章節 33: "Piercing Light"
A few days later.
At the heart of the Holy Empire of Lumenasia, in one of the asylums harboring mentally challenged patients, a man donning a white-golden armor embroidered with a delicate winged halo symbol was facing a familiar figure whose countenance was pale and somewhat manic.
"What happened to him?" The Vice-Captain of the Winged Halo Order, one of the holy warrior squadrons belonging to the Lumos Squad, which was a part of the entirety of the Holy Order serving the Lumen Goddess, asked the warden of the asylum standing beside him.
"We are not certain, Vice-Captain Lanken. From what I've heard, Father Arnein was found in the chamber of devotion of the local church he's leading by the other devotees of light." The asylum warden said.
A chamber of devotion of any church in this world was a place of worship solely performed by the body of the church. It was different from a mass where anyone could just attend.
"Found? Was he unconscious?" Vice-Captain Lanken asked, his golden eyes focused on Priest Arnein who seemed to have been lost in his own world for reasons unknown.
Hearing this, the asylum warden tried to recall the witnesses' accounts. After a moment, he then opened his mouth, "Father Arnein was said to be kneeling in front of the Lumen Goddess' cross in the chamber of devotion. However, the sister of light who saw him began suspecting something when he began chanting words about reformation, sinners, and disbelief. By the looks of it, it seems like he saw something that he shouldn't have."
"Something that he shouldn't have…" Vice-Captain Lanken muttered, his mind in a tumultuous of thoughts.
For a soldier of holiness, whether one's a holy warrior who fought through the battlefield against evil or someone spreading the word of the Lumen Goddess, this "something" could be considered blasphemy.
But that was fine… unless those who saw or heard it couldn't bear it.
"Father Arnein," Vice-Captain Lanken said. "Can you tell me what happened?"
This time around, the ordinary priest, who was tinged with "knowledge" unimaginable, glanced at the source of the voice.
"V-Vice C-Captain…?" Dark circles were under his eyes. Fortunately, despite what had transpired that he could not describe, a lingering sanity remained.
"What happened, Father? My apologies for being so late because I've been investigating some matters." Vice-Captain Lanken spoke, his gaze fixated on the seemingly dreamy priest.
"V-Vice Captain, if a monster can repent… w-why can't the c-current Hero?"
Hearing such a peculiar question, the squadron vice-captain of the Lumos Squad couldn't reply. It was abrupt, to say the least.
"Father, what do you mean?" After a moment or two, he eventually asked.
"I said… if a monster can repent for its sins… w-why can't the current Hero?"
The Hero Bloodline was a vast tree with deep roots. However, Priest Arnein was specifically referring to the current face of the household, the one who went to war against the Death Lord around half a year ago.
When Priest Arnein repeated the question, Vice-Captain Lanken noticed the former's irregularity.
'What could Father Arnein possibly witnessed for him to become like this? Damn it! I've only been gone for a few days because of the Luminous Princess of the Hero Bloodline!" He inwardly said.
"Father, I don't think I understand-"
At that moment, Priest Arnein raised his body, leaned it towards the table separating them, and grabbed Vice-Captain Lanken's white armor's collar. He then screamed, "Vice-Captain!
"IF A MONSTER CAN REPENT OF ITS SINS, WHY CAN'T THE CURRENT HERO?!
"WHY?! WHY, WHY?!"
Seeing this, the warden standing behind separated them both.
On the other hand, the Vice-Captain thought,
'This is for the better. Before meeting him, I witnessed something unimaginable! And that going against the Hero Bloodline by exposing their atrocities would be just futile…'
Gazing at the maddened priest eye to eye, he recalled what he saw from the Luminous Princess.
"WHY?!"
***
Anon Oriken Spacecraft.
Facing the various floating holographic monitors including the most significant one, showing the sector where Princess Quintella was currently sleeping and undergoing transformation, Grey decided to review the result of the [Undead of Light Project].
This project only had one aim – to know if the known benevolent and merciful Lumen Goddess or the Goddess of Light loathes every existence born in the Dark Lands.
Disproving such a circumstance would yield countless indications of how this world perceived the deities. With this in mind, Grey couldn't help but frown at the result of the experiment. Even then, he remained cautious as this project was considered to be extremely dangerous, more so by hearing Priest Arnein's answer to his question that as a mere mortal, by 'directly' hearing the voice of the divine, one's existence would be extinguished.
[Undead of Light Project]
Alien Archive Description: [This experiment raises a single question, "Can an undead truly repent and be accepted to the Holy Light's paradise?"]
Project Status: [Failed]
Possible Indications of Failure:
[1] The Undead Goblin Chief is a being of the Dark Lands and is tainted with unholiness, the opposite of the Lumen Goddess.
[2] The Undead Goblin Chief cannot truly repent out of its heart. After all, did it even sin against the Lumen Goddess just by existing?
[3] Every being in the Dark Lands, no matter how good or even if it develops faith in its soul, cannot be saved and be welcomed to the heavens.
Experiment Final Analysis: [Termination of the Project until a new variable comes up.]
Reason for Termination: [The manifestation of a divine deity's power was genuine, and it will be dangerous to provoke it.]
Reading these as he stood with his hands behind him, Grey laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Indeed. Let's stop courting death for now. Instead, let's begin in locating the wandering Demon Queen who lost her home."
[Yes, Master.]
However, as though Grey remembered something, he couldn't help but ask, "By the way, what happened to Father Arnein? I mean, why did you do it, Krishnaya? Recalling the Undead Goblin Chief through the utilization of Light Manipulation Spell. Sigh, he might have thought that a miracle just occurred."
Hearing her Master's query, the Extraterrestrial System responded,
[Master, it is to your own liking that I set the Anon Oriken's spatial function, "Pillar Beam" to look like a pillar of light from above.]
"Wait… Did I tell you that? Don't tell me something really happened to Father Arnein?" Grey asked casually.
[Master, Father Arnein went mad.]
With such words echoing in his soul, Grey frowned.
"What…?"
***
The bazaar where Moly and Grey had discreetly kidnapped Priest Arnein was every day open for everyone.
With this in mind, a majestic figure donning a simple white robe was treading amidst the energetic crowd.
It was a woman in her fruitful teens, around seventeen to eighteen years old. Her hair was blonde gold, the same hue as her seemingly innocent eyes. Her build was lithe yet fit, unblemished of any impurities, especially as a part of the Hero Bloodline with tens if not hundreds of family branches.
"Huh…?"
"What is it, Princess Solana?" Her own personal knight in disguise asked.
"Adan, there's something interesting here." She smiled before approaching a certain spot in the streets.
Following the one he ought to monitor, Adan, who was known as the Sole Holy Knight of the Luminous Princess, remained silent. Seeing that kind of smile, he was certain that whatever was about to happen was something he would not be able to prevent.
"Adan, my knight. Do you have a spare sword? Any trash will do. Hehe."
Giving what Princess Solana wanted, he waited for what was about to happen. It was then that he heard her muttering something…
"A trace of an unknown form of Oriforce… Interesting."
At that moment, Princess Solana gazed at the sky. It was as though she was seeing something that others simply could not.
In the next moment, the spare steel sword in her grasp tightened as she assumed a throwing position, treating it like a spear.
"W-Wait, Princess. Your cover will be blown!"
However, it was too late.
"Divine Skill: Piercing Light."
Whoosh!
Bathed with a massive amount of divine power, the sword left her grasp and was shot to the sky, which was something that didn't go unnoticed by some of the crowd.
"I wonder where it will lead to… I am really curious."
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