Aftermath

The Church of the Seven had been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Udoris before the advent of the great war. Alone, it was the major religion accepted by all the Twelve kingdoms that existed before the war.

It traces its history several centuries back, witnessing the birth and collapse of numerous kingdoms and empires. Over the course of centuries, it developed a highly sophisticated theology and an elaborate organizational structure headed by the papacy, the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in the ancient world.

These incontestable statistical and historical facts suggest that some understanding of the religion of the Seven—its history, its institutional structure, its beliefs and practices, and its place in the world—is an indispensable component of cultural literacy, regardless of how one may individually answer the ultimate questions of life and death and faith. Without a grasp of what the religion of the Seven was, it is difficult to make historical sense of Udoris.

How did the Great war result in the schism of the Udorian states? Was the collapse of The Church's absolute Monarchy inevitable? Conversely, such questions are essential to the definition of the faith of the Seven itself.

Like any intricate and ancient phenomenon, The Religion of the seven can be described and interpreted from a variety of perspectives and by several methodologies. Thus the Church itself is a complex institution, for which the usual diagram of a pyramid, extending from the Pope at the apex to the believers in the pew, is vastly oversimplified.

As a world religion among other religions, The Church of the Seven encompasses, within the range of its multicoloured life, features of many other world faiths; thus only the methodology of comparative religion can address them all.

Nevertheless, a historical approach is especially appropriate to this task, not only because almost a millennia of history is represented in the Church but also because the hypothesis of its continuity with the past, and the divine truth embodied in that continuity, are central to the church's understanding of itself and essential to the justification of its authority.

- Excerpt from Jonas Diane fourth book on Udorian powers- 'Religious Fallacies'

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Windy fir woodlands

...

Iris suddenly appeared by the hulk's side, stabbing him straight through his heart and promptly ending his life.

The battle had completely drained her of the little stamina she had in her. Sitting across the large body she watched a pool of blood slowly form under it.

Torn limbs with jagged cuts, split skulls leaking out blood and grey brain matter, spilt steaming guts spewing out partially digested food, little bits of human flesh littered across the forest floor and a headless torso still twitching slightly in the corner. The sights all came together to create one vile, bloody and gruesome scene.

Feeling nausea building up in her chest she suppressed it turning to look at her mother who had fainted from fright.

The results of their scuffle had fully settled in.

Feeling empty inside, the sight compounded with the feeling of her first kill caused a weird stirring in her chest.

Shakily she stood up, picking up the bloody blade that slew Vlad she staggered forward towards the last remaining bandit twitching on the floor with tears running down his face.

"Please, please help me... Ugh!!!" The bandit pleaded, bleeding profusely from his wounds.

But the princess's eyes lacked even a shred of mercy. She bent down to look at the said man in the eye and forced a light smile.

Swinging her blade a clean-cut appeared right underneath his jaw.

Glancing somewhat indifferently at the bandit still clenching his throat in despair and making gurgling noises, she raised her blade with shaky hands and stabbed downwards, blood splashing on her face, before yanking it out roughly again. In a repetitive manner, she continued about a few dozen times until her grip was firm and her gaze resolute, before turning away, leaving him alone to bleed out.

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"You know you didn't have to do that. " Aden said with a faint sigh looking at the bandit with stab wounds in almost every part of his body that won't immediately kill him.

"He deserved... it, they all... deserved it, all those who want to hurt my family... deserve to die a painful death." The princess said faintly as she sat down beside her unconscious mother lovingly rubbing her hand across her greasy dirty hair.

Although it was extremely faint Aden still noticed it, a flash of a cruel and ruthless gleam in her gaze when she looked at the dying man.

"I couldn't protect her Leonard, I'm sorry... But I guess this is for the best." Looking south to where the capital laid, Aden muttered with a sigh.

He stood up, picking his claymore where it lay before placing it back in its scabbard.

He walked back towards the pair feeling someone staring at his back. Although he could sense the group who just arrived watching frozen in fear while hidden in the foliage he ignored them and sauntered back towards Iris and Irina.

The newcomers were apparently the remaining members of the bandit group who had spread out searching for the campsite. Drawn by the sounds of battle they raced there but by the time they arrived they were met with the scene of Iris puncturing their colleague to death while Aden uncommittedly looked on.

Despite wanting to kill the remaining bandits now and there to put a stopper to all their problems with the said group, Aden couldn't.

He was exhausted and injured.

When he had one-handedly deflected that last strike from the hulk he broke his wrist. Although during the fight he didn't feel much pain, when all the excitement and adrenaline had worn off, a delayed mind-numbing pain coursed through his right hand.

His wrist was slightly swollen and he could barely feel the fingers in his hand, but he hid his discomfort revealing nothing from his face or speech to deter the remaining bandits from acting.

If they decided to gang up on them again, then they would be in profound trouble and he didn't expect that they would always be lucky to always fight idiots who would make the same mistakes that the previous group had made.

He knew that despite being one of the most talented swordsmen in the kingdom he was not invincible and in his current state even a petty bandit could put him in a tight spot, talk less o a gang of them.

Luckily though it seemed his ruse worked as the clearly death-fearing bandits withdrew from the campsite's periphery soon after confirming the death of their comrades.

When he was sure they had left far enough he quickly did what little first aid on his broken wrist that he could before ushering the duo to hurriedly pack up the camp and their supplies. After clearing away everything valuable he led them away, riding at full speed towards Maidenpool.