Volume 6, Chapter 11 – Within Reason, Beyond Expectation

If the black, ancient castles of the Blood Clan could be described as dark and solemn, then the temple before them could absolutely be called bright and magnificent. Delicate and complex patterns filled the white exterior walls, and even the round dome was covered in a single, unified relief. Coupled with the large, religious-style stained-glass windows and the coming and going pilgrims, Yisi, an atheist, couldn’t help but feel out of place.

“The main gate alone is over seven meters high, and it’s wide enough for at least three carriages to enter side by side. There must be at least a thousand people living inside.”

And that didn’t even count the underground area not covered by the Omniscient Map. When she had stolen the necklace from the next Pope, Evelyn, she had gone deep into the lower levels built beneath the temple.

“I feel like I’m being watched.”

The sense of grandeur made Yisi a little uncomfortable. She already disliked attending crowded occasions, and now, standing in a wide-open space filled with a sense of sanctity, she felt a kind of restraint, as if anything she did would be seen by all.

I should have bought a couple of holy relics from the church on the way here and put them on. At least I’d look like a believer.

As Yisi was muttering to herself, a paladin in full plate armor approached her and Mary.

“This is the central temple. Those who have not consumed holy water are not permitted to enter.”

“Ah, I know. It’s fine as long as we buy and drink the holy water over there, right?”

Yisi deliberately pulled the cross necklaces she and Mary wore outside their clothes. After the paladin confirmed this, he gave a slight nod and returned to his original position.

“Please.”

Just as she had found out beforehand, the church did not provide holy water for free. It had to be purchased for one silver coin per bottle. A bottle here was only the size of an adult’s little finger. It sounded expensive, and if one didn’t know the inside story, they would definitely think the church was using holy water to extort money from believers. But in fact, that was the original price of holy water. The holy water at the central temple was even much cheaper. Previously, when Yisi was in the Niru Diocese, the price of a bottle of holy water there was nearly three times that of the central temple.

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Under the witness of the priest at the entrance, Yisi and Mary drank the colorless and transparent holy water in one gulp—apart from a tingling sensation on the tip of the tongue, it had no taste at all.

“This must be your first time receiving Lady Evelyn’s baptism, correct? This is a holy relic gifted to you by the church. You may enter. As a child of God, may you receive the Goddess’s blessing.”

“Mm.”

Nodding in response to the clergyman wearing a white hat, Yisi and Mary walked into the temple.

A quiet, dignified atmosphere.

The high ceiling and the symbols of the divine that were visible everywhere, the floor and walls swept spotlessly clean. The sunlight filtering through the stained-glass windows rendered the hall in mysterious colors. Although there were dozens of people kneeling in the spacious area, there was no conversation among them. They just silently bowed their heads beneath the statue, offering their prayers. Their pious expressions, combined with an environment so quiet that a silver needle falling to the floor could be clearly heard, made Yisi and Mary instinctively lighten their steps, afraid of making a sound that would break the silence.

Leading Mary to a corner of the hall, Yisi murmured in a volume that wouldn’t be heard by others.

“Are we the only ones here for the first time? Everyone else seems to be a believer.” After a short pause, Yisi suddenly understood the reason. “I see. Ordinary people wouldn’t pay a one-silver-coin entrance fee just for the spectacle. Everyone here now is a devout believer.”

Even so, most of them were neatly dressed nobles, with slightly more women than men.

“Master, where is Miss Evelyn?”

Mary whispered into Yisi’s ear, as if worried about disturbing the people praying under the statue.

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“On the other side of the temple. Hmm… I think she’s probably bathing. She should be here in a little while, not too late.”

Taking advantage of the free time, Yisi observed the statue standing at the end of the hall.

The statue itself was nearly five meters tall, and since it was placed on a high platform, Yisi had to look up to see its face clearly—unlike the traditional image of a goddess that should emphasize feminine features, the woman depicted by the statue was more like a little girl than a woman.

Her waist-length hair was tied with a large ribbon. Her hands were clasped over her slightly developed chest, as if protecting something. The sculpture did not spare even the minute details of the eyelashes. The peaceful expression with her eyes slightly closed radiated an aura of sacred inviolability.

Looking down from her neck, the girl held a divine staff decorated with closed wings at its tip in her right hand. Her attire was a rather unique priestess’s garb; Yisi had never seen this style of priestess’s uniform on the Alexia Continent. In addition, the goddess wore a small silver crown on her head. Although it was neither decorated with large gems nor had overly complicated patterns, it gave a natural feeling of ‘this is how it should be’, as if it possessed some kind of magic.

If this is what a god looks like, without any artificial beautification, her appearance alone would be enough to make countless people fall for her, not to mention that what stands before me is merely a pure white, colorless sculpture.

It’s hard to imagine the shock I would be in if a god were to appear before me in person. Even if my appearance in my [Third Form Awakening] is not inferior to this sculpture, and even the sense of sacredness is almost the same, the moment I open my mouth, that sacred feeling would vanish completely, which is completely different from the goddess’s integrated divine temperament.

In addition, Yisi also had a very familiar feeling.

It wasn’t that she had seen the same goddess statue elsewhere, but that she had seen something more real than the statue with her own eyes.

Lowering her head, she carefully tried to recall where she had seen it before.

—The Crest of Holy Revelation.

Subconsciously, Yisi took out the Crest of Holy Revelation she had obtained from Owen. The palm-sized circular crest was engraved with a relief of the goddess. The only difference from the sculpture was the hand gesture. The goddess on the Crest of Holy Revelation had her arms crossed over her chest, while the temple’s sculpture was in a prayer-like pose.

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“So it was here.”

The playful image of a young girl winking at her from the crest when she first infused it with magic power appeared in her mind. Thinking back now, if that wasn’t her own hallucination, it must have been a revelation from the goddess to her—wait, can a wink be considered a revelation?

Setting aside her status as a god, wouldn’t anyone think that was a greeting?

“How could a god greet me… I must have seen it wrong.”

Shaking her head and casting the thought aside, as an atheist, she should deny the existence of gods. All sorts of miraculous-seeming acts must be man-made things, just like the [Holy Light Array] she had used over Niru City, which is still regarded as divine punishment to this day.

Clack, clack, clack.

Abruptly, the sound of heels clicking on the smooth floor echoed, amplified by the vast hall and the silent environment.

One by one, the believers who were praying to the god opened their eyes and turned their gazes towards the source of the sound. After seeing who it was, the piety on their faces deepened. One noble-looking woman even stood up excitedly and walked tremblingly towards the newcomer.

“Lady Evelyn, I have sinned. Please save me!”

“Do not be rude.”

A paladin following closely behind Evelyn stepped forward, blocking the way between the woman and the church’s next Pope.

Evelyn waved her hand with a smile. Although it was a very approachable gesture, the atmosphere she exuded had a sense of unapproachable distance.

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“It’s alright. However, making a scene in the holy temple is a disrespectful act. Even if you are in a hurry to repent your sins, you should not neglect your respect for the Goddess. Only by offering your faith to the Goddess at all times will she come to your aid in times of crisis.”

“I… I understand. I am very sorry… Lady Evelyn.”

“You should apologize to the Goddess, not me.”

Still with that extremely affable smile and gesture, the woman, as if she had a sudden realization, immediately knelt on the spot facing the statue and, with her hands clasped, offered her repentance to the goddess.

“Is that Miss Evelyn? I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…”

Although her words were a question, Mary’s face showed no sign of recollection—Mary had already remembered where she had seen her, but out of respect for Evelyn, she did not say it directly.

She looks like Tiffany, or rather, Tiffany looks like her.

Even though the light-green pigtails had become pure silver and her attire had changed to a gorgeous red long dress, and the expression on her face was completely different, Yisi could still capture the impish gaze hidden deep within those deep green eyes. With a slightly troubled expression, Yisi subconsciously lowered her head to avoid being discovered by Evelyn.

“No wonder a mere novice priestess had connections with the next Pope. So that’s how it is.”

Although she didn’t know what method Evelyn used to deceive the search of her Omniscient Map, the silver-haired girl in front of her was undoubtedly the Shalu Ymir she had met before.

No, she should be called Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu now.