The Holy Priestess stopped in front of the statue which stood tall in the center of the hall.
The flickering candles around the room cast a soft, flickering glow on her face as she gazed up at the stone figure.
The statue represented a divine being, which had granted their blessings to the people of this continent through her. It was because of discovering this statue that she had managed to rise to this extent in this cruel world.
From being an insignificant person that was rejected by the Sword Emperor, to becoming the Holy Priestess that ruled over the continent, it was all thanks to the statue which allowed her to connect with the divine being.
Throughout the entire Holy Church, she was the only person who had seen this statue. The secrets of the statue, its true purpose, and the mysteries within it were known only to her.
“Someone defiled your temple, and you did not do anything to stop them,” the Holy Priestess asked, her voice resonating in the silent hall.
Her words carried a mixture of blame and disbelief. She recalled how the sacred land had been desecrated, the walls painted red with blood that should never have been there. And yet, the deity of the temple had remained silent, as if ignoring it all.
Following her question, the silence enveloped the room once more. The entire room was filled with an even stronger holy aura that was infinite times stronger than what the Holy Priestess possessed and it was just a trace of the strength that the divine being possessed.
Words appeared in front of the Holy Priestess, made purely from the essence of this world. As the goddess couldn’t descend, it was the only way she could deliver her response for now.
“I couldn’t.” The words formed in front of her.
“What do you mean you couldn’t do anything?” the Holy Priestess asked, breaking the silence with frustration.
Her eyes remained fixed on the statue, as if waiting for it to respond again. “Who could possibly stop you from interfering in your own home?”
In this world, there was no existence that could stop the divine being. Even if the world’s laws restricted her interfere, but it was different within her core domain which was the Holy Church.
The entire Western Continent was her domain, but that was only external domain where she could provide limited help through her blessing. The true extent of her strength could only be felt in her core domain which was much smaller.
As long as it was within the Holy Church, she could interfere to an even greater extent.
That’s why the Holy Priestess was confident enough to take all Cardinals, leaving this place with only bishops as she didn’t have to worry about this place.
Despite that, something like this had happened. The Holy Priestess didn’t understand how something like this could happen.
“Why did you go silent? Tell me why you couldn’t interfere!” The Holy Priestess asked, her voice tinged with desperation. “Even if you couldn’t descend because of the world’s rules, you could still indirectly interfere! You should have easily protected this place as this was within your core domain!”
The silence stretched on as more words appeared in front of her.
“My domain became smaller during that time, only limited to this hall. Unknown interference.” The words formed in front of her.
“What? Your domain shrank at that moment? Your domain was limited to this hall?” The Holy Priestess frowned. If it wasn’t something that the divine being was telling her, she would have thought that it was purely a lie.
“How could your core domain be restricted? Just what kind of power could do something like that?” she mumbled under her breath, her expressions growing darker.
Until now, she thought it was just the childish acts of the Holy Emperor who didn’t know exactly what kind of existence he was taunting. But something like this had left her stunned.
“Unsure. I thought I will kill the intruder after he enter the hall, but he did not.” More words appeared in the air while old words disappeared.
The Holy Priestess’ frown deepened. Although she had left some protection on the door, but if the person truly wanted, he could have forced his way. So why didn’t he? Did he know what was inside? Did he know the existence of the divine being?
“Could it be that they are also being suported by an existence like you?” The Holy Priestess asked, thinking of the worst case scenario.
To restrict a divine being, there could only be two cases. One was that the other side had someone who was just as mysterious as the divine being. The second option was that they used some spatial artefact that could restrict any interference.
She had never heard about artefacts like that. Even if there was something like that, it had to be a god tier artefact to restrict the core domain even if it was for a short moment.
The place went into absolute silence. The Holy Priestess didn’t recieve any response for quite some time. However, this time she wasn’t impatient. She silently waited for a reply.
At this point, she was sure that the divine being was just as concerned about this as her. They couldn’t be hasty.
“There is only one existence in your world that is strong enough to interfere to this extent. However, that thing doesn’t interfere.”
“Which thing are you talking about? Who is strong enough to interfere with your core domain? If that existence is siding with the Holy Emperor, won’t my plans fall apart?”
“You don’t have to worry about it. As I said, that thing won’t interfere. The one I am talking about is the ruler of the river of Life and Death.”
” It doesn’t leave the river. Even if someone enters the river to meet it, they would be ripped apart by the forces of that river. So it can’t be the one…”
