Chapter 1760: The Voice of the Goddess
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A storm seemed to be coming.
It was high noon, but dark roiling clouds as dark as ink seemed to have blotted out the sun as the sky was as dark as midnight. The sun had not appeared since dawn, and the lights in the cities had yet to be extinguished till now.
The streets of the Hollettan Royal City were silent and empty, and while it had yet to rain, the people had little interest venturing out in such weather, common folk or nobles alike. All of them could sense an unnerving aura was enveloping this world, and they all hid in their home, shut their doors and windows and calmed the children in their houses, hoping that this unusual weather would pass soon.
Yet, even in this weather, there would be people out and about. The legendary Marshal Ophra wore her favorite white light mail, as she went to the Grand Cathedral of Glory with few of her squires. Her white armor made her look like a walking white flame in the darkness, exuding a calming presence, and just by looking at her imposing visage was enough to calm the soldiers on the cathedral plaza.
After setting into the cathedral, the dim world outside was seemingly totally cut off as the cathedral was brightly lit with a warm atmosphere. And while the Disciples of Glory’s adherence to austerity would ensure the cathedral would not be lavishly decorated or being overly comfortable, but just by entering such a bright and warm place was enough to cheer anyone up.
Ophra stopped before the holy portrait and looked up at the massive drape hanging from the dome of the cathedral. On it was a nondescript pattern of meshed together colors, forming a bizarre picture. That was the Disciples of Glory’s depiction of the goddess of creation in their mind or the only impression that they have of the goddess. And for the past thousands of years, this bizarre picture hung over every church in the land.
But what is the true situation? Is this weird drawing really the impression that the goddess had imparted to her devotees? Or is this the illusion caused by the ‘First Born’ mental suggestions that the locals had gone through for ages?
As Ophra looked at the drawing on the drape, these stray thoughts entered her mind, and she knew that she was not the only person who had such thoughts. In fact, the discussion and amendments of the legends, doctrines, and commandments of the Disciples of Glory had never ceased, and not only did the heretics did this, but even the church hierarchy was also at it.
It all started four years ago, and Ophra knew it every well. It had started after the outlanders had helped them remove the First Borns infesting the planet. While the common folk may not understand this, but Ophra and a few others could easily like all of this together:
After the First Borns were removed, the mental suggestions from the deep had all stopped at once, and the humans on the surface would inevitably be affected, and some thoughts were never had before would pop up, and somethings that were once almost sacred would be shaken with the end of the suggestions, and the constant theological debates within the Disciples of Glory is a proof of this.
As a military person, Ophra was not sure if this change was for the good or bad, perhaps the Disciples of Glory would go on the true path after being freed from the First Born’s influence, but it could also shake the entire hierarchy down to the core. This is all dependent if the church’s faith was more influenced by the goddess or the corrupted First Borns.
Regardless, the Disciples of Glory was still the largest, most influential church in the world, and was the most trusted religious organization around. Its long existence was one, and the martyrdom of the previous pope and Bishop Geddon was another.
The sacrifice meant that even if their teachings were somewhat influenced by the First Born, the will to protect this world was genuine.
All sorts of emotions welled up within her and faded away as quickly. Ophra noticed a brother was walking towards her and asked. “Where’s his Holiness at?”
“His Holiness had locked himself in the prayer room since last midnight.” The young brother bowed. And while the clergy of the Disciples of Glory held a special and unassailable status in the kingdom, before a living legend like Ophra, even the pope himself will offer respect, more so an ordinary deacon. “He already knew of your visit, and should be out shortly.”
“Is that so… There’s no hurry. I’ll just wait around,” Ophra said warmly before turning towards a corner of the cathedral. Two nuns were whispering to each other, and seeing their tensed look, she immediately knew that something big had happened last night. “His Majesty is very concerned about the ‘will of God’, and you probably have seen the weather, it is not something normal in this season.”
“We are waiting for a clearer reading of her will,” the young brother said. “The divine power had suddenly surged across this world, and this had never happened in the last thousand or so years. The only records of it were during the far ancient era, before the times where the ‘apocalypse’ took place.”
Ophra nodded in understanding, “Understandable.”
The goddess had left this world and had left a long long time ago.
The commoners did not know this truth, and even most of the clergy had no idea of the truth that the ‘goddess had fallen’. And in fact, a few years back, Ophra had no idea of it herself, but after the outlanders came, many of the truths were slowly revealed.
Ophra was very clear that the goddess of creation had protected this world had fallen ten thousand years ago, and the one that the Disciples of Glory worships and obtain their powers are actually the tiny fraction of an ‘echo’ left behind after her fall.
The “death” of a true god, however, was just on the surface and temporary and based from Countess Becky’s reports, the goddess of creation had been found by the outlanders, and seemed to have resurrected, and that goddess that had fallen 10,000 years ago was probably reorganizing this order of this universe, and Holletta … was just a tiny part of this vast universe.
Until today, Holletta had yet to receive any clear will from the goddess, and the recently resurrected goddess must have been busy.
However, everything changed yesterday as the will of god swept through suddenly across the planet, and almost all clergymen and pious adherents could hear the voice of the goddess. As the human psyche was too weak, no one could understand what was the meaning of that sudden command, and thus the pope had locked himself in the prayer room since last night to try to communicate directly with the will.
It was almost ironic, as this was the first time the Disciples of Glory actually establishing a real contact with the goddess in the last thousands of years.
In the prayer room deep within the cathedral, the newly chosen pope, Automus shut his eyes tight as he prostrated himself before the holy portrait as he tried to listen intently of the will of a true god coming from deep space.
And he had taken a long time to establish contact.
Even though the ancient tomes had recorded ways of contacting the divine, and the ancient records too had described the situation when that happens, but the fact was that the goddess had left the world for almost ten thousand years, and all of the prayers and methods of making contact was just conjecture at this point and those erroneous methods that were passed down only led to two outcomes.
The god that you are calling to is not within the service area.
The god that you are calling is currently not available. Please try again later.
Regardless, the contact was established successfully, and what the old pope regretted was that it was the goddess who had made the contact herself.
The voice of the goddess rang in his mind, and hearing the voice alone was enough to send tears streaming down the faces of normal devotees. “… Is that so… You have rebuilt your civilization… I had fallen asleep for so long, it must have been tough for all of you…”
“Ah, yesterday? Ah.. ahem ahem… I have not used a free-mic for so long now and… Uh never mind. I was just testing the shout function yesterday and did not actually say anything, so it’s normal if you don’t actually get anything out of it.”
The words of a god sure are profound.
The old pope had used all his might to control his roiling emotions as he asked with utmost respect and reverence. “Oh, Goddess, the devotees have seen many inauspicious signs of late, do you have any guidance for us?”
The goddess paused for a bit before answering warmly, “There will be an oncoming disaster. My friends and I will do our all to protect this world, but all of you have your own duty.”
“Please enlighten us.”
The goddess paused for another moment, before speaking, “The most ancient, most evil of powers in the universe has awakened, and while I had defeated it many years ago, it is not resurgent, and its goal is to drag the entire universe into chaos and destruction.”
“My friends and I will stop it, and try to destroy it once and for all in this battle, but this power is ever-present, and it will definitely try to invade the mortal realms and ravage your souls as its food source to strengthen itself.”
“An army will appear before you soon, and the outlanders will be leading that army. They are heroic spirits from another world, and that army is made out of shining metal, and within the armor is the radiant fire of its soul. You will recognize them in a glance.”
“And you, you will need to organize your own army before this unit comes. Arm your men, have the civilians stay at home. Every town and village I to light up the holy fire, and anointed with holy water, and recite a special prayer once a day. I will send the prayer to you, and it will increase the common people’s resistance to that evil power, and protect your souls from being tainted…”
“Aside from that, you should stop all conflicts across the world, as the inner conflict of man is easily used by this power, and it will taint seep through one’s negative emotions and your conflicts will accelerate the destruction of your world.”
“If there are already people tainted and controlled by this power, you should dispose of them without any hesitation, I will let you know how to recognize the tainted ones, and the ways to handle different taints. Remember, you are not to abuse this power, as the negative emotions brought by power abuse is a precursor for destruction…”
“As you wish, Goddess. We shall follow your every word.” the old pope immediately responded with absolute reverence, but he then hesitated for a bit before boldly asking his query. “Oh Goddess, you had paused many times while stating your will… is there something that could not be told to us? If we can do it, we will, even if it means making the ultimate sacri—”
“Oh no, I was just doing some model questions.”
The words of a god sure were profound…