Half-step Purgatory

For a long time, Malin always felt that Fate had been quite generous to him. Although he had to face that life-threatening job every day, as long as he had the lovely Leopard Girl cooking delicious food for him daily, and as long as there was meat to eat and cats to stroke, life wasn't too unbearable. Working a bit harder and facing some difficulties on the job weren't really an issue for a man.
Moreover, being able to live two lives meant one shouldn't have too high demands, right, Mr. Different-Kind?
Having said that, and without waiting for an answer, the young man snapped his fingers, and the white flame on his fingertip lit the tobacco in his other hand, then he flicked it towards the non-human entity on the stake.
Welcome to Abield, to witness the last splendor of the steampunk era.
And the madness.

Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

In the memories of this old gnome, Malin heard for the first time the complete story of what happened after the last Tide of the Dead. In that era, Deities and Chaos suddenly receded, leading various Churches to eventually split apart. Most sects established their own orders of Temple Knights, but some joined the Brotherhood, because all things need balance. If Deities do not appear for a long time, the Church is bound to fragment. If all Churches belong to the order of Temple Knights, an extremely terrifying situation could arise.


Malin agreed with this—when the True God that restrains human nature is absent, all kinds of hypocrisy and false faith brazenly emerge. Those sects that joined the Brotherhood... had their reasons.


But Malin would never take one side's word for it, so he turned his gaze to the half-human beside him, still swollen in the face: "Since they are sects that joined the Brotherhood, why are you then at each other's throats?"


Section 599: Trial (Part 3)_2