Chapter 423: Emiel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 423: Emiel
"Is the Goddess of Life, Emiel... an Evil God?"
Muen stared solemnly at the Pope, enunciating every word of his question.
At this moment, within the sealed Supreme Place, the sky was dim. The atmosphere felt heavy.
Muen’s clothes were not yet dry, and cold sweat began to seep out once more. Though there was no wind, he felt a biting chill.
In this world, the line between "good" and "evil" was often difficult to define. However, that ambiguity did not apply to deities.
Unlike the Just Gods—who rarely interfered with the mortal realm, remained mostly obscure, accepted the faith of their believers, and occasionally bestowed blessings—the so-called Evil Gods were the very synonyms of destruction, death, and disorder.
They could not truly descend into this world through the World Barrier, yet they watched all things greedily from the shadows of the world, anticipating a gluttonous feast of blood.
They frequently engaged in seemingly fair trades with humans, but the will that seeped through those bargains and temptations could easily pollute the minds of countless people, driving them toward distortion and madness.
Throughout the long river of history, whether it was the Withered King, the Silent Moon, or even the Corrupted Love God—who was known as the disgrace of the Evil Gods—all had caused horrific tragedies.
Some scholars had even unearthed a prophecy from a thousand years ago: The world shall perish at the hands of the Evil Gods.
To many, the Evil Gods were the source of all calamity.
Because of this, how could the Goddess of Life, Emiel—who possessed countless believers across the continent, performed innumerable miracles, and had guided humanity through chaotic eras to the present day—possibly be an Evil God?
If Muen’s words were made public, he wouldn't even need the Church to act; furious believers would burn him at the stake a thousand times over for the crime of blaspheming the Goddess.
Thus, asking this question required immense courage.
He could have chosen to suppress this question in his heart and seek the answer slowly on his own, but he couldn't do that now.
Because Liya had become the Saintess of the Church.
"Heh, asking such a treasonous question right to my face, the Pope... I must admit, both your lecherous heart and your courage are truly admirable."
Though the question was indeed sacrilegious, the Pope’s expression remained unchanged.
"May I ask why you have such a suspicion?" the Pope asked with a faint, inscrutable smile.
"I mentioned it earlier. It was because of something Freya said: 'Similar, yet opposite,'" Muen replied.
"Just because of that?"
"No, that was only the spark. What truly made me suspicious was the series of events that occurred in Cantville."
Muen lowered his gaze.
Below where he and the Pope sat, that kingdom which had endured for a thousand years still floated quietly, as if in a deep slumber.
The indigenous people of that kingdom no longer existed.
The milk flowing in the rivers, the beef and mutton growing on trees... those creations that the inhabitants had relied on for survival for a millennium had naturally been purged.
Yet those images remained vivid in his mind.
Not only that, but there were the prisoners refined into inanimate objects, the Demon Hounds born from those objects, and the Flesh Plain that followed.
If one were to summarize these seemingly different powers with a single word, it would be: Life.
A deformed kind of life.
That was the power of the Mother of Abundance.
"If I’m not mistaken, the authority of the Mother of Abundance is unrestricted, unregulated, unconstrained, twisted, mutated, and deformed growth and reproduction.
"Then the authority of the Goddess of Life, Emiel, would be the beginning and the end of life."
The Seed of Life blessed by the Goddess represented the beginning of life.
The power of rot the Goddess used to pollute Cantville represented the end of life.
The powers of the Goddess of Life and the Mother of Abundance were so similar because they were both parts of the vast concept of "Life"—it was just that the Mother of Abundance’s portion had become completely twisted and aberrant.
Yet they were also completely opposite, as they represented different extremes of life itself.
"This kind of 'similar yet opposite' nature makes one instinctively think of other terms..."
Muen looked up at the Pope again, uttering the words he had learned from the Black Book:
"Same rank, same origin, mutually reinforcing and restraining, natural enemies, each... hungering to devour the other."
"Just like the Withered King... and the Silent Moon!"
"..."
Another brief silence followed.
Muen’s heart climbed higher into his throat.
If his guess was correct, this was undoubtedly the Church’s greatest secret.
He couldn't imagine how the Pope would react to having his greatest secret exposed...
The man might simply raise a hand and suppress him. Given their mix of new and old grudges, a heavy-handed response wasn't out of the question.
He could only hope Teacher Mela was reliable enough to fish him out...
...But to Muen’s surprise, after hearing his theory, the Pope’s expression still didn't change.
Muen couldn't sense any anger from him. Instead, a smile flickered across the Pope's face, as if he were listening to a tall tale spun by a drunken wandering poet.
"If I said... you guessed correctly, what would you do?"
"I..."
Why is it another one of these damn questions?
Muen looked at the Pope suspiciously. "I would take Liya and leave immediately."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because it’s dangerous."
Muen continued, "I can't oppose the Church right now, and spreading this news would only get me labeled a madman. But I would at least take Liya away so the people I care about aren't swallowed by this vortex!"
"Dangerous?"
The Pope raised an eyebrow, curious. "But aren't you using the power of an Evil God yourself? Are you saying others aren't allowed to use it?"
"That’s different."
Muen took a deep breath.
Teacher Mela had said that power itself is innocent; it’s the user who is dangerous.
But the reason he could use the Withered King’s power was that he had obtained the Withered King’s "favor" with the help of the Black Book.
No matter how he looked at it, an Evil God wouldn't be generous enough to favor so many believers. They weren't some charitable Bodhisattva whose favorite pastime was fleshly almsgiving; they definitely had an ulterior motive.
An Evil God worshipped by countless people could use those devout believers at any moment to spread their pollution across the entire world. Muen shuddered at the thought.
"Of course, if you tell me the Church has mastered a way to isolate an Evil God’s conscious pollution while they are still alive—essentially milking the Evil God for all they're worth—I’d be very happy to hear it," Muen said seriously.
Since Teacher Mela was in cahoots with this old man, the Church didn't seem entirely villainous.
Moreover, even in the original novel, the Church was a relatively righteous faction... though it had all the usual dark sides of a religious organization, it was indeed the main force of humanity against the Evil Gods.
Thinking it over, that possibility seemed the most logical.
"Heh. A way to isolate an Evil God’s conscious pollution while they are still alive... that sounds wonderful. So wonderful I might wake up laughing in my sleep."
The Pope suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "...Unfortunately, such a method does not exist. If it did, the world wouldn't be in its current precarious state."
"Then..."
"Those words of yours... were an excellent guess. That old woman really told you a lot," the Pope praised.
Muen’s pupils shrank, and his body tensed instinctively.
"However," the Pope continued, "you are wrong."
"Huh?"
"Wrong," the Pope said with an air of devotion. "The Goddess of Life, Emiel, is a kind, great, and benevolent deity. She is no Evil God, and she could never bring calamity to this world."
"..."
Muen was stunned for a long time before he recovered from the Pope’s sudden conversational U-turn.
"Really? I'm wrong?"
"What else? Did you expect me to transform into an evil cultist right now and grind your bones to ash?"
The Pope shot Muen an annoyed look and sneered, "Did you really think that if I wanted to kill you, that old woman could save you?"
"Uh..."
"If you don't believe me, go back and ask that old hag of yours. She knows far more than I do!" the Pope said expressionlessly.
"Ha... haha... Your Holiness, those are strong words. How could I not believe you?"
Muen scratched his head awkwardly and gave a sycophantic smile. "I also think the great Goddess couldn't possibly be a bad god. I was just asking, really... just asking. No ill intent."
"Get out."
Truly unwilling to talk any longer with this thick-skinned blonde bastard who was cut from the same cloth as his teacher, the Pope finally waved his sleeve. A golden door appeared and instantly swallowed Muen.
Muen felt like he had been put through a washing machine... no, a centrifuge.
The world spun.
Back in the cathedral, Muen leaned against a wall and gagged for a long time. Once he finally settled his churning stomach, he looked up and saw the statue of the Goddess gazing down at him with a look of mercy.
"Was I really wrong?"
Muen suddenly shuddered. He pressed his palms together and murmured to the statue, "Goddess Emiel, I didn't mean to slander you. My mistake, my mistake... You probably don't care about such small things, right?"
"No, this doesn't feel sincere enough."
After muttering for a while, Muen looked up and pondered. "I'm not a believer, after all. I'm not good at praying to the Goddess for forgiveness."
"Sigh, I have no choice. In this situation, I can only ask someone who is good at it to teach me properly."
With a long, helpless sigh, Muen put on a solemn, deadpan expression and scurried off to seek the "guidance" of the Saintess.
*
After Muen left, the Pope also stepped through a doorway.
Space shifted, and he arrived at the very bottom of the Supreme Place—the most forbidden area in the entire Church.
The First Forbidden Zone.
As the most heavily sealed area, it surprisingly lacked a cold or grim atmosphere. Instead, flowers bloomed, birds sang, and the place teemed with life.
"How is everything?" the Pope asked.
"Not great," a sigh echoed from a tombstone buried among the flowers. "If this continues, it won't hold for much longer."
"Not great is still a bit better than 'terrible.'"
Speaking in riddles, the Pope walked past the tombstone.
Ahead was a bottomless pit the size of a lake, its walls covered in vibrant vegetation. Judging by the density, it was clear that all the plants here had spread outward from within the pit.
The Pope gazed into the darkness. After a moment, he pulled a shimmering gem from his robes.
Inside the gem was not Holy Light, but pure divinity.
Divinity extracted from the remains of the Mother of Abundance’s projection.
Without hesitation, he threw the precious divinity into the pitch-black pit.
Crunch, crunch...
From the pit came the sound of grinding steel and chewing.
The sound was incredibly piercing, yet the Pope showed no sign of disgust.
"An Evil God... is it?"
Recalling Muen’s earlier words, he suddenly smiled. "How could such a thing happen... right, our... Goddess Emiel?"
The Pope bowed and prayed devoutly to the Goddess he served.
"Goddess Emiel... please... as always, mercifully lead humanity... forward..."
Crunch, crunch...
The chewing continued, then stopped.
Amidst the Pope’s devout prayer, the sound turned into a faint, ethereal whimper:
"Ugh... it hurts..."