Volume 6, Chapter 30 – The Ineffective Power

There must be some hidden reason for this. It’s better not to press the issue.

Yisi patted Mary’s head. Because of Evelyn’s disdainful remarks about the Fallen, Mary looked very frightened. To ease the awkward atmosphere, Yisi forced a smile and changed the subject.

“If it’s as Evelyn says, and Mary is also a child of God, then there are now two future Popes.”

“Who knows. If that’s really the case, the church will collapse before long. For the Goddess to bestow her divine power upon a half-elf, it violates the most fundamental doctrine of the church: that the Goddess only favors humanity.”

The two of them looked at Mary, who seemed to be struggling with something. After a long while, she timidly raised her head.

“Um… Master, when I was praying, I think I heard a voice…”

The one who pressed for more was Evelyn.

“A voice? What did it say?”

Mary had a look of trying hard to remember, but she soon gave up and shook her head.

“I don’t know. I only felt that it was very gentle, just like a mother.”

“A mother… It’s common for believers to say that. All humans born in this world are children of the Goddess. It’s very common for the Goddess to give people the feeling of a mother.”

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Although she received an answer from Evelyn, Mary still looked unable to let it go. She wanted to explain something, but because Evelyn had turned the conversation aside, Mary could only close her mouth, her right hand slowly moving to her chest, as if there were something there.

Evelyn got straight to the point.

“I’ve fulfilled your wish, Yisi. Shouldn’t you fulfill our promise now?”

“I know. I’ll pass on your request to my friend later.”

Evelyn’s eyebrows immediately shot up.

“Huh? It’s been two days already, and you still haven’t contacted her? No, this is perfect. I want to meet your friend in person. No matter what conditions she sets, I can talk to her. It’s much more convenient than passing messages.”

“No, no, she won’t want to see you.”

Although she could use illusion magic to create two bodies, there was ultimately only one person who could speak. It was absolutely impossible to both show Evelyn the illusion and negotiate with her at the same time.

Unless Pepe was willing to cooperate with her, with Pepe playing the role of Viel, then two people could appear at the same time.

“We’ll know if she wants to see me or not when we get there. Go on, what do you want? As long as you take me to her, you can name any condition.”

What a troublesome woman.

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Yisi thought for a moment, then waved her hand in annoyance.

“Yes, yes, I’ll take you to see her, but not today. I think you can see her tomorrow or the day after. I’ll go to the temple to find you then. But you must keep me informed of Julius’s every move. He now knows Mary’s identity as a half-elf, and I’m worried he’ll be a disadvantage to her—speaking of which, as the next Pope of the church, doesn’t Evelyn reject half-elves?”

“I’m not like that old fossil. As long as I can achieve my goal, the process in between doesn’t matter. Besides, I’ve already swapped souls with Andrea. To talk about the difference between half-elves and humans now, wouldn’t that be too pretentious?”

“That’s true.”

As if to end the topic, Evelyn clapped her hands. “Anyway, I will provide you with information on Julius. He said before that I don’t have to do the annoying prayers every day. Although I don’t know when he’ll change his mind, at least I’m free for the next few days.”

“It’s more like you have nothing to do than being free.”

Evelyn smiled noncommittally, then turned to return to the temple.

It was at this moment that a man in ragged clothes suddenly rushed out from across the street, heading straight for Evelyn. Evelyn, who reacted, took a step back. Quickly calming down, she extended her hand towards the man, chanting an incantation. At the same time, the paladins not far down the street also began to run towards Evelyn.

An attacker? A level 2 is a bit too low.

Yisi retracted the hand she had secretly extended. She had originally planned to secretly support Evelyn before she was ambushed, but that must have been her overthinking it. If it were someone sent by some organization to assassinate Evelyn, their level would definitely not be only 2.

Just as Yisi had thought, the ragged man stopped two meters away from Evelyn and knelt on the ground with a thud.

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“Lady Evelyn, please save me!”

The man’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he had just been fished out of the water. His long-unattended hair was a mess, and his whole body was drenched in sweat. As tears streamed down his face, his nose wouldn’t stop running. There was a clear red bruise on his forehead, reminiscent of someone who had banged their head against a wall.

A drug addict.

The Omniscient Map told Yisi the man’s identity.

Without waiting for Evelyn’s reply, the man began to kowtow one after another, as if he didn’t know what pain was. Yisi could even feel the ground trembling with the man’s kowtows. Once again, a hoarse, crying voice came from the man.

“Lady Evelyn… I beg you, please save me with your power…”

Evelyn stopped chanting her spell, withdrew her hand, and frowned slightly. At the same time, the paladins who had rushed over from both sides of the street gathered behind Evelyn.

“Who are you?”

“I-I am a believer of the church. I am Vibis Potter, who used to often go to the central temple to listen to your teachings. I was originally the eldest son of the Potter family.”

“Lord Potter? I remember you were disowned by him for drug abuse.”

Like a person with difficulty breathing, the man had to pause for a while after every sentence, gasping for breath with great effort.

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“I… I already know my mistake. Originally, I could still rely on the power of prayer to suppress the thought of touching that stuff, but today… Today my prayers suddenly stopped working.”

Every time a believer held a holy relic from the church and prayed to the Goddess, the holy relic would eliminate the negative emotions in their hearts. In the man’s case, it could temporarily suppress his craving for the drug.

Completely ignoring the fact that his knees had been scraped raw when he first knelt, the man shuffled on the ground, prostrating himself at Evelyn’s feet, his facial features twisted in pain, his tears and snot mixed together.

“Now, only you, who have been chosen as a child of God, can save me, Lady Evelyn. For the sake of my past prayers to the Goddess, please help me! I don’t want to touch that damn thing anymore!”

Evelyn fell into a brief silence. A moment later, her usual calculating expression disappeared, replaced by one of sympathy and pity, like a holy mother helping a lost lamb. One could be sure that this was not an act.

Taking two steps forward, Evelyn took a deep breath and slowly placed her hand on the man’s dirty shoulder. The man looked up with hope in his eyes, his face filled with nothing but clarity and gratitude.

“…May you be freed from the devil’s temptation.”

However, the look of hope on the man’s face only lasted for less than two seconds before his eyes began to roll back. Like a person having a seizure, his body involuntarily fell to one side and began to convulse violently. The paladins behind Evelyn immediately rushed forward and held down the convulsing man.

Yisi, who had witnessed everything from behind, clenched her hands slightly.

It wasn’t that Evelyn’s ability had a reverse effect, but that her ability had not been activated at all. Before, when Evelyn used her divine power in the temple, there would be an exceptionally dazzling golden light, but nothing had appeared just now. Evelyn’s ability had not been activated, or rather, it had failed.

This is bad.