The sword hung above Zane.
His knees would give in any moment now.
But the warden behind him wasn't patient, so he kicked the back of Zane's knee.
Zane fell.
He was on his knees.
The shopkeeper loomed over him.
"Everyone," he shouted. "This filth dropped our God. You are witnessing justice in plain sight. Tell me, what do we call such a low life?"
The crowd murmured along themselves and with no second thought, all of them bellowed:
"Infidel!"
"Yes. Infidel. He is an infidel. And what do we do with infidels?"
"Execute!"
"Kill!"
"Burn!"
"Splendid. We all are on the same page."
The shopkeeper laughed then turned serious again.
"Since I agree with you all, therefore, in the name of the First Flame, by the mercy of his light, and with the authority of the Priest, the Flamekeeper, Horum, I, Jaryun Corsel, the son of Gardyn Corsel…"
Jaryun raised his sword higher for everyone to see.
"Shall behead this demon."
[ Major Quest Accomplished! ]
[ … ]
[ … ]
The system presented a window and Zane was in no position to be happy about it. He was about to die.
Xavier was pinned.
He had no skill to help him.
He got the system today and everything went downhill.
All because he accepted the quests.
He almost died because of the Critical quest.
And now he was in the same position because of a Major one.
Wait…
Zane's eyes lit up.
Are there any levels for the Quests?
[ Positive. ]
Zane's mind flooded after that.
Mandatory, Hidden, Critical, Major… I encountered all these quests till now. And the only time I really almost died was the Critical one and that is still ongoing! This was a Major quest. Lesser than a Critical one. If I am right then the system thinks I can survive this.
Zane roamed his eyes around.
The system might be foreign but Zane knew it was seeing what he was seeing. The system won't mistake a Quest.
There must be a way to come out of this.
"Killing you will promote me to a Flamekeeper, heretic. Thank you for coming into my life." Jaryun whispered and that was the first time Zane heard about Flamekeeper.
But if he had to guess, it could be related to the ranking of the Priests.
Nevertheless, that didn't matter as Zane was looking for a way.
There was no space for him to look past as the crowd made a circle outside the Wardens' circle.
"Don't just sit there! Fight. Hit his groin. Use your teeth as you did with me. Don't accept your death!"
Xavier yelled, kissing the ground while still struggling.
The Warden applied more force and Xavier's mouth went completely shut against the hard ground.
But his words hung in the air and Zane heard them well.
However…
Fighting won't help here. This demands something else.
They were surrounded by Wardens. The result of fighting would be the same as Xavier's situation right now. If anything, fighting would only fasten Zane's death.
The system thinks Zane could survive this and Zane only had to find out how he could do that.
But more than that, one more thing rose in his mind.
Why isn't the sword coming down?
Jaryun had his sword in the air for a while now. It should have come down a while ago considering how angry he was.
Zane looked up at the shopkeeper and indeed, he stood there with his sword raised.
Either he wants to savor the moment or…
Zane came to a conclusion.
He is waiting for something.
"Kill him!"
"Do it!"
"Sever his head!"
The populace wanted the death of Zane and they were screaming that from the start.
The wait was getting to them and Zane noticed the shopkeeper's brows twitching.
Then Jaryun's eyes went to the church and stopped at its parapet.
He then looked at the sun behind Zane and then at the Flame tower at the center of the city.
He stared at it intently and as the short hand reached the V…
TUN!
The gong of the tower rang and Jaryun's lips curled up.
His eyes again went to the parapet and this time, the parapet wasn't empty.
Someone stood there, watching over.
Zane recognised the man.
At the parapet of the church, only one man could stand.
A priest.
This was the same priest whom Zane encountered in the church.
Priest Horum.
Just as the pendulum of the tower hit the gong, the Priest appeared.
And by the looks of it, Jaryun was waiting for this exact moment.
As soon as Horum arrived at the gallery, it took him no time to see the populace of Vaelryn city hoarded in a circle and chanting for justice.
The sun was descending down as it loomed just behind Zane's head and Jaryun finally opened his mouth.
"Calm down, my fellow believers. Justice and judgement needed a perfect time. And to all of your satisfaction, that time has arrived!"
The people cheered.
Jaryun glanced at the Priest and carried on.
"I was waiting for the great First Flame to stand above this sinner's head. I was waiting for his light to fall upon this being of darkness. I was waiting for the God to witness me cleansing his realm, everyone."
Lies.
Zane clenched his jaw.
He looked up.
Priest Horum rested his elbows on the boundary of the wall as he watched the scene with no expressions.
"Let me repeat what sin he has committed. Let me tell you all what he has done."
The crowd went silent as if Jaryun meant what he said.
He only wanted to repeat for the Priest to hear and acknowledge Jaryun as the savior of the religion.
What kind of religion demands a mortal to be its savior?
Nevertheless, Jaryun repeated the "crime" of Zane.
The crime of dropping the First Flame idol on the ground.
Jaryun also announced his kill of the old gutterborn who dropped the offerings.
Finishing his little speech, Jaryun held the hilt of his sword with both his hands and raised it above his head.
The sunlight made the sword glint in front of Zane's eyes.
Xavier's muffled voice rang out and Horum watched all that the same way as before.
"Your death will bring me glory, rat." Jaryun spoke.
Zane gulped.
The sword would come down any moment and the only grace Zane found was…
"Don't kill me, my lord."
Catering the Ego.
Zane had lived long enough to know people loved to be called what they saw themselves as. What they wanted to become.
Zane played right on that.
But he forgot, his death wasn't just death…
"You don't have the authority to ask me that, filth."
Zane's death was a stair to his status.
Jaryun laughed and Zane clicked his tongue.
Then his eyes and nose wrinkled as the sun finally reached above his head and bathed him in its wrath or warmth, Zane didn't know better.
The sword began descending straight for the top of his head, aiming to slice him from the middle vertically.
Sunlight enveloped his entire body and his right leg, his right leg felt as if it was in a furnace. Particularly his right thigh.
His hand naturally went there to cover the area and when he touched his thigh… his brows shot up.
He felt something.
His hand felt something under it.
And when he recalled what it was…
He could only describe it with one word.
He found…
Authority.