Flexible devotion

She clearly seemed clueless about everything, but neither Soest nor Daly dared to disregard her words. After a few seconds of contemplation, Soest spoke, "We can temporarily suspend the purge of the Numinous Episcopate, but we need to consult our superiors regarding specific decisions."

"That makes sense." Neph nodded.

"Where can we find you?" Soest asked, "If we need to find you again."

"You can—" Neph blinked, "Pray to me."

An unexpected answer, yet seemingly logical in this context. Soest pondered for a moment and asked, "And the corresponding Ritual, Honorific Name, and Symbol— "

Neph stared at Soest for a few seconds, thinking. In the past, when faced with this kind of question, she usually just hastily left a Honorific Name and a Symbol, never specifying the Essential Oil and incense used in the Ritual.

Firstly, because those things were only used to attract the attention of the God. Neph suspected that the fixed Ritual process was related to the Automatic Response, but at this moment she was not yet able to Automatic Response, so she didn't care about it at all.

Secondly, informal prayers do not actually require Ritual. Most of the time, she simply conveys the message through the Honorific Name. Such prayers only require reciting the Honorific Name, although this is usually the treatment given to those Blessed.

The third reason is that the Oldest One Neph lacked understanding of the world and was unable to select suitable herbs for her Ritual.

But this difficulty has now been overcome. Neph, who is still unsure how the "True Creator" intends to deal with the Numinous Episcopate, realizes that it may be time to formalize her hasty Ritual.

Well, besides herbs, Essential Oil oils, and balms, I also need to note that prayer Ritual require offerings to be placed at the four corners of the Altar. The Fool's Prayer Ritual, however, requires placing a main dish at the four corners—what should I have them put out? Corpse fragments? To be honest, I don't like that, and it sounds too creepy—how about this, I can replace the main dish with vegetables—

Finally, driven by a desire to conform, Neph spoke up, "----Place four new candles on the altar, one in each of the four corners. Hmm, I remember smelling the legendary Cedar scent here before. You can use candles with that aroma.----Actually, it does smell quite nice, much more normal than tobacco or anything like that."

"Then—well, put a Blood Curd in the top left corner where the candle is, Lamb in the top right corner, Pan-Fried Foie Gras in the bottom left corner, and grilled fish in the bottom right corner—let's put Roast Fish in the bottom right corner."

"First, create a sealed Spirituality environment. Then, distill a mixture of Marigold, Edelweiss, Bluebell, and Snowdrop to extract the Essential Oil. Add one drop to each candle—"

Her description of the Ritual was very clumsy, as if she were making it up on the spot, but neither Soest nor Daly interrupted her, simply letting her continue. After she finished describing the Ritual process, they asked, "What are the corresponding incantations and Symbol?"

Neph provided the Honorific Name and symbolic Symbol, then added, "Although the Honorific Name has four parts, you can actually pronounce any three parts. However, I always feel that having only three parts feels like something is missing—perhaps the description of Authority is incomplete?"

He randomly read out three paragraphs— Soest's eyelids twitched, and after exchanging a glance with Daly, they both buried their heads.

As Beyonder with official origins, they have received a relatively complete education in Mysticism and naturally know what this statement means. Whether it is an Angel or Saint, their Honorific Name, if not borrowing the status of a higher being, needs to have four parts. Only the Honorific Name of the True God is in three parts!

Of course, in reality, the Honorific Name recorded in the Holy Bible by major Church are usually more than three, sometimes four or five or even more, but only three of them need to be recited during prayer.

Soest recalled the level of secrecy, and then the deliberation and hesitation Neph had shown when describing the Ritual. A chill ran down his spine. He dared not ask anything, and simply replied with his head bowed, "Yes!"

Neph left quickly, leaving Soest and Daly still motionless. After some time, Daly broke the silence. "What do you think?"

"This isn't something we can decide," Soest said abruptly, standing up so hard he stumbled in his chair. "I'll write a telegram—that requires permission from the Holy Cathedral."

"They all said they were hungry—" Neph muttered as she walked out of the church, looking for a suitable restaurant.

She had only eaten half of her meal before being led away, so it was only natural that she felt hungry. However, this feeling wouldn't have a significant impact on her—if she were willing to endure the hunger, she could at least go hungry like this for half a month!

Considering the impact of her ability to Pathway, Neph felt that she could go without food for several months, unless she became unbearably hungry.

She clearly didn't have a penchant for self-torture; however, her last attempt at tasting Southern Continent cuisine ended in failure, so to be on the safe side, Neph found an Intis- style restaurant.

She quickly realized that food would definitely change depending on the local environment once it left the local area. For example, the dishes that Neph was eating at this Intis- style restaurant were completely different from those in the Intis- style restaurants in Backlund —she even found dishes with the same name but tasted almost unrelated.

So when she returned to the Numinous Episcopate ' stronghold after eating and drinking her fill, Palenque Tasibu asked her about the outcome. She thought for a moment and replied, "Perhaps I should go to Intis and see what Intis cuisine, in its place of origin, is really like."

"----?" Palenque Tasibu tried to understand, "You—uh, you had a meal with the Beyonder of the Church of Evernight?"

"No," Neph denied, "I ate it all by myself, and they weren't in the ingredients."

"----?" Palenque Tasibu began to think about what he should say.

Neph then looked at him with pity and replied, "I explained the situation to the captain of the Red Gloves. He said he would report to his superiors and seek their opinion. He would contact me through prayer after receiving the results."

"For now, they won't bother you."

After saying this, without waiting for Palenque Tasibu's question, she solemnly added, "I have brought the Lord's instructions."

"Please speak," Palenque Tasibu immediately became serious.

Neph stared at him and said without hesitation, "First, halt all actions related to the Artificial God of Death project. You should know what you're doing. The real Death God Reaper is still alive, and the Lord is only New Life. Continuing will not only fail to help the Lord, but will also allow unnecessary noise to interfere with the Lord's confrontation with that being—"

": Respectful and courteous, yet suddenly changing, Busita Klenpa revealed her astonished expression in a moment of surprise."

You really knew.

Neph moved her fingers slightly but did not answer.

This is actually information from the original work. Apart from Patrick Blaine, the outlier, the high-ranking members of the Numinous Episcopate are all remnants of the Balam Empire. They are fully aware of the madness of their actions—after the death of the God, they attempted to replicate the birth of the "Hidden Sage" and create a new god through faith and Ritual!

Moreover, they were almost successful, but someone else reaped the Peach.

Neph chuckled softly but did not answer. Instead, she continued, "Secondly, since you have received the Lord's revelation, you should prioritize the Lord's will. As far as I know, the Lord has not yet revealed this to everyone. This good fortune is only for some believers. Therefore, if there are stubborn people who do not listen to your advice and ideas, you do not need to argue with them. Just tell me, and I will inform the Lord of everything. The Lord will decide how to handle it."

"Thirdly, well, I don't have a fixed address. If you need to, you can contact me by my Honorific Name Ritual— "

She repeated the Honorific Name and Ritual that she had just compiled at the Church of Evernight to Palenque Tasibu, but did not mention that only three parts of the Honorific Name could be recited. Palenque Tasibu nodded repeatedly, his eyes showing clear reverence.

He clearly understood what it meant to have Honorific Name and to be able to pray without being limited to a specific region.

Neph rubbed her fingertips, glanced at Palenque Tasibu, and thought of the "Aurora Order" active in Backlund, as well as the "Restoration Society" she had been in contact with. After a few seconds of contemplation, she spoke, "Tell me about what you usually do."

Palenque Tasibu was not surprised by her request. He seemed to have already prepared this part of the report and, without calling anyone else, began to report directly. In addition to the daily operations, he also introduced the sphere of influence and subordinate organizations of the Numinous Episcopate.

This gave Neph a terrible headache. The impact of losing God on a sect was obviously far more serious than the God going mad. The Numinous Episcopate had made countless attempts to resurrect Death God, and the various bloody rituals made Neph's scalp tingle. In particular, Palenque Tasibu always liked to add a sentence like "Fortunately, the Lord has now awakened" at the end, which made Neph feel like she had to abandon the mess and run away.

But I feel that if I run away today, my evaluation will include the phrase "unfit for important tasks"—

Neph listened to the story with a blank expression, occasionally making prayer gestures in response to Palenque Tasibu. When Palenque Tasibu finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and calmly said, "The Lord is not a god of bloodlust."

"Although he bears the name of the Death God, it does not mean that he will lead all the God of the world into the Underworld. Although the Lord guides the dead, it is only after the person has died."

"You've gone astray."

Neph's words turned Palenque Tasibu pale. The Demigod knelt down without regard for his image, adopting a posture of devout repentance. Neph, however, remained unaffected, only asking him curiously, "Since you are so devout to the Lord, why don't you tell me about the other factions?"

Palenque Tasibu paused slightly, Neph leaned back in her chair, thoughtfully continuing, "I remember you had more than one faction, didn't I? You said you only had one Angel and three Saint, including yourself, but I clearly remember you had other factions."

"For example, the Royalist Faction, the Sleeping Faction, the Underworld Faction— "

She stared at Palenque Tasibu, which was clearly the reason for her attack. After a moment of silence, the kneeling Palenque Tasibu spoke, "I just don't understand."

"Why would a messenger of God, who is not one of us, be present in the Oracle who awakens within our faith?"

"If you were merely Demigod, I could understand, but you—you seem to possess the qualities of Angel, yet not quite Angel— "

Neph froze for a moment before bursting into laughter. "You suspect I'm an imposter?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"You just said that the One we used to believe in still has a breath left, and I'm quite certain that our previous blasphemous acts must have angered Him," Palenque Tasibu said, kneeling on the ground.

Neph blinked, then said with amusement, "I think I understand."

"You suspect I'm a follower of the one who didn't completely die? Heh, why don't you guess bolder? For example, I might have bound them when they were both exhausted and forced them to respond to you—"

Clearly, Palenque Tasibu thought this was a bit too audacious; he buried his head, trembling like a leaf, kneeling far more sincerely than before.

Seeing a more effective deterrent than she had anticipated, Neph blinked and then smiled, "Since the Lord has passed through death and lives eternally in the Underworld, He will naturally forgive all past sins and redeem you."

This is the new precept—

She slightly changed the wording, replacing "The Ten Commandments of Fool" with "The Ten Commandments of Death."

These words implied forgiveness, and Palenque Tasibu appeared no longer worried. After Neph finished reciting, he knelt down in piety and cried out, "May your principles prevail on earth as they do in the Underworld!"

"Well, that's not necessary—" Neph's lips twitched, but she keenly noticed Palenque Tasibu's choice of words. She smiled thoughtfully, "I do indeed have a master."

Palenque Tasibu paused for a moment, then quickly corrected himself, saying, "I will praise the name of the Lord as I praise your name!"

"----?" Neph finally understood.

Good heavens, he actually took me seriously. He really thinks I've kidnapped two Death God —no, then why is he so devout? Well, what a flexible kind of devotion! Even City of Silver and Moon City don't have this kind of devotion—they clearly still hate those traitors?

Neph was silent for two seconds, then raised her hand and drew an Inverted Cross in front of her chest.

Palenque Tasibu also raised his hand to his chest and made an Inverted Cross.

Neph moved her lips slightly, feeling a profound sense of powerlessness. She wasn't sure if this was the outcome the "True Creator" desired, but things had already come to this point, so she had no choice but to say, "Don't do this outside."

"I understand," Palenque Tasibu said solemnly, "Outside the world, I am still the Pale Hand."

"Well, fine then," Neph gritted her teeth and finally said, "You—get up first."

"Tell me about the other factions within the Numinous Episcopate, and—well, you didn't actually tell me about any specific believers or strongholds, did you? I thought it was because you didn't have time, but it turns out you never intended to say anything?"