Chapter 444: Gospel Enlightenment

Inside a room at the Farewell Inn.

Ashe sat on the bed, studying the Substitute spirit resting in her palm. Thanks to heavy use and proper feeding, it had grown an extra wing and advanced to the Two-Winged level. It still resembled a human infant, but the quality of its pajamas and nightcap had improved noticeably. It even had a pillow now. Ashe had no doubt that a Four-Winged Substitute spirit would carry an entire bed around with it.

"Could it be that my Substitute suddenly gained enlightenment from the Book of Gospel and ran off to do its own thing?"

In response to his question, the spirit rubbed its eyes, yawned, and turned around to present its backside to him.

Sitting upright in his chair with his head tilted slightly, Iger flipped through the Book of Gospel. He recited a line from the text, "If Ashe wants you dead in the morning, no one can keep you alive until night. The underground forums are absolutely flooded with your name right now. Everyone is speculating on your sorcery class, with people guessing Prophecy, Mind, Fate, Ritual, Necromancy, or Chaos. Pfft, someone even guessed Justice."

Ashe snapped. "What's so funny about that? Don't I look righteous enough?"

Iger drawled, "If you represent justice, then I represent loyalty, Pankey represents maturity, the Lady represents innocence, Lys is a rabbit, and Harvey is grave grass."

At the time, Lys had her arms looped around Ashe's neck from behind. She complained, "Why do I get described as an animal?"

Leaning by the window with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, Harvey muttered, "I don't understand it, but it sounds like praise."

Iger continued, "According to the forum, Ashe is already a Sacred Realm sorcerer. The theory is that he follows the futures recorded in the ranking to kill Echoers because it's part of a Ritual Class Miracle. Every future he fulfills boosts his strength rapidly. Once he completes all of them, he'll become the Harbinger of Disaster responsible for destroying the Gospel... Honestly, the logic holds. The reasoning makes sense. I almost believe it myself."

"Huh!?" Lys exclaimed. "Then is Daddy going to find Aunt Quinna and Aunt Nona to sleep with them!?"

Ashe immediately rubbed Lys's head in a frantic flurry to avoid Annan's deadly gaze.

Beside them, Pankey poured six cups of warm tea and sat down. "This is the first time I've seen a prophecy come true so quickly."

Annan touched her amethyst earring, her voice dropping low as she spoke, "It's too rushed. It's like a failing company flaunting its wealth to reassure panicking employees and customers."

Iger nodded. "Exactly. Even we can tell something went wrong with the Woven Festival. Other sorcerers, corporations, and families must feel uneasy as well. Unlike us, they rely heavily on the Gospel. They use it for personnel decisions, technological development, and profit distribution... They form the very foundation of the Gospel. Once the idea that the Gospel is unreliable takes root, it will trigger the equivalent of a bank run. They'll rush to convert their Gospel Points into tangible benefits.

"So, the Gospel not only needs Ashe to clean up this mess, but needs it done perfectly. Clean, neat, and convincing. Everyone must see that only Ashe is tainted, while the Gospel itself remains pure. For them, Ashe killing Rogue proves the system still operates normally. It's a major positive signal."

"Then who played the part of Ashe and killed Rogue?" Harvey flicked his lighter again and again, but the cigarette refused to catch. "And even copied the scene from the Heretical Arts Rankings to the letter..."

"In this matter, the one who benefits most from maintaining the Gospel's credibility is the mastermind. Gospel's credibility ties directly to urban development, social stability, and corporate support. Therefore—"

Annan interrupted, "The Isa Imperial Family. That explains why they suddenly canceled Ashe's wanted order. Now they might even fear capturing him because if they do, they won't be able to carry out the futures written in his name."

She walked over and sat beside Ashe. "If it's the Isa Imperial Family, it wouldn't be surprising for them to pull this off. You all know that the more Gospel Points you have, the higher your permission level. From what I know, the imperial family likely holds the absolute highest access. They don't just wield ordinary Miracles... they can even pray for the Divine ones."

As she spoke, Annan reached out and gently touched Ashe's arm.

Ashe looked at her, bewildered. Before he could speak, Lys suddenly leaned in from his other side and stole a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ashe frowned, sensing something deeply off. "What am I, an ice cream cone? A doll? Why is everyone suddenly touching and kissing me? Iger, are you behind this? Iger?"

Ashe looked up. The fraudster immediately averted his eyes, refusing to meet his gaze as he trembled slightly. Ashe whipped his head toward Pankey, only to find the young butler furiously scribbling in a notebook, moving with the mechanical, relentless rhythm of a machine that knew how to do nothing else.

Turning to the window, the cult leader noticed something even stranger. "Harvey, why can't you light that cigarette?"

The necromancer was staring blankly at the lighter in his hand. Each time he sparked a flame and brought it near the Catnip cigarette, his thumb would unconsciously release the valve. Whenever he aimed the flame at the tip, his hand flat-out refused to press down. Ashe had initially thought he was holding back out of consideration for Lys and Annan, but this looked less like politeness and more like the sudden onset of senility.

Ashe grabbed Annan's shoulders and shook her. "Are you all being controlled!?"

Annan looked at him in confusion, then quickly blinked herself back to reality and wrapped her arms around Ashe's. "This is normal. Don't panic. No one is attacking us."

"Normal?!"

"This is what makes Nabistin special. The imperial capital is a land blessed by the Gospel, a dwelling of heavenly harmony, a zone where troubles are forbidden. Even the lower district, which is really just the old city, lies within the capital's embrace and enjoys the Gospel's favor. That's why so many people flock here. They would rather rot in the underground slums just to remain within Nabistin's borders..."

"So what exactly is the special part?!"

"Don't rush," Annan continued in a slow, unhurried drawl, clearly enjoying his impatience. "Simply put, all of us are under the influence of the Gospel's Enlightenment. The Gospel doesn't give us direct instructions. Instead, it allows us to passively draw on its computational power. It sharpens our intuition, letting us inherently know exactly what we should do at any given moment. What we are doing right now is merely the most rational action required to satisfy our surface desires."

Annan glanced over at the window. "Harvey has always wanted to quit smoking but lacks the willpower. Under Enlightenment, his body physically won't let him light that Catnip cigarette. Lys wants to get closer to you but feels shy, so she only finds the courage to kiss you when guided by Enlightenment. As for Iger, he's likely burning through his mental strength trying to resist the very intuition Enlightenment is feeding him."

"Wait!" Ashe said, alarm spiking. "Doesn't that mean you're all being puppeted by this Enlightenment?!"

Annan explained patiently, "No. What controls us isn't Enlightenment. It's a version of ourselves that sees further, thinks more rationally, and acts more decisively. As long as someone is human, they will suffer from hesitation, laziness, fear, and countless other flaws. Even when people know the right thing to do, they often don't want to do it, don't dare to do it, or simply refuse to. Sorcerers are no exception. Frankly, the biggest difference between the talented and the mediocre is just how many of those flaws they carry.

"The true essence of the Book of Gospel isn't to look up information. It's to guide you to your next step. When you don't know how to move forward, the Gospel provides the path, whether in life, relationships, sorcery, work, or research. Even when it comes to assassination, it can provide the perfect target.

"But consulting the Gospel requires points, so ordinary citizens can rarely afford that kind of guidance. That is where the greatness of Enlightenment truly shines. Even without spending a single point, you can draw on the system's processing power and vast database. Through pure intuition alone, you will make the most correct choice available."

Annan leaned in, blinking innocently at Ashe. "When I think about what to do next, the best options naturally appear in my mind. I can instantly analyze which path is the most feasible and beneficial, and then act on it. That's why Nabistin is called a trouble-free zone. It feels as if, so long as you surrender to your intuition, you can walk a perfectly straight line toward a happy ending."