Reclaiming the Lost Flock
Switching denominations was an entirely foreign concept in this world, especially to the followers of the Central Church. But... just because it was foreign didn't mean they were completely ignorant of it. In fact, the Central Church considered defecting to a different sect derived from the Central Church to be a far greater sin than simply converting to an entirely different religion. While both were treated as capital offenses and punished severely, if one had to weigh their gravity, that was how the scales tipped. This also served as proof of just how much resolve Annie had summoned when she made her decision to convert in the past.
"What... did you just say?" The problem was that there was no way Thomas would readily accept this proposal.
"Please... explain in more detail." Sure enough, Thomas spoke with great difficulty, his face looking as if it might explode at any second. Not only him, but the expressions of the other priests around him also turned incredibly grim.
"Even simple apostasy carries a guilt beyond measure, so how can you so casually tell us to commit heresy?" "This is not something we can just let slide." Sharp, biting voices began to erupt one after another from among the priests. Even Annie, though she didn't openly protest, looked utterly bewildered as to what Yohan was thinking.
Of course, Yohan hadn't dropped this bombshell without some forethought. "The Central Church is already beyond saving. Those bastards who were always busy lining their own pockets have completely fallen to corruption." Yohan swept his gaze over Thomas and the other priests. At his words, everyone except Annie showed signs of displeasure once more, but since he wasn't wrong, they couldn't find a way to refute him.
"Especially you, Thomas. You of all people should know, shouldn't you? The modern doctrines of the Central Church are far from flawless." "..." Thomas shut his eyes tight at Yohan's follow-up, while the furious priests calmed their anger slightly, replaced by confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
Yohan gave Annie a subtle nod. Annie nodded back slightly and finally broke her silence. "I am sure you have all heard of the Secret Archive beneath the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Even ordinary priests should at least be aware of its existence." "Y-yes, that is correct," the priests answered immediately to Annie's question.
"Inside that Secret Archive lies the original scriptures of our Central Church." She spoke in a low, quiet voice, and a heavy silence immediately fell over the room. Even those who had been whispering among themselves were instantly struck dumb.
"Well, it makes sense you didn't know. It was a secret kept strictly among the bastards of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after all." As an awkward silence lingered, Yohan stood up from his seat and spoke. "Actually, we did know." "Huh?" But the priests' reaction was rather unexpected.
"Not long ago, the Holy City sent a decree to all priests across the Holy Kingdom, informing us that a wicked imposter claiming the name of the Primary God had stolen the original scriptures from the Secret Archive." "..." Yohan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He had thought he was delivering some groundbreaking, shocking truth, only to be met with this.
"Indeed. They warned us that the imposter would desecrate the original scriptures, alter their contents at will, and attempt to seduce the faithful by quoting false passages, so we were told to be extremely vigilant." This was undoubtedly the work of the Minister of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pope. Grasping the situation instantly, Yohan clicked his tongue. If the truth got out that the current scriptures were actually fabricated, the Pope would be the one in the tightest spot. That was why Pope Angelo III had mobilized almost every Inquisitor to recover the original scriptures at all costs. But since the search had yielded no results, they had clearly resorted to framing a "fake deity" as an imposter as a fallback plan. The real problem was that the Pope had fallen to corruption around the same time...
"Well... anyway, there is a prophetic passage left only in the original scriptures, one that was erased from the current version."
"And the priests who saw the future spoke: Justice, split in two and rendered incomplete, shall become one once more, transcending perfection itself."
"They specifically pointed out that very passage, claiming it was a false prophecy spread by the imposter." "Yeah, well, it's not a lie. It's real." *Snap!* Yohan immediately snapped his fingers, summoning a dimensional portal, and stepped inside.
"Here, look." He emerged carrying the original scriptures he had kept stored in his single-room pocket dimension. *Thud!* As Yohan dropped the massive tome onto the floor, a heavy, dull sound echoed, kicking up the dust settled on the cathedral floor in all directions.
"P-Primary God!" "My goodness..." The original scriptures were a sacred relic that possessed an immense amount of divine power in their own right. Thomas and the priests capable of performing Miracle Arts instantly recognized the true nature of the book. Some of them stumbled back, while others collapsed straight onto the floor in shock.
"There. This is the original scriptures that His Holiness the Pope was so desperately searching for." The priests began to mutter prayers in hushed, barely audible whispers. Meanwhile, Thomas stepped forward toward the scriptures and reached his hand out to the cover. He immediately began flipping through the pages of the original scriptures, and before long, the surrounding priests gathered around him to verify the contents recorded on each page.
"It... it really is..." "The prophecy was true...?" "Alright, enough chatter. Let's get back to the main point." Yohan calmed the buzzing priests. Soon, the priests recalled Yohan's earlier proposal to Thomas—to leave the Central Church and convert to the Church of the Unnamed Goddess. However, unlike before, they didn't show any wariness or hostility toward Yohan. Instead, everyone listened to his words with utmost seriousness.
—Hehe. It seems they think you are an Inquisitor who has returned after successfully retrieving the original scriptures. The Goddess's mocking voice echoed in his head, but Yohan casually let it go in one ear and out the other. He hadn't intentionally deceived them. Given the circumstances, they had simply jumped to their own conclusions. Still... Yohan felt a lingering sense of responsibility for the absolute mess the Holy Kingdom, including Easthold, had become. While it wasn't the root cause, the theft of the original scriptures had certainly played a part in driving the church leadership to corruption.
"Ahem. Anyway, the prophecy is real. In truth, the Goddess of Justice, Justia, was originally a single entity, but she is currently split in half." "Does that mean the one slumbering in the Papal Palace is the other half of the Primary God?" "It's the opposite. The one currently in the Holy City is indeed the Primary God Justia whom you all prayed to every single day." The room buzzed with commotion once more.
"T-Then why on earth did His Holiness the Pope use Miracle Arts to completely seal off the inside of the Papal Palace from the outside?" "Like I said earlier, because the higher-ups, including the Pope, have completely lost their damn minds." Soft and heavy sighs erupted from among the priests. Some even collapsed back onto the floor, trembling in sheer terror.
"Even at this very moment, those mad Inquisitors are tearing the Holy Kingdom apart, and in every city, crazed citizens are destroying everything in sight." Yohan clenched his right fist so hard his knuckles turned white. "The Central Church has already collapsed. Your individual faith might be steadfast, but the Primary God Justia you believe in has fallen back into a deep slumber and cannot move a muscle."
Yohan suddenly raised his hand toward the ceiling. "Whew..." He let out a soft sigh. Even though he had resolved to do this, frankly, it was incredibly embarrassing. But what choice did he have? He had come too far to back out now. This was the dramatic staging Falco had once tried to pull off for maximum effect. "Goddess! Appear!" Yohan bellowed toward the ceiling.
A pure white light erupts from the holy mural painted on the ceiling, enveloping the entire cathedral. As the blinding light recedes, the Unnamed Goddess stands in the center of the cathedral, a brilliant halo of divine light floating behind her back.
"Ah, aaah..." "Primary God..." In the center of the cathedral where the light had faded stood the Goddess, a radiant halo floating behind her back.
"Calm yourselves, everyone. I understand completely that seeing the Goddess's true form in person brings forth a flood of emotions, but now is not the time to simply wail and weep." As the priests fell into a massive uproar upon witnessing the Goddess, Annie, who had been watching, stepped forward in front of Yohan and shouted, "The one you face right now is the Unnamed Goddess, the master of the Church of the Unnamed Goddess. She is the one who was originally one with the Primary God Justia."
According to doctrine, any religion that claimed a connection to or impersonated the Primary God Justia was a target for absolute eradication. Yet, not a single soul gathered in the room dared to raise a hand against the Goddess. They could only tremble before the brilliant, magnificent light radiating from a divine being, and the warmth that seemed to seep directly into their very souls. Annie took a few steps to the side, yielding the floor to the Goddess. The Goddess gave her a gentle nod, stepped forward, and stood before the priests.
"Hear me. Long ago, I was the Goddess of Justice, Justia, and now I am but a nameless half." The Goddess placed a particularly strong emphasis on the words "long ago." This was proof that she drew a line between her current self and the Goddess of Justice, Justia. Nevertheless, the Goddess still viewed the followers of the Central Church as no different from her own. Though her personality had formed and her way of thinking had changed from before, the Unnamed Goddess was still, at her core, the Goddess of Justice.
"In the past, immediately after the one became two, I was cast aside by my other half, stripped of my name, and imprisoned in a desolate corner of the continent where no one would ever tread." The Goddess continued, looking down at the priests who were practically prostrating themselves on the floor. "Having lost my name and all my followers, I was destined to fade into nothingness. However, I met my Apostle, Yohan, and obtained the chance to make my presence known to this land once more."
The Goddess turned her gaze toward Yohan. Yohan gave her a playful wink, and the Goddess let her lips curl up in a faint smile. "And now, under the wicked machinations of demons, my followers suffer and the church has utterly collapsed. I intend to vanquish that evil and firmly re-establish justice upon this land once more."
Currently, the Goddess's power was incomparably lacking compared to her prime. The power of a divine being stemmed directly from the faith of mortals, and those who believed in the "Unnamed Goddess" were, at most, the Goddess Knights and the villagers in the mountain valleys near Balifield. However, if she could convert the followers of the Central Church, starting with the priests gathered here, she could reclaim the divinity of her golden age.
"Lift your heads and look upon me." The Goddess whispered in a gentle voice. At her words, Thomas and the cathedral priests, who had kept their faces pressed against the ground, raised their heads and met her gaze. "The more those with righteous hearts unite, the stronger justice becomes. My former followers, will you not overcome this crisis with me?"
The reason the Central Church had punished heresy so severely was that it threatened to crack the very foundation of their religious system. But now that the system itself had crumbled to dust, it was no time to bicker over such trivial matters. "Your steadfast faith shall become my strength, and that strength shall, in turn, become yours." The Goddess spoke, looking upon her followers whom she had reunited with after thousands of years.