Chapter 74: The Truth Revealed

“The people of the Wilderness Rhino caravan were Radiant Path agents in disguise!” Mother shouted, her temples twitching with rage. “The Holy Pontiff ordered them to blow up Black Mountain!”

“Radiant Path?!” Olivia exclaimed.

Mother continued, “The man called Jared Hall was a Martyr. His real name was Jared Schmid, and he was the son of High Priest John Schmid! He deliberately stayed behind in Black Mountain and overloaded the nuclear reactor, causing it to explode!”

Mother had even extracted Jared Hall’s name from the captain’s mind. Olivia had no choice but to believe her. The scattered fragments of the past clicked into place, revealing the truth.

Radiant Path had incited the Sandhawk Raiders to destroy the power station’s dam…

Radiant Path had sent its agents to pose as merchants and sell Black Mountain a nuclear reactor…

Jared Hall had stayed behind to trigger the explosion…

Then Radiant Path had sent its Holy Army of Deliverance to aid the survivors of Black Mountain…

Olivia could hardly bear to follow the thought to its conclusion, but the truth was inescapable.

Radiant Path was the only faction capable of cleansing radiation. That meant they could decontaminate the land and take Black Mountain for themselves.

After killing tens of thousands of innocent people, they had seized Black Mountain without a fight…

Olivia ripped the makeshift gag from the captain’s mouth and demanded, her voice shaking with fury, “You’re a Radiant Path follower! What do you have to say for yourself?”

The captain had gone without water for two days. His lips were cracked, but his eyes remained bright and alert.

Even after the truth had been exposed, he showed no panic. Instead, he spoke with bitter regret.

“What a pity. We were actually found out. The Holy Pontiff’s plan was flawless, but I botched the final step. I have failed the Holy Pontiff! I have failed the Holy Radiance!”

Olivia drove her fist into his mouth, knocking out two of his teeth.

“You’re ashamed that you failed your god?” she roared. “You murdered tens of thousands of people! Don’t you feel even a shred of remorse?”

The captain spat out his broken, bloodstained teeth and smiled.

“That was the price unbelievers and heretics like you had to pay for your sins. Those who do not believe in the Holy Radiance are destined for hell. I merely hastened the process.

“Besides, Black Mountain brought this upon itself! Nuclear energy is the power of the devil. The Holy Radiance warned us long ago never to use it. We did not force you to use a nuclear reactor.

“When we put it before you, you fell over yourselves to buy it and put it to use. Then, when nuclear power consumed you, you blamed us? How is that our fault?”

“And you still dare twist the truth?” Veins throbbed at Olivia’s temples. She clenched her fist and drove another heavy punch into the captain’s smiling face.

His head snapped to one side. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth as he coughed and spat out three more shattered teeth.

Olivia grabbed him by the hair and drove his head against the wooden post.

“I’m taking you back to Black Mountain!” she shouted. “Everyone will learn what Radiant Path has done!”

Blood poured from the captain’s mouth, but he kept sneering.

“Kill me, torture me—do whatever you please. Bathed in the glory of the Holy Radiance, I shall enter heaven!

“In two months and one day, the Holy Radiance will descend upon this world! The day of His descent will mark the beginning of the final judgment. You sinners will all be cast into hell and burned inside nuclear reactors!”

Olivia punched him once more, breaking his jaw and finally silencing him.

The Holy Radiance, huh? How interesting… Finn pondered in silence.

As expected of a supreme deity. The followers of Radiant Path were willing to sacrifice everything for Him.

Perhaps He would make a worthy target to slay.

When the Holy Radiance descended, Finn would go and witness the spectacle for himself.

Don’t disappoint me, Holy Radiance.

* * *

Just as they were about to leave the tribespeople’s camp, Finn noticed several people gathered around a small wooden hut.

Inside, an elderly shaman sat cross-legged on the ground. He held a translucent cylinder in one hand and was performing the same feat as the Radiant Path followers—cleansing radiation.

“Is he decontaminating the area?” Finn asked in surprise.

“That’s right.” Watcher nodded. “We killed some Radiant Path followers once and found this thing on one of them. Then one day, our shaman, Old Turtle Redhorn, ate some peyote and had a sudden flash of inspiration. Somehow, he learned how to use it.”

Olivia’s fury had not faded, but now her curiosity was piqued as well.

Everyone knew that Radiant Path claimed the ability to cleanse radiation as its exclusive gift. According to their teachings, only believers in the Holy Radiance could perform such miracles.

After Watcher spoke with him, Shaman Old Turtle Redhorn agreed to share what he knew.

He took out a grayish-green peyote button the size of a fist and explained that by eating it and communing with the Skycoil God, one could learn how to operate the translucent cylinder.

Finn knew what peyote was. It contained mescaline, an alkaloid with powerful hallucinogenic properties.

Olivia immediately volunteered to try it.

Old Turtle Redhorn was reluctant at first, but the moment Finn produced a bag of rifle ammunition, he agreed without hesitation.

Finn’s defenses were so extraordinary that even large doses of psychoactive drugs had no effect on him. Put it this way: he could mix cocaine, heroin, and caffeine into a paste, slather it over his food like hot sauce, and feel nothing at all.

That left Olivia as the test subject, just as she had volunteered.

She ate a tender piece from the peyote crown. Before long, the hallucinations began.

First came nausea and dizziness. Olivia staggered before collapsing into Finn’s arms.

Then a succession of bizarre, kaleidoscopic visions unfolded before her, too strange to describe.

Old Turtle Redhorn guided her to focus on specific images: a vast and boundless sky, the sensation of walking through a forest, a winding path bending away to the left…

Olivia knelt on the ground and reached for the translucent cylinder.

All at once, her mind seemed to open.

An inexplicable connection formed between her and the cylinder, as if her brain waves had penetrated its translucent shell and entered the device itself.

A point of clear light flickered at the end of the cylinder, then blossomed into a pure, crystalline glow.

It was this strange light that cleansed nuclear contamination.

Olivia let out a long breath as the hallucinations receded.

“I understand,” she murmured. “I know how it works now.”

She needed no more peyote. Instead, she simply picked up the cylinder, formed the same mental connection, and activated it with a thought, just as a true follower of Radiant Path would.

Sure enough, bright radiance once again welled from the cylinder.

It was identical to Radiant Path’s supposed miracle of cleansing radiation.

The only difference was that Olivia did not believe in the Holy Radiance.

In fact, she despised Radiant Path.

Old Turtle Redhorn stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Such incredible talent… I had to practice for more than twenty days before I could do that…”

“Olivia, you’re amazing!” Watcher cheered, clapping her hands.

Olivia exhaled softly and lowered the cylinder. The effort had drained her mental strength. Her legs gave way, and she fell into Finn’s arms.

Feeling the blonde girl’s warm, soft body against him, Finn lowered his head and gazed into her clear blue eyes and sweet, innocent face. Unable to resist, he gently kissed her cheek.

Olivia’s face turned bright red. Resting against Finn’s chest, she whispered, “Master, I did it. I can do what Radiant Path can do. They aren’t special after all.”