Lucky Prodigy

17: Buyer of Chains

^^ Masked Oni, Masked Oni Monarch ^^

— James —

The city in front of me was teeming with humans, like a Small Metropolis. It reminded me of Rome in every way; the people, who almost all had some variation of Greek or Italian features, with a few who had Northern European features mixed in, the architecture, white sandstone blasted or cut into slabs with ceramic tiles for roofs, and even the language, which was apparently Latin, though only for the multitude of priests. Everyone else spoke plain English, which seemed very odd to me.

Jerrod, who was my guide, pointed out a few key features to me as we escorted the Saint and Benjamin Waylon towards the Vatican, the heart of their little 'religion'. The red light district in particular surprised me, being in this city, but he seemed confused by my confusion, and apparently it wasn't against the church to visit brothels.

I hummed, confused. "So these people call themselves Christian, but they are not, in fact, Christians, just a weird copy of them with several of the Ten Commandments missing? Adultery, Murder, love thy neighbor, 'he who holds another man's chains is, to that man, Satan,' all that is gone, huh?"

He tilted his head, and then shrugged helplessly. "I honestly don't know. I just know magic is illegal here unless you're a priest or you have a license, and the Priests are pretty much all snakes."

Benjamin, who had until now been vowed to silence by my presence, sat up on his horse, frowning. "Now hold a moment! The priests are not-"

"In my experience? Yes, they are. They're hateful little beasts who have one and all fallen prey to the Sin of Wrath, hating and fearing anyone that isn't human like a little herd of sheep looking at a different herd and being too stupid to know they're not here to eat them." Jerrod snorted, unconcerned with Benjamin's Rebuttal.

(After he'd woken up, after I punched him off the mountain, Benjamin had demanded a rematch with my apprentices, and Jerrod, who had just leveled up and even evolved into a Purple Dragon, proceeded to beat him into the dirt in ten seconds flat, alone, and with his Seal intact. It was a sound defeat, despite their equal levels, (475,) and a boost to Jerrod's confidence, which I hesitantly encouraged. A little confidence was alright.)

The guards at the front gates to the inner portion of the city halted us, and I saw that the interior was all one building complex. "Ahh, So this is the Vatican now... not as impressive as the Sistine Chapel, but ah well." I shrugged, looking at Benjamin and the Saint. "This is your stop, Lady Saint, you are welcome back any time you like, and I expect you, Benjamin Waylon, to clear up the misunderstanding of you attacking my student while he returned to you your idiot of a hero?" I raised an eyebrow at Benjamin severely.

He snorted softly. "I made no mistake. He's a Dragon who entered the city under false premises, and has done so numerous times."

"And?" I asked calmly.

"And that's illegal. Very illegal." He followed up.

"Is that so?" I smirked.

"Yes!" He growled.

"Get over yourself. I currently sense hundreds of monsters, in the interior of the Vatican alone, and I'm not counting the ones in chains." I snorted.

He flinched and looked at the Vatican, then back at me. "That's impossible; the gates keep out monsters." He said with a sense of pious finality.

"I've walked in a number of times, and even gone to mass. The gates are fake, monsters are an entirely different Evolutionary Path than Demons, and your religion is a tyrannical criminal organization overrun at the highest levels by interior corruption and the most basic of fault, as well as several of your Cardinals are Demons in disguise, feeding you lies to weaken the human race to make you easier to break in the next so-called 'Holy War'. Surprise!" Jerrod harshly kicked his metaphorical teeth in with a dead-pan expression.