The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 709: Even deities had siblings situation

The chaos in the Grand Church happened just before twilight. At that moment, the people of the Holy Empire’s capital city, Luxeana, were out and about, working and strolling. After all, there would be a grand auction that night, along with a festival around the commercial district.

Or so they thought.

People from all over the realm had been arriving in Luxeana that day, making the city extremely busy and vibrant. With so many aristocrats and wealthy characters coming for the auction, the paladins were busy with guard duties, and the merchants were busy flaunting their wares. Tourists and locals flocked to the festival since the afternoon, even when the carnival and the fireworks wouldn’t start until the evening. Even some who would attend the grand auction decided to take a tour around the city before the event started.

It was suffice to say that almost everyone was outside when the fireball shot toward the sky.

The ones who witnessed it were mostly those in the church’s park, or the people strolling around the Grand Church’s wall. Even then, they thought it was a training activity of the holy knights.

To be fair, the fireball was so bright and looked white.

Soon, however, the people outside the wall could hear the sounds of commotion, followed by an explosion, and suddenly, they could see fire in the park. The guards around the wall seemed to be rushing inside, but surprisingly, the rest of them--who were supposed to guard the event and the auction house--were going to the border wall of the city.

The citizens and tourists around the Grand Church were confused. They looked around, expecting someone to explain. Maybe someone who left the church’s ground.

But they couldn’t. When visitors flooded out of the church’s grounds, most were in a panic. Most were screaming about fire, but there were also those who screamed about an attack. Both were mindboggling.

Fires? Attacks? Inside the Grand Church’s compound, which was supposed to be the safest place in the human realm? Didn’t they say the Grand Church was even safer than all the palaces in the human realm? It had a barrier and would even sound a warning alarm for non-human entities.

In that case, wouldn’t the attacker be a fellow human, since there was no alarm? But who, what kind of human would attack the church?

Before the questions swirling inside the citizens’ minds could be answered, the air suddenly felt heavy and the ground quaked. Strangely enough, while the quake threw them off balance, it did not topple any merchant stands or kiosks, display goods, or any facilities. It seemed to only affect humans, for the look of it.

And soon, they understood why.

At the end of the quake, a burst of magic circles filled the sky like a series of giant fireworks. Those who were far away and had no idea about the chaos in the church or the border even thought it was one of the events to spurred the excitement for the grand auction. Some even clapped and laughed in merriment.

That was, until the statue of the Goddess shattered and the golden vessel emerged. The sensation left them stunned, and instinctively, they knew something big was happening.

They were so focused on the bright light above the Grand Church’s plaza that they failed to realize the ambush happening to the Archbishop’s towers. Nor did they realize there were demons amongst the attackers. While they were still in a daze, some people shouted that the Goddess had descended, urging them to go to the Grand Church.

Whether or not they believed it, people eagerly went to where the golden, shining figure was.

People living and visiting Luxeana were mostly the Goddess’s devotees. Naturally, their first thought was elation, celebrating the grace of their Goddess. And yet, what they got first was the Goddess’s wrath.

Her anger, calling out for the Pope, could be heard by anyone. Once again, they were stunned, this time for a different reason. They blinked, clutching their heads, having no idea whether or not it was the real Goddess or a demonic trick.

But how could there be a demonic trick inside Luxeana?

Without being able to determine that, they approached the Grand Church, curiously and cautiously. Unfortunately, they couldn’t come too close because the people who were in the church before were congregating around the wall. Not only were they not able to enter the church again, but they were also staring curiously at several white rectangular screens along the wall.

The screens were guarded by people wearing old church uniforms and plain black cloaks. Again, before they could even guess what had happened, several ’birds’ flew above them and suddenly, the white screen shifted. A scene, looking like the church’s plaza, appeared.

It was as if magicians came and opened a long-distance vision-projection spell.

But there was no leeway to scrutinize it because they suddenly heard a phrase that only a very small handful of people knew: the Old Covenant. Before they knew it, there was already a demon and a human-looking druid there. To be exact, there was a Demon King candidate and the Crown Prince of the fallen Druid Kingdom.

People were dumbfounded. The streets were silent. Everything happened so quickly that they had no time to digest it. All they could do was watch three deities descend on their vessels, the representatives of the three realms drew an agreement, and suddenly, something called the New Covenant was established.

It was not only established--it was etched on them.

The thing about both the Old and New Covenant was that the deities’ power poured into it acted like a contract for the rest of the population of the world. Immediately, the content of the Covenant was known to every mortal, even the newborn babies. Whether or not they understood it was different.

But they knew. Everyone would know and remember the content of the New Covenant until the seal containing the power of the deities waned and the representatives met again to renew it.

But for now, everyone with enough comprehension instinctively knew, that they were walking into a new era.

* * *

Once Stan announced the establishment of the New Covenant, I felt something magical invaded my brain chemistry.

This was what kept the three realms separated--despite the generational unreasonable hatred--for centuries. But without any effort to renew the seal, the magic disappeared and people simply forgot its existence. Not to mention, no one bothered teaching about it in any educational system.

Patron deities were patron deities, but it was the mortals who needed to preserve the peace. Well, hopefully, our generation would do better, and the next generation would do even better.

At any rate, the first step was finally done, marked by an excited clapping from the corner of the plaza. When I turned to take a look, I saw Zarfa and Aina jumping up and down while clapping and cheering energetically. Really, these girls...

I love them so much.

"For now, I shall keep the original until the material is produced and copies are made," Stan told us. "Any objection?"

[And who is the one making this material?] the Goddess asked rather skeptically.

"It’s D’Ara."

[...oh]

The Goddess replied briefly before turning around as if ignoring us to walk and talk to the Hero. I couldn’t help but look at the majestic bird hovering behind me to ask. "Is she...like, the youngest one?"

"Indeed," Mother replied with a chuckle. "Just ignore her antics."

"Ignoring her antics was what brought this all, Mother," I frowned.

I didn’t know how they were exactly in the past, but I could more or less guess. The temperamental middle child, the haughty youngest child, and the oldest child who turned a blind eye because she was too exhausted to say anything about their conflict.

Wasn’t that why they needed an arbiter like Stan?

This unresolved conflict trickled down and made it so hard for the mortals to get along with each other. How could they, when the patron deities were not in a good relationship? I knew it wasn’t exactly Mother’s job to manage their relationship, but ignoring it was also not right.

It was so frustrating. Being a pacifist didn’t only mean stepping away from conflicts.

I knew--I knew it was impudent for me to throw all of this criticism to the deities who gave power to the realms to keep running, but...it was just so, so frustrating. It felt like a betrayal, seeing the ones we should look up to acting like this.

And I knew it wasn’t wise for me to have all these thoughts when I was hoping for a peaceful conclusion to my custody battle, but--

"You’re right, my child," the bird, who had been hovering inside a nest of colorful lights, shifted into the familiar form I had always seen inside the divine garden. Mother stroked my cheek and gave me a forlorn smile. "I should have been more assertive."

I bit my lips, before sighing in regret. "I’m...sorry for my wording."

"And I’m glad you voice more of your thoughts," she said. I raised my head and smiled gratefully. Oh, I was still very thankful that I was your child, Mother.

For a few seconds, I felt very peaceful after the hard struggle we got through to reach this point. But my peace shattered almost right after.

"Everything’s over, right?" the Demon God sighed. "Then, I’m going back--"

"No!"

Before I knew it, I already screamed at a God.