Chapter 497: The Omniscient Weavers Personal Bonus Chapter

Chapter 497: The Omniscient Weaver's Personal Bonus Chapter

Everyone turned toward the Empress.

Deep in their hearts, persistent doubts continued to burn. In truth, ever since Ashe slaughtered his way through the rankings and invalidated most of the later lists, they had already vaguely anticipated the possibility of Aine. Having prepared themselves mentally for this outcome meant they could accept it, yet it did not mean they could truly understand it.

No matter how they looked at it, the appearance of Aine violated far too many rules of the Woven Festival. This woven future was utterly chaotic, filled with contradictions and inconsistencies. Mercury calling it a deception was being polite. Deep down, everyone felt the Gospel itself had simply gone mad.

The Empress sat back down on her throne, speaking with calm composure. "Are you all unable to wait for the new Emperor to answer your questions personally? Now that the Woven Festival has ended, Raine can provide you with answers."

She continued smoothly. "First of all, Aine fully meets the requirements for appearing on the rankings. In fact, the Gospel Rankings never restricted the gender of the Gospel's First. It was merely because the position historically belonged to young girls that you developed this misconception. Male figures have held the spot before. Aine is no exception."

Then what about the descriptions of "the purest, most innocent, kindest, and most wonderful"? Look at the harem the Gospel had already prepared for him. Look at everything he had done. Has he somehow redefined the meanings of those words? Setting everything else aside, he certainly could not be considered pure anymore. Is it even possible he remains a virgin?

However, these qualities were subjective personal traits, making them difficult grounds for a formal accusation. The guests shifted their questions toward something far more puzzling instead. "Ashe isn't a member of the imperial family. He isn't even from this world! He only showed up in the Gospel Kingdom a few dozen days ago. Every previous Gospel's First was a Princess of Isa. Why did something like this happen this time?"

The Empress answered frankly. "Because the Princess of Isa lost her qualification. Therefore, the Gospel had to select a new candidate."

One of the guests blurted out tactlessly, "Why choose Ashe? Is there something special about him?"

At that, everyone held their breath, hoping the Empress would reveal even a fragment of the Gospel's deepest secrets.

Her response was flawless. "Naturally, he meets the requirements of the Gospel Ranking: pure, innocent, kind, and wonderful. Furthermore, the Gospel did not directly choose Aine. He was merely a candidate."

Quinna raised her hand. "Since Ashe is the Gospel's First, doesn't that mean the first nine rankings are filled with contradictions? Why did the first three rankings hint that the future apocalypse was related to him? And why were the later six rankings invalidated because of him?"

The Empress explained gently. "Because Aine underwent changes significant enough to affect the Gospel's judgment. The Gospel achieves only limited omniscience. As an entity from another world, Aine possesses a future the Gospel could not completely predict.

"In the Art Rankings, Aine was indeed regarded by the Gospel as the origin of the apocalypse. That was why Nabistin issued a wanted order for him. Between the Art Rankings and the Family Rankings, Aine encountered a pivotal turning point."

"What turning point?" Evelyn asked.

The Empress refrained from answering directly. "If the Ashe before that point was merely a candidate, then from the Family Rankings onward, Aine had already become the only possible choice for the Gospel's First. It could only be him. It had to be him."

Everyone instinctively turned toward the Senheisers. Between the release of the Art Rankings and the Family Rankings, Ashe had been staying at their house. Therefore, Ashe must have encountered some major turning point there, causing him to become the officially designated candidate.

What treasure is the Senheiser family hiding? How has such a valuable opportunity fallen into the hands of an outsider? No, wait. Ashe could probably already be considered one of their own...

Nona glanced toward Quinna. Quinna frowned slightly in return. She remembered vividly that Ashe had spent those days doing little more than playing games. Nothing unusual had happened to him during that time. So where exactly did he encounter this turning point?

The Empress continued her explanation. "The Family Rankings and the Schemer Rankings were both consequences of Aine's efforts to save the Gospel. Facing natural disasters, the living were no longer capable of resisting, and consequently, everyone became undead. Facing human disasters, Aine fell ahead of time, bringing the Rusty Crow's resurrection journey into existence.

"When the lists reached the Happiness Rankings, another turning point appeared. This time, the shift had nothing to do with Aine. It originated from the direct interference of the Omniscient Weaver."

Upon hearing the name of that supreme existence, everyone froze. The Omniscient Weaver?

They had never imagined a mere Woven Festival held once every fifty years would attract the personal attention of a Divine Lord.

Even Mercury fell silent. What did it matter if Ashe came from another world? He had passed the scrutiny of the Omniscient Weaver, and no stronger endorsement existed in creation.

"The reason behind the interference remains unknown, yet the result of that interference is exactly what everyone has witnessed. Starting from the Family Rankings, the subsequent lists represented a brand-new future where Aine protected the Gospel, entirely separate from the tragic future shown in the Art Rankings. However, the intervention of a Divine Lord was the greatest possible variable.

"Under the Omniscient Weaver's gaze, the Gospel finally succeeded in weaving a future even better than that brand-new path, a perfect future. In this perfect future, the final six rankings of the Happiness Rankings could never occur, leaving no choice but to discard them. In truth, the first three rankings should have been discarded as well, but having already been announced, they could not be withdrawn."

Anphel murmured, "A perfect future better than the brand-new one? What is the difference between them?"

The Empress explained, "Every one of the first nine rankings rested on the premise that the apocalypse was unavoidable, and the brand-new future was no exception. In the perfect future the Omniscient Weaver granted, we will eliminate the calamity before it ever has the chance to begin, averting the apocalypse entirely.

"The disaster of the heavens, the undead families, the Rusty Crow's schemes, and everything else Aine has already invalidated will never happen. The Gospel wove Aine, a being of supreme benevolence and virtue, for our sake. The Omniscient Weaver has revealed to us the noise bringing chaos to all living beings."

At that moment, the Book of Gospel, which should have remained dormant, suddenly materialized on its own once more. The bright violet bookmark looked completely different from the standard update notifications of the Woven Festival.

A strange thought surfaced in everyone's minds. Is this an extra chapter the Omniscient Weaver personally added?

The Empress opened the Book of Gospel to the bookmarked page. "It is time."

She issued an order, yet no guest present knew toward whom her words were directed. "Aine, welcome back. Erase the noise."

***

Ashe suddenly lunged forward with a sharp gasp.

He slammed directly into the full-length mirror, knocking it off balance. The glass hit the floor with a deafening crash, shattering into countless jagged fragments.

Lys rushed over to support him. "Daddy?!"

Ashe was kneeling right on the sharp pieces, clutching his head in agony.

"Daddy, what happened? Don't scare me! Daddy!"

Ashe could not hear her voice. His fingers dug into his scalp like iron spikes, trying to fight off the chaotic, inexplicable memories flooding his mind with agonizing pain. He wanted to scream, but every sound remained trapped in his throat. He wanted to break free, but his body refused to obey him.

In his fractured vision, the broken glass displayed memories belonging to someone else.

He saw himself deceiving a young sorcerer, convincing the boy to jump off a bridge. He saw himself draining a sea witch of her water before throwing her into a plaza fountain. He saw himself standing outside a washroom door, staring inside at Pankey washing his hands.

These memories were terrifyingly vivid, carrying overwhelmingly intense emotions. Yet they remained completely separate from his real life, divided by an unmistakable boundary. Far from absorbing these foreign thoughts, Ashe felt his very soul being dragged into them.

Seeing him in such unbearable pain, almost as if he were losing his sanity, Lys panicked. "Daddy! Daddy!"

She glanced down at her hand mirror, and her panic suddenly vanished into a calm, steady expression. She wiped away her tears and runny nose with her sleeve.

Deep within her soft white hair, several strands had turned black and red. She began pulling away all the sharp mirror shards scattered around Ashe. Even as the glass cut into her fingers, she merely flinched without making a sound.

She gently guided Ashe to lie sideways with his head in her lap, holding him close while whispering in his ear. "Ashe darling, we will live somewhere with a garden in the future. When we go outside, we will see the ocean. We can raise a dog and a cat..."

"Ashe, we will go to the amusement park again someday. Just the two of us..."

"Ashy, wake up."

"Daddy, I will introduce you to four beautiful sisters. Please wake up, okay?"

Her tears fell uncontrollably once more. "Ashe... Don't leave me."

A moment ago, Ashe's entire frame had been rigid, trembling with violently tense spasms. Suddenly, he went completely slack, collapsing like a pile of mud onto the floor.

Lys struggled to hold him up and helped him sit. Anxiously, she asked, "Hey, can you hear me? Are you feeling better?"

"A little. But not completely..." Ashe gritted his teeth, pulling himself up by gripping the bed frame. "That other version of me is far too strong..."

Within his mind, his world had split into two distinct entities. One was his original self, forged from his true past. The other was the Gospel Ashe, born from those intruding memories.

Gospel Ashe was terrifyingly powerful. With a single brutal assault, he had beaten the original Ashe to the ground, leaving him utterly defenseless. If Gospel Ashe won this fight, he would devour original Ashe's soul entirely. At that point, the original Ashe would vanish without a trace, leaving only the imposter in this world.

Yet just as Ashe felt his existence slipping away, his internal form erupted with violet light. He forced himself back onto his feet, standing to continue the battle against Gospel Ashe.

The fight suddenly leveled out into a stalemate, granting Ashe just enough strength to barely regain control of his physical body.

He knew where that light came from. It was the Authority of Secrecy, granted by the Incarnation of Secrets. Under ordinary circumstances, this conceptual incarnation appeared almost useless, but it proved its irreplaceable value when true danger struck. The Mysterious Authority allowed him to blend into any environment and assume any identity, while the Authority of Secrecy strengthened his mental resistance against Divine Spirits. Without it, he might have already ceased to exist.

Looking down at the worried girl beside him, Ashe cast the Sword of Joy to heal the cuts on her hands.

Leaning heavily against the wall, he tried to think. "Let me sort out what is happening. I am ranked first on the Gospel Ranking, making me the Gospel's First. Why me? How could it be me? It makes no sense, and I refuse to accept this!"

His shock was equal to anyone else's. He clearly remembered that the Gospel's First was meant to be the purest, most innocent, kindest, and most wonderful young girl. Setting aside the obvious gender issue, how could a corporate slave with years of working-class stress fit those words? If anyone used those descriptions on him, he would assume they were mocking him.

He was certain the Gospel Ranking had not selected him through normal means. Someone had opened a backdoor for him. Was it the Four Pillar Deities, or was it the Blood Moon? There was nothing about him that justified such overwhelming favor from the Gospel.

As Ashe opened the Book of Gospel to double-check his ranking, a violet note suddenly appeared before him. It was a message from Annan.

Annan: There's a Divine Spirit in the basement. It's basically a carbon copy of you.

The strange memories flooding my mind... the divine version of myself within those foreign thoughts... a Divine Spirit controlled through a mortal body... the Incarnation of Secrets... the Authority of Secrecy...

Lys gently pulled at his sleeve. "Are you okay?"

Ashe stared blankly at her. Then he forced out a smile that looked far more painful than crying.