Chapter 582: Friend, Have you Heard of Amen? (Part 1)

However, while Elysia was mulling over these thoughts, she suddenly heard something that made her body freeze: Pei Guang was indoctrinating Argenti, trying to get him to worship her!!!

These were the kind of words that made Elysia want to curl her toes in secondhand embarrassment, yet Pei Guang spoke them with complete seriousness.

"Pray!"

"Elysia is the embodiment of humanity's beauty."

"She is the girl who embraces all things! She loves all people."

"She said, 'Let there be light,' and in the hearts of mankind, light began to shine."

"She saw that the light was good, and thus divided light from darkness. Humanity gained the concept of beauty."

"She loves the people, and so she descended to the human world."

"That day, a brilliant radiance lit up the earth."

"She is the culmination of all that is beautiful in humanity: flawless, most benevolent, most kind, most beautiful."

"Birds and falling petals, the true self without blemish: when the ones she loved were harmed by demons, she took human form and vowed to give everything for humanity's future."

"No matter the time, she will always answer the expectations of mankind."

"Amen!"

After he finished speaking, Pei Guang took a deep breath and calmly added, "That final 'Amen' is what you say at the end of the prayer, or whenever you firmly resolve to do something. You can give it a try; it really works."

Pei Guang was speaking utter nonsense with complete seriousness. 

Everything he had said was basically a riff off the Bible. As for whether he'd actually read the Bible? Not a single page. But the thing was, even though he hadn't read it, tons of games had used biblical references, and over time, he'd picked up enough to fake it convincingly.

Of course, part of what he said was completely made-up, while other parts were real. Either way, from Pei Guang's perspective, Elysia was the most perfect existence he'd ever encountered in all the games he'd played, in all the anime he'd watched.

And that was something he loved about games. As the ninth art, games, whether experienced in front of a screen or lived out directly like now, could bring a kind of beauty that was hard to find in real life.

To Elysia, Pei Guang's words were unbearably embarrassing. She had the sudden urge to pry open his skull and see just what he was thinking. But what happened next left her even more speechless.

After listening to Pei Guang's sermon, Argenti's expression became even more solemn. He assumed a prayerful posture, though no one knew what was going on in his mind.

Just as Elysia was wondering about this, Argenti, with his eyes still closed, formed a gesture in front of him and then, imitating Pei Guang's tone and manner, solemnly said:

"Amen!"

After saying those two words, a light appeared in Argenti's eyes. He looked at Pei Guang with a smile that seemed to carry a sense of release and liberation.

"Thank you, truly. If it weren't for you bringing me here, I might never have encountered the most beautiful being in this world. I once praised the beauty of Idrila countless times, but upon seeing Her face and soul, I now realize: my praises were a desecration of beauty!"

Pei Guang placed a hand on Argenti's shoulder. "No! If you say that, both Elysia and Idrila would be heartbroken. Everyone has the right to pursue beauty. No matter how you imagined or praised Her, Idrila would never blame you. On the contrary, if She really did appear before you, She would definitely say…"

Pei Guang turned to look at Elysia, who smiled and said, "She would definitely say, 'You've done very well, Argenti.'"

Argenti gazed at Elysia for a long time, speechless. He had the sense that if he truly did one day meet Idrila, She would say the exact words Elysia had just spoken.

Though everyone knew that an Aeon would never speak such things to a mere person, these were the words that resonated with the human heart. And while Idrila wouldn't respond to that desire, Elysia would.

She would respond to every person she saw working hard, and commend their perseverance and effort.

That single phrase of praise left Argenti completely stunned. Tears welled up in his eyes. He wanted to speak but choked on his words. 

In that moment, he felt that all the effort he had poured into his belief, everything he had endured over the years, had finally been acknowledged.

Yes, Elysia wasn't Idrila. But to Argenti, she could absolutely stand in for Her. That was the intuition of a Knight of Beauty and the affirmation of the Path of Beauty.

And in that moment, Elysia suddenly realized something was off with the Robe of the Beauty she was wearing...

The Argenti who had already walked so far down this path now seemed to be sinking into the depths of the cosmos itself. A golden light appeared at his feet, guiding him. At that moment, Argenti firmly stepped toward the light. 

As he approached the vortex, he saw a mirror—a very ordinary mirror.

Standing before the mirror, Argenti saw only a hazy reflection. But in an instant, that gray haze was completely dispelled by a burst of pink light. When the dazzling light faded, a girl appeared in the mirror: none other than Elysia.

"Praise Idrila! Praise Elysia, amen!"

At this moment, Argenti had one more object of praise, and with it, all the haze in his heart dispersed. 

After witnessing the flawless beauty of human nature, he wanted to see more of such beauty across the universe. His will grew firmer, and he prepared to take that first step forward.

As he stepped forward, Argenti received greater recognition from the Path of Beauty.

Although the Path of Beauty wasn't one bestowed with power by an Aeon, when a follower of this path advanced far enough, they could still attain strength no less than that of an Emanator.

Argenti opened his eyes and looked at Pei Guang. "I..."

Pei Guang said, "No need for more thanks. I'm guessing you've had some revelations. So—what will you do next?"

Argenti replied, "I want... to tell the other Knights of Beauty about this. And I also want to reach this place again through my own efforts, to witness this flawless beauty one more time!"

He knew he had been brought here by Pei Guang's mysterious power, and that this star system might be incredibly far from where he originally was: so far that one might never reach it in a lifetime.

To Argenti, witnessing such pure and flawless beauty through this method felt like a defilement. As a knight, he should tread forward step by step, enduring hardships to stand before true beauty, not be transported here through someone else's "cheating."

Pei Guang didn't quite understand Argenti's way of thinking, but he didn't care. The mission was complete, and that meant when danger came during future main story missions, he had gained another layer of security.

Pei Guang said, "No problem! Since you want to leave, I'll send you back. Just a heads-up, though: it might be difficult if you plan to get here on your own. But judging by your personality, I think you'll definitely pull it off. Who knows, you might even have a hidden identity as a Bronze Saint!"

Argenti asked, "Bronze Saint? What's that?"

Pei Guang grinned, "They're the protectors beside the goddess—technically the weakest among the Saints, but they possess unwavering hearts. If you're interested, I can tell you more once you're back.

Oh, and I have another method for spreading the message of Amen. You interested?"