Chapter 25: Goddess Revelation
Following the activation of the "play" by system, everyone watched in astonishment as the statue of the goddess began to glow with an otherworldly radiance.
This radiance then burst forth from the statue of the goddess and engulfed the entire hall, especially me, who was the real recipient of it.
The "divine energy of the goddess" that flooded my body bathed me in a warm golden light and then carried me off into the air.
With excitement and fear, everyone saw a strange, powerful energy coursing through my body as I was lifted off the ground, my small feet leaving the soft red carpet.
Instantly, as my body rose higher and higher, glistening with the same divine light that surrounded the goddess statue, I opened my eyes, which had turned completely white and were giving off a tyrannical oppression to anyone who dared to look into them.
"Impossible!"
"It's the goddess! The goddess has descended in the holy son."
People's shocked exclamations reached my ears, and I smiled to myself.
"Cardinal, are you looking at that?"
"Yes, yes, Archbishop, it's a miracle! a miracle!"
"Can such a thing even be generated from an aura?"
"This is not something a human can have; it is the divine energy of the goddess."
"It's unbelievable."
It was then that my body stopped ascending further, and at the same time,
Boom~!
A huge amount of divine energy burst forth from my body, which caused a terrible, overwhelming pressure to be released all around me, causing everything else to be blown away in response to its overbearing might.
Even the cardinal with his "Aura Domain" of supreme rank wasn't able to resist the impact for a second.
"It's unfathomable." and leaving these two words behind, he too was then blown away by the pressure like everyone else.
Bang!
The magical lights embedded in the hall shattered with a blast one after another after getting overloaded with extreme light energy.
With me at its centre, the wind blew more tyrannically than a tornado, and the candle flame in front of the statue flickered in the fierce wind and intense pressure.
Nevertheless, rather than fizzle out, it grew brighter and brighter until it burst into a regal flame, as if in homage to the goddess's divine energy that had enfolded my entire being.
As the divine energy continued to emanate from my body, slowly but surely, the entire church was filled with a beautiful spirit of radiant energy that caused the people inside to gasp and fall to their knees in awe of the goddess.
The Cardinal was also on his knees at the time, with tears running down his face as he basked in the divine light coming from me. His heart was full of joy and wonder.
But the divine energy didn't stop there; it escaped the cathedral's defences and spread throughout the Imperial city, eventually reaching the royal palace and alerting the guards and the king with its majestic presence, who then couldn't help but look with confusion, shock, horror, and awe in the direction of the cathedral.
Everything happened very quickly, and the whole process took only half a minute at most before the divine energy began to retreat back into the cathedral, and then into my body that was still floating in the air.
Which caused everyone in the city to finally let out the breath they had been holding for such a long time and rise back up off the ground from where they had been kneeling.
Even though I was aware that the system had created it artificially, I couldn't help but be in awe of the scene this divine energy had produced.
Damn!
'B*stard system, you're the best copycat.'
While I was praising my system in my mind for its amazing job, the divine energy was being continuously absorbed by my body, which was still glowing with the remnants of it.
Last but not least, just as the divine energy was about to be completely absorbed into my body, I glanced around the room and noticed that everyone was still in awe of the event that was taking place in front of them.
This gave me confidence that my plan was working great, and that these people would never forget this moment for the rest of their lives.
So, with a happy smile on my face, I closed my white eyes and said in my mind,
'System, end it.'
[Ending the play]
[Taking back the divine energy]
[Play ended]
Then, like a robot whose power source had been suddenly cut off, my eyes rolled back in my head, and my body fell downward.
"Luke!"
As was to be expected, my mother was the first to react to my situation, screaming and smashing the ground before leaping over to me and catching my falling body in her arms.
'I know I could trust you, mother.'
When I felt my mother's embrace and smelled that familiar fragrance, a smile spread across my face, and my awareness began to fade.
With the last bit of sense I had left, I made sure that everyone else in the hall had also acted the same way, as they were also rushing towards me.
"Holy Son!"
* * * * * * * * * *
『To fool others, one must fool oneself first.』
That was why, I had requested for my system to really render me unconscious while simultaneously giving the appearance that I lost consciousness as a result of using an excessive amount of the goddess's divine energy, which drained too much of my mental power.
And now, because of this, I am unaware of how much time has passed since I became unconscious.
Anyway, I was prepared with a backup, so that was not a concern.
'System, show me the recording in fast forward as to what happened since then.'
[Playing the recording]
[...]
A few minutes later,
[Recording ended]
After watching the recording in its entirety, I was able to get an overall understanding of the events that took place during the preceding half an hour.
Opening my eyes, a white, unfamiliar ceiling appeared before my eyes, and I felt my hand being immobile.
However, I didn't need to know the reason because I already knew it was my mother who was holding my hands and that I was lying on the cathedral's infirmary bed.
"Baby! You woke up!"
My mother shouted the moment she felt my hands move and saw me opening my eyes.
"Thank God you're okay."
She instantly lifted me from the bed and hugged me in her arms as she burst into tears and started crying while burying my head in her breasts.
Watching my mother cry like this, I really felt a deep sense of guilt for making her so worried, but I really couldn't do anything about it except for rubbing her back with my small hands and trying to comfort her.
"Hey! Mom, don't cry; it's okay"
Thankfully, she soon stopped crying, pulled me back from her hug, rubbed my face, and then started checking my body for any signs of injury.
"You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?"
"No, mom, I'm not." I spoke up and wiped the tears from her cheeks with my little hands.
Then, stretching my neck upward, I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Muah~♥ !
Which helped her a great deal, as she soon got relaxed and then began showering me with kisses in response.
Muah~♥ ! Muah~ ♥ ! Kiss ~ ♥ !
From my lips to my cheeks to my forehead and neck, she covered my whole face in her pink lipstick.
"You scared the living daylights out of this poor mother, you little rascal. If you hadn't woken up, I swear I would have attacked this church."
She spoke in a concerned and reprimanding tone, then hugged me again, but I had a cold sweat running down my back after hearing her words.
Phew~!
'Thank God the system didn't keep me unconscious for long.'
'Looks like I need to be careful, and keep the existence of my mother the first thing on my mind before doing such stunts in the future.'
These thoughts remained in my mind, because I knew I couldn't say them out loud or it would not end well for me.
It was then, when my mother was relieving her stress by hugging me in her arms and I was lost in my thoughts while comfortably lying in this fluffy heaven.
Click!
The doorknob turned, and the gate to the room opened.
"Holy son!"
Before even looking, I could tell it was the cardinal, who, after yelling in surprise, instantly rushed towards my bed.
"Thank Go..."
"Stop!"
However, before he could even come close to my bed and complete his words, he was stopped by my mother, who, after putting me back on the bed, stood in front of the cardinal and blocked his way.
"Don't you dare come any closer to my son... You guys said that nothing would happen to my son, but the moment he became the holy son, he was already in the hospital bed a minute later. Didn't you say he wouldn't be hurt in any way, then what now?"
Her tone was icy, and by the time she finished speaking, her aura was already blazing to warn the Cardinal not to move an inch.
She was aware that her rank as a Peak Stage Sword Master was nothing more than a candle flame in comparison to the cardinal's strength, which was like a hurricane, but I knew that she was prepared to fight him to the death the moment he dared to take even the smallest step forward.
There were no words to describe my emotions after watching my mother be so protective of me. I just felt blessed to have her in my life.
"That Duchess..." The cardinal was also ashamed after hearing her words because what she said was indeed true, and now that he wasn't in his crazy state, he understood her worries.
So, under the unbelievable gaze of the archbishop and other people who also came inside the room after hearing the commotion, the cardinal bowed his head, and
".... I apologise, duchess; I didn't think things would reach such a point." He apologised to my mother.
"Whoah!"
"Impossible!"
There was an uproar as onlookers, taken aback by the sight, gaped and then quickly closed their mouths again.
Even I was a little surprised that the cardinal would be so decisive and directly apologise, but looking at the situation and noticing my mother finally calming down, I put aside the surprise, opened my mouth, and explained.
"Really, mom, I am not hurt at all, and actually, what I got wasn't harmful to me at all but was beneficial."
"Really?"
"Yes, believe me, I will give you a proper explanation later, because now there's actually something more important."
"What is it? For me, no matter what, not even your strength or anything else, is more important to me than you."
"Mom~ ♥"
"Son~ ♥"
Ahem! Ahem!
Tsk!
My mother and I simultaneously clicked our tongues, which caused the cardinal's eyebrows to twitch with a look of incredulity.
Anyway, we were back to normal pretty quickly because we both realised that the situation wasn't appropriate for some mother-son time given there were so many people here.
Then, after the cardinal confirmed that my health was okay, he asked with an anticipating look:
"Holy son, can you now tell me that important thing?"
"You already know what it is."
"It was a revelation?"
"Revelation?" My mother asked with a surprised look on her face.
"Yes, it was indeed a revelation."
Hearing me confirm the Cardinal's words, there was an ecstatic look on everyone's faces, and no one even dared doubt me at the moment, because today they saw something that could not be explained with any other explanation.
In addition, I was already the owner of the messenger mark, making my claim 100% true to them.
"What was it, holy son?" The Cardinal asked in a hurry.
"That..." I spoke, hesitated, and signalled the Cardinal with my eyes, which he immediately understood.
Then, without even wasting a moment, he shouted.
"Everyone get out."
"This.... Okay."
Although everyone was a little reluctant, they also knew that they really weren't so eligible to know some things.
Anyway, their purpose was over, so there was no need to keep them here anymore.
Now, I know for a fact that the news of the goddess's revelation will spread like wildfire in the kingdom after I am officially announced as the holy son.
Which was also the purpose of the cardinal, because such a thing will only help the church win the trust of the people, and no matter how cazy he was, he also understands the importance of belief to a religion.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed me to reveal such a thing in front of so many people.
Soon, only my mother, me, the cardinal, and the archbishop were left in the room, when the cardinal asked.
"Can you now freely speak, Holy Son?"
"Yes," I took a deep breath, then, I spoke with a grim expression on my face:
"The future saintess and our church of light are in danger."
"What?!"
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Author's note:
Hello, everyone, I wanted to give you an update.
My novel has been contracted by Meganovel.com, so I will be unable to upload it here anymore.
So, if you like my novel and want to continue reading it, please search it on meganovel, or go to the link below, I have already updated more chapters there.
https://www.meganovel.com/books/Villain-steal-the-Heroines_31000392371
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Thank you for all your support. <3