Chapter 32: Pollution from the Ancient Moon God
Seated, Sylvia began contemplating how to conceal her presence so that the approaching Radiance Angel would not detect anything unusual.
What should she do?
There should be no issues with the church itself at the moment.
Whether it was the statue or the other arrangements, all had been restored to their original form by her. At the same time, she had casually erased the traces related to the King of Loathing and Hatred that Loruze had left behind.
Now, the only potential problem lay with the people.
Temporarily altering their memories?
It was feasible, but their souls would more or less retain some traces.
It had to be understood that the priests and knights here had already changed their faith; unlike Clade, they could not withstand close inspection.
And if it were an apostle from another domain arriving in Alova tomorrow, she would not be this troubled.
But the issue was that it was an angel—a Radiance Angel of the Lord of Radiance.
From Loruze and Lakdevo’s descriptions, the supernatural path of the Radiance Angel was called the “Purist,” directly subordinate to the Lord of Radiance.
Transcendents who walked this path were extremely sensitive to and repulsed by impure things.
For instance, the clergy in this church—whose faith had long since become corrupted and no longer pure—would appear “blotched” in the eyes of a high-ranking Purist.
Troublesome!
Sylvia tapped her fingers irritably on the table while pondering how best to respond.
Just then, the door was abruptly knocked, followed by a sharp, mocking howl from outside.
That was… Lakdevo?
The moment she heard that voice, a thought suddenly flashed through Sylvia’s mind.
At once, her gaze grew deep—
“That might work?”
A murmur that seemed like self-talk sounded in the silent office, and at that moment, the door was pushed open by a “person.”
Lakdevo flew in, and upon seeing the clearly ill-intentioned smile of his master, shuddered in mid-air.
“Caw?”
…
December 23, Friday, 9:00 AM.
This was the shift-break period for the Knights of the Tribunal.
At this moment, all members of the Tribunal and the rest of the clergy stood in the underground passage, queuing group by group to enter the room that once belonged to the Bishop and now belonged to the divine envoy.
“Your Grace.”
Led by Knight Kakilis, five knights entered the room in sequence, respectfully saluting Sylvia who was seated there.
“Mm.”
The puppet girl responded with a faint nasal sound, then tapped the bead prototype placed on the table with her finger.
“Buzz!”
Centered around the bead, deep purple illusory light rippled outward in an instant, like waves sweeping through the souls of the five.
In the next second, the expressions on the five began to turn confused, and then dazedly walked out.
“Not bad.”
Seeing this effect, Sylvia nodded with satisfaction.
Just now, she had not only temporarily altered their memories but also allowed the power of the Ancient Moon God to taint their souls.
And the bead she had tapped was none other than the “Right Eye of the Gloomy Moon.”
Most of the divinity within this relic of the Ancient Moon God had already been absorbed by Lakdevo, and the remaining amount could only ensure that this former sacred object did not entirely degenerate into a mundane item.
But now, expecting it to exhibit its original effects was clearly impossible.
However, in Sylvia’s hands, it still had its uses.
At present, it functioned like an amplifier, magnifying certain of Sylvia’s abilities from the God of Death’s domain, allowing this subpar apostle of the God of Death to come infinitely close to a true apostle of death.
In addition, since this divine relic still retained power from the Ancient Moon God, it had many other wonderful applications.
For instance—right now.
“Master, your clarity of thought is a height I shall never reach,” Lakdevo flattered with no nutritional value whatsoever.
“Using the Ancient Moon God’s power to taint the church’s clergy, thereby weakening your presence to the utmost.”
“Plus, with those Full Moon cultists in the Court of Radiance already tampered with, it’ll be difficult for that Radiance Angel to suspect anything.”
“After all, the telegram just sent to the Church of Radiance’s sanctuary reports that the Tribunal of Ruls Cathedral had just eradicated an illegal cult operation.”
“During that process, items related to the Ancient Moon God were confiscated, resulting in a degree of pollution from the Ancient Moon God across the entire church.”
“But the contamination isn’t severe and can easily be cleansed.”
“Oh, and your replication technique is also astonishing—in my eyes, it’s identical to the sacred relics replicated by the Full Moon Sect themselves!”
As she listened to Lakdevo perched on the back of her chair showering praise, Sylvia maintained a blank expression on the surface but muttered quietly to herself:
Tch, this fat crow really does enjoy flattery.
Who would’ve thought it was actually an apostle?
Still, though the compliments felt a little awkward, they were rather pleasant.
With such thoughts swirling in her mind, the rhythm of her fingers tapping on the table clearly became lighter.
This subtle change didn’t escape the notice of a certain fat crow, who then redoubled his efforts to praise his master even more enthusiastically.
Wave after wave of deep purple illusory light rippled outward as group after group entered and exited.
This process continued until the last person entered.
At that moment, Sylvia slowly straightened up and cast a scrutinizing gaze at Loruze standing before her table:
“You’re different from them. I’ll use another method to conceal you.”
Then, after a brief pause for thought, her gaze shifted to the back of his right hand:
“I’ll temporarily retrieve the Mark of Greed.”
“That power does not belong to you. If it remains, it will inevitably draw the angel’s suspicion.”
Upon hearing this, Loruze was slightly stunned, then nodded.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Mm…”
Sylvia drew out the sound as if in thought, then continued:
“In that case, once the Radiance Angel leaves, I will let you make a choice.”
“…A choice?”
Loruze softly repeated the word in confusion.
“Yes.”
“I will help you complete your third metamorphosis, and there will be two directions—”
“One: continue down the Purist path. My lord’s power will remain on you in the form of a blessing.”
“If you choose this, the benefit is that you can continue to ascend steadily within the Church of Radiance, gaining rank and power.”
“Of course, all of this is hypothetical—based on the assumption that you’re very lucky.”
“As for the downside…”
“Your journey will end at the third metamorphosis, unless you somehow obtain the divinity of the Radiant Grace.”
“Two: cooperate with me for an experiment. If it succeeds, your path will deviate and turn toward an unknown direction.”
“The downside is obvious—everything will be unknown. And by doing so, you’ll lose all hope of advancing within the Church of Radiance and, if necessary, must withdraw alongside me.”
“As for the upside…”
As she spoke, the corners of Sylvia’s lips slowly curled upward:
“A future filled with infinite possibilities.”
“At the very least, I can promise you this—so long as you survive until the end of the third metamorphosis, you will obtain your share of divinity and become an Apostle of the Land.”