Chapter 409: Joys and Sorrows May Not Align, but Rage Certainly Does
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 409: Joys and Sorrows May Not Align, but Rage Certainly Does
"The children seem to be having a grand old time."
Glancing at the bustling scene far below out of the corner of his eye, the Pope couldn't help but reveal a benevolent smile. He looked like an old man enjoying his twilight years, watching children at play and reminiscing about days gone by.
But the moment his gaze returned to the front, his weathered eyes instantly turned cold and ruthless.
Above the firmament, the faceless woman’s skirts swayed gently. The cries of infants echoed between heaven and earth as a fine rain of countless blossoms drifted down, heralding a calamitous despair.
The entire horizon was stained by an eerie corruption.
Before that vast darkness, a human frame appeared utterly insignificant.
"However..."
Though he stood alone, the Pope showed not a hint of fear as he locked eyes with that terrifying Evil God. The wind of blood and fire tossed his beard and white hair as he spoke in a low but powerful voice:
"To let your mind wander at a time like this... even for a being as exalted as an Evil God, isn't that a bit too... conceited?"
The Pope gripped his scepter tight, and his wide sleeves suddenly billowed with an endless, howling gale.
Behind him, a golden door slammed open!
A holy, exquisite, tranquil, and ethereal vista emerged from behind the gates, resembling the Earthly Divine Kingdom promised by the gods.
Infinite Holy Light poured forth from the doorway.
This was not merely a flicker of Holy Light like that displayed by Liya, the Saintess Candidates, or even the Saintess herself. The light flowing from this gate was thousands, tens of thousands of times more potent than anything they could manifest!
This was the accumulated foundation of the Church over a thousand years, the crystallized faith of countless believers across the continent—a supreme Divine Grace of purifying authority granted by the Goddess of Life!
"Sanctus!"
A solemn chant rose and echoed through the air!
The phantoms of hundreds of girls in white dresses appeared behind the gates. Their hands were clasped tight, their faces filled with compassion, and their eyes shone with piety.
They sang in praise of the divine.
"Thy mercy graces the world, Thy bounty shines upon the four seas, Thy venerable name holds supreme glory..."
"Sanctus!"
"In Thy name, purify all that is impure in this world!"
A sea of Holy Light surged. Countless white cruciform radiances rose from the depths, humming with a thunderous roar like spears pinning the heavens in place.
The spread of the eerie vitality came to a jarring halt. Those unnaturally growing things suddenly began to rot under the pure cruciform light.
Beneath holiness, decay flourished.
The twisted growth that had transcended the natural cycle was finally dragged back into the cycle of life, reaching its end. Before the stench could even spread, it too was purified by the Holy Light.
The power of the Evil God... was actually being counter-polluted by that Holy Light!
"Waaaaah—!"
The shrill cries of the infants grew even more piercing. High in the sky, surrounded by endless Holy Light, the Evil God suddenly dropped the swaddle in its arms.
The swaddle tumbled toward the earth.
As it flipped through the air, the infant within finally revealed its true form.
—But it was no infant.
It was... a Divine Abomination, sired by the Evil God of Abundance!
The filth that was being gradually purified by the Holy Light began to contract rapidly, sucked into the belly of the Divine Abomination.
As the creature fell into the sea of Holy Light, its crying stopped abruptly—because it detonated!
A colossal wave of filth surged within the sea of Holy Light. The endless pollution and twisted vitality acted like a drop of ink in water, diffusing at a terrifying speed.
"Driven to the point of abandoning your own child?"
The Pope gave a mocking smile and then violently swung his scepter:
"No, for a monstrosity like you, the one thing you never lack... is so-called children!"
The Holy Light surged back. Pollution met counter-pollution. Under the absolute disparity in magnitude, even a Divine Abomination sired by an Evil God was soon utterly annihilated.
However, the sacrifice of the Divine Abomination had succeeded in stalling the surging Holy Light for... a single heartbeat.
In that heartbeat, the Evil God known as Abundance suddenly dove!
Its goal in descending here had never been to wipe out the Church.
If a single Evil God Projection could completely destroy the Church, the Church would have been wiped out thousands of times over the last millennium.
Therefore, its true objective this time was...
Blooming flowers scattered, swallowing the Holy Light and magic that blocked its path. A realm that looked like a miniature version of a kingdom appeared before the Mother of Abundance.
That was... the Lost Homeland, Cantville.
It was its pasture, its dinner plate. It had raised a million lambs there, and after a thousand years of meticulous cultivation, those lambs had become incomparably succulent.
It made the god salivate with greed.
If it could devour them, a million carefully cultivated blood-meals would be enough to allow this projection to briefly possess power approaching that of its true body.
And that "brief moment" would be enough for it to complete its other... ultimate goal, a goal it had waited a thousand years for.
So...
Those lambs.
Those blood-meals.
Those delicacies.
They must...
They must...
【Hmm?】
Suddenly, the Mother of Abundance’s descent faltered.
Even though Cantville was right within reach, it stopped its movements.
It tilted its head. Upon its featureless face, a confused gaze seemed to gradually penetrate the outer walls of Cantville, reaching deep...
Deeper...
And deeper still...
Until... it felt something.
Or rather... it failed to feel what it should have felt, and instead felt something it absolutely should not have.
Crack.
A fissure suddenly split across the Mother of Abundance’s blank face.
Within the crack, countless dense sprouts of flesh writhed manically, mirroring the Evil God's current fury!
Where were its lambs?
Where was its feast?
Where were its delicacies?
Such a massive pasture, a full million souls—it had waited a thousand years for the chance to enjoy them, and now that it had finally fought its way back...
They were gone.
Gone without so much as a peep.
The Mother of Abundance’s head twisted sharply. The writhing flesh-sprouts in the crack stood bolt upright as its gaze finally pierced through the walls of Cantville completely. Through the remnants it had left behind, it saw the interior clearly.
"Clearly" was perhaps an overstatement.
Because in its sight, upon that scorched plain of flesh, atop that towering Giant Tower, it saw only one thing.
A... sun.
A sun that illuminated all!
The crimson flames radiating from that sun looked familiar no matter how one sliced it.
【KING! OF! WITHERING!】
A terrifying roar that no human could comprehend echoed through this supreme place. The Mother of Abundance’s entire projection flickered and distorted, as if it could not contain the sheer rage of being backstabbed from outside the world.
The Pope, who had been preparing to mobilize his power to protect Cantville, watched the Mother of Abundance’s sudden fit of madness. His eyebrows shot up as he cast a meaningful look toward the Lost Homeland.
"Heh, that kid... he was originally just a stray piece on the board. I didn't expect him to actually go through with it."
One didn't need to think hard to know what could make this Evil God so furious.
And in the Pope's calculations, there was only one possibility for how such a thing could happen.
"To be willing to discard the great power of a god, and to have the courage to shoulder that sin... I suppose I should expect no less from that old fossil's disciple?"
"But regardless, the Church owes you for this. To ensure you aren't swallowed by those sins, I suppose I must..."
The Pope’s hand, which was about to pull out the All-Knowing Eye, suddenly froze.
Because even without looking, he had sensed something else happening within.
He silently tucked the All-Knowing Eye back into his robes, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
It was as if he were watching a prize cabbage from his own field being rooted up by some golden retriever.
In that moment, he felt he finally understood the Mother of Abundance’s rage.
"You little bastard, what do you think you're doing?"