Chapter 185-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
After the coronation ceremony ended, many people wanted to come forward to congratulate her. Ye Zheng had Wen De politely decline those who were either probing or flattering, and even refused to meet friends like Bai Muqing and Heath, walking straight into a small prayer room deep within the cathedral.
She removed her cape, took off her crown, and sat upright in a chair, quietly gazing at the statue enshrined in the prayer room.
The moment she put on the Triregnum belonging to the Pope, Ye Zheng understood what Marcy meant by inheriting everything!
She raised her arm. [Stream] climbed up her forearm, and a sharp water line suddenly swept across her skin, flashing by like a dragonfly touching water without leaving a trace.
Ye Zheng looked closely. The skin the water line passed over didn't even leave a water mark, remaining smooth as before.
But she could be certain that with the intensity of [Stream] she activated, it was enough to cause injuries deep to the bone.
It wasn't that [Stream] didn't cause damage, but at the moment of causing damage, [Mother of All Things] healed it at an incredible speed!
So fast she couldn't even react.
This was the 3S-rank ability [Mother of All Things], the Empire's Sei Curia's most precious treasure, the divine weapon Marcy left to future generations to save the world.
Ye Zheng suddenly frowned. Observant people should have noticed her abnormality at the inheritance ceremony. At the moment of inheriting the ability, energy fluctuations occurred on her body. Bai Muqing must have noticed, along with some people with powerful abilities, like Sykes—perhaps he also noticed that momentary wrongness.
The existence of [Mother of All Things] might very well be exposed someday in the future, but Ye Zheng wasn't worried now about whether others knew of it. [Mother of All Things] was powerful enough. As long as she was given some time to familiarize herself with it and master it, she was confident she could defeat Sykes head-on.
Creation and destruction—truly two incompatible abilities.
But Ye Zheng didn't even have time now to familiarize herself with her newly obtained powerful ability. The truth she encountered from Marcy's memories left her brain still in chaos.
She propped her chin with both hands, her vacant gaze seeming to think of nothing, yet also seeming to carry too many thoughts.
Obtaining a 3S ability would make anyone ecstatic. Even someone as calm as Ye Zheng couldn't avoid this convention. But when she examined that memory from five hundred years ago, the truth that had shuttled through false history and hideous lies for hundreds of years pressed down on her in an instant. Every muscle and bone seemed to cry out under the unbearable weight.
"Marcy."
She called the first Pope's name, closed her eyes, and a face of a woman around thirty or forty years old appeared before her eyes—wearing glasses, with a gentle temperament, looking like an ordinary school teacher.
The 3S-rank ability user with a renowned reputation for five hundred years, Pope Marcy who single-handedly founded the Hope Sei Curia, had indeed once been a teacher at a girls' school.
In Marcy's memories, Ye Zheng saw the Empire before the Demonic Domain descended—an Empire without abilities, Demonic Domains, or monsters.
The roar of steam transported thriving industrial products to all parts of the Empire. There was no division into upper district, Middle District, or lower district. Instead, there were continuously rising industrial cities. Everyone harbored dreams as they flooded into big cities, and some set sail at the coast, wanting to reach the ends of the world.
Brilliant and colorful art rose high like a banner in that era. Reason and emotion resonated. More and more women left their families to participate in social labor. Girls' schools increasingly flourished. After graduating from girls' school, young Marcy chose to return to her alma mater to work.
The emerging class rose, nobility declined, and royal power was continuously restricted.
The Aston royal family, which had ruled the Empire for over two hundred years, fell into difficulty. Even though Aston XIV had the reputation of a child prodigy in his youth, the young king had to bow before the torrent of the times.
Young Marcy witnessed the era's astonishing pace of progress. The well-read teacher had a vague premonition that perhaps a brand new nation would soon unveil its curtain.
Just when everything was bursting with vitality and the tide was about to rise to a new peak—
The Demonic Domain abruptly descended.
A black demon dragon from another world descended with countless monsters, destroying the largest industrial city at the time. When people were terrified by the demon dragon's appearance, more dimensional spaces appeared everywhere with deadly danger, occupying various places in the Empire. Only then did people understand what true despair was.
Marcy awakened her ability in a Demonic Domain. The Demonic Domain suddenly enveloped the school. A giant bird snatched away one of her students. She hid the remaining students and went alone to find the captured student.
She risked deadly danger and was fortunate enough to rescue the dying student from the giant bird's temporary nest. But returning to the original spot, she found monsters had invaded and her students were nearly all killed.
In the hellish scene, Marcy screamed voicelessly. The monster was drawn by her scream. Giant claws struck straight toward her and the student she had rescued in her arms. Marcy instinctively bent to protect the student. The severe pain on her back made her think hazily she was going to die, but opening her eyes, she found herself completely unharmed.
[Mother of All Things] descended upon her. At the same time, many others awakened abilities.
The newly emerging industrial technology achievements couldn't resist the Demonic Domain. The birth of ability users gave people hope, but at that time, many ability users easily lost their rationality, becoming no different from monsters. People fell into deep fear.
Soon after, Marcy discovered that female ability users were more stable than male ability users. After some more time, many women with great reputations appeared throughout the Empire one after another. Some were factory workers, some housewives, some noble ladies—different identities, but they all made tremendous contributions in humanity's confrontation with the Demonic Domain.
Marcy initially had little fame. She always thought [Mother of All Things] was just a healing ability, so she stayed in the rear with students handling logistics, but gradually accumulated prestige.
Although Demonic Domains everywhere were continuously eliminated, the shadow brought by the demon dragon was unstoppable. Countless ability users and ordinary people perished in its domain. In despair, a heretical cult even appeared worshiping the demon dragon, believing the dragon was purifying humanity's sins through slaughter.
Just when Marcy's hometown was also devoured by the demon dragon and she was forced to flee, feeling profound despair, one person emerged with an invincible sword—
That girl called herself Hope. It was said she came from a remote village. Marcy had seen her once from afar in the rear. Although she possessed incredible power, she was clearly a capable and sturdy country girl, with a wheat-colored face flushed red, arms easily shouldering weapons.
Marcy was curious and wanted to approach her, but before she could, the rising star Hope was summoned by Aston XIV and went to the imperial capital.
Then, the name Hope was gradually no longer mentioned. She—or rather, They—became the God of Hope in people's mouths.
At the end of the story, the God of Hope defeated the demon dragon. The demon dragon left behind bones, and the God of Hope's figure disappeared.
The Empire was finally liberated from the demon dragon's shadow. Although Demonic Domains of all sizes still continuously descended on the Empire, there was no longer a threat like the demon dragon.
In the midst of reconstruction, Marcy, who had accumulated considerable prestige in the rear, smoothly walked onto the front political stage.
After contacting certain people in the upper echelons, Marcy thoroughly understood what the "God of Hope" really was—
As the name suggests, a deity whose very existence was hope.
Under the demon dragon's shadow, almost every street had people committing suicide daily. The violence born from the human collective's despair killed even more people than ordinary Demonic Domains. The Empire's order was on the verge of collapse. They had to create hope for people and stop despair from spreading.
So the Empire selected the most powerful Hope, and then the God of Hope was born.
The God of Hope had no hometown, no gender, only mysterious and profound legends that inspired awe.
Marcy at that time sighed that Aston XIV truly lived up to his childhood reputation as a prodigy. His approach indeed saved the Empire's people.
But when Marcy asked about the "God of Hope's" whereabouts, she could never forget young Aston XIV's momentarily indifferent expression.
"Perhaps she perished together with the demon dragon. We couldn't find her."
"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, did you find her sword?"
"The sword couldn't be found, but something else was left behind—but these matters seem unrelated to you, Miss Marcy."
Marcy fell silent. At that moment, she developed a strong desire to do something more for the people, to do something for the God of Hope who saved the Empire... to do something for Hope, whom she had met once.
After the demon dragon disappeared, chaos didn't disappear—not only because of the Demonic Domain, but also because of the appearance of numerous ability users. Unbridled power intensified the soaring crime rate. Despair hadn't left this country and its people.
People without faith became chaotic scattered sand. Marcy finally determined what she had to do.
She continued the legend of the God of Hope, having her trusted students write wonderful stories based on the God of Hope's circulated deeds, along with non-existent God of Hope famous quotes and sayings, which quickly spread widely.
Marcy moved in many circles and finally single-handedly founded the Hope Sei Curia, becoming the first Pope.
From then on, she led believers daily in praying to a non-existent deity, using fabricated stories and quotes to educate people.
After fabricating for so long, even Marcy couldn't be certain which parts of the God of Hope's legend were real and which were false. Over time, Marcy even doubted whether Hope, who became the God of Hope, really defeated the demon dragon.
As Pope, Marcy was very busy. The Curia's influence grew increasingly large, her voice grew increasingly powerful, and her responsibilities grew increasingly heavy.
Sometimes she would miss the simple days of teaching at the girls' school, but more often she was glad she held great power.
If she hadn't founded the Hope Sei Curia, the royal family might have already successfully implemented policies that were nominally rewards but actually suppressed female ability users. They wanted to drive female ability users fighting against the Demonic Domain on the front lines back to their families, so they could bear more offspring with stable abilities, and the vacant positions could receive unemployed male ability users, reducing ability user crime.
Marcy naturally wouldn't allow this. What ignorant and short-sighted behavior!
The Curia and royal family struggled in secret. In frequent political struggles, Marcy almost forgot about the girl named Hope, about the deity they had fabricated together. She became a faith tool for gathering influence. Many years later, whenever she said "God of Hope above," her heart no longer rippled.
Then, the true deity descended.
*
Knuckles tapped out several clear sounds on the wooden table surface. Ye Zheng suddenly blinked, emerging from Marcy's memories.
"Pope Marcy, why can't I see this memory of the deity's descent?"
No matter how many times she recalled, this lost important memory was like a broken track, unable to piece together the memories above and below.
After Ye Zheng asked the question, she waited a long time before a voice finally appeared in her mind.
"You only need to know that I obtained a prophecy of five hundred years later from the deity."
"Because the deity is not allowed to be directly gazed upon, even I cannot possess that memory."
Marcy's sighing voice lingered in her ears. A trace of surprise flashed rapidly across Ye Zheng's face—not only surprised that Marcy didn't have that memory, but what concerned her more was that Marcy's consciousness was still present!
She could feel it. Just like the System, Marcy was existing somewhere in her mind.
Author's Note:
Zhengzheng obtains a portable old lady
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