Chapter 56
If Elise was blessed by the God of Light, then Lia was the Undying God's favorite child.
But Elise's blessing came from the system.
Lia's came from raw talent—and a miserable life.
When Lia was four, she watched a necromancer butcher her entire family, sparing only her grandfather. Then she was taken away and subjected to [Deathbound Conversion].
Vesserdali, a Fourth-tier Undying Archbishop, eventually saved her.
But by then, Lia had already endured three full years of it.
Her body and mind both carried the scars.
Her love of food, the way her hair glittered wildly whenever she got excited, her childlike temperament, her blurry sense of right and wrong—all of it traced back to those years.
She had also come away with one extraordinary ability.
Lia could seal away and digest intrusive spiritual thoughts.
She had stared death in the face, so she didn't fear it. She could even wall herself off from pain, despair, and other emotions entirely.
The truth was, Lia's mind was not entirely normal.
Which was why, once the little wheels in her head began to turn, her burning desire to compete with Elise led her to a terrifying idea.
She started absorbing energy from [Soul Mana Crystals] to train.
At first, Elise had been horrified. She half expected Vesserdali to explode when he found out.
But as it turned out, Lia really was one of Aurelia's chosen.
Nothing happened to her.
Imagine that.
Spiritual corruption from [Soul Mana Crystals]?
Lia's mind was already a locked ward.
Go ahead. Try to rot it. See if she cared.
For Lia, training with [Soul Mana Crystals] was like dumping a cup of kitchen sludge into a sealed spiritual sewage pit. Give her a little time, and she could digest it, isolate it, and move on.
That thrilled her.
Her Spirit growth had very nearly kept pace with Elise—who had the system on her side.
Even Elise envied talent like that.
Still, she couldn't help worrying.
"Lia, are you sure this training method won't affect your advancement?"
"My grandfather said it won't affect me before I reach Legend," Lia said after a moment's thought. Then she smiled. "Heehee. He also said I should spend more time with you."
"I see."
Elise understood.
Lia's transcendent path would hit an enormous threshold when she advanced to Legend.
At that point, all the negative spirituality she had been sealing away might erupt at once.
Vesserdali had clearly seen the problem coming. That was why he'd arranged for Lia to gain experience in ordinary human society.
But Vesserdali was still an Undying Archbishop.
His values were hardly suited to helping Lia forge a conviction strong enough to withstand that flood of negative spirituality.
In all of Aurelia, only the Church of Light had a real chance of influencing the Undying God's favorite child.
Which was exactly why Vesserdali was happy to leave Lia at Elise's side.
He wanted Lia to compete with Elise in transcendent training—while also becoming a death worshiper with faith in the Light.
In short, Lia might be the strangest devotee of death in the world.
One day, she would face the ultimate trial of her transcendent path, and her shaky sense of right and wrong needed proper guidance.
Even though she practiced death-aspect magic, perhaps this need for guidance was why the Church of Light's higher-ups were willing to let Lia stay under the Light's influence for so long.
And Elise was the one they had chosen.
She was responsible for guiding Lia.
She was also responsible for keeping her in check.
Elise glanced at Lia.
The little girl's hair was glittering at a furious pace, but her eyes kept darting away. Tymis had perched on her head and was slapping her with its long ears.
Elise smiled.
Fine.
Lia was a tragedy born of Aurelia itself.
Since Elise pitied her and found her adorable, she didn't mind helping where she could.
Besides, Lia was no fool.
When she'd faced a death-aspect powerhouse like Anarias, she had known to avoid battle, lest the Death Sovereign use her as casting material.
"Lia, I can attempt my breakthrough to Senior Second-tier at any time."
Now that Elise had decided to keep Lia close, a mischievous impulse rose in her, and she couldn't resist showing her hand.
Sure enough, the moment the words landed, Lia's smugness evaporated.
She looked like she'd just heard a ghost story.
Her hair flashed so fast it resembled a broken warning lamp.
Even the hand shoveling food into her mouth froze mid-motion.
Her big eyes went perfectly round.
Beside her, Lina, Glenrius, Chalmers, and Harkian nearly dropped their cups.
What did she mean, she could attempt her breakthrough to Senior Second-tier at any time?
Elise had advanced to Second-tier barely two months ago, hadn't she?
And she already met the hard requirement for Senior Second-tier?
Watching her former teammates gape at her, Elise felt deeply satisfied.
Yes.
This was exactly the feeling.
She loved watching everyone look so thoroughly out of their depth.
Besides, without the strength of a Senior Second-tier High Cleric, how was she supposed to help Harkian secure a town defense commission?
Surely no one believed an ordinary High Cleric could handle a mission like that.
And if she couldn't take the commission, it would be hard to repay Harkian for throwing himself into harm's way when that devil had tried to possess someone a second time.
But now?
Elise's retreat was over.
She was going to show Archbishop Norias that even without the formal rank of Senior Second-tier, she had the strength to leave the city and train in the field.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as her confidence was cresting, someone rapped at the gate.
Lorna, who served as her assistant, walked in.
The crowd in the courtyard didn't surprise her in the least. She bowed, then made her report.
"Honored High Cleric Elise, Archbishop Norias has called a Church meeting. The parish sent me to ask whether you will attend."
"Yes," Elise said with a nod. "I will attend Crimsonwood Parish's Church meeting."
"Of course... ah, I mean, I'll inform the Church at once."
Lorna froze for a beat, then broke into a genuine smile.
Elise really had been in strict retreat lately.
As one of Crimsonwood Parish's twenty-one Second-tier Awakened, she hadn't attended a single Church meeting.
Archbishop Norias, Honorius, and the other parish leaders had all turned a blind eye.
Their stance was clear.
Elise only needed to focus on training. Everyone else could shoulder the busywork.
To the rest of the parish, this had become proof that Archbishop Norias was "forbidding" Elise from taking part in parish affairs.
Archbishop Norias was too stubborn. Restricting the Church's greatest young talent like this was practically inhuman.
Now Elise was finally going to attend a Church meeting.
Aside from Lorna, who was delighted to finally have work to do, the rest of the Church was about to witness Archbishop Norias's "suppression" all over again.