Brain bloom

A thick, vibrant red carpet stretched out before them, and the walls were covered in the same color, but the walls were adorned with even more elaborate and weighty portraits. The subjects varied, some drawn from religious texts, others depicting the history of the Holy Coffin Kingdom.

Even if she couldn't understand it, everything inside the church felt so familiar, just like her home.

In search of a way out and perhaps a bit of sightseeing, after walking through the long corridor, Mori Toki stepped straight into a spacious and solemn hall—at that moment, countless eyes inside looked at her with curiosity.

Volume 1 #319 - What kind of situation is this?

Many, many people.

The crowd should have been kneeling on the ground, silently reciting the scriptures.

Beneath their pointed hats, their heads were pulled low. Over their pale red robes, they wore knee-length white veils, and shawls. This was typical religious attire, conveying a sense of peace.

On the high-quality, clean fabric, each person is embroidered with a quote from the religious texts, mostly words of blessing and goodwill, which are determined at birth. This is also a custom within the entire faith community.

And everyone wore silver ornaments in the shape of the Holy Letter on their chests.

The female believers were dressed in dark gray, which was more plain than the others, and they all had tears on their faces.

The bishop, dressed in a long black robe and guarded by paladins, stood on a high place, holding a thick holy book.

A sense of sacred silence permeated the entire vast church.

But these people now have two things in common.

First, they seemed to have been deeply moved, and everyone was exceptionally touched.

Secondly, they all stared at her with surprised eyes because of Mori's abrupt arrival.

Countless eyes held the same question: "Who are you?"

Sen Shi was a little embarrassed, because she had mistakenly wandered into the scene of some kind of religious activity and really didn't know how to explain it. She raised her shoulders, indicating that the highly respected Master Woodpecker should step in and at least clear up the misunderstanding.

"Gentlemen, excuse me, but I am Neil Moss. You may call me the most terrifying culinary master in the world. My unparalleled skills allow me to dance with the ingredients!"

“Quiet, I know who you are,” the bishop said. “But I don’t know why you were able to get so deep into this place.”

What are you doing?

"pray."

Master Woodpecker looked up at the forest and thought their prayers had probably been successful. Unfortunately, they clearly weren't very welcoming of their true god; perhaps they were dissatisfied with his appearance, wondering how a pretty girl with branches in her hair could call herself a coffin bearer…

At the same time, Mori observed his surroundings.

This wasn't a completely enclosed space; there were also huge floor-to-ceiling windows with stained glass, offering glimpses of the outside. Time passed faster than she had expected; the sun seemed to be trying to kiss the mountain peaks…

She then saw something floating in the air and realized what these people were doing with such devotion.

Inside the flawless crystal box, the spine of the first Pope was floating in mid-air, faintly glowing. This was clearly a miracle, but the believers' revelry was interrupted by Mori.

"The coffin bearers can forgive your offense, as long as you... uh? Four, Four Seasons?" The bishop, with his gray beard, seemed to have experienced the War of the Flowers and recognized Mori's features at a glance.

Mori nodded and silently put on his hat.

"We're just lost."

"Lost? There's only one road outside, the three thousand low steps of suffering. Did you deliberately get lost to get here?"

She simply stopped talking, took out ten gold coins, and placed them in front of the small shrine beside her, considering it as buying herself a path. This worked; the bishop waved his hand, signaling the surrounding paladins not to use force.

"Thank you for your generosity. Please leave quietly, or pray quietly with us."

"Excuse me, you can continue now..."

She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave as soon as she saw the exit. It was almost night; she wondered if Dandelion would be angry, or perhaps she had spent the whole day selling bread at the pastry shop?

Suddenly, the believers behind them stirred, and exclamations of amazement filled the air.

It was that spine that flew towards Morishi. Like a dog that had been raised for many years, finally seeing its owner who had returned from military training, it obediently landed in Morishi's hands.

The scene became unusually quiet. Mori hadn't expected this... His only thought was that the curve of the spine was beautiful, and it wasn't the length that an adult male should have.

In short, she probably won't be able to leave.

"You, you... what are you doing in front of us?!" The bishop immediately exploded, coughing angrily. "Guards! Call the guards! Seize this thief!"

“She… what she’s wearing is a sacred bone! I even worshipped it when I went to my home country!” an old believer suddenly exclaimed, causing Mori even more trouble.

Everyone immediately realized: "My God, could she be the thief who stole the sacred artifact?!"

Being criticized by her own followers left Mori Toki feeling quite helpless. She hesitated, unsure if revealing her identity now would be effective, or if she should find a way to escape… Just as she was pondering several ideas and preparing to put them into action—

A force is taking shape in the distance.

"What's going on?!" The woodpecker's feathers suddenly became fluffy, a sign of being startled.

"Huh..." Mori Toki felt the same way, as if he had been electrocuted.

That power was extremely complex, mixed with different properties, varying in strength. A beat too slow, Mori immediately connected it to the preparations humanity had made to defeat Hodge; it seemed the holy war against the gods had begun.

This was the sensation caused by thousands of powerful mages simultaneously raising their staffs and chanting their strongest spells. The entire world trembled as a result, and even those hiding in the most remote corners of the world felt oppressed and stifled.

It exemplifies the power of the human world, even more so than when a true god fully manifests.

Gradually, the originally chaotic forces were adjusted.

It's as if a pile of scattered musical notes were picked up by a master, inlaid into a musical staff, and transformed into an orderly score. Moreover, it is with a powerful and resounding melody that the theme of "sacredness" is expressed.

It was the followers of the coffin-bearer who transformed it into the most effective weapon against evil.

That's why it no longer terrifies people, but instead makes them feel refreshed and relaxed, like a gentle spring rain... at least that's how it is in the forest.

But Master Woodpecker was different. Just a moment ago he was humming happily, but now he had a splitting headache. It seems he possesses an evil nature and sees divine power as poison.

"Should you hide in the realm of demons?" While asking with concern, Sen Shi took advantage of its weakness and stroked the bird for a while.

"Opening the door... is very tiring... but I can bear it. Besides, I don't want to see that owl."

"Next, it's Hodge's death day."

"It's hard to say," Master Woodpecker said worriedly. "With such a sensational force, the opponent will at least sense it in advance and prepare defensive measures... It's unlikely to turn into the surprise attack we expected."

Mori agreed, but couldn't resist the increasing enjoyment he was getting.

The source of this power was the religious system she possessed, and she couldn't help but beam with joy, as if she could control this power. But not long after, a new will mixed into this power.

The pleasurable sensation remained, but at the same time, a shivering feeling, like a millipede crawling across the heart, kept raging in every cell of Mori.

"Why...why am I afraid?" She even felt her limbs go weak.

“Because…this is the power of humanity, and also the power used to kill gods.” Master Woodpecker was also afraid, but to a lesser degree. “Every being with a divine status will inevitably fear this power; the will it contains is the most terrifying.”

As it says, Mori knew the source of this trembling because it could threaten the true god.

Thinking of this, Sen Shi breathed a sigh of relief and said bitterly, "Luckily, it was aimed at the Sea God."

"That's right! Let's go open a bottle of wine and wish that bastard a pleasant day... just... I hope she survives."

"she?"

"The original sea god was a deity formed from a benevolent faith, a harmless and benevolent god. The evil one, on the other hand, was a deity that arose from a malevolent faith..."

"You can do that?"

Good gods, evil gods... Thinking of the three Hodge deities they encountered, Mori couldn't help but worry that he might also conjure up many little coffin bearers. If possible, he would arrange for an evil god coffin bearer to play with Dandelion; they would definitely get along very well.

But that just doesn't feel quite right...

"I shouldn't do that, right?"

"I don't know. Perhaps the voice of the benevolent god itself is the trigger for the birth of the evil god? In short, true gods are all capricious beings. If you want to maintain your uniqueness, then reality will obey your wishes."

"That's good." Mori remembered this.

Afterwards, no one came to accuse Mori of stealing the sacred relic, because all the believers were moved to tears and chanted the holy scriptures in harmonious tones. The immense sacred power emanating from the capital of the Holy Coffin Kingdom was a symbol of extraordinary significance to them.

In the forest, melodious prayers swirled incessantly, as if they came from all over the world.

Perhaps all believers in the world are doing this right now... praying that this power can purify any evil enemy.

Mori quietly walked to the stained glass window, where he could see the view outside the church.

The coffin-bearer statue's enormous arm points in the direction of the roaring divine power. It's as if it's proclaiming to the true coffin bearers: "Behold! In your holy land, humanity is fighting!"

No one wants their home to become a desolate, endless land of death, especially one created by a tyrannical and unruly god. These ceaseless prayers are proof of that.

It blossoms and bears fruit.

The power reached its peak, boiling like the blazing sun, its silvery-white divine radiance even spreading here...

"It's about to begin... I sense a spatial magic spanning across worlds fluctuating."

"Yes."

Although he was outside the battlefield, Mori was still a participant and would witness the outcome of the war. It was a massive war, and no matter where you were, you could feel its majesty even with your eyes closed.

But Mori was extremely grateful that his eyes were open...

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to see this scene.

Above Silver Ring City, a gaping hole suddenly appeared, and a terrifying, divine power, chilling her to the bone, was about to surge forth.

Volume 1, Chapter 320, Page 4400

Not only Senshi, but most residents of Silver Ring City also witnessed this scene suspended in the sky.

It appeared suddenly in the sky, shattering the azure blue that should have been there. It grew even larger, like an eye looking down upon Silver Ring City, bringing cruel and absolute death to whoever it gazed upon.

Tourists and ordinary residents on the street could not understand what this was.

A few artisans with some knowledge of magic began to realize that this was some kind of spatial magic.

Some true masters and great artists began to feel fear, because they sensed what was about to happen.

"...Shouldn't this have fallen on the Sea God's head?!"

A very small number of people in the know share the same question as Sen.

"How the hell did they get here? Quick, quick, open the gate to the realm of demons... Run!! Damn it, is this how these stupid believers treat me?"

"Damn it, this is really bad luck. Wait, this might be Hodge's doing!"

Master Woodpecker flapped his wings, utterly panicked. For a moment, he even forgot how to open the teleportation portal. He only felt his death was imminent, never expecting it to end like this…