1 Prologue - The Evil who Guards the Saint

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Shaking the ornate columns and stone walls of the church.

Storm raged outside the window and an altar alight in flames and smeared in blood that dripped down the marble steps, painting the once white surface with pure crimson.

"What...in the hell?!"

A man in terror stuttered and brandished a gun towards a figure coming out of the flames on the altar before pulling the trigger but no bullet came out. Realizing so, the man felt his already overclocked heart beat even more faster due to the overwhelming terror that washed over him.

"Oho...I was quite sure I drilled a hole in your stomach with the candle stand. You sure seem energetic.", the emerging figure spoke with utter callousness before tossing a big lump beside the terrified man which which landed with a thud.

"Hiii!", the man shrieked as he looked at the lump that landed beside him; it was another person, one of his companions. Only, the face was grotesquely disfigured and a large rod was sticking out of the mouth like a skewer.

The man then returned his terrified gaze at the figure who was now out of the flames;

A young man who looked less than ordinary but was covered in blood here and there on his clothes and wore a rather refreshed smile on his face.

"Now then, let me just finish you off so I can be done with this.", the young man took carefree steps down the altar steps towards the terrified man. Grabbing another candle stand whilst at it.

Seeing the figure slowly near him, the terrified man thus started to pray,

'Oh God...please forgive me. Save me from this evil demon...'

"Done with your prayers now old man?", the young man loomed over him. Raising the candle stand above the head, the young man then looks at the him and says, "No god is gonna save you from this though.", and finally swung down the candle stand with a vengeance and immediately, the white floor was further stained red along with the scattered bits and pieces of brain tissue.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed once more before finally, silence.

The young man heaves a sigh of relief while looking around him, "That wraps it up I gues-Ack!", but it seems he was not unscathed. He was wounded gravely as well, "What do you know? They weren't so incompetent afterall. Heh, not like I'm a lightsaber-wielding-space knight who can block bullets...that sucks...", despite being in pain though he was rather carefree as he looked at his side which was bleeding.

"Welp...it's just a graze.", completely passing his injury off as a simple 'wound' despite it bleeding profusely, he proceeds to inspect his surroundings once more;

The beautiful white marble floors were caked with blood and littered with guts, the two ornate doors and some pews were shattered, the walls were riddled with countless bullet holes and finally the altar was still on fire.

"Yep. Not too shabby of a work if I say so myself.", he unashamedly praises himself for the carnage he had wrought. Many would argue with him about his self-praise but right now he did not care. He had other concerns that he must address immediately.

"That said-", he then turns his attention on a particular column that was miraculously left untouched by either blood or gunfire, "-You alright there lady?"

A moment passed before finally, the figure of a young lady wearing a pure white nun's habit shyly peeked out from behind the column, "Um...Is it over?", the young lady inquired anxiously.

"Do you see these dead guys on the floor? Of course it's over you nitwit!", the young man snapped making the young lady cringe in fear. When he noticed that, the young man sighed, "Just come out of there already. We better get moving before more of these nutjobs come here."

"But Mr. Ashen...you are hurt!", the young lady cries out as she points at the young man, Ashen's side.

"Hm? Oh this? Not a big deal. If anything, are you hurt?", her concern however was immediately brushed off by Ashen's callous response.

"Why are you more worried about my well-being?! You're bleeding to death already!", the young lady exclaimed in a panic. To further punctuate her words, a small spurt of blood came out of Ashen's wounded side.

However, Ashen remain unperturbed nor did he show any sign of being in pain. He just looked at the young lady with a scowl, "As I said-I am fine!", he then dealt a hand chop on the young lady's head, "You on the other hand are apparently considered by this messed up world to be very important. As a Saint, you should at least know your the one in most danger, you nitwit!", he hit the young lady's head again.

"But-!"

"No buts!"

"Fugeh!", Ashen hits her head again, making the young lady squat down to the floor clutching her head in pain, "Uuuuuuu...why are you so violent with me?", she was starting to tear up.

"Hmph! Stop being so naïve if you don't want me to hit you. In the first place, I hate people like you.", Ashen crossed his arms and glowered at the young lady, "Then again, under these circumstances, it seems I cannot leave you alone or else the world will literally not let me hear the end of it."

'I don't want to get hit by a flying garbage can again.', he thought while recalling a memory from exactly half-an-hour ago.

"Eh?", the young lady was surprised to hear Ashen's remark and looked at him dumbfounded.

"What?"

"You mean to say, you will accompany me Mr. Ashen?", the young lady asked him dumbfoundedly, her mouth slightly agape in surprise.

Ashen shrugged, "That settles it. From now on I'll call you 'Nitwit'.", he declared in exasperation.

"Eh?! Why?!"

"Because you are a nitwit! Now stand up already and get ready to leave!", completely annoyed by the young lady's mere response, Ashen proceeds to head further inside the church, stepping on or kicking away any corpse that was in his way.

"At least call me by my name!", the young lady gets up and hurriedly follows after him.

Ashen stops to turn then asks, "What is your name then?"

The young lady reacts as if struck by invisible lightning, "Eh?! You do not know?! But you just called me a Saint earlier!", she exclaimed.

"I only called you that because those trigger-happy morons called you as such and that the stupid freak storm outside wouldn't let me out the church either. Hence, my conclusion that you are one of the Saints of the world.", Ashen explained in a completely exasperated tone.

"But even so, a common person would normally know about our names right? I mean, the Church did recognize us as such.", the young lady looked at Ashen with uneasily.

"Do you seriously think I would bother to remember or even try to know the names of you hypocrites?", Ashen scowled at her.

"Ugh. Your words are too harsh.", she turned her sights to the floor. Apparently taking heavy mental damage.

"It's the truth. But well, I don't really care so that's that.", Ashen makes one final shrug before turning around and proceeding further inside the church.

'This is so troublesome...just let me live in peace, damned world...', just as Ashen was thinking that-

"My name..."

-the young lady started to mutter something.

"Hm? What?", despite finding it too troublesome to even bother addressing, Ashen stops in his tracks and faces the young lady.

"My name is Rossweisse! So call me Rossweisse!", with teary eyes, the young lady-Rosseweisse declared bravely.

Ashen's eyes widened in surprise. He did not expect her to confront him like that. But-

"Is that so? Very well, nice to meet you...Nitwit."

"Eeeeh?!"

-he simply didn't care. Not one bit as he indifferently turns the other way and leaves.

"Why?! I just told you my name! Call me by my name please Mr. Ashen!", Rossweisse(Nitwit) cried out as she follows Ashen inside the church.

And this is how, Ashen, an apparent misanthropic and faithless young man met the devout but seemingly naïve Saint, Rossweisse, on the day the world will later refer to as, 'The Dawn of Tragedy'.