Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Dawn's Guidance
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They denied the existence of the Lord God whom the church worshipped.
The god they served.
The Hand of Dawn was the true being worthy of being revered as the Lord God.
Unlike that phantom whose very existence was unclear.
Indeed.
Unlike the Lord God, a conceptual entity whose deeds and traces remained only in legends, the god they believed in was real.
The miracles wrought by that being had left vivid marks upon the world, allowing one to experience their wonder even now.
As one's faith and stature as a priest grew, one could sense that being's presence and hear its voice.
In a world filled with darkness, it bloomed a holy flower and created the first light.
The great miracle said to have been performed by the Lord God, master of the holy flower.
An undeniable fact.
The miracles of the Hand of Dawn paled in comparison to the creation of light.
But.
What is impossible with mere words?
If debating miracles only in words, one could create not just light, but darkness as well—nay, even the entire world.
Yet the Hand of Dawn did not do so.
That real being acted personally rather than borrowing the mouths and words of others.
Resurrection.
The priests of Dawn had witnessed that wondrous miracle with their own eyes.
The dead returned from death praising that great existence!
They realized.
Creating light and such empty nonsense was not a miracle.
Priests of Dawn.
They knew what a true miracle was.
They knew what a true god was.
Their faith in the true god was unwavering.
No, not that shit
Lord God: Bloomed a holy flower in a world full of darkness and created light
Hand of Dawn: Performed a miracle to save a city crumbling under a great demon's power
Class difference is huge
Fr; why no Lord God-ham in our world
I wanna believe in Lord God-ham too
But
The Lord God isn't even a real person, just some self-insert
Some ancient dude with nothing to do wrote a novel
"Guys, rate my OC" and it became a religion?
Dawn-ham specs ) Revived the dead
Created immortality magic so they don't die or get sick
What else is a miracle fr
Just a black mage,
But with divine power instead of regular power?
Oh what
Is that true? lol
Just throwing it out there
??? What
Why are these guys worried about spoiling me?
Is this that important?
Getting kinda hyped now
The man is actually the light demon that was purified by the first saintess ㅇㅇ
Telling his followers to stir shit in the church to get revenge on the saintess
No ffs
That's why I was worried about spoilers
"..."
Asrania's faith in her god was shaking.
The trigger was the sudden appearance before her eyes of a man whose identity was unknown, reeking of Satan.
The man flaunted his aura unreservedly toward Asrania.
It was an aura as if every kind of power, from swordsmanship to magic and beyond, swirled within him.
Asrania felt that aura and thought of one expression, but immediately denied it.
The true god she served.
She deemed it blasphemy toward the Hand of Dawn.
'Chaos...'
Thus, the expression Asrania settled on.
Powers of different natures could not coexist within one body.
Therefore, it was fitting to dismiss that aura as the property of 'chaos'.
"My child. I know what you're thinking."
At that moment, the man spoke.
"You're doubting the essence of this power, aren't you?"
"...!"
Asrania was shocked.
That timing. That content.
The man had perfectly seen through her innermost thoughts.
'Mental interference!? No—it's not that; no power was felt at all. Then how in the world...'
Thus, Asrania attributed great mystery and meaning to the man's actions.
'He showed me all this power at once, so like others, I'm doubting its nature.'
The man—
Unfamiliar with such abnormal power and situations unlike Rishir.
Sensing Asrania's agitation, Rishir continued his actions.
"...!!!"
Asrania's eyes widened greatly.
It was impossible for powers of such diverse natures to coexist in one body.
Thus, Asrania doubted the man's aura and dismissed its nature as 'chaos'.
"How..."
But as if denying that, the man demonstrated each power.
When the man raised his right hand, swordsmanship and divine power dwelled there.
When he raised his left hand, magic and black magic dwelled there.
"No need to doubt. Just be honest with what you see and feel."
The man was blatantly guiding Asrania's thoughts.
However, Asrania could not perceive that blatant intent.
Because she had never encountered something called 'magic swordsmanship'.
The terribly unfamiliar power and aura paralyzed Asrania's thinking.
She could only obediently play into the man's intentions.
"Omnipotent..."
Asrania came to feel the man's existence as 'omnipotent'.
Emotions beyond what she felt for the Hand of Dawn.
Her god.
In that moment, the necklace in Asrania's hand emitted light.
It was the vessel in which she had accumulated power for her god.
-Asrania...
The Hand of Dawn differed from the noble Lord God in essence.
Unlike the Lord God who did not respond to devotees' earnest calls, the Hand of Dawn gladly descended to the lowly when devotees were confused and led them.
Thus, a god was not an unfathomable, lofty existence beyond reach like the Lord God.
It was a亲近 existence always by our side, embracing us.
That was how Dawn's priests treated their god.
-Do not be deceived... That is not your god... That one will not understand you...
For example.
The man differed from the god Asrania wished to believe in.
His unfathomable power, aura, and actions that dared not be measured.
They mercilessly overwhelmed Asrania, granting her a terrible sense of powerlessness.
As if she were a bug placed on a giant palm.
An unpleasant emotion she had never felt when facing the kind Hand of Dawn.
-Asrania...!
Yet why was it.
"..."
Asrania could not tear her eyes from the man.
Her亲近 god's voice no longer captured her attention as before.
"Are you..."
Asrania spoke as if entranced.
"An omnipotent and great existence...?"
"..."
The man's lips seemed about to say something, then curved into a mysterious smile.
And simultaneously, it happened.
"Ah."
Asrania's head tilted toward the sky.
The World Tree.
The sacred tree scattering the aura of life grew further, displaying a majestic form.
And it did not end there.
Whiiiiiing!
A massive sandstorm raged, endlessly thundering.
A wave of vermin surged, covering the sky.
A black pillar of fire erupted, piercing the heavens.
Finally, amid all those disasters, a brilliantly shining star rose.
Chaos.
Asrania once again recalled that expression.
Around the World Tree, seemingly symbolizing infinite vitality, disasters seemingly symbolizing infinite destruction swirled.
And a bright star that nothing could obscure overlooked it all.
At a glance, it looked chaotic, like dumping everything from one's pocket onto the floor.
However.
Humans were beings who imbued even a single raindrop with meaning.
Believers pursuing a great will were even more so.
"Cycle of life... Will of the world..."
Asrania murmured.
The man's actions had sufficiently answered her question.
She glimpsed omnipotence in the 'imagery' he showed.
"Are you perhaps..."
Asrania said in a trembling voice.
"The master of the holy flower...?"
Thus, Dawn's priest uttered that name.
The heretical god she had always denied.
The Lord God's name.
"..."
The Lord God(?) smiled kindly toward the heretic.
Asrania unwittingly stepped back.
Her breath trembled raggedly.
Recalling the countless deceptions she had committed while posing as the church's saintess.
It was clearly blasphemy, a sacrilege mocking the Lord God and his followers.
"Wh-why have you appeared before me...!? Before me of all people—you must know my identity...!"
Perhaps.
Was all this for judgment?
Had he personally come to punish the heretic who dared claim to be his apostle and deceived the faithful?
-Asrania... Do not be fooled...!!! You are in that thing's inner world now... All this is mere illusion...!!!
That voice shook Asrania's heart briefly, but it did not last.
-The man was actually a figure who was with the first saintess.
-The man bestowed his aura upon Asrania in place of the first saintess.
-Asrania, who received that aura, suddenly became a familiar.
To accept that voice, she would have to accept all those premises first.
It was a forced narrative that even "fate's prank" could not fully express.
Believing the existence before her eyes was the Lord God felt far more realistic.
Thus, Asrania gladly decided to do so.
"Have you descended here to punish me...!?"
Asrania knelt powerlessly before that omnipotent existence.
One hand on her chest, the other extended in desperate supplication.
"My child."
"...!"
At that moment.
The Lord God(?) grasped the hand extended by the saintess(?).
"The holy flower is the flame that guides the lost."
"Ah, aah...!"
The saintess(?) felt the compassion and tolerance(?) in that voice and shed tears.
She now regarded her past self as a "foolish lost soul."
"I can clearly see it in my eyes. The holy flower you cherish."
"I-is that true!? Can I, like you the great one, become a guiding flame for the lost—driving out the world's darkness, such a great flame!?"
The church doctrines she had learned to act as a saintess.
For the first time, not deception but sincerity filled those doctrines from her mouth.
Thus, the saintess bared her true heart to the Lord God without reservation.
Her true heart of expectation and anxiety.
"..."
The saintess did not know.
The meaning behind the Lord God's kind smile.
"We can all become holy flowers that guide someone."
The Lord God extended his other hand toward the saintess.
"Ah...!"
The saintess sobbed in感動.
She immediately rose and extended her remaining hand as well.
Along with the 'vessel' in that hand.
-No!!!!!
"...Huh?"
Saintess Asrania.
She shuddered and looked around.
World Tree and star.
Sandstorm and all manner of disasters.
Lord God.
All of it had vanished without a trace.
Expelled from someone's inner world, she was back in her own room.
A terrible sense of unreality dominated her.
"A dream..."
It was an experience so fitting to dismiss as such—
Nay, one that only made sense that way.
"Huh?"
At that moment.
Asrania's gaze turned to her hand.
"...Ah-"
Her eyes reddened in an instant, transparent tears welling at the corners.
The vessel.
The necklace for the 'heretical god' had vanished without a trace.
"You have taken away my sins... So that I may walk the right path..."
The saintess knelt in place and clasped her hands.
For her who had knelt and clasped hands countless times as a saintess, this was her first true prayer.
"Lord God... Master of the holy flower..."
That prayer was directed toward the Lord God(?).
"Hoo...!"
Rishir, escaping the inner world, gasped for breath.
Even for him, posing as a god and maintaining gravitas was no easy task.
Afterward, Rishir explained to Shuyen and Tara what had transpired in the inner world.
He then proudly held up the vessel recovered from the 'saintess' for them to see.
"Saintess-like, wasn't she? Quite pure. Falling for such lies—...Huh?"
And as he was about to start gossiping about the wicked woman who had masqueraded as a saintess all this time—
His companions' reactions were markedly different from expected.
"Everyone?"
The fairy arduously opened her mouth.
"No... Isn't it normal to fall for that?"
"Pardon?"
Their brains were pure.
They could not agree with Rishir's proposed gossip topic.
"...Why is this happening again—"
In that instant.
Tara Dolin looked at Rishir, rubbing her brow.
"Lady Tara?"
"Rishir, you—"
"Yes?"
The fairy pointed at Rishir.
"...You're sparkling again."
"...Pardon?"