Chapter 114. Lost Faith
Anastasia tensed up as everyone in the clearing turned to look at her. What? Did Levi just use her real name? She thought that they were trying to keep a low profile; did he want her to reveal her true identity as a High Priestess?
She supposed that the logic behind it was sound. Ultimately, only she had any real ethos in their group. To the world, Levi Ironwood was still an unknown entity, and the less said about Selene, the better. So it made sense that Levi would arrive at the conclusion that the fastest way to get the Resistance to trust them was to have Anastasia reveal herself.
However, to do so would also seal her fate. In more ways than one.
The Church had a general standing non-interference policy when it came to political affairs. When it came to Yukihasa specifically, all Church members were expressly forbidden to attempt anything that might jeopardize international relations and cause a diplomatic incident. That was why the Church had never tried to liberate Yukihasa or improve the situation.
If the Church ever found out that she’d gone rogue and infiltrated Yukihasa – with an outsider adventurer and an archdemon, no less…
Excommunication would be the best-case scenario. More realistically, she’d have a Sealing Order placed on her.
The Church, for all its merits, demanded absolute obedience from its members. To go against the Church was to go against the Goddess. An unforgivable sin. As such, for the sake of ensuring propriety, any member found violating Church principles was to be Sealed: condemned to lifetime imprisonment within the Grand Cathedral’s Inner Sanctum.
And Anastasia…
Well.
Her latest actions were more than enough for her to be deemed a renegade, if not an outright reprobate. When it came down to it, her actions in Yukihasa were directly risking an all-out war. As a High Priestess, she was held to a higher standard than the rest of the Church. Hells, come to think of it, there was a very good chance that the higher-ups would skip the Sealing Order altogether and make an example of her.
The preferred method was burning at the stake.
Of course, Anastasia had been well-aware of all of this from the very beginning. She’d known just how dangerous it was for her to enter Yukihasa. However, she’d accepted the risks. With what Levi had described of the two entities draining the Time from the entire world (the Devourer and Chorus, she finally knew their names now), she’d decided that the situation was more important than her life.
Naturally, she hadn’t told Levi any of this. She didn’t want him to worry or remove her from the mission.
Though, Terminus and Phantasm must’ve known. They didn’t say anything, but that was almost definitely why Terminus was so surprised by her presence, or why Phantasm always treated her with a certain respect he didn’t afford anyone else. Even now, Terminus was gazing at her with mild alarm in his eyes.
Levi must’ve sensed her hesitation, because he frowned.
“Anastasia?” he muttered quietly so that only she could hear. “What’s the matter?”
“I…” Anastasia swallowed. “Why me?”
She asked the question more as a stalling tactic than anything else, since she already knew his thought process.
Or so she thought.
Levi tilted his head. “General Shiba is one of your own, no?”
Anastasia blinked. “What?”
He nodded at General Shiba, who was glaring at them with mistrust in his eyes. “There are barely any residuals left at this point, but… I can detect minute traces of the Goddess’s power clinging to his form.”
For a moment, Anastasia didn’t comprehend his words. Subconsciously, she activated [Divine Eye] and glanced at General Shiba–
She froze.
It was faint. Nearly imperceptible, which was why she hadn’t noticed earlier. It must’ve been years since the Goddess’s power was last invoked.
But it was undeniably there.
“Oh,” she said softly. “I… I see.”
Right. Before the civil war, before the lockdown… The Church had been in the process of spreading the word of the Goddess to the people of Yukihasa. There had been converts. A new wave of faithful followers.
Which meant the man standing before her right now…
Slowly, she allowed the glamours concealing her appearance to fade away. Gasps rippled through the crowd as her hair lengthened and turned bright golden, her eyes brightening to the same shade as emeralds under the morning sun.
And she spoke.
“I am High Priestess Anastasia of the Holy Church of the Goddess. I’m here to help.”
Dead silence greeted her words.
“You… You lie,” General Shiba said, his voice barely a whisper. “The Holy Church completely abandoned Yukihasa. In the past decade, they sent not a single cardinal or bishop or priestess or even a lowly acolyte to help. You expect us to believe that you’re a High Priestess?”
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Anastasia regarded him for a long moment. Then with but a thought, a radiant golden light burst from her form as she called forth the full brilliance of the Goddess’s magic. A warmth filled the clearing as the air seemed to smell cleaner and the grass fresher. More than one muttered swear echoed through the clearing, and next to her, Selene hissed and pulled away.
The light was unmistakable. Unable to be faked or replicated by any means. Before Anastasia, General Shiba’s entire face slackened in shock.
Then, his expression twisted in rage.
“Now you come?” he hissed. “After so many deaths, after so many innocent lives cut down, after endless oppression and tears and blood? You dare just waltz into this meeting acting like nothing happened, like the Church didn’t abandon us, like the Goddess didn’t turn her back on us?!” His voice grew in volume until it was a deafening shout. “Ten years! Ten long fucking years, we waited. Ten years, we prayed! We held out hope that the Goddess would save us, that she would send her exalted followers to end our living hell – and what did we get? Nothing!”
Spittle flew from Shiba’s mouth as he took a step forward, then another, then another, until he stood right in front of Anastasia. She gazed at him, her eyes wide. “But you know what?” he continued. “Even when the others faltered, even when the others gave up on hope, I never lost faith. At the lowest point in my life, the Goddess was the one who saved me. That is why I stopped adventuring and devoted my life to serving her as a priest. Her Holy Grace was my sole light in the unceasing darkness, and I clung to that light, I believed in her with all my might even when the others called me a fool. Until…”
His voice cracked. “Until,” he said again, this time in a voice so quiet she barely heard it, “I saw my children blown to pieces before my very eyes. Killed in an imperial raid. They grew up in the midst of this blasted war, death was all they ever knew, and now… now it’s all they will ever know.” He went silent for a few moments, his jaw clenching and unclenching as his eyes clouded over with a terrible pain. He squeezed them tightly shut. “That was five years ago. The last day I ever used the Goddess’s powers. I forsook her, but… she’d forsaken us first.”
Shiba’s eyes opened again, burning with renewed fury. “So tell me, High PriestessAnastasia, you dare? You dare come now, after all this time–?”
Shiba froze at the sight before him.
Anastasia’s eyes were filled with tears, unrestrained sorrow on her face.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She raised a trembling hand, then hesitated and lowered it. “I’m so, so very sorry. I… You’re right. What the Church did, abandoning you all like that… I don’t have any justification I can give. It was unforgivable.”
Her words seemed to slam into Shiba like a physical blade. He flinched. “W-What?”
As a former member of the Church, he’d no doubt expected her to answer differently. For the Church was absolute. The Church never erred. The Church only ever carried out the will of the Goddess, thus all its decisions were just.
So for a priestess, a High Priestess at that, to admit that the Church was wrong?
It was utter anathema.
“The Church may carry out the will of the Goddess, but at the end of the day, we are nothing more than mortals,” she said. “And the thing about mortals is that we’re fallible. We hold the capacity to err, to do terrible things in the name of good. It is clear that’s what happened here. For that…” She gave a deep bow, far deeper than any High Priestess had the right to lower herself to. “I’m truly sorry.”
Shiba stared at her, speechless.
Anastasia straightened a moment later. “I won’t ask for your forgiveness. All I ask is another chance. Because I’m here now. I may be late, and I may be unwanted, but… I’m here. The Church did not send me. If they find out what I’m doing, then they’ll place a Sealing Order on me, or perhaps even Excise me–”
Shiba’s eyes widened. He knew exactly what that meant. “What?!”
“–but I don’t care. I’ll gladly welcome the risk with open arms. It’s worth it,” Anastasia said, her voice filled with unyielding resolve. She ignored Levi’s frown of confusion. “So please… Please do not mistake the Church for the Goddess. Because while the Church may have abandoned Yukihasa, the Goddess…”
And she gave Shiba a small, sad, sincere smile. “The Goddess has not forsaken you. Your tribulations are almost over, Shiba. You’ve done well.”
Shiba drew in a sharp breath. He scanned her expression intently, trying to detect any signs of falsehood or deception. But he found none. Only a little sincerity, a little sorrow, and…
A little hope.
That was what finally broke him. His eyes welled up, though he tried his hardest to keep the moisture from leaking out. “You’re here to help?” he choked out. “Truly?”
“I swear it.”
“And the Emperor… He will finally be punished for his sins?”
Anastasia nodded. “Without a doubt.”
“How?” Shiba demanded. “How do you know that? You – You may be strong, but you’re only a High Priestess. The Emperor has an entire country behind him. You don’t possess the gift of foresight or prophecy, that’s beyond your Class. How can you guarantee that the Emperor will fall?”
“It’s simple, really,” Anastasia said. “For you see…” She smiled. “He really, really pissed off my friend.”
Shiba looked at her blankly. “Who?”
“Why, Levi Ironwood, of course.”
There was a long moment of silence.
Then, off to the side, Makoto of the Second Shinobi Unit blinked.
“Levi Ironwood? You mean the disgrace of the Institute–?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Levi snapped. “Your country is in a total lockdown, how do even you know about–” He abruptly cut himself off. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s me.”
“Veli Maplewood… Levi Ironwood…” Shiba shook his head in pure bewilderment. “Seriously?”
“Don’t ask, I swear there’s a reason for the name,” Levi said. “But yeah. I’m the disgrace of the Institute, the cheater of the Ascension Trials, a disinherited failure of a noble heir…”
And he smiled.
“And I’m the one who’s going to fuck your Emperor up.”
For a moment, nobody responded.
Then, Shiba scoffed. “Right. Nobles. What do you think you can do, you arrogant little fool–?”
Levi’s expression shifted, and the entire clearing froze. Though no magic burst from his form and no wind blew through the forest, there was nonetheless a certain change to him that evoked a terrifying sense of danger. Perhaps it was the gleam in his grey eyes, or the teeth in his smile. Whatever the case, even Anastasia felt her instincts start screaming at her in alarm. Only Terminus seemed to be unaffected, a tiny pleased smile crossing his face.
“What was that?” Levi asked.
Shiba swallowed. A bead of sweat trickled down his face. “Ah. I–I stand corrected.”
He looked between Levi and Anastasia. An understanding registered in his gaze, followed by something far more tentative. Fragile, but strong.
Something that almost seemed like hope.