Chapter 54 – The Chosen of Lumina

The cathedral, blackened by smoke and fractured with cracks, still stood—Solmara’s final chain of faith.

Before the altar, High Priestess Jenis stood tall, surrounded by guards and mages who defended the Church with tooth and nail.

Across from her, Sakura Luxaris stepped forward with steady resolve, flanked by Luisina and Latina.

“The traitor princess…” Jenis spat, venom dripping from every word. “A false saint who consorts with elves and yukis… I am the only Saint here!”

She slammed her staff against the floor. A wave of light burst outward, blinding all present and sparking against the broken stained glass.

Latina smirked wryly.

“We’ve heard that speech a hundred times already. Always the same—you justify cruelty in the name of a goddess who weeps in silence for what’s been done under her name.”

Jenis’s face twisted with fury.

“I’m certain the ritual failed because of you! The elf god and the yuki god must have interfered!”

Luisina sighed and tilted her hat toward Latina.

“Don’t waste your breath, dear. She doesn’t sound reasonable.”

Sakura, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward. Her clear voice rang through the chamber.

“You shame me, High Priestess. Lumina gave us the sun to light our path, not to excuse the darkness of men.”

Her voice rose, trembling with indignation.

“You twisted that faith to bend reality itself. You even went so far as to murder the man who freed you from the shadows.”

“Insolent child! You are the disgrace of the Luxaris bloodline!” Jenis spat.

Sakura met her eyes without flinching.

“My friends—deal with the guards. Jenis is mine.”

Luisina and Latina exchanged a look, smiled, then raised their hands in unison.

“Live Stage!” Latina shouted, unleashing a torrent of pure mana. 

“Fantasy World!” Luisina cried, sweeping her hat as though bowing to an invisible audience.

Reality warped. An illusory dome enveloped the cathedral, plunging it into impenetrable darkness. The guards’ cries faded, dragged into the depths of illusion.

When the gloom settled, only two figures remained in the heart of the church, lit by a single fractured ray of stained glass: Jenis, trembling with rage… and Sakura, bathed in the radiance of true faith.

“So this is how it must be…” Jenis murmured, channeling mana into her staff.

“I have nothing against you, Priestess…” Sakura gripped her staff tighter, her stance unwavering. “But the Church cannot continue down this path. It must be redeemed!”

Jenis fired a beam of light, slamming against Sakura’s magical shield. The barrier trembled, straining under the pressure.

“Silence!” Jenis roared. “I am the highest authority here! You had no right to step onto my sacred ground! You should have stayed a meek little princess in your cursed castle!”

Sakura trembled, but did not yield.

“Lumina is supposed to be a kind goddess… one who loves her people! But you—you haven’t visited the sick in years. You haven’t helped an orphan, or reached out to the needy.”

A flash rippled through her staff, deflecting Jenis’s attack. Her feet held firm, her voice alight with conviction.

“Our duty is to serve the people, not gorge ourselves on their offerings.”

Jenis screamed in rage and lunged, staff crashing against Sakura’s.

“Don’t lecture me, brat! I was chosen by Lumina herself!”

Their clash erupted in a blinding flare. For a heartbeat, the illusory dome flickered, revealing Luisina and Latina battling outside against the guards.

The two women’s faces drew close, staffs locked, their light crackling like a celestial firestorm.

“Your friends won’t last much longer…” Jenis sneered with a twisted smile.

“You always underestimate others…” Sakura shot back, her voice steady. “That’s why Lumina has abandoned you.”

Jenis’s face twisted with rage.

“Stop speaking of her as if you knew her! I’ve led this Church for forty years—and I’ll lead it for forty more!”

She leapt back, raising her staff with both hands. The air grew heavy. Above her head, a white circle spread outward, flooding the cathedral with radiance like an artificial sun.

From the circle’s edge, countless spears of light formed, all aimed downward.

“This is the Church’s ultimate power! Judgment of Light!”

“Sunlight Judgment!”

The lances rained down like divine wrath, piercing columns and exploding against the floor. Stone shattered, dust and debris swirled into a blinding storm.

Jenis laughed in ecstasy.

“Die, Sakura Luxaris! I am Lumina’s true chosen one!”

Her roar was swallowed by the storm of spears. The ground shook, whole columns collapsed, and the cathedral drowned in smoke and ruin.

Then, silence.

Through the haze, a single light began to shine—growing stronger, purer, until it pierced the dust entirely.

When the cloud cleared, the sight left everyone breathless.

Sakura stood tall, unscathed, encircled by a radiant solar angel whose wings stretched wide in dazzling light.

Jenis staggered back, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“N-no… impossible…”

“Now you understand.” Sakura lifted her staff, her voice steady and serene. “I am the one chosen by Lumina.”

Behind her, the radiant figure of the goddess herself appeared—praying in silence, tears of light trailing down her cheeks. The vision struck Jenis to her knees, trembling.

“Miracle of Light!”

A wave of brilliance spread in every direction, tearing apart Luisina’s illusory dome as though ripping down a stage curtain. Both inside and outside the cathedral, combatants froze—bathed in a warmth so tender it made their weapons slip from their hands.

The power of every faithful heart, along with the light Jenis had summoned, was drawn into Sakura’s staff. The energy did not feel like an attack, but like a divine embrace, as though the goddess herself caressed her children one last time.

The wave faded slowly. Guards, mages, and believers still standing dropped to their knees, bewildered—as if waking from a long, oppressive dream.

Jenis gasped, clutching her staff. Then she felt it: the radiance she had carried all her life… extinguished in an instant, like a flame snuffed out.

“N-no… my power… it’s gone!” she cried, desperately trying to cast a spell that no longer answered.

Sakura stepped forward with solemn grace. Her voice rang clear in the reverent silence.

“High Priestess Jenis… in Lumina’s name, you are relieved of your duty.”

Jenis couldn’t speak. Her vacant eyes said it all—she felt abandoned, stripped of the grace she had wielded for forty years.

One by one, the faithful still present bowed their heads to Sakura. Even Luisina and Latina knelt at her side, acknowledging her.

And for just an instant, Sakura thought she saw it—the faintest smile on the face of the goddess reflected in the shattered glass.