Volume 9, Chapter 48 – The Cursed People and the True Leader

“Tell me, what is the Gospel’s next prophecy?”

The main hall fell silent once more. At least a minute passed in what felt like a standoff. Just as Yisi began to suspect Atwood might not have heard her, he placed one hand on the white stone pillar and slowly turned around, his aged face betraying no emotion.

“What does Cardinal Yisi mean?”

“Pope Atwood spent over ten days interpreting the Gospel. Since you already obtained the result, why did you have Lin interpret it? Even with just our few exchanges, anyone would reach the same conclusion as me: you are not someone who likes to act mysterious.”

Lowering his head, Atwood’s gaze shifted from Yisi to the Gospel resting on the stone pillar. He flipped through it seemingly at random. When Atwood had brought her to the main hall earlier, Yisi couldn’t see what was written on the Gospel due to the angle. But now, standing just one step below Atwood, Yisi could easily see its contents—it was blank, completely white.

“The Gospel does not tell us the reason for our actions; it only explains how to reach the end. Even so, the Gospel doesn’t tell us everything we must do from beginning to end. It only reveals the answers piece by piece, like turning the pages of a book. Only after finishing this page can the next be opened.”

“Does Pope Atwood mean you don’t know either?”

The conversation paused again for a moment. Atwood pursed his lips into something resembling a smile.

“Yes.”

If you already interpreted it, why wait until now to tell Lin the answer?

Yisi didn’t voice this question but rephrased it, stepping forward onto the same level as Atwood. She placed her finger on the page Lin had just interpreted, simultaneously lifting her head to stare into Atwood’s smiling eyes.

“You’re lying. There’s a third passage of text on this page.”

“Hoh? Can Cardinal Yisi see the words on the Gospel?”

“Atwood, what exactly are you hiding? With the Duchy of Chloe on the verge of collapse, hiding things from everyone benefits no one.”

Of course, she was lying. She had no idea what was written on the Gospel. The reason she dared say there was a third passage was partly based on observing Lin’s reaction earlier, guessing there might be more written, but mostly it was a moment of courage—what others would call recklessness. At any other time, she would have tried to gather more evidence before confronting Atwood. But now, there was absolutely no time for delay. Not being reckless at this moment would only lead to endless regret later.

Atwood might not be able to see the words on the Gospel at all.

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Over this long period, she had sensed this.

Perhaps he could see them once, maybe even to a degree unmatched within the Divine Religion. But now, there was a strong suspicion Atwood couldn’t see them. Since she entered the Divine Religion’s base, every time a prophecy from the Gospel was involved, Atwood had found ways for others to interpret its contents. Initially, she thought he was giving others a chance, or perhaps it was part of his papal authority. But just now, she truly sensed something was wrong.

Since the Gospel’s prophecy had already been interpreted, why didn’t Atwood immediately tell Lin? Why, even when Lin confronted him directly, did he resort to making her interpret it herself? With the Empire potentially breaching the city walls at any moment, even the most incompetent leader should know not to waste time on crucial decisions. Not to mention the Divine Religion was a highly efficient organization, and Atwood was far from incompetent. If everyone in the Divine Religion acted based on the Gospel, then Atwood’s inaction—so negligent it could be called dereliction of duty—could not be explained from any angle.

Unless Atwood couldn’t see the words on the Gospel at all.

This would explain everything he had done.

“Hiding something?” Atwood looked puzzled. “I don’t understand what Cardinal Yisi is trying to say.”

“Still trying to argue at this point? Atwood, you can’t see the words on the Gospel at all, can you?”

“Cardinal Yisi must be joking—”

Fury surged in her chest. Yisi stepped forward again, glaring at Atwood with an intensity that made lying impossible.

“You’ve been avoiding my questions from the start! Why don’t you dare look me in the eye! Atwood, you’re driving Lin to her death!”

Upon hearing the last sentence, Atwood’s placid expression suddenly flickered. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then gently pushed Yisi’s hand away and slowly straightened his clothes.

“I never intended to drive Lin to her death. Everything I do is for her sake.”

“Hiding the fact that you can no longer see the words on the Gospel—is that for Lin’s sake!?”

“Yes.”

Without any guilt or apology, Atwood stared back intently into Yisi’s eyes. In that instant, his smiling old man image vanished, replaced by someone with an unwavering will, unshaken by anything. However, this atmosphere quickly dissipated again as Atwood let out a low sigh.

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“I never thought Cardinal Yisi could also see the words on the Gospel. I assumed that since the Gospel couldn’t predict your actions, you shouldn’t be able to see its words either. It seems I miscalculated. Since that’s the case, please trouble yourself to listen to this old man ramble for a bit. Before that, please remain calm for a moment, Cardinal. I will not do anything harmful to you.”

After Atwood finished speaking, he pointed his index finger at Yisi. Immediately, an exceptionally vast magical fluctuation flowed through the main hall. The magic lamps on the walls lit up one by one, like stars surrounding the moon, their light converging on the Gospel at the center of the tiered hall. Then, a meter above the book, a slowly rotating blue sphere surrounded by arcane runes appeared. The entire process took less than a second before all the magic power from the blue sphere shot towards Yisi like an arrow.

She felt as if her body was fixed by something, but the sensation was not only faint to the point of being imperceptible but also dissipated quickly upon contact.

It must be some kind of movement-restricting magic. Yisi didn’t know its name, but not knowing didn’t stop her from listening. Dealing with Atwood after he finished speaking wouldn’t waste too much time.

No longer looking at Yisi, Atwood raised his head, his gaze drifting far away, his expression filled with a hint of nostalgia. It was as if he weren’t the Pope of the Divine Religion standing here, but just an ordinary old man reminiscing about the past.

“Just as Cardinal Yisi said, I can no longer see what’s written on the Gospel now. But I have never felt panic or unease because of it… Ridiculous, isn’t it? If Lin found out, she would surely drive me out of here.”

Atwood paused, his expression turning serious.

“Being unable to see the words on the Gospel means my faith in it has wavered. If it were Lin, she would feel fear, wouldn’t she? But that’s because she sees herself as the Gospel’s puppet. After realizing the Gospel is not something humans should possess, I stopped regarding it as the god I should believe in.”

“I was born into a noble family in the Norta Empire. When I was ten, due to internal strife among the imperial nobility, my family fell apart. Not only did the Emperor confiscate all our assets, but the elders holding titles were also hanged. The rest of us were forced to leave our homeland, seeking ways to survive. Then, I met people who took me in—not the Divine Religion, but an organization specializing in assassination within the Empire.”

So that’s why Atwood could display that skill of hiding his presence, making him hard to detect, during their first meeting?

“To survive, I began learning assassination techniques. People are less guarded around children than adults, so I could always complete my missions and quickly became a talent valued by the leader. Since then, besides various assassination methods, I also learned many techniques for using magic power. However, after killing again and again, seeing the struggles of the dying again and again, I began to wonder: what meaning did these people’s lives hold? And what was the difference between myself and them? Please don’t imagine me as one of those scholars pondering the meaning of existence. Only those who know their next meal is secure, whose lives haven’t reached the point of desperation, would ponder such things. This question troubled me for decades, until I received a mission to assassinate the previous Pope.”

“Like every follower of the Divine Religion, I was outwitted by the Gospel. Then, having received the previous Pope’s blessing to fight for the future of humanity, I became a follower. That was the only failure in my career as an assassin. It’s still killing, but as an assassin, I was just carrying out others’ requests, earning what I needed for the future. After entering the Divine Religion, however, I killed for the future of humanity. The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment was completely different from being an assassin. It felt like being an emissary of God. The Gospel was God, and I was an angel at God’s feet. Thinking this way made the act of killing seem sacred.”

“Harboring this simple, unthinking notion, coupled with my strength, I rose to the rank of Bishop in just a few years. When the old Pope grew aged, I was chosen as his successor. Then, I, who had previously focused only on assassination, began to take over the duties originally belonging to the Pope. It was during this process that I discovered that generation’s Hero: Gran.”

“Although every follower is personally chosen by the Gospel, we still investigate new recruits’ identities to understand their abilities and past. During this process, I saw the names of Gran’s deceased parents. Orphans were not uncommon in the Divine Religion, but what surprised me was that Gran’s late parents were killed by me. And the one who gave me the order was the Gospel itself.”

“When I paid closer attention to Gran, I found that due to losing his parents, he harbored resentment towards the world. He wanted to become the savior, to save this world. That’s why he pushed himself relentlessly, never stopping, improving his strength, treating those around him kindly, becoming a Hero everyone trusted.”

At this point, Atwood raised an eyebrow, his expression turning exceptionally strange.

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“It was simply too absurd! Even I felt so at the time. Someone victimized by the Gospel, deprived of their original life, had now become its believer! So I began to think, why did this happen? The Gospel only gives the optimal solution—that was the consensus. Since this was the optimal solution, I could only ponder the reason why the Gospel did this. Perhaps I was too arbitrary, but I reached only one conclusion: the Gospel intended to create someone who believed in it absolutely. It was like first throwing someone into an abyss, then pulling them up. As long as the first step was concealed, the person played like a puppet would only feel gratitude towards the Gospel. And if the rescued person was then given the grand identity of ‘Savior,’ it would ensure they never rested, constantly driving themselves forward. Even the most malevolent human wouldn’t resort to such fiendish behavior. As an outsider who saw everything clearly, and as the one who ruined Gran’s life, I felt for the first time that I shouldn’t allow such things to happen. It was then that I first thought, perhaps one shouldn’t follow the Gospel’s guidance in everything.”

“The story that followed… Perhaps Cardinal Yisi heard it from Lin. To allow Lin to control her power, the Gospel had the Divine Religion sacrifice one-third of its members. The old Pope decided to sacrifice himself and other aged bishops in exchange for the lives of those one-third. As a result, due to the King of Chloe’s infighting, the entire city’s population turned into undead. After witnessing Gran’s situation, I realized it was all just the Gospel’s premeditated plan. The Gospel knew the previous Pope would choose to sacrifice himself, and it knew the King of Chloe would disrupt the ritual. Only in this way could Lin, someone born with the strength of the heroic domain, be bound to the Divine Religion’s ship—using everyone’s death, using Lin’s guilt, to shackle her within the church.”

So that’s how it was?

She had felt strange from the beginning. As an omniscient book of wisdom, the Gospel should have known the old Pope’s choice, yet it still gave the answer of sacrificing one-third. Even emphasizing that the Gospel only gives the optimal solution and can only answer the question asked, unable to elaborate, felt somewhat forced. However, if the Gospel’s goal from the start was to bind Lin to the Divine Religion, then everything made sense.

“Since then, my doubts about the Gospel grew larger. I even began to think that my becoming an assassin was also part of the Gospel’s secret machinations, that my family was destroyed because of it. Unfortunately, the previous Pope was dead, and I couldn’t find any evidence. To stop Gran from becoming the Gospel’s manipulated puppet, and to alleviate my own hidden guilt, after becoming Pope, I used Lin’s superior strength as an excuse to make her the Hero instead of Gran. …At the time, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with this decision. At that point, for Lin, who felt guilty and wanted to contribute to the church, this decision was most appropriate. But not long after, I felt this decision was selfish. I was merely rushing to find a replacement for Gran and happened to see Lin. Lin’s current state only fills me with deeper regret. I shouldn’t have placed her in the savior’s position.”

“Through Lin’s missions, again and again, I fully realized: the Gospel is not something humans should touch. I don’t know why the first person who obtained the Gospel wanted to know how to save the world, but I’ve always believed he opened the key to hell. He placed a curse on everyone who came after. Humans absolutely cannot become saviors. The Gospel’s considerations contain nothing related to humanity. Perhaps what the Gospel does will indeed be effective in the future, but before it takes effect, it will only destroy one person after another. It measures people’s value on a scale, based on quantity, and that is wrong from the start.”

Atwood’s voice grew more passionate, until finally, as if detesting the Gospel, he clenched his fists, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked at it.

“And so, I gradually became unable to see the words on the Gospel. At first, it was just some negligible phrases. Later, more and more became invisible, until the last time Lin was sent to the Kingdom. When I learned of the existence of someone who could achieve results before Lin, I completely lost the ability to see anything written on it. I thoroughly lost the Gospel’s trust—no, rather, I thoroughly abandoned the Gospel. As the Pope of the Divine Religion, I bear the mission of leading the followers, and this mission is absolutely not to turn them into inhuman monsters enslaved by the Gospel! People should control the Gospel, not the other way around!”

“If that’s the case, why did you only hide the fact that you couldn’t see the Gospel, without trying anything else? Sitting idly by won’t change anything.”

Involuntarily, Yisi frowned and spoke.

Atwood froze for a moment, then a smile gradually appeared on his face.

“Hehehe… As expected of a Child of God unpredictable by the Gospel. Even a barrier comparable to Tier 5 magic couldn’t restrain Cardinal Yisi. But this way, I can rest assured. I cannot change anything because I cannot escape the Gospel’s control. Even if I tear it up now, I might just fall into its trap. But Cardinal Yisi is different. Just as I said when you first arrived here, you can bring us change. Only someone not controlled by the Gospel can completely free us from its shackles. Sooner or later, Lin will discover I lied to her. At that time, I will completely lose control over her. Under the Gospel’s influence, she will become increasingly paranoid, until she loses herself, becoming a monster that only acts according to the Gospel. I do not wish for that to happen. This is the reason I invited you here, Cardinal.”

“To prevent things from getting worse, I can only let Lin act according to the Gospel. However, this absolutely does not mean I have compromised. Therefore, no matter what conditions Cardinal Yisi proposes, I am willing to agree. Even if you wish to become the Pope of the Divine Religion right now, I can immediately lie to the followers, claiming it is the Gospel’s will. My only condition is that I hope you, Cardinal, can free Lin, free everyone in the Divine Religion, from this curse.”

His words carried intense will. Atwood stared firmly into Yisi’s eyes, as if trying to bore into her thoughts through them. The determination in his gaze was like the sun, fierce and grand.

Free the Divine Religion, which believes in the Gospel, from the Gospel itself?

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A paradoxical, very interesting request.

The reason Atwood didn’t tell her from the start was that he guessed she would refuse such a troublesome proposal without a second thought. That’s why he gave her ample time and authority to observe the people in the Divine Religion, dragging it out until he could delay no longer, until she developed sympathy for them.

What a huge gamble.

If it failed, there would be no hope left.

Cardinal Yisi…

She murmured inwardly.

It’s a rather nice title.

A wry smile spread across her face. Yisi placed her right hand on her chest in a confident gesture.

“Pope Atwood, I have heard your request. However, I must refuse.”

“Why? I have learned about your character. You are not someone who would stand by and watch others die. No, saying that is too arrogant. Cardinal Yisi, I have only one request. Even if you are powerless to save us all, please, you must free Lin from the curse. Only Lin… What I owe her cannot be compensated in any form. So if you agree, as long as you are willing, the entire Divine Religion can be at your command from now on. You would be the ruler of the Duchy of Chloe! This is my last, and only, request.”

At this, Atwood prepared to kneel, but Yisi used magic to support him, preventing the obeisance.

“Let me think…” Yisi touched her index finger to her chin, tilted her head slightly in a thinking pose. “Atwood might be mistaken. The position of Pope holds no attraction for me, nor do I need rewards. Those things are dispensable to me. I always act according to my heart. If I’m willing to help, I help. If I’m unwilling, I’ll try to avoid it no matter what. So, the fact that I’m still here proves I’m not unwilling. Rather, our goals happen to coincide.”

“So Cardinal Yisi means…?”

Without directly answering Atwood, Yisi placed her hand on the Gospel resting on the stone pillar, then turned to face him with a smile.

“I think you should address me as ‘Your Holiness the Pope’ now.”