The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 209
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 209
I created a chat room using God as a network, including the Commander. I simply used my telepathy skill that had almost no restrictions after becoming the Savior.
Rather than a chat room, it was more like a VR video call style where we gathered each other’s consciousness in a black space to talk.
“Now… let’s discuss how to make people trust each other.”
“I don’t know.”
“Crotal… be quiet.”
The Commander scolded Erendor. Even without memories, that aspect seemed unchanged.
I had seen them become rolling corpses and watched the Widow dance on top of them, feeling her hands gripping my intestines…
Well, anyway, it was around the time I was feeling complex emotions.
“If we could think of and derive this in less than half a day, wouldn’t we already be gods? The Gods couldn’t do it because they didn’t know how.”
Celestia shrugged as she spoke. Luan explained.
“Well, to be precise, they had no intention of doing so. Gods inevitably become arrogant… They never even thought it was possible.”
“Anyway, it’s true they couldn’t do it because they didn’t know how.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Luan admitted it cleanly.
“So gods aren’t good at everything?”
“If they were good at everything, they would have eliminated Lumensia long ago and set up dimensional barriers to prevent demons from entering. Gods aren’t perfect either.”
“Weren’t gods supposed to be perfect?”
Luan pointed at me with his finger.
“Why are you pointing at me?”
“Hmm~ I think you’ll understand what it means.”
“Erendor.”
The Commander looked shocked at being treated this way by Erendor. However, most of the people here paid no attention.
Only Celestia had an expression of ‘How insolent!’ and tried to hit Erendor.
Then Luan spoke up.
“…I thought of one method.”
“Tell us. We don’t have any proper alternatives anyway.”
He hesitated, then slowly made eye contact with everyone as he spoke.
“We give the initiative of miracles… to ordinary people.”
“Initiative?”
Luan nodded at my question.
“Until now, healing and salvation have been ‘charity’ bestowed by higher beings like Lumensia or the Savior. Humans have believed in gods by witnessing those miracles.”
“But what if humans performed miracles? When the Savior was an Ascetic, people believed in the Ascetic enough to invite him to godhood because he performed miracles despite being human.”
“We’ll use that.”
“From now on, we’ll make people truly believe in each other.”
“Will that work?”
Erendor asked as if picking a fight. Luan calmly nodded without backing down.
“That’s right. For people to believe in each other, the structure itself must change.”
Luan persuasively spoke to everyone as if he had been thinking about this for a long time.
“We create a structure where the person next to you prays for you, and that earnestness becomes actual power that’s transmitted.”
“We convert human potential into restricted ether, but the condition for using ether is only one: it activates only when there’s ‘sincere desire for others.’ Praying for others sincerely.”
“I can’t heal myself, but if I pray for the starving child next to me, my ether fills the child’s stomach, and if the child prays for me, my wounds heal.”
Then Celestia raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t know if I’m thinking this because I don’t particularly like people and dislike them… but I don’t think people will act that altruistically.”
Luan nodded.
“You’re right. Normally it wouldn’t work. But right now the world is on the brink of destruction.”
“In a calamity where the sky visibly splits and the ground overturns, when gods don’t respond but you directly witness the neighbor’s prayer saving your child?”
“People will believe in each other out of cunning if nothing else. For survival.”
He also perfectly explained the plan going forward.
“And since we’re only partially changing ether… the Ascetic won’t need to bear a great burden. You’ll have more leeway in future battles with Lumensia.”
Yelena nodded.
“If that happens… Lumensia’s position will also narrow. Since people trust each other naturally…”
It’s a brilliant idea.
“But can the Savior do that? Even for a Savior, wouldn’t that be difficult?”
“That could be considered my specialty. Since I’m the God of Fairness, fairly distributing miracles to humans is only natural.”
Luan nodded. He must have planned this strategy knowing all this.
“Then let’s begin. We only have… at most a week.”
“How do we do it? I’m not as smart as you in that area… It would be good if you could break it down for me.”
“…That might be necessary. Then I’ll explain simply. We’ll divide into three teams total.”
Luan clearly had genius talent for command and leadership. Of course, having run a religious order, it’s natural he’d have such talent.
He enthusiastically used his fingers to explain in the mental space. Then he realized he could create something like a blackboard and began drawing pictures to explain.
“The first team is the preparation team to still keep Lumensia in check. It includes the Commander, the Demon King, Celestia, and Kalebrin…”
Erendor seemed to understand very well from the organized presentation.
“The second team consists of me, Gretchin, Cardil, Yelena, and Alderion, and we’ll begin spreading doctrine and teaching how to handle ether.”
A picture of someone speaking from a podium was drawn.
Then probably my appearance… what is that? Anyway, it didn’t look human. Well, something indescribable was drawn.
“The third team is the Savior, who should focus on changing the nature of ether.”
“Wait, then what about me?”
“…You should accompany the Savior.”
That bastard Luan just told Erendor to go with me because there was no place for him.
“What am I supposed to do traveling with him?”
“…Erendor knows more than I do, so I think you’ll provide much advice and help to the Savior.”
=Why are you asking me that? Figure it out yourself. From asking this question, you seem to know more than me.
Maybe because he was raised by the Widow, he’s good at speaking indirectly like a noble.
Then Celestia quietly raised her hand.
“I don’t know much about this kind of thing… but is it possible for the second team to do that within a week? And I’m not doubting the Savior’s abilities, but ether is like a natural phenomenon or law of the world, and to change that in basically a day… even if it’s the Savior’s specialty, I… wonder if it will work well…?”
She was speaking because she knew better.
As an Archmage, Celestia seemed to have great doubts about me changing ether this way.
But I nodded.
“Just as it’s natural for the God of War to win all wars, it’s naturally possible, so don’t worry…”
“…If you won everything, shouldn’t you have beaten Lumensia too?”
Erendor interjected.
“Because I lacked power. You can win against 133 ships with 13 ships, but you can’t face 133 ships with none.”
“So my friend currently has 13 ships?”
“Changing ether’s nature while placing restrictions on it. Even Lumensia will be able to use it. Most fair and equal. So don’t worry about that.”
Celestia nodded. This time Luan spoke again.
“You asked if the second team could do it, but we’re not planning to gather people one by one to show miracles and persuade them with words like before.”
Luan drew something wave-like on the blackboard. Probably a wave… it would be. Luan pointed to those strange drawings as he continued explaining.
“If we make knowledge flow along ether currents, the entire continent can learn ‘how to perform miracles’ using ether in just one day, not a week. However, knowing how to perform miracles is separate from truly believing in people, so team 2 intervenes from that point.”
He pointed to the second team’s roster drawn on the blackboard.
“Team 2’s role isn’t to teach the ‘method’ of performing miracles, but to incite why we must hold the hand of the person next to us right now. In the clear calamity where Lumensia is silent and the world is ending, we plan to prove at the most desperate moment that only humans can save humans. Then people will inevitably believe in each other.”
So they’ll create a situation where there’s no one to trust, then fan the flames telling people to trust each other while showing the results and agitating.
Luan was definitely smart. Maybe it’s because the system and Forgotten Gods combined in various ways.
“What Lumensia fears most isn’t the blade, but the disappearance of its own value. With this method, we can definitely win.”
The Commander, who had been quietly listening to the explanation, slightly raised his hand to ask a question.
“But Lumensia won’t just sit still, will it?”
Luan smiled faintly as if he’d been waiting for this.
“Good question. Lumensia won’t sit still. Rather, it will go mad. Its exclusive power is being shaken like pebbles on the street. I predict…”
What appeared to be an angel was drawn on the blackboard.
“It will probably send down angel legions under the pretext of ‘judgment’ to completely erase those who perform miracles with ether. The justification would be something like blasphemy.”
“The moment angels descend and rain down divine lightning, people will instinctively seek God. But Lumensia won’t respond… Rather, the moment they realize that God is the one killing them, people will be overcome with tremendous despair. The collapse of the world may be abstract, but the angel’s spear aimed at them will be visible to their own eyes.”
“That’s exactly what we’re aiming for. We’ll make them witness the miracle of a small barrier created by holding their neighbor’s hand blocking the angel’s spear.”
Luan said that Team 2 would need to naturally demonstrate this first, drawing circles rapidly on the blackboard.
“Those who witness Team 2’s miracle will join in, and thousands of neighbors will be bound together by a single determination to save each other, creating a massive divine barrier. God tries to kill while humans save each other? After seeing that contrast, would humans really go back to licking God’s boots?”
As expected, this guy seems better at explaining and incitement than me.
It wasn’t that Hanbul Park was captured by the cult den and happened to play the role of Sernuan Lumiere well—his base stats were already like this, so naturally I was able to perform the cult role well too…
Yelena, who had been listening to those words, quietly nodded her head.
“You’re going to stimulate survival instincts rather than logic. At this point when there’s no time, that would be the most reliable method.”
“The moment we prove that the world keeps turning and miracles happen even without God, we win.”
“We’ll leave persuading the Imperial Citizens to Team 2.”
If the Demon Race is under the Demon King’s command, thoughts and ideologies can be transmitted. Rather, it’s fortunate that there’s less to worry about regarding the Demon Realm.
“Yeah, I understand everything.”
Erendor nodded his head. Then he boldly raised his sword.
Around him, naturally, there was no Ifrit.
“Then what are we dawdling for? We need to go right now!”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————