12th of Niva, Year 1023

The priests and temple workers of the temple of Eislyn were in for a rude awakening on the 12th day of the month Niva in the year 1023. A loud explosion echoed through the entire building, startling practically everyone in the entire capital of Elysia awake. 

The high priests rolled out of their bed in a panic, confused and only half coherent. They heard the explosion and suspected that it was close to them, but they didn’t realize how close.

“Ring the bells!” One of them hollered to the hoard of confused temple workers running around. “Call for the saints!”

“What is going on?” Someone shouted back. “Is it an earthquake?”

“I don’t know!”

“Do we flee or what?”

“Listen to me! I am a high priest! I command you to stop and listen!”

Nobody was stopping or listening to orders. Several of them ran around, searching for the source of the explosion while others fled for their lives. 

“Well,” Renee dusted off the dust and debris from her temple uniform as she stepped through the fallen chunks of what used to be a part of the temple’s wall. “That could have gone better.”

Abel was both horrified and impressed as he trailed after her. “Did anyone die?”

“No, I was careful to control the blast.”

“Careful? You blew the entire magician wing into dust!”

“Yeah, but I made sure to shield everyone from the falling debris beforehand. Look, there’s no debris where we were standing just now.”

They stepped out into what used to be the hallway of the magician wing. Around them, several other magicians were also hurriedly scrambling out of their crumbling rooms. They threw confused glances at each other as they all realized that their rooms, which had been their prisons for their entire time in the temple, were no longer containing them.

“What’s going on?” A boy with scruffy hair demanded with a frantic expression.

Abel grabbed Renee’s hand. “This girl is going to free us and stage a revolt against the priests!”

He scoffed. “That’s not going to work. The holy knights will defeat her like they did with all the other rebellious magicians.”

Another person, a girl with a long braid, nodded. “I’m going to escape this place while everyone is still distracted by the explosion, whatever that was.”

“Wait,” Renee said to them, raising a hand to form a stop signal. “In the past, there was never a group rebellion. The reason you were all kept in separate rooms and kept under constant surveillance was so you couldn’t band together and rebel against the priests as one. They kept you divided and weak because they were scared of your combined power. Don’t you see? This is a chance for you to ally yourself together and make your stand. There is not a greater opportunity than this. Do you want to return to being their thralls or run and hide forever, or do you want to fight to put an end to their awful reign over magicians once and for all?”

The magicians stilled, glancing at one another as Renee’s words took root in their hearts. They were clearly convinced, but still hesitant.

“We don’t know you.” Another one of the magicians told her. “How can we trust you?”

“Anise trusts her.” Abel answered. “She’s a friend of Anise.”

Their expressions changed a bit more when they heard Anise’s name being mentioned.

“You know Anise?” Renee asked, a little impressed to see how deep Anise’s influence ran among others. The impact of kindness was not something to be underestimated.

“We all know Anise.” The first boy replied back.

“Well, she needs your help. They found out that she has magic and she’s currently locked up in an isolation chamber.”

Anger rippled through the magicians as they began murmuring their discontent again.

“So, have we come to a decision?” Renee asked. “Because the priests will come for us soon.”

“I’m staying.” Abel told them. 

“So am I.” Another magician joined in.

“Me too.”

“And me.”

“I’m staying as well.”

“Count me in.”

One by one, they all voice their agreement and support.

Renee nodded proudly. “Good. Let’s go greet the high priests now.”

That was how the high priests found them, several minutes later, waiting in their private conference room where the high priests usually held their meetings. Renee sat at the head of the table, which belonged to the head of the high priests. She sat there boldly without shame, her head held high and her eyes cold with fury. 

Her legs were crossed in an arrogant and confident manner, but her posture was neither sloppy or careless. Even the high priests stumbled into a confused stop when they felt her overpowering aura. The magicians gathered behind her, too flighty and fidgety to sit like she did.

“You!” High Priest Terrence recognized her and his face filled with rage.

“Do you know her?” Someone asked him.

“She’s just a troublesome temple worker.” High Priest Terrence informed them.

“What is the meaning of this?” The head high priest demanded after the initial confusion wore off. “Are you responsible for the explosion in the magician wing?”

Renee tilted her head at them. “Maybe I am. Listen to me, for I will only say this once. I will give you all one chance to confess your crimes. Confess now and we can settle this the dignified way.”

A wave of confusion rippled along the high priests as the ones who were unaware threw looks at one another. Some of the guilty ones, like High Priest Terrence, turned flustered or tried to avoid eye contact.

“Are you confused?” Renee asked. “Let me give you a hint. There are many magicians behind me who have a lot of interesting things to say about their consensual tenure here in the temple. If you don’t confess, don’t blame me for what I will do next.”

“We have done nothing wrong!” Someone shouted. “How dare you trespass into our private conference room! We will arrest you on charges of heresy and destruction of temple property.”

“That’s not true!” A magician shouted out. “We’ve been exploited for our magic for years! Some of us are kidnapped from our family as children!”

“You starve and lock us up whenever we defy you!” Another added. 

“Those are all lies! What kind of baseless accusations are these? Someone, call the holy knights to restrain these people!”

The room descended into pandemonium as the two sides started shouting at each other while a few confused priests tried to calm everyone down. The only reason the magicians didn’t attack the priests already was because Renee made them promise to let her do all the physical fighting.

“This is getting bad.” Abel whispered in her ear. “Do you really have everything under control?”

Truthfully, Renee wasn’t sure how she was going to handle everything by herself, especially since her position as a saint was still relatively new. She still hadn’t freed Anise yet, and that objective was weighing heavily on her mind. Part of her was still holding out for the saints to come. Surely, one of them had noticed the explosion? That was a signal to them as much as it was a message to the priests. Not to mention, she sent off some butterfly nythrals to them before she set off the explosions. Surely one of them had reached a saint by now?

At that moment, the holy knights came pouring into the room. The other magicians immediately backed up in fear, their manas crackling as they prepared for an all-out fight.

“Renee!” Abel urgently told her with panic in his eyes. “The holy knights also have magic! There’s no way you can win against them!”

“Arrest that girl and capture all those people behind her.” One of the corrupt high priests pointed a finger at Renee.

Well, it was too late for her to reveal her identity. There was no way they would believe her now.

The holy knights charged her, their magic flaring into life around them, and the magicians started attacking with their own mana as well and throwing up a shield. That was when Renee made her move. As the holy knights rushed her, Renee uncrossed her legs and stood up. 

“Time’s up.” She announced, then unleashed her power into the room in a storm of bright white light. Everyone exclaimed in shock at the force of her power as it swept everyone off their feet. The holy knights struggled up again and attempted to charge her once more, but she pushed them back again as easily as swatting a bug.

They tried to throw up a shield of their own, but their power was nothing compared to the power of a saint. They never stood a chance. In the blink of an eye, their shields gave way and they were practically tossed to the ground again by her mana.

The priests shrieked as her bright mana encircled them and restrained them like bondages. Renee wasn’t sure which ones were involved and which ones were innocent, so she restrained them all, even the holy knights. She can get them sorted out later.

“How are you doing that?” One of the magicians asked her incredulously. “Are you not burning out?”

Renee shrugged in response, a little surprised as well. She had never had the chance to go as far as she did now before. She didn’t realize how much her magic outclassed everyone else’s, even though she still has a magic-restricting seal placed on her. She wondered how far she could take it right now if she were to give it her all. She then wondered how much stronger she might become once the last seal broke.

“It’s Letha!” Someone screamed. “Don’t let her touch you!”

That caught Renee’s attention. She turned to see a young woman with bright hair leaping over the priests and running toward Renee as fast as she could. 

So this was the infamous Letha that erased memories? 

“Oh no, you don’t.” Renee growled as she unleashed another wave of mana and aimed it right at Letha, catching her square in the chest like a whip. Letha’s expression turned to one of shock and fear just as she went down as well. Renee then crafted a seal not unlike her own on the infamous magician so that Letha was left unable to use her magic.

“Now what?” A magician asked as they looked over at the restrained mages and holy knights on the ground.

“I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Another one muttered.

“It wasn’t. We wouldn’t have succeeded on our own, if it weren’t for Renee.”

The magicians murmured amongst themselves as Renee approached the distressed priests.

“What do you want?” Someone demanded. 

“Where is Anise Nicolea?” Renee asked slowly, carefully enunciating each word.

“Who?” High Priest Terrence asked.

“What do you mean, who?” Renee retorted. “She worked here for years! The girl which one of you sent to an isolation chamber yesterday morning.”

“She’s probably still in there.” He sneered back. “You won’t get away with this! The saints are coming soon and you will be punished! How dare—”

“Oh, shut up.” Renee cut him off. “I wonder what the saints would do when they find out how the temple has been exploiting people with magic. Not to mention, the gatekeeping-er, restricting access to books and resources, the tithes you’ve been pocketing, and who knows what else? I’ve been gathering evidence for days, so I would be scared if I were you.”

There was silence for a long moment before another priest turned to High Priest Terrence. “Is this true?”

High Priest Terrence did not respond, which only confirmed the other priest’s question. “You bastard!” He kicked High Priest Terrence the best he could whilst restrained by Renee’s mana.

Another wave of murmuring went through the crowd of priests. They all began accusing one another as the truth finally sank in and they realized Renee was not throwing around baseless allegations.

One of them, probably the head high priest, pleaded to Renee, “I do believe you now, and I apologize for the temple’s actions. Release us now so we can resolve this issue, and we will not punish you or any of the magicians here for this little stunt. This is an internal issue in the temple, so there is no need to involve the saints.”

“Too late,” A new and very familiar voice joined in the conversation. 

The room hushed immediately as everyone recognized the person who spoke aloud. It became so quiet that someone could hear a pin drop. Some of the priests started panicking. A few magicians became anxious as they nervously studied the newcomer, trying to figure out whose side they were on.

“The saints are already involved.” Lirion Asteria finished his statement as he stood in the doorway of the conference room, his gaze sweeping over the mess, including the restrained people on the ground and the frightened magicians still hiding behind Renee’s back.

Finally, Lirion’s gaze settled on Renee, the only person in the room who was beaming with unrestrained glee. “You have quite the talent for creating a stir, don’t you?” He asked. He sounded cold and calculated, but Renee detected the smallest tug of an amused smile.

“You’re late, Lirion.” Renee replied cheerfully. “What took you so long?”