Volume 9, Chapter 59 – The Bizarre Gospel

“My Lord, you seem very tired. While effort is a good thing, you must also pay attention to rest. As the Hero, you need to be mindful of your body at all times.”

Laxy offered this suggestion to Yisi, who was slumped beside the fireplace, pouting.

It was seven o’clock in the evening. Even Mary, who had the habit of sleeping early, wouldn’t be dozing off at this hour. Everyone was in the living room, occupied with their own tasks.

Yisi stared at the dancing flames in the hearth, contemplating her plans. Camilla, Mary, Tiffany, Edith, and Refina were a little further away, heads down, writing something—it was the learning material Yisi had recently assigned. While mastering combat skills was important, one couldn’t focus solely on muscles without engaging the brain. Yisi had been teaching her companions simple arithmetic methods and basic general knowledge.

Except for the quick learners Camilla and Edith, the others were still stuck on memorizing the multiplication table. Of course, this didn’t mean the others weren’t smart, but rather that their foundation, being born in this other world, was weak. Many things Yisi took for granted, like addition and subtraction, her companions had to learn from scratch. Especially Mary, who initially hadn’t even grasped the concept of ‘number.’ If Yisi showed her one apple, Mary would know it was one apple. But if there wasn’t a concrete object, and Yisi simply wrote the digit ‘1’ and told her it was ‘1,’ Mary would find it baffling, having no idea what it meant.

It was worth noting that, unexpectedly for Yisi, Laxy, being a God-Forged Angel, knew various calculation methods from the start. Her calculation speed and accuracy even surpassed Yisi’s, making Yisi suspect that the vanished Kingdom of God might have been created by someone from another world like herself. After learning Tiffany was also from another world, Yisi no longer considered herself the only transmigrator.

Laxy glanced at Camilla and the others, who were deep in thought nearby. A faint smile graced her divinely crafted face. She moved from Yisi’s side to behind her sofa, gently kneading Yisi’s shoulders. Her blue hair, reflecting the fireplace’s glow, shimmered with a gem-like, magnificent color.

The perfectly applied pressure made Yisi’s expression relax, and she couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sound.

“Ah… Laxy, when did you learn this shoulder massage technique? In the Kingdom of God, filled with angels, there shouldn’t be a need for such skills, right?”

Laxy’s kneading motion paused for a moment. Her usual serious expression turned embarrassed, and her eyes subtly darted aside.

“Well… learning shoulder massage techniques happened after I received the Gospel’s assignment. Back then, I was named Laxyphinia by the Gospel, entrusted with the heavy responsibility of assisting the Hero. To alleviate the Hero’s fatigue, I specifically trained with a Second Rank Angel for a long time before leaving the Kingdom of God…”

Due to embarrassment, Laxy didn’t mention that initially, she had fantasized her Hero would be a handsome young man with medium-length blue hair, a broad back, and a stern expression. When her girlish heart imagined easing the Hero’s stern face through shoulder massages after he endured countless hardships and returned exhausted, her ‘girlish heart’ felt exceptionally satisfied. That’s why she specifically sought instruction from the Second Rank Angel before departing.

Sitting up straight from her unladylike slumped posture, Yisi leaned back against the sofa, nodding thoughtfully.

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“Mm-hmm, I see. As expected of a God-Forged Angel.”

Coughing twice, Laxy proactively changed the subject. If Yisi knew about her past girlish fantasies, she would surely be too embarrassed to face her.

“What was My Lord thinking about just now? Even when looking at the account books of the merchant guild called Margaret, you never showed such a deeply thoughtful expression.”

“Just thinking about things related to the Gospel.”

There was one thing Laxy got wrong. The reason Yisi didn’t ponder deeply over the account books wasn’t because they were too easy for her, but because she simply didn’t look at them seriously. In her eyes, as long as the guild could make money and sustain Fran and the others’ living expenses, it was fine. Exactly how much profit it made was irrelevant.

“The Gospel?”

Laxy paused for a moment, then continued pressing on the area between Yisi’s neck and shoulder. The combination of the warm fireplace and soft sofa, plus the shoulder rub from an exceptionally beautiful girl like Laxy, created an unparalleled sense of comfort, making Yisi involuntarily moan.

“Ooh… Laxy, a little harder.”

“Yes, My Lord.” As Yisi wished, Laxy increased the pressure slightly, then lowered her head, looking at Yisi’s eyes, closed in comfort, with a thoughtful expression. “Related to the Gospel… Although My Lord has been busy with the Divine Religion recently, and I’ve had close contact with that false Hero named Lin, I’ve never been clear on what exactly My Lord is doing, or what kind of organization the Divine Religion truly is.”

“Setting aside my actions, the Divine Religion aims to save the world from fire and water in the future. Just like the Gospel commanded you a thousand years ago, Laxy, to find the Hero in the human world, what the Divine Religion is doing is the same as what you did. Ah.” At this point, Yisi suddenly opened her eyes, tilted her head up, and looked into Laxy’s purple eyes. “Speaking of which, I remember you said, Laxy, that the Gospel was created by the first God-Forged Angel, named Trino, with the Goddess’s help, right? Since it belongs to the Kingdom of God, now that it has ended up in the human world, don’t you feel that an angel’s creation has been stolen by humans—Uh?”

Her voice suddenly rose in pitch. Yisi’s mouth fell slightly open. There were two copies of the Gospel in the Divine Religion’s hands now. If there weren’t just two, but multiple copies like the angels themselves, then Laxy’s current indifferent attitude would be easy to understand—since there were many, it didn’t matter if one or two fell into human hands.

“Is it because there are many copies of the Gospel that you don’t care, Laxy…?”

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“No, My Lord seems to misunderstand the Gospel. There has only ever been one Gospel. Lady Trino created the Gospel out of interest, with no intention of using it for anything specific. After creating it and discovering it couldn’t truly know everything, she placed it as a toy beneath the core hub of the Kingdom of God, serving as a tool to answer angels’ questions. Just as I told you before, My Lord, in our eyes, the Gospel has always been just a tool.”

Only one Gospel?

Yisi frowned. Laxy’s statement completely contradicted the information she had. In fact, Atwood and Lin each possessed a copy.

Could it be that after Laxy left the Kingdom of God, the first angel named Trino created another copy?

Even if she asked Laxy, she wouldn’t know the answer. Yisi could only suppress her doubts and asked teasingly instead, “Then why did you still obey the Gospel’s command to come to the human world to find the Hero?”

“Ah… Although the Gospel is just a tool, as long as it can provide answers, it means it foresaw future events. Even if some among us angels, like Lady Trino who created it, possess power surpassing the Gospel and can intervene in the foreseen future, we still need to be prepared.”

After stating this righteously, Laxy added seriously, “That being said, My Lord has reminded me. Perhaps I can now use the Gospel to learn about the existence of the Kingdom of God. My Lord, could you take me to the Divine Religion to find the Gospel? Also, if I could meet the current Pope, I need to remind him that they shouldn’t act entirely according to the Gospel’s instructions. Angels use the Gospel because some among us possess power surpassing it, capable of reversing the limited future it knows. For humans, the Gospel is too dangerous.”

“You should have said that earlier, Laxy…”

Although she didn’t think Laxy’s words alone could awaken the people of the Divine Religion. Faith wasn’t something easily shaken. She could even imagine the serious Laxy arguing with the stubborn Lin. It was fortunate they hadn’t mentioned the Gospel during their previous spars.

Yisi couldn’t help but smile wryly. Waving her hand at Laxy, signaling her to stop massaging, she stood up and patted the wrinkles on her blue formal dress caused by her improper posture.

“There’s no time like the present. Let’s go find Atwood now.”

◇

Parting ways with Laxy in the corridor—Laxy had been staying in Tina’s room recently to watch over her—Yisi returned to her own room after coming out from the Divine Religion’s shaft. It was already late at night.

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Gently closing the door, Yisi didn’t immediately go to bed. Instead, she leaned back against the door, hand on her chin, head lowered in thought.

Things had become bizarre.

With Atwood’s permission, she and Laxy had easily entered the main hall. But strangely, when Laxy prayed to the Gospel, wanting to know the whereabouts of the Kingdom of God, she found she couldn’t see the words on it at all. Initially, Yisi thought the reason was that the Kingdom of God, like Demon Lords and Gods, couldn’t be observed, hence Laxy got no result. But when Laxy switched to a simple question that should have definitely displayed an answer, the Gospel still showed nothing. This indicated it wasn’t that the Gospel couldn’t observe the Kingdom of God, but that Laxy couldn’t see the words. According to Atwood, Laxy didn’t believe in the Gospel, hence she couldn’t see its display.

This was clearly unreasonable.

As a God-Forged Angel, Laxy should definitely be able to see what was in the Gospel. After all, she had left the Kingdom of God under its assignment. If Laxy couldn’t see the Gospel, she wouldn’t be by Yisi’s side now.

Thus, Yisi naturally suspected that the current Gospel wasn’t made by Trino, but by someone else. However, Laxy refuted this claim. The Gospel in Atwood’s hands was indeed identical to the one that assigned Laxy her mission, even Trino’s notes on it were the same. The only noteworthy point was that Laxy had never heard of the notion that disbelief prevented one from seeing the words.

“If the Gospel is indeed the original one, then where did the problem arise…?”

Letting out a frustrated hum, Yisi looked up at the ceiling.

When she took Laxy to view the Gospel, she had harbored many fantasies, such as having Laxy see what Lin had read from it that morning. Ever since Lin’s expression changed drastically after reading the Gospel that morning, Yisi hadn’t seen her again. Although she could find Lin anytime by bringing up the [Omniscient Map], just going over without understanding anything would only make the atmosphere awkward.

What was even more contradictory was that currently, only Lin could see what was written in the Gospel. Theoretically, Yisi could certainly have Atwood take the Gospel and ask others in the Divine Religion, but doing so would encounter many problems. For example, the Gospel in Atwood’s hands was currently prophesying methods to deal with the future in real-time; changing the prophecy target casually couldn’t be done, otherwise, in the eyes of the followers, Atwood’s actions would be tantamount to dereliction of duty.

If only I could see what’s in the Gospel.

Unfortunately, she distrusted such mystical items from the bottom of her heart. Even without hearing Atwood’s explanation, she wouldn’t follow the Gospel’s guidance. Compared to people she had never met, she would choose her companions without hesitation. Of course, with her current power, she would choose both. Just as Laxy said, angels possessed the power to reverse the limited future foreseen by the Gospel, and so did she. Therefore, even not acting according to the Gospel’s instructions posed no problem.

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Completely clueless, Yisi gave up thinking further. Pushing off the door with her back slightly, she left the door and stretched languidly.

“Ah~ ah~ Even though Camilla used [Cleanse] magic, I still want to take a proper bath.”

But that would cut into sleep time. Even someone like her, at level 427, needed sleep. Heaven knew what tomorrow might bring. If she couldn’t maintain peak mental condition at all times, it would be disastrous if something unexpected happened and she couldn’t react.

Thinking this, Yisi took off her clothes piece by piece, changed into her nightgown, and padded in fluffy slippers, making soft thump-thump sounds. Lazily closing her eyes, she plunged headfirst into the large, pink, canopy bed.

Then she realized something was wrong.

From experience, Yisi immediately identified the problem.

There was someone in her bed.

Tiffany again? Or Camilla? Laxy hadn’t been guarding her room constantly these past two days, so it was plausible Camilla could sneak in. Yisi opened her eyes resignedly and looked towards the other end of the pillow.

Then, a roar echoed in her mind.

“Uh…”

Her mind felt like it had been plowed over by super-tier magic. Yisi’s thoughts froze. After a long enough time passed for the dust from the explosion to settle, Yisi slowly regained her senses, swallowed, and stammered, “L-Lin… Lin?”

Like a Christmas present, Lin, wearing only a black gauze dress, her hands tied with a red ribbon, had most of her head buried shyly under the covers. Only her purplish-blue eyes, tinged with embarrassment, were exposed. Her lashes trembled slightly as she asked timidly, yet boldly, “I-Is it cute?”