A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

The Council’s proceedings did not require complex rituals. They would simply gather to contemplate the Great Ascetic’s teachings, offer worship to the celestial deities and golden age spirits, deliver a brief financial report alongside regional updates, outline major and minor agenda items including doctrinal issues, and then the official Council would commence.

After the worship concluded, the clerics assembled partook of baked rice cakes and ruddy brewed spirits that had entirely supplanted ancient burnt offerings and sacrificial rites, calmly awaiting the Council’s start.

Next came reports on the Church headquarters’ approximate budgetary expenditures and actual spending status. Throughout these financial disclosures, incisive inquiries and responses flew, yet neither side betrayed the slightest agitation or unease – simply dispassionate statements and clarifications.

Only once these preliminary matters concluded did the various issues and agenda items get addressed. And finally, the Paladin contingent’s turn to speak arrived – the moment many attending clerics in Toriento Bishopric had awaited with mixed trepidation and anticipation.

Despite the palpable pressures of scrutiny and discomfort, Sophia ascended the dais with serene composure. Even after Cardinal Andrea’s opening statement, all eyes and ears present remained riveted upon her.

Surveying the assembly from the dais with a tranquil air, Sophia did not consider how to deliver her intended words persuasively. Instead, she contemplated her forthcoming course of action.

“Before we discuss the agenda, there is something I must address first.”

If she wished to handle these proceedings more meticulously and decisively, the root cause behind this agenda’s emergence required clear accountability assigned.

For the crux precipitating these very agenda items was ultimately the Aghno incident. An event Sophia could not absolve herself of responsibility for.

Without her Immovable Bright King Heart Technique’s light, the Archfiend drifting beyond the Domain Horizon would have held no interest in this realm, never issuing his declaration of war nor unleashing the miasma.

Granted, without that incident, humanity may never have detected the Archfiend’s existence beyond that Domain Horizon until he succeeded in threatening their very survival. So from that perspective, one could argue it proved fortunate.

Yet such fortuitous outcomes did not justify the sacrifices and suffering humanity endured. While others may disagree, Sophia felt she must acknowledge her responsibility for those events.

“You all surely recall the day the miasma swept across the continent, erupting like a wildfire. Some among you may have even witnessed its manifestation firsthand.”

Her responsibility extended further. Had her capabilities been slightly greater when the miasma spread, had she reacted more prudently, she could have reduced its dissemination across the continent even more.

If even one other wielded abilities like hers that day, the devastation might have been avoided entirely.

Sophia laid bare each self-recriminating reflection: the Archfiend breaching the Domain Horizon, her inadequate response to the continent-spanning miasma, every subsequent consideration and conception – especially regarding the Immovable Bright King Heart Technique.

Having voiced all her pent-up words, she calmly awaited reactions. Condemnations or rebukes could follow – it would not be unwarranted for someone to lay full blame upon her, however unfair.

Sure enough, the assembled clerics began murmuring amongst themselves after Sophia’s confession. Cardinal Andrea covered his face, while Hildegard looked aghast. Toriento’s Bishop Giovanni di Salieri simply observed the chambers with an inscrutable expression.

Suddenly, one among them rose to request the floor. Recognizing his face, Sophia’s eyes glinted – Bishop Johannes Vettel of Strasbourg.

“Beloved brothers and sisters. Before addressing Sister Sophia de Chazelle’s confession today, I have something to say first.”

Surveying the surroundings, Bishop Johannes recalled past memories. When a demon infiltrated Strasbourg, he had gravely underestimated the threat and the Paladins’ dedication – a mistake that could have plunged Strasbourg into crisis.

He had undergone scathing self-reflection and repentance over that error, catalyzing inner growth and enhanced virtue. This incident spurred his rapid development, ultimately cultivating luminous force befitting a bishop – a blessing born of adversity.

Yet if Sophia had not consoled and emboldened him when he trembled before that demon’s malign aura, what might have become of him?

“Sister Sophia de Chazelle seems to believe clearly assigning accountability must precede further discussions. However, I disagree. Is not our more pressing concern determining our current course of action?”
“I concur.”
“Seconded.”

Bishops Agnès Lefebvre of Saint-Manieu Convent and Giovanni di Salieri of Toriento Bishopric voiced agreement with Bishop Johannes’ stance. Catching Sophia’s gaze, Bishop Agnès playfully winked while shrugging – an impish, mischievous gesture that prompted Sophia’s brow to twitch slightly.

Emboldened by their support, Bishop Johannes continued:

“Then let us proceed to more vital, pragmatic matters. When we attempted purifying the miasma with the luminous force, this emanation proved impervious to ordinary luminescence unlike typical demonic miasma. It possessed a tenacity befitting its pernicious malignance. However, on the day the miasma first manifested, we sensed a significant portion dissipating for some reason. Thanks to that, the subsequent continent-spanning miasma amounted to a mere fraction compared to our initial observations.”

As he spoke, more attending clerics nodded in accordance. Especially among those deeply steeped in luminous force cultivation, none failed to perceive Bishop Johannes’ words. Did this not underlie their grave reactions to these very proceedings?

“So I must ask you, Sister Chazelle. Was it you who dispelled that miasma on that day?”

Cutting to the crux, Bishop Johannes’ question prompted Sophia to nod in simple affirmation:
“Indeed.”

Her reply immediately sparked a clamorous uproar across the chambers, akin to a marketplace’s din.

Frankly, for the clergy assembled here, more pressing than assigning blame was desperately seeking a weapon to counter the inexorable malignance they had confronted – a duty and obligation they could not shirk.

So their heightened sensitivity towards the light capable of dispelling the miasma seemed only natural.

“Then allow me to inquire: that light which enabled you to eradicate the Archfiend’s miasma in Aghno – is it a power we too can attain through prescribed cultivation?”
“Certainly. This is not some miraculous special awakening, but merely one property of the light naturally acquired through spiritual practice.”

The chambers’ clamor intensified. If Sophia spoke truthfully, this represented a pivotal revelation shaping the clergy’s future path.

“Forgive me, but could you allow us to experience that light once?”

A trembling nun priest from some remote region entreated Sophia. As all eyes – nuns, monks, priests, bishops, cardinals – converged upon her, including those of Bishops Agnès Lefebvre, Johannes Vettel, Giovanni di Salieri, Hildegard Ritter von Wolfstein and Ezio Emmanuele, Sophia sighed deeply in response to the nun’s request and their collective expectations.

Calmly settling her mind into tranquil placidity, purging all turbidity until her intentions crystallized into profound stillness:

‘All is impermanent, eternity non-existent. Neither self nor other, neither form nor void. Amidst absolute nothingness dwells the unmoving singular mind – this is known as the Immovable Bright King Mind.’

The luminous force manifested from one’s virtue and cultivated merits, directly reflecting the mind’s state. So this transformation manifested instantaneously:

Shortly after, a radiant glow suffused with golden and jadeite hues pulsed forth, undulating resplendently from Sophia’s being.