Chapter 209: Main Chapter (3)
Chapter 209: Main Chapter (3)
"The cultists are targeting the Church of Light."
"That has always been the case."
"To be more precise, they are aiming for the Fall from Grace of Righteous Light."
"…That is not something I can simply ignore."
Albaor straightened his back, his brow furrowing. Gilbert also stood behind him with a stiff expression.
The others, however, looked bewildered, as if they didn't quite understand.
Fall from Grace.
Falling from the heavens. Ruin. Corruption… it could be interpreted in many ways.
The important thing was that gods were not eternal, immutable beings; they could be corrupted by someone's malice.
Only a very small number of people likely knew about the Fall from Grace. Even in H&A, it was something players only discovered after it actually happened in the latter half of the game.
"Since many of you seem unfamiliar with the concept, let me give a brief explanation."
"It is not something that should be widely known… but I suppose it is necessary now."
I shifted my gaze from the nodding Albaor toward my women and Helena.
"First of all…."
In this world, there are five Good Gods and seven Evil Gods.
On the side of the Good Gods:
Righteous Light.
Rising Sprout.
Cyclic Life.
Clashing Steel.
Free Breath.
On the side of the Evil Gods:
Confused Unity.
Ugly Prosperity.
Boiling Silence.
Narrow-minded Usurpation.
Reckless Roar.
Meandering Leisure.
Noble Reign.
This is the world of the Eurelia continent, where these gods are divided into good and evil, locked in opposition.
But looking at this list of divine names, doesn't something seem a bit strange?
First, the Good Gods possess quite complex attributes.
For example:
Righteous Light – Light
Rising Sprout – Earth
Cyclic Life – Living Creatures
Clashing Steel – Fire
Free Breath – Wind
This is the most basic classification, but the Good Gods govern various other domains as well.
Just as Righteous Light is not only the symbol of light but also the sun and the master of the heavens.
Rising Sprout is called the Goddess of Prosperity, Cyclic Life is the God of Healing, Clashing Steel is the God of Blacksmiths, and Free Breath is the God of Travel. Their domains have expanded significantly.
On the other hand, the Evil Gods only govern limited domains related to the Seven Deadly Sins.
The reason is simple. The Good Gods are beings who have been with humanity since ancient times.
As human technology and concepts developed, people began to desire more from each god, and thus their domains naturally expanded.
The Evil Gods, however, are alien beings who invaded only about 300 years ago, so no such expansion occurred.
"A god can exist purely as they are. However, in the process of growing their power, they require human faith, and they can branch out in different directions depending on the desires contained within that faith."
Indeed. Even if the core of a god doesn't change, it can certainly be painted over.
Hearing this, Iris twitched as if she were dying to say something.
But Iris was still a slave. She didn't dare speak up first as she did when we were alone, and instead just tapped Iona on the shoulder.
Normally, Iona would have teased Iris, but she seemed to have many questions of her own. She nodded obediently and asked on Iris's behalf.
"Hey, hey. If you're bringing this up now… does that mean Righteous Light could become an Evil God, Yandel?"
"Yes. That is what a Fall from Grace is."
"But Righteous Light of all people?"
Iona tilted her head, unable to understand.
It made sense. Righteous Light was famous for being the most bellicose and for her intense hatred of the Evil Gods.
"But what if that hatred expanded beyond the Evil Gods to target the entire Eurelia continent?"
"…Huh?"
"I'm using difficult terms like 'Fall from Grace' or 'overwriting power,' but to put it simply, it means driving them mad. In this case, it would be like making Righteous Light's combativeness and hatred for evil spiral out of control."
The 8th Evil God created through that process: Tyrannical False Light.
All existing devout believers would either die or go insane, leaving behind nothing but aimless rage and hatred.
I still vividly remembered the image of the lion and the fanatics, emitting black light and branding everything in sight as evil.
Back in my first playthrough, when I thought they were reliable allies only to be stabbed in the back… man.
I let out a deep sigh and continued.
"His Holiness the Pope and Cardinal Gilbert probably know this… but a Fall from Grace has already happened once before. This isn't something we can just brush off as impossible."
"Is that true, Yandel? Despite how I look, I actually participated in the War of the Gods. But this is the first I've heard of it."
"That's because it was a secret among secrets. Among the clergy, only veteran Cardinals would know. Outside, the information would be restricted to direct members of the Imperial or Royal families."
"……Hmm, I see. I did prefer acting alone back then, so I might have missed it."
I ignored Iona's gaze, which seemed to ask, 'Then how do you know?' and continued.
"I'll explain a bit more about the Evil Gods while I'm at it. It'll make things easier to understand."
Back when I was playing H&A, the more I thought about the Evil Gods, the more suspicious they seemed.
The circumstances of how the War of the Gods began were also strange.
That was the basic summary.
But think about it. Even if they crossed through a rift in the dimensional barrier, they were strong enough to start a war immediately upon descent? And even gain the upper hand?
The reason the Good Gods still can't descend properly, or even appoint Apostles easily, is because divine beings consume massive amounts of power whenever they try to do anything.
Therefore, it's nonsensical for seven beings powerful enough to overwhelm the existing gods to enter through a mere crack in the dimensional barrier immediately upon arrival.
It might be possible if they had smashed the barrier entirely, but slipping through a crack? Impossible.
The problems didn't end there.
Let's say they started the war immediately because they had some secret bypass.
Then what about the cultists that suddenly cropped up? How did they even turn monsters with minimal intelligence into believers?
And they were clearly called alien beings, so why do they represent human-centric vices like the Seven Deadly Sins?
Above all, the sins they represent are strange.
Confused Unity – Gluttony
Ugly Prosperity – Lust
Boiling Silence – Sloth
Narrow-minded Usurpation – Jealousy
Reckless Roar – Wrath
Meandering Leisure – Sloth
Noble Reign – Pride
If you list them like this, you'll notice the suspicious part immediately.
Sloth is repeated.
These small inconsistencies piled up, leaving me with nothing but questions throughout my playthrough.
Naturally, the people during the Great War who fought them directly also researched the identity of the Evil Gods and eventually found the answer.
"The Evil Gods have a powerful ability for mental contamination."
The reason they only represent the Seven Deadly Sins? Because when you contaminate a human mind, only negative emotions come out.
That's why there's no room for their domains to expand. All their followers are plagued by a single, extreme impulse.
Just as it was with Ayla before, the higher a cultist's rank, the more their emotions are remodeled.
"They probably squeezed through the dimensional rift by stripping away as much of their own power as possible."
They didn't invade while they were strong. They were weak when they entered, but they recovered their power at an incredible speed.
Through mental contamination, they could quickly brainwash the humans around them and harvest faith.
Since it was a twisted faith based on instinct rather than pure devotion, they could even harvest it from monsters.
The best way for a god to grow their power is, after all, faith. In a way, it was only natural for the Evil Gods to gain the upper hand.
"The reason there are two for Sloth is simple. Boiling Silence caused the Fall from Grace of Soaring Blue, who was worshipped as the God of the Sea."
People who don't know better think they are brother gods, or that the low-profile Boiling Silence is a subordinate deity… but it's actually the opposite.
Boiling Silence conspired with Narrow-minded Usurpation to pull a trick.
After Atlantis fell and the mermaids went extinct, they contaminated the believers of Soaring Blue, contaminated the divine power, and finally contaminated the weakened god herself.
The result of that was Meandering Leisure.
The helplessness she felt while watching her most cherished race being slaughtered and her followers going mad was distorted into Sloth.
For the record, Tyrannical False Light, born from the Fall of Righteous Light, is an Evil God contaminated by Wrath.
"It wasn't easy even during the time when gods walked the earth directly… but it's not impossible. No, if we don't prepare properly, it will definitely happen."
My voice was full of conviction. Fortunately, no one frowned at my words.
If it had been the old me, they wouldn't have listened no matter what I said. That's why I had tried to slowly build a relationship with the Church of Righteous Light.
But things were different now.
Righteous Light must have taken quite a liking to me, as she showered me with blessings, giving me significant influence within the Church.
Above all, I had a track record. The spying of Boiling Silence and the alliance of the Evil God cults were all revealed because of me.
What if the Evil God cults, which were thought to be unable to cooperate because they were scattered and sealed after the Great War, were actually working together?
No matter how great the Church of Light's combat power was, they couldn't stop all the Evil God cults alone.
The Evil Gods couldn't descend yet, but if they could manifest even just their mental contamination ability… then a Fall from Grace would truly occur.
Reaching this conclusion, Albaor nodded heavily.
"I understand your words well. Specifically, what would you like us to do?"
"First, recall the Holy Knights and priests currently on external missions. The cultists will be lying low for a while anyway after the blow they took last time."
"Mmm. Indeed, all the cultist branches we've discovered recently have been abandoned. A large-scale withdrawal order must have been issued."
"Yes. But they aren't the type to give up, so they'll likely gather their strength and launch a massive assault all at once."
"Which means there is a high probability that we will be their target. Understood. I will take action immediately."
"……."
I expected him to listen, but I didn't think he'd agree so readily without a single complaint.
Even my women looked like they had a lot they wanted to ask.
As if sensing my doubt, Albaor smiled thinly and spoke.
"Do you know why faith is called faith? It is because it is blind. But even putting that aside… where do you think you are?"
"The Audience Hall of the Grand Temple…?"
"Yes. It is one of the places closest to Righteous Light. If someone were to dare use the Lord's name to speak vanities… divine punishment would fall in some form or another."
"…It didn't fall, so I'm good, right?"
"Of course. It means Righteous Light also deemed your words to have merit."
"Well, that's a relief."
Whew. I'd better be careful what I say here.
While I was letting out a silent sigh of relief, Albaor, who was wearing the benevolent smile typical of a clergyman, spoke up.
"Come to think of it, you said you had a favor to ask as well. Please, tell me anything. I will grant whatever I can, as long as it does not bring shame to Righteous Light."
"Ah, it's nothing major, but it's about Helena…."
"Eh? Uh? Ah?"
Helena, who had been standing there with her mouth agape at the massive scale of the conversation, began to look around in panic when her name was called.
I gave her a small smirk and continued.
"I'd like to recommend her as a Saintess, not just a candidate. Could I borrow the chapel tomorrow?"
I planned to ask Righteous Light directly.
I had plenty of other things to inquire about as well.