Chapter 539: Chapter 484 We Are But Playthings of the Gods, The Crumbling Faith of Ivina_2
“So, that Moon Goddess, the creator of all things, is also… a Wizard?” Ivina spoke with difficulty.
Last night, in the underground of the Duke’s mansion, Harrov and Aurora had mentioned this to her, but at the time, she did not take it seriously.
The Moon Goddess Alia created the continent beneath their feet and all things within it; this was the ‘truth’ she had heard throughout her life.
“Of course, [Alia] was once a Wizard, and not just any Wizard, but the most outstanding and powerful one among them. With her invincible strength, she defeated her competitors, and then began to oppress and slaughter her former peers, deliriously aspiring to become the god who ruled the entire continent…” Lynn said concisely, then continued to rant.
“As for evidence… the Scriptures are just too full of errors, anyone with some understanding of the world would never believe she’s the so-called creator.”
Being the creator of the world, yet making mistakes about how the stars orbit, or whether the continent is flat or spherical, can only be described as ridiculous!
However, Lynn was also clear about the other party’s predicament; it was evident that the Scriptures were written during the religious wars hundreds of years ago, when the church’s understanding of the world was perhaps just that.
Lynn believed that in these hundreds of years, the much-improved [Alia] must have also noticed these flaws, but once the Scriptures were set, they must not be changed arbitrarily!
After all, in [Alia]’s self-imposed narrative, she was the existence from which all things in this world came into being.
And the supreme god could not possibly make a mistake; the divine words and creation account in the Scriptures, whether right or wrong, must be taken as the world’s truth. Any alterations would be like slapping her own face, exposing to all the Believers and bishops that she was not as omniscient and grand as they imagined…
Subsequently, more and more people would start to question the contents of the Scriptures, and their belief would begin to waver.
This is the trouble with maintaining too high a façade…
All that Lynn spoke of, Ivina naturally understood as well; on their first day joining the Wizard College, they had visited the magic exhibition room together.
Inside were placed various novel and intricate experiments—laws of free-fall with dual spheres, mirror reflection for calculating gravitational constants, pendulum experiments to verify the Coriolis effect, and so on…
Some of these experiments did not even require magic; with some simple tools, even an average pauper could replicate them.
Just as the words Lynn personally inscribed in the exhibition room suggested: Truth lies there, open for anyone to explore, question, and practice…
It was because of this that Ivina first began to doubt all the common knowledge she had understood in the past.
Seeing the girl’s already shaken and somewhat incredulous expression, Lynn spoke again to add more.
“One of the high echelons of the church, your superior Gustav, released an Evil God at the Kingdom North Border, causing tens of thousands of casualties. He has already been captured by Speaker Vittorio, just last night!”
“That’s impossible!” Ivina’s eyes widened in disbelief as she instinctively rejected the idea. Gustav was the very person who sent her on a mission to Fire Oil City and was also her mentor, the commander of the entire Divine Punishment Army.
After joining the Divine Punishment Army, she spent most of her time hunting those disciples of the Evil God, thwarting their blood sacrifices to maintain the peace of the empire’s citizens.
“Nothing is impossible,” Lynn said with an amused tone. “I’m about to go see him; do you want to come along and take a look?”
Vittorio interrogated Gustav all night long, and like Joshua, the man was extremely stubborn, showing no inclination to speak, but it’s been said his spirit is already very weak.
According to Vittorio’s claims, within three days, he should be able to make him talk!
Lynn was very skeptical of this. Anyone chosen for a high position in the church was essentially a zealot or even a saint—expecting him to betray was rather unrealistic.
However, Vittorio was very confident. He had slightly improved the magic of [Spiritual Ability Retrieval], combining it with Alchemy, capable of reading some surface thoughts when the subject experiences strong emotional turmoil and his mental defenses are down.
Ivina might be a good breakthrough to really stimulate Gustav.
Previously, in the girl’s memories, he had found some things worth noting, but Ivina’s level of knowledge was too low, perhaps only Gustav, the leader of the god-punishing army, could give him the answers he wanted.
Five minutes later, Lynn led Ivina into the secret chamber where Gustav was detained.
This place was set up underground in an ordinary residential house, excavated by Vittorio on his own. There were no decorations inside, just Rune Chains flickering with luminescence in the darkness.
“Gustav, right? I’m Lynn, the so-called ‘Harbinger of Doom’ you speak of. This should be our first meeting, if I’m not wrong,” Lynn said casually as he walked in the dim chamber, his voice slightly elevated echoing inside.
The mentally exhausted Gustav slowly lifted his head, yet he didn’t look at Lynn but instead fixed his gaze on the girl standing behind, his eyes suddenly becoming incredibly sharp, like two blades revealing their edges.
Ivina didn’t dodge or show fear but instead stepped past Lynn and stood in front of Gustav.
As their eyes met, Gustav’s face showed anger, looking at the girl with a gaze full of disappointment and disdain.
“I was wrong about you, Ivina. I had planned to promote you as my deputy before this, to receive the great Lord’s baptism, but you dared to betray the church, betray the great Lord!”
Last night, during the interrogation, Vittorio used the death of the new Holy Maiden to stimulate and affect his emotions, and Gustav also learned some insider information.
If it weren’t for Ivina’s sudden rebellion, which allowed Lynn’s immediate promotion, perhaps the Lord’s Avatar would have dealt with these damn wizards by now.
This was undoubtedly his fault!
His own misjudgment had caused a slight deviation, leading to the church’s complete loss…
Gustav was filled with endless regret, and his spirit experienced violent fluctuations, the Rune Chains wrapped around him emitting a brighter luminescence.
“It is you who have betrayed us, Lord Gustav!” Ivina took another step forward, her eyes locked on Gustav’s, challenging him with her words. “Tell me, why did the church release the Evil God at the Kingdom North Border, and is the frequent chaos of the Evil God within the empire related to the church?”
Gustav remained silent; Ivina’s betrayal had become a fact, making it pointless to argue, especially since he had been captured by Vittorio from the Kingdom North Border.
This prolonged silence eradicated the last bit of trust Ivina had in the church, and her faith in the Moon Goddess instantly shattered.
The girl bit her lip, wondering if, as Lynn had said, the persistent presence of the Evil God’s chaos was the result of the church’s deliberate indulgence.
What then was the purpose of the ideals and persistence of the god-punishing army, who had fought valiantly against evil, sacrificing one after another? For what were her comrades who fought and died for this cause?
Were their life-or-death struggles merely entertainment to fill [Ella]’s leisure time? Tools to consolidate and catalyze faith?
Ivina voiced all her doubts, her questions echoing repeatedly in the chamber.
She wanted to know how Gustav, being part of the god-punishing army and knowing the whole truth, felt about directing the army to play out these ridiculous dramas?
“Of course, it’s worth it, every sacrifice was not in vain!” Gustav finally spoke, his face showing a mix of pity and zeal. “They will all merge into the Lord’s Divine Kingdom, becoming part of the Lord!”
“Soon, before long, the kingdom of heaven will descend upon the earth, and at that time, all suffering and sin will vanish!”