NOVEL NEXT Ch. 55 – A Day of Revelations
Maven could only stare, dumbfounded, at the strange sights occurring all around her, completely baffled by the miracle that Henna had wrought with her power.
Every single person, regardless of their age, gender, or status, was now speaking with whatever departed soul they missed most in all the world. Off to the side, Even Fae and Shayna could be seen chatting with some ghostly apparitions of their own, tears of joy and sorrow streaming down their cheeks as they spoke. Fae finally got to meet the mother she never knew; Shayna, the brother who left too soon.
“Hehehe, consider this chance a gift from most fabulous of goddesses - the kind and loving Goddess of the Dead! Don’t be shy…… Praise me! Praise me!” Henna smugly proclaimed to the people, hands on her hips and chest puffed with pride.
“You devil, desecrating the dead will not be tolerated in my kingdom! How dare you invite the vile undead into this sacred land??” The King shouted in rage, completely disturbed by the unheard of events going on around him.
Not only had his plans to discredit the Saintess gone completely awry, but some immensely powerful little girl had appeared and started calling herself a goddess. Even worse, that so-called goddess then went summoned the dead - almost certifying her divine nature.
“Bleh,” Henna said teasingly, pulling her eye and sticking out her tongue. “Didn’t I tell you, old man, there’s nothing evil about the darkness and death attributes? There’s definitely nothing evil about such an adorable goddess like me either.”
Grandly motioning toward the people joyously talking to their loved ones, Henna continued, “Look at what’s happening here, people reunited with their loved ones, how could this ever be called evil? There’s no dirty, mindless undead here. Just pure, unfettered souls here to relieve the worried of the ones left behind.”
“You’ve summoned the souls of the dead! How could something so unholy be anything other than evil?” The Kind scolded the impertinent Henna.
Unfortunately for him, the people didn’t seem to be on his side. Instead, the people shouted their support of the strange little ghost girl.
“She’s right!”
“I got to see mom again!”
“She’s a true goddess!”
“It’s all thanks to Maven!”
Random shouts could be heard coming from the crowd, backing Henna and condemning the King. The soldiers looked a bit uneasy as the boisterous crowd pressed in on the stage, joined as they were by their disembodied loved ones.
“S-Stay back!” The King shouted as he stared uneasily at his people. It was hard to blame him, anyone would become a bit anxious if thousands of people and ghosts glared accusingly at them en masse.
Feeling things were about to get out of hand, Maven stepped forward to address the crowd. She had to quell the people’s unease, prevent the King from getting what he wants, and stop Henna from getting carried away - quite the task for sheltered young girl. Yet, this was the duty of the Saintess, the one charged with saving the world.
“Now, now…… Everybody, just calm down! Let’s all just settle down and enjoy this unexpected chance to meet your loved ones. My friend Henna tried awful hard to give you this gift!” Maven said while motioning for everyone to settle down.
“Henna?!?!” Screams of shock and horror tore their way out of every throat in the plaza. Though Henna had been calling herself goddess this and goddess that, this was the first time her name had actually been stated aloud. Hearing these terrified exclamations, Maven winced in regret.
《That…… May have been a mistake》 Kannon said to Maven hesitantly.
《You’re probably right. Henna’s stupid performance must have bent my head out of shape.》 Maven said with a sigh.
“You cursed Saintess, How dare you invite the Evil God Henna into these sacred lands!” The King said angrily, face red as a tomato and spittle flying everywhere. His family had spent centuries plotting against and hating her, it was no wonder he reacted so vehemently to the mention of her name.
Deciding this king was just a complete lost cause, Maven moved to address the crowd. No matter what the king thought of her, as long as the people were on her side, he’d be powerless to hurt her.
Releasing a flash of her divinity to calm the crowd, Maven locked them in place and pressed them halfway to the ground. She certainly made for quite the arresting sight, radiating her unique brand of divinity in public for the first time and forcing the people to look in her direction.
“Just ignore the ridiculous old man behind me.” Maven said to people in a jovial tone, her impertinence causing the King’s face to turn purple in rage. Unfortunately for him, Maven’s aura had him locked in place just like everyone else. Trapped in the grip of that otherwordly aura, the poor king was just as powerless as the rest of the people.
“Exactly! Just ignore that stupid-face in gaudy clothes!” Henna said as she floated down by Maven’s side. “How could of a king could he be anyway? He just didn’t like Maven, so he wanted to ruin her. Rather than listening to that petty man, listen to the two goddesses and your Saintess instead!”
“Two Goddesses?!?!” Everyone shouted in astonishment.
《Oh no…… Henna’s really on roll, dropping bombshells right and left. And I was just getting nice and comfortable with this life too. It was fun to masquerade as a simple, mischievous fairy.》 Kannon said regretfully.
《Is there really no way you can stop her, Kannon? I have no idea how the people are going to react your return…… but I’m positive that’s what she’s about to do.》 Maven said pleadingly. She was really not looking to dealing with the fallout of today’s events.
As if to confirm their suspicions, Henna plucked Kannon’s small fairy body from the air and presented her to the people.
“Here you go, humans of the Holy Kingdom, meet your most beloved Goddess of Light - Kannon herself!” Henna said proudly.
Everyone’s eyes dropped to the tiny white fairy in the ghost girl’s hands, boring a hole through her with their intense gaze.
In response, Kannon shyly poked her head up from the wings she had been hiding behind. The second she saw the sea of intense, unblinking eyes just staring at her, Kannon immediately hid behind her wings again.
Seeing this timid behavior from the so-called goddess, everyone turned a reproachful at Henna. There was no way this adorable, bashful creature was the Goddess of Light - the most venerated and majestic of all Goddesses.
Henna just grinned and poked Kannon’s cheek with her index finger. “Come on, sis, say hello to your people. The ground has been set, our support base is strong, Maven is all grown up. It’s time to reveal ourselves to the world and begin setting things right!”
Emboldened by Henna’s encouragement, Kannon took the most courageous pose she could on Henna’s palm before speaking, “H-Hi everyone, it’s true…… I’m Kannon. I’m kinda the Goddess of Light around here!”
