From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

She had been anxious and worried as of late, unable to relax her brows, as though pondering some profound matter.

"Chris?"

Vanessa gently lifted her head.

Chris slowly approached, reaching out to caress his wife's hair, gazing into Vanessa's beautiful eyes, wanting to understand what tormented her so.

"Chris, I know what you want to ask."

Vanessa, as if telepathically in tune with Chris, knew what lay deep in his heart, her smile bitter, her eyes filled with defiance, pain, and sorrow.

"I've just suddenly realized the reason I can't make further progress on the 2nd Rank."

"It turns out, I have changed without realizing it."

After giving birth to the twins, she became increasingly aware of the affairs of the Fischer family, and Vanessa ultimately chose to silently accept even the darkest of these affairs.

Because her own husband was the one in the family responsible for the most innocent bloodshed!

She had always had a feeling, yet she never pondered it deeply, deceiving herself in the depths of her heart.

From that moment, Vanessa had broken the principles deep within her own heart.

Thus, she could no longer make any progress on the Path of World Order.

Lately, Vanessa kept recalling the day when Chris was promoted to "Sin Executioner."

The sudden appearance of the black Fire of Sin, even she instinctively feared it, and from that time on, she could no longer deceive herself.

The man who once spoke only of justice had now become a hypocritical liar!

Chris remained silent for a long time before finally embracing Vanessa, who was smiling through her pain.

"I'm sorry."

——

Lilian was in the yard, playing with the magic beast that looked like a double-headed turtle.

The former Lilian fed "turtle" beans, but now she had finally figured out that this magic beast preferred the meat of birds, so she switched to feeding it meatballs made from chicken and beans.

"Good."

She smiled as she played with the turtle, and after a while, a female servant approached and said with her head bowed respectfully:

"Miss Lilian, Madam Irene has requested your presence."

"Alright, I'll be right there, thank you for letting me know."

Lilian nodded politely, then followed the smiling servant to Aunt Irene's door.

She waited quietly for Aunt Irene to appear, mentally prepared for what was to come.

"Lilian, how have you gotten on with the things I asked you to memorize a few days ago?"

After the servant had left, Irene looked at Lilian calmly and seriously, as the young girl nodded gently and said earnestly:

"I have memorized the entire hymn of praise to the gods, Aunt Irene, I can sing it for you."

Irene reached out, gently caressing the girl's hair, and said indifferently:

"Very good, Lilian, you are to replace me as the new Priest of the family; the future of the Fischer family will be guided by your hands. You must believe more sincerely in the great Lord of the Lost."

"Yes, I understand, Aunt Irene."

Lilian was obedient, showing none of the mischief or impishness of children, always smiling respectfully.

Irene watched her calmly, sensing that Lilian was just too obedient.

Perhaps compared to her brother Darren Fischer, Lilian Fischer, as the sister, was even more hypocritical. Although still a child, she had already learned to ingratiate herself with adults by always being well-behaved.

If you were an ordinary person, you might not notice anything wrong with Lilian's character.

But Irene, having dealt with all sorts of children for over twenty years, knew all too well what kind of characters they possessed.

Lilian, she wasn't truly devout yet; she just accepted the faith in the Lord of the Lost.

In a different environment, Lilian could well be a follower of other gods. Essentially, she didn't recognize the greatness of the Lord of the Lost compared to the heretic false gods.

Because she was acutely aware that her family expected her to become a Priest, and if she couldn't fulfill this expectation, everyone around her would be disappointed.

So, Lilian strove to meet people's expectations.

Irene couldn't help but think that compared to the overly self-centered Darren, Lilian was too keen on pleasing others; in a sense, their personalities were polar opposites.

Indeed, many people lived like this, surviving by constantly pleasing others, and she was well aware of this.

However, if she were to truly become the Priest leading the entire Dawn Church, the extent of Lilian's devotion couldn't just stop here.

Irene mused silently, perhaps another event was needed to truly change this well-behaved child.

She needed to witness a miracle!

However, all decisions would have to wait until after today's anointment ceremony. By then, she would consider whether to allow Lilian to undergo transformation.

If the great Lord of the Lost did not bestow upon her the Path of Divine Sacrifice, Irene would have to abandon the idea of training her to become a Priest and instead consider having Rishia, a "devout person," marry Darren, to become the next Priest of the Fischer family.

"I leave it all to the great judgment of the Lord of the Lost," she murmured to herself.

Irene nodded gently and said, "Lilian, come with me."

Lilian nodded with a smile and followed Aunt Irene to the second floor of the basement.

She felt a bit uneasy inside, feeling that she had done nothing wrong, yet why couldn't she make Aunt Irene happy?

Lilian had an extraordinary sensitivity to the emotions of others and animals alike.

Despite having meticulously completed all of Aunt Irene's demands, why did she still seem a bit discontented?

What exactly wasn't good enough?

Lilian couldn't understand at all and felt increasingly agitated deep inside.

In the basement, she noticed that the family members were all looking at her, and she saw her brother Darren gazing at her with joy as if he were about to congratulate her.

What's going on?

Lilian was a bit unclear about what was about to happen, only feeling that it might be a significant event involving her, and then she knelt down with everyone else, as she had done on previous occasions.

During the ceremony, she was singled out by Aunt Irene to step forward.

"Lilian, come here."

So Lilian had to slowly rise and step forward, kneeling again in front of everyone while maintaining an outward appearance of calm and devotion, but feeling even more uneasy and fearful within.

At the same time, she quickly noticed another little girl she didn't recognize, who approached and knelt beside her with an expressionless face, grey scales upon her delicate features.

Rishia, a dragon descendant little girl from Daybreak Orphanage, a devout person.

Faced with Lilian and Rishia, Karl sank into deep contemplation.

Rishia's path ahead was undoubtedly the Path of Divine Sacrifice; it wasn't something that required consideration. She was a child with nothing else in her heart.

But what about Lilian?

"It seems I need to give this some careful thought," he said.

Karl was deep in thought.

"Irene's idea simply won't work; even as a devout person, Rishia can't replace her. That child isn't a blood member of the Fischer family, not one of my favored members; without the influence of the soul fragment I tore away, she can't complete the sacrifice."

"Then, among the others, I can only choose Lilian. Chris's child is still too young, and Darren's temperament makes it impossible for him to become a Priest."

Human nature is often complicated; in fact, many people are suited for different paths, such that even the gentle Byrne has a slight affinity for the Path of Conquest.

Lilian is suited for two paths; her most suitable path is actually the Path of Nature, and only then the Path of Divine Sacrifice.

However, affinity for the God Pantheon stairway can actually be changed later in life because over the long course of life, people's characters and behaviors tend to gradually change.

He made up his mind, taking a gamble on what kind of person Lily would become in the future.

Bestow upon her the Power of Consecution of the Path of Divine Sacrifice.

If she could become a devout person, she would naturally be able to advance further on the Path of Divine Sacrifice. Otherwise, she could only reach up to the first two steps at most.

Both girls of similar age were granted the power of the Path of Divine Sacrifice. Lilian's face showed some excitement and relief, while Rishia remained expressionless, silently praying.

Irene's heart grasped the will of God.

The great He had chosen Lilian.

So, she must find a way to make Lilian more devout, and she had to succeed in this before she departed from this world.

She had no sorrow at the thought of leaving this world, rather she felt more and more joyful.

Perhaps some members of the Fischer family were concerned about the afterlife, but Irene was quite certain her soul would return to God's embrace.

Even if Karl had never spoken to her about what came after death.

After the ceremony was over, Irene gently stroked Lilian's hair as they emerged outside, suddenly coming to understand many things.

"So that's how it is, I finally understand," she whispered.

What exactly was her final destiny during these last years?

Irene had long been perplexed and bewildered about this.

Time was running short.

She had fulfilled her obligations to her family with a clear conscience, but to the great Lord of the Lost, she had always done too little in return for His ocean-like benevolence.

What could she do at the end of her life to repay the great Lord of the Lost?

The woman who had been troubled and perplexed suddenly felt, as if guided by God, tears of realization flowing down her cheeks.

"I finally understand, that is what the great You had been expecting!"