Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

The church teaches that Celestia is the realm of the gods. Though there are many and all remain nameless to the mortals of the earthen plane, the truth was they watched over all the mortal races and guided all their actions.

Every child born was graced by Celestia and the gods within to be given life. Each person was gifted their favor in times of need when they showed their piety. Though the mortal races knew not which gods governed which forces of the world, it was known that the gods were always there through everything.

Of course, every rule has an exception. Celestia's grace had its own limits and could never grant its blessings to the demon-cursed. The demon-cursed were those who had high enough concentration of demon blood in them to be marked by Celestia. This mark showed the other members of the mortal races which beings were deemed unfit for the grace of the gods.

These marks branded the heathen creatures that could never stand beside the pious among them. These marks even went so far as to gift these beings powers as if the curse placed upon them for their sins became the very source of their power gifted by the demons.

As such, according to the teachings of the Church of Celestia, these creatures could not be allowed to mingle with common society. Every sermon was filled with warnings about the truth of the sins of the Marked Ones. How they are cursed to be denied the blessing of the gods.

Of course, the church also taught that anyone among them could suffer the same fate. Before the last of the demon armies fell centuries upon centuries ago, some of the vile beasts decided to play one last trick upon the gods who deemed their destruction. Some of them hid themselves among the masses of humans, elves, and beastmen.

As such their blood runs through the veins of almost every living being and at any point a cursed child could be born to any family.

Yet despite the warnings that the church preaches, some ignore the information. They choose to avoid the truth and continue cavorting with the children of demons granted power by evil. By relation, those people could never experience Celestia's grace.

These were all things that Father Urd knew to be true. This was why he was so resolute in his desire to be rid of Lucius. The monster had shown his true colors time and time again, yet no one seemed willing to listen. Somehow, he is given chance after chance and the benefit of the doubt.

Such a thing could not be stood for. He massacred almost three thousand people in the battle against Alorek. A thousand of them were the human nation's own men. Then, under the mask of another name, he personally destroyed a city with the intention of harming the innocent.

At the Exhibition Tournament, he took the winning seat from a true believer such as Thomas von Petra and the other nobles who had entered the match.

To top it all off, he sullied the heart, mind, and soul of an innocent woman by pretending to take her as his wife. Though it was recognized by two kings, the church would never accept their bond. The gods did not bless their union, so it did not occur.

"Utterly disgusting…" Urd mumbled.

He had been thinking a lot about Lucius lately and it triggered in him a series of thoughts and memories about both him and Marked Ones in general. Unfortunately, he caught himself too late and the look of disgust on his face had already been seen by some of the worshipers in the temple.

He bowed profusely to the young woman and her children that had just dropped off an offering to one of the many braziers in the church. Though his look may have scared them or worried the mother that his feelings were about her, he assured them he was simply pondering the existence of Marked Ones and that his thoughts had simply leaked out.

The statement did little to comfort the woman for reasons Urd did not understand, but he still apologized for his behavior and lack of decorum. She swiftly left the church building with her small children in tow.

"Ugh…" He grumbled, now in a poorer mood. "I really must be more careful."

He turned to one of the several nuns that were managing the prayer hall and advised that he would be canceling his duties for the day in favor of resting. He acted as though he was under the weather, but really he needed time to think.

Urd found himself wondering if there was time for him to review scripture again when he found himself suddenly being accosted in his study by one of his agents.

"Father Urd, I apologize for breaking from protocol, but you must know immediately. Is the room safe?"

The priest glared at the nameless agent who barged into his office as well as violated their protocol for dead drops, but decided to wave for the man to continue, indicating the room was safe.

"It seems that Lucius's forces in the capital are gearing up for an attack on the Academy."

Urd instantly started choking on his own spit. Then he turned to the man with a voice filled with excitement, "Truly?! When? Do we have all the proof needed to take it to the authorities."

The agent shook his head. "No, we have nothing that we would be able to legally share with the kingdom. Also, we have heard they might be trying to protect it from an attack? However, we have heard no mention of such a thing until now."

Urd snorted, "Of course you haven't! The ones planning the attack are those infernal demon's forces. Move at once, ignore all previous directives, recall all available agents. I want double… no triple, the amount of men monitoring every known agent of that demon. Monitor them and watch for the first sign of betrayal of the kingdom. Once we have what we need… we can finally rid ourselves of the beast."

Suddenly he found himself feeling happier and relaxed than he was before. He found himself wondering if he should read scripture anyway, but instead of it being used as a calming method, he could view it as his reward.