The Reckoning Has Arrived

The heroic spirits first had to return to the Life Temple in Avalon to report for duty. That place was the World Tree's projection in this realm. According to the section of the Divine Tome titled "Several Provisions on the Daily Conduct of Public Servants," God's Guardians returning from an expedition were supposed to bathe and fast for three days at the temple they served, cleansing themselves of the tainted aura acquired from the mortal world while listening to divine teachings and restoring their restless souls to purity... Of course, everyone knew that the so-called deity was currently snoring away in her owner's pocket—yeah, that whole thing was just a damn formality. The heroic spirits did need to report in, but if those guys didn't throw a barbecue party in front of the temple, I'd have to thank Artoria for keeping them under control.

The only ones who could truly abide by the Divine Tome's doctrines were probably airhead knights like Artoria, along with a few others whose intelligence was on her level.

Aside from those doctrines, the Life God Cult actually had quite a few rules, and every one of them sounded thoroughly legitimate. There were sacrificial rites for various occasions, the clothing worn by the Goddess priesthood and church knight ranks, the food believers were supposed to consume on fixed days each month, the placement of Goddess statues in their homes, and so on. Just listening to the table of contents, the cult sounded incredibly proper—but if you actually saw that Goddess statue grinning foolishly with a lollipop in her arms, you'd probably cry.

Apparently, when Lilina compiled the Life Goddess Church's "Bible," she had simply copied and pasted straight from it. That told you just how much of that stuff was truly worth following.

While Fina was