Stop Hypnotizing Me, Villainous Princess!

Chapter 39: Visitors from the Divine Order Church

By the time Lynn returned to the estate, night had fallen.  

The moon hung high in the sky, and even the last glimmers of sunset had disappeared.  

The estate, however, was ablaze with light.  

To be honest, constructing such a mansion in the most prosperous district of Orne City was a testament to the Augusta family’s influence in the region.  

Back at the estate, Lynn intended to find a maid to guide him inside, but to his surprise, he ran into Morris.  

“You’re back?” Morris asked, still somewhat reserved for reasons unknown.  

Lynn nodded. “I need to see Her Highness. Can you take me to her?”  

Morris hesitated for a moment but quickly agreed, knowing how much Her Highness valued this young man.  

As they walked, Morris added helpfully, “Her Highness was meeting with someone earlier. She seemed upset. If it’s not something urgent, I suggest you avoid provoking her.”  

“Who was she meeting with?” Lynn asked curiously.  

Morris glanced around before lowering his voice. “Apparently, someone from the Divine Order Church.”  

The Divine Order Church?  

Lynn’s thoughts turned to his past.  

That was the very church his former self had once been devoted to, only to have his Divine Factor stripped away by the Archbishop, reducing him to an ordinary person.  

As one of the Empire’s three major churches, alongside the Church of Silence and the Church of Abundance, the Divine Order Church had countless followers.  

Even in a border city like Orne, their influence was undeniable.  

Lynn narrowed his eyes but kept his expression indifferent. “I’m here to report my progress. It should be fine.”  

“Report your progress?” Morris glanced at the contracts in Lynn’s hand and gave him a sympathetic look. “Today must’ve been tough. If three days wasn’t enough, you could ask Her Highness for an extension. She’s merciful, and given how much she… ahem, given her kindness, she’ll probably agree.”  

Morris continued rambling, “To be fair, this task is a nightmare. With so many eyes watching, any mishap could blow up into a huge scandal.”  

Lynn shook his head. “You misunderstood. I’ve already resolved the matter and came to report the results to Her Highness.”  

Morris froze mid-step. “R-resolved?”  

Lynn said nothing, simply flicking the stack of contracts in his hand and handing them over.  

Under the warm glow of the estate’s lights, Morris flipped through the signed contracts, his jaw gradually dropping.  

---

“Her Highness is meeting with guests at the moment, Master Lynn. Please wait in the adjoining room.”  

As expected, Lynn encountered Kesha near the study.  

The elderly housekeeper bowed slightly, her expression calm.  

Lynn nodded, taking a seat in the adjoining lounge.  

After serving him a cup of hot tea, Kesha left him alone.  

With no one around, Lynn opened the system interface to examine the new ability he had unlocked earlier in the day: Crown of Thorns.  

Although the ability appeared to be a "burn your enemy and yourself" type of skill, the description didn’t specify an upper limit to the pain it could store.  

And as everyone knows, abilities without limits tend to be absurdly overpowered.  

After some thought, Lynn decided to test it.  

The condition for activating Crown of Thorns was having at least three Divine Factors. For his former self, this would’ve been trivial.  

Unfortunately, he was now a mere mortal.  

In the novel’s world, Divine Factors were rewards granted by deities after their followers completed rank trials. They greatly enhanced strength and abilities.  

In simple terms, Divine Factors were akin to “mana bars” combined with ability amplifiers.  

The number and quality of these factors determined how often one could use their abilities and how effective they would be.  

As a fourth-rank Extraordinary, Lynn’s original self had possessed 136 Divine Factors—a testament to his immense power.  

He had also wielded a rare Extraordinary ability, Hammer of Gravity, renowned for its destructive potential on the battlefield.  

With this ability, his former self had rapidly earned military merits and risen to become the Empire’s youngest captain.  

Now, however, things had taken a strange turn.  

Not only did he lack any powerful combat abilities, but the two abilities he did possess had peculiar themes: one for detecting lies and the other for enduring pain.  

His fighting style seemed to be shifting from bold and straightforward to cunning and borderline masochistic.  

Lynn sighed and opened the Divine Factor section of the system interface.  

The system had mentioned earlier that he could ignite Divine Factors using his accumulated points.  

For someone stripped of faith like Lynn, this was a godsend.  

After all, the biggest limitation for Extraordinary individuals was the quantity and quality of their Divine Factors.  

Divine Factors from a fourth-rank Extraordinary of the Divine Order Church were both rare and powerful.  

This was why his fiancée, Irina Mosgra, had transplanted his factors into herself to become a legendary rank.  

[Spend 10 system points to ignite one Divine Factor?]  

“Yes.”  

Without hesitation, Lynn confirmed.  

He’d worked hard all afternoon to earn those points for this moment.  

Now, his plans for escape could finally begin taking shape.  

While everyone thought he was just an ordinary man, he would be secretly amassing strength. The thought thrilled him.  

Still, it’s expensive. Ten points for one factor…  

But before he could finish the thought, a system notification popped up.  

[Ignition failed. Please activate a faith first.]  

Failed?  

Lynn stared at the message, dumbfounded, before recalling something crucial.  

---

[Name: Lynn]  

[Race: Human]  

[Age: 17]  

[Faith: None]  

[Rank: None]  

[Extraordinary Abilities: Lie Eater (Rank 1) / Crown of Thorns (Rank 2)]  

[Divine Factors: 0]  

[Remaining System Points: 43]  

---

Since his former self had been excommunicated, the “Faith” field was marked as None.  

Divine Factors were gifts from deities, and the system couldn’t conjure power out of thin air. Without faith, igniting factors was impossible.  

He needed to choose a new faith.  

But therein lay the problem.  

After being branded a "Godforsaken" by the Divine Order Church, every major church had recorded his status. None would accept his conversion.  

Only obscure cults or minor faiths might take him in, but those options were weak, often not even tied to real deities.  

Furthermore, Divine Factors from different gods varied in attributes and potency.  

For instance, Extraordinary individuals from the three major churches were significantly stronger than those from smaller faiths, even with the same number of factors.  

This impacted their attack power, combat endurance, and future growth.  

Although Lynn’s system allowed him to draw abilities freely, he didn’t want to lag behind in Divine Factor quality.  

For him, it was all or nothing.  

Lynn fell into deep thought, recalling the original novel to see if there were any clues.  

Who was the strongest deity in the story?  

As the idea formed, a cold, ethereal image of a woman surfaced in his mind.  

Her?  

Damn it. This is a deadlock.  

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