Chapter 239: Revelation

“Daimon-san, where are we going now?” Yagami Iori asked curiously inside the luxurious vehicle.

“To a place that could change your destiny,” Daimon Nagatomo replied with a smile, then fell silent.

Yagami Iori wore a puzzled expression. Are all wealthy people this enigmatic and profound?

Since meeting Daimon Nagatomo, a man who was clearly a wealthy businessman, Yagami Iori believed his streak of bad luck was finally coming to an end. He even thought that Daimon Nagatomo was the person he had been waiting for. However, after they parted ways at the nightclub that night, he didn’t hear from the man for days. Lacking a solid reason to call him, he waited anxiously until, on the fifth evening, Daimon Nagatomo suddenly contacted him and proposed taking him somewhere. Naturally, Yagami Iori agreed without hesitation.

The vehicle traveled quietly along the highway, and after about an hour, it finally stopped in the Bunkyo district near Hongo.

“We’re here, Yagami-san,” Daimon Nagatomo said, stepping out of the car first.

Yagami Iori followed, scanning his surroundings curiously.

To his surprise, Daimon Nagatomo led him toward a structure resembling a church.

Although he was full of doubt, Yagami Iori followed the man, who might very well become his future employer, toward the building. As they approached, he noticed the surrounding area was packed with countless vehicles, many of which were luxurious cars that ordinary people could never afford.

When they reached the main entrance, Daimon Nagatomo took out an access card and swiped it on a nearby reader. With a soft “click,” the door automatically opened.

As they stepped inside, Yagami Iori realized it really was a church, filled with rows of people sitting tightly together.

“Deacon Daimon, welcome back,” a young man dressed in peculiar-looking robes approached and greeted Daimon Nagatomo respectfully.

“Is the Master in?” Daimon Nagatomo asked.

“He returned just this morning and is currently resting in the lounge. Do you have urgent business with him?”

“Not exactly urgent, but I recently came across a promising talent and wanted to introduce him to the Master. However, since he’s resting, I’ll wait until after the ceremony to make the introduction.”

Hearing this, the young man glanced at Yagami Iori standing beside Daimon Nagatomo, then said, “In that case, Deacon Daimon, please follow me. Your seat has been arranged.”

“Thank you.” Daimon Nagatomo nodded politely and followed the young man, with a bewildered Yagami Iori trailing behind.

As they moved through the space, many people rose to greet Daimon Nagatomo with nods or bows, which he acknowledged graciously.

After being seated in the front row, Yagami Iori couldn’t hold back his curiosity. “Daimon-san, why did you bring me here?”

Instead of answering directly, Daimon Nagatomo posed a question of his own, “Yagami-san, do you believe in the existence of gods?”

The unexpected question left Yagami Iori momentarily speechless. After some thought, he replied, “I used to believe when I was a child, but after becoming a mercenary, I stopped. On the battlefield, no amount of prayer can compare to the reliability of a submachine gun.”

Daimon Nagatomo nodded thoughtfully. “Your point is valid, but I assure you, gods do exist. Tonight, you may witness true miracles before your very eyes.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean, Daimon-san.”

“You don’t need to understand now. You will, once the ceremony begins.”

“A ceremony?”

“Yes, one you will remember for the rest of your life.” With that, Daimon Nagatomo calmly fixed his gaze forward and said no more.

Yagami Iori’s curiosity deepened, but he had no choice but to wait patiently.

As time passed, nearly two and a half hours later, a melodious piano tune suddenly emerged from behind the pulpit.

Everyone who heard the music immediately rose to their feet.

Seeing Daimon Nagatomo stand, Yagami Iori followed suit.

Shortly after the music began, four women in uniform robes emerged from behind the curtains, escorting a man in his fifties with slightly graying hair and a stern expression.

The moment the man appeared, everyone’s faces displayed profound respect. In unison, they raised their right hands, bent at the elbow, and placed them over their left shoulders while bowing their heads in reverence.

Though no one uttered a word, the synchronized gesture amplified the solemnity of their devotion.

Yagami Iori mimicked the gesture clumsily, though his attention wasn’t on the man at the center. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the four beautiful women surrounding him, two of whom were clearly not of Asian descent.

After stepping onto the pulpit, the man surveyed the congregation before speaking into the microphone in a deep voice, “Brothers and sisters, welcome to this gathering.”

Immediately, the room erupted in applause.

Raising his hand to signal for silence, the presiding man continued, “By the glory of the true god, Andes, we are fortunate to come together here to heed His teachings and share the blessings He has bestowed upon us. I am one of His servants, the Overseer, Messias. I now declare that the ritual of reverence shall officially begin.”

As soon as Messias finished speaking, the applause grew even more fervent.

The true god, Andes? Yagami Iori’s face was filled with confusion. Isn’t this a Christian or Catholic church?

As if sensing his thoughts, Daimon Nagatomo made a gesture for silence and motioned for him to continue watching.

At that moment, two young men dressed in ceremonial robes carried a large table onto the pulpit and efficiently laid a red cloth over it.

“The Saintess Lanling, please take your place,” Messias solemnly announced.

From among the four women standing behind him, one slowly stepped forward. She calmly began undoing the buttons of her robe.

When all the buttons were undone, she removed the robe entirely, revealing that she was wearing nothing beneath it.

Despite her complete nudity in front of a large crowd, the Saintess remained utterly composed, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. There was not a trace of embarrassment on her face.

The Saintess walked unhurriedly to the table covered with the red cloth. She climbed onto it and lay down, her hands crossed over her chest in a posture of prayer.

Apart from the faint sound of heavy breathing, the entire church fell silent. Messias and the other three women stood by without taking any action, merely observing the Saintess.

Yagami Iori, still perplexed, didn’t understand what was happening. However, he unabashedly took the opportunity to fixate on the Saintess’s exposed figure.

Suddenly, he noticed something peculiar on the inner side of her thigh. Upon closer inspection, he realized it appeared to be a strange tattoo.

When he tried to look more carefully, he discovered that similar tattoos were gradually surfacing not only on her thighs but also on her knees, chest, abdomen, and other parts of her body.

These markings weren’t there when she first disrobed. Yagami Iori could clearly see that the strange patterns were gradually appearing on her skin as if materializing out of thin air.

As time passed, the initially faint patterns became sharper and more distinct.

Within five minutes, the markings had reached their full clarity, with every detail of the intricate patterns strikingly vivid.

The congregation’s breaths grew heavier during these minutes, their excitement palpable as they watched the astonishing scene unfold.

Once the patterns stopped changing, Messias declared loudly, “Brothers and sisters, offer your sincere prayers to the true god. Through the Saintess, your prayers will be conveyed to Him.”

The congregation immediately bowed their heads and began praying.

The prayers lasted only five minutes before the crowd raised their heads, one after another, to watch the front of the room.

Once everyone had finished their prayers, Messias slowly approached the table where the Saintess lay. Under Yagami Iori’s shocked gaze and the congregation’s exhilarated attention, Messias took out an intricately crafted, unusual dagger.

“In the name of the true god Andes, grant us salvation. We are willing to offer all that we have to Andes. Have mercy on us, O Lord!” After uttering these words loudly, Messias suddenly plunged the dagger into the Saintess’s chest. With a precise motion, he cut a line from her chest down to her navel, splitting her torso open.

Yagami Iori was so startled he almost cried out. He now understood that this so-called Andes sect was undoubtedly a cult, for only a cult would engage in such a gruesome live sacrifice. However, given the overwhelming number of devotees in the room, he dared not make any rash moves. All he could do was suppress his shock and keep watching.

To his horror, the Saintess showed no signs of pain. Instead, she displayed a serene, almost content smile, making Yagami Iori’s skin crawl.

The other followers held their breath, fixated on Messias, who stood holding the dagger.

“May the Lord hear our prayers,” Messias intoned before reaching into the Saintess’s chest. With a smooth motion, he extracted her still-beating heart from beneath her flawless skin.

As Messias held the heart, which continued to pulse rhythmically in his hand, Yagami Iori, despite being a seasoned veteran of war, felt his throat tighten and a wave of nausea surge through him.

What shocked him most was that the heart appeared detached from any veins or nerves, as though it were simply an ornament. He had seen no blood vessels being severed, and Messias had removed it with effortless ease.

Moreover, the long wound on the Saintess’s body did not bleed, as though she were a lifelike mannequin rather than a living woman. Yet, it was undeniable that she was alive.

As Messias raised the pulsating heart in his hand above his head, the congregation chanted in unison:

“May the Lord redeem us; we are willing to offer everything for Andes. Have mercy on us, Lord!”

The echoing chants filled the church, reverberating with fervor.

After a moment, Messias gently placed the still-beating heart back into the Saintess’s chest and solemnly intoned, “Saintess, return.”

As soon as the words left his lips, a strange white light emanated from his right hand. Messias then ran his glowing hand along the Saintess’s chest, tracing the gruesome incision he had made earlier.

To Yagami Iori’s astonishment, the wound vanished as if it had been nothing more than a red chalk mark wiped away. Within seconds, the Saintess’s skin was smooth and unblemished, showing no sign that it had ever been torn open.

Several worshippers suddenly burst into tears and knelt down, their emotion cascading through the crowd like a chain reaction. One by one, more and more people dropped to their knees, overcome with awe and reverence. The church was soon filled with the sound of suppressed sobs.

Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Messias declared, “The sacrificial ritual is complete. I now leave you in the hands of Deacon Moers, who will teach you the divine teachings. Please rise; I am merely a vessel for the Lord’s miracles and require rest. My brothers and sisters, I bid you farewell.”

With that, Messias slowly made his way toward the inner sanctum, followed by the four Saintesses, including the now fully robed Saintess Lanling.

The congregation gazed after them in reverent silence until their figures disappeared from view. Only when Moers, a man in his forties dressed in a black robe, ascended the pulpit and activated a projector to display the divine teachings on a whiteboard did the worshippers rise from their knees and return to their seats.

During Moers’s lesson, Yagami Iori, still reeling from what he had witnessed, whispered to Daimon Nagatomo beside him, “Daimon-san, what on earth was that…”

“That,” Daimon said calmly, “is the miracle I wanted you to see. Now, let me ask you again: do you believe in the existence of gods?”

Moers’s lesson appeared tailored to newcomers like Yagami Iori. In addition to explaining the teachings of the Andes faith, he recounted the origin of the religion.

According to Moers, the Andes faith traces back to Atlantis—a vanished civilization. Atlantis, he explained, was a highly advanced civilization predating the current era of humanity. It thrived on a massive landmass called “Atlantis Continent,” which eventually shattered and sank due to a cataclysmic global disaster.

Plato was the first in recorded history to mention Atlantis. In his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, he cited an Egyptian priest who remarked: “The Greeks are like children in their ignorance of history. They remember only one great flood, yet there were many. The greatest of all wiped out Atlantis.”

The Andes deity, Moers continued, was the protector of Atlantis for countless ages. However, as time passed, the Atlanteans grew arrogant and blasphemous. Enraged by their hubris, the deity unleashed a great flood that destroyed Atlantis.

Nonetheless, a few devout prophets, forewarned by the deity, managed to escape before the deluge and survived. These survivors carried with them a prophecy: the deity would one day take human form to save the faithful.

The current leader of the Andes Church, Moers proclaimed, is the human incarnation of that deity. He referred to this figure with the utmost reverence, using only the honorific title “He.”

The congregation sat in rapt silence, their heads bowed in devotion, as Moers’s voice resonated through the church. Even those who had heard the story before listened with unwavering piety.

Half an hour later, the lesson concluded. Moers placed his right hand on his left shoulder and made a gesture of blessing toward the congregation before retreating to the inner sanctum. The worshippers began to disperse.

As the crowd thinned, Daimon Nagatomo turned to Yagami Iori and said, “Yagami-san, I will now introduce you to Messias.”

Yagami Iori flinched at the suggestion. Before the ritual, he wouldn’t have minded meeting anyone, but after witnessing the miracles performed by Messias, the thought of meeting him filled him with unease.

Seeing his nervous hesitation, Daimon smiled and reassured him, “There’s no need to worry, Yagami-san. Our meeting today and your presence here are all part of the divine plan. Please, follow me.”

With no other choice, Yagami Iori suppressed his anxiety and followed Daimon into the depths of the church.