Chapter 78

“The most important scene from each chapter?”

Ye Zheng tapped the phone screen with her fingertip. She understood this must be new authority the system had fought for on her behalf.

“Thank you. This function is much more interesting than only seeing my own plot.”

『This is what you deserve. You are worthy of being valued.』

The system spoke vaguely.

Valued by whom, the company?

Ye Zheng did not press further. She opened the manga app on the screen. The manga update still remained stuck at the scene immediately following the destruction of the Blood Flower aberrant realm. Ye Zheng continued scrolling downward. A vast expanse of blank pages represented the future plot that she could not yet see.

Based on her previous experience, after flipping through for a while, she would encounter a certain scene. But this time, the blank pages were unusually long. It seemed as though a large portion of the plot had been skipped all at once. Ye Zheng even began to suspect that the spoilers had not refreshed yet.

Just as her patience was about to run out, the colorful panel finally appeared.

This time, the spoiler consisted of only a single page.

Yet the moment she saw the image, Ye Zheng’s expression froze. All her previous impatience vanished. The amount of information contained in this single spoiler surpassed everything she had seen before combined.

The girl hurriedly put down her phone, jumped off the bed, and rummaged through her bookshelf. She quickly pulled out a book.

《Divine Revelation》, a book that almost every member of the church owned. It described the history from five hundred years ago, when the God of Hope led humanity against aberrant realms, as well as the laws and poems bestowed by the God of Hope, the experiences of believers spreading doctrine and establishing the church, and the divine oracles received by successive Popes.

Ye Zheng flipped to the final section. The last volume was titled “Eternal Words of Revelation,” recording the first Pope’s reception of a divine oracle and his prophecy about the future five hundred years later.

The prophecy described a world-ending aberrant realm descending upon the empire once more. It would devour human territory at explosive speed. Dormant monsters would bring apocalyptic disaster until the incarnation of the God of Hope, wielding a divine sword, drove away the doomsday again.

The very last page of 《Divine Revelation》 depicted the legendary scene of the God of Hope slaying the demonic dragon. The god, whose face could not be clearly seen, wore flowing robes. The longsword in his hand shone with golden light as it pierced the monster’s body.

Ye Zheng held up her phone and compared the scene from the manga with the illustration in 《Divine Revelation》.

Beneath a crumbling statue of the God of Hope, a black-haired, blue-eyed boy grasped a sword atop the massive monster’s corpse, a sword gleaming with golden light.

It looked as though he had thrust the sword into the monster’s body, or as though he was in the process of drawing it out. Ye Zheng stared at the scene on her phone screen for a long time.

Pei Xi being the incarnation of the God of Hope in the prophecy did not surprise her. The protagonist of the story would always have a glorious mission.

But was Pei Xi born as this world’s sole hope, or had the author from beyond this world constantly paved the way for him, making him the so-called hope of salvation?

On the screen, the grand statue of the God of Hope teetered on the brink of collapse. The lone young man appeared like a pillar holding up the entire world.

“The statue behind Pei Xi looks somewhat familiar. That height, the posture with hands crossed over the chest…”

Ye Zheng gestured with her hand a few times and slowly said, “Throughout the entire empire, there is only one statue like this, in Sieg Square.”

She had only recently been “executed” by Sela in Sieg Square, so she was extremely familiar with that statue. The location of the event was confirmed. Then what about the time?

Ye Zheng swiped her finger across the screen, this time upward, until she returned to the last updated chapter of the manga.

From her observations, each manga chapter usually had twenty to thirty pages. Calculating the blank pages she had just scrolled through, this scene with Pei Xi would likely occur in roughly four to five chapters.

Four or five chapters. That meant it would happen in the next aberrant realm.

From this brief single-page spoiler, Ye Zheng quickly summarized all the known information and pieced it together.

The next aberrant realm would descend upon Sieg Square, and Pei Xi would obtain the divine sword from the prophecy within that aberrant realm.

『How is there only this much content? It is even less useful than the previous spoilers related to you…』

The system’s regretful voice echoed in her mind.

Ye Zheng blinked and sharply asked, “Could it be that in the upcoming plot, there is some dangerous or particularly disliked development involving me?”

『Um…』

The system hesitated and did not continue.

This attitude already gave Ye Zheng her answer. A trace of understanding crossed the girl’s face, followed quickly by a smile.

“That is enough. I have already seen the heroic path the author has paved for Pei Xi.”

The system felt there was deeper meaning in Ye Zheng’s words and grew puzzled.

『What are you planning to do?』

Ye Zheng did not reply immediately. Her pure black eyes traced the divine sword illustrated in 《Divine Revelation》.

『…You are not thinking of taking the sword in Pei Xi’s place!』

The system’s voice suddenly rose in pitch, startling the quiet girl into covering her ears with both hands.

“Taking the sword? That sounds quite interesting.”

『The plot is obvious, right? Pei Xi is the prophesied savior. He will soon draw the lost divine sword and officially embark on the path of the savior. This is the main storyline.』

『According to the setting, only someone recognized by the God of Hope can draw the divine sword and become the officially designated savior.』

『Even if you want to draw the sword, it is impossible. That is a gift the author prepared specifically for the protagonist Pei Xi!』

The system desperately tried to dissuade her. Interfering with such a core plot point was not only impossible to succeed at, it would invite fatal trouble.

“Pei Xi is the incarnation of the God of Hope, personally designated by the author.”

“And I, Ye Zheng, am the Saintess of the church. Throughout history, every Saintess has carried another title, the proxy of the divine.”

As the proxy of the divine, acting in the God of Hope’s place to save the world once more was entirely within her rightful duty.

If Pei Xi could draw the sword, why could she, the proxy of the divine, not do the same?

As the Saintess, she had diligently performed her duties, bringing gospel to the people. Surely the God of Hope would not be dissatisfied with her.

Ye Zheng nodded in satisfaction at herself.

She flipped the book in her hands to page 176, where the origins of the church’s Saintess were recorded.

After the God of Hope slew the demonic dragon and saved the empire, he vanished from the mortal world. Without the God of Hope, the empire once again fell into chaos, until a young girl stepped forward, proclaiming she had received a divine oracle from the God of Hope.

The girl helped the empire communicate with the God of Hope. She conveyed the reasonable laws and inspiring poems from the God of Hope to the world. She was the mouthpiece of the God of Hope, the thornbird of the endless night. With her help, the empire rebuilt order after the disaster.

From then on, the church always reserved a position for a devout girl. They were called the proxies of the divine, the Saintesses.

『As the current Saintess of the church, you should know better than I do. Today’s Saintess is merely a ceremonial position in the church, selected according to the will of the Pope and the bishops.』

『You have never received any divine oracle. You do not even hold any secular power.』

The system sighed, its words laced with disapproval.

“You are right, but…”

“I will make the Saintess once again a true Saintess in name and reality.”

Ye Zheng gently closed the book. Everything recorded in black and white returned to silence.

✧✧✧✧✧

The establishment of the Order of Sacred Conduct made her even busier. In between, she visited the church several times but never saw Pope Wen Jian.

The Ability Competition was about to resume soon. This time, as a member of the royal team, Ye Zheng was summoned to the palace by Sykes.

After not seeing him for a few days, she felt Sykes had changed again slightly.

He had combed back the stray hair on his forehead, making his face sharper and more striking. Yet his expression had become much steadier, giving him the appearance of a composed and reliable imperial heir.

The Crown Prince sat at the head of the round table, one hand propping up his chin. Only after the last member took their seat did his golden eyes blink. He spoke.

“Ye Zheng, you are late again.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, I am not late, am I?”

Ye Zheng calmly chose a seat and sat down. Across the round table sat Yu Tianming and Ryan. Both directed their gazes toward her.

“I heard the Saintess has been quite busy lately. Being late is understandable. His Highness was merely concerned about you.”

Yu Tianming spoke gently to smooth things over.

Ye Zheng smiled at Yu Tianming, then looked toward Sykes at the head of the table.

“I have matters to attend to, thanks largely to His Highness Sykes.”

“This morning, I went to observe the weapon manufacturing process at the alchemy workshop. I inevitably ended up a bit disheveled. To avoid offending His Highness, I specially went home to change clothes. I did not expect it would waste everyone’s time.”

Yu Tianming was about to say something more when a voice from the head of the table interrupted him.

“Oh? That batch of weapons should not have been completed so quickly. After all, you are having them crafted according to entirely new molds.”

Sykes leaned slightly forward. His golden eyes fixed on the girl.

“I was simply too excited. What could be more thrilling than forging a team of my own?”

Ye Zheng twirled a strand of hair, seemingly embarrassed by her own excitement.

Yu Tianming’s gaze flickered behind his glasses. He knew that a few days ago Sykes had granted Ye Zheng permission to craft weapons independently, right in the royal alchemy workshop.

It was said that Ye Zheng believed market-available weapons were unsuitable for her female knights and wanted to create customized ones for them.

Privately manufacturing weapons was a grave crime. The authority to produce weapons had always been tightly controlled by the rulers. Although Sykes had only permitted Ye Zheng to craft a batch of weapons she wished to equip her knight order with, this level of favor was already astonishing.

How strange. Ever since returning from Blood Flower, Sykes had become entirely different, especially in his attitude toward Ye Zheng.

It could not possibly be that he was grateful for her helping him break free from the thug’s control. A person like Sykes would consider even saving his life a matter of course. A casual reward would suffice.

Could it be that in a moment of crisis he suddenly realized the Saintess was actually quite beautiful? Had he transitioned from a beast-like state into a human-like adolescence?

No, no. He always felt there was another reason.

Yu Tianming’s confusion remained unresolved even after the entire meeting ended. In the meantime, the four discussed the current point standings, future action plans, Ryan mentioned he had mastered a new method for controlling aberrant beasts, and Ye Zheng said she had temporary matters to attend to and would join the team a few days later.

Throughout the entire discussion, Sykes remained unusually quiet, appearing to listen attentively, though the hostility and impatience between his brows and eyes could still not be fully suppressed.

But he was able to suppress those emotions until the meeting ended. Yu Tianming found this degree of self-control truly astonishing.

“Ye Zheng, stay behind.”

Sykes spoke in a low, heavy voice. He lowered his head, one hand covering his face, as though struggling to restrain something.

The other two sensed the ominous aura emanating from the Crown Prince and immediately left the meeting room. Only Ye Zheng paused in her steps.

She turned around and subconsciously took a deep breath.

The aura of Dragon Bone nearly overflowed the entire room. That powerful, provocative force seemed intent on igniting the violence within her as well.

Ye Zheng forced her voice to remain calm. “Your Highness, is there something you need me to do for you?”

“Do for me?”

Sykes’s voice sounded somewhat dazed.

“Just like what you did to me in Blood Flower. Do it again.”

Ye Zheng tilted her head. Like in Blood Flower? Starting from when she had pressed his head into the water?

She moved forward with careful vigilance. The current Sykes could erupt and kill at any moment.

Once, a palm-sized piece of Dragon Bone had nearly caused her to lose control in a rampage. Every bone in Sykes’s body was Dragon Bone.

Ye Zheng stared at the golden-haired imperial prince, who now resembled a trapped beast. He was hunched over the table, his body rising and falling with deep breaths as he fought to restrain his out-of-control self.

If Pei Xi was the incarnation of the God of Hope, then what role did Sykes play, the reborn demonic dragon?