Mu'en waited for a bit before calling out, "Walpurgis."
Walpurgis flinched for a moment and stopped her feet swaying on the water surface and lifted them up. She then sat up straight and cleared her throat. "What's the matter, Mu'en?"
If Mu'en hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have imagined that the woman, who was lying on the illusionary crescent moon with her chin propped up in her hands just now, was the same mysterious and elegant Primordial Witch from before.
Watching the blush on Walpurgis' face disappear in real time was like the astonishment of watching a Sichuan Opera's Face Changing performance, and now Mu'en had gained an even deeper understanding of how sentient beings were like.
But it was so strange…
Mu’en could tell that Walpurgis was happy because the boss said "The moon is a young and beautiful girl," but...
Mu’en vaguely knew that Walpurgis was actually of a higher level than the moon and sun according to the rules that governed this realm.
It was just that she had personally played the role of the moon for a period of time because she had been bored sometime during those many long years.
Therefore, with some give or take, she could somewhat be regarded as the moon.
Walpurgis was indeed beautiful. Her beauty surpassed the limits of humans and was practically perfect and capable of thoroughly leaving anyone in awe.
But what does she have to do with the words 'young girl'?
The artificially-created girl remained perplexed despite much thought.
Primordial Witches were the earliest of intelligent life born at the beginning of the primordial chaos of Azir. They possessed great power and controlled everything in the world.
However, in terms of age, she would nearly be as old as this land.
No one knew what the actual body of a Primordial Witch was like. Walpurgis' current appearance was just to integrate into human society. She became a woman to emphasize the special ability of creating all things. By human standards, she was the same age as ancestors many many many generations ago…
Under the gaze of Mu’en who was confused and lost in thought, Walpurgis’ expression gradually stiffened up.
Although she didn't know what was on the child's mind, she could sense that something was off and it would be better not knowing it.
She kept smiling and decided to pretend that nothing had happened.
"Mu’en? It's about Vincent, right? I have heard as well."
Walpurgis stepped off the crescent moon elegantly and asked in a composed fashion, "See, I told you that he had expected it and was waiting for you to make a move.
"He will definitely agree with what we are going to do next. In fact, it was he who helped us with Vincent's matter. This is his purpose.
"When Vincent arrives, we can cooperate with him to start the second step of the plan."
Mu’en nodded. "For the sake of justice, the Church of the Dome has to be thoroughly overthrown..."
Walpurgis reached out and caressed Mu'en's face. "Since you don't want to establish a new faith and don't want to be worshiped by others, Vincent will be the most suitable person. Just let the religion of the Sun take the place of the Church of the Dome."
"Must there be a new faith?" asked Mu’en.
Walpurgis didn't expect such a question from Mu’en. Surprised, she asked, "What do you think?"
Walpurgis threw the question back to the young girl in order to help her think independently.
After all, Walpurgis had already given her dream realm to Mu’en and would let Mu'en inherit her power, as if she was her disciple.
Mu’en tilted her head, thinking about the cruel deaths of the old priest as well as the apostles due to their firm belief in their faith.
Both cases had the same beliefs and were blinded, but the difference between them was like heaven and earth.
Mu'en was worried that the new faith would end up in the same situation as the Church of the Dome, and so came up with her own opinion.
Would it be better if the churches don't exist?
Mu’en still couldn’t come up with an answer. It was all too complicated.
"It's not that the divine needs believers. Rather, it’s people who need faith."
With a smile, Walpurgis continued on, "The insignificant faith of a human does not matter to the Sun nor the Moon. However, humans need spiritual sustenance and protection, and this is the reason for the existence of the churches.
"At least, the believers of the Church of the Dome are used to this kind of life. If you just destroy it without establishing a new one, those faithful will crumble overnight.
"You have to let them understand that they were not deceived by their faith, but rather, by bad persons."
Mu’en was confused and her blank face showed it.
Walpurgis burst into laughter. She pushed Mu’en to sit on the illusionary crescent moon and said, "That beast just found a beautiful dress for itself, but humans used it to do the bad things that they wanted.
“Words proclaiming faith... No, the new church’s teachings. Let your Boss Lin come up with them. He seems to be very good at it.
"All you have to do is do what you ought to do. That's all there is to it."
Mu’en steadied herself on the gently swaying crescent moon and asked, "Aren't you the Primordial Witch? Why do you even care what humans think?"
She touched the illusionary moon and felt that it was like... An old rocking chair.
Walpurgis had no idea about the unspoken criticism within the artificial girl's heart, and the corners of her lips twitched. "I made an agreement with humankind before, to protect these weak creatures during the dark. It's a promise I can't break.
"Oh, by the way, the Church of the Dome should be in a state of panic by now. They should be running away in fear if they understand what they are up against.
"However, they who have absolute faith in their beliefs lack wisdom and will only be incompetent and angry. They would want to eliminate this huge threat out of fear, and soon they would probably pursue Vincent to the bookstore."
In reality, the Church of the Dome currently wasn't just in a state of panic—they were scared witless.
It was only one night... No, just half a night. The main church of an entire parish was razed to the ground, and two apostles turned into fireworks. One of them was the head of the Inquisition Office and amongst the two strongest apostles of the church.
Even if they wished to prevent the news from spreading, it was impossible because the extent of it was just too great… Only ordinary folk could be deceived by a stupid reason such as a gas explosion.
All transcendent beings and organizations had already caught wind of it.
People who didn't know better would have thought that the Moon had unleashed its wrath and divine punishment onto them.
Those who assumed that they knew what happened reckoned that it was a fiasco caused by an apostate that obtained power with the aspect of laws.
As for those who knew… This was indeed divine wrath and punishment, but it was the Sun that imposed it, conveniently using the Moon in the passing.
The Church of the Dome had issued the highest wanted order right away.
The entire of Norzin’s transcendent community was in an uproar all at once. Although the various major forces might choose to wait and see, independent transcendent beings had already started to move...
After all, there would still be a huge payout if they were only providing clues.
On the same ordinary morning, while the ordinary folks were still discussing the sudden gas explosion the previous night, waves were rippling in the world of transcendent beings.
However, Vincent, who was the focus of the whole of Norzin, simply stayed in the center of the explosion for a whole night. On the second day, he hid his aura and began to flee.
Those flames had the effect of affecting the Moon’s divine power.
Members of the Church of the Dome didn't dare to approach at all, and nobody would have imagined that Vincent would remain in the blast center for an entire night.
And just , Vincent managed to avoid the most dangerous time hiding out in the darkness.
Back to the present, Vincent looked up, his gaze falling on the bookstore window.
He took a deep breath, then pushed open the door and entered.