Only God-Chapter 544 - 469: Nothing at All, Yet Everything.

"So you just want to pick a fight with those Divine beings?"

Seated atop Schiller’s head, Sofia grasped Schiller’s hair and said with an air of helplessness,

"Your competitive spirit is too strong."

Not long ago, the seven Divines who had come to visit made their way home, carrying with them the details of Schiller’s wager back to the Country of Divines.

"You’ve ruined my plan," Schiller complained discontentedly.

Sofia retorted impatiently,

"Plan? What plan? Are you saying you wanted those Divines to kill you, thereby angering God?"

Schiller neither confirmed nor denied.

This "plan" was vague and nebulous in his mind; even he wasn’t sure what he planned, just had a rough idea.

Sofia sighed and spoke leisurely,

"I know... why you want to battle against the Gods."

Schiller looked up, but since Sofia was seated atop his head, he could not see the Fairy Queen even as he raised his gaze.

"What you’re doing is all because of Solamus, isn’t it?"

Her words fell lightly upon the ear.

Yet Schiller’s face suddenly changed, paling in an instant.

"What are you saying?!"

The Great Angel’s voice trembled slightly.

"Prophet Solamus—how many Divines did that Angel Leader battle against in his Holy Scripture?"

Sofia’s words were like the venom of a snake, striking right at the heart in an instant,

"You want to be like him, don’t you..."

Before Sofia could finish, the Great Angel cut her off eagerly,

"No, no! I am me; I am Schiller."

Sofia closed her mouth. This topic had gone far enough.

The Fairy Queen slowly descended from Schiller’s head.

Standing upon the Sea of Souls, she gazed toward the mountains.

The Holy Light stood in a place more remote than the distant horizon.

Sofia couldn’t help but wonder,

"What is God really like,

to the extent that your existence seems solely for Him?"

Schiller did not respond.

For an Angel, this was only natural.

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The Sects had been wandering in this desert for over thirty nights, yet they still had not reached the Holy Land.

Initially, departing from Ajia Land and passing through the desert to reach the Ancient Elf Kingdom should have taken only twenty-six days or even as few as nineteen with good fortune.

However, destiny always seemed to mock the Sects.

Even after thirty days, they still had not arrived at the Holy Land; they hadn’t even caught sight of the Ancient Kingdom.

The protracted journey was impacted by sandstorms on one hand, and on the other, by the absence of guides.

The Sects started out with three guides, but now two had departed, leaving just one last guide who had also become lost.

Thus, the Sects truly experienced the hardships Prophet Noen had faced traversing the desert.

However, they would not encounter the deceptive and cunning God of lies and tricks that could have led them to the Ancient Kingdom.

After more than thirty days of arduous travel, not only had the grit of the True Believers been worn down, but also their supplies of water and food had dwindled to almost nothing.

With no other choice, the Sects were forced to temporarily leave the desert, heading toward its edge to gather resources from the forests outside the desert before setting out once again.

They spent roughly three days exiting the desert. According to the guide’s estimation, the Sects were still about twenty days’ journey from the Holy Land.

"It seems we need to take a long detour!"

This news greatly disheartened the entire Sects.

The morale of the Sects momentarily waned, and even their prayers at the setting sun seemed listless.

"From Ajia to the Holy Land is supposed to be a twenty-six-day journey, yet after all this time, we find ourselves still twenty days away. We’ve spent more than thirty days to cover what others complete in six! Oh Lord, why do you torment us this way?"

Veldor complained fervently to the older Believer,

"We should have reached the Holy Land by now."

Listening to the disciple’s complaints, the old Believer just laughed it off nonchalantly.

Veldor felt angry at the disregard he saw in his eyes.

"My godfather, you never understand me."

The old Believer turned and said,

"No, I understand, and it’s because I understand that I don’t complain like you do."

Veldor exhaled in dissatisfaction and leaned against a tree stump.

"This path is truly arduous. Doesn’t the Lord want everyone to make the pilgrimage?"

The old Believer spoke leisurely,

"Some find it hard, others easy. We’ve spent over thirty days and still haven’t arrived, yet some may only take a dozen days to get there."

Veldor muttered,

"That’s not fair."

The old Believer didn’t respond; he stood up and slowly walked away.

Veldor didn’t notice where the old Believer had gone; he just sat by the tree stump, staring blankly at something, slowly becoming lost in thought.

When he snapped back to reality, the old Believer had already returned.

The old Believer had been gone for a long time, as if he’d gone to do something, holding a carving knife in his hand, he leisurely tucked the knife back into his robe.

"What did you do?"

Veldor asked.

The old Believer simply opened his hand, revealing a whistle inside.

"What is this?"

Veldor asked in surprise.

"You’ve been a Wanderer, haven’t you seen one?"

Veldor shook his head.

"Well, this is a pigeon whistle, used for training pigeons. I once used this to command carrier pigeons to steal money from other people’s homes,"

the old Believer said nostalgically,

"Most of the time it was just a couple of copper coins, silver on a lucky day, but gold, I’ve never seen."

Veldor found the whistle quite novel.

"Do you want it?"

the old Believer asked.

Veldor quickly nodded, thinking this thing could be useful after leaving the Sects.

But no sooner had he nodded than he immediately regretted it.

Maybe the old Believer was testing him? Testing whether he had the intention of leaving the Sects?

Thinking this, Veldor’s insides twisted with regret, wishing he could turn back time.

However, compared to Veldor’s emotional turmoil, the old Believer seemed unaffected. He smiled and placed the whistle into Veldor’s hand.

Veldor took the whistle with some regret and looked up, asking,

"Why give me this?"

The old Believer looked up at the sky and said leisurely,

"That whistle was used in my days as a Wanderer, when sounded, it would attract carrier pigeons.

Back then, I tamed the pigeons that were drawn by the whistle, but after becoming a True Believer, I set those pigeons free, and I haven’t used this whistle in a long time.

After my baptism, I carved Scriptures onto it, and I’ve carried it with me ever since, always treating it as a Holy Artifact."

Veldor curiously asked,

"What Scripture?"

The old Believer evaded,

"You’ll know once you recognize more characters over time."

Veldor nonchalantly uttered an "Oh," thinking: What’s so special about it.

At that moment, the old Believer suddenly said,

"Do you know? Some True Believers teach their children by quoting some very vulgar stories."

"For example, there was once a person who died penniless, leaving only a Scripture to his child. The child initially didn’t care."

"But ten years later, or perhaps twenty, when the child fell into hard times and randomly opened the Scriptures, he unexpectedly found a gold coin hidden inside."

"How vulgar, how direct, as if saying that merely by reading it, you’ll find wealth."

"I don’t like such stories."

Veldor heard this and thought for a moment, then asked,

"So what do you think it should be?

Ten years later, or twenty, when that child has fallen into hard times and unexpectedly opens the Scriptures, what should he find? What should he gain?"

The old Believer turned his head and looked longingly toward the distant skies,

"Nothing,

yet everything." freeweɓnovel-cøm

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