༺ True Faith (2) ༻
It was a mysterious place.
The gentle ocean waves, for some reason, were void of the fishy scent of the ocean, and the grains of sand on the beach were warm and soft like finely granulated flour.
What was the most mysterious of them all, was that no signs of life could be felt from this island.
“Ahh…”
However, none of the above was why Estelle was shivering – she was trembling not from horror or fear of the unknown but from being deeply moved. Her superhuman senses as the Saintess were informing her of the infinite flood of sacred energy within the island.
“C, Chairman… What, what is this place…?”
The moment she turned towards the chairman to ask, Estelle realized that she could feel the same energy from her.
‘How did I not know this? How did I not see this incredible amount of sacred energy?’
Even the pope didn’t possess such a brilliant color.
As if she knew what was going through her head, Erin suggested with a benevolent smile on her face.
“Shall we walk?”
Erin started walking towards the center of the island, so Estelle absent-mindedly did the same.
“I heard you had doubts about the existence of gods.”
“…”
Estelle quickly went through the report about Erin Danua – a new chairman who suddenly appeared out of nowhere after the death of Chairman Eriu Casarr.
She wasn’t even registered in the Guardian Alliance and yet became the next chairman thanks to Senior Professor Josephine Clara’s right to choose the proceeding chairman.
It was nonsensical that a single Senior Professor had all the right to choose the next chairman instead of the board of directors or anything of that sort, but all the chairmans of Merkarva Academy had gone through the same process.
Some even argued that it might be the same person taking the post of the chairman on repeat after changing their appearance, but that sounded way too far-fetched.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Half-giants and witches… Several of the so-called demi-humans were able to live an incredibly long life, but the biggest reason why that controversial argument wasn’t even deemed possible, was because there had been both male and female chairmans.
“God exists. That’s what they teach in the Order, yes?”
“…Of course.”
“You’re right. Gods did exist. For a very long time.”
“You mean… in the past?”
Gods.
That was already against the teachings of the Order.
With the spread of the Order’s teachings, the gods of the indigenous religion were either classified as devils or evil gods. Some of the myths were also included in the scripture, but there, they were classified as angels or the subjects of the god.
The scripture was full of errors and a little bit of insight showed that it did not make logical sense, but there was one reason why the ‘Lord’ of the New and the Old Faiths was still deified.
It was due to the existence of sacred energy – a power that manifested in a few of those who had deep faith.
“Faith makes many things possible, but it is possible only to some. Why do you think that is the case?”
“That’s because of the depth of their faith and… Ah.”
Estelle was reminded in the middle of her speech of those who turned away from the Lord. They betrayed the Saintess, praised as the Child of God, and even betrayed their own god.
Many priests, sisters, cardinals… and even the pope.
All of them were still able to use their sacred energy despite turning away from their god.
“In the distant past, although youngsters refer to it as just a mythology, the world had been carved into being by titans and gods. The concept of gods didn’t even exist back then.”
Erin started revealing one by one the genealogy of the gods, which one would usually only hear from fairy tales.
The War against the Titans.
Migration of Goidels, and their betrayal.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The disappearance of the transcendents and a land turned barren.
And how the land, void of gods and titans, then responded to the desperate prayers of the ones who had their blood flowing through them.
“You’re lying…”
Those were words that she could not believe nor dare even try to.
“You and… they were the gods?”
“Gods, huh…? Although you call them as such for convenience’s sake, it is a little bit different. We are like concepts. Sun, Light, Earth, Curation, Flower, and Justice. You can see it as such concepts having a persona.”
That was an unbelievable story for the Saintess, who had lived her entire life as a devout believer. However, the lady in front of her and this entire island itself were way too full of sacred energy for her to simply regard it as fake.
If it was true that the remnants of the gods existed in this land, and if the lady in front of her really was a goddess… then everything would make sense.
“Another guest, huh? And I see our kiddo is coming here quite often these days.”
Someone said while walking out of the dark forest. Estelle turned to the voice and found a slim man with a braided beard.
“Dian Cecht-ahjussi.”
“I told you to call me Oppa.”
“Nonsense. Do you know how big our age gap is?”
“Everyone over 1,000 years old is friends.”
“Ugh…!”
Erin, whose age was roughly revealed against her will, frowned but Dian Cecht simply giggled back while stroking his beard.
“Hmm? This girl…”
After spotting Estelle, he walked up with intrigue while the Saintess stood there in confusion after feeling a torrent of sacred energy from him.
“I see. Dagda… and even Balor in the mix. There is even Lugh and Oengus… It’s hard to see a lineage with this many twists.”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“There is only one such lineage in this world.”
Another voice echoed from the woods. It was a man harboring an intense and flaming heat – an energy that she was ever-so familiar with already.
“Greetings to the Previous King, Nuada.”
“Right. Is your little disciple doing alright?”
“Thanks to your help.”
Nuada Airgetlam – the master of the Sun, and one of the Ard Ri, the greatest Danann of all. He immediately realized who Estelle and her ancestors were.
“The King of Goidels. A descendent of that bastard who pretended to be the Great King after stealing our bloodlines, huh?”
“Please don’t say ‘steal’~. It was a pure fruit of love, Nuada.”
“Oengus…”
An incredibly young man refuted the King of Gods. He was none other than the Danann of Love, Oengus, who appeared with his father, the Danann of the Earth, God King Dagda.
“And if you wish to reproach me for it, you must do the same to God King Lugh. His grandfather-in-law, Balor the King of Titans, is also in the bloodline, after all.”
“Tch.”
The master of Mag Mell, Manannan Mac Lir, and the Danann of Light, Lugh Lamhfada gathered alongside several other Danann.
Each and every one of them possessed an incredibly familiar aura to Estelle. It felt to her, that they each possessed further-classified auras of the sacred energy.
“W, who… are you all?”
She asked with a trembling voice and the Danann gladly revealed the truth to their descendent.
“We are the long ancestors making up your origin and your bloodline.”
It all started with Balor, the King of Titans. His daughter and Dian Cecht’s son married to give birth to Lugh, the Danann of Light and—
Lugh’s son became the hero of Goidels, and Oengus’s daughter got married to one of the descendants of that hero.
That bloodline later gave birth to the King of Heroes, the first king of the El Rath kingdom, who led the Goidels and chased out the gods.
“Flowing in your veins is the mixed blood of countless powerful gods and Balor, the strongest evil king. It is, however, still an incredible miracle that it has atavistically brought the power back to you after thousands of years.”
“The priests that use the so-called sacred energy, are most of the time either our or the titan’s descendants.”
Erin added from the side, and commenting after that was Dagda, the Danann of Earth, along with a hearty laughter.
“Kuhahahat! I guess I have sowed a bit too many seeds!”
“It’s not something to brag about, Dagda. Don’t you remember getting stomped on by Oengus, your illegitimate child?”
“Let’s not dwell in the past, Uncle Dian Cecht,” remarked Oengus.
“Tch tch. If that was me, I would have smacked his head with a sword if my son did something like that to me.”
“It is quite scary when that’s coming from you, Uncle, considering how you have a history of killing your son and opening his heart up…”
“But he had serpents that could destroy the world!”
Meanwhile, a gigantic man reaching 2 meters in height walked towards Estelle. Dagda Mor – the great Danann of Earth stood before her and said with a smile.
“I see. So you’re a long descendent of mine.”
“I, I…”
“I have placed my bets on Korin Lork. A new era calls for a new Danann. Well, he’s not complete as of yet but… Erin!”
“What is it, Dagda?”
“He’s still got my cauldron, right?”
Estelle immediately knew what they were referring to – the divine artifact recorded down in the scripture as the Holy Grail. It was part of a fabricated history of the scripture, which stated that the divine artifacts including the Sun, the Spear of Light, the Holy Grail, and the Stone of Destiny had belonged to them before being lost.
It didn’t take long for Estelle to admit that those divine artifacts must have belonged to these people first.
“She’s a descendant of mine with my blood flowing in her veins. If lucky, perhaps it might acknowledge her as its owner.”
Saying that Dagda took out a club – a gigantic one that suited his enormous figure. However, the club decreased in size to suit her body size the moment she received it with her hands.
“That’s my magical club. Think of it as a souvenir for dropping by this place.”
“It’s not fair that you’re not even giving her a trial, Father.”
“There’s no need to. She even has the power of Balor inside her. We don’t need to go through no test.”
With that, Dagda placed his hand on Estelle’s head and gave her his final mission.
“Go, and take my cauldron. After that, whatever you decide to do is up to you.”
***
Erin returned with Estelle, who appeared exhausted and soulless after witnessing the shocking truth.
“Uhuk…!”
On the bed, Estelle wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed. That proved just how shocking the truth must have been for her.
“Dongsaeng. Korin-dongsaeng…”
“Was it that big of a shock? I thought you had a rough gist already.”
“I’ve been… believing it forever though. And, and everything is wrong.”
“Well, what can we do? Gods are whimsical and so must be faith.”
I have never believed in gods before so I could not understand nor comprehend Estelle’s emotions. I just knew based on my knowledge that gods existed in this world, and that the teachings of the Order were false.
But, what I did know was…
“Is it that important though at the end of the day?”
“What?”
“Think about what the ‘gods’ say in every book and scripture. Whether it be the Lord or the gods of other cultures, putting aside the thing about paradise and hell, they all speak of the same thing.”
Love one another, be kind, and do not hurt others.
Maintain the conscience of your heart.
Cultivate yourself and walk the righteous path.
“They all practically say the same thing. I think those teachings are what you should focus on, regardless of whether they have been from real or fake gods.”
The gods of this world also had two faces. Some wanted the destruction and downfall of Goidels who betrayed their goodwill, while some wanted to protect them simply because it was unjust.
“Gods don’t matter as much. What’s always important is ‘yourself’.”
“…”
“It’s your, my, and our actions that are important. Being sincere, loving our neighbors, and being a human regardless of what happens. Those are the things that define us.”
Apparently, religion is a method to stabilize human society and cultivate one’s humanity. Both mythologies and religions were made for that purpose, at least according to some sociologist on the TV that I heard from.
“The god doesn’t exist? You were serving the wrong god? Is that important though? Do the love and goodwill of the believers disappear? Do they mean nothing if the god isn’t there?”
No. Absolutely not.
“The amount of time that the person called Estelle has spent by serving others as the Saintess, and its significance, cannot be changed at all.”
Gods were not always good. The value of the world could not be determined solely by one god. Tates Valtazar, who wanted to destroy the world, was one such example.
“There is someone as powerful as a god, and he’s trying to destroy the world because it’s not to his liking. I won’t accept someone like that as a god.
“We need to be righteous; provide love and not hatred; justice and not evil; and hope for the good and not the bad.”
After all, that was what humanity was all about. That was the main lesson to be learned through religions, education, and philosophy to be a human, instead of just being born a human.
My opinion was that religion was just one of such methods.
“But if there is no god… then what do we need to believe in? If the real god tries to judge us, how would we resist?”
“Together.”
“Huhp…?”
“We can do it together. Whether it be hardships or trials, we will overcome them one way or another if we’re together.”
That was how the player was able to defeat Valtazar in Heroic Legends of Arhan after all. All the good deeds and actions that the player had built up would reveal their brilliance later during the final battle.
Together we become stronger and can overcome any trial.
“Saintess Estelle. I know it might be difficult, but I would still like to shamelessly request this of you.”
I took out the cauldron, thinking that there must be a reason why Dagda wanted me to give this to her.
“Please stand with me.”
Estelle blankly reached out toward the cauldron and laid her hand on the treasure.
It was then.
『The Magic Cauldron of Undry acknowledges Estelle Hadassa El Rath as its Champion.』
Undry acknowledged her.
She inherited the Divinity of the Earth.
***
Her lifelong faith had crumbled to nothing.
Estelle had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Her faith, the verses of the scripture, and the heavenly being that she had been praising were all false.
“Haha…”
Irreligiously enough, she instead became an existence closer to gods. Now, she knew what the origin of sacred energy was, and met the primal beings.
Justice, Sun, and another god trying to destroy them; Light.
With so many gods, it wasn’t strange that believers would divide into groups. It also wasn’t strange for believers to betray their faith after meeting an actual god.
The traitors of the Order – the ones that had betrayed the Saintess – had in fact found their real god before she did.
“Hahaha…”
Now, that god was trying to destroy humankind; the filthy traitors, and those who believed in a fabricated god. What rights did humankind have to dare go against a heavenly punishment? After finding out the truth, Estelle was so frightened and fearful that she couldn’t even imagine resisting punishment.
『There is someone as powerful as a god, and he’s trying to destroy the world because it’s not to his liking. I won’t accept someone like that as a god.』
But the Sun spoke, saying that he would not accept such a future. He said that one must choose the right path without going against one’s sense of justice, or the morality and philosophy of a human. If so…
‘I have to choose. Between the two opposing gods.’
Was she supposed to stand on the side of the god who was born a god? Or one who inherited the divinity despite being born a human?
Neither of them were a complete and perfect fit to the human standards of a god who loved them.
“I… have a duty. I have the duty of leading people and saving them…”
Before long, she decided to side with him. She did not refuse his offer.
The moment she made the decision, her mind returned from depression to rationality. She calculated what was right, tested the scale of justice, and formed a plan for the upcoming future.
The final conclusion she came to, was that she had to rule out from the Order encroached by the true believers, the traitors of humanity who wanted to be the few chosen beings of the new world.
“My dear brothers and sisters.”
At the headquarters of the New Faith, the Saintess stood before the pitiful humans who still believed in the fake god.
“Look at this. I have been chosen by the god.”
In her hands… was the cauldron camouflaged to be the Holy Grail.
-Is that the Holy Grail?
-Ohh, it really is the Holy Grail!
-As expected of the Saintess! She was chosen by the divine artifact!
Everyone, both priests and believers alike, rustled in commotion. A few of the people in the crowd had been intentionally dispatched by her to flare up the fuss.
“He has warned me directly, that countless seeds of evil have been sowed into the human world.”
The Saintess that used to believe in the Lord was no more. All there was, was a sly and clever princess, trying to modify the public’s view of the ‘Lord’ upon realizing how everything had been fake.
“As the Saintess chosen by the god, I will uproot all evil and serve only the true faith!”
Blowing in the Chapel of Zeon was a cold breeze of religious revolution. It created a gale that neither Korin Lork nor Erin Danua had ever suspected.
