[Powerful Collective Desire detected.] Please stand by for Core Condensation.]

[Processing...complete.]

[The Core of Warm and Peace has been condensed, please use at your leisure.]

...

^Okay gang! The next church we’re visiting is one belonging to the Brimstone Brotherhood. These folks were originally a much smaller group known as the Blissful Brotherhood, but they changed their name once the war with the Erupting Dawn Empire began in earnest. They were one of the few groups that managed to survive the initial attacks, but had paid a rather heavy price for that survival.^

’Oh joy, another wartime sect...absolutely love these guys...’

In sharp contrast to homey, warm church belonging to the Candle Monastery, the building belonging to the Brimstone Brotherhood was...rather brutal-lookong.

There were a lot of sharp edges, thick black stones, a whole fuckton of stone statues decorating the place that were just buried in the floor of the Uncanny Valley. For a brief moment, Zhen Liu remember the Marquis De Howlite and he thought that this place was like an even creepier version of the late Noble’s estate.

’And from the looks of it the people aren’t much better.’

^Ah! It looks like we have arrived right in the middle of the morning service. You guys are in for a special treat,^ Cleric Oswin informed the group with a whispered voice.

The inside of the brutalist church looked as ominous and repelling as its outside in every practically way.

As for the monks themselves, they didn’t exactly look happy to be there either.

Dressed in grey-black robes that looked to be made of the roughest of cloths, the monks kneeled on stone platforms while a man at the front began his sermon.

^And so we remember our fallen brothers and sisters. How they returned to ash, while we, simply keep lingering. Carrying their scent like volcanic rock.^

’Huh...’

It was surprisingly somber for a group that seemed to present themselves in such a brutal manner.

"Wait...I remember these guys," Olstenna said to his companions. "They were one of the first sects to go all in on a counterattack against the Erupting Dawn Empire in the early days of the war. Hell, I think I actually fought alongside some of them."

"Really?" Antonio asked with genuine intrigue. "What happened during that offensive?"

"Nothing good," Olstenna answered. "These guys got lucky, but I remember that out of thirteen sects who contributed to that war effort, only three survived to this day. These guys being one of them."

"Ouch..."

With this new knowledge in mind, Zhen Liu and his friends continued to watch the ongoing sermon, realizing that this was less of a holy lesson and more like a funeral rite.

^And so, we remember the burning...we remember their screams...^

’Huh...’

...

[Powerful collective desire has been detected. Processing now...]

[Core condensation completed. The Core of Everburning Grief has been created. Please use at your discretion.]

...

After that surprisingly somber service, the tour group had left the church and began to make their way to their next and final destination.

However, that was when they ran into...let’s say some less than pleasant individuals.

^Repent, foul sinners! Repent! Cast aside your sins and earthly bonds, and be purified into ash by the holy fires!^

’Oh...fuck me.’

Only a few steps away from the group and the church that they had just exited from was an unruly mob of sorts that Zhen Liu actually recognized in a general sense.

Lightly floating in the air was a bearded man holding a rather pristine looking book that had an unstressed spine.

The aforementioned man appeared to be in the middle of a fiery preaching session to a mix of congregates that were dressed in clothes similar to his own and several onlookers who looked either enraptured by the words, deeply offended, or both.

Zhen Liu recognized this type of preacher to be one of those "fire and brimstone" types, which was wholly ironic given that he and his friends just exited a church ran by a group called the Brimstone Brotherhood.

Regardless, Zhen Liu was...rather familiar with this type of person and he wasn’t happy being around them in the slightest and wanted to simply go.

Unfortunately, the preacher had noticed him and his group.

^Now do you see what I mean by our church being tainted by outsiders?!^ the preacher shouted. ^How the central church parade around the heretical sects like show animals at the circus? Disgusting, I say! A sin, I cry!^

^Apologies for some our more...extreme members of our collective congregation,^ Cleric Oswin apologized to the tourists. ^But our holy creed allows the accomodations of interpretations. Even if it’s something we disagree with. It’s best to just ignore them—^

^See how they bring in impure filth from foreign lands! See how they appeal to those born with ill omens, the halfbred mongrels, and the savage brutes from the deserts!^ the preacher shouted while pointing a finger directly at Zhen Liu and his friends. ^Their mere existence here is a sin upon itself.^

Out of everyone present, they were the most diverse looking group of tourists.

^If we do not take action, the central church will taint us all with—^

^Hey!^

^Huh?^

Before the preacher could continue rambling on whatever stupid religious tirade he was on about, Zhen Liu had decided to interject and impose himself.

Needless to say, he wasn’t happy about his friends and family being pointed out as target for religious hate.

...

[Milord! Are you o—]

|Warning. Kaijin Lord: Zhen Liu is currently experiencing emotional turbulence. All connections have been muted until the turbulence has stopped. All connections been muted to prevent the kaijin from going berserk.|

[That’s...new.]

<=Well...this is going to be entirely novel,=> Logos and Pathos observed with unified interest. <=Apparently, this old preacher dug up a memory in our current lord’s head. A very old one...and one that might explain why he always seem to throw himself headfirst into a problem.=>

...

In the world of Valresta, most arguments between individuals who weren’t related to one another were usually resolved not with words but with fists.

However, that didn’t mean verbal arguments never happened.

Scholarly debates were actually quite common in cities that hosted educational centers or sects that leaned more towards erudite lifestyles. Of course, no one ever mentions that some of these debates had a tendency to end with one side ordering an assassination over the other.

Regardless, right now, Zhen Liu found himself in a situation where he couldn’t simply throw a punch and walk away scot-free.

Besides, a part of him felt oddly compelled to argue against this zealot fucker. And, despite feeling as if the rage inside him wanted to turn into a flamethrower, he wanted to do so in a manner that was... unnervingly calm.

Whether that was due to his current nature as their "sinful pagan enemy" or because of his past life was up for debate.

Either way, he was pissed and he wanted to release that righteous fury upon this dumbass preacher.

^Did you just call me, my friends, my family and my lovers, a bunch of sinful existences? Is that right?^ Zhen Liu asked in perfect Scorch speech.

It should be noted that when spoken fast enough, Scorch speech sounds a lot like angry Spanish.

Soap opera Spanish, to be specific.

^I-I did,^ the preacher initially answered before firming up his voice. ^I did!^

Evidently, the preacher wasn’t used to his targets cofronting him on his words.

^The Sacred Flame has been tainted since the central church has started to allow riff-raff and ruffians like you to tour around our fair city and our holy grounds,^ the preached continued as he stared at Cleric Oswin. ^If we the Purifying Collective had our way, you and your ilk would be either expelled or burned so that your ashes may polish our swords.^

^Hmmm.^

These words were clearly meant to incite violence, to make the man a martyr for a cause that was probably flaming out, given how the people behind the preacher seemed uneasy at the idea.

So, as much as Zhen Liu wanted to throw a punch clear through the man’s skull, he decided against it.

Instead, he opted to go about this problem in a slightly more diplomatic manner: calling out the hypocrisy of the man before him.

^You know...there’s fun little quirk I’ve learned about preachers and holy men like you,^ Zhen Liu began while turning on the [Chaos]. ^Men who think themselves superior because of what they worship, and not because they have actually substantial to offer to anyone. Subsequently, these are also the same guys who would be considered incels by the rest of the universe.^

^I-incel?^

The word confused the preacher, but something about the way it sounded, the way it was delivered, made it very clear to be an insulting name.

And yet, for those same confusing reasons, he couldn’t find a single reason to refute the label.

^Born again types, the fiery preacher types, tend to have some form of trauma or have led a life so hypocritical sinful that they feel the need to anger others just to feel good about yourself. Would you like your congregation to know which it is?^