The instant Li sensed Zeref's arrival, a tremendous hymn rang out. To ordinary people, it would have sounded like a chaotic piece of music with no special effect, merely making them feel physically and mentally at ease, perhaps carrying a trace of bewitchment.
But to the ears of a powerhouse like Li, every note was perfectly analyzed. The music became countless words, sickeningly saccharine praises for Ankhseram, all born from the hearts of the most devout believers.
Li sighed softly. He had told Zeref to perform a miracle in the name of the Ankhseram Church within this duchy known for its military strength. It seemed Zeref had truly done so.
Listening to the voices of those devout believers, Li knew that such a miracle required drawing upon an immense amount of faith as its price. Afterward, not only would those believers gain nothing, but they would fall seriously ill.
After the hymn began, dark clouds filled the sky.
A vast power of faith gathered overhead. Suddenly, an enormous beam of holy light shot down from the sky, piercing a massive hole through the dark clouds. Then a gigantic figure appeared in the heavens—the figure of a goddess, her body seeming infinitely vast.
The clothes she wore were like a thin veil, as though they did not exist at all. Yet trying to see them clearly seemed utterly impossible.
Zeref had not established any definite image of what Ankhseram was supposed to look like in the minds of the people, so the goddess image formed in the sky was like this: indistinct, yet seemingly real.
The enormous goddess image slowly raised her hands. Then countless grains of sand slipped from between them. Those grains seemed like water; after gently falling to the ground, they instantly spread in every direction. No one