Chapter 79
79: The Cathedral's Hymn
Although it wasn't a holiday, there were still many tourists gathered outside the cathedral. Most of them were excitedly having their companions take photos of themselves in front of the cathedral's main square. There were even some socially bold tourists who went over to the Church clerics to ask for photos together.
This kind of scene was quite common in today's society, especially in the West where the Holy Church's influence was stronger. Atheistic views had long taken root in people's hearts. Even among the Church's clerics, quite a few didn't actually believe in God.
However, this still wasn't a problem for the Holy Church. According to them, the source of "God-given" magic was faith, and the concept of faith was extremely broad. Even atheistic tourists who came for sightseeing, as long as they felt even a trace of shock or solemn emotion within the cathedral's God-given domain, could provide the Holy Church with that so-called "faith."
This was also why the grand cathedral, as an important stronghold of the Holy Church, remained open to the public as a tourist attraction. Of course, the real reason certainly wasn't that simple. For example, as an organization with status comparable to the contemporary Watchers, the Holy Church didn't receive government funding like the Watchers did. Their sources of funding, aside from normal investments and related industries, largely came from tourism.
Understand? Clerics needed to eat too!
Only a small portion of the Wangyou Grand Cathedral's interior was open to the public. Naturally, you had to buy tickets to enter. Most of what was displayed in these open exhibition areas were art pieces related to religion. Items that truly involved magic were all stored in the cathedral's core area.
"Let's go, Fufu. Time is almost up. The other party is a 'big shot' from the Church, after all. We need to show the corresponding etiquette."
With that, Amya led Evelia straight toward the cathedral's main entrance. There were quite a few people who had bought tickets queuing up to enter. With so many tourists, naturally clerics were needed to maintain order. And these clerics in positions more akin to menial workers were the Holy Church's "outer personnel." They couldn't access anything related to magic. Therefore, if Evelia and Amya wanted to go to the grand cathedral's core area, they needed to find the Church's true "inner circle personnel."
Last time she came, Amya remembered there were several clerics specifically at the main entrance to receive her. But this time, it seemed a bit different...
Beside the grand cathedral's main entrance, there was only one white-bearded old man wearing bishop's robes standing alone. After seeing Amya walking toward him while holding Evelia's hand, the old man immediately revealed a kind and amiable smile. He stroked his long beard and took two steps forward, smiling as he said to Amya:
"Miss Amya, thank you for accepting our Church's invitation. This must be Miss Evelia beside you, correct? Hello, young miss. I am Sauron, Bishop of the Holy Church."
"Mm..."
Evelia responded somewhat absentmindedly. Her gaze had been fixed on the reliefs on the cathedral walls. She appeared to be quite interested in these art pieces full of religious colors.
"Hahaha, it seems Miss Evelia is quite interested in this cathedral! However, these things are just ordinary objects in the exhibition area. The real 'art pieces' aren't here yet! Come, both of you. That person is waiting for us in the center of the cathedral. If Miss Evelia is interested, I can introduce you to the real 'art pieces' here later."
With that, Sauron took the lead and walked toward the area marked with "No Entry for Non-Church Personnel" in the cathedral. Evelia and Amya hurriedly followed.
Just after stepping through the cathedral's entrance, Evelia heard a ethereal and melodious singing. Although she couldn't quite understand the meaning of the lyrics, this singing that contained strange magic unexpectedly made her heart feel increasingly peaceful. Even the nervousness she had felt from entering a cathedral in front of a Holy Church bishop for the first time vanished without a trace.
"Bishop Sauron, may I ask what this singing is..."
"Oh? This? This is the choir children practicing the hymn! Miss Evelia, although you are a mage who mastered magic through your own talent, you must have already learned something about the other side of this world from Miss Amya, correct?"
"Mm, more or less."
"This choir... is also an extremely important component of our Holy Church. Don't let their daily task of singing hymns and sacred songs fool you. Their singing also contains extremely special 'God-given' magic~ Apart from soothing people's hearts, the hymn's other function is to dispel all evil and darkness. Most creatures like demons, when hearing the hymn, will have their combat power greatly weakened or even lose their ability to resist entirely."
As he spoke, Sauron half-turned his head and gently glanced at Evelia. Then he continued smiling as he said to her:
"It seems Miss Evelia, you have a high tolerance for the hymn. Even mages feel drowsy the first time they hear it, yet you look quite spirited!"
"Evelia... how do you feel?"
Compared to Sauron's cheerfulness, Amya, who knew Evelia's identity as a demon, was clearly more worried about her physical condition. After all, just as Sauron had said, hymns had a weakening or even suppressing effect on most demons. Some advanced hymns could even directly purify souls. Therefore, Amya was quite worried about whether Evelia would have any problems from being affected by the hymn at this moment.
"Don't worry, Amya. I'm fine."
Evelia shook her head. She also found herself a bit strange. Despite being a demon, she neither reacted to the sacred blessings near the grand cathedral nor was affected by the hymn. Listening to the hymn actually made her feel comfortable.
Perhaps it was because she wasn't an ordinary demon, but the daughter of the Lord of Hell, Satan? After all, let alone her father, even for the Lord of Hells, the hymn's effect on them would likely be minimal. As someone who had inherited Satan's blood, her bloodline grade was probably also quite high. High enough that even the hymn would have difficulty affecting her.
Compared to Evelia who still had guesses in her mind, Amya beside her was even more confused. After all, in her impression, even mixed-blood demons should be affected by the hymn. Yet not only did Evelia act like nothing was wrong, her condition actually seemed quite good.
My Fufu... couldn't be a mixed blood of angel and demon, right?