Faith… What is faith? Does it do anything? Does it ever reach anyone? Or is it just a fancy way to manipulate desperate crowds who really should be doing something else with their lives?
Stupid questions in a universe like ours, yet not in the Marvel universe, where faith does reach somewhere.
Problem is where.
And no, it's probably not the place anyone hopes, not that we'd ever know… and especially not the members of the Catholic Church.
"Did God abandon us…?" were the last words whispered by the few remaining Christians as they watched Escanor raise his hand toward the sky.
Escanor, shining like the morning itself, haloed with light that should not exist, burned with a rage as intense as the very star he prayed to.
And at the tip of his finger… a sphere, a sphere bright as a newborn sun.
The last thing they saw before becoming ash, without even the privilege of leaving a shadow behind.
How did we get here? Simple, the protagonist (Translator: of course, who else 🙄).
This is going to be a looong story
"Damn bastards… thinking they could attack my church again, and that more of my followers would betray me"
Escanor spoke as the massacre of Christians still smoldered at his feet.
"You have to understand it was your fault for not leading your church properly"
replied Tony Stark, still a teenager, but built like a two-meter bodybuilder.
Because obviously, why wouldn't a genius, future billionaire obsessed with the Emperor of 40k have biceps the size of your life expectancy?
Escanor growled, offended.
"Hmph, I only created the church to make it clear that above me stands only the Sun, not some false god."
Tony clicked his tongue, two sentences from Escanor were enough to provoke a punch, a special skill, apparently.
"You're insane, you know that? I don't even know why I waste time talking to a misunderstood mortal like you…"
The light answered before Escanor did.
"Watch your words, "knower of truth", the only reason I haven't killed you is because the Sun does not permit it."
The faint light was enough to put all followers of the Sun on high alert.
"And you watch yours, "the only one who can speak to the Sun" That Sun you brag about… It's a fragment of my Emperor."
Tony summoned a golden nanobot armor, engraved with Imperial symbols worthy of Warhammer 40K.
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a poorly folded piece of paper.
And before the carnage could begin… a pillar of light fell upon them both.
Tony's armor disintegrated, Escanor's clothes turned to dust, and his radiance vanished.
"I'm sorry, Emperor! I allowed this brainless idiot to provoke me!"
Tony dropped to his knees, praying Imperial creeds while fanatically self-flagellating with a whip he summoned from God knows where, completely naked.
Escanor, covered in burns but dignified as ever, simply tore the robe off one of his followers, who accepted his sudden nudity with the same calm resignation one reserves for divine punishment.
How did they get here? Yes, you guessed it, the protagonist meddled again.
During the revolutions, thanks to the protagonist, members of the Church of the Sun joined the Catholic Church to exterminate Escanor.
Their excuse? "Real saints have real halos"
Yes, that nonsense convinced them.
Not even a dog would've bought it, but with the protagonist's help… two-thirds of the Church of the Sun betrayed Escanor.
And by the way, Escanor had never used halo techniques… yeah, minor details.
Tony, for his part, was completely isolated.
He was busy in his laboratory, filled with statues of the Emperor of Mankind, Imperial icons, and tech that would make the Adeptus Mechanicus drool in jealousy.
That's when he received a revelation, the Emperor's Fragments had manifested even more into the mortal plane.
How did he know? Exactly, because of the protagonist, Duh.
So he choose to finishing his armor and headed toward Escanor.
Escanor, meanwhile, was happy, he had reached Sequence 4, one step closer to the Sun, one step more fanatical.
But he couldn't celebrate forl long, because a follower burst in
"Your Holiness! The temple is under attack!"
And yes, the Catholics, allied with the traitors, had reached his sanctuary.
"Hmph, fools, they can't recognize the greatness of the Sun even when it burns them in the face."
Escanor stood up, leapt from the 20th floor, and landed without a scratch.
Then he shouted
"HEY, IDIOTS! I'M RIGHT HERE!"
No one died of a brain hemorrhage from that scream, a genuine miracle, the only miracle recorded that day.
The enemies, manipulated by the protagonist, charged at him.
Big mistake, and their last one.
Escanor's followers stepped back, they knew what was coming, after all, he had told them about his new ability earlier.
"Unshadowned Domain"
And the battlefield turned white, but not normal white.
Absolute white.
White that erased shadows, hope, and dignity alike.
Everyone felt the gaze of something superior, something that did not forgive.
Escanor raised his hand.
"Flaring Sun."
And the "sun" was born once more at his fingertip, the enemies understood their fate was already written, signed, and sealed.
"I alone decide when my church falls, but you… don't even deserve to witness that day.
Blame yourselves for being born weak."
He lowered his hand.
The "Sun" obeyed.
Nothing remained, not ashes, not shadows.
Only a perfect crater and a silence so absolute even death refused to intervene.
Tony arrived days later, tried speaking to Escanor, was ignored, and naturally attempted to kill him.
They nearly fought to the death that day… and many times after, forcing pillars of light repeatedly slammed them for their insolence.
"Work together," ordered one voice in their minds.
And yes, they're now forced to cooperate
May God, or the Sun, or the Emperor, or whichever cosmic entity is sober that day, have mercy on the world… because the two most prideful beings in existence are now a team.
Ah, right, the final results, almost forgot
The Christian Church was destroyed,
Egypt entered a civil war because its pharaoh was a dictator obsessed with the Sun... Yep, the protagonist didn't even interfere this time (Translator: wild 🤣🤣).
An entire religion collapsed for the second time, hundreds turned to dust, and the world moved on as if it were Tuesday, because let's be honest, worse things have happened.
Now let's talk about the shortest revolution of all… Gol D. Roger's.
As you know, he was a famous space pirate, which attracted beings from across the galaxy to his fleet, not to mention those from his original world.
Well, when he reached Sequence 4, his crew split in two
Those from his home world, and those who weren't.
Why did they revolt? Simple, they saw no reason to keep respecting Roger as supreme captain when there were beings stronger than him aboard.
The supreme idiocy they believed thanks to the protagonist
And honestly, the blame falls on Roger for never using his powers, also on the people of his world for never mentioning that the god they worshipped was Roger himself.
So how did that revolution end? Well…
"It was as if space itself bowed to the storm"
Said one of the few survivors Thanos captured, trembling at the memory.
"Storms? He generated cosmic storms?"
Thanos asked, half-confused, half-incredulous, after all, what the man claimed sounded impossible for someone like Roger.
In Thanos's mind, if he truly had that power, why bother being a space pirate? He could've ruled the universe.
"No…"
the prisoner answered, drowning in his memories, shaking as the terror resurfaced.
"If it had been a cosmic storm, at least we would've died knowing what killed us"
Whatever he witnessed had broken something inside him.
"What happened that day… even we don't know what it was"
Thanos frowned. Before he could speak, the man continued
"That day, my comrades and I were confident, thinking it'd be just another stellar battle, like always"
His voice cracked.
"But what we faced… wasn't something a mortal should ever witness"
The room fell silent.
"Since when can a tornado survive in space?
Since when do storms, cyclones, blizzards, and natural disasters apply outside a planet?
Since… since when can a tsunami strike a spaceship?"
Everyone froze, not in disbelief, but in fear.
Primitive, instinctive fear.
The ancient terror of facing a natural disaster.
Powerless, hopeless, worthless, all of that in a single instant
In that moment, they understood why the war was lost, not only because Roger was strong, but also because a mortal had been forced to face a truth forgotten under time and technology
The living are nothing before nature itself.