Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 322

[Vol. 5] Chapter 322: The Heart of the Puppet

As the distant divine consciousness slowly withdrew, Violet opened her eyes.

“The [Tree of Creation] and the [River of Time]… I wonder if there’s still a chance to see them again.”

The scene remained the same, a high-tech underground base. Sitting atop a mechanical throne, puppet girl Number Zero nodded in acknowledgment to her as she returned from beyond time.

“It seems that everything has been answered.”

“…Yes,” Violet replied. “Although the future is filled with uncertainty and can hardly be called the best choice, I believe this might be the future the people of the Holy Empire truly long for. A choice born from their own will, not one dictated by the gods.”

Number Zero nodded again, rising from the mechanical throne she had never left. Her gradient golden hair cascaded down like an inverted waterfall, while cables detached from her body one by one, like chains breaking free to release a prisoner back into freedom.

“With this, all the Divine Network Series of magical puppets have fulfilled the mission left by [Father]. Faith-based magic… will likely never appear again.”

Sensing the puppet girl’s emotions, Violet smiled faintly.

“Are you lost?”

Number Zero neither denied nor tried to hide it.

“Yes, I am… an anomaly among tens of thousands of sisters of various models, the only one possessing emotion. Magical puppets are meant to obey their creators’ commands absolutely, devoid of hesitation or doubt. Yet in the previous timeline, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering…”

“When will this kind of life come to an end?”

“[Father] disappeared 300 years ago, and I followed the orders he left behind, maintaining the operations of the [Divine Network] to the best of my ability. Even after [Mother] completely vanished and that day should have been deemed the failure of my mission, I chose to carry on.

“Because [Father] never clearly instructed us, what should we do if the mission fails? Where should we go?”

“And so I continued my work in vain, much like how Mr. Minchen deceived himself into believing Cheese Mochi could be resurrected. I also hoped that when the Divinity] was finally formed, it would grant me a new direction, freeing me from this endless cage.”

“But now that I’ve truly lost my purpose and mission, my heart feels aimless…”

The puppet girl turned her vacant gaze toward the priestess, but within her eyes flickered a hint of hope.

“Miss Violet, as the most powerful being recorded in the Divine Network, could you become my new master? Please tell me what the next mission for [Divine Network Final Form Unit 0] should be… can you?”

Violet didn’t respond immediately.

It was a tempting proposal.

But it also came with a heavy responsibility.

The number of puppets left behind by Vast Dream reached tens of thousands, a scale that required immense oversight. Without control or direction, they could very well cause new chaos. Yet, if properly guided, they could be an exceptionally powerful and efficient force.

History had already been altered.

The power of the [Sword of Origin] had severed the River of Time, redirecting the faith twisted by Vast Dream back onto its original path.

Thus, in the corrected timeline, faith-based magic no longer appeared in the world.

But the decentralization of time was intricate and deeply interconnected. If Violet altered too much of the past, the present reality could transform into something entirely unrecognizable. For this reason, she made only subtle adjustments to history.

In the current timeline, Saintess Ottilina Summerfield, the Sixth Bright Light Saintess, perished alongside the incarnation of Corruption in battle. The Third Demon War still erupted.

However, this time, the tide of war was not turned by the sudden emergence of faith-based magic, but rather by the Seventh Bright Light Saintess, who returned years later to inherit the real [Crownless Crown].

Guided by the Primordial Light, which came from an unseen realm, the Bright Light Saintess, Received the aid of power and did not yield to the [Corruption]. That power from beyond time sustained her until the [Heresy Inquisition] and the Angel named “Wing” arrived.

Although she ultimately perished, the [Crownless Crown] was not seized by the demons, and this became the turning point that changed everything.

After the Third Demon War was resolved, the Holy Order, a governing body originally formed to sustain the war effort, gradually evolved into the new ruling class of the Holy Empire. However, this transformation was not achieved through suppression or the advantages of faith-based magic but through the abdication of the Seventh Bright Light Saintess.

The Three Saintesses voluntarily stepped down from the ruling class of the Holy Empire, becoming instead noble symbols of faith and ultimate power.

One governed and the other served as a spiritual guide. These two distinct yet equally supreme structures of the Holy Empire were thus clearly separated, each fulfilling its own mission.

Because faith-based magic never emerged, scholars of the Holy Empire, adapting to the times after the Third Demon War, dedicated themselves to the study of Holy Light Magic, a pure derivative of light-based magic. This effort branched out into countless applications and explorations.

This time, no one would obstruct their pursuit of truth.

Holy Light Magic replaced the original faith-based magic. Although it could not be universally applied to everyone and required a foundation of individual aptitude, it still served to strengthen the Holy Empire’s military forces and brought prosperity to countless households.

Faith-based magic… was never an indispensable, irreplaceable necessity. In the end, it was merely a reflection of humans’ overdependence on gods.

And so, history continued to flow along its original trajectory, up until the present day.

The Fourth Demon War has erupted once more.

However, this time, it was not secretly orchestrated by Yuna, who inherited the position of the Eighth Bright Light Saintess. Instead, it was initiated by Eloun, the Demon Lord of Corruption. His motives were twofold: to search one of his lost essences, the [Bewitching Orb], lost in battle 300 years ago, and to compensate for the demons’ dwindling energy reserves. To achieve this, he allied with two other demon lords to launch the war.

The Holy Empire, more united than ever before, launched a counterattack. Despite the demon war had united the forces of the three demon lords, making them stronger than ever. In its early stages, events unfolded almost identically to the historical trajectory, creating a nearly identical situation and progression.

What followed were a series of familiar battles, the [Masked Demon Disaster] in Bright Light City, the [Blood Calamity] beneath the [Wall of Heaven] of the St. Bergen Mountains, the fierce battle of Sacchino City, and the Holy Empire’s elite, led by Edwina, launching a daring raid on the Angel City.

Of course, there were minor differences, but they remained within the scope of historical correction.

Up until now, the battle raging in the eastern forests of the Sarnos Province is likely ongoing, as the Fourth Demon War has yet to end. Only the arrival of the God of Slaughter at this singularity has been erased from the records.

Through the power of the [Sword of Origin], this version of history has been fused with the original, creating a new present.

It is called a fusion, not a replacement, because certain exceptions still exist.

For instance, the Three Saintesses and Edwina, who once stepped into the River of Time and retained their original memories. Or unique individuals like Eudora, who, infused with divine blood, escaped the timeline where they shouldn’t have existed and entered the present.

And, above all, entities more majestic and transcendent than time itself.

The God.

As conceptual incarnations that surpass causality, they are not bound by the world’s laws. Just as Vast Dream’s Rewrite could not affect all beings, the [Sword of Origin]’s historical correction also has diminished effects on the gods.

This is why Violet had to wield the blade herself to slay the descending [God of Slaughter] and banish it back to its original realm.

Meanwhile, the lingering traces of the Divine Network Project, the magical puppets, still remain in the underground city beneath the Holy Court, a place that should have vanished from history. This anomaly is caused by Number Zero’s incomplete Light Divinity Core, which interferes with causality.

Naturally, this has given rise to new problems that must be addressed.