Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 323

[Vol. 5] Chapter 323: The All-Devouring Storm

“Number Zero, I need to seal your Light Divinity Core. You understand, don’t you? Its existence will only bring disaster. It cannot be allowed to grow any further.”

“…That’s the correct choice.”

The puppet girl nodded. She allowed the black-haired young woman to place her palm gently between the valley as soft and warm as that of any human girl, channeling the power of another deity to construct the seal.

The golden hues in Number Zero’s long hair gradually faded, eventually reducing to about a third of their original brightness.

“Miss Violet, is this sufficient?”

The priestess nodded.

Number Zero’s consciousness relied on the incomplete “Light Divinity Core” to function. Completely suppressing it might erase her will and emotions along with it.

Since faith-based magic no longer existed, the [Blood of the Cross] could no longer absorb faith to solidify divinity. This level of sealing was enough for Number Zero to maintain a normal life.

As for the newly fused history, Violet would describe it as being in a sort of ?Schrödinger’s cat? state. Due to the interference of divine forces, parts of it remained in an indeterminate and unstable condition, difficult to describe accurately.  [1]

According to quantum mechanics, until you look inside the box, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. It’s a strange idea, but it helps us understand how tiny particles behave. It’s like the cat is in two states at once until you observe it.

If one were to fully adhere to the new history, Vast Dream should not have collaborated with the Holy Empire to create the reality-altering [faith-based magic].

However, his existence, along with the soul of Cheese Mochi, remained in place due to some force, likely due to interference from what Violet suspected to be the [Will of the World] that Minchen had mentioned. They had not returned to the positions dictated by the present timeline.

This is because these elements had not become “reality” but were still recorded as “history” within the [River of Time].

As Menna had once said about [Revelations], Gods are exceptions that cannot be “corrected”, possess causality that is too profound to be altered. Any event involving Violet or similar beings of that level becomes difficult to observe or interfere with in the [River of Time], as though anchored by an invisible force. Once fixed, they are nearly impossible to shake by external influences.

Unless Violet uses the power of the [Sword of Origin] to forcibly intervene across time, like she did to Yuna 300 years ago, these anomalies cannot be rectified.

To give a more relatable example, the Lightborn scholar [Ayla Light], who has a deeply entwined causal link with the priestess, remains unchanged in her state and position. However, she likely now holds two conflicting sets of memories in her mind. One reflecting the experiences she should have had in the revised “history” and another representing the “reality” that was unaltered and cannot be corrected.

This duality would help Ayla understand that her actions and efforts were not futile or meaningless, nor were they discarded as obsolete remnants. Instead, they have become the solid foundation for a brighter, new future.

This is the effect of causal entanglement. The only aspects corrected were those unrelated to the chaos and untouched by the core events, removing the calamities that faith-based magic would have caused.

Thus, Violet was unable to recover the two people who had perished, without affecting the course of history.

This is what’s known as [Schrödinger’s cat]: a state where two realities have merged into one. Just as Eudora continues to exist, others, like the demonized children Yuna created as tools of war, those who lacked a causal bond with Violet, have now been freed from their curses and granted happier, more fulfilling lives.

Similarly, the existence of Number Zero and the other puppet is an undeniable fact. However, they are anomalies that should not exist in the current historical framework. As such, Violet must find a suitable place for them to live.

“By the way, Number Zero, do you know of a place called the ‘Ten Thousand Demons Mountains’?”

Despite the priestess’s continued reluctance to definitively agree to be her “master,” the puppet girl showed no signs of displeasure. She merely nodded slightly.

“There are 32,198 pieces of information about that area in the [Divine Network], totaling 1,857,729 words.”

“Are you running the internet…?” Violet sighed, shaking her head helplessly before continuing.

“Never mind, it’s good enough that you’re aware. In the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, there’s a group called the [Spirit Puppet Tribe], created by Vast Dream during his early experiments. They’re similar to you, while their numbers are small, they possess their own emotions and reside in a place called the [Spirit Puppet Forest].”

“I think they’d be willing to welcome sisters of their kind, wouldn’t they?”

Number Zero’s vacant eyes shifted slightly, as if surprised.

“Miss Violet, do you mean to say…”

“Exactly. What do you think? Would you be interested in expanding the Spirit Puppet Tribe and becoming a new, emerging group within the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains? I can ask some friends there to look out for you, but you must promise me this: the new Spirit Puppet Tribe must not become invaders disrupting the peace of those mountains.”

“I…”

“I believe that’s an excellent proposal,” a voice interjected.

A young man in simple clothing and a golden-haired girl walked over from the distance, joining the conversation.

Unlike his earlier despondency, Minchen now wore a faint smile. While traces of sorrow and regret remained on his face, they were softened by a sense of relief, as though he had finally resolved the burdens in his heart.

He and Loknisa bowed slightly to the black-haired girl, exhaling deeply.

“Thank you, Miss Violet. I really don’t know how else to express my feelings right now beyond those three words. Even though I can barely comprehend the divine methods you employed, and you couldn’t bring back Vast Dream or Cheese Mochi… at least you’ve mended the harm caused by that foolish man’s actions. That should have been my responsibility.”

Minchen offered a faint smile before turning to Number Zero.

“I’ve heard of the Spirit Puppet Tribe. After I stepped down from my role as Gatekeeper, I stopped by to see them. They’re indeed Vast Dream’s creation. Though a smaller, experimental project compared to this place, they utilize more advanced intelligent core technology…”

“Heh, funny how the concept of creating ‘mechanical life’ originated from our early discussions. I never thought Vast Dream would actually bring it to fruition, only to abandon it later and revert to the most primitive doll designs.”

“Perhaps this has something to do with the changes in his state of mind,” Minchen remarked, his smile twitching slightly as Loknisa pinched the soft flesh at his side, pulling him out of his memories. He quickly shifted back to the topic at hand.

“Ahem, in any case, if you’re willing to settle in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, I can write a letter of introduction to Tiyelu, asking her to put in a word with the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains Alliance. That should help smooth your integration. The peaceful environment there is certainly suitable for you. What do you think?”

“Life…”

Number Zero’s vacant gaze moved back and forth between the three of them before she finally nodded silently.

“I am a puppet created to fulfill a mission. I cannot comprehend what ‘life’ means… but if this is my new master’s order, the entire Divine Network series will do everything possible to comply.”

“Hey, I haven’t agreed to that… Fine, for now, just find a place to settle down. We’ll discuss the rest later.”

Patting Number Zero’s shoulder, the priestess gave Minchen and Loknisa a meaningful look, signaling for them to handle the remaining arrangements, and turned to leave.

“I’m heading off. Oh, and about Dawn and Violet being the same person, please keep that a secret, okay?”

“Understood. I’ll classify this information under the Divine Network series’ SSS-level top-secret category.”

Minchen nodded as well.

“Miss Violet, what are you planning to do?”

“Ah, well, due to the historical corrections, some troublesome changes have emerged.”

The [Slaughter], Sluthel.

In the original timeline, this god of slaughter was the final foe faced by the Holy Empire. Back then, with the long-distance support of the Divine Tree, her dragon and Sethlin were sufficient to handle the situation.

But now…

The silver short blade, transformed from the Mysterious Tree, cut through space, creating a connection to a distant place.

Back then, as a precaution, Violet secretly attached an SP-constructed coordinate to the [Judgment Holy Sword] during her investigation. It was this coordinate that allowed Edwina to enter the [River of Time] as a contingency, becoming the turning point to change everything.

Now that the sword has fused into the [Sword of Origin] and separated again, the energy on that coordinate is nearly depleted. However, it is still barely sufficient to power the [Blade of Hollow Mark] for one last teleportation.

Stepping out from the void on the other side of space, the black-haired girl arrived, not at the current location of the [Judgment Holy Sword], but at a place where the teleportation had been interfered with and diverted by some external force, halting prematurely.

But this was exactly what Violet had intended.

In the boundless void, she “saw” a storm approaching.

It was a terrifying vortex of chaotic energy, devoid of any pattern or trajectory. Countless energy particles were being dismantled, distorted, and scrambled to the point of losing their individual attributes.

They fused into a chaotic whole, encompassing everything and pulling both [Matter] and [Void] into itself.

It was a storm capable of rivaling worlds, twisting all existence. A black hole in essence.

It was [Chaos].

This was the true form of one of the four Demon Lords, a being so terrifying that it surpassed the other three demon lords on its own.

The all-devouring [Chaos Storm].

The [God of Chaos], Kanrfis.

Drawn by the aura of the [Tree of Creation] and the [Sword of Origin], Kanrfis exploited the rift torn by [Slaughter] in the previous history, the uncorrected “Reality”, to surge into this world.

This was a catastrophic disaster, one even Yuna could never have foreseen with her unique ability, a calamity poised to bring true annihilation.

Note:
[1]
Schrödinger’s cat is a famous thought experiment in quantum mechanics devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935.
Imagine you have a box with a cat inside. You also have a special device that has a 50% chance of releasing poison. Until you open the box, you don’t know if the poison was released.
According to quantum mechanics, until you look inside the box, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. It’s a strange idea, but it helps us understand how tiny particles behave. It’s like the cat is in two states at once until you observe it.