Tess

The girl was like a bull snorting relentlessly at a red cloth. She seemed ready to gore Rus with her horns at the first opportunity.

“On Judgment Day, you will fall into the abyss of hell! Servants of Satan!”

The curse coming from her still-young face was terrifying. Unsatisfied with words alone, she tried to climb over the barricade, prompting the police to reach for their holsters. That’s when it happened.

“Stop it.”

“That man” stopped the woman. His voice was calm. Setting aside his beautiful face, it was a voice that, though not particularly loud, somehow carried clearly and distinctly.

“Our purpose is to spread the word. Have you forgotten what our leader said?”

When the man reminded her, the girl immediately calmed down as if she had never been excited. The man nodded to another believer to take the girl to the back. She obediently followed.

“If you cause another disturbance, you will be arrested immediately.”

When the police gave this warning, the man nodded in understanding. For just a brief moment, the man looked toward Rus. Although he had stopped the girl, that was all—he did not apologize to Rus. Like the others, he made no effort to hide his contempt for an Alpha and abruptly turned his head away.

“Shouldn’t you apologize if you’re the one in charge?”

The man who was about to leave stopped abruptly at those words. It was a provocation. Normally, Rus wouldn’t have said such a thing. He wasn’t even angry enough to demand an apology. Even when the woman splashed water and hurled curses, his heartbeat remained calm. The reason he threw those words at the man was to confirm what he had seen.

“A little water splash is nothing to the descendants of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

The man slowly turned his head. For a moment, Rus felt an illusion that the man’s hair was slightly fluttering in the wind. Yet there was nothing to be mistaken about. Through the brown hair, dark gray eyes that were slightly furrowed gazed at Rus.

The feeling was different from when he saw him from afar. His irises, like cold planets embedded in his eyes, wavered in momentary confusion but quickly regained composure. If his eyes were Mercury, his lips were the Sun. They were the center that breathed life and warmth into the flawless white skin. However, contrary to their beautiful color, the red lips spewed venom.

The man’s tone was filled with sharp thorns. Had he seen wrong? No. Rus’s eyes, more keen than others, were certain of what they had seen.

“You probably wouldn’t receive the blessing of holy water anyway.”

Behind the clearly sneering expression, there was no trace of falsehood. The man’s sincerity seemed too firm to cling to that fleeting moment of truth. A place where wealthy and powerful alphas gathered to play their games of ostentation. As the man had described, this was indeed the arena of Sodom and Gomorrah. While Rus somewhat agreed with that statement, he felt the urge to provoke further. Perhaps a different reaction would emerge.

“This is a place where a charity party is being held.”

“Evil very often disguises itself as good intentions.”

“Rus, are you okay? What if it had been a terrorist attack? Why did you just let her go? We should arrest and investigate her.”

Andrew, whom Rus thought was still in the car, came running and spoke up too late. Principally, Andrew was right. The woman’s action might have been impulsive, but someone else could plan a crime. An example needed to be set, if only for appearances.

“The sulfur fire of hell would be incomparable to human punishment.”

“What? We could arrest and imprison you for assault!”

“Faith has always been persecuted.”

“Wait, who’s the victim here? How dare you…”

As Andrew became agitated, the man’s expression, conversely, grew calmer. His long eyelashes revealed as he slightly lowered his gaze were beautiful, but his eyes remained cold.

Rus stepped slightly forward to restrain Andrew. The man continued speaking, unbothered.

“Sodom and Gomorrah, along with their neighboring cities, having surrendered to immorality and pursued strange flesh, suffered the punishment of eternal fire as an example.”

“Rescue others from the fire, pulling them out. Show mercy with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

When Rus recited a different verse, the man’s gaze slowly turned toward him.

“Doesn’t religion need salvation more than curses, believer?”

Though there was no particular need to use a specific title, when Rus called him “believer,” the man became angry. The intention to mock was clear.

“My name is not ‘believer’.”

“Then what should I call you? You won’t tell me your name, will you?”

That was correct. Why would he give his name to someone like an alpha, to a devil? The man pressed his lips firmly shut. Rus didn’t miss the subtle change in expression as he lowered his eyes and bit his discontented lips. But this still wasn’t the reaction he desired.

“What does immorality mean to you, believer?”

“If you’re curious about the meaning, look it up in a dictionary.”

Andrew, standing awkwardly between Rus who suddenly became aggressive with his questions and the man who responded cynically, couldn’t leave his position and just alternated glances between the two.

“Then what do your people think of sex?”

At the explicit word, the man slightly furrowed his brow. Displeasure shadowed his face.

“The union of man and woman is an act undertaken for a sacred duty.”

“If the purpose of sex is for reproduction, aren’t alphas and omegas precisely suitable for that purpose? Perhaps they’re even gifts from God. A desire to preserve superior genes.”

“Don’t blaspheme against God.”

“Blasphemy? Isn’t it the opposite? I’m speaking from a theistic perspective, suggesting our existence might be God’s will.”

Rus smiled slightly as he provoked the man. The man bit his lip harder, irritated by Rus’s nonchalant attitude. His white face reddened with emotional change.

“It is His will and test indeed. A warning not to abandon faith for vain desires.”

“Desire… Everything is about consent. Not engaging in sex the other person doesn’t want, mandatory STD tests and contraception. If a child is conceived, promising maximum support while respecting the other’s wishes. Should someone be labeled promiscuous just because they’re an alpha? Should they be condemned simply for not having a fixed partner?”

“That sounds like a fancy packaging for lust.”

“Is that a greater sin than other sins?”

“The answers are in the Bible, check for yourself, and if you gain insight, I hope you repent.”

The man expressed his intention not to participate in the verbal battle any further. Rus pretended not to understand and threw another provocation at the retreating man.

“By the way, are all these truly your own thoughts?”

The man hesitated. His expression clearly revealed his incredulity. Rus smiled slightly. He wanted the man to stop repeating phrases like a programmed doll and to express his honest feelings. He wanted to see that fleeting glance again, completely different from the current face and tone. It was strange how fixated he was on the man’s changing expressions, deliberately dragging the conversation and provoking the other.

“What do you mean?”

“It just flows out so fluently, as if it were recorded.”

The man’s face hardened at the mocking expression. Rus also immediately regarded the man with a serious expression.

“Like someone who has been trained.”

The man with tightly pressed lips glared at Rus. A chilly current flowed between them. The two gazes locked in silence. The surroundings became quiet. The protesters, who had been noisy when the girl splashed water, were now silent as if by agreement. As if only the two of them existed in that space. Rus expected some rebuttal, but the man’s tight lips wouldn’t easily move. Rus also didn’t back down, keeping his gaze fixed. It was precarious, like watching a tightly stretched rubber band. Unable to bear it any longer, Andrew intervened.

“Come on, wouldn’t it be better to guide those prostitutes across the street rather than doing this here?”

The man turned his gaze to Andrew. Though he had nothing to be caught about, Andrew flinched unnecessarily.

“Whether to accept salvation or not is for the individual to decide. Those with intention will receive it…”

The man observed the atmosphere around and let his words trail off. As if the concentrated gazes were burdensome, he turned his head sharply and left. Rus didn’t hold him back any further. He merely followed the man with his eyes as he disappeared into the crowd of protesters. From Rus’s expression alone, it was impossible to guess his inner thoughts.

“What wind blew your way?”

“What?”

“You’re usually not interested in such things.”

Andrew tilted his head. Such protesters were everywhere, only differing in numbers. Rus, who had always been indifferent, suddenly engaged with a protester. And even had a confrontation. The water splash seemed too trivial a reason.

“That look in his eyes…”

“What about his look?”

“It annoyed me.”

Rus paused momentarily before answering. It was far from what he truly wanted to say, but he gave his friend a suitable answer to satisfy his curiosity.

“That’s it?”

Andrew was dejected. That wasn’t enough to resolve his questions, but he didn’t intend to probe further.

The man had already disappeared deep into the crowd of protesters. Rus had no right to hold him any longer. Unless, as Andrew suggested, he arrested the girl for assault.

It felt like something would have come out if he had provoked a little more.

Even to himself, his newfound interest, his sense of regret, felt unfamiliar. Andrew’s meaning was different, but Rus became curious about what was hidden beneath that black barrier. For someone like him, usually indifferent to others, to have this name, “Holy Church,” engraved in his mind, placing that man in front of him was quite a wise decision.

*

*

Two hours by car from Central City, there’s a village sitting on a wasteland.

The Promised Land, Holyland.