Chapter 355: The Power of Divinity

It's 『Divine Ritual Counter』!

Seeing the familiar text appear in her vision, Charlotte felt a surge of joy.

However, after reading the description of the divine spell in 『Divine Ritual Counter』, a chill ran through her heart.

"Eternal Sacred Realm"…

Charlotte was not unfamiliar with this spell.

She had once perused the library of the Borde Church and had some understanding of the divine spells of the Holy Court.

And "Eternal Sacred Realm" was one of the most renowned among them.

This was an extremely powerful holy illusion, requiring the use of the Holy Court's artifact "Eternal Sun" to cast. It was said that even myths could fall victim to it.

Once drawn into the illusion, the victim would completely lose control over themselves in the real world.

If the victim could not escape the illusion, their soul would be eternally trapped within. Upon the death of the victim's "body" in the real world, their soul would be purified by the "Eternal Sun"…

According to church records, twenty years ago, there was an incident involving the resurgence of an Old God on the Luna Coast City-state.

At that time, the Grand Inquisitor of the Crescent Diocese's Inquisition used the "Eternal Sun" to cast the "Eternal Sacred Realm", trapping the resurrected Old God and ultimately killing it.

Gods are notoriously difficult to kill.

As long as their essence remains, and as long as someone remembers them, they could potentially return from history.

But the illusion of the "Eternal Sacred Realm" could sever the connection between Gods and mortals, trapping the essence of God's soul.

By trapping a God in the illusion and then killing the body that hosts the divine soul, one could achieve the goal of annihilation.

This more obscure knowledge wasn't just what Charlotte had read from books.

It was the black cat Nice who had explained it to her when talking about the Grand Inquisitor's experience in slaying a God in the Crescent Diocese.

Upon thinking about this, Charlotte felt her heart sink.

Bernard de Champagne…

The caster described by 『Divine Ritual Counter』 was none other than the Grand Inquisitor of the Crescent Diocese.

Charlotte wasn't sure if she had fallen victim to the divine ritual left by this Grand Inquisitor in the Lutecia Cathedral, or if he had never gone to Castell in the first place.

But regardless of the situation, the Grand Inquisitor plus the Eternal Sacred Realm indicated that the Holy Court probably suspected her connection with an Evil God.

"They must be merely suspicious, otherwise… upon drawing me into the illusion, the church could have taken action against me already."

"Now they are creating an illusion to provoke me into using my powers, which means they are still unsure of my identity and want to see my strength clearly…"

Charlotte quickly came to this conclusion.

And soon, she made another discovery.

She had been in the illusion for quite some time.

Even though the time flow in the "Eternal Sacred Realm" might differ from the real world, she must have been exposed to the holy power in reality for a while now.

But now, even without modifying 『Divine Ritual Counter』's judgment, she only felt a burning pain and dizziness under the holy light's illumination…

The illusion hadn't ended, and Charlotte hadn't been attacked.

This suggested that the church's illusion test was ongoing, implying that her physical body in reality probably hadn't shown any abnormal reactions under the holy light's illumination, and the church likely didn't know what she was experiencing in the illusion.

This meant… her resistance to holy power had increased.

Upon thinking this, Charlotte felt a mix of emotions.

She recalled the red divine flame that ignited in her heart after merging with the ancient statue.

"Could it be… that after merging with that statue, my body and soul have undergone some kind of upgrade, allowing me to withstand sunlight and even partially resist holy power?"

It seemed possible!

However, now wasn't the time to verify these speculations.

Charlotte needed to respond to Divine Ritual Counter and prepare to leave this illusion.

Upon thinking this, Charlotte fell into deep thought again.

How to modify Divine Ritual Counter's judgment was also a problem.

Before leaving the illusion, she must prepare to face the church.

"Eternal Sacred Realm" could even trap Gods. Before the church voluntarily ended the illusion, if she, a mere Silver Moon extraordinary, could break free on her own, it would be akin to putting "I have a problem" on her forehead.

This was different from her past interceptions and modifications of divine rituals. Previous divine rituals weren't as targeted, but this time it was clearly aimed at her.

But Charlotte didn't intend to do nothing and passively wait for the church to end the illusion.

Such a passive and variable approach would be risky.

If the church decided to strengthen the illusion after seeing her not using her powers for a long time, that would be disastrous.

She could currently resist the holy light's illumination, indicating the current ritual's strength wasn't too high. If the church intensified the divine power, the consequences were unpredictable.

After all, she was trapped by an artifact similar to the Gospel of Blood.

Charlotte intended to leave actively. But how to leave and modify the judgment needed a plan…

What was certain was that Charlotte couldn't simply and rudely judge herself as a devout holy believer as she had in the past. Because no matter how devout a believer was, they couldn't possibly break free from such a divine ritual on their own.

Moreover, the church had used such a divine ritual, indicating their deep suspicion of her.

An ordinary believer's identity wouldn't fool the church. She needed to think of a way to dispel the church's suspicions.

So… how should she modify the judgment?

Looking at the "sun" in front of her, Charlotte had a bold idea…

…

In the prayer room of the Lutecia Cathedral.

The golden light shone brightly, and a finely crafted, ancient round crystal mirror floated in midair.

The crystal mirror emitted a holy light, its surface facing downwards like a blazing sun, projecting a golden beam that enveloped a beautiful girl.

The girl had her eyes closed, frowning slightly, still in the same posture she had when she entered the prayer room.

Inside the prayer room, the Archbishop of the Crescent Diocese, Charles de Lorraine, clad in white and gold-trimmed sacred robes, looked thoughtfully at Charlotte enveloped in the light beam.

Beside him, standing to his left and right, were two senior clergy of the Holy Court.

On his right stood an inquisitor appearing to be around fifty years old. He wore the red robes of a Grand Inquisitor, his expression stern. This was none other than Bernard de Champagne, the Grand Inquisitor of the Crescent Diocese's Inquisition.

This Legendary inquisitor, who was supposed to investigate the warning from the divine warning bell in Castell, had never left Lutecia, but instead waited in the cathedral for Charlotte to come!

At this moment, he held a golden sun miniature in his hand, connected to the glowing crystal, maintaining the holy light covering Charlotte.

The side of the sun miniature was engraved with intricate and mysterious patterns and the ring-cross symbol representing the God, indicating it was part of the crystal mirror.

To the Archbishop's left stood a relatively young priest, appearing to be about forty years old. He wore a white robe with purple trim.

This was a Cardinal Priest, also a Legendary.

Joseph de Mazarin.

He is one of the five cardinals of the Crescent Diocese, and the highest-ranking clergy overseeing the Demon Hunter Bureau, also known as the Hunter Cardinal.

Charles de Lorraine, the Archbishop of the Diocese, Bernard de Champagne, the Grand Inquisitor, and Joseph de Mazarin, the Hunter Cardinal…

These three clerics are the pinnacle of power in the Holy Court's Crescent Diocese.

At this moment, all three Legendaries had their eyes focused on Charlotte, who was enveloped in the holy light.

Some frowned slightly, while others looked puzzled.

"Still can't see her mental world?"

The Archbishop Charles glanced at the Grand Inquisitor Bernard and asked.

Grand Inquisitor Bernard closed his eyes, and the sun miniature in his hand flickered slightly.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head gently.

"No…"

"It seems her mental power is protected by some mysterious force. Although we successfully pulled her into the Eternal Sacred Realm using the 'Eternal Sun', her mental world remains closed…"

"Mysterious force? Not the power of an unknown God?"

On the other side, the Hunter Cardinal Joseph frowned slightly.

Grand Inquisitor Bernard hesitated and shook his head.

"I'm not sure…"

"The 'Eternal Sun' did not issue any warnings, indicating that the force protecting her was not repelled by the holy power. This force is deeply hidden, and I can't determine its nature for now…"

"Of course, there is another possibility, that this force is at a level high enough to contend with holy power…"

"At a level capable of contending with holy power…"

Archbishop Charles murmured, deep in thought.

Although he had only served as the Archbishop of the Crescent Diocese for a year, he had paid great attention to last year's widely known Borde Evil God incident.

A God that could reseal the released Flame Demon Valaroka directly upon its emergence had a power far surpassing those newly resurrected Gods.

Such an existence, whether recognized by the church as an Evil God or an unknown foreign God, posed a great threat to the Holy Court.

The previous Bishop of Borde, who had been judged, referred to this mysterious God as "Nyx."

The Holy Court had also secretly pursued "God Nyx" for a year.

However, after the turbulence in Borde subsided, this "God Nyx" seemed to disappear, never appearing again.

Until the divine warning bell of Lutecia rang…

Thinking of this, Archbishop Charles looked again at the girl shrouded in the holy light, his gaze growing profound.

Charlotte de Castell.

The movements of this "Walking Saintess" from the beginning had various overlaps with the traces of "God Nyx"…

If the Borde incident was a coincidence, the second warning of the divine warning bell, and the fact that the warning location happened to be the northern region where she was, made it hard not to connect her to it.

Although the northern church had reported the second divine warning bell warning as a sacrifice by the Blood Demon Cult, Archbishop Charles felt it wasn't that simple.

Especially after receiving an anonymous report…

Thinking of this, Archbishop Charles took out the report letter received by the church some time ago.

This report letter specifically targeted Charlotte de Castell. It accused that behind the young Countess of Castell, there was an awakened Bloodborne Evil God!

Moreover… the God behind her was "God Nyx"!

The report letter was unsigned.

However, with his advanced divine magic, Archbishop Charles traced the report letter back to within the Blood Demon Cult…

Interesting indeed.

The Blood Demon Cult reports the whereabouts of God Nyx to the church. But, knowing what God Nyx did in Borde, Archbishop Charles could understand.

It was just an internal conflict between the bloodborne myths. These fellows had been fighting for countless years.

However, since it was the Blood Demon Cult, an enemy of the Holy Court, no matter how persuasive the report letter was, Archbishop Charles didn't fully trust it.

God Nyx needed to be suppressed, but the Blood Demon Cult also needed to be eradicated.

Although the church had long suspected Charlotte de Castell, they also needed to guard against the Blood Demon Cult digging a pit for the church.

At the same time, Charlotte de Castell was an important lord in the Crescent Kingdom, and the church couldn't act rashly…

Thus, this relatively "gentle" "illusion test" was conducted.

"Eternal Sacred Realm" is one of the Holy Court's most powerful divine rituals. If Charlotte had issues with her identity, it would surely be exposed.

However, no one expected that even such a divine ritual would encounter problems!

Unable to see the target's mental world…

Although this already proved that Charlotte de Castell indeed had issues, it also brought more unsettling doubts to Archbishop Charles…

If the mysterious force protecting her was indeed capable of contending with holy power, that would be troublesome.

With the Creator God asleep and the Holy Court's Pantheon Gods yet to return, an unknown God capable of contending with the power of the Creator God would be a disaster for the Holy Court.

On the other hand, if this were true, they might have already attracted the "attention" of the unknown God.

Or perhaps… could the girl before them be the incarnation of the unknown God?

Of course, there was another possibility.

That the girl was truly a Saintess protected by the Lord, and the power protecting her was indeed holy, which is why the divine ritual failed.

But then again, if it were holy power, these clerics would surely sense it.

"Your Grace, we still cannot see her mental world. Should I enhance the holy power input to strengthen the effect of 'Eternal Sacred Realm'?"

Grand Inquisitor Bernard asked solemnly.

Archbishop Charles thought for a moment and nodded slightly.

"Go ahead, enhance the divine ritual's effect."

After speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then added.

"If we still can't see her mental world, we'll take direct action."

Upon hearing this, Grand Inquisitor Bernard and Hunter Cardinal Joseph were both taken aback.

Facing the gazes of his colleagues, Archbishop Charles said sternly.

"The prophecy leaves us with less and less time. For the sake of the church, we can't take risks. Any potential threat must be nipped in the bud…"

Grand Inquisitor Bernard nodded solemnly.

He looked at the girl under the holy light, preparing to pray again and enhance the artifact's effect.

However, before he could pray, the holy light enveloping the girl suddenly burst into a dazzling brilliance.

"She's exerting power in her mental world!"

Grand Inquisitor Bernard said, his heart stirred.

Archbishop Charles's expression tightened, staring intently at the girl in the holy light.

"Eternal Sacred Realm" could project the power exerted in the "illusion."

If the girl exerted her full power in her mental world, it would be visible in the real world!

Moreover, if there was indeed a God behind her, it would definitely draw attention, and the church could use the "Eternal Sun" to locate the God's position!

In an instant, the gazes of the three Legendary clerics were all focused on the girl, ready to act at any moment.

The brilliant light erupted from the girl like a blazing sun.

Feeling that familiar aura, the three Legendaries were simultaneously stunned.

"Holy… holy power?!"

Holy power…

Under the "Eternal Sacred Realm", the power projected from Charlotte was the purest form of holy power…