Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1460 - 246 The Right Way to Pray

"Both of them meant well, that much everyone knew. They decided to build a Totem Column instead of a statue to better collect the Power of Faith for Nellie," Pannis said with a grimace. "But these people really don’t understand. A Totem Column and a statue are completely different things; they simply cannot replace each other."

"Different things?" A puzzled look appeared on Nellie’s face. Clearly, Danacus hadn’t understood what Pannis was saying.

"You don’t know what a Totem Column is, do you?" Pannis seemed to guess Danacus’s confusion and explained, "The Beastmen, in order to convey their descendants’ memories and adoration to their deceased ancestors, carved numerous Totem Columns representing the will of the ancestors. At first glance, this seems similar to the purpose of a statue. However, in reality, Totem Columns do not represent the Beastmen’s ancestors; their true purpose is to disperse the Power of Faith dedicated to these ancestors in an unattached, free state across the plains, to be collectively absorbed by all the Beastmen ancestors. That means, not only does the Totem Column fail to help Nellie absorb more Power of Faith, but it also dilutes the portion she could automatically absorb into a free state, making it no longer hers. She would need to convert this faith from its unaffiliated state back to her own before she could reabsorb it into her soul. Moreover, since she does not know how to do this, this process wouldn’t be actively conducted by her but would completely rely on the passive functioning of the Divine Body. Thus, the construction of the Totem Column actually significantly reduces the amount of Power of Faith she can absorb, making it even harder for her to compete with the Divine Soul. The most crucial point, under normal circumstances, would be to dismantle the Totem Column if she realized something was wrong with the Power of Faith after it was built, and Finche could lead that without issue. But, unfortunately, she is an idiot and might not have even realized something was wrong, probably still thinking that the loss of Power of Faith is normal. This fool nearly got herself killed."

"So, you mean to say that if she knew how to absorb the Power of Faith, she could compete with me?" Danacus sneered, "Are you so sure of that?"

"Of course I can’t be sure, but at least it wouldn’t be such a dismal failure," Pannis said dejectedly, "At least from a timing perspective, without these issues, she should have been able to hold out until now, in which case, I might have been facing her instead of you."

"Hmph, but all your talk is useless," Danacus ground his teeth, "There weren’t any ’ifs,’ and she has already failed."

"So, I am trying to remedy this. Since she firmly believes that someone would rush to her side, revise her plan, clean up the mess, and solve all her problems, then, as the person she believes in, how could I not fulfill her wish?" Pannis appeared to be complaining, but his tone nearly palpable with affection was evident to anyone listening, "Just last night, I and several Undead outside made a pact. The current issue is that these idiots don’t know how to lead the provision and absorption of the Power of Faith, resulting in Nellie’s soul not garnering a significant amount of Power of Faith. Instead, your soul, Danacus, has absorbed a lot that should have been offered to Nellie, so as long as we solve this fundamental issue, we can temporarily strengthen Nellie’s soul, enabling her to successfully disrupt you and create the best opportunity to attack."

"So, you’ve had the Undead outside start praying to her?" Danacus inquired, "But how could that be so effective?"

"Because it’s not just simple prayer, but a massive prayer gathering," Pannis shrugged nonchalantly, "First off, I asked Saen and Shiela to spread the word as widely as possible, using their prestige among the Undead, to get as many Undead involved in this prayer event as possible. Then, I instructed all the Undead, instead of offering their faith to the Totem Columns as they used to, to lock themselves in their homes and pray solely to the name of Nellie, to confess their devotion directly to her name. Evidently, they have started doing so not long ago."

"But this is meaningless," Danacus said sternly, "Before the Totem Columns, the Undead prayed this way and it still had no effect."

"How would you know? Oh, right, you’ve peeked into Nellie’s memories," Pannis nodded lightly, "Indeed, just doing this is meaningless without someone to guide the believers, allowing Nellie to absorb all the Power of Faith. That’s the biggest challenge. There isn’t anyone among the Undead outside who understands this aspect; after all, only high-ranking officials of various churches would know this, and even I barely understand it. However, coincidentally, I did not come to the Realm of the Dead alone - you must have seen before, those who came with me, my partners these past years, and among them, one is Denia’s Sage, who knows exactly how to lead a large-scale prayer gathering, how to make the channel of faith between deity and believers smoother, and how to ensure both the deity and believers benefit the most from the prayers. From a knowledge standpoint, she is certainly a qualified Sage. Although as a devotee of Denia, she can’t participate directly, she can certainly provide knowledge and allow other devoted believers like Shiela to complete the process."

Danacus didn’t respond to Pannis but closed his eyes, seemingly feeling something within himself or perhaps struggling to suppress something.

"It seems their progress is not too shabby, how about it, do you feel the power inside you expanding, but that the expanding power belongs to Nellie?" Pannis said with a smirk, "Technically, the effect of prayer shouldn’t be so quick, so good, but when millions of Undead pray at the same time, the sheer number creates a significant impact, enough to break through qualitative limits, and momentarily strengthen Nellie’s soul to an unprecedented level, enabling her to break through your suppression and contest the control of this body."

"Hmph, but you’ve overlooked one issue," Danacus sneered, "No matter whose power it is, as long as it resides within this body, it will be utilized by me, the controller."

"It doesn’t matter, I don’t care," Pannis spread his hands, his tone lazy, "Not one bit."