Even after Kannon so proudly declared her identity from atop Henna’s palm, the people just looked at the tiny and adorable fairy dubiously. After all, the Goddess of Light was supposed to be majestic, transcendent, and elegant…… Definitely not cute, timid, and itsy-bitsy - like the creature currently before them.

“Stop telling such obvious lies!” The King shouted in impotent rage, refusing to believe that the Goddess his entire kingdom worshiped would ever appear in such a ridiculous form.

《Pssst! Stop acting like a shy child! If you want to get the people on our side, Kannon, you’d better put on the goddess act. Make with the magic and put on a show already!》 Henna secretly said.

Maven half wanted to interrupt, but ultimately gave up on the thought. She decided to just have faith in her companions and let Henna and Kannon do whatever they wanted. Henna responded by immediately betraying that faith tossing Kannon into the air like a piece of trash, up to the same height she had been when Henna worked her own miracles.

《I’m going to tickle you to death later, Henna. You’d better remember thiiiiis!》 Kannon complained as she beamed through the air.

Once Kannon was up there, she channeled some of her divinity to rapidly increase in size and change in form. Her current appearance and stature was an exact match for the statues that could be found in the Churches of Light throughout the kingdom.

Taking a deep breath to psyche herself up and put on the mask of a supreme goddess, Kannon then declared “People of the Holy Kingdom, I am indeed Kannon - The Goddess of Light and Life! I am here, together with my beloved sister Henna and best friend Maven to deliver a message unto you.”

Now radiating a blindingly bright and affectionate aura, the human-sized Kannon truly looked divine. The adorable, frilly little dress she wore in fairy-mode had been exchanged for a gorgeous and elegant form-fitting gown. Her usual air-headed grin had been replaced by the mature expression of a mother looking down at her children.

The King, however, refused to acknowledge any of it. His family had ruled these lands for hundreds of years, guiding them towards prosperity all that time. This stupid goddess, on the other hand, had been missing for thousands of years. Her absence was the only reason his family had even allowed her dumb religion to persist all this time. It was supposed to merely be a convenient method of pacifying the people. No matter what war he wanted to start or how high taxes were raised, as long the people were told it was Kannon’s desire, they wouldn’t raise even a peep of protest.

《You’d better keep an eye on the King, Henna. He’s starting to look a little shifty-eyed.》 Maven said, having kept half an eye on him this entire time.

He had an ominous feeling that his little gravy train was about to come to an end, so the King was desperately trying to move his magic. If all the divinity flying around weren’t causing his power to freeze up, he’d be able to activate the national treasure on his wrist - giving him a chance to do something about this.

Unfortunately for him, though, the Goddess of Darkness was here. Noticing he was about to complicate things, she used a bit of his power to knock him out - causing him to crumple to a heap on the ground.

Kannon paid no notice to these shenanigans, nervous as she was from speaking to a crowd for the first time in thousands of years. Instead, she used a little trick learned from Maven. Casting her unique blessing at the same time she addressed the people below, she used the spell to strengthen her prestige and ensure she had their attention.

“Twelve years I’ve watched the world from Maven’s side, my children. Twelve years, I’ve watched the world continue to go astray. The demons are hated, Henna is despised, and the world is preparing for war. Oh, my sweet little darlings, you’ve been led astray!” Kannon proclaimed with a truly angelic visage.

《She’s really laying it on thick…》 Maven secretly said to Henna, completely thrown by Kannon’s behavior. She’d never seen Kannon looking so competent before

Kannon’s words dismayed the people. Not only had they disappointed a goddess, but also the goddess - the one the majority of them worshiped. The one they had looked up to their whole lives.

“Led astray??”

“How could that be?”

“What war?!”

“Those dirty demons are awful!”

“They killed my grandfather!”

“Why is this happening??”

Though most people reacted to Kannon’s words with pure surprise, there was still a solid portion who just couldn’t accept her words at face value. The Church of Light and the Holy Kingdom had been steadily indoctrinating the people for hundreds of years, all in Kannon’s name. Even if the person herself suddenly appears like this and says “Stop it,” they’re not likely to just accept it.

《Well…… that didn’t go perfectly, now did it?》 Maven asked ruefully.

《Have faith in her!》 Henna said confidently.

If it weren’t an actual goddess speaking to them now, they might even have started cursing and throwing stones.

Kannon just smiled gracefully, ignoring the furor. This was a chance, a chance to plant a seed, to change people’s minds. To ensure that seed seed sprouted properly, this was the time to really hammer the point home and really shape the future. Surely there’s nobody who’d ignore the words of their goddess, right?

That objective solidly in mind, Maven continued to secretly feed Kannon whatever spare magic she had. With her aura bolstered, Kannon gently spoke to the entire capital.

“My people,” Kannon said while taking a supplicating posture. “Please, listen to me! You must turn away from the upcoming war and your hatred of the demon race. I know that I haven’t supported you well these few years, but I’m here now! I descended into a fairy to live among you, help the Saintess, and lead the world to a better life.”

“Oh! Goddess!!”

“How loving!”

“She’d go so far, for us?!”

Squeezing a few tears out of her eyes, Kannon continued, “Please, only ruin awaits you if you hold onto this hatred of the demons, of my sister, and of death & darkness. Help me broker peace! Help me make a better world! Help Maven save Avalon!”