"Madam, you don't want your entire family wiped out because of your husband, do you?" Ashu pressed the blade of his dagger against Alice's chin.
"What? How could that be…"
"Of course it could." Ashu pushed the blade closer, leaving a faint mark on Alice's neck. "The Divine Mother Goddess has a merciful side, but she also has the side of Divine Judgment. And I represent that judgment—like a thunderbolt striking down."
Ashu improvised on the spot; in truth, he didn't know how many sides the Divine Mother Goddess truly had.
But Alice, careful about her reputation, was genuinely frightened. After all, in the past ten years, every Devotee she had seen was either crazy or driven insane by madmen. Who knew what kind of being this "luminous saint" was?
"What… what do you want me to do?" Alice asked.
"Simple."
Ashu slowly took Alice's hand. As she extended her arm, the inner part of her upper arm was exposed.
