Chapter 194

Ye Zheng had also seen the manga author’s statement. It personally confirmed that an important character would die in the upcoming plot.

To the readers, the author seemed to be leaving behind a suspenseful hook. But in Ye Zheng’s eyes, it felt more like a direct provocation aimed at her.

She had been constantly resisting and fighting against the plot written by the author. The other side had already suffered setback after setback. Now, the only powerful weapon left in his hands was the original plot’s “death node” meant for Ye Zheng.

The system informed her that, in the original plot, Lu Qi had been taken by the Hope Base as an experimental subject and ultimately transformed into a mindless dragon-human hybrid. From that moment onward, the protagonist team developed a deep-seated grudge against the Church.

“Ye Zheng” couldn’t tolerate the Church’s darkness and made a complete break from it, abandoning her identity as the Saintess. Because of that, she endured severe punishment from the church and shouldered immense public pressure.

However, the emperor extended a helping hand to the Cloud Soarers team, which was being suppressed by the church. The team felt deeply grateful and gradually grew closer to the imperial family. “Ye Zheng” used her ability to cure the emperor’s illness, and in return, the emperor granted her the honor of holding her coming-of-age ceremony within the imperial palace.

On the day of the ceremony, Pei Xi and Sykes clashed at “Ye Zheng’s” coming-of-age banquet. She stepped in to block Sykes’ fatal blow to protect Pei Xi and died, completely exiting the story in the manga.

The plot carried a kind of gravitational pull. If there wasn’t strong external interference, it would steer the characters toward their predetermined fates. However, even the slightest deviation could lead to drastically different developments afterward.

For instance, if an important character were to die at the coming-of-age ceremony, but instead of the original plot’s disposable female lead Ye Zheng, it was the most crucial villain in the original plot, Sykes, who died, then what kind of developments would follow?

Ye Zheng found herself genuinely looking forward to it. This manga already had one major villain, Her. That was more than enough.

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In recent days, two major pieces of news had rocked the empire.

The first was that the youngest pope in the empire’s history was going to hold her coming-of-age ceremony inside the imperial palace.

People who heard this news could hardly believe their ears. The imperial palace was the emperor’s residence and place of governance, a symbol of imperial authority, while the pope was the spiritual leader who represented the divine, guiding the Church in spreading the gospel. Although the two sides appeared harmonious on the surface, they had long maintained a relationship of mutual restraint and balance. The idea of the Papess celebrating her birthday within the imperial palace was simply beyond imagination.

The second piece of news was that monsters had appeared in the upper district. It was suspected that an accident had occurred in the crown prince’s hunting grounds, allowing the monsters to escape and resulting in more than a dozen casualties.

The upper district had always been the most stable and prosperous region in the empire. Ever since the dragon bone had been buried there, no Aberrant Realm had ever descended upon it. But perhaps because life had been too comfortable, many nobles in the upper district secretly raised exotic beasts and plants originating from Aberrant Realms. The largest of these was the crown prince’s hunting ground.

On the day of the incident, a surviving elderly marquis went mad and screamed, “The Aberrant Realm has arrived! The apocalypse is coming!” The upper district fell into brief chaos. That same day, the empire’s central transit station was packed with people trying to flee the upper district. Soon afterward, the imperial family released statements to refute the rumors and calm the public, barely restoring order.

The deranged old man passed away not long after due to the severity of his injuries.

Even with the imperial family’s swift handling and response, rumors continued to spread uncontrollably. Some speculated that those monsters were not escaped livestock, but that after five hundred years, an Aberrant Realm had finally descended upon the upper district once again!

This almost meant that the empire’s strongest line of defense had been breached by the Aberrant Realms. Everything was beginning to slide back toward the catastrophic, nationwide disaster from five hundred years ago…

“Roy, do you think Ye Zheng choosing to hold her coming-of-age ceremony in the imperial palace is a signal that the imperial family and the Church are joining forces?”

Three young men were squeezed into a small, filthy, and cluttered black inn. The guests staying here were all people of uncertain backgrounds who couldn’t provide proper identification. The location was also extremely remote. This was the most suitable lodging they had managed to find.

Roy suddenly raised his head. His well-kept, soft golden hair had lost some of its luster during their escape. He looked at Pei Xi and frowned. “Why’re you asking me? You should already have the answer in your heart.”

Pei Xi noticed Roy’s subtle reaction, lowered his gaze, and confirmed the answer he had been wrestling with for a long time.

For a brief moment, his emotions were incredibly complicated, yet he didn’t reveal any of it on his face. He simply nodded calmly.

“Yeah. I don’t think the incident in the upper district was as simple as monsters escaping. I’m more inclined to believe the rumor, that an Aberrant Realm has descended.”

Kyle’s eyes widened in shock. “Even the upper district can be breached by an Aberrant Realm? Does that mean the apocalypse mentioned in the prophecy is actually coming?”

Pei Xi let out a breath. “Judging from the unusual attitudes of both the imperial family and the Church, it’s almost certain that this wasn’t an ordinary accident.”

“The imperial family took the initiative to invite her, and Ye Zheng, who’s now the Papess, actually agreed to hold her coming-of-age ceremony in the imperial palace. Something so unimaginable happening means there must be something even more shocking behind it.”

Pei Xi placed a rectangular object wrapped in gray cloth onto the table. All three of them fixed their eyes on it. The gray cloth was wrapped tightly, not allowing even a single trace of sacred golden light to leak out.

“Its appearance might also be some kind of omen.”

“This world is about to descend into immense chaos.”

Pei Xi picked up the sword and tore away the gray cloth. The dim, cramped room was instantly illuminated by a dazzling radiance.

“I’ve obtained the Divine Sword. That means I have to bear the responsibility that comes with it. I can’t retreat. I can’t run.”

“But before the apocalypse arrives, let’s first rescue Lu Qi from Sela’s hands.”

The other two companions nodded heavily.

They had originally come to the Western District to seek out Lu Qi’s support and to evade the Church’s pursuit, planning to lie low here for a while. Unexpectedly, they received news that Lu Qi had disappeared.

After making inquiries, they discovered that Lu Qi’s disappearance was tied to Sela, the infamous leader of the saints in the Western District.

They weren’t unfamiliar with the name Sela. From the Blood Flower Aberrant Realm to the Hope Base and now the Western District, Sela had been pulling insane shit as always.

After entering the Western District, Pei Xi clearly felt that the pressure of being wanted had eased significantly. With just a bit of disguise, they could walk openly along the streets.

They had originally assumed it was because the Central Church’s control over the Western District was weaker. They hadn’t expected that there was an existence far more troublesome than them, one that had both the local church forces and the government running around in circles, leaving them with no time to bother about anyone else.

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“Sela… She’s even better at stirring up chaos than I expected.”

Ye Zheng sat behind her desk, one hand propping up her chin. There wasn’t a trace of surprise on her face.

According to the report submitted by the new bishop of the Western District, Sela had already gathered more than ten thousand followers there and seized control of several churches.

Because the Western District was vast and sparsely populated, the Church’s oversight had always been relatively loose. Most of the churches under Sela’s control were remote rural ones, far outside the central cities. However, her methods were excessively ruthless, and she moved like a phantom, striking without warning. The clergy of the Western District were utterly terrified of her.

Now that she ruled the Papacy, she couldn’t allow Sela to keep standing in opposition to the Church.

『In the original plot, you didn’t give her the dragon bone, so she more or less fought on her own without ever building an organization. Even so, she still caused quite a bit of trouble for the protagonist’s group and could be considered a pretty memorable minor villain.』

“If that’s the case, then since Pei Xi and the others fled to the Western District, there’s a high chance they’ll run into this minor villain plotline involving Sela.”

『Smart.』

『Even though Sela is quite hostile toward you, she’s also cooperated with you many times, and you’ve always shown her a rather strange sort of tolerance. Your relationship really is hard to figure out… Anyway, I showed up to tell you this—』

『The plot point for Sela’s death isn’t far off either.』

Ye Zheng’s hand stilled as she flipped through the documents.

【Ye Zheng, are you going to try to save her?】

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Authors Note  

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Ugh, I ate way too much at the buffet yesterday and completely wrecked my stomach.