Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Awakened Goddess
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*
"L-Levatan! No, sir, please calm down first..."
"Did you just tell me to calm down?"
Lionel Levatan maintained his utterly composed demeanor from start to finish as he slowly moved his hand.
"Think about it. If it were you."
The cardinals trembled in fear while stealing glances behind Lionel Levatan.
Creaaaaak.
"I've lost my precious granddaughter, whom I hadn't seen in decades and finally reunited with."
His subordinates, who had followed him in, were slowly closing the door.
"Could I possibly stay calm?"
They couldn't decide which was more terrifying: the door slowly shutting or Lionel Levatan pulling something from his bosom right before their eyes.
Lionel Levatan murmured in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I suppose I should show you how we handle calming down back home."
That was when it happened.
BOOM!
A pillar of blinding light shone through every glass window of the Papal Palace, flashing so brightly it flickered in their vision.
**
*Please, please.*
Juliet had no intention of breaking all ninety-eight defensive barriers.
That would be utter madness.
During the long, boring days of her confinement, Eselrid had conducted a few experiments and informed Juliet that the barriers weren't simply layered atop one another. Instead, they were pieced together like a patchwork quilt.
So Juliet figured she just needed to shatter one specific spot—the barrier Sebastian had linked to the entrance of the Doll's House.
It was an intuitive choice.
The right choice.
A straightforward plan.
One: Seize the Soulstone.
Two: Use it to shatter the holy power barrier and summon the butterflies.
Three: Mind-control the fake Pope and get out of here.
But what Juliet had overlooked was the final detail.
Who could have guessed the coordinates Sebastian had set—the passageway to the Doll's House—led right to the center of the altar, smack in the middle of ritual preparations?
Well, a Pope could probably come and go from the altar's center anytime without raising suspicion.
"What is that...?"
Not only the priests, but Lennox and Roy searching the building for Juliet, as well as Theo and Eselrid trapped in the prison, all saw it clearly.
BOOM!
A dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, piercing right through the heart of Lucerne—the center of the altar.
*
BOOM!
It almost seemed like a massive pillar of light had crashed down on that spot alone.
"Wh-what is...!"
Even the priests managing the Terrarium were witnessing the phenomenon for the first time in their lives.
"Ah!"
The first to comprehend what was happening and leap to her feet was Eselrid, who had been struggling to free Theo from his cell.
"The barrier's broken!"
One of Lucerne's ninety-eight barriers had been pierced.
And then an even more astonishing sight unfolded.
Flutter flutter flutter!
From the exact circular area where the light pillar had descended moments ago, as if punching a hole in the sky, hundreds—no, thousands—of blue butterflies surged upward all at once.
"My God!"
It was a spectacle no one, not even Eselrid, had ever witnessed.
As if connecting heaven and earth, thousands of blue butterflies soared fiercely into the sky.
From afar, it could easily be mistaken for a massive beam of blue light.
The moment all the butterflies vanished like a mirage, a woman appeared in the center of the altar, gasping for breath.
"Jul...!"
"Juliet!"
And sprawled beside the woman was what appeared to be the limp body of an unconscious man.
*Did it... work?*
Juliet panted heavily as she surveyed her surroundings.
The altar was in the midst of ritual preparations, nearly blindingly white all around.
Her head spun, her vision blurred; she could barely see.
"Th-that's...!"
"His Holiness the Pope!"
"Pope Sebastian!"
The priests recognized the fallen man's identity and rushed down to the altar en masse.
"This can't be!"
"His Holiness the Pope has passed!"
"He's in critical condition!"
"Healing priests! Hurry!"
It was absolute pandemonium.
Over a dozen priests swarmed over, dragging the unconscious Sebastian up the stairs.
Juliet, who had collapsed alongside him, was hauled up the stairs as well.
"Has His Holiness the Pope passed?"
No.
*I didn't kill him.*
Juliet didn't even have the strength to respond.
"Wh-what?! The Pope is dead?"
"Then it's regicide!"
*Ah, I said he didn't die!* Sebastian's disheveled form sprawled haphazardly on the altar floor did look rather corpse-like, but that was just a side effect of the mind control.
"Your Holiness!"
"Are you all right?!"
Of course, he was unconscious.
"What's going on?!"
Cardinal Solon, Cardinal Gilliam, and several other priests poured out from inside.
"Cardinal Solon! Look at that!"
"The basin...!"
Glug glug.
The basin filled with ritual water was emitting a mystical glow.
"Wh-why...?"
Cardinal Solon couldn't comprehend it.
Sebastian had collapsed, she had collapsed, the Pope was out cold—how could the ritual possibly proceed?
That was when it happened.
Something excessively blinding and enormous—too grand to call a mere cloud—appeared above Lucerne.
"Wh-what's that...!"
"Damn it, what now?!"
"Defensive formation!"
"Brace for impact!"
"Brace for impact!"
Lucerne's priests swiftly activated defensive barriers from their positions.
The pale blue formations unique to priests sparkled here and there.
But it was only for a moment.
"Wha... whoa!"
"Th-the divine manifestation...!"
Ruuuuumble—
A majestic vibration shook the entire Terrarium.
The sky was clear, without a single cloud.
From the dazzling cluster of light in the air, something white and enormous emerged, revealing itself.
It resembled a pure white marble bust of a woman with closed eyes.
Aside from the long flowing hair, its colossal size blanketing the heavens, and the massive iron chains wrapped tightly around it.
*Iron chains...?*
Juliet felt an inexplicable chill for some reason.
But the priests and people were cheering in joy.
"The divine manifestation has appeared!"
"The Goddess has come to look upon us!"
Cheers erupted from the crowds gathered outside the Papal Palace as well.
"It's the Goddess!"
"The Iphrite Goddess!"
"Whoa! His Holiness the Pope has summoned the Goddess!"
"The Goddess watches over Lucerne!"
Cheers flowed from the throng.
But the people's cheers didn't last long.
"......?"
The closed eyelids of the goddess manifestation slowly lifted.
It raised its head, and the next moment, it began screaming in a horrifying voice.
KYYYYYAAAAA!
In this chaotic situation, Juliet instinctively knew.
Ah. This is bad.