Furthermore, the woman's hands were hanging down by her sides, and that also seemed to indicate that she wasn't fearing for her own safety at all.

This made it impossible for one to discern exactly which one of the two was in more danger.

Looking at the background of the artwork, it appeared that the scene was set in a chaotic world that had just come into existence, or the site of a volcanic eruption. It was impossible to tell exactly what kind of setting this was, and it was completely different from the standard techniques employed by artists. However, the image was extremely impactful, with the tumbling red flames intertwining with the dark green sky to produce a peculiar yet majestic atmosphere. Praise had to be given to Erwin's artistic genius here. He had executed the piece with great spatial awareness and layering so that the background wasn't too striking and attention-grabbing, but also clearly depicted a sense of distance between itself and the main subjects of the piece. While it was a flashy show of Erwin's skills, he also made sure not to ignore the basic concept of distance in art. As a result, the background acted as the perfect backdrop for the man and the woman.

Looking at the artwork, Onean finally understood why Lia had decided to commission Erwin to create this mural on the ceiling. Just as Onean had realized back when he was drawing those portraits on the streets of Belama, Erwin had an uncanny ability to convey the soul of his subject through his artwork. To put it in more profound terms, he had the ability to bestow life upon the characters in his artwork.

The mural on the ceiling was a perfect demonstration of this ability. Looking at the changes in the lighting and shadows, this was no longer just a simple piece of artwork. The man and the woman depicted in the mural were like a pair of living humans that were present in the flesh, and one could easily be forgiven for thinking that the two could suddenly begin to move at any moment.

Overall, there were many religious metaphors distributed throughout the mural, including the expressions with which the two were looking at one another, the ambiguous relationship between the two, the thin silken scarf that was barely draped over the woman's body, and the mysterious nature of the setting. However, at the same time, it seemed to only be an image that was telling a certain story.

In the face of such a brilliant piece of artwork, even Onean couldn't help but be momentarily rooted to the spot.

She was unable to muster up any words of praise, but that wasn't because she lacked the vocabulary. Instead, it was because she knew Erwin extremely well, and seeing the smug, punch-worthy look on his face, she really didn't want to praise him.

"So? Are you impressed? You must be in awe now, right?" Erwin couldn't wait for Onean's praise, so he was already shamelessly praising himself. At the same time, he was doing so under the guise of speaking on Onean's behalf when in reality, he was only stroking his own ego.

"Yeah, it's not bad," Onean replied with a nod, expressing positive reinforcement toward Erwin's mural, but stopping just short of offering excessive praise. The restrained look on her face made it look as if she were a complete novice when it came to appreciating artworks, and her nonchalant "not bad" seemed to only be a response made out of politeness.

Erwin's face immediately fell upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but be amazed at Onean's ability to get under his skin.

"Why is it that the more I look at the mural, the more I feel like the woman on it looks like me?" Onean asked as she continued to stare at the woman depicted on the artwork.

"What? So every good-looking woman has to look like you? Or are you saying that every beautiful woman I draw takes inspiration from you? Stop flattering yourself," Erwin replied in a disgruntled voice.

"I see." Onean turned around to face Erwin with an amused smile. "You can say whatever you want, but you can't deny the truth. If you didn't draw inspiration from me, why is it that you were in such a hurry to drag me here to see the mural as soon as it was done?"

Erwin offered no response to this.

Of course, strictly speaking, the woman in the mural only bore a resemblance to Onean. In order to differentiate between the two, Erwin intentionally didn't paint the woman with Onean's signature head of silver hair. Instead, he depicted her with a head of glossy black hair instead. As for whether this was a blatant attempt to put some distance between Onean and the woman in the mural, that was known only to Erwin.

He had no intention of telling anyone about the meaning of the mural as he believed that there was no need to explain it to anyone else, regardless of whether they were clergymen of the Universal Church or normal visitors of the cathedral.

In his eyes, this was something to be seen by the world, and as for how everyone was going to interpret the piece, that had nothing to do with him.

...

Fate was something that was very difficult to explain. One never knew when they would be struck by crushing misfortune, nor could they ever know when the tide would turn and give rise to a change in fortune. When it came to this point, Erwin had a lot of firsthand experience.

Truth be told, he didn't have high hopes that the Universal Church would accept his mural. In fact, he was even thinking about whether Lia and the others would flip out on the spot once they saw what he had done with their cathedral's ceiling. He didn't think that anyone in this world would be able to truly understand what he was trying to convey through his work. If the archbishop were displeased with the mural and wanted to have it removed and redone, he wouldn't have any objections to that, but he wasn't going to return the Loonies that had already been paid to him.

However, on the day of the examination, the events that unfolded didn't go along with Erwin's projection.

After the massive cloth covering the artwork was removed, everyone in the cathedral immediately erupted into raucous chatter.

None of the clergymen had ever seen any artwork of this nature. Thankfully, the group conducting the examination only consisted of the archbishop of this parish and several pastors. If normal followers of the church were allowed to see this, their reactions would've most likely been even more extreme.

Everyone began to discuss among themselves in hushed voices, carefully thinking back through all of the stories in the "Sermon of the Universal Lord", but they were unable to think of any that had any relation to the content in this piece of artwork.

Setting the content aside, such a bold and sexually explicit way of expression alone went against all of the church's doctrines, and it was something that the pastors couldn't accept.

As for why the pastors weren't openly denouncing Erwin for his work, that wasn't because they were extremely polite and restrained individuals. Instead, it was because he had been commissioned by Lia, so they were waiting for Lia to deliver the final verdict, rather than step in and make decisions in Lia's stead.

Looking at the varying expressions on the faces of the pastors, Erwin couldn't help but feel a sense of derision toward these clergymen. They were all looking at the artwork as if they were so shocked and appalled so they could appear as if they were claiming the moral high ground, but in reality, who knew what types of dirty thoughts were running through their heads? The more they tried to appear straight-laced and righteous, the more despicable they appeared in Erwin's eyes.

However, there was a single person among the group of clergymen who had remained silent this entire time, and that was none other than Lia.

He stared up at the mural on the ceiling with a solemn expression for a long time, following which his expression gradually turned into one of entrancement. His eyes were so wide that it was as if he felt as if he were witnessing the Universal Lord in the flesh, as if the deity that he worshiped had descended upon the cathedral. A short while later, tears began to well up in his eyes, and he murmured to himself, "This is it... This is exactly it... This is what I've been waiting for for all these years..."

Meanwhile, the freckled young missionary was staring at Lia with a stunned expression. In his memory, Lia had always been calm and restrained, and he had never seen Lia lose his composure like this before. Given that Joe was only a missionary, he wasn't technically entitled to be present during the examination on this day, but Lia had brought him along for the occasion.

The other pastors didn't dare to say anything, but they were all looking at the archbishop, trying to pressure him into saying something. Finally, the archbishop caved to the peer pressure, and he approached Lia before speaking to him in a quiet voice.

However, much to everyone's surprise, the perpetually humble and amicable Lia suddenly seemed to have transformed into a completely different person as he glared at the archbishop with a cold expression.

The archbishop had only just begun speaking before he found himself on the receiving end of Lia's forbidding glare, and he immediately stopped talking.

This was a turn of events that Erwin had failed to anticipate. 

It was rather unfair that Lia was making a decision on everyone's behalf, but none of the pastors dared to say anything. Even the archbishop had backed down, so how were the pastors supposed to be able to do anything?

Erwin didn't know exactly what Lia had seen in the mural, but he knew that there had to be a reason behind Lia's actions.

With Lia insisting on keeping the mural, the other clergymen were unable to do anything and could only sheepishly depart.

Erwin was rather perplexed to see this. "Mr. Lia, why would you..."

At this point, Lia had already returned to his normal warm and gentle demeanor, and he said, "Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Erwin. I was merely angry at those blind fools for not seeing the genius in such a splendid piece of artwork. There's no way I could've allowed them to get rid of the mural."

Erwin nodded in response with a polite smile.

"By the way, I still didn't get a chance to ask for the name of the mural," Lia said.

Erwin hesitated momentarily, then replied, "Its name is 'Believer'."

Lia also faltered slightly upon hearing this, then nodded slowly in response. 

As aforementioned, one could never predict when the tides of fate and fortune were going to turn. Unbeknownst to Erwin, this was going to be the moment that turned his fortune for the better.

...

As soon as "Believer" was unveiled to the outside world, it immediately became the center of attention for all of the followers of the Universal Church visiting the Holy Jade Cathedral.

Everyone who visited the cathedral stopped in their tracks to look up at the mural, trying to understand the meaning behind it. In the end, everyone felt as if they understood the mural and had resonated with the artist on a different facet, but in reality, no one was able to truly understand the meaning behind the artwork.

Most importantly, there was no official explanation released by the pastors of the Universal Church, and whenever the question was raised to them, they would always give ambiguous replies that were unable to convince anyone. They didn't like the mural very much to begin with, but neither were they able to say anything bad about it because they simply didn't understand enough about it to form any judgments. When it came to the true meaning behind the mural, it was something that they most likely weren't going to be able to glean even if they spent their entire lives trying. The mural on the ceiling was like an ocean that could open up one's consciousness, causing the beholder to be completely lost and immersed in it. In the face of a vast sea of consciousness, there was no way that shallow personal interpretations could be entirely accurate.

Thus, a common sight began to appear in the Holy Jade Cathedral, which involved people looking up at the artwork on the ceiling, often for an entire morning, and all of them left with different emotions etched on their faces.

Thus, bizarre rumors began to spread about how "Believer" had magical properties that were capable of ensnaring and capturing one's soul. As a result of these rumors, more and more people flocked to the cathedral to see the mural, and even people who didn't follow the Universal Church were arriving to see what was quickly becoming a tourist attraction of sorts.

Ultimately, curiosity was a part of human nature for everyone, and eventually, even some of the nobles following the New Light Church decided to visit the cathedral and take a look at the mural for themselves. Prior to this, they were convinced that there was no way that a true piece of artwork could possibly appear in a cathedral of the Universal Church. However, all of them were stunned into silence when they laid their eyes upon the mural.

Of course, there were also many nobles who revered more orthodox schools of art, and they were quite critical of the mural, denouncing it as nothing more than a mediocre piece.

However, the fact of the matter was that the mural was a beautiful piece of artwork that was splendid for grabbing the beholder's attention and that was something that no one could deny.

Thus, those denouncing the mural as a mediocre piece of artwork were immediately met with stern opposition. Of course, most of the opposition came from the followers of the Universal Church. After all, this was something that belonged to their church, and they felt a sense of responsibility to protect it to the end.

The topic of whether "Believer" was actually a good piece of artwork sparked fierce debate from all sides, and as a result, the controversy and popularity surrounding the artwork rose to a peak.

All of a sudden, it seemed as if everyone in the entire city of Zans was talking about the artwork, and everyone was a self-proclaimed expert.