So-Called Faith

Inside the dim room, a deep blue soul slowly began to float. Li Yue stood before him, watching as the spirit drifted unconsciously. After a short while, he seemed to regain a flicker of self-awareness. His murky, drifting soul gradually took on the form of a body, the lines of his face sharpening until his features became clearly visible.

He seemed to wake up further. Raising his hands, he looked at them as if recalling a series of images in his mind. He moved his body as if for the first time in an age and let out a long, slow sigh.

“This time... there was no pain at all.” His “body” drifted through the air for a few moments. Seeing Li Yue standing on the ground, he instinctively recoiled, his reaction a conditioned aversion to pain, but he quickly felt a sense of closeness.

He looked at the space coiled by the giant snake, and his pupils trembled violently. Although he had been a Great Mage in life and had held the power of a principal at a major academy, he was still so shaken that he could hardly believe the reality before him.

“This...”

“You are free... my... subject.” Li Yue thought for a moment, unsure of how to communicate with her believer. Her conversations with the professor and the people in his mental palace had all been conducted as “equals.”

“You truly... really do exist...” He descended rapidly to the floor. Although his legs had vanished due to his soul being shattered, Li Yue could still envision him kneeling.

“Is there really any meaning in having faith in something that might be nothing more than an illusion?” Li Yue murmured softly. Looking at this weary human, she found herself wanting an answer.

“We believe that the history left behind from the Twilight Era is real. Therefore... we believe that even if this world truly faces destruction, you will lead us to survival.” He lifted his head to look directly into Li Yue’s eyes. He knew he was about to die—or rather, that he was already dead—and he desperately needed an answer.

“Was all of it... real?”

“Yes, but not entirely. I am not as great as you imagine,” Li Yue paused. “The era you long for will come.”

“Do you have any other wishes? To be honest... comforting the deceased is a task better suited for ‘Soul.’” Li Yue sighed softly. “You must remember... the gods were originally good beings. It was only that disaster that changed them.”

“Forget it, you won't remember anyway. No one needs to remember them, including me.” Li Yue forced a smile. The Gates to the Underworld manifested behind her, and she slowly pushed them open. Beyond the gates lay not countless reaching arms seeking to tear a soul apart, but a serene shore where spirits waited for those they longed to see one last time.

“I have no more wishes. Since you found me, I suppose I no longer need to worry about the matters in Lobilance.” He smiled. “I hope you can complete your unfinished work. That is all.”

Li Yue stepped aside, signaling that he could enter the Underworld. His soul would merge into the River of the Dead, becoming a mere handful of fragments among countless others. Then, those fragments would eventually regroup, and a brand-new person would appear in the world.

The probability of all fragments reuniting was infinitely close to zero. Even if they did, the resulting person might not be the same individual with the same appearance. That could only happen if they could reclaim their past memories and piece their fragments back into their original shape.

In Li Yue’s long life, such a thing had never happened. It was an impossibility. Once a person died, they could never truly return to life. The same applied to gods.

“What is your name?” Li Yue asked suddenly.

“Your believer, Morgan.” At the final moment before stepping into the Underworld, he looked back to answer. Li Yue then watched as he walked without hesitation toward the ocean that swallowed all the deceased. He seemed to have no one left to wait for. He brushed past the souls standing on the shore, and before stepping into that ocean, he cast one last look back at Li Yue.

Then, his soul turned into points of starlight and merged into the ocean of the dead.

“It is over...” Li Yue sighed softly. She picked up the crown from the floor and stared at the space for a long time. For the first time, she felt that the path she walked... was one where so many people stood behind her, watching from afar. She looked elsewhere, suddenly feeling a trace of relief.

She placed the crown representing the Soul Bishop upon her head, and her appearance slowly began to change. She pushed open the door of the quiet room and summoned the cleric who had led her there.

“I require rest... I may not appear for a month or two. Leave the affairs of the Church to the monastic order. If there are matters you cannot decide, only then may you trouble me...” Li Yue whispered her instructions, and then her figure vanished into the depths of the darkness.

Later that evening, carrying several tokens in her hand, she appeared in a luxurious room. Gathered there were several people and objects she knew well, along with a gold-leafed invitation.

Another invitation... truly a collection of one bad memory after another.