Chapter 411 (1): Life’s Ultimate, the Ultimate Life
Next time? Do you even hear yourself? Is that what a chosen knight should say?
Wayne’s conceited threat was so shameless that it seemed he didn’t consider Holy Maiden seriously in the slightest. Seething, Galen and Corte walked into the church and set up magic circles to contact their respective goddesses, requesting an oracle to make the Moonlight/Sun Knight apologize for his words and behavior.
Wayne followed them, unconcerned. The two large magic circles lit up, washing Corte’s and Galen’s stunning features in light. Their sacred temperaments fit his stereotypes for Holy Maidens perfectly.
“Wait, the marks on their legs haven’t been erased. Is that okay?” Wayne mumbled. Once Givenchy fetched him a chair, he sat down and closed his eyes, extending his senses to see how the magic circles operated and observe the mode of communication between the Holy Maidens and the goddesses.
He didn’t dare send his thoughts to the Divine Realms, but he was too curious. He had to resort to collecting information vicariously.
In the haze, Wayne sensed two gazes shifting to him. He immediately sat up and reined in his thoughts to pretend that he hadn’t been peeking. The gazes lingered, but sensing each other, they left not long after.
The Church of Sun and the Church of Moonlight had both established their headquarters in Graeci a long time ago, making them neighbors. Since darkness opposed light, the two goddesses’ enemy was naturally Darkness. However, within the Life Alliance, Sun and Moonlight faced a formidable rival in evolution—Nature.
Nature’s mortal enemy was Death, while Death was an ally to Darkness...
The five goddesses had formed many chat groups among themselves, and none of their bonds was genuine.
Soon, the magic circles dimmed. Corte and Galen opened their eyes, exchanging a glance. The former had a rueful look on her face, her eyes red-rimmed, while the latter clenched her jaw, giving her fellow Holy Maiden a pointed look.
If Corte didn’t know what she should say, she should shut up and let Galen do the talking.
Corte nodded vehemently, resolved to say nothing.
They had known each other for years and had been childhood friends. Though their relationship wasn’t wholly genuine, they were closer than Senna and Anastasia were. With their mutual understanding, they could communicate through their eyes, requiring no telepathic messages.
Corte kept her poker face on as Galen broke into a cold smile. “Sir Knight, you are the Moonlight Knight, as you claimed. However, the goddess does not recognize you as three chosen knights in one. You can only be the Moonlight Knight.”
Corte nodded. “My goddess also responds to only the Sun Knight rather than a common chosen knight.”
Wayne agreed. “That’s to be expected. Chosen knights are supposed to be exclusive, private forces. Personal belongings aren’t supposed to be shared. Even if they are shared, it should be done under the table. What else, though? You must have told the goddesses what I did.”
Wayne had never gotten a clear confirmation about his status as three chosen knights in one. Darienne had reported the strange happenings in the Frozen Land to the Goddess of Moonlight, and the goddess had recognized the thief who had stolen Her power without permission as Her chosen knight.
Instead of enlisting him, She had chosen to wait and see.
Darienne had reported to her goddess. Moula and Leo had to have done the same. The three goddesses had chosen the same strategy.
The Goddess of Darkness had learned the truth that Wayne could wield the divine artifacts of all five goddesses since he hadn’t kept any secret from Anastasia. Ines thus personally scouted him.
Anastasia had failed to resist the white foam’s corruption of her thoughts partly because Wayne had impure thoughts about her, but the goddess’s machination also played a major role—actually, one could say the goddess should bear full responsibility. Anastasia was a victim, but so was Wayne.
While giving him Her Holy Maiden and chosen knight, She had orchestrated the conflict between him and Solsknar, the Devourer. Wayne hadn’t figured out what exactly She was trying to achieve, but he knew that She was up to no good.
He hoped to find out more by testing the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight through the two Holy Maidens so that he wouldn’t be caught entirely unprepared. If he could juggle his relationship with all five goddesses, it would be most ideal. If he couldn’t, he would placate them for now until he was no longer the underdog.
A real man shouldn’t be satisfied with serving others!
Wayne smiled at the two Holy Maidens, waiting for their responses. He could more or less tell what the goddesses had said based on Galen’s sneer and Corte’s darting gaze.
Wonderful! I can juggle Darkness, Sun, and Moonlight.
Galen scoffed. “After learning about your shameless actions, the goddess strongly disapproves. Though you are Her knight, you shouldn’t demean the Holy Maiden. I’m Her vessel in the human world. The importance of my purity is evident!”
“That’s it?”
“The goddess also said that the knight’s offense was driven by my mistake, so we both bear responsibility,” Galen declared solemnly. “We should take a step back to maintain a peaceful relationship, but if you do it again, it’ll be your mistake.”
“I second that,” Corte chimed in. “The goddess said the same!”
Are you Zhang Fei? Could you say anything other than parroting her?[1]
When Wayne glared at Corte, she looked away soon after, feeling guilty. Out of worry that she would be exposed, she huffed at him for good measure.
That told Wayne what he wanted to know. With an evil grin, he said deliberately, “I’ve received the oracles, Holy Maidens, but do you know what the consequences of giving false oracles are?”
“We haven’t done anything of that sort!” Galen said, unfazed.
“That so?” Wayne took a few steps toward Galen, pivoting to Corte when Galen showed no reaction.
Corte immediately staggered back, shocked. She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Fool, why are you cowering?!
Deeming Corte a nuisance, Galen said decisively, “I don’t know what oracle Corte received, but that’s the oracle I received. Sir Knight, you'd better show me respect, or you’ll only bring harm to yourself. Think about your bright future. You could be so much more.”
Wayne stared at Galen until she felt her scalp tingle. Before her expression turned into a scowl, he stopped smiling and said seriously, “If that’s the oracle, I’ll stop pretending to be a pervert. I’m sure you’ll believe that I’m actually not into women at all. I’m a good knight who strictly follows my moral codes.”
“Shameless...”
“Oh? Who was that?” Wayne pressed a hand to his ear, pretending to strain his ear. “It’s Holy Maiden Corte. If you think I’m speaking nonsense, I’ll be a shameless, evil knight as you want.“
“That’s not what I mean. I-I...” Corte shook her head and pointed at Galen. “I’m talking about her. She’s shameless for claiming that I’ve given the wrong oracle when our oracles are the same.”
(ꐦ乛‸乛)(╥´╥;)
“That so? I’ve misunderstood you.” Wayne’s eyes lit up when they started fighting among themselves. “Holy Maiden Galen, she said that your oracles are the same, but that’s not what you said earlier. What’s going on? Have you received the same oracle... or different ones?”
“Most likely the same.” Galen wanted nothing more than to kick Corte into Wayne’s arms, but, worried that Corte would take her down with her, she had no choice but to play along.
“Alright, I believe you’re devout Holy Maidens who’ll sooner die than pass false oracles.” Wayne patted them on the shoulders. “It doesn’t matter even if you do. Leo and Darienne are the chosen knights of the passing generation, about to enter the Divine Realm. Soon, my time will come. Then we’ll see who’s the real deal.”
“...” x2
“Speak!”
“Yes.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“That’s more like it!”
Wayne turned around with satisfaction, while the two Holy Maidens worriedly followed. The goddesses’ oracles were simple: do whatever Wayne told them to do.
Since the goddesses still had shame, they didn’t go into the issue of purity in particular. They didn’t want to make things difficult for their subordinates, so they hoped that the two Holy Maidens would understand that they should make their own decision rather than ask the goddesses about everything.
Galen and Corte weren’t novices. The goddesses’ lack of input itself was an obvious instruction.
Moreover, they had asked why their divine arts were much weaker when facing Wayne, and the answer was once again simple and straightforward: the knights and the Holy Maidens were in the same boat. An internal strife would only benefit others. Their divine arts were nerfed today, and it would continue to be nerfed.
But he’s not under the same restriction! x2
Wayne had subdued them without even using the divine artifacts. What if he had the weapons in hand? Corte and Galen swallowed their groans, having interpreted the oracles to arrive at the correct answer.
It was such a depressing answer that Corte felt her chest tighten when she thought about it. She didn’t want to accept it, but she didn’t have the courage to disobey an oracle. She decided that silence was the best policy.
Galen, quick-witted as she was, recognized that there were many ways to interpret an oracle to get to wildly different answers. Since the goddess hadn’t made an explicit command, she chose to interpret Her words in a way that would benefit her:
The Holy Maiden must respect the chosen knight. Before a new oracle arrives, the Holy Maiden must listen to the knight’s orders. If a conflict arises, they can sit down and talk, resolving the conflict with words rather than fists.
The fact that her purity should be protected was a given, so the goddess didn’t think it was necessary to talk about it.
Galen shared her interpretation with Wayne, confident in herself. No matter how bold the knight was, not even he would mess around further after the goddess had made an order.
Unfortunately, her fellow Holy Maiden was a coward under her bravado. Corte immediately lost it when it really mattered.
Galen had never imagined that such an absurd oracle could exist. She envied the Holy Maiden of Nature and the Holy Maiden of Darkness—oh, wait, this man had been chosen by three goddesses, so the Holy Maiden of Nature had most likely met the same fate.
She didn’t envy the Holy Maiden of Death since no one knew what was going on at the Church of Death. That left the Holy Maiden of Darkness as the target of Galen’s envy. She would certainly remain pure, never receiving the same absurd oracle.
Leading the two dejected Holy Maidens, Wayne felt the same delight that the Goddess of Darkness had felt. He had told the two Holy Maidens that he wasn’t interested in women, but they didn’t buy it.
Why should he explain himself then? He decided not to be the bigger person. Let them live in constant worry and anxiety.
Muhaha.
1. A reference to the 1994 version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the TV drama, when Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei decided to become sworn brother, Guan Yu eloquently expressed his feelings, while Zhang Fei said nothing but repeat, “I second that.” It’s become a meme. ☜
Comments