Luke brought salvation to the entire city, and all the sick were healed. The sick asked Luke, “Teacher, who are you?” The Lord replied, “I am the only begotten Son sent by Deus to save you, the Messiah who has come to this land,” and all the people worshiped him.
The New Testament, Aurelia Gospel, Chapter 9, Verses 5-7
Currently, the options available to me are quite diverse. Let’s break them down into four somewhat realistic plans…
First. Kill all the humans, except for Simon and Iako.
Ignis shows overwhelming strength as long as it’s not a fight with ‘Chaos’. Plus, I have various abilities at my disposal.
Mass murder could actually be possible, and who cares about the extras? I wouldn’t lose sleep over them.
Of course, doing so would mean losing Simon and Iako’s trust.
Not really a choice I want to take.
Second. Just flee with Simon and Iako.
The masses and Baal’s holy knights?
They don’t even hold a candle to our strength.
Even without using ‘Zana’s Life’, fleeing isn’t an issue.
However, in this case, Simon and Iako would just be disappointed in me.
And honestly, I’d feel bad.
How dare those extras make me feel this way? Me running away?
Third. Summon Ignis to heal the paralyzed patients and prove I’m not a fraud.
My magic is at its peak right now. It’s enough to summon Ignis and heal the paralyzed patients just like yesterday.
The issue is that the sick people here aren’t just paralyzed.
While I do see some of them, many more come for other ailments.
Blind people, those missing arms, and others afflicted by various diseases.
I guess after hearing about the first paralyzed patient yesterday, other sick folks came today with hope because of their stories.
I cannot heal them all with Ignis.
Actually, I don’t know.
Now that Ignis has attained the ‘Divine’ status, I wonder how far her abilities extend. However, simply summoning Ignis would make it clear that I did something.
If she succeeds in healing everyone, great, but if not, the crowd might think I summoned flames as a threat.
That could turn every onlooker into an enemy. It’s loaded with risk of having to resort to the first or second option.
And finally, the fourth.
My ‘Gift’ ability.
An ability I can’t control as I would like.
And I don’t fully understand the reality of this power.
Yet, in crises, this ability solves problems differently than intended.
Just recently with Saula.
I didn’t mean to, but I rendered the ultimate boss of the first part, Saula, completely powerless and sent her far away.
Right now, I’m in a situation that’s not exactly a ‘crisis’ but can’t be handled neatly.
To prepare for whatever lies ahead, it might not be a bad idea to test out this power. It’s a perfect situation since I can handle a mistake.
Plus, that encounter with Saula allowed me to form a hypothesis about my ability.
It’s just a hypothesis for now…but if I’m right, if it links to the book I wrote, I could turn this situation around entirely.
Well… if things don’t go as planned, I can always run away with the second option.
Choosing the first option would mean I can’t deal with Simon and Iako’s matters.
“I’m seen as a fraud, am I?”
Gathering my thoughts and solidifying my resolve, I spoke.
No matter how logical or reasonable my words are, convincing that crowd will be impossible.
They’ve already been swayed by that bishop once.
Bringing them back would be harder than getting a camel through the eye of a needle.
Even if my ‘Gift’ works as planned, it might not be enough to sway their hearts completely.
Then… what if I became a better priest than that bishop?
Not just a priest who receives God’s love, but how about a messenger sent by Deus for the suffering of this world?
…Though, if it goes wrong, that would be troublesome.
It’s still a split-second decision. If it goes south, I can just discard this version of myself, so let’s go for it!
“However… even if everyone doubts and ignores you, your Mother loves you.”
At this moment, I become the Apostle of Deus.
“I bring you a second chance, so you will be made pure.”
As I finished speaking, I used my ‘Gift’.
Suddenly, a brilliant light radiated from me in all directions.
In no time, the light enveloped the entire city.
After what felt like an eternity, as the light faded, my sight returned.
Does this ‘Gift’ work differently every time? I really hope my hypothesis was correct.
“Uagh! My arm…! My arm is back!”
“My vision! I can see! I can see in front of me!”
“Where is this?”
“Father! Are you alright?”
“My arm… my arm that was hurt in battle with the monsters…!”
“The scars are gone… what in the world?”
As I looked around, I could see the sick among the onlookers completely healed.
Even the holy knights were bewildered as their permanent disabilities and scars vanished.
Blind folks regained their sight, those in comas awoke, even those without arms got new ones.
Uh… this is way more… ridiculous than I expected?
What I intended was a revival spell akin to the pope or saint level of ‘Recovery’…
But this is ‘Resurrection’ or even more than that, it’s a ‘Miracle’?
Ah, I shouldn’t be dawdling around.
“I have come to bring back the unbelievers.”
Why did I go to the trouble of using ‘Gift’?
I must win over the people completely.
“If you have faith, your Mother will cleanse you.”
There’s a reason I’m saying this.
If my ‘Gift’ activates as intended, then it should heal everyone present.
I didn’t expect it to spread across the city like this…
Anyway, if I heal even those who are hostile to me, that could raise some eyebrows.
But.
But if I’m not just a simple priest, but a savior giving sinners a second chance, wouldn’t that vibe be totally acceptable?
Thus I bring back the unbelievers.
I’m sent by Deus, not to punish sinners or non-believers.
Rather, I’m the one sent by Deus to reclaim lost children.
Alright.
I’ve gone this far.
The crowd would have no choice but to turn to me.
Ha. How’s that, you extra bishop?
Look at that dazed expression.
Is this the first time they’ve seen something like this?
I’m just as shocked by the unexpected phenomenon of ‘Divine Power’ and what it means for that poor bald guy. He must be reeling.
As I finished speaking, the whole street fell into silence.
The crowd that had been riled up with anger just moments ago.
After the ‘Gift’ activated, they buzzed with excitement over the ‘Healing’.
Yet, my talk about ‘Faith’ brought a hush over everyone.
Hmm… was it too shocking?
Should I say something else?
“Ooo! Son of God! We believe in you!”
Then, among the onlookers, an old man shouted out to me.
…Huh?
Son of God?
“I believe in you! I will not doubt!”
“Thank you, savior!”
“Thank you for bringing us salvation!”
“I will follow you, Son of Deus! Please cleanse me!”
Wait a second.
Hold on, hold on, hold on!
What’s this nonsense about me being the Son of God?
I never said anything of the sort!
I said Apostle, Apostle!
Ah, did I accidentally call Deus ‘Mother’ earlier?
It makes sense other religions don’t refer to their gods in familial terms.
I can’t believe I unintentionally referred to Deus like Christos.
Considering that the faith of Deus hasn’t spread throughout the Nova Empire yet, I should have seen this coming.
Also, the insane level of widespread healing across the city probably made them think I’m the Son of God…
Uh… should I correct myself and say I’m not the Son of Deus but an Apostle?
No, but saying that now would make me sound lame!
I was just posing with all that high-flying language!
“Ugh… I’m out of here!”
“Bishop! Bishop!”
The bishop turned his back and started to leave, followed by the priests and holy knights of the Baal sect.
Well, they’ve built something up until now; they surely wouldn’t want to acknowledge my ‘Miracle’.
It must feel like their entire reputation is crumbling.
But what can I say?
Already their standing in this city seems shattered.
…Ah.
Is this really the time to be worrying about that?
What do I do?
Even at this point…
Nah, it would seem too pathetic to say that…
Forget it.
What does it matter?
I’m just a clone, after all.
I’ll just say I’m the Son of God.
“Believe in Mother Deus, and you shall all be saved!”
Wooaaah!
As soon as I uttered those words, the crowd erupted in cheers.
If anything goes wrong, I can ditch this clone and flee later.
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