- Written By: ThomasPOV: LukeDeaths: Mars (1) Ares (1)
Luke, the third POV character for this series, starts off by telling the readers of his efforts to kill the evil gods, Mars and Ares, whom he insists are two different gods. He also reminds us that he once was a Satanist, but is now a Prayer warrior.
Luke gives a speech to his followers, declaring that they will bring glory to God by defeating the evil gods. He's the first Prayer Warrior to acknowledge the "we are all sinners" belief of Christians, even if he's one of the converts who, at least in the Prayer Warriors' eyes, has much to atone for.
Luke's group attacks the Temple of Mars first, but while they succeed in massacring their enemies, they also take losses. They bury the dead in a Christian manner, while leaving their enemies to rot, continuing the trend of posthumous humiliation of their fallen enemies. All the death and killing turns out to have been in vain, though, as Mars is in another temple.
Luke then moves on to the Temple of Ares, repeating the massacre without taking any casualties this time.
Luke confronts Mars and Ares, one of whom (it's a bit sad when writers are too lazy to specify who the speaker is, outside of situations in which the speaker is meant to be ambiguous) declares that even if they're killed, Hades will resurrect them, keeping them and their perception as "reel gods" alive.
Of course, given how easily they die, it's not much of an impediment to the Prayer warriors. As might be expected, Luke kills them quickly by decapitating them in a "massage" battle and converts their surviving followers after the battle. In spite of the ease of his victory, and his comrades' successes, he's disturbed by what they said, and decides to pass on the "massage". It's interesting that in the space of a few sentences, they used the same word in two different contexts, neither of which is correct.
With no buildup, foreshadowing or preceding romance, Luke marries Rachel because she will make a good housewife. The Prayer Warriors seem to be worse than Las Vegas when it comes to instant marriages.
Next Installment: The Prayer Warriors must face the final Greek god on his home territory.
