Chapter 416: Sun Goddess (Unorthodox History) — Happy Mother's Day to All Mothers

In a space that even the gods could not peer into, Herbert dropped a bombshell statement.

Then let me ask you—could the Sun God possibly be a woman!!?

Unorthodox history!

This is an absurd piece of unorthodox history that has never appeared in this world!

The Lieri Sect Pope, who had cultivated his character for several hundred years, was seized by an incandescent fury at this moment.

Damn it!

Who told you something like that!!?

What good is having such a wild imagination!!?

"Shut your mouth! What nonsense are you spouting!!?"

The Lieri Sect Pope clenched his fists and said loudly:

"Such a thing is absolutely impossible!"

From a feeling standpoint, this could even be called blasphemy!

But the problem was—at this moment, what Herbert showed was genuine, heartfelt puzzlement about it.

His eyes were clear, full of an exploration of the unknown, filled entirely with a desire to understand the truth.

I am very curious!

"Your Holiness the Pope, how can you be certain that He is not a goddess?"

"Have you truly seen His true form?"

"Did the Sun God ever explicitly tell you that He is not a goddess?"

Herbert kept pressing the attack, riding his momentum, and demanded:

"If He never said so explicitly, then how can you be so certain?"

Answer me!

"... Tch!"

Faced with Herbert's lethal trio of questions, the Lieri Sect Pope could not help but click his tongue in a very undignified manner, no longer looking like a kindly old man at all.

With a thoroughly thuggish air, he squinted sidelong at Herbert; the corner of his mouth twitched, as if he had swallowed back the curse words that had nearly burst from his lips.

Ivansen Nost, the current Lieri Sect Pope—although the younger believers generally regarded him as a kind old man who put the greater good first.

However, only the most ancient records still documented the various titles he had borne back in the mortal world.

And those titles had never had the slightest thing to do with "kindness."

【Dawn of Detonation】, 【Skullcrusher】, 【Blazing Fury of the Scorching Sun】, 【Fist of Judgment】…

Among the Sun Church's whole crowd of hot-tempered old-timers, he could be counted as the most extreme faction of them all.

And the reason he had been able to prevail among his peers and become the Lieri Sect Pope was not solely due to his temper.

In his younger days he had also been a master of doctrinal debate, so naturally he would not be shaken in his conviction by Herbert's abstract few words.

However, Pope Ivansen had to admit that Herbert's abstract viewpoint had left a fissure, neither too big nor too small, in the depths of his heart.

Herbert had discovered a blind spot that no predecessor had ever noticed—could the Sun God possibly be the "Sun Goddess"?

Although ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of it was absolutely impossible, just as Herbert had said… what if?

Amid the boundless possibilities, did such a near-nonexistent, tiny possibility exist?

The Sun God possessing a feminine aspect?

Was it possible?

Although the Sun Pope was immensely eager to deny this possibility, he also had to admit… that this possibility existed.

If gods were omniscient and omnipotent, then taking on a feminine form would be no difficult feat.

Moreover, the gods of this world had personalities much like the Greek gods, and they all played quite fast and loose.

Most gods had different aspects and incarnations.

Including but not limited to race, gender, power… it could be called ever-changing.

In the Primordial God era it was still fine—those beings who had appeared since the world's birth held little interest in the affairs of mortal things.

Their interactions were only among themselves, with no contact with mortal things like ants.

But when the Age of Faith arrived, and more and more mortals ascended to godhood, the gods' style grew increasingly free and abstract.

And under such circumstances, whether righteous gods or evil gods, it was common for male gods to use incarnations or even their true forms to take on feminine appearances and unite with the mortals they had chosen, begetting divine children.

Often—yes, "often"!

Some non-human gods would even choose to take the form of a mother beast to raise heroes, and would even unite with mortal things in the form of wild beasts…

Therefore, male gods possessing feminine incarnations was not a rare or unusual thing, nothing worth getting angry over.

However, before this, no one had ever thought of it—no one dared to think of it!

It was too audacious.

Moreover, after being "reminded" by Herbert, a thought Ivan could not help but surface in Ivansen's mind—the Sun God had never had a partner.

He had never had a divine child in the true sense.

There had been so-called "Children of the Scorching Sun" before, but those people had all been elevated after absorbing the 【Solar Tear】 He had bestowed.

Compared to so-called divine children, they were more like angels or creations of the god—bearing their mission from the moment of birth, and returning to the Sun God's domain upon completing it.

Never had it been heard that the Sun God had offspring with any goddess… no, wait!

Must not think further!

He'd almost been led astray by this brat!

"Enough, this topic ends here."

Pope Ivansen coughed once, put an end to the discussion, and declared decisively: "Our Lord, the Sun God Elbertas, will not be a goddess."

"I have seen my Lord, and I am not the only one who has seen His true form—the statue of Him was built by us believers together."

Since things had been said to that extent, Herbert didn't argue back to his own detriment, obediently lowering his head.

"Yes, yes, yes, you're right, I was rash."

Could Herbert not know he was spouting some abstract unofficial history?

Of course he knew.

In fact, he had once happened to see a passage of "Genesis" at Lushir's place, and had truly witnessed the true form of the Sun God.

It was a towering deity radiating brilliant light, the dazzling radiance making it impossible to see clearly His—huh?

Thinking back this carefully, it really does seem uncertain what gender He is?

"... Hiss."

Herbert drew a slight sharp breath, slowly widening his eyes.

That... it shouldn't be such a coincidence, right?

My mouth hasn't been blessed, there shouldn't really be such a thing...

Herbert was so shocked by his own bold guess that his body went stiff, while the Lieri Sect Pope beside him had regained his composure.

The old man lay back down on his reclining chair, leisurely picked up his cup, and casually asked: "So, child, what was the purpose of deliberately provoking me with this topic just now?"

After the shock, he finally came back to his senses and realized the true purpose behind Herbert's words.

Ever since he entered here, he seemed to have been wanting to anger him?

"... As expected, you still noticed."

Seeing his little trick exposed, Herbert didn't argue, raised his head, and smiled calmly: "To get an answer, I want to know why you've been so tolerant with me?"

"Heh heh."

The Lieri Sect Pope waved his hand and said casually: "A lonely old man showing tolerance to a child who comes to chat with him—does that need any reason?"

"That reason might make sense, but I don't think it's the real answer." Herbert shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Besides, I didn't come to visit you on my own initiative—clearly, you summoned me.

"I need a truth, even if that truth may not be what I hope for."

Is it exploitation? Or appreciation of talent?

No matter the outcome, Herbert wanted to know the answer.

This was the Lieri Sect Pope's private space; Herbert was in an absolutely disadvantaged position.

But precisely in this moment of vastly unequal strength, he insisted on demanding an answer.

Is this the foolishness of overestimating oneself?

No.

This is the wisdom born of deliberation.

Precisely because the gap in strength was great enough, Herbert could make this somewhat offensive, presumptuous move.

When you are weak enough, even your defiance looks adorable—and this also means the superior will tolerate your offense more.

Precisely because Herbert was too weak in the Lieri Sect Pope's eyes, and was a friend rather than a foe, he could make this bold provocation.

After hearing Herbert's words, the Lieri Sect Pope restrained his smile and carefully sized him up from head to toe.

"You really do resemble him... especially in these boring little places."

After a moment, the old man shifted his gaze from the youth, lowered his eyes to look at the reflection in his cup, and shook his head: "If I hadn't sensed none of his aura on you, I'd really have thought you were his offspring."

The Lieri Sect Pope didn't say who that person was, but Herbert, who had a vague guess in his heart, understood.

Oh~

So you're also giving my family's old man face, huh.

Alright, worthy of the Face-Fruit power user.

Although the Randazhu Sect's story never mentioned the Lieri Sect Pope, as trendsetters of the same era, they must have had some interaction.

At the very least, nodding acquaintances.

But now it seems... their relationship might be a bit better than he had guessed.

"Being compared to him is my honor."

Herbert shrugged, then asked: "So, all your tolerance toward me is entirely because of his face?"

Pope Ivanson laughed heartily: "At least partly. Since you were chosen by him and still bear his blessing, this old friend of his naturally should guide the younger generation a little."

"Besides that, there's also a small reward for the contributions you made before."

Contributions?

Herbert raised his brows, not having expected he had done anything worthy of the Pope personally rewarding him.

Pope Ivanson saw his confusion and said with a smile: "It's only been so short a time, and you've already forgotten? Didn't you do quite a few things with that giant dragon?"

Herbert: Hmm???

Bah!

You old fart, how do you know the two of us did a lot?

You were peeping on us too?

—Of course, such words would never be asked aloud.

Before opening his mouth, Herbert suddenly realized what the Pope was referring to.

Oh.

So that's what you meant!

Hey, I thought you meant that!

The Lieri Sect Pope couldn't read Herbert's rapidly shifting inner drama, and continued the previous topic: "Although you disrupted those children's grand plan, you did indeed hinder Miss Xie Shen's claws from harming the mortal world, and saved many little ones who shouldn't have died."

Saying this, a flash of helplessness and heartache crossed his eyes, and he sighed: "As for them, alas, they still don't understand."

"Compared to a momentary clash, what truly matters to a deity has always been the believers and the faith they provide."

Listening to the old man's seemingly complaining words, Herbert gathered up all his little schemes, furrowed his brow, and asked seriously: "You mean, you know all of this is just a… farce?"

Although this war between the two divine churches had a tremendous momentum, both sides had already suffered considerable casualties.

But in the eyes of Herbert and some other perceptive people, this was nothing but a farce.

Regardless of its intensity, regardless of its scale, this was a farce that had erupted in haste.

The old man did not answer, merely shook his head gently and gave a faint smile.

"Heh."

The Lieri Pope had known the true nature of this muddled war from the very start—it was nothing but a farce.

He knew.

Yet he still tacitly approved the church's decision.

"Then why didn't you go and stop it?" Herbert asked, somewhat puzzled.

With the Lieri Pope's authority, he could have completely suppressed every dissenting voice.

If he had, the current situation would never have arisen.

The old man smiled faintly and asked in a lightly teasing tone: "Why would I go and stop it?"

!!!

"Children need to grow. When I was their age, I too didn't understand the elders' way of thinking."

"If I went to teach them, they wouldn't listen."

"People only understand what they truly ought to do after they've made mistakes."

You can teach a person with words, and they won't learn.

You can teach a person with consequences, and they'll learn in one go.

"…But what if they themselves could simply never make mistakes at all?" Herbert asked subconsciously after a silence.

"If never making mistakes were possible, that would be better, but can you do it?"

Herbert fell silent and gently shook his head.

The moment the question left his lips, he realized the answer—impossible.

Not to mention others, even he himself couldn't do it.

Although Herbert had always been proud, feeling he was no worse than anyone else, he had still done plenty of foolish things in his life.

The most correct thing to do is not necessarily what he wants to do in his heart, and what he wants in his heart is not necessarily right.

But often, regardless of right or wrong, a person must still do what they want to do.

Having a clear conscience is already enough.

He suddenly understood as well.

This time, the Sun Church might win, but it would definitely pay a bitter price.

Because the Lieri Pope needed them to feel that pain.

He wanted to teach them what they truly ought to do.

At the same time, Herbert also understood the Lieri Pope's intention in summoning him here specifically.

He himself, the meddlesome variable, had already subtly caused the old man's original plan to deviate.

So…

Was he going to be placed under house arrest here, waiting for everything to come to light?

"…"

Herbert raised an eyebrow, did not lay everything bare, turned his head to look around, changed the subject, and asked: "Where is this place?"

The young man did not press, and the old man said no more, answering amiably: "This place? A certain afternoon in my memory."

"A certain one? You don't remember anymore?"

"Of course, child, you're still young now, but when you're as old as I am, many things will already be forgotten." The old man laughed heartily and stroked his beard.

Herbert blinked, his brow slightly raised.

Easier said than done.

But…

Have you truly already forgotten?

(End of Chapter)