Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 251

[Vol. 5] Chapter 251: Inverted Divinity and the Embryo of a God

“Inverted divinity?”

“Yes, or you could think of it as god-making.”

Sethlin spoke, then shifted her tone.

“Of course, [Blood of the Cross], as a form of magic built upon the principle of ‘subversive creation,’ certainly doesn’t follow the normal rules for the birth of deities. Instead, it takes a twisted path.”

The green-haired girl raised two fingers.

“There are two requirements for a god’s birth.”

“First, the God’s Divinity is one of the fundamental ‘concepts’ that governs the world, which has evolved over infinite time from a fundamental concept that underpins the world’s laws. This is the essence and foundation of a God. Under normal circumstances, every god must possess a unique ‘Divinity’ of their own.”

Casting a glance at Miss White Fox, who was listening attentively, Sethlin’s gaze drifted slightly above the blood pool as if noticing something, but she quickly dismissed it and continued.

“Second, the divine soul. If the Divinity is likened to a vessel that can contain liquid, then the divine soul is the content within. The stronger the concept represented by the Divinity, the greater the vessel’s capacity. As for the divine soul… although generally, the strength of these two is proportional, exceptions do exist.”

“I’ve mentioned before that the devout faith of believers closely resembles the essence of the divine soul. This faith can fill the liquid in the Divinity vessel, making the deity stronger. In extreme cases, it can even expand the vessel itself, allowing the Divinity to evolve.”

“This is why most deities spread blessings and establish religions to gather faith. After all, the drive to ‘become stronger’ is almost a biological instinct, and even gods are no exception.”

“But…”

The Goddess of Life narrowed her beautiful eyes.

“No matter how much divine soul you fill in, without a basic [Divinity] as the core at the start, it’s just a rootless existence, a scattered force that can’t gather or solidify.”

“The divine soul is a generalized form of power. You can think of it as the body in which a god moves in the physical world. From this perspective, it’s the divine soul that carries the core, the Divinity.”

“Remember, when I escaped the seal, I quickly condensed a new physical form. That was because the [Withering] gave me most of its filtered, purified divine soul energy to support the newly born [Life] Divinity.”

“Hmm…” Miss White Fox scratched the ear on top of her head.

“It’s a bit complicated, but not completely incomprehensible.”

The idea seems to be that the divine soul is the shell of a god, while the [Divinity] is the core. The shell can’t form without the core, and the core needs the shell to manifest its true function… is that it?

Sethlin nodded.

“It’s good that you understand. Now, back to what I was saying. Although both are essential parts of a complete god, the Divinity is ultimately the source. After all, you need the container first before you can start adding liquid. The reverse doesn’t work.”

“However, [Blood of the Cross], created by Exmont, overturns this rule.”

……………………………

“I see… I see!”

“If [Blood of the Cross] is magic that uses blood of sin as a temporary vessel to carry thousands of beliefs, ultimately forcing it to condense into a real Divinity… but if the structure is reversed, and the [Blood of the Devout] is used as a container, filled with near-death hatred, despair, war, and slaughter…”

“In this way, the forbidden spell [Blood of the Cross] is inverted, refined into a composite entity with no core, something that can be called a [Divine Embryo], a vessel capable of embedding an external Divinity. The forbidden spell [Blood of the Inverted Cross]… I understand now!”

In the underground laboratory, Miss Ayla Light, clad in her scholar’s uniform and now with visibly heavier dark circles, slapped the table in excitement, exclaiming in a low voice.

“This must be the true form of the [Blood Calamity] in the St. Bergen Mountains!”

On the table in front of her lay an old parchment pieced together from multiple fragments, tattered and with at least a third of the text blurred beyond recognition.

It depicted an extremely complex blood-red magic circle and was filled with densely packed annotations. Beside it was a relatively new, hand-drawn diagram that closely resembled a magic circle.

Nearly two months had passed since the fall of the Angel City and the outbreak of the Holy War, with [Dawn] having left the Holy Capital. Thanks to her strong support and assistance, Ayla’s research, which had been progressing slowly due to external circumstances, had made rapid strides.

Not only did she manage to temporarily move out of the Holy Academy and set up this private underground laboratory, but she also obtained valuable information through the secret assistance of the Cecilia family, arranged by Miss Dawn before her departure.

This ancient diagram, likely several centuries old, wasn’t something Ayla had acquired on her own. A gray-haired elderly woman had delivered it to her a few days ago.

Although the old woman looked frail and unsteady, she claimed to be a member of the Cecilia family, and indeed carried the emblem of that divine bloodline, proving her identity as one of divine descendant.

The elderly woman brought Ayla many precious “forbidden books” and research materials on faith-based magic, including this fragmented parchment, preserved in a small wooden box despite its dilapidated state.

Although Ayla found it somewhat absurd and hard to believe that one of the three divine bloodline families would so actively support her in uncovering secrets of the Goddess Church, she had no choice but to press forward with gratitude and wonder.

After all, Miss Dawn had assured her that the Cecilia family would assist her, and that had proven true. Ayla could only marvel at Miss Dawn’s far-reaching influence while focusing on her research with appreciation.

With the additional information and support, Ayla came to realize something crucial. She was not the first scholar to delve into the deeper essence of faith-based magic. Many before her had either abandoned their work due to external pressure or simply vanished from the world. However, some of their findings had been secretly preserved by a high-ranking member of the Cecilia family.

After carefully reconstructing the contents of this ancient diagram and consulting other research materials on faith-based magic, Ayla arrived at her previous conclusion.

She compared it again with the original sketch of the [Blood Calamity] ritual that Miss Dawn had drawn for her before departing, pondering thoughtfully.

“Hmm… let’s go over it from the beginning. According to what’s written here, the forbidden spell [Blood of the Cross] is a dark art that uses the blood of a ‘rebellious sinner’ to create a vessel that gathers devout faith…”

“If this conclusion aligns with my previous hypothesis that the essence of faith-based magic is to use faith as a medium, exchanging spiritual power for magical energy…”

“Then is there some close connection between [Blood of the Cross] and faith-based magic?”

The Lightborn Tribe girl paced back and forth by the lab table, murmuring to herself.

“Let’s take a bold guess: what if faith-based magic is indeed secretly driven by [Blood of the Cross], a magic designed to absorb the power of faith…”

“So, the reason faith-based magic failed in the St. Bergen Mountain was because a similar but opposing, even more powerful forbidden spell temporarily overshadowed and suppressed the ‘upright position’. This prevented believers in that area from using faith-based magic… are there any flaws in this theory?”

After running through the logic several times, Ayla still couldn’t find a more plausible explanation.

“It fits logically… but the biggest problem is the lack of concrete evidence.”

Ultimately, Ayla had never witnessed the operation of the so-called [Blood of the Cross] firsthand, nor had she discovered how this magic could simultaneously encompass nearly the entire world, allowing followers of the Goddess Church to freely use faith-based magic no matter where they were. While this didn’t necessarily invalidate her theory, it left her earlier speculations on unstable ground.

However, if she could locate another area where faith-based magic had also previously failed and investigate the differences between that region and a normal one, she might be able to uncover the truth.

With this thought, Miss Ayla turned her gaze to the other side of the lab table, where a collection of documents from the Cecilia family lay. These contained selected intelligence reports they deemed worth examining. She picked up the top document—a sealed, classified letter marked “Top Secret.”

This was an order from Pope August Lambert himself, covertly intercepted by a high-level spy placed by the Cecilia family and ultimately delivered into Ayla’s hands.

“The Lambert family… and the [Holy Spirit Trail]…”

She reached into her lab coat, touching something hidden against her chest. Her sapphire-like eyes grew resolute.

“It seems it’s necessary to take a risk.”