MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

[Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels -- Los Angeles]

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels informally known as COLA or the Los Angeles Cathedral was the biggest church in the entirety of California state; knowing how big the state of California was, one could even say that it was the biggest church in the whole country in the case of some countries of equal size.

Anyways, the cathedral was also one of the rare churches that followed a more modern appearance in their architecture rather than the usual Gothic revival style that is common in many of the churches throughout the world. The change in architecture, however, did not stop more than five million people from regularly visiting it though.

Currently, the church was welcoming a very important member of the order. One of the seven Saintesses of the current era-- Elysia Castitas. One of the Seven as they called her among many different names.

For the high-ranked member of the church, the fact that one of the saints came from the Vatican to their humble place was an honor like no other in the world and they showed it by showering her with praise and welcoming her in the grandest way that was possible for them in a short amount of time.

Many of them itched and wished to touch her or even graze her aura for even the slightest moment, hoping to receive even a modicum of her grace and blessing by doing so.

Despite all this craze, however, there were no signs of chaos in the church. Whenever Elysia passed by a certain area, an aura of calm and peace would fill up the hearts of the people of that place like never before and extinguish all thoughts that could cause a problem during these events.

Meanwhile, Elysia simply kept a gentle and soft smile hanging on her soothing face as she dealt with all of them with an appropriate amount of appreciation. Be it the true believers, the not-so-true ones, and the ones who simply used the church as a way to fatten their wallets, they all received the same gentle and benevolent treatment from the holy girl making their hearts flutter with peace and serenity.

[The church is always a place I am uncomfortable being in.]

Elysia kept smiling even as her companion spoke stiffly inside her mind. She was not a paragon of justice. She believed in the fact that no humans, not even the so-called saints were perfect beings, and for that very reason, certain compromises were necessary to live in life.

Humanity was a place where absolute justice and absolute selflessness could never truly exist. The concept of absolution in itself was a farce anyways so there was no way that anything absolute could ever exist anywhere. Much less for unworthy beings like humans.

"Saintess... Once again, in the name of all the churches in Los Angeles, I would like to thank you for the help you have provided us during the last crisis. No amount of words can convey the gratitude we feel towards Your Holiness."

"I have just done my duty. That is all; no need to feel gratitude for things that are obvious for me to enact."

She placed a hand on her chest as she spoke humbly and in a curt manner. All she did was create a sanctuary with the help of the angel she was contracted to.

While she was happy to have saved more than a hundred lives, she would never forget that she couldn't save the remaining 300 or nearly four hundred lives that were damned by the touch of the blasphemous devils.

"Speaking of that matter, I hope that the hunters who served as my bodyguard were handsomely rewarded."

"Of course, Your Holiness!"

The one who spoke was a relatively young man with handsome features adorning his face. "The grace of our lord was given to them and they received an honorary title to thank them for their great merit..."

"...I beg your pardon?"

Elysia closed her eyes, her smile was still present but the aura of gentleness around her diminished slightly after the words that were uttered by the young man. She gazed at the man more deeply. She remembered that it was the Bishop of this church that she was speaking with now.

"Mayhaps, I remember wrongly, but I am sure I asked for a clear monetary reward accompanied by a letter of recommendation to the Hunter Association, did I not?"

The others instantly became silent and the Bishop of the church fidgeted slightly before answering in a quivering tone, "B-But, Your Holiness, you are the one who did everything. Should they not be happy with the reward they have obtained?"

[He is lying...]

Elysia sighed in her mind. She understood that the man in front of her was just a beginner in the political sphere. Lying in front of a saintess was practically impossible. Sinners could not hide from their gazes.

This was why high-ranked members of the church who had done something to reproach themselves usually avoided the Saintess like the plague.

Meanwhile, those who did meet the Saintess were old foxes with a gift for rhetorics that would frighten even the vile snake in the Garden of Eden.

But here was one man who embezzled the funds and lied in the most stupid way possible.

When Elysia had moved the funds for the rewards, she had done so with the knowledge that a part would be embezzled. This was inevitable so she was not about to care much about it. But the one in front of her had a stomach too big for his own good.

"I understand."

She smiled and the man sighed in relief. Not knowing that his fate had already been decided.

She talked for a few minutes with everyone else and excused herself by proclaiming to be afflicted with a slight headache.

------

When Elysia finally reached her room, she sat on the one-person-sized bed and sighed ruefully.

"I guess, I should have simply asked the Vatican directly for the reward."

Elysia believed in one simple rule. Faith, justice, and morality could rarely move the masses if you were not someone with incredible charisma.

People moved when they had something to win or gain for themselves. Be it freedom, be it money, or anything else. Without a tangible reward at the end of the tunnel, they would slowly leave your side.

She opened her hand and a holographic screen appeared.

"Mother Anastasia, I think I found him. The one you talked about."

On the other side of the screen, one could see an old frail woman wearing a white nun attire. Despite the wrinkles on her face, it was easy to see that she should have once been a great beauty of unspeakable proportions.

Now, beauty left the place to make way for age and experience, a face that seemed to radiate with wisdom, long gray hair, and white-glazed eyes.

The woman was blind.

"Ohoh~ Not even a hello? I see that your manners are as blunt as always."

Elysia smiled. But unlike the fake smile she plastered on her face to deal with others, the one she was donning now was a true and heartfelt one.

"I am sorry. One of the Bishops put me in a bad mood."

"Heh, this is why I left the church."

Elysia smiled bitterly. "The church isn't perfect. But it's only a few bad apples."

"But one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. You are the perfect example of that. Even though you still shine with light, your faith and candidness have diminished greatly."

"I simply realized that people needed more than a beautiful speech to survive."

Words of love did not fill the stomach nor did they provide a roof over one's head.

The old and young women looked at each other in silence. The two were firm in their beliefs and knew that it was impossible to change the other. So, they did not bother with it anymore.

"Sigh. I wonder who made you so stubborn."

"You are the one who raised me. So the answer is evident, is it not?"

They laughed calmly and the tense atmosphere vanished like it never existed, to begin with.

"Very well. Enough with the chit-chat. So... My vision was confirmed?"

"I believe so. A man whose soul I could not see through. One that was covered in a Sin that is not his own. One who controls the force of the world, but who believes in no gods. A human beyond any humans."

Anastasia closed her eyes. Even though she did not need to do so... Visions flickered beyond her perception but vanished just as fast as they seem to have appeared.

She sighed and breathed heavily, her face was covered in sweat and her body was trembling slightly due to the backlash...

"My body isn't what it used to be."

Elysia looked at Anastasia with worry in her eyes but did not offer words of comfort. She knew that this stubborn old woman would only scoff at anything she could say.

"The visions are becoming blurrier. My end is approaching, it seems..."

"Mother."

"Do not interrupt me, girl."

"..."

"I have already overstayed my time on earth and soon I will go back to the embrace of the lord. But there is one last thing I must do before you bury my old bones."

She smiled quietly...

"Let's prepare for the Christmas celebration."

What better time than Christmas to welcome the arrival of a new King?

(AN: I want to make it clear that this is not a political or religious . My goal is neither to praise nor disparage the church or any religion for that matter. No organization is perfect; this is a simple reality. In many s, the church is always the bad guy. Here the church has good, bad, and gray guys like in every other place. Anyways I know by now any readers who would have been offended would have left like 60 or 70 chapters ago. But always gotta be careful.

Anyway, this chapter is a transition. Next chapter we go back to the Gigolo business.)