In the church, Yuniya stuffed her small hand into her daddy's palm, and Marvin immediately felt a scorching warm current entering his body from his palm, spreading to his limbs like a surging river in an instant.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a deep blue gleam swirled in his pupils, invisible black wings unfurled behind him, and he could clearly hear the sound of each bone in his body creaking. Everything had changed: his heart, previously a little apprehensive, slowly grew calm; the noisy streets sounded so distant, the moonlight so bright; he twisted his neck and felt as if he could sense his muscles stretching, his heart beating strong and powerful.
"Save me... Oh God... please bestow your blessing upon your most devout follower...."
"It hurts... It hurts so much...."
"This human is so strange, he suddenly just stood there, motionless... I really want to eat some dried fish."
Peace lasted only a few seconds before countless different voices swept over him, the hateful screams before death, the humble, earnest prayers, thousands of emotions mingled together almost driving one mad.
Marvin clutched his head, drenched in cold sweat; he knew those were the voices of the faithful, yet he was unable to block them out. Even holding the authority of a deity, he still felt insignificant.
He...
Could not fulfill everyone's wishes.
Even a god couldn't do that.
He didn't even dare to imagine what it was like for a god to live in this state day and night.
Is this what it is to be a god?
It doesn't seem all that great...
If only he could silence them.
"Daddy, it hurts..."
All the chaotic thoughts receded like a tide, and Marvin suddenly woke up to see Yuniya with her nose wrinkled, pouting, and looking aggrieved; only then did he realize he was gripping her small hand tightly, using all his strength as if trying to crush everything he could grasp.
"I'm sorry...."
He quickly let go of her hand and took a few steps back, saying with a complex expression, "Yuniya, do you spend every day in this kind of environment?"
"Environment?"
Yuniya blinked, clueless, "What kind of environment?"
She couldn't understand because she doesn't know the world as others see it; to her, the world naturally is this way.
"Don't you find it noisy?"
Yuniya shook her head, saying, "Yuniya wants to grant the wishes of the faithful, but doesn't know how, they always ask Yuniya for some very troubling things...."
"It's not your fault, a god isn't omnipotent."
Taking a deep breath, Marvin staggered slightly, his head still a bit dizzy: "I can't yet handle your power. You should do the blessing of the Holy Water."
"Okay."
Yuniya approached the brass pot full of Holy Water, extended her hand, and whispered quietly, "In the name of Goddess of Truth Yunia, I bestow the blessing."
A flash of red light sparkled and then disappeared into the clear Holy Water, the process brief and unadorned, without any special phenomena occurring.
Using a funnel, Marvin successfully poured the Holy Water into washed glass bottles, then wrapped a thin string around the mouth of each bottle, tying them around the necks of each Kitty.
Each Kitty held its head high, waiting quietly for the Priest to work, and after Marvin was done, he would make sure to pat their heads as encouragement.
In the end, Marvin felt he probably wouldn't be stroking cats for a while.
"Let's go!"
At Fat Orange's command, the Kitties dashed out like sharp arrows, coming quickly, dispersing even faster, seemingly like a well-trained army in the dark, rushing towards every corner of the city.
At the same time, Marvin also threw open the doors of the church, and the people wandering the streets, seeing the church open, immediately swarmed in.
"Priest! Priest! Grant me some Holy Water, please!!!"
"I beg you, my son has been bitten by a rat, I will do anything if only you'd save him!"
"Don't push! Don't push! Don't you understand the principle of first come, first served?!"
Fear, anticipation, nervousness... all sorts of complex expressions coalesced into a massive pressure that descended like a mountain, leaving people gasping for breath.
But these...
Compared to the despair Marvin had just felt, seemed trivial.
He straightened his priest's robe, walked out of the church, stood on the stone steps at the entrance, and with his gaze sweeping over the faces below, he said loudly, "Everyone, go home and see for yourselves! The Divine Envoy has already arrived!"
"The benevolent Goddess of Truth will not abandon her followers, and calamity will eventually become a thing of the past, with the sun rising as usual!"
"We just want a bit of Holy Water!" someone shouted.
"There will be, there will be all of it! Everyone who harbors the Truth in their hearts, Goddess Eunia will surely bless them! Those who defy the Truth will also be punished!"
The noise gradually subsided, and people looked at Marvin with doubt and hope. After a long while, someone took the lead and shouted, and everyone rushed together towards the next church.
In the dark corner of the street, a man dressed in a friar's attire watched this scene and quietly retreated into the darkness, disappearing from sight.
Similar situations were occurring in several other alleys.
After closing the church doors, Marvin, with no time to rest, hurried into the kitchen, filled a kettle with cold water, and placed it on the stove.
The Holy Water still needed to be boiled, striving to save more civilians, and tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.
"Daddy, is this enough?"
Yuniya, trotting behind, asked curiously, "Didn't Fat Orange say that if the Holy Water isn't given to the faithful, they will no longer believe in the Truth?"
"Truth needs to be pursued, Yuniya..."
Sitting at the table, Marvin picked up his daughter and said, "It is right beside us, and as long as we are attentive, we can always find the tiniest clues. As for Fat Orange's concerns... they have been resolved."
"Resolved?"
"Yes," Marvin said, reflecting, "The Tri-Goddess Church's method for judging the presence of a deity in other churches is whether the Holy Water is effective, meaning, they will closely track the destination of all the churches' Holy Water. But in this process, they made a serious mistake."
"What mistake?"
"That would be themselves."
Marvin explained with a smile, "In New Ross City, The Great Church encompasses four major churches: the Kingdom of Windsor's Tri-Goddess Church, the Bourpong Kingdom's Church of Wisdom, the Kingdom of Frederick's Church of the Judgment God, and the Kingdom of Sardinia's Church of the Abundance God."
"Within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Windsor, the Tri-Goddess Church is undoubtedly the most powerful, but the other three major churches each have their own followers and kingdom support. Though their influence is not as great as the Tri-Goddess Church's, their strength is still formidable."
"The trap set by the Tri-Goddess Church can only affect the smaller churches, the other three major churches will not cooperate with them. After my announcement tonight, they will certainly distribute a large amount of Holy Water, taking the opportunity to cause trouble..."
Yuniya tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion, "Why would they want to cause trouble?"
"It's simple."
Marvin spoke with calm eyes, "Because this is the Kingdom of Windsor, power must be unified. Previously, the various churches were just appendages to the rule, and having multiple churches did not matter much. But after the coming of the deities, times have changed, and the followers have become the essence. Therefore, to prevent the other major churches from competing for followers, the Tri-Goddess Church will definitely find ways to drive other major churches out of their territory."
"That day won't be far off, and the other three major churches are surely aware of this, so... they will create trouble for the Tri-Goddess Church before they have to leave."
"Nothing pleases them more than to see two churches clashing, so they will try to disrupt the plans of the Tri-Goddess Church. Once Holy Water is distributed in large quantities, overflowing beyond people's needs, who is to say there aren't other deities?"
"And my announcement just now has stolen the fruits of their victory. Those people will go home and find that their sick are healed. Tell me..."
"Will they be grateful to you, the Goddess of Truth, or to the other major churches that distribute Holy Water without limit?"
"Um..."
Yuniya thought for a moment and felt her head ache a bit, "They probably won't be grateful to either, it's too hard to judge..."
"Under normal circumstances, indeed, no church would be thanked, but..."
Marvin lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, "Never overlook the smaller churches without a deity, you know, the Holy Water they distribute has no effect, so there will surely be many who refute the 'Holy Water is effective' theory of the Tri-Goddess Church priests, and then..."
"The Church of Truth will become the biggest beneficiary!"