She didn"t know what happened after. However, she just found herself standing at the center of an altar located a dozen meters from the G.o.ddess" gigantic statue.The Emperor and the others were at the back, at least ten meters away.
The Pope was in front of the statue, kneeling and praying.
As for the prophet, he was next to her, catching his breath from the previous fight while circling the floor around her. With him by her side, even though she had the urge to escape, her body kept refusing her.
She lowered her head and bit her lower lip. When her eyes moved in front, she felt so aggrieved and wanted to ask the Pope why he chose her.
Jiang Li was observing her and then sighed.
"The body is supposed to be the vessel..." His train of thoughts started.
"Who knows what happened. But somehow, a stray but innocent soul from somewhere unknown took over her."
"But then, because the body and ident.i.ty are not supposed to be hers, she is the one who suffered instead of the G.o.ddess."
"Poor female lead... The Creator must have been displeased by the avatar"s existence so he used the male lead and the villainess in her previous life to make her life h.e.l.l. I just don"t know how that Creator manipulated or guided Rome and Su Luxi. Maybe the Creator made Rome his prophet or communicated with him through some other means."
"Anyway, if my guess is correct, when the female lead died, the G.o.ddess must have pitied her so much, apart from feeling that she is her vessel and a body she would claim in the future. This was why she sent her back in time and even allowed her to retained her memories."
"But, in the original timeline for the second life, the G.o.ddess must have died since she tried to descend and take over her avatar which has already adapted to Rumina"s soul. Or maybe in the process, the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d, who then discovered the event, lent Rumina a hand and strengthened her soul so the G.o.ddess" will be pushed out and die."
"The happily ever after of the female lead is then allowed by the Creator since the G.o.ddess is killed through her help. Even though she didn"t know any of these."
Jiang Li glanced down, closing his eyes. His guesses had a basis, of course. The part where the G.o.ddess" soul was extinguished was due to having so little power remaining in her after the summoning.
If in that timeline, the Creator"s monasteries took over the Empire, then the G.o.ddess" power must have declined more. The monks working outside and some Houses apart from the ducal family of Lilac were working in the capital. The faith she was getting was not enough to make a substantial recovery before the coronation or before the event where she attempted the takeover.
As for why the G.o.ddess acted as if she didn"t recognize the female lead, even being annoyed that she had her face, he didn"t know. It must be the girl acting, or maybe because of an unknown reason, she forgot or purposely erased her memories about it.
What a complicated plot.
It was unbelievable how a simple rebirth of a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t had such a deep secret behind it. In the initial memories he got, all that was detailed there was her experiences. There was nothing about the supreme beings, so it was this surprising when everything got uncovered.
Now, the question would be, to summon the G.o.ddess into Rumina"s body or not?
It was what he had been debating internally since the moment he found out the truth. The problem which kept giving him headache was where Rumina"s soul would be put if she makes way for the G.o.ddess.
Not long after, somebody knocked him out of his dazed state.
"Milords! The defense mechanism has broken down!"
A panicky voice filled the whole hall and made the people inside turned to the doorway where a trembling priest stood. This person still seemed busy panting for breath.
The Pope, who was doing some offerings and signaling the G.o.ddess to start the takeover her vessel, promptly stood up. His face darkened.
The old man looked at Rome and the former Emperor who was standing at the distance. However, their looks hinted that the decision-making was his to make.
The Pope felt helpless. Especially because before he could even open his mouth to reply, the dreaded enemies were already at their doorsteps.
...
"Prophet of the G.o.ddess...!"
Jiang Li looked at the red-haired man marching towards him with heavy steps.
"h.e.l.lo, Creator." He waved a hand and smiled. Not.
There was really no way he could still act carefree when the newcomer had the potential to kill all of them, especially, if this dude became too angry and just decided to bear all the consequences to summon his real body.
Putting on a face full of anxiousness, he hurriedly commanded the people around to buy him and the Pope some time. He then crouched down and chanted something in a very low voice.
"Luke!"
The female lead"s cry of alarm echoed in the altar. When the place, or specifically, the circle around Rumina lit up, the red-haired man arrived before him. Fury could be seen from the other man"s b.l.o.o.d.y eyes. It seemed his act of trapping the Creator had angered the G.o.d so much.
Jiang Li was caught unprepared so he got struck by the fist and flew towards the opposite wall. Wasn"t Marcus" body supposed to break down at this point? How come the Creator was still as lively as ever? He complained in his heart.
Yet outwardly, he wiped the blood from his mouth and roared with urgency to the old man, "Your Holiness! Continue the ceremony!!!"
In the divine realm, the G.o.ddess watched with extreme attentiveness as the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d went crazy and attacked the one supposed to be her vessel with a sharp spear created out of thin air. Then in one corner of her eyes, she looked at the prophet who shouted and tried to stand up despite his wounds.
The Pope did not truly know what to do. Nonetheless, he came into action.
Jiang Li grinned when holy light from the strongest light magic user in the continent poured in the circle.
And when the Creator yelled loudly "even if the G.o.ddess is summoned, he would win against her" yet went to intercept the "summoning" anyways, he burst into laughter.
"He fell for it!"
"Aaahhhhh!" The female lead shrieked and closed her eyes. When she did, she couldn"t help but wonder if she would end like the Saintess who vanished without a trace earlier.
A full minute pa.s.sed before the girl slowly fluttered her eyelashes open. A couple of seconds later though, she felt like her body became too drained. So before she knew it, she was already losing consciousness and falling down on the altar.
Rumina Bolden was not aware of what truly happened.
All she knew was that she was nearly killed by Marcus Lilac, or by whoever was using that person"s body. Yet the man suddenly froze, trapped in a cage of light and couldn"t move from there.
The person seemed to have shouted a lot of bad things and weird profanities to Luke Wade. But her memories were already too foggy to remember.
The last thing she would probably recall once she woke up later was how the Emperor rushed towards her, and the prophet telling her, "Sorry..."
Luke Wade faintly smiled back then, adding, "Sorry... for I made you the bait... But thanks to you as well, since you greatly helped in subduing the evil G.o.d."
Rumina felt too angry in her heart and knew that she would curse the white-haired man in her sleep.
...