Capítulo 842: Chapter D301: Idol (Part 2)

The bishops who had consulted her earlier also mentioned the matter of publicity. The Hero originally thought it best to leave professional matters to the professionals, so she nodded in agreement, but didn’t expect it to become so exaggerated.

However, now it is indeed better to focus on the Dessert Tower first, wasting it would be a pity.

Originally, this Dessert Tower was something she should have enjoyed three days ago, after waking from her Awakening, but it had been delayed till now due to the disruptions caused by the Nightmare.

Although the fullness brought by devouring the Nightmare has not completely dissipated, considering it wasn’t real food that filled the stomach, she could still manage some dessert.

As she savored the sweet and soft pastry melting in her mouth, spreading a charming sweetness, the Hero narrowed her eyes in pleasure and let out a long, satisfied sigh:

“Ah… now this is what people should be eating~”

In a rare moment, she and her other self spoke in unison.

[The Hero acquired the Legendary Perception Skill]

[Legendary Experience]

6d140=(69.Your Name)+(8.Don Quixote)+(90.Ice Peak Snow Domain)+(10.Mourning Melody)+(227.Aid)+(39.My Dearest Friend)

1.5.Machination Star

2.6.Cover of Narration

3.7.Pact of Returning Home

4.8.Heart Soft and Easy to Pay

9.Notes on Recognizing Things

10.Critical Success/Extreme Failure

D10=d10(4)=4

♛: Heart Soft and Easy to Pay

[The Hero acquired the Legendary Perception Skill: Heart Soft and Easy to Pay]

She can perceive the softest parts within the spirit, making a D2 check. If successful, the associated action gains a minimum of 0.7.

[The Current State of the Holy Snake Sect]

1.5.Holy Beast

2.6.Semi-dissolved

3.7.Disbanded

4.8.Revised Doctrine

9.Holy Courage

10.Critical Success/Extreme Failure

D10=d10(2)=2

♛: Semi-dissolved

→☆→☆→☆→✧←★←★←★←

“Hmm, the last one.”

Looking at the small cake styled with a White Snake coiled around a strawberry, the Hero blinked her Emerald Eye.

Should she eat the strawberry first or the cake?

She hesitated for a moment, glanced around to ensure no one was around, then simply opened her mouth wide and stuffed the entire cake in.

Perhaps due to the influence of her Transformation, she had been able to open her mouth wide even as a child, but was often scolded for it being unladylike at the Viscount Mansion, so she dared not eat too much at once at the dinner table.

But now she had no such concerns.

“Mmm, tasty.”

When she returned to the Cathedral from outside the city, she passed by the Holy Snake Sect’s site on the suburban outskirts. A year ago, when she visited as a guest, the church was bustling with activity, but now it was deserted, with the carefully-tended gardens overrun by weeds.

This sect, which had made a surprising rise nationwide, using the disaster in the Capital as a springboard, could only maintain itself for less than two years before nearly dissolving.

Before she was appointed as the Saintess Agent, although invited by the Noble Lady to visit, the members of the Holy Snake Sect neither interacted with her nor engaged in communication, and even seemed to deliberately avoid her.

She held no particular fondness for this sect that tried to restore God worship under her name, but neither did she harbor strong dislike.

After all, it was merely a difference in ideology, not nearly enough to be evaluated as evil or akin to a Goblin. Moreover, they were supporters of the Noble Lady.

Yet unexpectedly, despite her having done nothing, the sect collapsed on its own.

This was not surprising, for when she was in her Returning Star transformation, the Holy Snake Sect might still delude themselves into acting like they saw nothing, but her recent Phoenix transformation utterly destroyed the sect’s reason for being.

The doctrines propagated by the Holy Snake Sect, as well as the banned God worship in the Kingdom, largely amounted to the veneration of some kind of Magic Creature.

Although the Church tirelessly promoted various ideologies, the most primal beliefs could not be easily uprooted.

Yet during the fifteen-year-long Holy War, such reverences had long lost their foundation.

Regardless of whether those “Gods” were righteous or wicked, no matter the fervency and resolve of their believers, they would all be crushed under the Divine Knowledge Saintess’s army.

The Church, while firmly believing in the power of the spirit, also recognized that such power was built upon physical strength.

Hence, the suddenly appearing, Capital-saving Phantasmal Serpent was seen by miracle-seeking believers as a symbol of the “Gods’ return to the Mortal World.”

The disaster which even the Church and Royal Family found unmanageable was resolved by a Magic Creature… nothing could invigorate faith more, and indeed, this became the catalyst for the rise of the Holy Snake Sect.

For a long time, the Church’s suppression of heretical beliefs ironically led to intense backlash, allowing the Holy Snake Sect to quickly gather believers of various Gods, amassing significant influence and interfering with the Saintess selection in a matter of months.

But now, this once prestigious sect is utterly in decline, and the most ordinary citizens in the Holy City shake their heads and laugh when mentioning them.

Even though most people still do not know that the Capital’s Phantasmal Serpent was the Hero in transformation, it doesn’t stop them from sneering at the Holy Snake Sect—after all, Lady Saintess could transform into a Phoenix even more powerful than the Phantasmal Serpent and single-handedly defeat the Deep Sea Demon more terrifying than the Key of the Door…

If your revered Holy Snake is the incarnation of a God, then what is Lady Saintess?

Like an unsupported castle in the sky, the moment the Holy City citizens witnessed the Hero’s Phoenix form, the Holy Snake Sect’s reason for existence crumbled completely.

Apart from a few stubborn holdouts, that suburban church stands empty, and even without any measures from the Church, the Holy Snake Sect is already nominally defunct.