From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 8: The Temptation of the Feather

"Your Grace, you placed half of your Divine Power into that crow feather, which means Father Angus now possesses two special items..."

Alvin asked with some confusion, "Why would you do this?"

"Alvin, do you know what is the most elusive thing in this world?" Bai Yang countered.

Alvin shook his head, "I don't know."

"The most elusive thing is human nature!" Bai Yang declared. "After spreading for a day, yesterday's events have already circulated throughout Vespucci Town!"

"But aside from these four hundred people, haven't the remaining townspeople failed to generate much Wish Force for us?"

Alvin nodded, "Yes, Your Grace! There are still many people unwilling to believe these events, so deception has no effect on them."

Bai Yang smiled and said, "Exactly. They don't believe what their neighbors or friends tell them, and even if they do believe, it's mostly with skepticism."

"And of course, we can't use the same method twice, so this feather is my next move!"

Hearing his words, Alvin nodded with partial understanding, "Then what should we do?""Nothing needs to be done. Greed and human nature will make the choice for us!"

"I've already placed my chess piece, and these people will provide the best answer!"

Bai Yang snapped his fingers, slowly drinking coffee on this deserted beach—with the power of deception, even without any supernatural modifications to his body, he could easily obtain daily necessities.

And this acquisition wouldn't even leave any records.

...

The sun rose, the church opened, and a new day arrived.

Aside from the still-broken glass windows and the trees that hadn't been straightened, there were hardly any traces of yesterday's events around the church.

However, more people came to the church today than yesterday.

Because they had all heard about yesterday's events from their friends.

Those people had earnestly told them two things about yesterday, and some were still recounting them now, like the young man Jameson.

"You have to believe me, Martin!" Jameson said. "Right here at this church yesterday, we saw a demon god and an angel! My God, that was a true divine manifestation!"

Listening to his rambling words, Martin waved his hand dismissively, "What divine manifestation? I didn't notice any cloudy weather yesterday—the sun was hanging in the sky all day! Where's this sky cross under dark clouds you're talking about?"

Of course he didn't believe it—he hadn't been in town yesterday but in San Diego City.

And the distance between the two places wasn't far; if there really were dark clouds here, San Diego would likely have them too.

He had spent the day lying on the beach in San Diego, sunbathing under clear skies—where were these supposed dark clouds?

"I think you've all gone crazy wanting tourism! Since Vespucci Town has no attractions, you're trying to fabricate the church into one!"

Seeing townspeople carrying glass into the church, Martin became even more convinced of his theory.

He was actually pleased, "Father Angus has finally come around! Then our town can develop!"

Hearing his words, Jameson grew anxious, "This really is the aftermath of an angel's descent! If you don't believe, then you can't go in!"

"Why?" Martin was stunned. "The church doesn't allow people to enter now?"

"You show disrespect to the angel!" Jameson said. "Problems will occur!"

"What problems could possibly occur?" Martin became displeased, shoved Jameson aside, and headed toward the church.

He simply refused to believe this nonsense—what crow demon god, what angel descent—do people actually believe this?

Anyway, he didn't believe it. Martin walked straight up to Father Angus and said loudly, "Father, I heard you found a large black crow feather yesterday. Can you show it to me?"

"No, young Martin!" Angus refused. "Raum is a demon god, so his feather must be tainted with demonic power. Such power is not for mortals to touch!"

He wasn't speaking without reason—Catholic doctrine clearly states that ordinary people shouldn't come into contact with these things.

Otherwise, the Middle Ages wouldn't have had such vigorous witch-hunting campaigns.

Angus had already reported the incident yesterday via the church telephone to the diocese bishop in Los Angeles.

He naturally assumed that if he could obtain such power, then among bishops, archbishops, and cardinals, there should be similar figures.

This feather belonging to a demon god should naturally be handed over to higher authorities.

So before church officials arrived, he needed to carefully guard this feather.

Faced with Father Angus's refusal, Martin wasn't surprised at all—he thought it was fake, so of course they couldn't produce it and risk being exposed.

But soon, Jameson brought Sheriff Franz, "Sheriff, Martin doesn't believe me and forced his way into the church!"

"Sheriff Franz?" Seeing the town sheriff, Martin was surprised. "You're part of this story too?"

"This isn't a story, Martin!" Franz could tell from the young man's shifting eyes that he was up to no good—he knew Martin's troublemaking personality all too well. "Maintain reverence for the Lord and respect for the angels, otherwise I'll have your father come take you home!"

Hearing this, Martin immediately deflated. His father was a cowboy whose favorite pastimes were drinking and whipping him with a horsewhip.

Out of this fear, he decided to behave himself for a few minutes.

However, this good behavior only lasted until Father Angus left the church to speak with each believer.

Seeing that both Father Angus and Sheriff Franz—the two people who could restrain him—had left, Martin immediately sprang into action.

He walked into the church, climbed the narrow wooden staircase, and reached the church attic.

"I still don't believe it—just a toy that can't be brought out for viewing?" Martin thought to himself, finding the room door.

Father Angus had been at the church for twenty years, and Martin, who often played here as a child, naturally knew where he kept things.

He had secretly eaten candy here and browsed those thick scripture books he couldn't understand—he guessed the priest would keep the feather here too!

He'd heard about this feather from his mother—a black feather as long as an arm! How incredibly cool would that be?

So he came to see for himself—a young person's curiosity certainly wouldn't be deterred by anything else, so here he was.

When entering the room, Martin was still smiling as he looked around, but when he saw the faint glow at the room's far end, he suddenly found himself speechless.

At the edge of his vision, a black feather appeared there.

That dim glow from earlier was emanating from the feather itself!

At this moment, all those materialist worldviews Martin had learned came crashing down spectacularly in his mind.

His eyes contained only this feather—this glowing, even specially enticing "feather"!

"Jameson, you were right, it's real!" Martin murmured to himself, stepping forward without any hesitation, one step at a time!

In front of the church, Father Angus was comforting townspeople who seemed somewhat alarmed by yesterday's events, "Don't worry, all evil will be exposed under the Lord's gaze!"

"Come, pray with me..."

Just then, an extremely crisp sound echoed above their heads, making the quietly conversing people suddenly look up.

A dark light accompanied by a black shadow shot directly out from the church attic!

With a "BOOM," it smashed into the mountain wall not far away, creating a huge crater!

"Oh, my God!" Father Angus immediately clutched his chest.

Looking at where the dark light had originated, all he could think of was the feather he'd placed in the attic!

And those newcomers who hadn't wanted to believe in so-called "supernatural" events found their steadfast convictions shattered at this moment after witnessing this scene!