( AN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzlHPlq8hIs read this chapter with this.)
[Lustburg, Church of Castitas – Halls of Purity]
What was a church? What was the concept behind it?
No matter what name a center of religious beliefs may take – a church, a temple, a mosque, and so on and so forth constituting so many possible names – these centers were essentially a place of reverence for the worshippers.
A place where people joined and prayed toward the God or gods they believed in, they venerated.
In principle, it was a saintly place that allowed no disrespect, neither toward the almighty existence nor toward its agents, and where only the faithful were allowed to join.
Of course, reality was obviously far different than what mere words of ideality could describe. The world itself did not run by mere ideology alone, so it was not a surprise.
Most beings – be it humans, elves, demons, or even angels – only turned towards the divine entities in times of great turmoil in their personal lives.
They did not come to pray, to worship, or to respect. But simply to beg and demand divine grace when they were even in the slightest pickle, without caring about the inevitable question of whether they were worthy or not, to receive the grace of the almighty existence they seemingly venerated.
Those people would beg the divine beings for help when they needed their help the most and then…just conveniently forget about them when they did not require their help or grace anymore.
People of true faith were really few and far between.
But why was that, really? Why were people so harebrained to not be faithful towards the almighty, even when they were aware of the benefits and the reality that their faith would generate.
The answer to that question was also pretty basic. Twisted yes, but basic nonetheless…
Most beings, of this world and any world for that matter, born with the ability to reason, hated following something or some entity they could not see or even feel, and for what? The only thing promised to them was a slightly possible intangible reward that would only come after they were not of the mortal world anymore, only when death would embrace them to lull them into the depths of eternal slumber.
Even though the goddesses had done many miracles and their existence was proven for a fact, for most people in this world, their existence invoked a sense of dread…
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe goddesses weren’t a source of worship, but simply a source of fear and respect, like how the weak bowed to the strong due to their inability to cross them.
This monumental fact held true for both of the two main religions running camp in this universe – Chaos and Order… Even the smaller religions consisting of the faith of the goddesses of Virtue and Sin followed the same principle.
Goddesses were feared, for their whims could end everything and anything without them being able to say or do anything about it…
Goddesses were respected for their almighty power that could do anything imaginable.
The truly faithful were thus summed up to become few and far between.
But on this day… Standing in the balcony and observing the pious and reverent expressions of the people as they kneeled and prayed while shooting fervent gazes toward the small figure of one single woman… Camelia couldn’t help but wonder just what in the world was happening.
Aurore Highland.
Granddaughter of Gerald Highland and grand-niece of Tyr Highland.
A girl that had been affected by a disease of unknown origin that made her fall asleep for innumerable years.
The sleeping beauty, as people were now slowly calling her inside the walls of Lustburg, was now awake and dandy, holding mass.
Camelia had to admit, Aurore was truly a beautiful woman few could compare to.
She had the most wonderful fair skin, as fair as the purest snow, that Camelia had ever witnessed. Her plump lips were a shade of luscious captivating red that could draw the lust of any man, dying to devour those lips on theirs. Her riveting golden hair rivaled the intensity of the sun, paired with her deep blue enchanting eyes that held the majesty of the clear skies in them. She was a marvel— a work of art manifested.
She had a rather small body despite her age, the most likely cause being her stunted growth due to her long years of slumber. However, it could do nothing to diminish her overflowing beauty, and even, in some places, enhanced it somewhat. It added a frail flavor to her, making her a frail beauty that anyone would die to protect from any and all harm.
At the same time, she had a glamorous body, with curves prominent enough to make even the most staunch man fall in perdition. Her clothes did nothing to elevate this situation as it revealed all of her curves fully. Clad in a white robe that ended just below her navel, and then joined in the middle, merely hiding her most secretive parts while revealing her round hips and luscious butt along with her plump thighs. Even the stocking was tightly snug to her legs emphasizing her plump thighs further that could make any man drool in that sight. She wore a nun hat atop her head while adorning gold-white themed shoes. Her beauty was simply transcendental.
But rather than her physical beauty, mere flesh that would decay with time, what truly attracted the eyes was the holy aura overflowing with love that emanated from her mere presence.
As if she was a holy mother overlooking misbehaving children but still willing to forgive them as long as they repented wholeheartedly.
Despite her clothes that seemed to show a little too much of her body, there was no lustful gaze directed toward her luscious body. Only pious and fervent ones, filled with absolute reverence.
As if a goddess was truly among them.
As Aurore recited the litany, the fervor in the church went up to a new level.
The peasants and nobles alike kneeled down in worship and prayed together with no distinctions between their standings and birth.
The more she watched this, the more unsettled Camelia became.
People were scared. The news of the incoming war was slowly spreading to everyone and as such it was normal that they turned to religion. It was human nature to seek for salvation when doomsday was approaching.
But this… Something was not right.
‘Does she have the same power as me?’
Camelia was born with two unique powers she could not really comprehend the source of. The first one was to see the souls of people. Most people's souls were a simple and deep gray in color. But there were some exceptions. People whose souls were totally different, with a distinct flavor to them.
The second power was to ‘charm’ people and have them listen to her order. This was an innate power she had possessed from birth. [1]
That was more Akin to brainwashing. She had used that power unconsciously when she was younger before she became a Holy daughter.
But now, she hated using that power. Robbing people of their free will when it wasn’t necessary was something she loathed to do.
‘But I can’t feel any fluctuation from her.’
Camelia couldn’t help but wonder if Aurore was simply that charismatic and if she was looking too much into the situation.
All of this stemmed from one fact.
Aurore Highland had indeed awoken from her long slumber.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWhen Gerald sold out all the conspirators, Camelia had sworn to wake up Aurore. Furthermore, she had received orders from Castitas to do so recently.
But the problem was… Camelia was not the one who woke her up.
After years of slumber caused by her disease— Aurore woke up on her own.
[1]: You can refer to Interlude 2 if you forgot.
(AN: I received a Dragon cj_savage. So there will 2 after this. Thanks for the Gift.)
My goal is to reach the top 25 in trending (All time/montly). I know we can do it. If you want to read my other works, join me on P@treon: https://[email protected]/HikaruGenji (Replace the @ with a for those who don’t know about the site)
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