Witch’s Night: Chapter 10 God’s Chosen – Cecilia
After the Calamity Tide swept across civilization, humanity barely survived this unimaginable disaster.
But this was wrong.
Humanity shouldn’t struggle but should embrace this destruction.
A wrong continuation would only lead to wrong results, and wrong results would truly endanger the entire world.
After destruction, there is rebirth. All hope should be left to the next civilization, waiting for the dawn of victory tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years later, to finally end this cycle.
This was the oracle issued by the Gods together, but ignorant humanity couldn’t understand and was unwilling to make the great sacrifice.
The emergence of the Church of the End Gods was to guide humanity towards proper destruction, to end the wrong continuation.
“Most humans are unwilling to wake up from this beautiful dream, and we are the few who have awakened.”
An old man dressed as a farmer said in a low, hoarse voice,
“The Gods let us witness this false starry sky with our own eyes, and the truth hidden behind it.
“When the Gods slumbered in the past, we never gave up. Now the Gods have returned, it’s time for our great and tragic civilization to meet its destined destruction.
“This is our mission, for… the Gods.”
He paused, “And for humanity itself.”
“Praise the Gods.”
Low voices echoed in unison, yet deliberately suppressed.
The followers of the Church of the End Gods, who had exhausted Norian recently, were gathered here.
Right under Lannister’s nose, they had escaped its gaze.
It was simple.
Because among these followers was an Elder, an Elder of the Council of Elders.
“Bishop, I have seen the Errant ni xing zhe (one who goes against the proper course) with my own eyes,” this high-ranking Elder, however, appeared respectful before the old man dressed as a farmer. “From her attitude, it can be seen that the ‘God of Hope’ has indeed descended upon Lannister.
“To avoid further complications, she has asked ‘Luo Yan,’ the only one who has come into contact with the ‘God of Hope,’ to temporarily stay in Lannister, and she will personally take Luo Yan away.”
The Errant in the Elder’s mouth referred to Elise, or rather, the Fourth Saint, “Illusion.”
“…A few days ago, I glimpsed the oracle of ‘Hope.’ She asked us to stay here and await Her return.”
The old man’s tone was somewhat strange, like he was chanting. “This is correct. We should move forward and welcome Her back to Her divine seat.”
“But… Norian has confined Her and designated the area as Restricted Zone Seven. No one is allowed to approach.”
The Elder seemed troubled. “Apologies, Bishop, even I have no way. Norian’s influence in the Council of Elders is already absolute, let alone the fact that the other Elders remain silent on this matter concerning Her.”
The old man, called Bishop, was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice,
“No, She will always return.
“As long as She awakens, everything will be set on the right track.
“The benevolent Lord doesn’t need us to save Her; it is we who need the Gods’ salvation.”
The Bishop glanced at everyone present, lowered his eyes, and said softly,
“The return of the Gods requires a grand celebration. Let us offer a little insignificant destruction for Their hopes, starting with Lannister.”
“Praise the Gods.”
The followers chanted in low voices again.
Afterwards, these followers quickly dispersed and left the place, blending back into the city called Lannister in inconspicuous ways.
Only the Bishop remained in the room, silent for a long time.
…Almost everyone had misjudged the Church of the End Gods. They hadn’t been declining over the millennia, but growing.
More and more people, after witnessing the truth above the starry sky, chose to side with the Malice of All Worlds.
The world thought that Devil’s Apostles and Devil’s Minions were keen on causing aimless destruction in major mega-cities to please their masters and pursue greater power.
However, in the eyes of the Church of the End Gods, this was a ritual, a ritual to awaken the Gods from their slumber.
After the War of the Witch of Absolute Death hundreds of years ago, these large-scale destructive actions were stopped because the Church of the End Gods had realized that this ritual couldn’t revive the Gods.
And now…
Another “miracle” had descended upon Lannister, sounding the horn of the Gods’ return.
“Hundreds of years, for the arrival of that day, we have waited for hundreds of years, and this waiting continues.”
The Bishop walked towards the window with his hands behind his back. Outside the window was a bustling market, the crowds coming and going like a tide, surging with the various aspects of life in the mortal world.
Such a prosperous civilization…
Yet, because it had taken the wrong path, it had to come to an end.
The Bishop looked up at the sky.
Even during the day, under the sun, the beautiful starry sky could still be vaguely glimpsed through the clouds.
If it were night, this starry sky would be even more dazzling, unchanged for tens of thousands of years.
The human civilization of the Old Era had touched the stars. Just one step further, and they could have crossed the heavens and entered a wider world.
…Would it really have been like that?
The Bishop closed his eyes.
Only a few in the Church of the End Gods had been taken to the stars by the Gods to witness the truth. The other followers learned about this truth indirectly through them.
But even these few had only glimpsed a small part of the truth; they couldn’t touch, and mustn’t touch, the more terrifying parts.
Looking up, one could see a beautiful and dazzling starry sky, but it was fake.
Created by the Gods to conceal the truth.
The human civilization of the Old Era broke through the false starry sky. They ecstatically glimpsed the truth, and also glimpsed despair…
They struggled, they tried, but in the end, they all failed.
The price of failure was the necessary demise of civilization, becoming part of this eternal cycle.
However, a traitor had appeared among the Gods back then, allowing these remaining humans to continue, and this mistake still hadn’t been completely eliminated, the hidden danger still existed.
“Gods… when will you respond to us again?” The Bishop sighed deeply. “Hundreds of years, how many devout followers can no longer bear the madness brought by the truth of that time, gradually fading away…”
Although the Gods hadn’t issued a clear oracle, from the brief descent and the small part of the truth revealed back then, the Bishop had already deduced many things.
The Gods had an enemy, an enemy they couldn’t defeat themselves, and could only rely on humanity’s hand.
But what was even more terrifying was that this enemy would gradually grow stronger with humanity’s growth. Once human civilization reached a whole new level, this enemy would also become so powerful that even the Gods would despair.
Therefore, humanity had to strike and defeat this enemy when their strength reached a balance point.
Clearly, this season of civilization had failed. They had witnessed the truth, making this enemy invincible.
The only way was to extinguish all the legacies of this civilization and completely start anew.
This was the result of the Bishop’s hundreds of years of dedicated research. He didn’t know if it was accurate enough, but at least it gave him the belief to persevere on the verge of madness.
“Bishop… Grandpa…”
Just then, a timid, childish voice came from behind the Bishop,
“Have those strange uncles and aunts all left…?”
A small pink figure peeked out from behind the Bishop, curiously looking at the world outside the window.
It was a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old. Her light pink, slightly curly short hair was a bit messy, and her gloomy bangs almost covered half of her face. A pair of amber eyes seemed to be flickering slightly.
“Cecilia, those aren’t strange uncles and aunts, they are your elders.”
The worry on the Bishop’s face dissipated slightly. He turned and tremblingly rubbed Cecilia’s hair. “You will also be like them in the future, taking on the important task of destroying civilization. You can do it.”
“Can I help Grandpa Bishop?”
“Yes.”
“Then Cecilia will do her best.”
The little pink Lolita clenched her fists, her childish expression extremely serious.
The Bishop smiled, the wrinkles on his face relaxing a little.
But just then, an unnatural blush suddenly appeared on Cecilia’s small face, and then she coughed violently.
At the same time, her amber eyes faintly emitted a golden light, and an indescribable power emanated from her body.
The Bishop’s pupils constricted, but he didn’t panic too much, clearly having witnessed this scene many times before.
He stood up, took a small bottle of potion from his pocket, carefully approached Cecilia, and gently fed it to her.
“Grandpa Bishop… cough… Cecilia, feels so bad…”
Cecilia coughed even harder after taking the potion, her frail body seemingly on the verge of collapse.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, good Cecilia, everything will be alright.”
The Bishop comforted Cecilia in a gentle voice, while his other hand pressed on her throat, pushing back the potion she was about to cough up.
From his actions, it was clear he had done this countless times before.
Finally, when all the potion was swallowed, and Cecilia coughed until her voice was hoarse, the strange power around her and the faint light in her eyes gradually dimmed.
“Have a good rest, Cecilia,” the Bishop patted Cecilia’s hair and said gently. “After taking the potion, you need to sleep.”
“Mm-hmm,” Cecilia nodded listlessly, her eyelids already drooping. “Grandpa Bishop, is Cecilia useless… Cecilia also wants… to destroy the world with everyone…”
“It’s destroying civilization, Cecilia.” The Bishop said in a low voice. “Our goal is to save this world, and before that, we must end the continuation of this civilization.”
“Mm… destroy civilization…”
Cecilia murmured the last few slurred words and swayed before collapsing.
The Bishop gently supported her small body and carried her to the bed in the room.
Soon, slight childish snores came from under the covers.
The Bishop looked at the sleeping Cecilia, his eyes gradually dimming.
He looked at the empty potion bottle in his hand and sighed deeply.
“Is this the destined fate of a God’s Chosen… How did Mister Nine of Dawn survive those long years spanning two eras? Unimaginable…”
Cecilia was a born demonically infected, or what could be called a God’s Chosen.
She had been able to control demonic power from birth. The moment she awakened, she killed nearly a hundred people in the entire settlement, including her parents.
Even she herself was in critical condition. The demonic power was eroding her young life. A human body could hardly bear this power, let alone a newborn baby?
If it weren’t for the Bishop accidentally discovering this “miracle bestowed by the Gods,” personally coming to the settlement and finding Cecilia, and rescuing her, Cecilia might not exist, leaving only another strange and abnormal Calamity phenomenon in the Endless Wasteland.
But even so, Cecilia’s life was still in danger, fortunately, she was saved by the Bishop, who understood the “Gods” the most.
Based on his understanding, the Bishop had prolonged Cecilia’s life for seven or eight years, but now, this prolongation was gradually coming to an end.
“If you can’t continue, Cecilia… then sleep peacefully on the ruins of Lannister’s civilization.”
The Bishop reached out, wanting to touch Cecilia’s face, but ultimately withdrew his hand.
He was still human, still possessing human emotions and feelings.
But he also knew very clearly that his identity was one of the three Bishops of the Church of the End Gods, shouldering the heavy responsibility of destroying the erroneous civilization.
In fact, the potion the Bishop gave Cecilia didn’t actually suppress the erosion of the demonic power, but rather enhanced it.
That was why Cecilia’s reaction had been so violent when she drank it.
But on the other hand, this enhancement was within the Bishop’s control, able to form a weak balance with the demonic power within Cecilia, ensuring she wouldn’t die from excessive erosion.
However, this method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause… No, it should be said that it made things worse.
After a period of time, when the potion’s effects were completely absorbed by Cecilia, the demonic power within her would reach a higher level.
The next time it acted up, only a stronger potion could maintain the balance.
This cycle repeated itself, and within Cecilia’s small body now resided terrifying power capable of severely damaging an ordinary mega-city.
Even Lannister would struggle to withstand the consequences of this demonic power erupting in the core area.
The current Cecilia was practically an “Ice Coffin Weapon” without the ice coffin’s restraints.
Was this the Bishop’s original intention?
Did he save Cecilia just to turn her into such a terrifying weapon of destruction?
Even the Bishop himself wasn’t sure.
“Perhaps, this is your destiny, Cecilia.”
The Bishop stood up and turned to walk towards the door of the room.
Before leaving, he looked at Cecilia again with some reluctance,
“This is also humanity’s destiny.”
“A destiny we cannot escape, and must never escape.”
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