Chapter 669 Whatever the f**k this term means
1 HOUR LATER
As she was now in a different territory, the powers that can work inside Alina"s body had changed too.
Her previously boosted Dark Magic was suppressed greatly, to the point that it can"t even muster even a single puff of smoke.
Only her Chronomancy and Esper Power worked, and both were boosted in this new place.
"The power of my Chronomancy has been increased twice, while my Esper Power had quadrupled in strength here… Since this was the case, then this place is really related to a religion for knowledge and discovery…" Alina thought as she took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Tsk, I should not be irritated by this, but I really want to punch someone right now…."
Alina was trying her best to keep her anger under, something that she is having a difficulty in doing, although she can only force herself to do it.
She knew full well that las.h.i.+ng out will be of detriment to her, as she and her allies are currently inside an unknown territory.
"If I do as much as one thing that will betray my hostile intentions, it will not end for me well, especially with this kind of religion…"
And even if this territory is one that is amicable to them, Alina knew showing her emotions could worsen her situation.
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Due to her history lessons with Alex, Alina had an idea on the power structures of the religions in the past, and on the power of its members. She knows how the hierarchy on each religion work, and the responsibilities that these members had.
This knowledge might be irrelevant today given the demise of the True G.o.ds, but here in this world, Alina was sure that she can apply this on her new followers.
"The Church of Wisdom is a religion that wors.h.i.+ps the True G.o.d of Knowledge Elwon in the past. Its members dabble in research, scientific knowledge, magic, philosophy, literature and many more topics, as long as they are related to wisdom and knowledge."
"Because of this inclination, most members are always full of ideas and they are always eager to expound these ideas to the ma.s.ses."
"This is a good trait of the members of the Church of Wisdom, as everyone in the Multiverse should learn at least the basic things. And that"s what most members of the Church of Wisdom did in the past. They became the great teachers in the Multiverse, and they taught countless beings with all the knowledge that existed."
"Many were grateful to the Church of Wisdom because of this, to the point that some enemies of the True G.o.ds actually proposed to let Elwon and the Church of Wisdom to stay in the Multiverse."
"But war is war, hence Elwon was still killed along with the other True G.o.ds. That brought the end of the Church of Wisdom, and all of its relics and important doc.u.ments were lost amongst the sands of time…"
"That should have bene the full story of the Church of Wisdom. But today, what I see in front of me contradicts the history. The Church of Wisdom still exists, although I am still not sure if Elwon himself it still alive…"
When Alina saw the information given out by the Leech King earlier, she had already accepted the fact that religions related to True G.o.ds could possibly exist in this world. Just the sight of their attacker earlier wors.h.i.+pping a True G.o.d had confirmed that.
But when Alina thought that these religions could exist, she only thought that they exist in small scale, comparable to that of the cults.
She never expected that these religions could grow big, just like the Church of Wisdom!
"When this old man and this kid said that they are part of the Church of Wisdom, I thought that this religion might be at most powerful at the regional level. But now that I saw much more about this religion, I think that it"s level of influence is at the continental level…"
If it was the Alina who had just escaped from Alex, she would never say these words to herself, as there is no need for her to do so.
But due to the random effects of her teleportation, Alina found herself in a situation that made her tackle the issue of religions seriously.
Right now, Alina was not beside Alex or even on the place that she had teleported in.
Instead, ALina found herself on a place that she did not expect herself to be in.
"Tsk, why did I have to be here…. Things should not have gone like this…"
Alina was currently floating in front of the main temple of the Church of Wisdom, whose enormous body and frightening size were enough to make her silent. This reaction was a first from her, and given the amount of creatures that are observing her, it seems that this reaction will stay for much longer…
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With her body still tense from possible attacks, Alina could only stare in surprise as she observed the ma.s.sive structure in front of her.
A startlingly tall black obelisk, which had a tip that glowed with the l.u.s.ter of gold, was the largest object that Alina had ever seen in this world yet.
This obelisk was so tall that its tip had already exceeded the skies, and it was high enough that it was skidding through the outer s.p.a.ce itself.
As for the obelisk"s base, it was as large as a city, which is just the right size for it to support the whole weight of the obelisk.
Countless spinning disks could also be seen attached on the body of the obelisk, and they seem to act as a counterweight against the buffeting winds.
The black surface of this obelisk made it harder to observe any more of its details, but its size alone was enough to show how impressive it was.
Alina was one of those people who was impressed, and even if she was full of tension now, she could not stop herself from appreciating this marvel of architecture.
"I don"t know what material was used for this obelisk or how it was created, but seeing that it allowed the whole structure to extend until outer s.p.a.ce, its creators must be impressive. Hah, as expected of the Church of Wisdom. Even their main building displays the extent of their impressive knowledge…."
If Alina just had more time in her hands, she could have continued observing this impressive obelisk.
She could have employed her All-Seeing Eyes to see through the intricacies of this structure, and she could have also enjoyed the sight of the obelisk"s sleek and comfortable appearance. Heck, Alina could even use her eyes to copy the whole anatomical structure of the obelisk, and recreate it on another place.
Alina wanted to do all of these things badly right now, but unfortunately for her, she had no more time to do any sight-seeing today….
After all, her task as a Divine Maiden is now forcing her to do what she "have" to do…
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"From the bottom of our hearts, we, the members of the Church of Wisdom, welcome the great Divine Maiden inside our humble abode!"
Lined below Alina were thousands and thousands of priest-like humans, all who exuded the fluctuations and auras of Sixth Stage Beings. None of them displayed any signs of weakness at all, and their presence has also overwhelmed ALina.
"If there is anything that you are unhappy about Divine Maiden, we will be happy to rectify it! Just say your words, and it shall be done!"
These priests sounded amicable and hospitable no matter which way one listened to them, but Alina could only tremble from their voice.
They might sound nice to her, but Alina knew better.
These powerful priests were not just here to greet her.
These priests were also here to prevent her from running away!
Just the way that they intently watched ALina"s movements and the domineering combination of their auras made that extremely obvious….
"These little s**ts they knew that I will try running away, so they surrounded me with their manpower! Tsk, and here I thought overpowering my way out is possible…"
Alina could barely resist the urge to curse as she observed the army of Sixth Stage Beings who was watching her intently. She badly wanted to at least display her anger in the smallest way possible, but in face of their combined aura, Alina was left speechless.
All that Alina can do now was to a.n.a.lyze her situation, which in her opinion, was just as worse as Alex"s earlier….
"These priests are treating me like a treasure, so they do not dare to hurt me. But they don"t want me to get away too, and they seem intent on stopping all my attempts to escape…"Alina thought as she suppressed the urge to twitch her eyes.
"Since they are treating me this way, they must really want me to be their Divie Maiden. But should I really accept being a Divine Maiden this early?" Alina added, with her worry earlier full manifesting itself again. "Ugh, being forced to make a decision like this really sucks!"
"If I accept being a Divine Maiden on the Church of Wisdom, I will manage to gain a subtle control on this religion. That will be good for our Main Mission, and it might help us win against Alex. However, accepting it right now will paint a huge target on my face."
"Alex and the other Travelers will most likely come swarming in here in order to attack me or prevent this religion from growing. That"s already bad by itself, but there is something worse than this."
"What could be worse than this attack? Hmph, of course it is this religion itself. After all, even if these priests are treating me like a treasure now, it is obvious that they don"t plan to just use me as their mascot. They must have another plan too, one that requires someone like me to exist.."
"Whatever that plan is, I think it is related to the existence of the True G.o.ds. If that"s the case, then my life along with my allies" will be in real danger. In fact, just our a.s.sociation with the Church of Wisdom right now could be dangerous already…"
"Argh! So joining the Church of Wisdom will be this dangerous! But if I don"t join, I will still be in danger, and these priests below me might even attack me or my allies!"
Torn between the choice to leave or to stay, Alina could not decide what to do.
If she stays, she will plunge herself into new and unknown dangers.
If she leaves, worse things could happen, and she might not even succeed on leaving at all.
Both of these choices lead to bad situations, and it is hard to decipher which of the two will even be better!
These choices by itself were already bad, but the fact that ALina had to make a choice within a few seconds just makes this worse!
"Stay or leave? What should I do?" As she stared at her companions who were still injured by the sudden teleportation, and the eager face of the priests below her, Alina could hardly catch a breath from all her anxiety.
She found herself petrified and scared to make a choice, as she knew that once she makes her choice here, all of her future and Alex"s will depend on it.…
But does Alina really have to make a choice? Given her situation, there is actually only one choice that she can make.
And that choice was…
"Tsk, since I am already this deep, then why I don"t go on with this already? If Alex was courageous enough to be corrupted by the Abyss, then I too must have no fears! If the Church of Wisdom wants to use me, then they are free to use me! But I will use them too, so don"t expect that I will be the victim here!"
Yes, out of all her possible actions, the current Alina has nothing else to do but to proceed with the path laid in front of her.
After all, joining the Church of Wisdom is Alina"s greatest chance to win, and there"s nothing else that can exceed that.
Sure, this "greatest chance" of hers puts Alina at risk against the conspiracy related to the True G.o.ds, but with Alex"s life on the line, can Alina really bear distancing herself from this "chance"?
"Alex, I hope that during my stay here in the Church of Wisdom, you will still stay healthy enough to be healed. Because if you don"t, then all my efforts here will be wasted!"
With her decision now made, Alina only let out a sigh as she began descending towards the priests. She removed all her defenses and she wiped away her desire to escape as she accepted her new role.
Now, Alina is a Divine Maiden, whatever the f**k this term means.
"Ugh, I hope that whatever the Church of Wisdom is planning with me, it is something that I can detect on time. Because if I don"t, then it might be game over for me in this place. Tsk, if Alex was just here, he could have solved this easily..."