Throughout this process of being guided, whether it was her physical form in this world, her destiny in the next, or her soul in the Spirit World, Maria felt an inexplicable shift within. This rare, almost unreachable state even granted her the qualification to face chaos and higher beings directly!
Deities do not sche, deities do not form factions, deities do not rely on others.
This is divinity!
In that fleeting mont of pure, radiant brilliance, Maria instinctively traced His Holy Rite on her forehead with her fingers, her red lips parting softly as she chanted the title this deity bore in the mortal realm.
"I pay homage to you here, Radiant Lord."
Her voice, clear and lodious like a lark's song, carried a hint of openness as Maria lowered her guard slightly, welcoming His descent with genuine sincerity.
"I never knew you were so polite." His voice was neutrally perfect, leaning feminine, carrying both the calm detachnt of an elder who had seen it all and the purity of an innocent youth. The deity's first words were a teasing remark, perfectly in line with His recorded appearances before mortals.
At the sa ti, Maria heard the sound of flapping wings.
Her crimson gem-like eyes narrowed slightly in surprise as she took in the form of the Radiant Lord's descent.
The Lord... was a pigeon?
"What, surprised? My dear nun."
A pure white pigeon hovered before Maria, wings beating steadily. The pigeon was enormous, with a wingspan of nearly three ters, and its feathers were an immaculate white without a single blemish. Each feather's pattern seed to radiate wisdom and brilliance, and His eyes were not those of a bird but clear, human-like golden pupils.
This was normal. Deities always manifested in symbolic forms when appearing before humans.
To reveal their true visage would overwhelm the fragile minds and wills of ordinary people, driving them instantly to madness or death. The law that one must not gaze directly upon a deity applied to all gods, regardless of their nature.
"..."
Well, this Lord was quite petty, imdiately throwing two sarcastic remarks at Maria upon eting. The good news was that while He seed displeased, it hadn't escalated into full-blown wrath.
Was it really necessary to hold a grudge over borrowing His na a few tis?
At this thought, Lady Maria couldn't help feeling a bit wronged. If she didn't know that deities weren't exactly reasonable beings, her temperant would have driven her to speak her mind.
"Do you feel wronged?" The Lord paced around Maria with the lazy, distinctive gait of a pigeon, tilting His head to observe her with amusent. His attitude remained critical, as if Maria owed Him sothing.
"I dare not."
Quickly regaining her composure, Maria suppressed any overt emotions. Lady Maria soon found her proper place, responding to the Lord with neither subservience nor arrogance.
"Don't think you're hard done by, Maria. Even when my divine power was weak, I intervened to protect you twice. Without that, you might have beco sothing unrecognizable. And to shield you, I even had to engage with entities I'd rather avoid. If it weren't for Ruth, I would never have bothered with you."
The pure white pigeon leisurely preened its magnificent feathers with its beak, gazing at Maria with a hint of affection in its eyes.
Maria's innate inviolability and noble lineage were indeed advantageous. Even the Radiant Lord, who had so reservations about her, did not press the matter too hard.
"I wish you had never protected ." For so reason, Maria felt a pang in her heart upon hearing the Lord's words.
If you had the power to shield , why didn't you save my devout father and mother? Did it please you to watch their souls and bodies toyed with by the Chaos Worshippers? To treat your faithful followers this way is truly disheartening.
This trace of resentnt naturally did not escape the deity's notice.
"I know you resent for not saving Lynn and Ruth. You always say 'the Lord is almighty,' but the Lord is not omnipotent. There were reasons for that incident, reasons of my own." When ntioning Lynn, its tone grew noticeably warr. It draped a wing over Maria's shoulder, its fluffy head nuzzling her neck.
"It's fine to tell you the reason. Ruth is a special projection of mine."
'What the...'
Maria's head spun instantly. Her legs felt unsteady, almost unreal. What did it an by a special projection? Her father Lynn had actually won the favor of the Radiant Lord?! A man who slept with a god, should she call this the Lord's generosity toward a devout believer? Her inner turmoil was so intense it could power a shockwave fist. She truly had no words.
"Although Ruth is my projection in the mortal world, she no longer has much connection to . Originally, I intended for her to live a happy life with that devout shepherd boy and then return. But to my surprise, a woman like her chose to bear his child. Truly, an act of defiance!"
As it spoke, the Lord's golden eyes suddenly flashed with anger.
The entire illusory blue and sunny world of guidance instantly surged with the rolling Light Prison. This was a light so pure it tolerated no impurities, capable of destroying any life.
"One must admit, human thought is truly fascinating."
The anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The Lord rubbed against Maria vigorously, as if to compensate for its loss.
Maria was utterly stunned.
She couldn't help but admire her mother Ruth's courage. Facing the very real threat of being obliterated by the Radiant Lord's wrath, she had withstood that overwhelming pressure and given birth to Felia. No wonder the Southwind Province had fallen so quickly in her past life, becoming a playground for plague and virus. Chaos corruption rooted in divine bloodline was indeed beyond ordinary asures.
The Lord's leniency toward Maria might very well stem from Ruth's influence.
After all, a mother's feelings for her daughter cannot be erased, even when returning to the source.
Truthfully, the Lord itself had never expected a single projection to cause so much trouble. Coinciding with the corruption storm from Chaos assaulting the Primal Fire, it had simply let things run their course. It was ironic, Lynn had been one of the most devout among its divine offices, and it had created the projection on a whim because it found him agreeable.
"Now that I've told you this much, you should understand what Felia ans to ."
With a powerful beat of wings that stirred a gust of wind, the pure white pigeon circled and landed directly before Maria once more. Felia carried the Radiant Lord's divinity within her, though it had not yet manifested. As a true deity, the Radiant Lord would never permit a descendant bearing his bloodline to remain unsupervised in the world.
Otherwise, even he would face the risk of falling.
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