Chapter 3, The Goddess Who Lingers in the Mortal Realm
Li Qi felt a sharp pain in her liver and gallbladder, and before the revolution of the common people had even begun, she was already contemplating a great upheaval in the Heavenly Palace
Go and find the witch's grandfather, what is there to be afraid of, just shout through the door and say that I am giving him a chance to explain
Sebastian needs to be kept at bay. After some thought, Li Qi chose the explanation that best aligned with the butler's line of thinking: "There are dozens of orthodox churches in the kingdom; we need to identify the one with the highest price. You should first inquire about the market situation."
They are hunted by the church, despised by mortals, and even the devil does not wish to associate with them. The evil necromancer or lich would rather reveal their true form than be mistaken for a witch
This is a setting that most fantasy worlds would have, otherwise how could mortals ignite divine fire and ascend to the divine throne
The goddess swallowed and candidly said: "Of course, it is also my sustenance; I can use it to consolidate new divine authority"
In the world of Fehn, extraordinary powers are omnipresent, and there are no so-called "witches" who are regarded as evil simply for possessing supernatural abilities.
Sebastian raised three fingers: "First, although the true forms of witches vary, they all possess dark wings"
What if she is not a witch, but rather a saintess of some strange deity? That would be something one cannot afford to offend
The goddess gave Li Qi a concise lecture on Fehn theology, during which she mostly read from her notes. It is likely that her knowledge, as well as her reference to witches as "fallen deities," were derived from another faction outside the church, which further diminished Li Qi's trust in the goddess's reliability
He then asked a practical question: "You mentioned introducing her... uh, converting her into a devout believer, how is that supposed to be done?"
Given that the goddess indicated that the young girl is a valuable asset concerning the revolutionary cause, while also being perceived as an evil entity by mortals, Li Qi did not hastily make any decisions; he merely transferred the grandfather and grandson from the prison to be held separately in the corner tower of the castle
The knight kneels with his sword in hand, calling out hoarsely to the knightly god Shuma he worships, vividly illustrating the third point mentioned by the steward
Compared to the "witches" tirelessly collected by a warm-hearted prince from another world, the witches in the world of Fehn are in a much more dire situation
According to the teachings of the church, divine aberrations are the chaotic offspring of deities... In short, they are bizarre entities born from various abnormal states. If deities are likened to matter, then divine aberrations are akin to antimatter, entities that should not wander among humans
For example, the Knight God of the Sadar faith is a divinity formed from the aggregation of the seven virtues of knighthood. Once the mortal Shama obtained this divine office, he linked the faith to himself and continuously competed for belief with deities related to battle, such as the God of War and the God of Warriors, leading to the true faith of the seven virtues withering away
At this moment, Sardar brought the old man over. As soon as he entered the hall, the old man fell to the ground and lamented, "My lord the Viscount, please do not hand Feini over to the church; she is truly not a witch"
For divine aberrations to exist in the mortal realm for an extended period, they must reside in suitable vessels, with young women being the optimal choice. Their purpose of existence is to corrupt and debase all divinity, ultimately leading to the destruction of all deities. Upon entering the mortal realm, they naturally target the source of divinity, which is the faith of mortals
My lord, although I have not seen it with my own eyes, the accounts of Mr. Sardar and the guards are sufficient to confirm that she is a witch
After a bout of heavy breathing, she continued to speak while gasping: "She is... she is... the saintess of the goddess of suffering!"
Li Qi pretended to cough, for he is an egg; whether it is multiplication, division, or square root, he remains an egg.
In the castle hall, the butler Sebadian said: "It is right not to kill her, but keeping her locked in the castle is extremely dangerous"
The goddess affirmed his hypothesis: "They are goddesses stranded in the mortal realm"
Fallen gods... that is to say, the priesthood of the witches has not ascended to the divine realm, and the deities are unable to directly absorb them. However, the pure divinity within them serves as excellent nourishment for strengthening divine power.
He has come up with a new inference: "Are the deities promoting fallen gods as witches through the church, with the true intention of absorbing the divine authority they possess?"
These withering beliefs, as long as they have not completely dissipated, still hold the potential to converge into divinity, giving rise to new priesthoods. However, the deities who hold the original priesthood occupy their positions, preventing the new priesthoods from ascending to the divine realm, leaving them to wander among mortals, becoming opportunities for awakening for the common people
However, you cannot eat directly, as you are an undocumented immigrant who has crossed over from another world. You must rely on me, the representative who has already integrated into the Fehn world, which means you have to consume what I have chewed.
Li Qi still has questions: "I have direct contact with the witch, so why am I fine?"
It must be said that Li Qi's impression of the butler is changing, and he even feels somewhat fortunate that his cheap old man has finally left behind some useful inheritance
Li Qi sat in the main seat, speaking absentmindedly
Thirdly, and most importantly, when the witch reveals her true form, regardless of which deity one worships, merely by seeing her from a distance, one's faith will be tainted, and one's power will be corrupted
Sebastian also wanted to persuade Li Qi to take the little girl to the church to exchange for money, and the sound of flipping pages in Li Qi's mind finally ceased
He bowed and said, "My lord, you are right. I will take care of it as soon as possible"
As for the reason, Sebadian relayed the official statements of various churches: "Witches are vessels of divine sin, capable of defiling faith and corrupting the soul"
Downgrade
After calling out a few times, the goddess did not respond again. Li Qi sighed, lamenting having such a superior, knowing that he would have to bear the consequences in the future.
If it were not for the goddess giving him a hint, he would have thought it was just a practitioner with special skills, enhanced by some effects
Yes, they are wild natives, and you are a highly skilled individual who has been smuggled in through illegal means.
She quickly added: "Of course, they are fundamentally different from me, and they can never ascend to the Kingdom of God"
The butler has left, and Li Qi asked the knight, who was posing as a statue: "Sadal, have you been demoted?"
Before Li Qi could speak, he added: "Rest assured, my lord, I will never leak any information"
Li Qi's emotions were in turmoil: "This means that they are actually ... ... "
Li Qiming wisely refrained from expressing these thoughts, as the goddess seemed only able to vaguely sense his ideas, unable to read his mind directly
The goddess fell silent for a moment, no longer speaking, and only displayed a line of text on the screen: "Must I tell you every detail of everything that needs to be done?"
In Fehn, the ancient gods reliant on nature have declined, and the main pantheon consists of contemporary deities supported by faith
"I am steady above," I said, and the goddess encouraged, "You do well down there!"
Sebastian's explanation helped him complete the concept of "witch"
Li Qi understood another thing: "They have been reduced to black households. When they consciously or unconsciously activate their divine powers in the mortal realm, it is akin to drawing electricity from the corridor of a dormitory building. This is not recognized by the legitimate deities and the divine power system they govern, which leads to the emergence of filth and corruption"
The pain is indeed intense, yet it leaves no significant aftereffects; in fact, there seems to be some benefits that have yet to be fully understood. It appears that the church's perspective is merely one-sided.
Sadar touched his head: "That's right, there has been no demotion! His Majesty Shuma merely spat at me, and has not yet kicked me away, haha! His Majesty Shuma still cares for me!"
This is the reason why he has been so distracted; the goddess is also a novice, left speechless by the multitude of questions he posed, and is currently researching information, so he can only wait for the goddess
Do not interrupt! Where were we? Oh, divinity
That's right! What does this mean?
Please be concise, Your Majesty, and avoid starting with an explanatory text.
What kind of standard is this? Is beauty a sin?
Faith consolidates the divinity of mortals, constructing the priesthood, which simultaneously determines the flow of extraordinary power, while divinity serves as the vessel for extraordinary power, thus forming a closed loop
This is indeed possible, but it can only be considered a special effect. Practitioners of the dark arts or mages who enjoy showing off can achieve this
This fellow can be considered useful, but looking at his carefree demeanor, he resembles a goldfish with only seven seconds of memory, so one cannot have too high expectations of him
However, Li Qi still does not understand why mortals can easily identify witches
Sebastian's response was quite subtle: "Mr. Sadal is a Second-Class Knight, while you, my lord, are merely a trainee knight and have yet to truly grasp the extraordinary power."
The matter must begin with the essence of the world of Fei'en
This is the crux of the matter; the witch is classified as a public enemy of the Fae precisely because of this. The indiscriminate corruption of extraordinary powers naturally incites hatred from gods and fear from mortals.
However, Fehn is a highly active high-magic world, where the barriers of the main material plane frequently develop cracks, leading to various planar invasion events such as beast tides, magic tides, and elemental tides. It is not uncommon for divine aberrations to take the opportunity to smuggle through.
Handing the witch over to the orthodox church can at least exchange for three thousand gold coins.
This is what it means to be a fallen god
The goddess has once again adopted a broadcasting tone: "This means that the current pantheon of Fehn is entirely composed of reactionaries who have usurped power! They have seized the fruits of the people's revolution, suppressed the metabolism of Fehn, hindered the progress of history. Is there any justice in not overthrowing them?"
After dismissing Sadar, Li Qi turned his attention to communicating with the goddess
My lord, the influence of faith and power is only one aspect; the most terrifying thing about witches is the various evil curses. I believe...
There is something amiss with this statement, but Li Qi thinks it is better not to delve too deeply into it
Ideally, this closed loop should be orderly, but the actions of the deities in their divine roles are far from ideal. With the passage of history, the deities have continuously changed, and the divine offices have also been in constant flux. The allowance for part-time roles, or the situation of multiple beliefs, is quite common in Fehn, leading to a more chaotic faith.
As Sebadian glanced at Sadar beside him, the knight was sweating profusely, swinging his longsword with his thick neck. The longsword flickered with brilliance like a glow stick with low battery, yet it could never unleash the knight's signature breaking strike.
Indeed, in terms of the vessel, the concept of "Fallen God" is similar to that of a "Witch"; only young girls are deemed qualified to take on such roles
Secondly, witches are all beautiful young women or little girls
Well... let's put it this way, in the world of Faen, extraordinary power is borne by divinity. The revolution of mortals becoming gods does not contradict the fundamental laws of the Faen world; here, every mortal possesses divinity.
In fact, you do not understand either, do you
Therefore, the churches of various deities, whether they are the openly practiced orthodox sects or the underground churches that can only operate in secrecy, regard the search and capture of witches as a permanent daily task of the highest priority
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by Li Qi's sudden moment of clarity
No! Your Majesty Shuma! My faith in you will never waver!