Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 250

[Vol. 5] Chapter 250: Upright and Inverted

After using a little magic to allow the already exhausted Eudora to temporarily recover through a state of sleep and disguise herself back into a human form, Violet handed her over to Xiao Guang for care and turned to approach Sethlin, who was actively investigating the edge of the blood pool.

After the recent shock and a series of changes, the few vampires whose inner frenzy had been ignited by the will of slaughter had long since passed out after self-harming together.

After all, no matter how crazy they became, the hard power difference with the Goddess of Life was evident. Even if all their teeth were broken, it was impossible for them to break free from their bonds.

Though their physical condition as vampires suggested they shouldn’t just drop dead like that, being caught up in a conflict of divine level, even the residual effects of a momentary clash were enough to overwhelm them.

Putting aside the physical injuries, the psychological trauma would likely take a long time to recover from, and it remained uncertain whether there would be any lasting effects.

The power of the gods was so terrifying to mortals, even slight movements could lead to their destruction.

“Sethlin, how is the situation?”

Hearing the voice, the goddess, using her divine envoy’s body, turned her head to glance at Miss White Fox approaching from behind and nodded slightly.

Then, with her fingers that had become as delicate and fair as a noble lady’s under the nurturing of life’s divine power, she pointed to the ground she was examining.

“Look here, these patterns. Do you feel anything familiar?”

“Hmm…”

Squatting down, Violet focused intently on the observation.

Only upon getting closer could she see that the intricate engravings carved around the blood pool almost completely surrounded the edge of the pool, even extending downward into the inner walls and depths, forming a massive whole.

“I see, this is some kind of magical formation with a special purpose, right? It should be related to the function of the blood pool itself?”

“Yes, Violet, in fact, you have seen this magic formation before.”

With no outsiders present, the goddess directly referred to the priestess by her true name and waved her hand.

The liquid in the blood pool, which had turned into colorless water, along with the remnants of the destroyed statues, all rose into the air, compressing and condensing into a giant water sphere floating above the heads of the two women.

As a result, the appearance of the bottom of the blood pool was finally revealed to Miss White Fox.

What lay beneath was far more intricate and complex than the patterns on the surface, almost completely filling the entire round bottom of the pool with a massive engraving. Countless crimson crosses were plunged into the ground, and along with some of the pool walls and outer sides, they collectively formed some kind of bizarre special pattern.

“Eh? This is…”

A hint of realization crept into the voice of the white fox girl leaking from beneath her mask.

Wasn’t this the kind of blood-red marking that was guarded by demons in the [Wall of Heaven] St. Bergen Mountains?

At that time, it was these magic formations that created blood-red pillars shooting into the sky, ultimately converging into the cruel magic known as [Blood of the Inverted Cross].

As expected, [Slaughter] and some vampires had not given up and were still conducting similar rituals afterward.

No, wait.

Sethlin’s understanding of this event came entirely from Theresa’s perspective, and the latter was left behind in the central camp at the time, having not witnessed the rituals in the mountains with her own eyes.

In other words, Sethlin’s mention of having “seen” it did not refer to the events in the St. Bergen Mountains.

As this thought crossed her mind, Violet quickly reacted.

Perhaps due to the differences in engraving methods, the magic formation here appeared to be more three-dimensional compared to the one in the St. Bergen Mountains. From this, the white fox girl deduced an extremely important fact.

Or rather, she had a suspicion, but had never been able to confirm it.

The engraving of this [Blood of the Inverted Cross] was the same as the blood-red magic that had concealed the “Command Post” deep underground in the [Holy Spirit Trail] forest, where the [Sinner] was sacrificed…

…it was just inverted.

“Is that so…!”

It was as if she had finally illuminated the most critical piece of the puzzle. The scene before her suddenly became clear.

The forbidden magic [Blood of the Inverted Cross] was called that not just because of its effects. The term “Inverted” referred literally to reversal.

In the [Holy Spirit Trail] forest, those sacrificed were sinners who disrespected the gods, so the blood from the St. Bergen Mountains and here was drawn from devout believers.

Moreover, the order of the engravings, the shape of the sacrificial cross, if all of these were inverted…

“Is it truly… [Blood of the Cross]?”

Then its effects would be related to [Blood of the Inverted Cross]…

“[Blood of the Cross]… what a nostalgic name.”

Hearing such a wistful tone from the green-haired girl, Violet couldn’t help but turn her head slightly.

“Did Sethlin know about this kind of magic?”

“To say I know would be accurate. It seems you’ve noticed it too, Violet.”

Saying this, the goddess gracefully leaped down, heading straight to the pool bottom, which was several meters deep, with Violet closely following.

Stepping on the uneven bottom due to the engravings, Sethlin placed her hand on one of the blood tree roots hanging at the edge and explained gently.

“The last time I saw such a scene through Theresa’s eyes, I thought it was a coincidence or resemblance. After all, such things theoretically shouldn’t appear in this era. But since even inverted magic has emerged, it seems it’s not a coincidence.”

“Sluthel couldn’t possibly have obtained this technique… It should be the work of those vampires. Indeed, this race has quite a connection to that guy.”

“That guy? Which guy?”

“Don’t rush. Let me explain slowly.”

The goddess shook her head helplessly, no longer playing the guessing game.

“Violet, have you heard the name [Exmont]?”

A slight pause came over her as the white fox quickly recalled information a certain mouse had mentioned to her, and the corresponding title slipped from her lips.

“The God of Subversion and Paradox?”

Sethlin turned her head, slightly surprised.

“Oh? You actually know it? It seems you’ve been exploring various aspects of mythological information during this time. Well done, that saves me the trouble of explaining in detail.”

Sethlin nodded.

“Indeed, [Exmont], the God of Subversion and Paradox, is a new-generation deity of the neutral faction. Of course, when I say ‘new-generation,’ it’s only in comparison to ancient deities like Seth, who has existed for tens of thousands of years. If he hasn’t fallen yet, he’s probably over ten thousand years old now.

“This deity… how should I put it? He is quite special.”

“The principle represented by the God of Subversion and Paradox is [Creation], but it differs from true [Creation] in a significant way. His powers can only target existing things and phenomena, producing a “subversive creation” that is entirely different from the original.”

“Like a mirror can only reflect objects that actually exist, Exmont’s powers extract reflections and rewrite them according to his own desires, but he cannot create entirely new things out of nothing… It’s a strange kind of principle, I suppose.”

“It’s not a particularly broad concept of power, so the rank of the [God of Subversion and Paradox] isn’t very high. When I last saw him, over three hundred years ago, before Seth was sealed, he was probably still at the mid-level deity, a full two tiers below the main gods of order.

“As long as Exmont’s divinity hasn’t evolved, even in my split form now, I would still be stronger than him, so he can’t be considered a deity particularly skilled in combat.”

“However, that said, ‘subversive creation’ is, in a sense, a very magical or even dangerous principle.”

“Through this power, Exmont can create a variety of incredible and absurd creations, even using the powers of other deities as templates to give birth to new ‘Inverted Laws’.”

“Although Exmont has no intention of occupying any territory or forming an army, due to the uniqueness of his principle, over time, he began to gather more and more inverted creations under his command that even the gods found strange, some of which even broke their limits and reached the realm of divinity.”

“This behavior aroused the dissatisfaction and wariness of the gods, leading to Exmont being warned and forbidden from continuing to create beings that defied the laws of the world. Otherwise, he would face a united offensive.”

“Under pressure, he had to stop the ‘experiments’ and shift his main focus to the research of magic and technology that would be harmless as long as it was not used.”

“The forbidden spell [Blood of the Cross] was born in such an environment.”

Seeing Sethlin pause meaningfully, Violet looked down at the complex magic circle beneath her feet, her expression dawning with realization.

“So this thing is actually an ancient technology created by that [God of Subversion and Paradox], further modified and inverted by certain individuals today?”

“No wonder you said it shouldn’t appear in the current era… By the way, what is the actual effect of this magic? What changes occur after inversion?”

The green-haired girl nodded gravely, a brief glimmer of light flashing in her azure eyes as she said,

“As for this inverted state, I have not personally witnessed its activation effect, so I cannot draw a definitive conclusion. However, if the function of [Blood of the Cross] has not changed, there will only be one result…”

“…to create the non-existent [Inverted Divinity].”