Chapter 1632: The Carnality of Faith.
[So...our choices on who to help in this war includes a bloodthirsty Empire whose Emperor may actually be a corpse puppet...] Nepherage began.
[...a weird fascist religious wannabe dictator who oddly has a point about the conflicting faiths...,] Razorstella continued while realizing how disgusting that sentence felt coming out of his mouth. [Ew.]
[A guy who I can’t tell is either a massive pervert or does truly believe that rampant group sex will lead to spiritual enlightenment for all,] Blazejudicator added. [Which...more power to them, I guess.]
[And last, but definitely not least, a grieving young woman who was more or less forced into a position of power after their beloved older sister died via an assassination done by one of the three other aforementioned names,] Hurricroak capstoned. [Am I missing something? Anything?]
[The fact that I’m still in the middle of talking with said pervert.]
[Yeah...good luck with that.]
...
Note that there is a mild censorship scene ahead because...wow...just...wow...
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"
[I...I don’t even want to know why you specifically asked for koalas...I really don’t,] Blaze mumbled under their breath.
The kaijin of flames and judgment had no choice but to stare directly at Hulna as he continued to beg, plead, and occasionally sob while bowing on his hands and knees like a beggar on the streets.
On the one hand, Hulna did sound like a devout priest who deeply cared for the people who looked up to him. On the other hand, he also sounded like a massive pervert who demanded that his balls be stepped upon by a very tall woman in very high high heels.
[I am getting...one too many flashbacks,] the nebulous flame judge muttered to themselves as their face briefly resembled that of a succubus. [Okay, let’s get him to stop begging and back to the matter at hand.]
A firm thwack to the back of the head and a verbal assurance that Blaze wasn’t going to be punishing him for his sins was all that was needed to get the perverse priest Hulna to get off the floor and adjust his clothes so that he and Blaze could finally talk.
Sort of.
There was just one more question on Hulna’s mind.
"Are you sure you’re not here to punish me for my sinful indulgences?"
[No...wait, I thought your faith was all about free love and casual carnality. Why the fuck are you calling it a sin?]
"Ah, yes it is," Hulna answered in a weird tone of voice before actually explaining himself. "Well...prior to me finding my own sect, I was actually a member of one where they treated every sinful impulse with bondage and punishment. I was actually kicked out for...enjoying it."
[Huh...]
Evidently, that little sentence gave Blaze an idea on the kind of person that he was dealing with. As well, he saw a way forward into interrogating Father Free Love.
[Is this prior sect of yours still around? Do they judge the fact that you not only survive but thrive after being released from their care?] Blaze asked. [Or have they disappeared into the dustbin of history?]
"My former denomination is...no more, I’m afraid," Hulna answered with a touch of hesitation. "They were one of the first sects to collapse when the war with the Erupting Dawn Empire first started."
[Tragic.]
"Inevitable," Hulna corrected. "Because that is the fate of all who hold hatred in their hearts and fail to see the opportunities that love can bring."
[Don’t you mean lust?]
"They’re practically the same in my faith."
[Interesting...does this overlap have anything to do with the fact that you’re working with your biggest rival and an offshoot of your object of worship?] Blaze asked with very little build-up.
Hulna was slightly taken aback by such a blunt and abrupt question, but he still managed to answer regardless. OF course, that may have been due to the [Chaos] subtly affecting him in the same way smoke does when it’s huffed.
"That...is only a temporary measure," Hulna answered. "Feroxxa and I are bitter enemies, yes, but our goals for a more unified Theocracy is aligned. And we understand that the current flame and its Tender are...well, not a good fit for our visions of the future."
[Uh huh...]
Immediately, Blaze could clock that while Hulna spoke softly, he was also the kind to stab you in the gut after buying you a drink and saying you’re beautiful in the same instant.
In other words, a bitch.
[So it is your vision of the future? Where do you see yourself if this religious coup of yours come to fruition?]
"Why, I see myself leading a united coalition of faiths into the future and beyond," Hulna answered with enthusiasm.
[Oh?]
"My counterpart, Feroxxa, he sees the fact that we have so many diverse ideologies, so many different sects, as nothing more than weeds in a farmer’s field. Something to be plucked and removed, to be replaced with a singular crop. No variety, no flavor," Hulna elaborated as he began to walk around the temple’s internals for no reason other than to be dramatic.
"On the other hand, I see our variety and diversity as our greatest strength. After all, not everyone is built for certain positions in the Kamasutra," Hulna said matter-of-factly as he picked up a clean book with that exact title on the cover.
Blaze was hiding it, but the kaijin’s master was currently mentally groaning so hard at this revelation that it was starting to affect him and his kin to an extent.
"That said, Feroxxa isn’t wrong that these diverse sects need a goal, a uniting ideology to make sure that they get along and not try to kill each other before they even get the chance to share carnal bliss with one another," Hulna continued. "Which is where this new flame comes in."
To illustrate his point, Hulna proceeded to snap his finger and summon a small mote of the offshoot flame at the tip of it.
The moment Blaze saw this flame, he was immediately reminded of his own [Vice Flame of Lust], but it had a distinctive feel to it that felt very different from his own. It felt almost...more primordial. However, he could also tell that Hulna was doing his damndest to make this little flame feel more like the [Sacred Flame] that Serena tended to.
"The current sacred flame is like a lighthouse in a storm. It will gather people to its light and guide them to safety, but that is it. It doesn’t point them to a new direction, nor does it guide them to anything beyond the status quo. A good flame, but one that eventually becomes...pointless."
After he made this statement, Hulna proceeded to pump up the aether and cause the little flame at his fingertip to flare up.
At this point, the mimicry of the original flame had come to an end, and it became clear that Hulna was now subjecting Blaze to a vision of what he thought the future should be...under his guidance, that is.
"Once the war ends, the various sects will no longer have a common enemy to unify against. They will be once again, lost in the dark of their own personal desires. However, if this new flame can serve as a beacon, a torch in that darkness, then we can redirect that focus towards a singular desire: love! Pure love!"
The vigor with which Hulna said the word, "love," caused his personal aether to flare up and his [Regalia] to temporarily manifest. In that brief moment, Blaze didn’t know whether he was staring at a demon of desire or an angel of love.
"Once we bring forth this new beacon, this new unifying force, then we can gather all of the fighting factions and have them energetically F-!"
...
*Bing-Bong*
Eh? What the fuck, man?
|Read the paper.|
What the fu—oh. Huh...okay...
The following rant was censored not because of the sheer amount of profanity used, which is par for the course for this book, but because the description of the sexual acts that Hulna wanted the people of the Theocracy to perform once he could organize a nation-wide orgy could best be considered a war crime on the collective imagination of humanity as a whole. It is in the humble opinion of the [REDACTED] that the writer go and seek immediate therapy.
[Fuckers.]
Okay, I didn’t get a chance to review this, so I’m going to just take a look and...okay, what the fuck? Just...what the fuck?!
[I was told to write smutty, I wrote smutty!]
HALF OF THESE ACTS CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH THE TERM, "MASTER CLASS CUCKOLDRY," WHILE THE OTHER HALF I’M FAIRLY CERTAIN IS CONSIDERED A CRIME BY WHATEVER CONSTITUTES A GENEVA CONVENTION ON THIS PLANET!
|AND?! The omegaverse people get away with it!|
I...Dios Mios on high...
*Bing-Bong*
...
"...And then we’d eat the pudding created by our combined efforts."
[I...see...]
At this point, Blaze had to once again re-evaluate his thoughts on Hulna.
He wasn’t a bitch...he was just a freak.
A big ole freak of nature.
