Chapter 185

After the coronation ceremony had ended, many people wanted to step forward and offer their congratulations. Ye Zheng had Wende politely turn away everyone who approached with either probing curiosity or flattering intent. She even refused to meet her friends Bai Muqing and Heath, heading straight into a small prayer room deep within the cathedral.

She removed her cape, took off the crown, and sat quietly in the chair, gazing at the divine statue enshrined inside the prayer room.

The moment she placed the triple tiara that belonged to the Pope upon her head, Ye Zheng finally understood what Mercè had meant by “inheriting everything.”

She lifted her arm. 【Stream】 crawled up along her forearm. A sharp current of water suddenly flashed across her skin and vanished in an instant, leaving no trace behind, like a dragonfly skimming across the surface of water.

Ye Zheng examined it carefully. The skin where the line of water had passed didn’t show even the slightest mark. It remained as smooth and flawless as it had been before.

Yet she was certain that, with the intensity of the 【Stream】 she had just unleashed, it had been more than enough to inflict wounds deep enough to expose bone.

It wasn’t that 【Stream】 hadn’t caused any damage. Rather, the very instant the damage was inflicted, 【Mother of All Things】 had already healed it at an almost unbelievable speed!

It was so fast that she hadn’t even had the time to react.

This was the SSS-class ability 【Mother of All Things】, the most precious treasure of the empire’s Church, the divine weapon Mercè had left behind for future generations to save the world.

Ye Zheng suddenly frowned. Anyone sharp-eyed must’ve noticed the anomaly during her inheritance ritual. At the exact moment she inherited the ability, an energy fluctuation had appeared around her body. Bai Muqing must’ve noticed it, along with several other individuals possessing powerful abilities, such as Sykes. Perhaps he’d also sensed that fleeting moment of abnormality.

The existence of 【Mother of All Things】 might be exposed someday in the future, but Ye Zheng wasn’t worried right now about whether others knew of it. 【Mother of All Things】 was powerful enough on its own. As long as she was given some time to grow familiar with it and fully master it, she was confident she could defeat Sykes head-on.

Creation and destruction, they were two abilities that were fundamentally incompatible, like water and fire.

But Ye Zheng didn’t even have the time right now to properly familiarize herself with her newly acquired, powerful ability. The truths she’d touched upon within Mercè’s memories had left her mind still tangled in chaos.

She propped her chin on both hands. Her vacant gaze made it seem as though she wasn’t thinking about anything at all, yet at the same time, it also felt as if it carried an overwhelming flood of thoughts.

Obtaining a SSS-class ability would make anyone burst with joy. Even someone as composed as Ye Zheng wasn’t an exception. However, when she examined the memories from five hundred years ago and wandered through that hypocritical history and those grotesque lies, the truth that had stretched across centuries came crashing down on her all at once. Every muscle and bone in her body seemed to groan under an unbearable strain.

“Mercè.”

She softly murmured the name of the first Pope. As she closed her eyes, a woman’s face appeared before her, around thirty or forty years old, wearing glasses, with a gentle and scholarly temperament. She looked just like an ordinary schoolteacher.

The SSS-class ability user who had been renowned for five hundred years, the Pope who had single-handedly founded the Hope Church, Mercè, had indeed once been a teacher at a girls’ school.

Within Mercè’s memories, Ye Zheng saw the empire as it had been before the Aberrant Realms descended, an empire without abilities, without Aberrant Realms, and without monsters.

The roar of steam carried booming industrial creations to every corner of the empire. There was no division into Upper District, Middle District, or Lower District, only ever-expanding industrial cities. People poured into the great cities, hearts filled with dreams, while others set sail from the coasts, determined to reach the very ends of the world.

Vibrant and colorful art soared high like banners in that era. Rationality and sensibility clashed as more and more women stepped beyond their homes to take part in social labor. Girls’ schools flourished everywhere. After graduating from a girls’ school, the young Mercè chose to return to her alma mater and work there.

The emerging class rose, the nobility declined, and royal authority was continuously being restricted.

The Aston royal family, which had ruled the empire for more than two hundred years, found itself sinking into difficult straits. Even though Aston XIV had been hailed as a prodigy in his youth, the young king still had no choice but to lower his head before the surging tide of the era.

The young Mercè witnessed the astonishing speed at which the times were advancing. As a well-read teacher, she carried a vague premonition that an entirely new nation might soon lift its curtain.

Just as everything brimmed with vitality and the rising waves were about to reach a brand-new peak, The Aberrant Realms suddenly descended.

A black demonic dragon from another world arrived together with countless monsters, destroying the largest industrial city of that time. While people trembled in terror at the appearance of the demonic dragon, even more aberrant spaces filled with deadly danger began appearing at any time and in any place, occupying every corner of the empire. Only then did people truly come to understand what despair meant.

Mercè awakened her ability within an Aberrant Realm. The realm had suddenly swallowed the school whole. A giant bird seized one of her students and carried them away. She hid the remaining students and set out alone to search for the one who had been taken.

Braving mortal danger, she managed by sheer luck to rescue the barely breathing student from the giant bird’s temporary nest. But when she returned to the original spot, she discovered that monsters had already invaded. Nearly all of her students had been brutally slaughtered.

In that hellish scene, Mercè let out a piercing scream. The monsters were drawn by her cry, and a massive claw struck directly toward her and the student she held in her arms. Mercè instinctively hunched over to shield the student. The searing pain across her back made her dazedly believe she was about to die. But when she opened her eyes, she realized she was completely unharmed.

【Mother of All Things】 had descended upon her. At the same time, many others also awakened their abilities.

The industrial and technological achievements that had only just begun to show promise couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the Aberrant Realms. The emergence of ability users brought people a glimmer of hope, yet at that time many ability users easily lost their sanity and became no different from monsters. Humanity sank into deep fear.

Not long afterward, Mercè noticed that female ability users were far more stable than their male counterparts. Some time later, quite a number of renowned women gradually emerged across the empire. Some were factory workers, some were housewives, and some were noble ladies. Their backgrounds varied, yet they all made tremendous contributions in the struggle between humanity and the Aberrant Realms.

In the beginning, Mercè’s reputation wasn’t particularly prominent. She had always believed that 【Mother of All Things】 was simply a healing-type ability, so she remained in the rear, managing logistics alongside her students while steadily building her prestige.

Although Aberrant Realms across the land were continuously being cleared away, the shadow cast by the demonic dragon remained impossible to dispel. Countless ability users and ordinary people perished within its domain. In their despair, some even began to worship the demonic dragon, believing it was purifying humanity’s sins through slaughter.

Just as Mercè’s hometown was also swallowed by the demonic dragon and she was forced to flee to distant lands, sinking into profound despair, a figure suddenly appeared carrying an invincible sword.

The girl called herself Hope. She was said to have come from a remote village. Mercè had once seen her from afar in the rear. Although she possessed astonishing power, she appeared like a sturdy country girl who worked with swift efficiency. Her wheat-colored face was flushed, and she could easily carry heavy weapons upon her shoulders.

Mercè felt curious and wanted to approach her, but before she had the chance, the rapidly rising Hope was summoned by Aston XIV and departed for the imperial capital.

After that, the name Hope gradually faded from people’s lips. She, or rather He, came to be known among the people as the God of Hope.

At the end of the story, the God of Hope defeated the demonic dragon. The dragon left behind its corpse, and the figure of the God of Hope vanished.

The empire was finally freed from the looming shadow of the demonic dragon. Although large and small Aberrant Realms continued to descend upon the empire, there was no longer any threat on the scale of the magic dragon.

During this period of recovery, Mercè, who had accumulated considerable prestige in the rear, smoothly stepped onto the forefront of politics.

After coming into contact with certain individuals at the highest levels, Mercè finally came to understand what the “God of Hope” truly was.

Just as the name implied, a god whose very existence embodied hope.

Under the shadow of the demonic dragon, people were taking their own lives on almost every street every day. The despair among the human population even bred more violence than in ordinary Aberrant Realms, resulting in even greater loss of life. The empire’s order was on the brink of collapse. They needed to create hope for the people and halt the spread of despair.

Thus, the empire selected the strongest individual, Hope, and the God of Hope was born.

The God of Hope had no hometown and no gender, only mysterious and profound legends that inspired awe.

At that time, Mercè sighed in admiration. Aston XIV truly lived up to his reputation as a child prodigy. His method had indeed saved the empire’s citizens.

But when Mercè asked about the whereabouts of the “God of Hope,” she would never forget the fleeting, indifferent expression on the young Aston XIV’s face.

“She probably perished together with the demonic dragon. We weren’t able to find her.”

“Your Majesty, forgive my presumptuousness, but did you find her sword?”

“We didn’t find the sword, but we did recover some other things; however, these matters don’t seem to concern you, Lady Mercè.”

Mercè fell silent. At that moment, a strong desire rose within her: to do something more for the people, to do something for the God of Hope who had saved the empire… and to do something for Hope, whom she had met only once.

After the magic dragon disappeared, the chaos still did not come to an end. It wasn’t only because of the Aberrant Realms, but also because of the large number of ability users who had emerged across the land. Their unrestrained power sharply increased the crime rate, spreading instability even further. Despair had not left this country or its people, lingering like an unshakable shadow.

People without faith turned into chaotic, scattered sand. Mercè finally decided what she needed to do.

She kept the legend of the God of Hope going. She had her trusted students compile wonderful stories based on the deeds of the God of Hope to passed down, along with fabricated quotes and sayings attributed to the God of Hope. For a time, these spread widely across many regions.

Mercè moved within many circles and eventually founded the Hope Church with her own hands, becoming the first Pope.

From that point onward, she led believers every single day in praying to a god who did not exist, using made-up stories and famous sayings to educate and enlighten the people.

After fabricating for so long, even Mercè herself could no longer clearly distinguish which parts of the God of Hope’s legend were real and which parts were false. Over time, she even began to doubt whether Hope had truly defeated the demonic dragon or not.

As Pope, Mercè stayed extremely busy. The Church’s power kept expanding, her influence grew stronger, and her responsibilities became heavier and heavier.

Sometimes she would miss the simple days when she taught at the girls’ school, but more often she felt grateful for the heavy authority she now carried.

If she had not founded the Hope Church, the royal family might have successfully carried out a policy that outwardly rewarded but actually suppressed female ability users. They wanted to push the female ability users who fought on the front lines against the Aberrant Realms back into domestic life so they could give birth to more stable offspring with abilities. The freed positions would then be filled by unemployed male ability users, reducing ability-related crime.

Mercè would never allow such foolish and short-sighted behavior.

The Church and the royal family secretly competed. In frequent political struggles, Mercè almost forgot the girl named Hope and the god they had once fabricated. She had turned that idea into a tool of faith to consolidate power. Many years later, every time she said “the God of Hope is watching,” there was no longer any ripple left in her heart.

Then, the real god descended.

✧✧✧✧✧

The sound of knuckles lightly tapping the wooden tabletop pulled Ye Zheng out of Mercè’s memories. She blinked.

“Papess Mercè, why can’t I see the memory of the god’s descent?”

No matter how many times she tried to recall it, that important missing segment felt like a broken track, unable to connect the memories above and below.

After Ye Zheng asked the question, she waited for a long time before a voice finally responded inside her mind.

『You only need to know that I received a prophecy about five hundred years in the future from the god.』

『Because gods are not allowed to be looked at directly, even I cannot retain that memory.』

Mercè’s sigh-like voice lingered in her ears. A trace of surprise flashed across Ye Zheng’s face. She was surprised not only that Mercè lacked that memory, but even more so by the fact that Mercè’s consciousness was still present.

She could feel it, just like the system. Mercè existed somewhere within her mind.

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Authors Note  

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Zheng Zheng has obtained a portable old lady.