Chapter 119: Her Intentions and the Path Ahead

It’s funny to say, but since crossing over to become a so-called Divine race, Vilyric hadn’t experienced the anxieties of gain and loss for quite a while. While it felt fresh, such feelings became the only obstacle in the way of the girl being completely honest.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Vilyric truly valued the friendship that had gradually developed through mutual assistance. She didn’t want any strange… impurities mixed in.

Seemingly sensing the Priestess’ dilemma, the blue-haired girl showed a hint of surprise and immediately took the initiative to speak.

“I see… Is there a problem? It’s okay, if Vilyric doesn’t want to say, I…”

“Ah! No… Actually…”

There wouldn’t be a better opportunity than now, nor a more suitable confidant than the person in front of her.

Realizing this suddenly, the girl opened her mouth, deciding to reveal some buried secrets from her heart.

Strangely enough, when she finally articulated everything, the expected nervousness didn’t come. In the gentle gaze of the blue-haired girl’s apparition, the warm light seemed unchanged. Vilyric felt an unprecedented sense of relief, as if her body had suddenly become light.

“…That’s how it is. After that, I started my journey in this world with Xiao Guang.”

“Sorry, Xi Fu Lin, I’ve been hiding this from you. Because this secret is just too absurd. If I hadn’t met someone similar recently and confirmed its existence, I might have even started doubting that the game called [Illusion World] was merely a long dream of mine.”

“I see…”

Seeing the Life Goddess seated elegantly on the divine throne, resting her chin on her hand in thought, yet remaining silent, the Priestess couldn’t help but ask.

“Um… You don’t think I’m despicable, do you? Just an ordinary person, yet because of good luck…”

“Oh?”

Seemingly surprised by the black-haired girl’s comment, Xi Fu Lin raised an eyebrow and then shook her head as if amused.

“Good luck? I don’t think what’s happening here can be explained by mere luck. And Vilyric, the ‘similar person’ you mentioned should be that Half-Demon from the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, named… was it Min Chen? But that name doesn’t contain ‘connection,’ so it must be a pseudonym.”

“From him, I can clearly sense a link to higher-dimensional existence. This must be what you call the connection between the chosen ones and the world, which is both help and restraint.”

“But… Vilyric, you don’t have that kind of restraint. You are free; everything about you belongs completely to you. Although it’s mixed with something from outside this world, it’s clear that your situation is different from that of Min Chen.”

“The most intuitive proof lies in the fact that you’ve surpassed the limits imposed on beings in this world, while he could not. Vilyric, you are akin to us gods, existing in a way that belongs yet doesn’t belong to the world, just like… this Origin Artifact.”

After saying some nonsensical things, the Goddess, with her legs crossed beneath her gown, turned in a new direction and lazily leaned back, a half-smile on her lips.

“Of course, even if everything you said is true and it’s just because of luck, would our friendship really change just because of your past? Do you take me, Xi Fu Lin, for some kind of deity?”

“Xi Fu Lin…”

Casting a somewhat moved glance at the blue-haired girl, the Priestess’ final bits of anxiety finally melted away.

“Wow! Xi Fu Lin is the most gentle! *Hug*!”

“Ugh… Alright, alright, honestly, I’m starting to suspect that in that previous world, you might’ve actually just been a child ~”

Although it got a bit nonsensical towards the end, there’s no doubt that after this exchange of honesty, the relationship between the Priestess and the Life Goddess ascended to a new level, which was truly something to celebrate.

After a bit of meaningless playful banter, the two returned to their seats and resumed discussing the original topic.

“Alright, since we’ve gathered most of the information, let’s talk about my views on this matter. Before explaining, I first need to let Vilyric know the difference between the [Origin Artifact] and the [Law Artifact], you see…”

…

Time flew by, and before they knew it, several days had passed.

It was now a new year, and the bright dawn known as the [Day of Saints] by the people of the Holy Kingdom was approaching.

This day marked the official launch of the Holy War by the Saint of Bright Light, Yuna Summerfield, to march against the demons of the East.

The same news had been intentionally spread by the Summerfield Family and the Lingyin Merchant Association for more than a week, rapidly circulating throughout the twenty-seven provinces of the Holy Empire, overshadowing the saintess succession ceremony that was supposed to occur today, becoming a nationwide event known to all.

Because this was the first time in three hundred years since the [Third Demon War], that the Western powers, represented by the Saint of Bright Light, decided to direct military force towards the Eastern front led by the Lambert Family and the Holy Church.

Even if the stated goal was to eliminate the demons.

Naturally, it was the Lambert Family, the real power holders in the East, that reacted most strongly to this decision.

It was said that during an urgent Holy Church council held a few days prior, Pope Augustus Lambert personally expressed strong opposition to the Summerfield Family’s actions, claiming it was “disregarding the stability of the West and the overall situation of the Holy Kingdom,” even directly targeting the Saint of Bright Light, Yuna Summerfield, who attended via communication magic.

For hours, the two sides battled words in the council, centered around this issue.

However, due to poor response to the eastern military situation, it remained unresolved for a long time, while the masked demon riot that erupted in the West was quelled in just two days. Taking advantage of this, the Saintess single-handedly dismantled the arguments of more than ten Holy Church council members close to the Lambert Family, leaving them speechless.

And the final compromise topic regarding “whether the Western forces should significantly reduce military strength and only participate in support, with the Eastern Forces led by the Holy Knights of the City of Angels as the main force” was also pushed back due to the secret alliance between the Cecilia Family and the Summerfield Family.

Thus, the saintess succession ceremony was declared temporarily canceled due to untimeliness, and the Knights of the Holy Church, led by Mingguang City, were firmly set to march eastward against the demons.

Even if the Pope and the Lambert Family were unwilling, it was impossible for them to single-handedly control or change the overall decisions of the Holy Church.

After all, the Holy Empire was a nation divided among three divine races, and none could become an absolute dictator, while the Holy Empire had also faced a series of defeats on the eastern battlefield.

Even though a large part of that was due to issues with the leading Judging Saintess herself, the pressure and consequences still had to be borne by the Holy Church as the actual controllers.

Thus, everything logically… moved forward.

   

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