Chapter 275 - 260: The Secret of the Moon Thief, Whose Hands Hold the Choice?
Chapter 275: Chapter 260: The Secret of the Moon Thief, Whose Hands Hold the Choice?
The few people who had approached exchanged a look. In the end, a middle-aged sister stepped forward to speak with Jon.
With the High Priest away, this young-looking Warrior had suddenly burst into the church, triggered a miracle, and was now rallying everyone to save the city’s residents.
It wasn’t that they were unhappy with this turn of events. Rather, out of a sense of responsibility, they needed more information to ensure the situation wouldn’t spiral out of control.
"Sir, I am this church’s Assistant Priest, Maraya Seni."
The sister, dressed in a white robe and possessing a serene disposition, first clasped her hands and respectfully performed a church salute before raising her head to meet Jon’s gaze.
"Might we be so fortunate as to learn your esteemed name?"
Seeing her respectful attitude, Jon didn’t put on any airs and directly stated the information they were most concerned about.
"I’m Jon, from Birch Town. You may have heard of me."
"You’re that Divine Favored, Lord Jon?!"
Before Maraya could respond, a younger Monk standing to the side couldn’t help but blurt out.
"You’re the one who saved Birch Town with Lady Reya Xavier and triggered a miracle to drive out evil!?"
"Since you know who I am, this will be much easier. I won’t need to explain too much."
Jon nodded, then looked around at the crowd and said seriously.
"I know you may have reservations about the Church interfering in secular wars, but what I said earlier about the rebels in this city having the shadow of Evil Magic behind them was no exaggeration."
"On my way here, I was assailed by an evil magic ritual and vile creatures. And now, the city’s residents are being controlled by some form of Evil Magic, converging on Red Crying Castle."
Seeing the looks of surprise on their faces—they were clearly unaware of this—his voice rose slightly.
"Therefore, I need you to fight these evil beings. Whatever those scoundrels hiding in the shadows and manipulating this foul power want to do, we cannot let them succeed!"
After he said that, nothing more needed to be said.
Once they confirmed Jon wasn’t some unknown who’d appeared out of nowhere, but the Divine Favored—a man they’d never met but knew well by reputation—the Church’s leadership, headed by Maraya, had no further doubts. They immediately began arranging for personnel to receive the zealous believers and reorganize them into an orderly, controllable force.
And Jon could finally step away to deal with some matters he hadn’t had time for earlier.
He went to a sitting area on one side of the church and looked at Dolores, who was sound asleep on a long bench with her head in the Moon God Priest’s lap. He asked softly,
"Good day, Daughter of Neso. How is she?"
"May the moonlight shine upon you, Favored One of the great Po Ao."
This Priestess, who had a gentle and graceful air, stroked the Ranger Maiden’s messy hair, a flash of pity crossing her delicate features.
"Your companion... she’s not in any danger now, but it seems she suffered a very serious injury in the past..."
"An injury?"
"Yes. It’s not a physical or spiritual wound, but something..."
She paused for a moment, not explaining immediately. Instead, she looked up at Jon and said seriously.
"Do you know her origins?"
"Of course I do."
Jon took the opportunity to sit on the bench opposite her. He waved a hand, gesturing for Leona to provide some cover, before continuing.
"She said she’s from the Duchy of Pestide and was raised by the Moon Thieves."
"The Duchy of Pestide... the Moon Thieves... so it’s true..."
Seeing the strange expression on the Moon God Priest’s face, Jon instinctively pressed her for more.
"So it’s true? Is it related to her ’injury’?"
Upon learning that Jon knew of Dolores’s origins, the look of worry on the Moon God Priest’s face deepened, but at the same time, a trace of relief appeared.
She gently tucked a stray lock of Dolores’s short, purple hair behind her ear, then straightened her back and looked solemnly into Jon’s ice-blue eyes.
"I am Arriana Sheldon, a Priest in service to the great Neso."
"This child... Dolores’s trauma is rooted in her memory and Spirit. This is, without a doubt, the usual method the Moon Thieves use to twist minds."
Her fingertips unconsciously traced the girl’s furrowed brow, as if trying to smooth away the unseen scars.
"Those blasphemers wanted to prove their insane theory—one that defies the will of the Moon God. They believe that the faith all Moon Elves have in our Lord is nothing more than an imposed brand. To do so, they stole forbidden techniques for training top spies from the Elf Empire and twisted them for their own use."
"They use these techniques to try and replicate a so-called ’shackle of faith’ on mortals and believers alike. They do this to slander our Lord’s divine grace, claiming it is just another form of manipulation..."
Jon listened quietly, the colorful light from the church’s stained-glass windows slowly moving across his stern face.
Arriana’s description quickly formed a clear picture in his mind. In the knowledge system of another world, these actions had more precise definitions: brainwashing, subconscious rewriting, memory alteration...
The Moon Thieves’ actions were, in essence, a crude and evil program of mental programming, an attempt to turn living beings into cold test subjects to verify their twisted theories.
But one thing didn’t make sense.
"If they spent so much effort doing all this to her, why did the Moon Thieves ultimately set her free?"
He stared at Arriana, asking the most crucial and perplexing question.
"It doesn’t fit the logic of ambitious people."
"Logically, a tool ’processed’ as deeply as Dolores should either be completely controlled and used until death, or be disposed of cleanly to prevent any leaks."