[Vol. 8] Chapter 86: Return to the Grand Church
The reason the priestess used the [Anchor of Time] to attack the five people following them was to test and provoke the strange thing hiding inside Ayla. She wanted to see if they were working together, and if that hidden force would react when its allies were attacked and accidentally reveal itself.
Unfortunately, from beginning to end, that thing showed no signs of moving. To avoid alerting it, the priestess followed quietly the whole time. But that presence stayed completely still, as if it didn’t exist at all. It only disappeared naturally when Ayla entered a special space filled with the power of the Fox God, which was actually a fragment of Xiao Kong's divine realm. The power in that space pushed the thing out, and the trail ended there.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss. The priestess had already asked Xiao Guang to remember the energy pattern. With the dragon girl’s sharp senses, she would definitely be able to recognize it again if they ever encountered something similar.
Now the remaining question was: why was that thing watching Ayla? What did it want from her?
There was definitely some secret hidden inside that girl. But since Violet was just a stranger to the scholar girl and had never met her before, she didn’t ask anything too personal the first time they met. Instead, she got her involved using the Chosen Hero situation, leaving a few small hints behind, as if to test her. If Ayla was truly smart, she’d probably take action soon.
With that matter temporarily settled, it was time to get back to the main task, which had already been delayed too long.
Finding a quiet spot, Violet took the dragon god out of the [Still Flow of Time], put away the [Anchor of Time] for now, and headed toward the center of the city toward the Grand Church, known as the greatest and most magnificent church in the world.
The rest of the journey went smoothly. Before noon, the two girls passed through the crowded streets and finally arrived at the base of the towering church.
“The Grand Church... still as amazing as ever. A building like this feels completely different when you’re looking up from the ground compared to flying over it in the sky.”
Looking at the church’s white walls, golden dome, and the beautiful statue of the goddess in the distance, the priestess smiled with a bit of emotion in her heart, but didn’t move right away.
She wasn’t here as a tourist today. Normal visitors could move freely in the square, but they weren’t allowed to enter the church itself. So she needed someone to guide her inside.
If her timing was right, that person had probably already been waiting for a while… It was a bit awkward to make them wait like this.
She blamed Ayla in her heart.
After mentally pushing all the blame onto Ayla, Violet looked again toward the outline of the Grand Church in the distance.
She had visited this place many times before. Back when the Goddess Church still used faith-based magic, she had once come here alone to speak with the old pope, August Lambert, about the future of the Holy Empire. It wasn’t exactly a friendly conversation, but in the end, without any fighting, she managed to reach the underground city beneath the Angel City, the same place that had once sat beneath the Grand church, under the statue of the goddess. That underground space, like a dream, had been built as a huge foundation for the Divine Network.
Now, the church was still the church, but the statue had been moved outside into the public square. Its appearance had also changed slightly compared to her memories. Aside from the changes caused by the [Sword of Origin] rewriting history, the new pope’s recent policies likely played a big role in the differences too.
Even though it was noon, when most people were cooking or eating lunch, the square in front of the Grand Church was still full of people, creating a lively and busy scene.
It’s said that not long after Edwina became the pope, she wanted to change many long-standing traditions of the Angel City. One of her biggest ideas was to allow regular believers, and even non-believing tourists, to enter the central area of the Grand Church to worship. She even moved the statue of the goddess from inside the church to the public square, so everyone could get close and feel the goddess’s blessing.
Her reason was the goddess is not so far above us. Believers who think they alone deserve her blessings have clearly misunderstood her teachings and will.
Even so, her actions caused strong disagreement at first, especially from the old, traditional members of the Church. Several times, the Holy Council proposed to reject her ideas, and they even joined forces to stop them. But as Edwina’s influence grew, especially after her book, the one called Revelation, became widely read, and as a certain Holy Knight was seen more and more as the goddess’s one true messenger in this world, the Holy Council could no longer block her. Eventually, her plans were approved and carried out.
Whether these changes were good or bad, whether they broke old traditions in a bold way or were simply too reckless, remains a topic people still argue about. But Violet was not a follower of the Goddess Church, so she didn’t have a strong opinion and didn’t really care to judge.
Either way, time would give the final answer.
Just then, as the priestess stood lazily among the busy crowd, lost in thought, a hand suddenly reached toward her from the side!
“Lady V—”
Smack!
Before the stranger could even touch the black-haired girl’s robe, the dragon girl beside her moved like a ghost, instantly appearing and grabbing the person’s wrist with a firm grip!
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Ow ow ow ow! Sister Xiao Guang, let go! It’s me, it’s me me me me me! Really!”
The stranger’s wrist, held tightly by the dragon girl’s long fingers like a metal clamp, let out a painful cracking sound like bones were breaking. The stranger, clearly a girl too, winced in pain and quickly pulled back her hood, revealing her smooth golden hair and a familiar, slightly silly face.
Who else could it be but that Holy Knight herself?
Seeing this, the dragon girl blinked in surprise and finally let go before she broke her friend’s wrist. Then she gave her a sharp glare.
“Are you crazy? Sneaking up in a cloak in broad daylight like some shady person, covering your scent and presence completely. If this weren’t a public place, I would’ve already thrown you across the street!”
Scolded hard by the Dragon God, the girl who was actually the current highest ruler of the Holy Empire didn’t dare talk back. She just lowered her head a little, gave the smiling priestess a polite nod, and while quietly healing her injured wrist with magic, began to explain in a small voice.
“I didn’t want to do this either, Sister Xiao Guang. But you know I’m the pope now. Everyone around the Grand Church, the Holy Knights, the high priests, almost every believer, knows my face. If I just walked out like normal with no disguise, it would cause chaos. You’d get caught up in it too. Miss Violet doesn’t want too much attention from the Church, right...?”
As the topic naturally turned to her, the priestess, who had been smiling while watching the scene, gave a small awkward cough and shrugged.
“All right… I did ask her to keep a low profile. Too many people and too many eyes. Let’s find a quieter place to talk.”
“Yes. Please follow me. Everything’s already ready.”