Chapter 335
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Will of the Void
The heart of the church, Radion Grand Cathedral.
A rare commotion broke out in that place of utmost reverence and solemnity.
"Sister Bardros...!"
The Altar of Divinity.
That space was the largest within the cathedral but used most restrictively.
For all major and minor events conducted there were believed to be relayed directly to the Main God.
Thus, even high priests could not enter that holiest of places freely—
"You—"
The current situation was utterly unprecedented.
High Priest Bardros surveyed the interior of the altar.
A place that would feel bustling with just one parishioner praying was now filled with countless believers.
The usual strict rules were absent.
There was no agenda or theme to decide policy.
The sight of them busily moving and huddling to talk resembled a marketplace.
It was chaos that would never be allowed.
Under normal circumstances, that is.
"Ah, Sister Horna."
In the bustling crowd, the eyes of two high priests met as if drawn by something.
Those black pupils seemed to nobly repel the encroachment of darkness, exuding a subtle divinity.
High Priest Bardros stepped forward.
Her gentle features evoked a sense of包容 that could embrace anything.
High Priest Horna stepped forward.
"It's been a while. I heard the story. You rooted out the heretic who infiltrated the Gray Tower and set them right."
Bardros smiled awkwardly.
"Thanks to a fateful connection. I also heard about you, Sister Horna. That you subjugated Ilatdein's demonic sword alongside the Foreseer and the Hero of the Seal?"
Horna smiled awkwardly.
"That was... thanks to a fateful connection for me as well."
"..."
"..."
What was this?
This strange sense of familiarity.
A subtle current flowed between the two high priests.
They felt something inexplicable drawing them closer.
At that moment.
With gasps from some parishioners, the air in the hall stirred.
Taking it as a cue, the two high priests regained their solemn demeanor and got to the point.
"Did you feel it too, Sister Bardros?"
Bardros nodded as if she'd been waiting for Horna's sudden question.
"You felt it as well, Sister Horna. His will—"
And so.
Testimonies from countless parishioners echoed throughout the space.
The implication was clear.
The believers gathered here, guarding this place, had come due to a shared experience born of their firm, pure faith in the light.
To the Altar of Divinity.
The place believed closest to the Main God.
"The Great Will is calling us."
The faces of the two high priests flushed with overwhelming emotion.
Finally.
Their one-sided faith had been answered.
Thus, delusion would fade, and devotion would deepen.
They sensed a clearer, more radiant path opening for the church's future.
Of course.
That didn't mean everything was resolved—
"So—"
Putting the brilliant tomorrow aside for now—
Concern crept onto their faces as they returned to reality.
"Do you understand it, Sister Bardros? His intent—"
"..."
Heads shook, sighs escaped.
"It's because our faith was lacking!!!"
A shout erupted from somewhere.
"Quiet! Can't you be silent!? Have you forgotten where we are!?"
"Is that important right now!?!"
"He is calling us—yet we can't comprehend or respond to His will!!! Even here in this grand cathedral!!!"
"Look at these gaudy decorations! This bloated space! We've been blinded by such vanities and strayed from the essence!!! Our faith has been corrupted!!! That's why we can't fully grasp His will!!!"
"How dare you deny the church's value from the altar...! Blasphemy!!!"
This was why.
High priests governing different sects rarely gathered like this.
They raised their voices.
The space fractured as if that were its natural state.
The altar quickly turned into a pandemonium.
The reality of being unable to do anything despite the Great Will they had pursued being right before them.
The parishioners trembled in rage at their own powerlessness. They felt deep doubt.
Self-loathing thickened, shaking the foundations of their faith.
"Ah..."
"This..."
Horna and Bardros sighed deeply at the scene of division unfolding before them.
The Great Will, already faintly felt before, grew even fainter moment by moment.
"What in the world should we..."
What tormented them wasn't the parishioners' division.
Amid everyone losing their way in confusion, it was their own powerlessness to do nothing.
If they couldn't show the right path, what difference was there from the rest?
In that instant.
The two high priests felt an unsettling dissonance.
As if something unknown gripped their feet and dragged them into the abyss—
Shaaaaaa—
Darkness in the corner whispered to them.
A strand of shadow prowled freely between their pupils like a beast patrolling its territory.
A massive other will, imperceptible to the parishioners, constricted them.
Light illuminates darkness.
The darkness arriving with the light sought to enclose them once more in its embrace.
Thus.
As the parishioners' minds were dyed in void darkness they couldn't even perceive—
"Everyone's gathered here."
It was a frail voice trembling like a fawn's legs.
Yet it filled the vast cathedral interior with resonance.
"Saintess...?"
Saintess Asrania.
She, just returned from pilgrimage, appeared before the altar's parishioners.
Though plunged in deep chaos enough to forget even the Great Will's call—
They forgot everything at her appearance and focused on her.
"Is that really the Saintess...?"
Not just that—
The Saintess's aura had changed completely from before.
To the point it was hard to believe it was the same person.
"The altar's quite noisy."
The girl who seemed to need endless care was no more.
Standing there was a being with a presence vast enough to embrace them all.
Moreover, her energy.
Even high priests who had reached some level as followers of divinity lost their luster before her, pathetically.
Like embers before a bonfire.
"What happened?"
"...Saintess, what happened on your pilgrimage?"
A high priest couldn't hold back curiosity and asked.
The Saintess replied openly with a proud smile.
"I met the Great One and learned the path I must follow."
"...!"
The hall stirred at her words implying contact with the Main God.
"Saintess—"
Then it settled.
More calmly than before.
The lost parishioners regained hope through her presence.
"Did you feel His will just now and come here, Saintess?"
She might.
Lead them on the right path.
"...Just now?"
But the Saintess's response was quite different from expected.
"Ah...!"
The parishioners seemed plunged back into deep chaos.
However—
Having heard the full story from them, the Saintess spoke.
"That's strange. If He called, there's no way I wouldn't have felt it."
Her confusion stemmed not from ignorance, but conviction.
"You mean—..."
The Saintess hadn't felt the fragments of the Great Will that all high priests had.
A situation that would normally breed distrust.
Yet.
The Saintess's eyes gazed straight ahead.
Unlike the other parishioners' eyes that didn't know what to follow—
Her eyes pursued a tangible form.
"..."
"..."
High Priests Horna and Bardros felt a strange pull from her.
Was it just imagination?
The Saintess's energy, vast beyond measure and oddly heterogeneous—
Felt somehow familiar.
Thud.
"Sister Bardros!?"
"High Priest Horna!"
They approached the Saintess and knelt.
"Please..."
"Guide us lost souls to the righteous path..."
The agitated air in the hall.
Other parishioners followed, kneeling one by one.
At the center, the Saintess spoke plainly.
"Don't be confused."
The Saintess's eyes shook faintly.
That day.
After contact with the Main God.
Asrania had sought to feel His presence once more.
Repeated prayers.
Yet Asrania had failed to reach Him.
"He is still by our side."
Even so, she hadn't lost her way.
From direct contact and sensation, He undoubtedly existed—
Press on unwaveringly, and one day she'd reach Him.
At this moment.
Her faith became conviction.
Thanks to the other believers.
"Sister Bardros. Sister Horna."
The Saintess took their hands.
Asrania sensed something peculiar from them.
The closeness she'd desperately longed for.
On the pilgrimage journey, amid faithful believers, Asrania had always felt isolated.
As if gazing at the same place but seeing different things.
"Let us pray."
Through these two, the Saintess found salvation.
"For Him who will answer our faith."
Faint, yet fainter still—
Because she felt the closeness she'd so yearned for from them.
"..."
"..."
The two high priests gazed at the Saintess.
Soon. Their eyes gleamed.
Saintess Asrania.
High Priest Bardros.
High Priest Horna.
Amid the loss, unwavering light rose in those three pairs of eyes.
Ah.
The three believers gasped in unison.
Their prayers had reached.
"...Lindal!?"
-Huh? Ah—...
Lindal, lost in a daze for a moment.
He snapped back at Rishir's call.
"The ritual preparations are complete! Please give the next order!"
-...
Then, considerable bewilderment resurfaced on his face.
-...Lindal, you okay?
Lu-Rah couldn't hold back voicing concern.
Communication with believers via a third party.
He couldn't even fathom Lindal's current state of mind.
But soon—
Lindal's eyes fixed straight ahead again.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
Had they lost faith?
Or found new faith?
Didn't matter.
As long as it led them right—
As long as it guided them where he couldn't—
-...Yeah, that'll do.
A thick smile spread across his face.
A moment later.
Following Lindal's orders—
And Rishir's mediation(?), the ritual commenced in the holy city 'Radion'.
-From now on. I'll temporarily shelter their mindscapes in mine. So the Will of the Void... can't invade them.
-Wait, Lindal...! You sure!?
Lu-Rah shouted.
He knew, being in a similar yet different position from Lindal.
The cost if one not of this world wielded such vast influence—
-Yeah. Totally fine.
Lindal nodded without hesitation.
A pleasant smile lit his face.
His gaze met Rishir's.
-Now they've found a new path.
"...Lindal?"
Rishir couldn't bring himself to ask what he meant.
-Rishir.
Two hands gripped his left firmly.
Lindal stared straight into his eyes and said.
-This might be our last conversation. Ironically—with my current state, even talking to you like this is a struggle. So I'll say it clearly.
Squeeze.
More strength in the grip—
-Thank you. For everything.
A moment later.
The ritual began.
Different spaces, different beings sharing one will.
Radion's believers reached toward the sky.
Lindal reached toward the crystal spread beneath the floor.
That instant.
A massive distortion arose in the crystal's center—
And through it, enormous energy surged.
Holy city Radion.
The mindscape of its citizens, united in one value—followed 'Saintess Asrania's guidance.
A colossal 'mindscape' encompassing the entire city flowed in.
-...
Lindal gritted his teeth, preparing to accept it all.
Even one called the Main God couldn't fully bear it.
--...
But why.
-...?
No pain or weight came, no matter how long he waited.
Lindal glanced aside, just in case.
"Huh...?"
Rishir tilted his head at a strange foreign sensation.
"What in the world is..."
Saintess Asrania.
She and her group, embraced in the 'Main God's' arms per the ritual, were swept in great confusion.
There, something unidentified greeted them.
Two pillars.
Opaque pillars retaining sand's texture and hue.
So vast they reached the far sky; even craning necks fully, their ends were out of sight.
At that moment.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The atmosphere vibrated.
Sky's edge—
Something exploded at a height touching the sun.
-What are you guys!?!
It was vibration from a voice.
From one who once held an entire city underfoot.
The sand dune mischief-maker Berbandes spoke, eclipsing the sun.
-Has the Boss picked up more pests!?
The massive pillars upholding the sky.
The grayish-white sun.
The forms of two spirits(?) reflected in their eyes.
The spirits(?) peered down at them from above the sky.
-Why are you so tiny!?
Radion's entire colossal mindscape was contained there.
In that bizarrely immense scale.