Holding the title of a New Moon Cultist would make things a bit difficult for the Hero.
Sophie pondered this as she walked back slowly.
Her initial purpose for joining the New Moon Sect was to find Little Yue.
While Little Yue could indeed be found within the sect, Kaila’s idea of “finding and eliminating the Witch to restore peace to the world” was definitely out of the question.
Stepping leisurely through the illusion barrier, Sophie re-entered the interior of the abandoned theater.
The scent of blood in the theater was so thick it was almost palpable.
The already dilapidated wooden floor was now a muddy mess. Traces of various colored magical residue, charred fabric, broken weapons, and the wretched corpses of Elizabeth’s followers lay scattered across the floor, filling every corner.
Between this purge and the elite members who had died following Bennis earlier, the New Moon Sect had suffered a massive blow to its vitality.
Sorting out who harbored ill intentions and who could be won over...
Sophie never bothered with such troublesome tasks.
When a loaf of bread is past its expiration date, you just throw the whole thing away. There’s no need to pick through it to see which parts are still edible.
Besides, she had only purged a few dozen people.
In his past life, when Hiso played other games and used a Neutron Sweep to purge billions, people only praised him for his efficiency.
In stark contrast to this hellish carnage was the fanatical atmosphere permeating the air.
The surviving cultists ignored the rivers of blood on the ground. Their faces flushed with excitement, they knelt and prostrated themselves, hands clasped in prayer as they chanted in unison.
At the center of the stage.
An audience with the divine.
Acting as the New Moon Witch—and the Moon Goddess in the eyes of the sect—was Miaoyue.
She was currently barefoot, holding up the hem of her intricate and ancient ceremonial gown. Her long black hair swayed with her steps as she paced in circles on the stage, looking utterly bored.
The cultists turned toward her like sunflowers chasing the sun. When they did, she would run to the other side.
When the cultists turned to the other side, she would run back.
Even as the New Moon Cultists spun on the ground like human compasses, Miaoyue’s face showed nothing but pure impatience.
Behind her, Bishop Modi followed closely.
His hands were clasped to his chest in the highest form of prayer used by the New Moon Sect as he kept pace with Miaoyue.
Every few lines of prayer, he would stop and look up at Miaoyue’s back with an incredibly pious and expectant gaze, seemingly craving some sort of holy guidance or response.
Unfortunately, the only response he received was Miaoyue’s increasing pace and her retreating figure.
Sophie: “...”
What on earth is going on here?
Coincidentally, Miaoyue, who was spinning in circles on the stage, spotted Sophie’s return, and her eyes lit up.
“Ah!”
Miaoyue let out a short, cheerful sound.
She unhesitatingly abandoned the passionately speaking Modi as if she had seen her savior. Lifting her skirts, she leaped lightly off the stage and jogged straight toward Sophie, passing through the surrounding wreckage.
Under the awe-filled gazes of Modi and the other cultists.
This New Moon Goddess—who in their hearts was cold, supreme, and the arbiter of life and death—rushed toward Sophie like a gust of wind, and then...
She skillfully shifted her steps and ducked behind Sophie with a swift slide.
“My Saintess~~ You’re finally back~~~” Miaoyue said.
“Here.” Sophie pulled out two cookies and handed them over.
“Mmm-hmm, you really do know me best.” Miaoyue snatched the cookies with divine speed and stuffed them into her mouth, her voice muffled as she spoke. “Mph-y Shaintesh, do shomething about them...”
“Don’t talk while you’re eating. I’ll handle it.”
“Oh...”
Miaoyue gripped a cookie in one hand while the other tightly clutched the fabric of Sophie’s dark blue skirt at the waist. She hid most of her body in Sophie’s shadow, seemingly unwilling to face the cultists any longer.
“Saintess!” Modi ran over, panting for breath.
“What happened?” Sophie asked, confused. “Why is the... Goddess being so... disturbed by you all?”
Given Little Yue’s personality, it was quite a feat to annoy her to this extent.
Modi arrived gasping for air. First, he bowed deeply and fearfully toward Miaoyue, who was hiding behind Sophie, before looking up to explain.
“Saintess!”
“The remnants of Elizabeth’s faction have been completely purged! Our sect has finally returned to a state of pure, singular devotion! But the even greater miracle is—the Goddess did not leave after the purge was over! Moreover, she descended in her true physical form! By the New Moon, I haven't seen the Moon Goddess’s true form in decades.”
“After all these years, her true form has remained on our altar! What a divine grace this is! As the only remaining Bishop of the sect and her most loyal servant, I must naturally seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to convey the devotion of all believers in Solitude to the great Heavenly Mother and beseech her for the supreme blessings that will solve our sect’s current predicament!”
Sophie raised an eyebrow.
She seemed to understand now.
“And what blessings did you all ask for?”
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