Olivia didn't actually have any doubts about the church's victory. After all, she had more or less guessed the outcome the moment she entered the cathedral and saw everyone's expressions.
People who had failed wouldn't have such relaxed looks on their faces.
What she actually cared about was Rose's personal situation.
After thinking it over, Olivia decided to ask directly.
"It's like this: how is that little girl who was targeted by Dreamland Paradise doing now? She gave me those special eyes that allowed me to control King's Domain; I'm quite grateful to her."
"Her condition is a bit peculiar." A subtle look appeared in Julia's eyes.
She was someone who specialized in studying forbidden artifacts, and her understanding of them was far deeper than anyone else's.
Yet even so, Rose's situation still seemed exceptionally strange to her.
She had never seen such a forbidden artifact... Yes, in her eyes, Rose was a forbidden artifact.
Even if Rose had a human form, and even if Rose was essentially a fusion of a human and a forbidden artifact, in Julia's view, Rose was still a complete forbidden artifact, possessing all the characteristics one should have.
At most, she was just slightly more special than an ordinary forbidden artifact.
Faced with such a unique forbidden artifact, Julia's interest had reached an unprecedented peak. She wished she could place Rose right in front of her to tinker with and study properly.
But unfortunately, she couldn't do that.
Julia sighed and said to Olivia, "She's fine. We've already snatched her back from Dreamland Paradise. Of course, this was also because her own resistance was persistent enough that she wasn't completely taken away by them.
"We brought her back and have already sent her to the church headquarters.
"Her situation is too special; she couldn't be kept in a place like Sunlight Cathedral. She had to go back to the headquarters.
"Furthermore, she's currently a bit uncontrolled. Even I don't know what state she's in now. We could only seal her within a specific area to avoid affecting others.
"This isn't imprisonment. As long as she can control herself, we will let her out, but right now she can't even communicate with us.
"Although Dreamland Paradise didn't capture her, they caused significant problems for her mental state.
"We can only arrange for people to contact her from time to time to understand her mental state, and then conduct related research to see if we can help her.
"Do you want to go see her?"
This was the reason Julia currently couldn't study Rose; her state was very wrong.
Of course, even if Rose's state were normal, she couldn't forcibly conduct research; she would need to seek the other party's consent.
This was how she and the church had always operated.
"I can go see her?" Olivia was somewhat surprised by this.
Since Julia said Rose was currently at the church headquarters, wouldn't that mean she could go there directly?
In her eyes, the church headquarters had always been shrouded in mystery. After all, it was the headquarters; ordinary people, even clergy, generally didn't have the qualifications to enter.
Julia said with a smile, "Of course you can see her. If you want to go, I can take you now. Everything here is mostly handled anyway."
"I want to go," Olivia replied without hesitation.
"Then come with me."
Julia turned around and walked toward a nearby area, and Olivia immediately followed.
The two of them, one after the other, passed through the corridors and eventually arrived inside a chapel.
Directly at the front of the chapel, a statue stood tall—it was the statue representing the Radiant Goddess!
Facing this statue, Julia's expression became much more respectful. She then whispered, "To enter the church headquarters, the statue of the Goddess is indispensable.
"We only need to face the statue of the Goddess and speak the corresponding prayer in Sylvan Runes.
"Of course, there's no need to worry about heretics entering the headquarters this way. Only those whose identities as members of the church are confirmed can receive a response.
"As for whether a person belongs to the church or not, the Goddess makes her own judgment.
"Everything is predestined in the dark.
"Of course, those we actively bring to the headquarters are exceptions; they naturally cannot receive a response on their own."
Hearing Julia say this, Olivia felt inexplicably guilty. She didn't know if she counted as someone recognized by the Goddess, since she didn't seem to believe in anyone...
"May the Radiant Light be eternal, may beauty last forever, may sins be eliminated, may evil perish. Great Radiant Goddess, your believer implores you to open the gateway to the hall where we may behold you!"
As Julia spoke these words in Sylvan Runes, brilliant points of light emerged before her eyes, quickly condensing and combining to transform into a magnificent portal.
"Let's go."
Seeing the portal appear, Julia smiled slightly and immediately walked into it.
Olivia took a deep breath and followed.
As she passed through the portal, Olivia's sensation was exceptionally strange. She felt as if she wasn't walking through a door, but rather through an incredibly peculiar and profound passage.
The passage didn't seem short; she felt as if she had walked inside it for a very long time before stepping out. Yet, she had no actual memory of walking in a passage, only the feeling that she had stepped across the threshold and was already in another place.
Looking up, what appeared before her eyes was a vast, boundless sky.
Blue sky and white clouds, incredibly clear.
Upon the infinite earth, the grass was lush and flowers were in full bloom, like an endless sea of blossoms stretching to the edge of her vision.
One floating island after another hung in the void, their numbers so great that it was impossible to count them all at once.
On those floating islands, every single one shared a unified style—a style that was holy, grand, magnificent, and towering!
This was the headquarters of the Radiant Light Church? A place existing within an alternate space?
To be honest, the scene presented before her was different from what Olivia had expected. She knew the church headquarters certainly wouldn't be simple, but this was far beyond simple.
Was this just an alternate space?
This was entirely a complete world!
Filled with wonder, Olivia then looked at Julia beside her.
Since the church headquarters were all on floating islands, how was she supposed to get up there? She didn't know how to fly.
Seeing Olivia looking at her, Julia said with a smile, "When you have the Goddess in your heart and carry a heart of piety, you can temporarily master the ability of flight to fly up."
Question marks immediately popped up over Olivia's head.
Rate on N.U.
