Chapter 253

Chapter 40 – Speculations

Tonight, the moon was bright and the stars sparse.

I stood at the observation deck atop the tower by the shores of Ceylon Lake, my hands gripping the locked iron railing. Peering through the gaps between the bars and the foliage, I quietly observed the vast night city below.

The warm breeze brushed past me, tousling my hair.

This helped to clear my mind significantly.

When I left the dormitory, Sarah and the others were already asleep, but I lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. That’s why I came here to feel the night breeze.

There were many things I didn’t know and couldn’t understand, which made me particularly troubled…

I skipped ahead and read the rest of “The Sorrow of Love.” After Teresa mentioned seeing the deity, the book seemed to have no more content. It was like most novels that end poorly, with a hasty conclusion at some point where the story could no longer progress.

In the final pages, Teresa never again mentioned the church or the deity. She only wrote about herself.

[

Those who gain at the expense of others deserve no life. All lives are equal, and good and evil will eventually be repaid. Alleviating suffering requires enduring patience, while arrogance and ignorance will inevitably invite calamity. Such is the world’s suffering.

May you remember this always.

]

These were the words she wrote at the end of the book, which I had memorized firmly.

But I don’t understand…

This grandiose empty talk… Teresa, what do you really want to convey?

“Haa—”

I gently exhaled.

Now I can basically be sure that her change occurred on the night she claimed to see the deity.

Did she really see the deity?

If she did, then why did she lie to me and say she didn’t…

After that night, she refused… or was refused to become the High Priestess, and at some point, for unknown reasons, chose to join the Door of Truth.

Then came four years of blood ‘sacrifice.’ Teresa, to achieve her goal, did not hesitate to spill the blood of many living or dead… Later, seeing the matter exposed, she was willing to sacrifice innocent children’s lives, even her own, to complete the ‘Tears of the Goddess.’

That was something that could “take away” the deity’s power, taking away the power of the capital ‘Boswell’… Margaret said it was called a medium. And the ‘Tears of the Goddess’ was like the dragon’s vertebrae, able to bear the ‘medium’ bestowed upon humans by the deity.

The reason behind Teresa’s actions seemed to be that she had once seen the deity several years ago.

I think it should be like this, there’s no mistake.

Currently, all signs suggest that Teresa later seemed to have fallen from heaven to hell, completely transforming into another person. She betrayed her faith; before that, she was a very devout believer. Teresa certainly wasn’t insane, but I understand that it’s extremely difficult for a person to change. What could have caused her to do this…

Was it the deity… Is there something wrong?

Suddenly, I thought of something else.

Based on the known situation, it’s obvious that Teresa is a genius. Her faith power is terrifyingly strong, proficient in three types of divine miracles: nature, judgment, and healing, which is also one of the key reasons she became a candidate for the High Priestess.

I don’t understand what kind of concept this is. But thinking about it, at least as strong as two old men in robes?

Maybe even more…

However, during the battle, she never used her faith power from beginning to end, until her death.

Clearly sacrificing herself to delay time, yet unwilling to use all her strength… Why?

I vaguely recall that Sophia seemed to hint to me that it had been a long time since anyone had seen Teresa use her faith power. The nobles even speculated that she was someone abandoned by the deity… Ah! So after meeting the deity, she lost her faith and power due to some reason?

It is indeed possible!

If

Reesa lost her power of faith one night… For a devout believer, this should have been a huge blow. Therefore, the Church deprived her of her right to inherit the title of Holy Maiden, so she had to go through great lengths to ‘possess’ the power of the gods… Everything fell into place, it all made sense.

… Was it really like that?

I frowned, biting my nails incessantly.

The image of Teresa’s azure eyes, similar to Carlos’, flashed in my mind, along with the unwavering gaze full of conviction… I began to doubt my own assumptions.

What if she still retained her power of faith?

Then why wouldn’t she use miracles until her death, and why would she be unwilling to reveal that she had seen the gods… What was the connection between these two things?

What if…

What if those so-called ‘gods’ were actually like the cosmic entities from the Cthulhu mythos in the previous world, capable of driving people mad?

If that were the case…

I shuddered violently, immediately shaking my head in denial.

No… It’s not possible. How could there be such an intangible and terrifying existence…

Margaret has also seen the gods! At least, she told me so.

And then there’s the idolized Pope, Angel with golden hair. If the Holy Maiden can see the gods, the Pope should be able to see them too, right? He must have seen them as well. Perhaps there were others besides them in the Holy Church… At least, the four cardinals likely had seen the gods.

So why didn’t they do something as insane as Teresa did?

!

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

Angel, Margaret… They didn’t do anything like that?!

I don’t know!

I don’t understand them at all!

The wind that blew from the darkness suddenly felt eerie, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

All of this is just imagination, dissipate…

Nonsense won’t solve anything; I can’t keep guessing like this. I’ve been standing here foolishly for a long time; it’s time to go back—

In the next moment, as I turned around, a face covered in thick flesh, with a menacing nose, appeared out of nowhere in the darkness.

Buzz—

This face appeared unexpectedly, so close to me that I was caught off guard. My scalp tingled instantly. My muscles tensed up, and I froze in place, trembling as I took a deep breath, my mouth wide open.

“Ahhh—!!!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs, like a maiden about to be violated.

“Dear, please lower your voice!”

The large face quickly approached, trying to cover my mouth, but I turned my head away and stepped back.

“Grandma Administrator…”

Only then did I recognize the person as the Grandma Administrator, and my racing heart calmed slightly.

“You scared me to death.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping and are out here at this hour?”

Grandma extended her little finger to clean her ear, gazing at me with a worried expression.

“I couldn’t sleep…”

“What’s wrong? Oh, is it because of the incident at Santel Castle?”

I first shook my head, then nodded.

“Recently, I saw the news… Did Grandma also know about it?”

“The conflict within the imperial family is already well-known, how could I not know?” Grandma patted my shoulder, smiling. “Trust your father, he will handle it.”

“Grandma…” I tilted my head to the right, “Are you familiar with my father?”

“I am not very familiar with your father, but Bertha, the principal, is. When you were young, she and her husband occasionally visited the castle… The old Sword Saint admired your father greatly, often mentioning his friendship with the man living in Santel Castle, saying he might be a pillar of the country.”

“As for your father compared to the current emperor… he is indeed far more capable.”