Chapter 44: Messenger

Chapter 44: Messenger

The prayer hall of the Church of Evernight was dim as always. Only the holes in the walls allowed faint light to seep through, like stars in the night.

Klein sat down in an inconspicuous corner, removed his tall top hat, and began praying like a devout believer.

He briefly mentioned that Roselle had already revived within the final mausoleum, then placed the emphasis on the Primordial Moon’s corruption. He specifically stressed that the Emperor, in order to prevent the “red moon” inside his body from being born into the real world, had actively interrupted the process by which the Black Emperor pathway’s Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics returned to him.

At the end of the prayer, Klein pointed out the hidden danger of the Cards of Blasphemy and expressed concern over the whereabouts of the Mother card and the Moon card.

In truth, Roselle had only said to beware the Mother card and had not mentioned the Moon card. But Klein knew that both the Earth and Moon pathways had once belonged to the Mother Goddess of Depravity. Therefore, caution was paramount, and he deliberately added the Moon card.

This was also the main reason he was worried about Earth Mother Lilith.

Compared with the majority of the twenty-two pathways, high-Sequence Beyonders of the Planter and Moon pathways possessed a significant advantage: they did not need to fear the Primordial awakening inside them, nor did they fear “personality splitting” from approaching the underground, because the Beyonder characteristics they possessed did not directly originate from the Primordial and did not contain the corresponding mental imprint. If one directly entered the underground and entered the Chaos Sea, then no matter who it was, they would encounter corruption. Only the degree and manifestation would differ.

In ancient times, this advantage was very likely why Lilith, the ancestor of the sanguine, had been more special compared to the other ancient gods. After all, She did not need to divide a large portion of Her energy to resist the Primordial’s awakening will. At that time, the invisible barrier protecting the world was still sturdy enough to keep the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the other Old Ones of the starry sky well isolated from the inside, making it difficult for Them to exert too much influence on the conditions within.

But as time passed, that advantage gradually turned into a problem.

While the underground corruption grew weaker and weaker, the invisible barrier also became increasingly fragile, showing certain cracks. Under these circumstances, Earth Mother Lilith’s situation grew more and more difficult, because what She faced directly was the increasingly powerful and increasingly terrifying corrosion of the Mother Goddess of Depravity. In this respect, the dead Original Creator was certainly no match for the living Mother Goddess of Depravity.

Considering the influence that an Outer Deity above the Sequences had over the pathways originally belonging to It, Klein believed there absolutely could not be the slightest negligence in related matters.

After finishing the prayer, he waited nearly five more minutes. After confirming there was no response, he stood, put on his wandering magician’s tall top hat, and walked out of this Church of Evernight neither quickly nor slowly.

For him, this was mainly fulfilling his duty to inform. As for what the Evernight Goddess intended to do, or whether She would remind him of certain things, he could not interfere at all.

In short, for now, Klein could only believe that the Evernight Goddess knew the difference between what was urgent and what was secondary.

…

Backlund, Bridge South Borough, Harvest Church.

Emlyn White stepped down from his carriage, glanced at the sun hidden behind clouds and faint fog, and put on his half-height silk top hat.

As he walked toward the church entrance, he gently turned the ring on his left hand, as if using this to demonstrate his status.

The ring was semi-transparent all over, as though made of pale-red amber. At its top was embedded a blood-red gemstone. It was precisely the reward Emlyn had obtained long ago: Lilith’s Ring.

After becoming a demigod, Emlyn could suppress the “bloodthirst” attached to the ring to a certain degree. Now, he only needed to drink three blood-collection bottles of human blood per day to avoid suffering the corresponding negative effects. Thus, in order to reflect his special identity as one favored by the Ancestor, he had begun wearing this ring for long periods.

After entering Harvest Church, Emlyn automatically and consciously removed the hat from his head.

At that moment, Kasimi, Onnes, and the other Backlund sanguine who were waiting for Bishop Utravsky’s sermon stood one after another. Looking toward the floor of the aisle, they spoke in quiet voices:

“Good morning, Your Excellency the Earl.”

Emlyn looked ahead and nodded so faintly it was nearly imperceptible.

“Has Mistral not arrived yet?”

“Earl Mistral has arranged a small chapel inside his home,” Onnes briefly explained.

Emlyn did not comment on this behavior. As he walked forward, he said casually,

“But when mass is held, he still has to come here.”

He looked left and right, then asked,

“Where is Bishop Utravsky?”

“The bishop is waiting for you in the back. The Church’s messenger has arrived,” Onnes answered Emlyn’s questions respectfully, controlling his expression.

The Church’s messenger… Emlyn turned the pale-red ring on his left hand and walked toward the back of the church.

Soon, inside the reading room, he saw Father Utravsky and the Church’s messenger, who had slightly curly black hair, a high nose, and deep-set eyes.

“This is Archbishop Loreto,” Father Utravsky introduced to Emlyn.

He stood by the window, almost blocking most of the light.

“Good morning, Archbishop Loreto.” Emlyn responded according to the etiquette of the Church of Earth Mother.

Loreto smiled and spoke in somewhat awkward Loenese:

“There is no need to address me as Your Excellency. Although you are not an archbishop, you hold the status of one. Starting today, you are the clergyman and senior deacon in charge of sanguine affairs in Backlund for the Church.”

Without giving Emlyn time to digest the news, Loreto continued,

“I came to Backlund entrusted by the Pontiff to personally tell you certain internal matters the Church must pay attention to.”

“Please speak.” Emlyn suppressed the pride in his heart and replied politely.

Loreto’s expression instantly became serious.

“First, and most importantly, regardless of whether it is a clergyman of the Church or a believer of the Mother Goddess, anyone who claims they have obtained divine revelation has been tempted by devils. There are no exceptions.

“If anyone reports a similar matter to you, or if you yourself receive divine revelation, please be sure to inform Bishop Utravsky as quickly as possible and report it to the Church.”

Father never mentioned this point before… That requirement sounds very strange, as if they are suspecting something… Emlyn slightly frowned and glanced toward Father Utravsky by the window.

“The bishop never said anything about needing to pay attention to this…”

Before he finished speaking, Emlyn suddenly felt that saying this sounded as though he were accusing Bishop Utravsky. In that urgent moment, however, he could not find a better way to phrase it.

Almost at the same time, he understood the strange feeling in Archbishop Loreto’s earlier words:

They were telling everyone that the Mother Goddess they sensed might very well not be the real Mother Goddess!

This is practically saying that a large portion of the revelations we sanguine received from the Ancestor are false, coming from devils or evil gods… Emlyn’s gaze darkened slightly. He worked hard to maintain his demeanor and not lose composure.

At that moment, Loreto smiled without minding at all.

“The reason Bishop Utravsky did not tell you is that he did not know either.”

Father did not know… In that instant, Emlyn unexpectedly felt some sympathy for Bishop Utravsky. He felt that as a Feysacian and a clergyman who had only later converted, he had been excluded by the other members of the Church of Earth Mother in both obvious and subtle ways.

Noticing the change in his gaze, Loreto added,

“That is because he is favored by God and does not need to care about the temptation of devils and evil gods.”

Bishop Utravsky nodded along and said in a peaceful tone,

“The Mother Goddess’s revelation lies within Her scripture, within every doctrine. Aside from that, all else is heresy.”

Emlyn felt somewhat doubtful, yet also felt there was nothing to ask. Thus, he gave an “Mm” and said to Loreto,

“Then what is the second matter I must pay attention to?”

Loreto’s expression returned to seriousness.

“If you receive an oracle, do not blindly believe it. Immediately seek confirmation from Bishop Utravsky.”

“Why?” Emlyn grew increasingly confused.

This was almost telling him that anyone who responded to him was an evil god or devil.

Loreto considered his wording, then explained in detail:

“In this world, there are many evil existences. They will impersonate deities, bewitch clergymen, and deceive believers.

“Because the two main pathways of our Church of Earth Mother are both related to life, the influence we suffer is more severe than that of other Churches. From time to time, some people take the wrong path, attempt forbidden experiments with life, and little by little fall into corruption.

“To restrain this tendency, we began long ago, under the guidance of the Mother Goddess’s will, to reorganize the Church and establish two major systems: those who receive God’s Grace and those favored by God.”

Those who receive God’s Grace and those favored by God… Emlyn’s understanding of the Church of Earth Mother was limited to the contents of its scripture and some passages of doctrine. For a moment, he was somewhat lost.

He had never taken the initiative to ask Father Utravsky about the Church of Earth Mother.

Loreto glanced at Emlyn and nodded slightly.

“Those who receive God’s Grace refers to clergymen of the Earth and Moon pathways who have received the Mother Goddess’s favor. Those favored by God refers to the Mother Goddess’s favored ones who come from outside, from other pathways.

“The latter suffer less influence from devils and evil gods and can help us identify whether oracles are real or false.

“Under this premise, even an order issued by the Pontiff must have at least one favored one countersign it. Otherwise, it can be treated as invalid.”

As he spoke, Loreto took out a document, unfolded it, and showed it to Emlyn. The main content written on it, besides everything the archbishop had just said, was the part about his acceptance of the appointment as messenger.

At the end of the document, several names were listed side by side. The first belonged to the Pontiff of the Church of Earth Mother, Matriarch Roland. Behind it was a string of names Emlyn did not recognize. Only the last one could barely be identified as Father Utravsky.

Father’s handwriting is truly ugly… As Emlyn silently muttered, he developed strong doubts regarding the two major systems of God’s Grace and God’s Favor.

Why were those favored by God less tempted by evil gods or devils?

Why could they distinguish whether oracles were real or false, while those who received God’s Grace could not?

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Emlyn suddenly noticed a detail:

Those favored by God did not belong to either the Earth or Moon pathway!

So the problem is not with those who receive God’s Grace, but with these two pathways themselves? Emlyn vaguely felt that this guess might be the truth.