment, European countries were left to die in the hope that the plague would follow them. Up to now, this method was successful.

A completely different thought crossed Adam's mind, 'The Lord comprehends me completely! He sent me to meet with someone who truly understands the rot of humanity and knows that something must be done to open their eyes! Magnificent!'

It brought Adam great relief to know that God listened to his prayers, accepted his belief, and sent him to someone who shared his views and could guide him in the right direction. The betterment of humanity.

As they looked at each other, they both concluded that they would have a better life if they worked together.

#####

I have a chapter in advance on my Pat re on! Pat re on .com (slash) HiddenSword

There goes the fourth chapter of this story, where we can see how Tanya's curse for misunderstanding starts.