The gramophone record continued to spin, playing the beautiful melody over and over again.
The originally enchanting "Viola by the Lake," after dozens of repetitions, sounded in Reyn's ears like a funeral march.
Faced with the deity's demand, he dared not refuse and could only diligently play his role.
Finally, after an unknowable time, a wave of coolness ran from the base of his spine up to his brain. The spirit reached its peak and exploded in ecstasy.
Then fatigue washed over him, and Reyn felt exhaustion of both soul and body.
He exhaled deeply with his full chest, thinking that this had been more tiring than battling several hundred demons!
Viola in his arms, however, glowed with health, her face flushed. Her dark golden pupils were both strange and awe-inspiring. Satisfaction reflected on her face as she sighed softly, as if savoring the aftertaste.
"Mortal, you did quite well."
Viola spoke, but her voice was still foreign.
The voice was not loud, but it echoed through the entire temple, generating reverberations. Along with the shift in intonation, an indescribable power enveloped Reyn, making him tremble. He felt like an insignificant insect before the face of a dragon ready to pulverize him at any moment.
Despite such terrifying pressure, Reyn struggled to maintain clarity of mind.
He opened his mouth but could not utter a word.
In fact, he very much wanted to quip: saying that she had promised just to observe, so why had she gotten involved herself? Or was watching not enough?
But remembering that he was facing a true deity whose power was unpredictable, he wisely chose to remain silent.
Viola's dark golden eyes slid over him from top to bottom, their gaze seeming penetrating, as if trying to see right through Reyn.
Reyn felt uneasy, fearing that the deity also possessed the ability to see souls and would discover the mutated phone in his consciousness.
Half a minute passed, but nothing happened.
Reyn noticed that Viola's face expressed approval. She looked at his body as if admiring an exquisite work of art.
"Steel Body, not a bad element," the Long-haired Lady pronounced in an appraising tone. "Defensive properties are secondary, but the body-shaping effect is better than that of any other element."
Reyn was speechless. This deity had very strange priorities!
She averted her gaze and turned to the gramophone by the altar, saying with admiration:
"Mortal, your invention is quite ingenious; even I am charmed by it. Gramophone... What a good name, a machine that preserves sound. Beautiful and accessible, it brings wonderful music to people, allows them to comprehend the true essence of art, awakens genuine love in hearts, and reveals the beauty of all existence!
"To me, the gramophone is no less than the highest artifact, one created especially for me, which no one can take away!"
She looked at Reyn again, her bearing becoming majestic.
"Mortal, you are not my follower, yet you have presented me with such an artifact. I will not be stingy with the reward."
As she spoke, Viola raised her palm, and light began to gather on it.
The glow grew brighter, so much so that Reyn could not look at it. After a few seconds, the light dimmed, transforming into a crystal-clear gem the size of a pigeon's egg. The stone was faceted with dozens of cuts, had a gray-violet hue, and a soul vaguely moved within it.
Reyn recognized it—this was a Soul Stone, and a very high-level one at that.
"This is your reward."
The Long-haired Lady made the Soul Stone float up and descend into Reyn's hand, calmly adding:
"Its value is far from that of the artifact, but for you, it is precious enough."
He hastily caught the stone. Before he could examine it, the awe-inspiring aura of Viola began to dissipate rapidly.
Her fiery red hair shortened, returning to golden. She moaned softly, her beautiful body weakening and beginning to fall into the water.
Reyn, forgetting about the Soul Stone, nimbly caught Viola.
Viola's eyes were tightly closed, her long lashes fluttered several times, and she opened them. Her eyes were once again a beautiful lake-blue, like a pair of incomparable sapphires.
"Reyn..." she called joyfully.
"Viola, are you alright?" Reyn was a bit worried. The sudden possession by the deity did not seem like a good sign to him.
"I'm perfectly fine!"
Viola straightened up. A beam of white light descended from the heavens onto her, enveloping her in pure radiance. She was stunningly beautiful, and even her nudity did not diminish her sacred, inviolable majesty. One could only gaze at her from afar, not daring to defile her with a look.
This light resonated throughout the temple.
The tall statue glowed, the altar-pool vibrated softly, the crystal chandeliers in the temple swayed, and the bloomed flowers turned toward Viola as if alive.
Beautiful music poured from the void, and waves of indescribable power rolled through the temple.
Viola spread her arms, her body slowly rising into the air and hovering above the water's surface.
All these extraordinary phenomena focused on Viola, streaming toward her.
Reyn understood—this must be divine power!
Viola had definitely received divine blessing from the Long-haired Lady, but why such fanfare?
The phenomena continued for more than ten minutes and finally condensed into a rune that descended onto Viola's forehead. This complex rune was the sacred symbol of the Long-haired Lady—a heart entwined with flowers and notes. It absorbed into the skin between Viola's brows, flashed several times, and vanished.
Viola descended back into the pool, her eyes filled with inexpressible surprise and joy.
"I have become the Lady's Chosen One!"
Hearing this, Reyn froze, and then it dawned on him.
No wonder everything had been so grandiose. This was not a simple divine blessing, but a ritual of elevation to Chosen One!
Just recently, he had read a book called "Gods and Believers" and knew a bit about the subject.
Gods' Chosen Ones, sometimes called the "chosen people" or "god's favorites," are followers favored by the deity.
They also serve as the deities' viceroys in the mortal world.
In any church, a Chosen One's status was no less than that of a Pontiff. They could communicate with the deity at any moment through prayer and possessed a greater number of more powerful divine arts than priests and clerics.
When necessary, the deity could use the Chosen One as a vessel to descend into the mortal world.
In other words, the Chosen One was the deity's avatar, its eyes and ears in the mortal realm.
Elevating a follower to Chosen One required enormous expenditure of divine power, and maintaining that status also demanded constant infusion of power.
If there were too many Chosen Ones, it burdened the deity itself and weakened it.
Therefore, most deities limited the number of their Chosen Ones. New ones were selected only when vacancies arose, and sometimes positions remained empty.
Cases like Viola's, where a Chosen One appeared suddenly, outside the quota, were extremely rare.
Usually, this happened when a follower made a great contribution or won the deity's favor by pleasing it so much that it spared no divine power for their ascension.
Obviously, in Viola's case, her contribution was key, but the prayer ritual had also pleased the Long-haired Lady.
Reyn chuckled inwardly. He had played a part in this too.
Satisfying a goddess was no easy task. An ordinary person might not have managed it.
Reyn grew curious. He discreetly activated the Eye of the Soul and looked at Viola.
In his eyes, the structure of Viola's soul had undergone cardinal changes. The sacred symbol of the Chosen One hovered above the Mage of All Souls' Soul-Gathering Tower. The Flame of Faith had grown several times larger, enveloping the entire soul and radiating divine power.
A thick illusory thread extended from the top of Viola's head into the void.
Reyn saw such a sturdy illusory thread for the first time. It resembled a positioning channel. A trembling aura emanated from the void, as if the deity could manifest at any moment.
"The Chosen One is truly a god's avatar—terrifying!" Reyn sighed inwardly.
Becoming a Chosen One meant having a deity's backing. Just announcing her status, who would dare touch her?
With this, she could traverse the world almost unhindered!
Even Chosen Ones of other gods would not lightly conflict with her, as it could provoke a war of gods, and both sides would act cautiously.
Of course, ascension to Chosen One came at a price.
From now on, Viola had to dedicate her entire life to the church's affairs, carry out divine decrees, and spread the Long-haired Lady's faith.
Viola was beside herself with excitement. The prayer ritual's result had exceeded all her expectations.
It took quite some time before she calmed down.
Noticing Reyn looking at her thoughtfully, she recalled the recent sensations, her heart fluttered, and she asked with a charming smile:
"Still not had enough?"
"I'll never have enough."
Reyn embraced Viola's waist and sat in the water, leaning his back against the pool's edge, as if lounging in a hot spring, and sighed contentedly.
He fell silent, enjoying the touch of her soft smooth skin, a satisfied smile playing on his face.
Viola pressed against Reyn's chest, savoring the moment of peace.
A moment later, she saw that Reyn wanted to say something but hesitated. She immediately guessed his thoughts and reproached him:
"Don't overthink it. When the Lady manifested, I felt everything too. After all, she used my body, and you were forced. I can forgive you."
Reyn flushed and smiled awkwardly:
"Well, good, good."
He said "good," but in his heart he thought: "Isn't this some form of... threesome?"
If in the future the Long-haired Lady got a taste for it again, or when he made love to Viola, would she intervene once more?
The thought made Reyn's hair stand on end.
He absolutely did not want a repeat of such a strange experience.
"Reyn, what did the Lady give you?" Viola suddenly asked curiously. She had seen the rewarding process too.
"I don't know."
Only now did Reyn remember that he was still clutching the Soul Stone in his hand. His attention had been fully absorbed by Viola's beauty, and he still hadn't examined it.
He brought the Soul Stone to his eyes, activated the Eye of the Soul, and upon looking at it, his eyes widened.
"Damn!"
It was as if Reyn had been shocked by electricity. He jumped out of the water and exclaimed:
"Legendary element!"