Chapter 213: Drawing Out The Zealots
The silence inside the tent slowly became heavier after Gideon finished speaking. Nobody immediately answered him, but that was exactly the reaction he had been waiting for.
Some of them looked genuinely confused as if it was the first time they heard about that faction. But some didn’t, their jaws tightened and hands clenched tight.
Gideon was watching all of it with a smile that never faltered even once.
He rested both arms on the table and continued as though he had merely brought up an interesting topic instead of insulting the very foundation of someone’s faith.
"You know, I genuinely tried to understand them once. But then I realized that you can’t reason with zealots who celebrate people being eaten by aberrants as a way to cleanse their sins. At that point you’re no longer dealing with a religion. You’re dealing with lunatics."
The young man sitting on the far left immediately leaned forward until both palms pressed against the table.
"You’re wrong." His voice wasn’t loud yet, but the veins around his neck had already begun to tighten.
"The Creator never celebrated death. Humanity brought judgment upon itself. Every city that fell, every country that disappeared and every family that died was simply paying for centuries of arrogance."
"They poisoned the earth, destroyed nature and declared themselves rulers over everything. The Creator merely restored the order humanity stole."
Gideon noticed something else instead. The young man’s eyes had unconsciously shifted to his right—to the beautiful woman standing calmly—before answering.
Only for a brief moment. He wasn’t looking for approval, the man was making sure someone else hadn’t stopped him.
"I see." Gideon slowly nodded as if he had just heard a reasonable opinion.
"So when an entire settlement is devoured alive by aberrants, that’s balance. Tell me, where exactly does your Creator draw the line between justice and butchery? Or perhaps They simply don’t know the difference."
"They don’t need your understanding!" another man suddenly interrupted before the first could answer.
"A worm doesn’t understand the man who steps on it either. Humanity has always mistaken its own arrogance for intelligence. We were never meant to inherit this world forever."
"So your solution is extinction."
"Our solution is obedience!"
The answer came almost like a shout.
Gideon smiled. "The Creator, assuming They exists at all, sounds remarkably incompetent. Imagine possessing the power to create mankind only to spend the rest of eternity trying to erase your own work because humanity–unfortunaty–didn’t follow Their rule?"
"What kind of God couldn’t control their creations? Not so omnipotent are They?"
"You blasphemous bastard!"
The third newcomer finally lost his temper.
"You know nothing about the Creator, yet you dare insult Them as if you’re above Their judgment! You’re nothing more than another arrogant sinner waiting to be cleansed!"
Instead of getting angry, Gideon’s smile only grew wider. His eyes slowly swept across everyone inside the tent.
Most of them looked terrified and utterly confused, unable to understand how an ordinary conversation had suddenly turned into this.
Some instinctively stepped back while others nervously looked toward Johan, hoping the old man would stop everything before it got worse.
Only one person reacted differently. The beautiful woman kept her composure, lowering her head just enough to avoid Gideon’s gaze as though she didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself. It was a natural reaction to anyone else.
Unfortunately for her it wasn’t enough to fool Gideon.
Her breathing remained steady, but the muscles around her jaw had quietly tightened the moment the first newcomer defended the God of Chaos.
More importantly, every time one of the three men spoke, they unconsciously glanced toward her first, almost as if waiting for silent approval before continuing.
Gideon slowly stood up.
The sudden movement, combined with the pressure radiating from him, immediately silenced the entire tent. Even the three zealots who had been arguing a moment ago instinctively stopped talking.
He looked at the three men before shifting his gaze toward the beautiful woman.
"I’m getting tired of arguing with heretics and hypocrites like the three of you..." His smile slowly disappeared. "Or perhaps I should say four."
For the first time since entering the tent, the woman’s expression changed as her face immediately turned pale. She knew the perfect disguise she had carefully maintained for years had just fallen apart.
The Unbreakable Sword suddenly materialized in Gideon’s hand. The refugees immediately realized what was about to happen.
The screams rang out inside the tent. All of them desperately tried to back away until they hit the canvas wall behind them.
"Chief!" Johan’s voice rang out almost instinctively, though he wasn’t even trying to stop Gideon anymore because he knew he wouldn’t stop him.
"Now..." Gideon calmly said while taking one step forward, "allow me to cleanse your sins the same way you’ve cleansed everyone else’s."
The sword struck fast.The first zealot didn’t even have time to react before the blade cut diagonally across his upper body.
Blood immediately sprayed across the table, staining the tent walls and even Gideon’s face as the man collapsed with a scream that lasted only a few seconds before his body stopped moving.
Panic instantly erupted. The remaining refugees rushed toward the exit at the same time, shoving Johan aside in a desperate attempt to escape the slaughter.
The second zealot had the same idea. He immediately turned around and tried to run with the crowd. But he never made it because Gideon’s sword pierced through his back before the man reached the tent flap, sending him crashing face-first onto the ground with blood rapidly spreading beneath his body.
The third man froze. His eyes darted between the two corpses before finally locking onto Gideon.
"You... you crazy bastard!" he shouted, stumbling backward. "You think you’re God? You have no right to judge me! You’re filthy! You’re—"
His words ended there. Gideon drove the sword straight through his chest before he could even finish the sentence.
The man’s body trembled once before collapsing outside the entrance, his blood slowly soaking into the snow outside the tent.
By then, the screams had already spread across the camp. The refugees standing outside stared in horror at the bloody corpse while Gideon calmly stepped over one of the bodies, resting his boot on the dead zealot’s back as though nothing extraordinary had just happened.
The sword in his hand was still dripping with blood. His expression, however, remained perfectly calm.
The last remaining member of the Scions of the Lord immediately crawled backward across the snow, no longer caring about maintaining her composed appearance. Fear had completely replaced the calm aura she carried only moments ago.
She suddenly bumped into someone’s boots. Looking up, she saw long crimson hair swaying gently in the cold wind before meeting a pair of hazel eyes filled with confusion.
"What the hell happened here?" Jade asked.
The woman immediately grabbed Jade’s leg.
"Please!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "Help me! He’s trying to kill me! I’m innocent!"
Whether the tears were real or not no longer mattered. She was genuinely terrified.
"Don’t interfere, Jade." Gideon walked toward them without lowering his sword. "I’m not going to kill her. She’s coming with me alive. I still have several questions that need answers."
Jade frowned, her eyes immediately searching for Johan. The old man slowly walked over before stopping beside her.
"Chief is right," he said quietly. "She’s one of the zealots."
Jade looked back at the woman. The fear on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by hatred.
"You damned sinners..." she hissed through clenched teeth. "The Creator will judge every one of you. I would rather die than—"
Gideon immediately understood what she was about to do. Before she could bite down on her tongue, he struck the back of her neck with the hilt of his sword until she fainted.
Silence gradually returned to the camp. Only the falling snow, the cold wind and the ragged breathing of the terrified refugees could be heard.
Gideon turned toward them, his blood-stained sword still hanging at his side.
"Those four were members of the Scions of the Lord," he said calmly. "Most of you probably never knew who they really were, and that’s perfectly understandable. They’re trained to earn your trust before destroying everything you’ve built."
His eyes slowly swept across every frightened face before continuing.
"I wanted all of you to witness this because spies have only one fate inside Cinder Dusk." He paused for a moment before the sword disappeared completely.
"As for whether you still wish to stay here or leave... that decision is yours. I won’t force anyone to remain inside my territory."
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