The gray sky loomed overhead.
Cracks, like serpents of lightning, snaked menacingly across it, constantly twisting and shifting, as if the entire sky might shatter at any moment.
There was not a hint of wind in the air, creating an inexplicable sense of oppression.
The desperate cries and pleas only added to the growing restlessness and suffocation.
This was a small village, situated by the main road leading to Segis City.
At the village entrance, a woman dressed as a villager, who looked to be around twenty, clung to the leg of a man in Priest Robes, crying and begging as she spoke:
"Lord Priest, Lord Priest, my child doesn't want to be a Child of Nature, truly doesn't want to be. Please don't take him! Please don't take him! He's only four years old!"
The priest remained expressionless.
Behind him stood a line of fully armed soldiers.
The soldiers were escorting a carriage loaded with young children.
