Warlock of the Magus World

by Stayrr

What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights? An awesome MC is what happens! A scientist’s goal is to explore the secrets of the universe, and this is exactly what Leylin sets out to do when he is reincarnated. Dark, cold and calculating, he makes use of all his resources as he sets off on his adventures to meet his goal. Face?

32. 979

Read Warlock of the Magus World - Chapter 979 – Benedict online free - Light Novel Full

Benedict

The orcs were the ones who'd instigated the war, and on top of that they'd committed such a huge atrocity afterwards. The elven and halfling gods would not support them much. They thought the orcs too ruthless, and developed a desire to contain them.

This put the orc gods in a predicament. If it continued without end, they would likely only be able to find allies from the abyss or the hells.

This was why the orcish gods went all out in their search for new blood, especially the Blackblood Tribe in the Moonwood and the God of the Hunt, Malar. Orcs and werecreatures weren't much different, and they even looked rather similar.

On top of that, Malar's original form was that of a huge ape-like monster, so there was a high chance of him joining their side. With their tough situation, the orc gods would be relentless in their pursuit of this chance.

The decision from up above ensured that the orc empire tried to befriend Blackblood Tribe. They'd only be making a din in the dark forest at most, and with the territories that the orc empire now had, it wouldn't be too much trouble to give them that land.

While orcs were the majority, there were still an astounding number of humans left in the north. After all, only the human race could measure up to them in terms of their rate of reproduction. The effects of the humans' reign over so many years were not so easily removed.

In reality, despite the establishment of an orc empire many places weren't under their control. There were even a few armies hidden in the corners of the north, giving Saladin a headache.

With all the racial conflict, these rebel armies received the support of multiple organisations both in public and in the shadows. They'd won a few battles and liberated some cities, leaving the orcish armies up to the ears in work.

"While there's a revolt from the humans in the north, this is all guerrilla warfare, and there isn't a real leader and flag. This makes Alustriel key…"

Leylin finally understood why the church of justice would begin a plan to reclaim the kingdom now. Some time ago, the orc empire's strength had been concentrated and been difficult to deal with. Things were different now though, since taking over land and completely occupying it were very different things.

They were now scattered across the northern lands, making the orc army thin out. It was no wonder that just a guerrilla band could achieve victory so easily.

Tens of years later, the people of the north might succumb under the government of the orcs and completely forget about Alustriel. After all, the adaptability of humans was fairly terrifying.

Having seen this all, Leylin could not help but shake his head.

'Tsk tsk… Even though they've grasped a good opportunity, it'll be difficult to completely reclaim the kingdom.' Based on his deductions, Alustriel being able to establish a few bases to go against the orc empire was already rather impressive.

"The church of justice will recruit legendary beings, probably not just to deal with Saladin but also the avatars of the orc gods…"

Leylin's eyes glinted as he quickly went through the pros and cons.

"I now have too little information, so I can only consider working with them after meeting Rafiniya and other Legends…"

Rubbing at his temples, Leylin pondered over his next course of action before leaving the room.

"Master…"

Next to the door, there were two pretty maids that had been waiting for a long while who quickly knelt down.

Leylin could smell the scent of a purebred Pleasure Devil on them. However, their eyes were now filled with adoration and reverence for him.

After all, Leylin's soul essence was practically like half a devil archduke.

All devils who sensed his abstruse and dark strength would naturally do all they could to get close to him. This was an instinct of devils at all times, imprinted deeply into their genes.

"Hm, not bad!"

Leylin had no plans of being a saint now and placed his arms around the beautiful female devils who were like sisters, and entered the bedroom…

The next day, having removed his other appearance and regained his looks as a wizard, Leylin entered the outer parts of Yorkshire's church of justice.

"I'm here to see Rafiniya. This is the token she gave me."

Leylin passed a n emblem that was gold on one side over. On the base that was like a shield, there was a cross sword and image of a rose.

"Please wait a moment. I will pass on the message for you!"

The church guard's eyes widened. Leylin's aura immediately made him feel like he was seeing someone important like the king. He was also in wizard robes, and the power that signified more than shocked him. Hence, he presented himself politely.

The guard who went in returned very quickly, though this time, he bowed so deeply that his nose practically touched the ground, "Welcome, esteemed wizard Leylin! Paladin Rafiniya is now away, but we have already informed her. We believe she will return soon… Many apologies for this. Please take a short rest in the church…"

The guard was actually trembling inside in fear. This was a legend! The pinnacle of strength in the continent, and even a legendary wizard at that!

As the youngest legend, and one that had become one in the most difficult path of a wizard, Leylin's reputation had long since spread in the continent. However, there were few who had actually met him.

"Fine. Lead the way."

Leylin entered alongside the guard, and upon entering through the doors, a few people hastened over, evidently to receive hi.

"Oh, Leylin, my friend! We finally meet…"

Next to the white-robed bishop of the God of Justice, Leylin saw another noble. His astounding memory caused Leylin to freeze for a second, and then put on a smile while going forward.

"Marquis Lancet! Long time no see…"

The noble who had come along with the bishop to meet Leylin was the one who held power over Yorkshire, and the one that had split the territories of a few unlucky noble families, Lancet.

"After hearing the beautiful birdsong from skylarks this morning, I knew something great was going to happen. I didn't expect it would be your arrival…"

Lancet now had a sincere smile on his face. He had a vivid memory of this kid who had gotten a position as a viscount during the feast of the dividing of lands in the north. Tiff, who he was helping, seemed to be doing something strange, but that wasn't important!

Leylin was now a legend! It was impossible to go wrong with improving their relationship. Actually, Marquis Lancet was already regretting not giving Leylin more.

"But… who would have known that he would become a legend in a few years?"

Lancet observed Leylin's young face, removing the jealousy deep in his heart with some difficulty and then smiling brightly.

"Also… this is a bishop of the God of Justice, Scholar Benedict, who's also a friend of mine…"

"I express my deepest gratitude for Sire's determination in offering yourself in the name of righteousness… The refugees suffering in the north will never forget your contributions…"

Benedict's voice was kind and resolute, and there was a glint in his eyes unique to those willing to die for their cause.

Leylin had no qualms that if Benedict were to be told that his death would save the lives of all commoners of the north, he would kill himself without hesitation.

It was pity that the people who were the most resolute were also the most troublesome…

"I'm only here because of a promise with Rafiniya. Whether I'll make my move at the end and when I do it is my freedom…"

Leylin had no plans of being careless with this and answered, causing the atmosphere to turn cold in an instant.

"Uh… haha… Whatever it is, having Sire Leylin coming all the way here is already enough… It must have been difficult to come so far. Please get some rest, and you can meet the other comrades later tonight…"

Lancet's mind moved quickly and immediately dispelled the awkward atmosphere.

"Even though he's the youngest legendary, has he already been corroded by reputation and power?"

After Leylin left, great resentment shone in Benedict's eyes. In his eyes, all legends on the continent were the same. They only wished for power and enjoyment, and never did what they should.

There were few willing to sacrifice themselves in the name of justice, and now this seemed to also go for the youngest to become a legend.

"But of course! He became a legendary with much difficulty and reached the peak in the continent. There are countless things for him to enjoy, so what right do you have to make him die for your sake?"

Lancet snickered inside while maintaining a smile on his face, "Sire Leylin just has yet to come to terms with what's going on yet. I'm sure with time, he'll change his mind…"

"Sigh… I hope so! The refugees of the north can't wait for long…"

Bishop Benedict sighed, looking as if he were bemoaning the state of the universe.

"The paladins and priests of the god of justice are all lunatics…"

While already mentally prepared, Leylin had honestly been scared by his naivety. If the bishop was like this, then he could guess at what the clerics were like. They were definitely not people Leylin would like.

"But only a church with such a zealous ambience would attract Rafiniya and have her treat this as her final home…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Secret Meeting

Leylin sighed inside. A member of the clergy guided him to the back of the church.

Golden sunlight streamed into the room through the windows, showing the motes of dust in the air. Furniture and all other decorations were simple, as was customary in the church of justice.

"If you have any needs, please press the doorbell here. We will await any orders… Also, the meeting with the other lords will be after dinner. Paladin Rafiniya will arrive very soon." The servant that had brought Leylin in withdrew and closed the door.

Rafiniya came quickly. After all, Leylin was a legendary, and it was necessary to show him the required respect. Unfortunately for such a moronic paladin, Leylin had no common topic to discuss with her.

After enjoying a simple dinner, Leylin was guided to a small drawing room. A few masters with powerful auras were lying in wait.

'Are these the other legendaries?' Leylin nodded and headed inside.

The room was rather small. There was a bright red fur rug on the ground as well as a fireplace that was blazing brightly. However, there was no scent of smoke in the air. While this was the north, the room was still as warm as if it were spring.

"You… You must be the rumoured wizard from the outer seas. Leylin, right? You really are very young!"

Leylin's entrance immediately gathered their attention. A long-haired woman wrapped in a red mink fur coat stood up with a kind smile on her face.

"Besides us old geezers of the north, you arrived quite quickly."

She was evidently a legendary, and from the elemental domain power around her, she was a legendary wizard!

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lillian, and next to me here is the paladin of the god of justice, Sire Patrick. Next to the fireplace is the protector of the north, the legendary druid, Alegor."

There were very few legends in the room, numbering only three.

The Queen Alustriel of Silverymoon and her chief scholar, Blu were not around. They were people that Leylin had wished to meet, and this left him slightly disappointed.

"Greetings…"

Of course, Leylin presented himself humbly on the surface and greeted the three of them politely while judging them.

Lillian was a traditional wizard. Undulations from magic items and scrolls were emitted from her body, and there even seemed to be some hidden aura there, likely some legendary item sh had with her. Her battle might was not to be underestimated.

Patrick, on the other hand, was a man of few words and looked rather cold. This actually had Leylin snickering inside. Recalling the legendary paladin that had died at his hands, who had been said to be a judge or something like that, he was sure that the god of justice's church must have been dealt a great blow.

The last one was the legendary druid, Alegor, who was dressed in an interesting manner.

He was a burly man over three metres tall and with a thick brown beard. Next to his fuzzy ears was a pair of large forked horns like that of elks, with some leaves appearing at the tip. This druid did not wear much, and only had some beast hide and leaves that had been used to make an apron. This revealed a hairy and broad chest, which made him seem rather wild.

"Initially, as the protector of nature, I should not participate in these activities. However, those orcs are destroying nature to a terrifying degree, which goes against the most fundamental cycle and harmony here…"

Alegor now looked solemn, giving Leylin all the information he needed in a few sentences.

In general, all druids took on the responsibility of protecting nature. They were strongly against any actions taken to destroy it, and there was even the rise of radicals against this.

After occupying the north, the orcs were doing more damage to the environment in order to obtain more resources and materials.

The queen of Silverymoon had a great relationship with druids, which was why they began reminiscing about the time when she had been in power. It was understandable why they were hard at work here.

"Eye of the North… Protector of nature, as well as a paladin who is comparable to the judge from before…"

Leylin estimated the power they had.

With these the four of them, it was impossible to turn the orc empire upside down, but it was possible to affect the successes or failures of a few campaigns!

In addition, they were only the first batch that had arrived. The true trump cards were still hidden.

'What a pity… Even so, it's not possible to sway the orcs' power in the north. At the most, we can crack their foundations as a kingdom, but unless all the human gods band together, it's impossible to chase them out and restore our power. However, is that plausible?'

While having all sorts of complicated emotions inside, Leylin walked out of the church and into Yorkshire, where it was now night.

While it was late, this place was still rather boisterous. From the dazzling rays from various churches, there were also large oil lamps in front of shops. Some citizens strolled around after dinner, melodious holy songs and prayers sounding in the background. It was leisurely and relaxing.

"But… seems like the effects from the refugees of the north are yet to disappear…"

Leylin found that there was a very high frequency of patrolling, as well as occasional thievery, and he could not help but shake his head.

The surge of residents of the north was the greatest challenge for security. The huge increase in population, as well as entrance of nobility from the north, had increased the price of daily necessities and resulted in many citizens unable to voice their unhappiness.

Actually, the people of Yorkshire did not think well of these refugees. All believed that they had not only stolen their jobs, but were also a huge burden.

Perhaps they knew of a legend's senses and that sending people to monitor him would be useless unless a legendary thief or assassin were dispatched. Leylin strolled around and found that there were no people following him nor any magic for that.

"Of course, perhaps they have assured themselves that with the gods support, I wouldn't be able to do anything against them…"

Leylin shook his head and could not help but laugh, before then turned into a dimly lit alley.

Streams of dark red fog appeared by him, concealing his original aura. It was as if he had turned into a whole other person.

The people around him were all in a flurry, and none discovered this abnormality.

"With dreamforce concealing me, anything monitoring me will be rendered useless…"

Leylin stepped out of the alley that had an illusion hidden within and, as his figure flashed a few times, disappeared from the road.

With Leylin's legendary strength as well as boost from the illusions of dreamforce, it was just too easy to prevent any spying on him.

Light fluctuated, and the next time Leylin appeared, he had arrived in a secret room.

The black fog in the surroundings seemed to be like a huge beast that devoured everything. There was only a yellow light in the centre that emitted bright rays.

A few figures with powerful auras were dressed in black robes, waiting by the light.

"You're early…"

One of the black-robed people spoke to Leylin in a crisp, female voice.

"I never thought you'd have arrangements here in Yorkshire too…"

Leylin watched the female wizard before him. Under the light, she had removed her disguise and revealed her original appearance. This was the legendary wizard he had just seen, Lillian!

"Why did you transmit a message to me right before leaving… and there's these people…"

Leylin looked suspicious.

While this legendary wizard had looked normal during the meeting before, she had suddenly sent him an address at the end, wanting him to come here alone. There were also other powerful beings, and every one of them was a legend.

A gathering like this was definitely not for some sort of banquet.

"I've already set up multiple isolating spell formations. Even if its a god, none can discover our conversation unless their true body were to descend."

Lillian spoke with a smile, eyes seeming to burn, "Do you still not know the reason why we legends have gathered?"

What great plans could there be when a group of legends had sneakily gathered?

If profits were the largest priority, then what could attract these exemplary beings would be ascension to godhood.

Leylin knew this full well and smiled, "Well then, you haven't introduced me to them yet…"

"Keke… Is a little brat who just entered our domain capable of plotting with us?"

At this moment, a black-robed person standing next to Lilian snickered, sounding like an ghostly owl in the night, causing hair to stand on end.

Boom!*

A tremendous and cold deathly aura with great pressure attacked Leylin in the next instant, like raging waves. There were even cries from maligned souls as well as powerful negative energy, corrosive auras.

The rest of the black-robed beings did not move as they watched on with smiles.

"Is this a probe? As expected, in circles like this in the dark, power is everything!"

With a thought, Leylin's body did not move and allowed the deathly aura to go past him. Many undulations rippled on the wall behind him, but he was completely unharmed.

"What a dense deathly aura… And you are?"

Leylin then smiled at the stunned black-robed person and asked.

"You're capable!" He declared, but did not make any more movements. Evidently, he found Leylin worthy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Malar

"This is the necromancer, Mallister! He is a powerful death wizard who gained fame 1200 years ago, and has already entered the ranks of a high-ranked legend. It's even said that he's on equal grounds with the lich, Ilyo…"

Lilian introduced him to Leylin, looking astonished, "While that was a slight probe, Wizard Leylin being able to take on the attack so easily means he must have quite a number of secrets…"

"Alright! Since everyone's here, let's begin."

Mallister urged, sounding enthusiastic. The great desire in his tone shocked Leylin slightly.

As Leylin was right now, he had become more sensitive to emotional force. From the excitement of this old wizard coupled with the situation in the north, it was evident that they had huge plans.

"The reason we're gathered here is obviously for the eternity that gods have…"

Lilian spoke softly, sounding just as eager.

Even if they were necromancers, Legends like them who did not turn into liches or spirits could only live for at most a few thousand years. This was a stark difference from the mighty gods in the skies.

As legends, they felt that they did not have any less talent or invest less effort than the gods did. The only thing they lost out in was that they were born too late, which meant they had no opportunities by then.

In this situation, which legend would feel content with staring at the gods up high and in eternal glory?

Basically every single one of them had the ambition to ascend and become a god!

While there were agreements between the legends on the continent as well as rules of churches or organisations, private gatherings like these still happened.

After all, godly roles and positions were all accounted for. To successfully become a god, one or perhaps even a few had to be pulled down!

Even if many legends were to gather, they could at most only beat up an avatar. The true forms of gods in their godly realms were practically invincible.

Hence, it was necessary to wait for a battle between gods! Only when they began attacking each other did the legends have a single chance at obtaining divinity, godspark or even a godly role!

The legends all knew of this possibility, which was why they had gathered.

"I'm sure all of you know the situation with the north. The Weave Goddess and God of Justice have made a deal, so the decision to support Queen Alustriel in regaining her kingdom won't change. There'll definitely be a battle against the orc gods. Based on my intel, other human gods aren't going to do much about this…"

Lilian now looked extremely zealous and ready to make a gamble, "The Weave Goddess and God of Justice are greater gods, while the orc god only has a greater god, Gruumsh. However, he's supported by intermediate and lesser gods. The battle with the two greater gods will soon arrive, which will be an opportunity for us…"

Leylin finally knew why the legends had gathered here. They were counting on the gods getting injured in battle, which would give them the opportunity to obtain divinity or a divine spark.

However, even the weakest true god was not something a legend could deal with. This was not much less difficult than pulling chestnuts out of fire.

However, this matched well with Leylin's goal.

Hence, his lips quirked in a smile, "A good choice… Well then, may I know what your targets are?"

"We obviously won't put any hope on the three greater gods. Wizard Mallister is only interested in divinity and divine roles that have to do with death. He's only requesting the divine force amassed from the avatars as well as any divine weapons that might appear…"

Lilian did a brief explanation and then looked at him, "How about Sire Leylin? Do you have any goals?"

"Me?"

Leylin rubbed his nose, "As I am now, I don't think I can ask for much. I'll go along with what you do. All I want is a trace of the divine force from a true god…"

"For ordinary legends, that is a very good choice…"

Mallister gave Leylin a long look.

For most legends that wanted to become gods, they first needed to amass followers and faith, and then attempt at comprehending a law. By combining that with faith, divine force would be formed.

It was a pity that this was the most difficult part!

Even in the Magus World, Morning Star Magi could not get past the hurdle of laws. Only after becoming a rank 6 Breaking Dawn Magus and after a soul became completely positive could one start to comprehend laws.

In the World of Gods, while there was the power of faith as a cheat, actually getting past the hurdle was very difficult.

However, stealing a trace of divine force would be able to solve this problem, allowing one to get past the threshold of laws. This was a huge temptation for legends.

"Then… which god are you aiming for?"

Lilian asked.

"Probably Malar…" Leylin brought up the name of this unlucky person. This was one of the gods that had been mentioned in the discussions before.

"Mm, that matches up with our original plan. There aren't any conflicts either. After I get back, I can use my influence and have you join in the operation to attack Malar's avatar. Of course, you'll have to mention your interest here…"

She nodded.

The God of Hunt, Malar, was a very good choice considering the plan.

There was no other reason than that Malar was but a lesser god and the weakest of all. This was the most important, because the legends were not that confident that they could take down the avatar of a greater god.

Secondly, Malar was not an orc god and merely an ally. He would not have too many reinforcements with him.

Thirdly, and also most importantly, he was an evil god! There were no risks of tarnishing of one's reputation for eliminating him, and might even get a good name of being righteous and all that.

In addition, the faith in him was underwhelming. Besides the werecreatures, there were only a few intellectual beasts. He had few powerful beings he could truly make use of.

With all these factored in, the tragedy that Malar would become was obvious.

Leylin had been eyeing Malar's divine force for a long time.

Initially, with his strength, the scale of the followers and his comprehension of the law of Devour, he should have been able to produce a trace of divinity of gluttony or devour.

Unfortunately, these two were too obvious in that he could easily be associated with Beezlebub.

Beezlebub had only just fallen into a deep sleep, and if Leylin were to suddenly appear, the gods would definitely start making associations. Gods were no fools and, on the contrary, were extremely intelligent. It was just that they were sometimes influenced by their godly roles and the emotions from it.

"Beezlebub and the other archdukes in hell are all targets for me to kill in the future, but not now…"

Leylin stroked his chin as he pondered.

Besides this choice, he had few others. After all, this also had to be compatible with the path as a rank 8 Magus that he would take.

"My path must contain emotional force and the vileness of all living things. With dreamforce being used as the base, I will then contain the law of space and time…"

"With this foundation, the only thing compatible with the might of devils can only be massacre and death…"

"The temptations of devils will definitely give rise to massacre and death. After fusing them, it will form the most basic sin!"

He had a number of things restricting him due to his goal, and he therefore had little choice. The only two paths possible for him were massacre and death.

These two godly duties were very powerful, and it was not advisable to provoke gods who grasped these roles.

The one controlling death was the greater death god Kelemvor, as well as the god who had relations with both massacre and death, the God of Murder, Cyric. They were both greater gods.

If Leylin had plans to go against these two's divinity, Leylin felt he would be better off looking for a better method in death.

Besides these two, there was only Malar, with the role of hunt, that somewhat had relations with the law of massacre.

If it was said that a full godly role meant having 100% comprehension of a law, then there would only be at most 10% of divinity. For the godly role of hunt, this obviously included 'pursue', 'slaughter' and many others that would make up around 80%, as well as other miscellaneous laws.

On this basis, even powerful intermediate gods could easily obtain the divinity of massacre and pursuit from his avatar.

While Leylin's ranking in terms of strength was slightly lacking, he was still a Magus of laws. It wasn't that troublesome to separate and change the power of divinity that he required.

"If I really have to form a trace of divinity for massacre, it'll still take me a decade even with prayers from my followers…"

Leylin sighed.

It would take a decade just to obtain divinity, much less ignite his godflame and obtain a godly role or becoming a true god.

While this speed would otherwise be astonishing, Leylin was still unsatisfied.

Ever since he met Distorted Shadow, he had been feeling very nervous.

Since Distorted Shadow wished to revive himself and had his conscient survive for tens of thousands of years, he definitely had more up his sleeves than just the taboo arcane spell Leylin had. There had to be other pawns.

The moment he did not make a move quick enough, Distorted Shadow would definitely show his trump card.

Distorted Shadow was an ancient peak rank 8 Magus! In comparison, Leylin was like an ant and the passive party.

Hence, it was necessary that he come to the north and obtain a trace of massacre divinity.

After obtaining it, legends could become more sensitive to one's followers' prayers, and the speed at which faith and divine force was amassed would quicken.

"From divinity… and then igniting godflames to become a demigod… And lastly getting a divine role to ascend and become a true god!"

The system of advancement in the World of Gods was clear.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Trap

Dark forests blocked the sky, hindering all light. All sorts of twisted branches lay on the ground, the dried out old bark black as if they were the arms of devils and demons. It caused the forest to seem sinister and frightening.

This was a famous area in the north, the Moonwood. After the orcish empire was established, the Blackblood Tribe took this place over. All intruders were killed upon entry.

However, a black-robed wizard was now walking indifferently through the forest, and the werecreatures and mutated beasts didn't even seem to see him as they walked straight past him.

"Moonwood, Blackblood Tribe… It's been a long time." Leylin observed the familiar terrain as scenes of his time at Silverymoon appeared vividly in his mind. Still, it was but a tiny section of his long life, and he regained his indifference once more.

Making his way to a cave, Leylin seemed to walk through some barrier to disappear inside. He then heard an impatient voice ringing by his ear, "You're late."

Two figures showed themselves from within the darkness. These were legendaries he'd seen before, the druid Alegor and Lillian. The Paladin Patrick was around as well. Surprisingly, the four of them had taken on a mission together since they'd met, as if something like fate was pulling the strings.

"My apologies… I needed some time to make preparations…" Leylin answered apologetically, "We're dealing with a true god. While this is only an avatar, we need to be ready…"

The others did not retort, evidently accepting his explanation.

"If your side is done, what's next is Patrick's side…" Lillian continued, as if implying something.

Indeed, this group of legendaries had planned to kill the God of the Hunt, Malar. After their secret meeting, a few of the other legendaries who 'wished for justice' had been called in. They had joined in on this project, which included many faces Leylin had seen in the secret meeting.

Although they knew these legendaries weren't pure of mind, the church of justice and Queen of Silverymoon still accepted them. After all, Alustriel lacked the power to rebuild her kingdom and was in urgent need of help from these powerful beings.

As for their motives? Mystra and Try may have known what was going on, but they did not pay much attention. After all, even gods had to reward legendaries if they ordered them around. Most of them kept one eye closed to legendaries coveting divinity or divine spark. After all, these gods were using their power for their own gain as well.

It wasn't as if there were no legendaries with divine force on the continent, but it was only a minor boost to their strength. They wouldn't ascend to godhood even in hundreds or thousands of years.

Divinity was just the first step on the path to becoming a true god. They had to ignite their godfire, obtain a divine domain. All this was even more difficult. Besides, the avatars of gods were not so easily dealt with. Leylin and the rest would have to be amazingly lucky to get even a thread of Malar's divinity.

In general, the two greater gods were more at ease even with Leylin and the other legendaries plotting against them. However, they had no clue about the kind of terrifying thing that had entered this group, definitely becoming a huge variable in their plans.

"Good. Once we set up the greater isolation array, even a god's avatar will lose a part of its strength. The trap has been set, what's next is to wait for the prey to walk in…" Lillian spoke softly.

The gods were very powerful. Even mere demigods were immune to spells, and even Leylin's Timestop spell would be useless against them. The same could be said for lower-ranked spells. What they would face now was just an avatar, but they still held a trace of the might of the gods. They were immune to spells below rank 7, maybe even rank 9. They also possessed all sorts of unimaginable buffs to their bodies and regeneration.

Even with all their traps and plans, Leylin and the rest would be facing a terrifying peak legendary monster!

"Is it alright at Patrick's side? Are you sure Malar would be so enraged as to send his avatar down?" Leylin frowned.

A god's avatar was basically their most powerful body in the prime material plane. Avatars and true bodies were also closely related, and the avatar's elimination would damage the true body itself to a degree. He was honestly rather skeptical of whether the prey could be lured out.

'Come to think of it, Malar is quite unlucky. Legendaries like us are coveting his power, but on top of that even the church of justice won't stand his existence…' As a lesser god allied with the orcish gods, Malar was a huge target. Even without Lillian pushing for it the church of justice had determined that he was to be eliminated.

At the start of time, it was very common to weaken an opposing god through a battle of their avatars. Leylin had his eye on Malar's divinity, so he naturally didn't hesitate to join in on this mission. Rafiniya was rather gratified, thinking that Leylin had separated himself from some sort of vulgar interests and made his mind up to join the mighty project of saving the north.

"There's no problem. The Blackblood Tribe should be holding a legendary hunting ceremony right now to please Malar… Records state that this ritual is very important to him. If it's interrupted, he will immediately become enraged… And if his followers and subordinates fail to find the person who caused this, then there's a large possibility of him sending his avatar down…" Lillian did not hesitate when mentioning Malar's name, not even trying to avoiding it.

They now had two powerful greater gods on their side, which was enough to shield them from Malar's senses. This would allow him to enter the trap without having his guard up.

Roar!* *Rumble!* Meanwhile, large sounds and violent tremors could be felt through the boundaries. Even with the great distance and layers of weakening, there was still a huge ruckus in the cave. Leylin and the others immediately twitched.

"It's begun." Chaos reigned as the cries of werecreatures closed in. Evidently Patrick had succeeded in stopping the ceremony, and he was now being pursued.

"Get to your spots and make sure the connection is good so you can hear my commands." Lillian's eyes glinted as her body turned into a soil puppet that soon crumbled. Her true body had already left.

"The time to get rid of the disharmony in the dark forest has arrived…" The legendary druid Alegor muttered and left, his large beast body as agile as an elf in the trees.

"What a spectacle! Looks like Patrick really riled up these werecreatures quite a bit…" After opening up the teleportation gate, Leylin narrowed his eyes, watching the werecreatures that filled the grounds. These beings that were very similar to the orcs now had reddened eyes as they pursued a white streak of light.

Roar!* At the moment, there was a black ape-like creature over five metres tall in front of the werecreature team. Its scales reflected a metallic luster, and claws with rough, long nails ruthlessly pushed apart everything in its way.

Swish!* It was as if the air was cut and pushed away, creating an intense blast.

"Hah! Holy Light Protection!" The figure amidst the ray of light suddenly turned back, a large sword that seemed to be made of crystal emitting holy light to form a large wall. A large figure seemed to clash against the pursuers.

Boom!* The trees and soil were shaved off, sending numerous weaker werecreatures flying. Making use of this opportunity, the paladin darted to Leylin's side and took a breath, "Be careful, they're coming…"

"You even lured out a legendary Hunter. What did you do?" Leylin was rather curious about how the paladin had achieved this effect. He instantly recognised that the monster following right behind the paladin in a crazed state was something mutated by Malar, a guard of his divine kingdom. It was a Hunter!

Unlike the previous monsters, though, this one had already become legendary. Even Leylin himself would find it difficult to take this being down.down.

"Hehe… I just stole all of the legendary blood that the Blackblood Tribe has amassed. There's this too!" The paladin Patrick tossed a large ape head away. This was obviously a legendary hunter as well.

Seeing this, the werecreature soldiers grew more fervent in their pursuit. They roared as they pounced, like they'd seen a mortal enemy. Which was the case anyway. Since the ceremony had been interrupted, Malar was now enraged and had even devoured a few high-ranked priests. Those were people he usually liked a lot….

If they could not capture these sinners and sacrifice them, there was a possibility that Malar would give up on all the werecreatures here. After all, what did anyone have to say to someone who was half a beast?

"If we wipe out all these soldiers, he'd probably send his avatar down, right?" Leylin nodded in approval, and then unhesitatingly cast a spell.

Blazing rings of fire immediately lit up around him, causing the skies in this region to darken. Traces of red emerged from dark clouds, as lava fell like raindrops.

Legendary spell, Skyfire Rain!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Bait

Drip! Drip!* Droplets of lava the size of human heads fell from the sky, bringing with them the burning power of fire. Under their glamour and beauty, they hid a terrifying might.

The earth kept rumbling, and each contact between the lava and the ground caused explosions that formed huge pits. The surrounding forest was also set aflame, resulting in a horrifying sea of fire.

The werecreatures seemed tiny in this fire. Even if they'd only been touched by a bit of it, their oily skin lit up like they were torches.

The wails of the werecreatures resounded as an overpowering charred smell permeated the air. Paired with the vast sea of fire, it was as if this was the end of the world.

"The destructive power of a legendary spell really is immense. It's no wonder that the legendary council on the continent made it taboo…" The paladin Patrick was obviously shocked as well. While he could easily kill a legendary Hunter, his area of effect was nowhere as terrifying as this was.

Thousands of werecreatures were burnt to ashes in a single attack, and many more suffered grievous burns. With no priests to heal them, their contaminated wounds would lead to certain death.

"Now isn't the time to watch." Leylin pointed his finger. A few black figures that overcame the flames soon arrived before them.

Leading them was the legendary Hunter, but it was evident that Leylin had focused quite a bit on it. The Skyfire Rain had been aimed at it, and much of its scales and fur had been burnt. Bones were jutting out of some parts of its body, creating a terrifying sight.

Behind the Hunter were a few werecreatures who looked just as pitiful. The fur and beards on their faces were mostly burnt off, and they were now watching Leylin and the paladin with vigilance.

One of them, evidently an older priest, stood out and stared straight at Leylin. Its gaze contained a hatred that was etched into the bones, "Legendary wizard of the outer world, we of the Blackblood Tribe don't seem to have dealt with you. Why do you suddenly hinder our holy sacrifice, and even harm our people?"

Patrick had been ignored. With the difference in their factions, the two groups were natural enemies anyway, so what more was there to be said?

"I used to work for Silverymoon," Leylin answered. He was smiling slightly, but felt a twinge of pity inside him. Even with the bonus of being an arcanist and his other skills, large-scale legendary magic still didn't cause much damage to the truly powerful.

Blue light shone in Leylin's eyes, 'This is just a ranged attack after all. A single target spell would've taken one of them down forever…'

"So you're one of Alustriel's people!" the old werecreature exclaimed. The Blackblood Tribe had stood on the side of the orcish empire, so they were now the arch nemeses with Silverymoon. The werecreatures had all heard that the Queen of Silverymoon was preparing to reclaim her lands, so there was no need for discussion anymore.

"So that's why you're against us. Indeed, that conflict can't be settled…" the old priest muttered, his eyes turning bloodthirsty, "But while you did interrupt our holy ritual, you've provided us with even better sacrifices. The lives of two legendaries should be enough to appease our master. Get them!"

The priest roared, and the legendary Hunter finally had an outlet for its impatience. It leapt out, leaving a large pit on the ground. Cracks spread like spider webs in all directions as the creature barrelled towards Patrick like a cannonball, its terrifying poisonous claws striking down on the paladin's head.

"We need to show overpowering might. If not, it'll just be more powerful werecreatures…" At this moment, Lillian's voice sounded by Leylin's ear. It seemed like she and the druid were still concealed, as if the most patient of predators waiting for their prey.

"That's what I like!" Lowering his eyes, Leylin exuded a murderous aura.

Banshee's Wail! A piercing shriek that seemed to emerge from the very soul burst forth, the sound spreading in all directions to freeze everyone's thoughts for a moment.

"Now's the time. Greater Binding!" Leylin's hands moved like he was a professional bard, constantly pulling at the strings that were the elements in the Weave. Dazzling spell rays emanated from his body.

Roar!* The legendary Hunter seemed to be bound by some invisible force in mid-air, and it was left stuck in that position.

"All evil shall be persecuted, Divine Trial!" The paladin had finally gotten his chance. He'd arrived in front of the Hunter with his crystal sword enveloped in holy white light. His eyes burned with platinum flames.

Clean Break! The legendary Hunter's scales and energy defences were split apart by the paladin's sword like it was a hot knife slicing through butter. Blood spurted in all directions as a giant head fell to the ground.

Their proficient techniques and teamwork allowed Leylin and Patrick to instantly take care of the legendary creature. This amount of strength evidently surpassed the imaginations of the higher-ups amongst the werecreatures, and the legendary priest resolutely placed his hands in his bosom, as if about to pick out something.

[Beep! Based on energy undulations and judgment of shape, chances of opponent taking out sacrificial dagger are 99.99%. Divine force sacrifice will begin in 0.27s.] The A.I. Chip's robotic voice sounded, and the prediction caused Leylin to move quickly.

A mysterious light swept forth from his hand, disregarding all defence in an attempt to strike the old priest head on.

The priest stared at his hand blankly. The gorgeous dagger that had once been there had cracked apart, to the point that there wasn't even a handle left.

Legendary arcane spell, Great Disjunction! Even a divine weapon would suffer the wrath of this arcane spell, much less normal items of the mortal world. That was not all. The old priest's necklace, his staff filled with divine force, his beast teeth, and all sorts of magic artifacts that were brushed with exemplary strength were all broken apart.

'As expected of an arcanist legacy. Even just Great Disjunction and Timestop can allow me to do whatever I wish amongst legendaries…'

Although Leylin had a few standard legendary spells, they couldn't compare to the arcanist legacy he held. He had even gotten himself a floating city! He had all the arcanist secrets and spell models he wanted.

"This strength…" It wasn't just the werecreatures that were surprised by Leylin's strength. Even his allies in Patrick, Lillian, and Alegor were shocked in secret.

'How can he have so many high-ranked and legendary spell slots? Could he be a lover of the Goddess of the Weave? No, that's not it. There's another possibility… Arcane spells!' Lilian's eyes burnt with fervour, 'His attainments in arcane spells far exceeds my expectations. It's already at an inconceivable level…'

As a legendary wizard, she too had performed research on arcane spells and obtained a few low-ranked arcane spell models. She definitely knew that this would allow her to cast more spells.

It was a pity that there were few she had seen who had obtained and could use legendary arcane spells easily. They were all old freaks who had lived for thousands of years, none as young as Leylin!

'No wonder he advanced so quickly. So he's already grasped some secrets of the ancient arcanists?' Lillian pondered inside, thinking she'd unraveled Leylin's secrets.

Leylin had expected this, though. He paid little mind to it, for the leak of information was intentional. After all, it wasn't taboo for legendary wizards to perform research on arcane arts, and he was just skirting the line slightly. The more strength he revealed, the more he could do.

"Why are you still standing there? Go!" Like now, for instance. The dazed paladin listened to Leylin's commands subconsciously, charging towards the few remaining powerful werecreatures, who were at a loss.

Meteor Explosion! Bigby's Crushing Hand! With the paladin attacking, Leylin used his terrifying control over spells and took care of the situation in an instant.

By the end, Patrick's mind seemed to crash as he saw Leylin rendering the last of the werecreatures to dust. 'Such a violent yet refined method of battle, as well as that last fight, is even more crazy than a berserker… Is he really a wizard?'

"Be prepared. Now's the true test!" Leylin reminded him with a serious expression.

The paladin turned grim as he glanced at the Blackblood Tribe. A terrifying roar resounded in the area, containing great amounts of fury. Seeing so many of his subordinates dead, Malar could no longer take it. He sent his avatar to take the stage!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Malar's Avatar

Howls and roars echoed in the area. Many high-ranked werecreatures had gathered around a central altar in the Blackblood Tribe's lands, chanting hymns of praise to Malar. Group after group of high-ranked captives were slaughtered before the altar, their fresh blood dripping into the pool of blood at the center.

Prior experience told these priests that a large-scale blood sacrifice would soothe the God of the Hunt. He would even bestow great divine grace on them.

Now, however, Malar's fury did not cease. He only grew more violent with every blood sacrifice, like a distant cloud of volcanic ash brewing to its peak.

A terrifying roar rang out, and an avatar rose abruptly from the altar. A powerful suppressive pressure originated from its soul, which made the priests prostrate themselves on the ground. They prayed for Malar's fury to swiftly be quelled.

It was a great pity that the God of the Hunt did not listen to the prayers of his worshippers. More roars reverberated through the altar, and the blood pool rippled violently as if in a storm. It immediately engulfed the trembling captives and priests.

"It's our Lord! Our Lord's avatar is about to descend…" The other priests who had fortunately been spared from the wave fell to their knees in succession. They began to chant prayers to their god.

A foot stepped out of the central altar at this moment, clad in golden fur. The atmosphere seemed to freeze in that moment, and the air was charged with a stifling and oppressive feeling.

The golden figure slowly walked out into the full view of the worshippers. It was an enormous and powerful monster that stood over ten metres tall, looking like a cross of man and ape. Its body was covered in swathes of scales and hair, and fierce claws grew from its hands.

Its body glowed with a faint golden aura, making the enormous ape creature look like the darling of the entire world. It seemed to be an existence at the core of the world!

This was an avatar of the Lesser God of the Hunt, the protector of hunters and werecreatures. It was an avatar of Malar the Blackblood Beast, completing its descent into the prime material plane.

It possessed divine grace as boundless as the sea, divine might as stifling as a prison cell. All the werecreatures' minds froze, and their bodies acted mechanical in their loud chants of Malar's name.

Malar's avatar did not pay the worshippers the slightest attention. After all, they were all like ants to him. With a divine domain in hunting, he easily obtained news of his prey from the undulations in the atmosphere.

Whoosh!* Malar's figure disappeared in a flash, chasing after those hateful and lowborn thieves who had disturbed the legendary blood sacrifice.

He had already decided to tear out the souls of these blasphemers, and have them wail in terror for a thousand years within his divine realm.

……

'It's coming! Even from such a great distance I can feel its might. As expected of a true god,' Leylin was inwardly apprehensive about Malar's power, but this was only an avatar after all.

'However, Malar's true body is equal to a rank 7 Magus, I can still take this on. I wonder what power he could show if we fought within his divine realm,' Leylin's eyes were filled with expectation.

"I discovered Malar's avatar. It's heading our way right now… The epic isolation matrix is working well, it won't be a problem no matter how much energy it has to contain!" Lillian's voice floated over to him. He could sense the anxiety in her voice, they were about to battle a god after all.

Only legendary mortals could accomplish such a magnificent feat as slaying a god!

Right at that moment, the A.I. Chip flashed a prompt in a blood-red window, mapping out several exit routes. [Beep! Powerful energy undulations are approaching this location at high speed, danger level is extremely high. Suggestion: Leave the vicinity immediately!]

'He's fast!' Leylin's eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of the monstrous golden figure. 'No! When did it get here?' Fortunately, he had heeded the A.I. Chip's prompt and dodged into safety. In the end, he had only escaped the beast's claws by a hair's breadth.

While he'd dodged, the layers of Mage Armour on Leylin's body immediately collapsed. It was clear that the beast's claws had also launched a wind attack, and even Mage Armour II could not withstand the beast's power!

'Terrifying! Is this the power of a god's avatar? At the very least, it has the strength of a peak Breaking Dawn…' After Leylin regained his senses, he found out that he had already retreated by several hundred metres. Patrick himself stood a distance away from him, miserable with his face incomparably white. The paladin had lost an arm, and fresh blood poured out of the injury.

Evidently, this paladin was unable to escape Malar's sneak attack and lost an arm in the process. His prowess was reduced considerably.

Swish!* "AAHH!" Only now did the angered cries of Patrick travelled through the air, which was in an extreme disorder to the senses.

'I was able to see him injured before hearing his cries. Does this mean that the speed has already exceeded the speed of sound?'

Leylin sweated nervously. 'An agility like this, it's most likely over 40!'

As a wizard, he could understand Malar's attack. The god had used some method to exceed the speed of sound, and put in a vivid manner if Patrick had been killed Leylin would still only have seen the corpse before the sound of the battle.

'Only death awaits if you're reflexes cannot keep up with this…' Leylin sighed inwardly as he looked at the golden ape the size of a mountain. "This is the avatar of a god? And for a lesser one at that?"

"What happened just now?" Lillian's enraged voice sounded beside Leylin's and Patrick's ear.

"Patrick is injured. We need to move our plans forward, execute them right away. Malar's strength had greatly exceeded our expectations!" Leylin rubbed his temples. His voice was incomparably calm, and he seemed not the slightest bit frightened.

"No… No problem! Before that evil is vanquished, I will not fall!" Patrick snorted, and milky white light glowed on his injury. His stem cells began to regrow his flesh, and the bleeding soon stopped.

Malar's avatar merely watched the process mockingly, as if savouring the fear of his prey.

'Playing mind games and only striking when the enemy suffers a mental breakdown? Fool, this is just a good chance for me!' Faint blue light flashed in Leylin's eyes. 'A.I. Chip, scan target!'

[Beep! Mission established, beginning scan…] The A.I. Chip duly carried out Leylin's commands. Soon after, a 3-D hologram was projected in front of Leylin's eyes, with a large amount of data on the side.

[God of the Hunt – Malar (Avatar). Estimated Stats: Strength: 30 – 45, Agility: 40 – 42, Vitality: 30 – 31, Spirit: 24 -27. Feats: 1. Epic Damage Reduction: All physical damage below the legendary rank is negated. 2. Epic Magic Resistance: With divine protection and divine force, an avatar has great magic resistance. All magical damage below the legendary realm is negated. Note: Legendary arcane spells such as Timestop will not work on the target. Divine Strength: Lesser God. Alignment: Chaotic Evil. Domains: Murder, Hunting, Pursuit. Weapons Owned: Beast Claw. This legendary weapon has great attacking power, being fashioned after Malar's original.]

'Epic damage reduction and magic resistance. This means that without legendaries, the battle cannot be won with mere numbers…' Leylin inhaled a deep breath upon seeing the stats of the avatar.

"If we cannot get rid of the domain, our chances of winning today are extremely low…" Leylin questioned himself. If it was a one versus one battle with him and Malar's avatar, he would definitely perish if he did not summon the floating city.

Even with the added support and some traps prepared, he was not more confident.

'I need to use the floating city at the end and get rid of Malar…' A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Leylin's eyes.

Back then, he had used the appearance of Kukulkan to steal the floating city. While this had alerted the powerful factions that there was a rising powerhouse and even fooled the gods, they did not know his identity. If he were to use it now, he would be admitting his identity.

However, if he was forced to the edge, what other choice did he have?

"Wait for me, I'll activate the array and support you again immediately!" Lillian too, wanted to seize this rare opportunity. She placed her bets like a gambler.

[Beep! Sealed formation activating! Beginning in….] the A.I. Chip's voice intoned, but Leylin could not longer pay any heed to it.

Just as Lillian activated the formation, Malar's senses told him the situation had become dangerous. He immediately charged towards Leylin. Although he was no longer faster than sound, he could still deal Leylin a fatal blow.

"Roar!"

At this moment, Leylin was forced to reveal one of his smallest trump cards. The dazzling wizard robes were shredded into pieces, revealing a legendary dragon armour. A draconic staff found its way into his hands.

Legendary Dragon Breath! Soulburn!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Ice Age

A phantom dragon appeared, roaring out with legendary might. Leylin had ignited the red dragon's soul without a single thought to the consequences, conferring unimaginable power to the dragon. A mighty draconic aura almost fully materialised, and dazzling crimson light dyed the skies red.

Boom!* A river of magma flowed into Leylin's position, with Malar's towering avatar at the centre. Having borne the brunt of a legendary attack, his skin was now charred. It was the first injury he'd sustained today.

Leylin's figure appeared beside a tree across him. The dragonscale armour had three long gashes in its breastplate, inflicted by Malar's attack.

"Damn it, isn't it ready yet?" Just as Leylin began to curse, the pleasant voice of the A.I. Chip finally rang out. [Beep! All preparations have been completed, epic spell formation activated.]

Golden threads began to float in the air, engulfing their surroundings. Malar felt the imminent danger, and bellowed in rage. Many of the golden threads began to converge into chains as they coiled around the avatar.

At this moment, Leylin could see Malar's feats of epic damage reduction and magic resistance weaken, and finally disappeared. He heaved a sigh of relief.

The ambient temperature fell drastically, and hexagonal snowflakes sparkled as they drifted down from the sky.

Summon— Giant Frost Sprite! The snow converged into an icy white giant. Each of the giant's movements added a layer of frost to its surroundings.

"Apologies for the delay!" Lillian said as she sat on the shoulder of the frost sprite, "Malar's resistance was too high, but it's been negated by the spell formation…"

The several legendaries present heaved a sigh of relief as they looked on. They weren't about to give the avatar any breathing room.

"Roar!" A legendary roar sounded once more, but this time much stronger than that of Leylin's phantom dragon. A black shadow covered Malar.

Accompanying the deafening roar was a red-scaled dragon that dived to attack the avatar. Its razor sharp claws met his, causing blood to spurt out.

'A legendary dragon? No! There seem to be a trace of ancient dragons…' Ahead of Leylin was a legendary dragon. An ancient aura radiated from its body, and its dazzling crimson scales glowed like mesmerising rubies.

"Well done, Alegor!" Lillian's eyes widened as she charged forward with her frost sprite.

'Alegor? The druid… So this is legendary Transfiguration.' The crimson dragon seemed incomparably authentic to Leylin's eyes. Nobody would have been able to tell that it was a druid.

Malar's speed had been reduced by the frost sprite, and he'd suffered from the melee against the dragon. The avatar was now in bad shape. Drops of dazzling golden ichor spurted from it, rising off the ground as steam.

"Die!" Patrick seized the opportunity, and radiant light shone from behind his body. A holy figure appeared, restoring him to full strength immediately and wreathing his crystal sword in flames.

Shlick!* The holy sword stabbed into the avatar's thigh, almost breaking the bone.

Malar who had suffered some injuries howled loudly, "AH… TYR, you deformed thing! I'll never let you get away with this…"

'Tyr struck as well?' Leylin turned to the holy figure behind Patrick with some apprehension. It was obvious that a hand was missing from his body, and legend had it that the God of Justice had been injured while trying to seal Cerberus.

'Avatars are indeed the best counter to their kind… I should be more cautious of them in the future…' Leylin lowered his head slightly as he gripped tightly onto an ancient purple-gold coin.

"Argh…!" The injury to the thigh caused a lasting effect on Malar's body. His damage resistance had dropped, and even his hair charred. It made him look miserable.

Having been pushed to the edge, Malar finally decided to use his other powers. All this while he'd only engaged in melee, but how could a god not have any spells at hand? After one last roar, the avatar disappeared into the void. Neither the dragon, the frost sprite, or the paladin could detect any traces of him.

'Is this Absolute Stealth? It's rumoured to be the most powerful stealth technique for rogues…' Leylin turned serious. This skill allowed his opponent to completely conceal himself, and rendered him immune to all attacks. However, the body was still in the prime material plane, and he could launch a sneak attack at any time. It was worthy of being called the ultimate rogue skill.

"Be careful, he's still inside the array!" These legendaries weren't less experienced than Leylin himself. After all, they'd reached this peak from a mountain of bloody corpses. Once Malar's avatar disappeared, the other legendaries immediately began to attack as a defensive measure.

It was a pity though. It was all a child's game against the God of the Hunt. Just as Patrick had sheathed his sword, the enormous figure of Malar's avatar appeared before him. A shadow sprung forth from his terrifyingly omnipotent body, engulfing the paladin completely.

"Help! Save me!" The other three legendaries all understood the importance of working together, and even Leylin began to act.

It was a shame that Leylin suddenly perceived a tremendous evil intent in the atmosphere at this moment. He immediately activated all the defences of his dragonscale armour, and the Red Dragon Staff thundered as it launched a Dragon Breath in the danger's direction.

"Aah…" A momentary hiss sounded, and an illusory shadow seemed to disappear in a blazing tower of flames.

"This must be… When did they prepare a Phantasmal Killer?" Leylin began to think at lightning speed. This was the advantage of being a god— even such a high-ranked skill could be used as long as one had sufficient divine force.

"Get lost, you abomination!" Lillian and Alegor had also been blocked by Phantasmal Killers, and were both delayed from acting.

In this short span of time, Patrick's fate had been sealed.

"Aah! Chaotic evil, why can't you disappear from this world?" Before death had its grasp on him, Patrick displayed his peak legendary strength. The burning crystal sword widened in a flash, immediately becoming a broadsword that was over five metres long. It clashed fiercely with the bestial claws of Malar's avatar, who radiated divine force even more fiercely. Malar seemed to be on the verge of possessing the paladin.

Snap! Crack!* Faint shattering sounded from the points where the claws clashed with the sword. The special ability of the claws was Shatter!

Patrick could only watch with a dumbstruck expression as Malar's avatar snapped his longsword with its claws. The giant claws covered in golden fur snatched the knight up immediately.

"Ah…" Powerful divine force imprisoned Patrick, and he could only frantically howl in response. Nothing he did managed to harm a single hair on his opponent. His surging qi began to wane.

In the end, all Patrick saw was an enormous smelly mouth clustered with sharp teeth that stood straight like pikes.

Leylin and the others saw Malar's avatar toss the legendary paladin directly into his maw and chew him up. Patrick's defences were useless against Malar's teeth, and a crunching sound made everyone's hair stand on end as a great amount of blood and bones fell from the corner of Malar's mouth, trickling down his fur.

Four great legendaries had surrounded Malar's avatar. Of them, the paladin Patrick had now fallen.

"Damn, should we retreat?" For the first time, Lillian felt that she was not prepared. Even just the avatar of a god possessed unimaginable strength. She hesitantly glanced at the legendary druid beside her, who was still in his red dragon form.

"It's just an avatar, and its divine force reserves should be running low… It used up a lot against the paladin earlier, now is our best chance!"

'A.I. Chip! Calculate the avatar's trajectory!'

[Beep! Mission established! Avatar's coordinates have been input… Simulation established!] The A.I. Chip loyally executed Leylin's task.

Afterwards, Leylin's eyes glowed as he cast a legendary spell that he had long prepared— Greater Disjunction!

Snap! Crack!* Malar's bestial claws were still only a high-ranked legendary weapon in the end, and not a divine weapon. They had sustained some damage fighting the paladin, and Leylin's Greater Disjunction caused them to finally crack.

"Now's our chance!" Lillian and Alegor's eyes lit up with hope as they advanced, revealing their own greatest trump cards.

"Legendary spell— Ice Age!" Lillian chanted in a high voice, and the surrounding air seemed to turn into a blizzard. The trees, and even rocks around them all turned into sparkling ice, as if the entire world had returned to the Ice Age.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Haul

"So what if you're a god's avatar? You shall fall!" On the shoulder of the giant frost sprite, Lillian was like a goddess of snow. A layer of ice covered Malar's feet, planting him firmly on the ground as an icy meteorite hundreds of tons in weight broke through the skies to land on the avatar.

"What the hell. Is this woman crazy? This attack will also affect us…" In the face of such earth-shattering strength, Leylin was forced backwards. Even Alegor in his dragon form flapped his wings with as much strength as he could muster to keep a distance.

"You mortals profane gods…" Malar's avatar transmitted spiritual undulations in the face of the meteorite. Yet, it crashed down before he could finish speaking, and his words were drowned out.

Rumble!* A magnitude ten earthquake erupted abruptly, shaking the land and causing dust to form a terrifying mushroom cloud in the sky. Everyone with strength in the north felt the earth shaking in that instant!

"Hah… this mad woman…" Leylin had grown himself a pair of powerful wings of air, and he looked down at the huge pit from the meteorite. The terrifying hole was tens of kilometres deep, and the middle was pitch-black with a base that could not even be seen. "Has the avatar died yet? I doubt it, but he's sure to be heavily injured…"

"Alegor, quick!" Lillian seemed to be on the verge of collapse after casting this legendary spell. She couldn't even maintain the giant frost sprite under her, only able to let it explode back into ice and snow in the air.

Roar!* The legendary dragon threw himself into the depths of the pit, and what followed were furious snarls and yells. A large black figure was flung out, like a small mountain being tossed away.

Leylin's astonishing eyesight had allowed him to see what happened clearly. The legendary druid Alegor in his dragon form had been caught by the tail, and Malar's avatar had thrown him out like he was tossing a hammer.

Leylin's pupils shrank, and he muttered to himself, "Such tenaciousness… So this is the avatar of a god."

"You who profane the gods! I will extract all of your souls and place them in my divine realm, burning them in holy fire for a hundred thousand years!"

The gigantic ape monster walked out of the pit, clearly agitated. However, he clearly wasn't doing well either. Golden liquid flowed out of his wounds, glowing with the light of divine force. Still, it was hindered by an invisible force.

'Seems like he really is gravely injured,' Leylin thought as he nodded to himself. Still, Malar's body was just a convergence of divine force held together by a god's conscient. It was this divine force that allowed him to maintain physical form. Even the blood spurting out of his wounds was the same, slight injury unable to harm the god's origins.

And yet things were different now. His wounds were making it difficult for him to maintain his form in the material plane, and his divine force was already beginning to dissipate.

"Mortal woman, how dare you harm my divine body…" The golden ape monster appeared in front of Lillian in the next instant, its giant claws slashing forward.

"Ah…" In spite of crystal armour and tens of layers of frost shields, Lillian's defences were broken apart. The legendary wizard's body shot out like a cannonball, and smoke filled the skies.

The red dragon was nowhere to be found in the deep pit. Instead, Alegor's original form lay there unconscious.

"Damn it… So I'm the only one left at the end?" Leylin rubbed his nose, wondering with a wry smile.

'There's a few dogs beside this monkey, it'll be a little troublesome…'

"Keke… there's one left? Are you trying to flee? Come, let me enjoy this hunt!" Malar's eyes were fixed straight on Leylin, emitting a crazed bloodthirst.

However, in the next moment, a large palm pushed the head of the avatar into the ground. This was Crushing Palm!

"Are you crazy? I finally got my prey here after much effort. Why would I leave?"

Leylin's eyes were cold and wise, "A god letting me leave? The divine force forming your avatar is now lacking, and you urgently need to replenish it."

How could Malar's thoughts escape Leylin? The four legendaries had made preparations for a long time and given so much. While the avatar had persisted up till this point, the grievous injuries he had sustained were serious enough!

"ROAR! I will kill you… Kill you!" The large monster ape pulled up from the soil and shook his head in fury.

"You won't be able to kill anyone!" Leylin's voice was cold as he pointed to the avatar's head with his right hand.

Legendary Spell— Meteor Blast!

Four large fireballs fell from the sky, exploding on top of Malar's head. The exemplary flames immediately caused Malar to snarl in anger, "Legendary spells again! Why? How do you have so many spell slots?"

"You can ask again in death." Leylin looked apathetic as legendary spell was cast after legendary spell.

Legendary Absorption. Legendary Detonation!

"Im…possible…" The avatar blustered. Much of his negative energy and defences had been neutralised by the absorption spell, leaving him open to the detonation that struck his neck.

Malar's large head disintegrated.

Having become a legendary arcanist, Leylin had integrated his research as a Magus with the analytic abilities of the A.I. Chip to cause a terrifying qualitative change. He could now cast legendary spells near-instantly. Having been drowned in them, it was no wonder that Malar's avatar died.

"Still… We haven't even started the true battle yet…" Leylin stared at Malar's avatar's corpse unblinkingly.

The collapsed body was undergoing a huge transformation. The pieces of the corpse melted to form a thick golden liquid, much of which fused to form a large golden sphere. Malar's cries could still be heard from its core.

"The avatar isn't made of flesh and blood after all. Even if the head is cut off, it can still move. Then again, a form made of just divine force is extremely fragile…"

Leylin understood the various forms gods could take on. Malar's avatar wasn't completely dead yet, and as long as he could flee to his divine realm and fuse back into the main body he would suffer no real losses.

"This unique ability of divine force, the ability to vary its form, is what makes it difficult for people to capture it. It is also the key to murdering a god…" Leylin glanced in the direction of the unconscious Lillian. She was currently gravely injured, rendered immobile.

The original plan was for her to capture the avatar. She would use extremely cold ice to dull the life of the divine force, then use a special container to capture or directly absorb it. Of course, Leylin had not expected too much of her. He had a better method.

"Don't you leave!" he yelled, numerous thin green threads forming a large web that shot forth from his fingertips.

"Did you think a mortal object like that… could…" As he saw what Leylin was doing, the bundle of light that was the avatar scorned him. However, Malar was then left unable to laugh.

Swish!* The large green web stopped most of the golden ball. The liquid divine force could not break through its seal!

"How's this possible? What kind of web is this?" Malar roared, but was unable to do anything about the tightening of the web. He soon reached Leylin's palm.

"As expected, a web formed of origin force works very well at detaining the divine force of a god. The A.I. Chip's predictions were right." Leylin saw the struggle within the web, where Malar was like a large fish that had accidentally fallen inside. He could not help but snicker as he grabbed the web tightly.

World Origin Force! This was the origin power of everything, what arcanists called origin energy.

A web formed of origin energy was the bane of all godly beings. It was no wonder that the ancient gods and arcanists were arch enemies, and the arcanists had been wiped out.

Leylin was probably now the only Great Arcanist on the continent. He had no problems with turning origin energy into a web, and this was the insurance he'd prepared for this operation. As the large web tightened up, Malar's avatar's cries grew soft until he completely stopped moving.

Rumble!* Tremendous undulations filled the skies in the direction that the other small part of Malar's avatar had escaped, and his worshippers' prayers formed a golden light

"So we weren't the only ones coveting the avatar after all. I managed to lure them out by letting that small part go…" Leylin had no plans of stopping. While the smaller avatar still had most of the firepower focused on it, he opened a teleportation gate next to him.

"Please wait, Lord Leylin!" Numerous figures shot over at this moment, all with powerful divine force on their bodies.

This was a group of legendary priests. They were led by Benedict, the bishop of the church of justice.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Retreat

"That belonging to mortals shall go to mortals. That belonging to gods shall go to them. Please do not delude yourself." Benedict's tone was almost pitiful of the fate of mankind.

"Tsk, I hate mediums like you. You've even brainwashed yourself…" Leylin looked behind him, unsurprised to see the legendary priest of Mystra as well, "Isn't this all for this avatar I have? Even the Goddess of the Weave is joining forces with you…"

"You should know not to slight the wills of two greater gods. As long as you hand over the source of evil in your hands, our church will definitely compensate you satisfyingly…" Benedict now had a merciful look in his eyes, as if he was saving the world.

What a joke that was! Would Mystra or Tyr hand over a portion of divinity in exchange for the avatar? Even if they were willing to, Leylin himself wouldn't want it. Leylin was used to getting what he wanted, and did not accept charity. This situation caused anger to rise from the depths of his eyes. "Sorry, not interested."

The clear rejection immediately stunned Benedict. He then grew indignant, "You're so stubborn!

"Go!" Five high-ranked legendary priests moved forward at his command, forming into a pentagram as they circled Leylin. It exhibited great prohibitive strength.

"So… now that we've shed all pretense of cordiality, it's time to do it by force?" A dangerous smile rose by Leylin's lips, "Luckily, I'm not entirely unprepared…"

Watching Leylin surrounded by the pentagram, a kind smile arose on Benedict's face, "This spell formation is boosted by our gods, and it is impossible to destroy it from within. Do you still not repent?"

Leylin took at the sparkling array, seemingly deep in thought. 'These are pretty good sealing runes. I'll need some effort to break out from within…'

After hearing the man speak, however, he snickered, "It wouldn't do good for you to dispose of the legendaries you invited yourselves."

"You think too highly of yourself. Our church can bear the consequences of losing a mere legendary…" Benedict sighed, "Looks like Leylin has been corroded by greed. Go!"

"Exactly what I was thinking. Do it!" Leylin nodded.

"We're already at this point, and you still…" The fury in Benedict's heart grew, and in that moment he made up his mind. He would suffer the loss of reputation in exchange for Leylin's death.

However, his expression quickly changed.

Woo! Woo!* A deathly aura, as dark as ink, had filled their surroundings. Numerous bony hands dug their way out of the ground, some with rotting flesh remaining on them as they roared with ire.

"This profaning of souls, it's a necromancer!" The priests' bodies immediately flashed with divine spells.

"Keke…" The bones started to laugh with a strange sound as they formed a gigantic horned skull. The skull struck the pentagram.

Rumble!* Although divine spells were the bane of necromancy, the opposite was true as well. The pentagram trembled under the deathly aura, reacting like hot oil would to cold water.

Ka-cha! Ka-cha!* Many black cracks crawled along the spell formation, seeming like human veins. The formation then shattered loudly.

"This strength… It's a high-ranked legendary necromancer!" Benedict exclaimed in his shock as a mouthful of fresh blood dyed his snow-white collar red.

"You got it in one. I'm sorry you don't get a prize…" Leylin's figure flashed, and in an instant he'd disappeared from the formation. By the time the black light flashed again, he was already outside the encirclement.

"Chase him!" Benedict yelled, no time left to care for his injuries.

The supporting soldiers he'd brought had terrifying might. There were many legendary priests from the Goddess of the Weave, and there was even an entire regiment of paladins.

Crack!* *Crack!* However, all these people were drowned out by the army of the undead. The skeletons enveloped them like an endless tsunami, and few spells could fight off this army of cannon fodder. Benedict's eyes widened further.

"Stay here!" he shouted, activating quite a few high-ranked divine items. Still, even he was met by a wall of skeletons. A strange skull watched him coldly, a dead expression in its empty eye sockets.

'Legendary spell, Skeletal Wall. It's said to be so powerful even legendary paladins need to hack at it hundreds of times to deal with it…' Benedict recognised the origins of this wall. Unable to suppress his injuries any longer, he spat out a few large mouthfuls of blood.

He rejected attempts to help him along, now looking like a ravenous wolf in winter. "A high-ranked legendary necromancer. Use this to identify and trace him!"

Although he said that, Benedict knew full well that powerful necromancer had very long lives. Some even just turned into liches, and it was unclear how many of them were hiding in the corners of the world. It would be a mere fantasy if one wanted to determine the identity of this one.

Besides, with how things were, what was the point even if they did find out?

"Damn it! DAMN IT!" At the end, the bishop could only let out an angry growl like that of an injured animal, unable to do anything more.

……

In a different location.

The little bit of Malar's avatar that Leylin had deliberately let off streaked through the skies like a shooting star, breaking through a few seals to reach the outer planes.

However, just as it was about to return to his true body in his divine realm the Beast Wasteland, he was suddenly grasped by a palm. It continued to snarl, evidently frantic as if in peril. Divine force rippled forth, but dissipated like a cool breeze in front of the hand.

"Quiet!" A discontent voice sounded, seeming to carry with it the power of laws. Every single movement of the hand seemed to be paired with a vast divine force, causing Malar's avatar to immediately cease all movement.

"I never thought there would be someone in the prime material plane able to intercept Malar's avatar…" The Weave rippled, and a goddess with starlike eyes descended to look at the person who'd grasped the avatar in his hands.

"Although there were surprises in our plan, it's still under our control…" The god that rendered Malar's avatar unable to fight back looked rather strange. He wore ordinary warrior clothing, and looked incomparably haggard. His eyes were lined with blood, and he was missing his right hand. He looked like an old veteran whose will was still strong.

However, he'd still managed to grab Malar's slime-like avatar with his remaining one. The avatar was completely unable to move. This was Tyr, the Greater God of Justice and the protector of all paladins!

"Alright, Mistress Weave. Let us see to Malar…" Tyr spoke slowly, following Mystra to the outer regions of Malar's divine realm.

Once they arrived at this place, the golden sphere that was Malar's avatar seemed to grow more emotional. Loud howls echoed from within the divine realm.

"Now, Malar. Swear to the Styx that you won't take part in our battle with the orcish gods, and you will have your avatar back. Silverymoon will also acknowledge the current boundaries in land and let the Blackblood Tribe remain in the Moonwood…" The Weave trembled, sending the goddess' words into the divine realm.

Malar's roars quietened down for a while, but he did not walk outside. Being a beast did not mean he was a fool. The God of Justice was right outside! If he dared walk out, Tyr would definitely annihilate him. Mystra would probably be happy to see this happen.

Hence, Malar resolutely hid in his divine realm, occasionally releasing a few animalistic howls that were hard to understand. Of course, for the gods, understanding each other's thoughts was very simple.

……

A long while later, Tyr nodded and sent Malar's avatar into his realm, and then left the realm with the Goddess of the Weave.

"Alright… Malar side is taken care of. Thank you for your help…" Mystra told Tyr.

"With our divine force, it would be a simple task to break into Malar's realm, kill him, and send his truesoul to the astral plane…" Tyr began to speak.

"He's still a true god after all. Now that a war between the gods can erupt at any time, we shouldn't waste too much divine force. Besides, while Malar is someone who works alone, I know that he has dealings with the gods of fury…"

The explanation rendered him quiet. Even the God of Justice had to learn to compromise. Had he not, he would long since have fallen.

"The preparations in the mortal world are almost done. While those legendaries have their own plans, I have it under control…"

All sorts of images flashed in front of Mystra, revealing recent events.

"Now that the attack on the avatar is done, the battle between legendaries should start soon. When the time comes, I'll send my divine weapon down. It will challenge the possessor of the Thunder God's Hammer, Saladin…" Tyr reiterated their previous agreement.

"Justice will definitely triumph over evil. The mighty wills of the various universes came to this decision, and I now say this representing the suffering commoners of the north." The god's eyes seemed to pass through time and space, seeing everything…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Divinity: Massacre

Quiet spatial turbulence was stirred as a crack opened up between planes. Fierce elemental energy surged through it, annihilating everything in its way.

A floating city stood tall in this region, as if a powerful fortress that was indestructible and eternal. Only after entering the ghost city did Leylin heave a sigh of relief.

"Welcome home, Master!" Shaylin, the fairy who was like a housekeeper, appeared to greet Leylin. Only this place had arcane spell formations that rendered him immune to the spying of the gods, as well as other divination spells.

Once he tossed his coat to an attending golem, Leylin turned to the skeleton lich Ilyo, "You did well."

"It is my honour to serve Master!" Ilyo pressed his right fist to his chest as he spoke. He was in his crystal skeleton formed, but he was wearing something akin to a black suit. The clothing formed a vile harmony with the skeleton.

Although he knew Ilyo wasn't speaking from the bottom of his heart, Leylin felt it was enough for the lich to act upon his commands. Sensing the immense power of the God of the Hunt, he'd contacted the necromancer through his phylactery, commanding him to stay concealed and ready to act at any time.

It seemed like the lich truly was experienced. His grasp of time and usage of skills was split-second perfect. If not for the coincidental suppression of the ghost city and the phylactery, Leylin definitely wouldn't have been able to deal with him.

"You won't be recognised by others, will you?" Leylin asked without choice. Skeleton Lich Ilyo, was a name synonymous with trouble and death in the prime material plane, and in recent times his name had even been connected with the ghost city.

"Please don't worry, Master. What I used were common death-type spells, and I even left behind little details that might point to other liches…" Ilyo's skeleton snickered, "If they really did try to pursue me using the clues I left behind, I'm sure it would make for an extremely interesting situation…"

Seeing his expression, Leylin could not help but mourn for the paladins. He sent him away, and turned to the fairy. Shaylin immediately flew to his shoulder, beginning an incessant report.

"I've been working hard to help manage the ghost city ever since you left, Master. That lich has been diligent as well, and the city is now restored…"

Shaylin was once the intellectual core of the ghost city. Once its owner had died, she'd managed it independently for tens of thousands of years, and she was obviously very practiced in matters like this. Leylin nodded along as she spoke.

Time was now on his side. With the restoration of the ghost city complete, it finally began resuming is usual operations. The Mise energy core was stockpiling energy, and soon enough it would regain the powerful ability to match up to the gods.

"Good. Bring me to the core restriction room, and prepare 20% of the Mise energy core reserves for use. Additionally, get me the arcane energy powder and golem rainbow crystal from the storehouse."

Leylin looked at the large green web in his hands, it was now time to deal with Malar's avatar. Still, this was the avatar of a god and could have some hidden abilities. It was best to be on the safe side and absorb him in the floating city.

"Even if I let some of it get away, the divine force and divine will here, as well as the information on domains should be enough for me to refine a trace of divinity in massacres…" He brought Malar's avatar to the core restriction room, and once all defences were operated he revealed the avatar's true form within the web.

It was currently a large pool of golden gelatinous matter, an unmoving huge slime that seemed dead.

"While I did give him some rough treatment, it shouldn't be to this extent…" Leylin shook his head, "Perhaps the most fundamental divine will and conscient is still waiting in there, ready to devour me…"

Compared to the gods' inconceivable strength, even a high-ranked legendary's soul seemed fragile. Many people had been deluded into thinking they could absorb divinity in the prime material plane, but they were instead absorbed by the gods and turned into avatars. Some were indeed lucky enough to succeed, but they experienced a great change in their temperaments and turned into lunatics.

"What a pity… Your plans will not come to fruition!" Leylin touched the semi-solid divine force on the ground with his finger, "Is the origin conscient of a mere beast trying to swallow me?"

In the instant that Leylin's mind and the avatar's conscient made contact, the image of a terrifying giant serpent flashed in Leylin's eyes. Having absorbed the power of the NIghtmare Absorbing Physique, the Targaryen seemed to have reached a more inconceivable level. It even seemed to echo within the World of Gods, and its strength continued to grow.

Sensing this conscient, the pile of slime quickly shrunk back. Yet, Shaylin was prepared and restrained it, leaving it with nowhere to go. Leylin took hold of it, and powerful devouring strength exploded forth from his body.

"It has begun…" Leylin closed his eyes, beginning the contest between their conscients and the transformation of divinity.

……

There was little to say about the battle between conscients. Malar's avatar couldn't even begin to resist the Targaryen before it was devoured, and he even leaked some information about divine domains. When Leylin opened his eyes again, a trace of dark gold divine force twined around his arm.

"Is this the power of the divinity of massacres?" Leylin looked at the divinity of massacres, which seemed as thin as a hair on one's head. Sounds of slaughter filled his senses the moment his thoughts made contact with it, causing his eyes to redden slightly.

"This thread of the divinity of massacres contains about 10% of the law of massacres. There's a great amount of divinity, as well as the power of faith from Malar's followers…" Leylin identified the components of the thread.

Divinity was very important to gods, and even true gods would take some time to recover after a portion of their divinity was cut off. Malar had lost most of his avatar, so he would likely be in a terrible state right now.

"Stepping into the realm of the gods using the power of massacres? I like it!" Leylin laughed slightly. A thread of the divinity pounced forward, fusing with his body seamlessly. The process was simple; he'd long since tamed this thing.

Bits of comprehension of the law of massacres emerged in Leylin's mind. An intense, qualitative change occurred inside his body at the same time.

[Beep. Host body beginning to absorb divinity. A.I. Chip upgrading…] The A.I. Chip's robotic voice sounded, and what followed was silence.

After an unknown period of time, the A.I. Chip's voice sounded once more. [Beep! Auxiliary system successfully upgraded. Detected large changes to host body's stats. Recalculating…]

Afterwards, numerous prompts shot out.

[Beep! Host has successfully absorbed the divinity of massacres. Has been changed as a life form, transitioning into a divine being.]

[Beep! Host has absorbed divinity. All stats 1.]

[Beep! Host's spirit has advanced, arcanist ranking increased. Currently rank 22.]

[Beep! Analysis of level 7 Weave at 100%. Host has unlocked all rank 7 spell models, and will no longer forget spells. No materials needed to cast rank 7 spells.]

[Beep! Host has obtained divine body feat: Epic Adaptability.]

[Epic Adaptability. Divine beings have a great tolerance for various extreme environments. All divine beings can survive in lava and frost, be suffocated, or starve. Note: This feat overlaps with Intermediate Perfect Body, and is now encompassed under it.]

Leylin also found that his stats were refreshed again.

[Leylin Faulen. Race: Human (Divine Being), Rank 22 Arcanist (Legendary). Strength: 16. Agility: 16. Vitality: 16. Spirit: 22. Arcane Energy: 220 Status: Healthy. Feats: Legendary Sturdiness, Scholarly, Intermediate Perfect Body, Dreamscape Vision. Specialties: Origine Force Detection, Origin Force Amplification, Illusions.]

[Analysis of Weave: Level 0 100%, Level 1 100%, Level 2 100%, Level 3 100%, Level 4 100%, Level 5 100%, Level 6 100%, Level 7 100%, Level 8 87.56%, Level 9 57.72%.]

[Spell Slots: Rank 9 (4), Rank 8 (6), Rank 7 (???), Rank 6 (???), Rank 5(???), Rank 4 (???), Rank 3 (???), Rank 2 (???), Rank 1 (???), Rank 0 (???)]

"Divine being? A change to my state?" Leylin looked at his hands. Golden veins appeared under them, and then died down.

"The progress of analysis has increased as well. With the analysis of level 7 complete, I've met the minimum requirements to cast the legendary rank 12 arcane spell, Calcas' Avatar…" Leylin recalled the powerful model that Distorted Shadow had given to him. It was a terrifying arcane spell that would release all the conscients of the ancient Magi, and could steal all of Mystra's strength in an instant and cause her to fall.

"If this was in the past, Distorted Shadow would definitely have appeared and used all sorts of methods to distort my senses, forcing me to become arch enemies with the Goddess of the Weave and then make his move."

A smirk rose about Leylin's lips. He was now no longer a pawn to be used as others pleased. While the Weave Goddess' church was slightly hostile to him, they weren't mortal enemies and their differences weren't irreconcilable. Naturally, there was also no need to make any moves yet.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Power of Divinity

Leylin prized free will the most. For its sake, he wouldn't even mind falling out with Distorted Shadow.

"Besides, after grasping a thread of divinity and becoming a divine being, I'm officially on the way to ascending to becoming a god. I now can sense prayers from followers well and respond to them. While I can't bestow divine spells, this is already quite good…" Leylin closed his eyes.

Even without the boost from his Nightmare Absorbing Physique, he could sense the countless threads of faith in the air, and it was easy to trace them back to their source.

In the north, within Tiff's viscount territory, in a secret room. Tiff, who was doing his daily prayers, suddenly heard a voice from within his mind, "Dear follower, I am here. I exist within you!"

Through his spiritual force senses, Tiff felt his prayers connect with a very familiar existence. That feeling immediately caused him to kneel, with tears streaming down his face.

"Master, Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan, you are finally awake…"

This scene occurred in the minds of many followers of Kukulkan. They all began to pray, the power of faith constantly transmitted to Leylin through the Weave and absorbed by his massacre divinity.

"Next is to spread faith and nurture my divinity, before attempting to ignite my godfire…"

A fire seemed to blaze in Leylin's eyes.

"The feeling of accepting faith is similar to the power of domains… Is this the massacre domain?"

Leylin commanded, "A.I. Chip!"

[Beep! Mission established. Host has obtained partial information on the massacre domain. Beginning simulations.]

"After obtaining the massacre divinity, the respective domain ability has awakened, but this would require large amounts of the power of faith and my own comprehension to coordinate…"

Leylin stroked his chin, eyes flashing as he pondered.

Domains were gods' true assets. Only through them could gods connect with the faith of their followers, and then transform that strength for their use.

Leylin now had only made contact with the surface layer of the massacre domain, and even the A.I. Chip was still unable to digitize it.

After all, the massacre divinity was not his own. Only after he had a better understanding of the law of massacre could he truly grasp this domain.

When that time came, the A.I. Chip should be able to digitize information regarding the domain.

Leylin stood up slowly, and with his breaths, a powerful gust of wind blew in the secret room and struck a steel plate. It began to buzz.

"How strong have I become after absorbing the divinity?" Leylin raised his arm, and a water screen appeared, showing a reflection of his figure on the bright layer of water.

He was still tall and had a good posture, his golden curls matching with deep blue eyes like the sea to create the most standard image of a noble youth.

However, Leylin now noticed a very hazy golden luster from his body from the corner of his eye. This layer was very weak, and without paying much attention to it, it could be overlooked.

"Also… Leylin stared at his eyes. In the depths of the deep blue eyes, traces of gold flickered.

"Is this what happens after taking in divinity?"

Leylin stroked his chin, "In a few years, I'll be able to conceal this entirely after I've adapted to the power of divinity. However, I don't have that much time…"

"Shaylin! Move the floating city towards the outer sea regions of Dambrath."

Putting on a purplish-gold wizard robe with star patterns on it, Leylin issued the order.

With his will, the entire Ghost City began to rumble. Amidst the elemental turbulence on the outer planes, it began to charge towards the surrounding space of Dambrath. On the way, all obstructions to the floating city were crushed into powder.

"The gods? The north? Hmph! No matter what plots you have, what can you do to me if I leave?"

Sitting at the control area, Leylin sneered.

The reason he had come to the north was to obtain Malar's divinity! Since his goal was met and he sensed the situation in the north, when was a better time to leave than now?

Making a decision when it was time to was one of the reasons that Leylin could survive to this day.

While there were immense benefits to be taken in the north, Leylin had offended two greater gods' churches. How would he dare stay on?

"But… The God of Justice and Weave Goddess' churches are preoccupied with helping Alustriel regain her kingdom, which is why most of their power will be concentrated in the north. The possibility of them making trouble for me is at a minimum…"

"But… Tiff will be in trouble…"

Leylin's eyes flashed "But that's only something I've done at leisure. There's little to hang onto there."

At this thought, Leylin immediately made a prophecy using Tiff's thread of faith.

"Immense danger will arrive soon. Bring all forces and preparatory priests away from the north and head to the outer seas of Dambrath…"

"Immense danger? Is it the church?"

Tiff looked solemn as he began to pray, "God! You are the master of everything. I shall carry out your will…"

"What's wrong, darling?"

The mistress looked at Tiff next to her, evidently worried. While they had shared a bed for many years, she still felt that this person was like a stranger.

"It's nothing much… I'm leaving…"

Tiff ruthlessly got up and put on clothes, "You can leave with me, or stay behind to manage the land…"

While she was still stunned, Tiff had already left the room. What came next was a huge ruckus.

For Leylin, the land and wealth in the north were things that could be given up on. Only the seedlings of priests that had been painstakingly nurtured were the most important and could not be abandoned.

Tiff understood Leylin and had the batch of loyal priest seedlings to leave as quickly and safely as possible from the north.

As they had left quickly and resolutely, all that the two churches had after they could react were only the things that Tiff had abandoned. They had no clue of what they had let escape.

……

Leylin had left without a sound and returned the same way.

Besides Ernest, Baron Jonas and a few others, the people on the land did not even know that this legendary wizard young master had left and returned in secret.

For ordinary people, it was common for wizards to stay in their towers for a year and a half and not show themselves.

After greeting his parents and mentor, Leylin had no plans to care for the land and instead, stayed within the wizard tower.

All these tasks were settled by his men. All he had to do now was amass the power of faith and train his divinity, all this to ignite his godflames and become a god.

Within the wizard tower.

A layer of distorted massacre domain expanded. Leylin wore loose wizard robes, meditating as he felt the threads of faith in this territory.

It might be because he was within the territory itself with many people protecting him, but the threads of faith were even more distinct than before.

The massacre domain expanded, allowing him to have a better understanding of this great domain power.

"The massacre domain should grow through constant battles and nurturing through taking lives. I even have a terrible premonition that this massacre domain can steal all life energy, which means… the more I kill, the more powerful my main body gets?"

Leylin looked at the A.I. Chip, getting another prompt that said [Obtained information regarding massacre domain.]

In Leylin's opinion, he would soon be able to control and digitize the true domain soon.

"Tiff and the rest should arrive soon. What's next is to find a place for a massacre and nurture the divinity in my body…"

Leylin stroked his chin and pondered.

Based on his senses, if his divinity value was at 1 now, it had reached 1.1 after absorbing much the power of faith.

"I obtained the massacre divinity before, but that's only an introduction and medium! After passing through this threshold, I can transform the power of faith and boost my own divine force…"

Leylin seemed to understand something.

Whether his divinity had power was another matter altogether.

Before he had become a divine being, it would have been impossible to communicate with his followers and absorb their faith without help from the Nightmare Absorbing Physique.

With divinity, he could do this as well as transform faith, thus making preparations to ignite godflames.

"It's best to comprehend the domain of massacre while spreading the source of faith… Is this… conquering?"

Leylin sank into deep thought, "Where do I find a large unconquered land and not attract the attention of the gods?"

The prime material world had basically been divided by the gods already. There wasn't much more territory left.

Even if Leylin was willing to head to Karen's hometown, the dark region, he would still need to seize faith from Ross and a large number of underground gods. Most importantly, they were all true gods, and it was impossible for him to go against them.

"I'll need to make my choice carefully… Tiff and the rest are going to reach soon, so I should settle them down first and have them mix with the commoners on the land. I'll make my mind after fully unearthing the potential of this territory…"

With the current circumstances, Leylin could only plan things this way.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Empire

Waves splashed into the side of a majestic warship, yet it didn't falter at all. It stood tall like a mountain or reef braving the wind and waves, advancing into the depths of the outer seas.

The ship was flying the flag of a scarlet skull and dagger. Numerous others followed behind it, with fierce cannons and countless pirates on board. Even the largest of merchant groups would be scared out of their wits at this sight.

This fleet was that of the Scarlet Tigers, the organisation that controlled the outer seas of Dambrath. The Scarlet Tigers had the best of the best, with over a hundred large warships and more than five thousand men.

With their several expansions, the Scarlet Tigers seemed to have bitten off more than they could chew. However, with Tiff and the other elites joining from the north, a powerful pirate fleet was formed that rivalled the imperial navy.

"I never expected the native empire to actually exist…" Isabel was on the bow of the Scarlet Tiger, her legendary Red Dragon Sword hung at her waist. She emitted a faint draconic aura, her bloodthirsty eyes staring pointedly into the horizon.

The memory of her time on Nightmare Island was still fresh in her mind. She'd been made a fool of by the natives there, and now she'd obtained information regarding their empire through repeated attacks on native tribes. Having determined their location, she was planning to deal them a huge blow.

'But I never thought cousin Leylin would agree to this. He even came here himself…' Isabel looked towards the ship's hold, seeming serious, 'Is this for faith, to become a god? Is a god going to be born out of our family?'

In the past, Isabel didn't have the guts to think of such blatant blasphemy. However, things were different now. Leylin had performed miracle after miracle, cementing his cousin's confidence in him. In addition, Isabel had been able to sense the power of divinity on Leylin's body.

'My cousin will successfully become a god. All who stand in his way will be killed, regardless of their identity!' Isabel reached for the hilt of her sword, her mind made up. The sombre atmosphere caused all the surrounding pirates to shiver in fear as they glanced at their leader.

Once she'd become a Dragon Warlock, Isabel had completely suppressed the demonification of her body. Dragon King's Mystic Might had even allowed her to cross the threshold of the legendary realm! Her title in the outer seas had changed. She was no longer the Scarlet Witch, instead the Daughter of the Red Dragon.

Along with Leylin, she was one of the two main forces in charge of the outer seas, on one the surface and the other in the shadows. All the other organisations knew of their backgrounds, and were obviously fearful.

Leylin could sense Isabel's conviction. Sitting quietly in the captain's room, he couldn't help but chuckle.

'A conviction formed out of love?' Leylin nodded as he sensed an extremely thick string of fate.

Learning of his ambitions for godhood and that he'd already obtained a thread of divinity, Isabel had become one of Leylin's worshippers. She even began to spread the faith of the Winged Serpent God Kukulkan amongst the pirates, and even if Leylin wasn't a match for the gods of the storms or the like, her methods caused a portion of the pirates to change their faith.

What surprised Leylin more was that Isabel's faith for him was extremely firm and zealous. Albeit slightly, it was even more sturdy than Tiff's! Leylin knew for sure that if he'd become a god already she would be a devout follower of his.

Leylin sensed the faith of the other pirates, and could only smile wryly. "I'd be lucky to have even one with such a firm conviction as her…"

Although Isabel was doing all she could to assist him, Leylin was still only a divine being. He could only answer the prayers of his followers, not grant them divine spells. He wasn't competitive at all with the true gods, or even false gods, demigods, or devils. Worshippers were bright, after all. Why would they invest effort into someone who couldn't give them anything?

If not for Isabel using her position and doing everything in her power to promote this faith, the religion of the Winged Serpent God would have failed terribly.

'I need to give my worshippers some real benefits as soon as possible. I should become a demigod and bestow divine spells to them, but I'll also need to give them material compensation.

'This is the principle of equal exchange.' Leylin suddenly had a revelation. The path of faith in the World of Gods still followed the Magi's principles of equal exchange. Worshippers provided their faith, and in return the god promised to receive their souls after death, taking them into their divine kingdom. They would also provide shelter, divine spells, and other things. In essence, the thread of faith was a contract between god and man.

Of course, even the Magi's concept of equal exchange did not necessitate that the things traded were of equal value objectively. The two parties just had to find the traded items that valuable.

That concept allowed the gods to pay less than their worshippers offered up. This was the only way for them to accumulate divine force and increase their power. Sadly, these days the churches were growing more competitive. The gods had to give in greater amounts to obtain more and better followers. This internal competition caused wasteful consumption of divine force.

On top of that, there were devils and demons stealing their 'food'.

'This is the sorrow of the gods. As their foundations are with the mortals, they can never abandon the faith in the prime material plane. Gods whose faith has been lost will gradually die out, and their eternity is but an unrealistic rosy view…' Leylin sighed. Although this path was powerful, it was so limiting it wasn't worth him immersing himself in it.

This body was only a clone, while the original walked the path of the ancient Warlocks. This had never changed. That was strength that truly belonged to him, and Leylin knew this very well.

Of course, the path of faith was the most compatible with the rules of the World of Gods, and there were many areas of it he could learn from. Clone as he was, this Leylin did not hesitate in his attempt at godhood.

After pondering the contract between gods and humans, Leylin focused on other matters.

'But… Even I didn't expect that just as I was trying to find a place to expand my faith and comprehend the domain of massacre, the native empire suddenly emerged… Could the world origin force be helping me in hopes that I succeed? What kind of joke is this?'

He'd originally planned to conquer another territory to boost his relationship with his worshippers, comprehending the massacre domain and disseminating his faith. The information about the native empire had been a huge surprise.

Although there were legends and rumours about the native empire in the outer seas, Isabel had now found a number of safe shipping routes. It seemed too much of a coincidence, so Leylin smelled something fishy.

To the conscients of the gods, a Magus like him was an intruder and their arch nemesis. Why would they try to help him? It would be more normal if he was being hunted down!

'What's with this situation? Could it be that the World Will treats me as a complete native after reincarnation, and is trying to get me on its side? Or is it in such deep sleep that it doesn't react to the matters of the world anymore. Maybe this is to balance power… Have the gods' goals deviated from that of the World Will, and they're betraying it?'

Numerous possibilities flashed in Leylin's mind, and were simulated by the A.I. Chip to find any possible changes in the future.

'There are many changes in the future… But I can't go wrong with grasping the present!' After planning for a long time, Leylin sighed, 'Whatever it is, occupying the native empire and comprehending the massacre domain amidst constant slaughter is key. I need to spread my faith afterwards as well…'

At this thought, Leylin sent out a divine call.

"Master!" A moment later, Tiff's figure emerged from the shadows without a sound or any trace of energy undulations.

"Have you met Isabel? You will work with her in the future, and spread faith of me in the native empire…" A golden ray flashed in his eyes.

"I've seen her… If Master already has such power in the outer seas, the native empire will not be a problem for you." Tiff spoke reverently.

He was actually rather surprised that Leylin had a legendary sorcerer under him, and rather relieved. He obviously did not dare to be negligent when it came to Leylin's divine orders.

Watching Tiff's figure disappear, Leylin nodded inside. Tiff's retreat from the north had gone quite well. While he had lost a few helpers in the process, they were outer powers that did not know their true secrets. The group of acolytes that Leylin prized the most successfully reached the outer seas, giving Leylin the confidence to declare war on the native empire.

After all, faith could provide unimaginable effects when one was invading and occupying another territory. This war could be said to be a selection and training for the priests. With Leylin's foresight, he would definitely be able to discover a large number of people who would form the sturdy foundations for his church in the future.

He had two legendaries in Isabel and Tiff, as well as an experienced army. They were being led by a divine being in himself, and on top of that they had the continuous support of the Faulen Family. This was what Leylin was counting on!

He'd basically sent out all his elites for this battle, his ambition evidently not something a mere fief with a small population could satisfy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Debanks Island

An intense military discussion was taking place within the captain's room of the Scarlet Tiger.

There were few participants. Leylin who was in charge naturally sat at the front, with Isabel and Tiff by his side. At Isabel's side were Robin Hood, Ronald, Karen, and the other leaders of the pirates. Next to Tiff was the organisation Leylin had run in the north. This included devil worshippers and real devils. Even if they concealed it, their aura still caused the pirates to feel a sense of danger and unease.

Next to the devil followers were a few priests, higher-ups with grim faces. These priests were seeds that Leylin had nurtured. Although they were young, they were already beginning to show merciful and kindly traits, and did not seem to be compatible with the devils. However, they still sat together, which created a rather interesting atmosphere.

These two groups were meeting for the first time, and could not help but size each other up curiously. These were all Leylin's elite forces, as well as the fledgling form of his future church and army. They were also the capital Leylin was using on an expedition to the native empire, and he naturally had to integrate them well.

After the long self-introductions were completed, Leylin coughed softly. Immediately after, the area went quiet.

"Isabel, present the situation over there." In official settings, Leylin always called Isabel by her name, and would still do the same after becoming a god.

For eternal gods, blood relations and whatever else was pointless. The only interest was in eternity!

"The native empire was found by a group of pirates under me. It is on a large island with an area of about the size of two or three Dambrath Kingdoms… The surroundings of the island is always filled with dangerous gales and ocean currents. There is only a slight period of time every year that ships can successfully sail past, which is why contact with the outer world is at a minimum. My underlings now have a clear idea of the patterns of the currents and have created an accurate shipping route…"

For the pirates under Isabel, identifying ocean currents and shipping routes were fundamental skills.

For the pirates whose lives depended on the skies, their abilities in navigation and techniques in determining their location based on the stars far exceeded that of ordinary merchant ship navigators and sailors. As the greatest captain in the outer seas, Isabel naturally had many talented people at her disposal.

After determining the location, determing the shipping route was simple with some time and many tests at the cost of lives.

"Hss…"

Isabel's speech immediately had gasps sounding from Tiff's side.

"The size of two or three Dambrath Kingdoms? That area is akin to like a small continent already!"

"The Dambrath Kingdom has a population roughly made up of a million people. At the most conservative estimate, the native population that we have to face is over 2 million? How frightening!"

Such a simple ratio immediately resulted in uneasy looks on some pirates' faces.

After all, they had less than ten thousand men, and yet had to fight enemies that numbered hundreds more than them! If not for having an advantage in possessing ships and a route, they would long since have had thoughts of escaping.

"Quiet!" Tifa yelled. "Are you trying to humiliate yourselves in front of Master? Or is your mind that weak?"

Such a strict questioning and his status as a legend immediately caused everyone to quieten down.

"While there are many natives, that doesn't mean much. You'll know how things are once we get onshore.

Leylin nonchalantly waved his arms.

Even in Leylin's previous world during the Age of Discovery in the west, when the colonialists had taken over North and South America, they had conquered all the tribes and the kingdoms there with just hundreds or even tens of people. With thousands of criminals, pirates and many others, they had taken over the whole continent. It was then discovered by someone akin to a hero. (Similar to Cortés who used just 1000 people and took over the Aztec Empire with a population of 15 million people in 5 years.)

In Leylin's eyes, the native empire was not much different from the Aztec Empire in his original world, a backwards civilisation full of savagery and ignorance.

With advancements in civilisation and technology, conquering a civilisation that seemed huge but was actually oversized and backward was basically no different from killing a fat pig.

No matter how terrible the continent was, it was still better than the natives who used wooden spears and did not even have clothing.

Most importantly, with a 'god' like Leylin working, was there a chance of failure?

As a divine being, Leylin had an invisible, powerful infectious aura. After seeing how confident he was, the fears of the rest of the people died down.

After seeing how the situation had turned out, Leylin nodded and allowed Isabel to continue introducing the situation with the native empire.

"Based on our usual practices, I call this newly-discovered island the Debanks Island. It is now known that there is a native empire at the very centre which they call Sakartes, which means the sun that never falls. That takes up most of the plains on the island. The population is about 1.5 million people, and around the Sakartes Empire, there are a few tribes. Most are subservient to the Sakartes, and amongst them, there are some wars. Altogether, there should be about five or six hundred thousand people there…"

Isabel evidently valued this intel-gathering job and had even been able to gain such definite numbers about the Sakartes Empire, which was pretty god.

While already mentally prepared, some still gasped after hearing that they would be declaring war on about two million people.

"Hehe… that's nothing, you brainless things! Those aren't two million enemies but, in my opinion, two million healthy slaves! There's also countless treasures and fertile land!"

Isabel smirked at how her subordinates were acting and exclaimed coldly, sounding condescending.

The rest of the pirates remembered the frail natives and reacted.

What they used to do was take the natives as slaves. They obviously knew that just using blades would scare the natives into subservience, and they would not resist no matter how they were flogged. Sometimes, just one supervisor would be enough to manage hundreds of native slaves.

After disregarding the numbers, the pirates finally reacted, feeling vastly superior to them.

"Exactly! Those natives are so frail. What's there to be afraid of? Besides, we don't have to declare war on all of them at once. We can work from the surrounding tribes and subdue a few groups to work for us and let them kill themselves…"

Ronald spoke in a low voice, "The moment we conquer such a large land, or even just ten percent of it, all of you will be able to obtain unimaginable amount of wealth and even become nobles who have land…"

Pirates had always been living with their lives on the line. After hearing something so tempting, their breathing began to get rough while their eyes became bloodshot.

"That's right… As a Marquis, my family has the authority to confer titles… When the time comes, I definitely won't be stingy…"

Leylin made his promise then, which immediately had the pirates cheering.

Being able to turn from the most lowly pirates to nobles? That temptation was enough for the pirates to work torturously for.

At Tiff's side, the people started to get a little restless. After all, clerical members needed to eat and drink, as well as have safe and comfortable lives.

"Taking over the native empire and providing faith to our master is also a divine order!"

Tiff grimly announced.

"For our Master!"

The rest began to pray devoutly.

After knowing each other, everyone left the room in succession, leaving only Tiff and Isabel behind.

"It doesn't matter if there are ten times more natives than us, but… Has Master ever thought about the possibility of them being protected by gods?"

Tiff looked solemnly as he asked. This was also what Leylin had been trying his best to avoid.

"Mm, I also wanted to warn you about this. In the few native tribes of the outer seas, there faith totems. Some were even comparable to legends or demigods…"

Isabel spoke seriously.

From their point of view, no matter how useless the natives could be, they could still have one or two true gods.

That would be terrible.

After all, Leylin was now merely a divine being! The cruelty of divine battles could be experienced from many historical poems and poetic sagas.

"You don't have to worry about this. The Debanks Island does have a few native religions and divine beings, but at most, there's only a half-god and not a true one… On top of that, the gods of the continent have no interest in the faith of the natives…"

Leylin guaranteed.

When it came to gods, he obviously was the one with the most right to say this. Upon hearing this, Isabel and Tiff relaxed.

True gods were a large gap from him, but the difference between a divine being and half-god was not so big. If the difference was not so large, they would still have courage to to risk their lives.

As for how Leylin knew about this, Isabel and Tiff sensibly did not ask more questions, since gods always had their own secrets.

Leylin too had no intention to share his plans. After they left, Leylin went to the bottom of the hold of the ship and saw a group of native slaves cowering in fear.

In preparations for this expedition, these natives would be the translators and communicators. This would reduce the natives' hatred of this colonial invasion.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Contamination

'A.I. Chip, show me the schematic from the soul research.' Leylin seemed to have no reaction to the natives' fear. A wave of the hand had a wizened old man approach him, and he pressed his palm into the old man's head with a glint in his eyes.

Time, passed, and the man's expression warped quickly. There was happiness and suffering, but mostly confusion. The rest of the natives backed off as they watched this 'god' 'bestow' gifts upon him.

In their point of view, the leader of the slaves and the supervisor were both amazing people. As for Leylin, who headed thousands of pirates and had several hundred large ships in his possession, he far surpassed their tribal chiefs or priest elders. Perhaps the only thing that could compare to him were their totems.

[Beep! Soul schematic analysis completed. Beginning comparison…] The A.I. Chip projected a coloured image in front of Leylin, comparing the native's soul to that of a regular person. A few darker regions were specifically marked out.

Putting the now-useless lab rat down, Leylin returned to his bedroom alone. Large amounts of data flashed across his eyes, and he began to turn serious.

"As expected, there's something wrong with the natives' souls…" A long time ago, Leylin had discovered an extremely interesting phenomenon. None of the native tribes in the outer seas believed in any true gods. This was something unthinkable!

The gods were so thirsty for faith that they wouldn't even leave strange creatures and mud beasts alone. Why would they abandon these intelligent natives? Even if their souls weren't even a tenth as strong as that of a commoner from the mainland, the gods still understood that little things would add up.

However, of all the tribes that Leylin had attacked, the natives all believed in natural spirits and totems, and there was no appearance of the gods from the mainland at all. The only explanation for this would be that there was some flaw in their power of faith, which left the gods with no choice but to give up on them and treat them as trash. They allowed the natives to do as they wished, and even if they knew of the large native empire they didn't bother with it.

With large amounts of research and comparisons, as well as with his own abilities as a divine being, Leylin had finally touched upon the secret.

'This spirit… The problem isn't exactly internal. It's actually contaminated…' Leylin was now solemn, 'On top of that, this mutation is familiar, with the mark of arcane and Magus spells… It reaches the depths of their genes, and has been passed on generation after generation.'

In essence, the power of faith was just soul energy that was dispersed when worshippers reached an emotional peak during their prayers or ceremonies, full of fervour. Using their domains and divine sparks, the gods absorbed this specific soul energy and turned it into divine force. There was no essential difference between lesser and greater gods either. It was the same process.

"What happens if we absorb this mutated soul force?"

'A.I. Chip, simulate the absorption of the natives' power of faith,' Leylin commanded, stroking his chin with his interest piqued.

[Beep! Mission established. Beginning simulations… Preparing model…] Large amounts of data flashed by Leylin's eyes, giving form to a scenario. The statue of Malar from before had been enshrined around a native altar, the rest of the natives worshipping it. Visible only to divine beings, power of faith rippled as it gathered at the stone statue.

There was no change to the statue at the beginning, and his divine force increased in strength. However, a decade later the statue began to grow indistinct. A dark red lustre lingered around it, and Malar turned more violent and asked for regular blood sacrifices.

A century later, Malar's divine realm exploded amidst his despairing roars. A gigantic ape body fell into the prime material plane, bound securely around the native priests.

Five centuries had passed, and Malar was now a beast with no mind of his own. He had turned into a golden flag, with the figure of an ape on it.

'I used Malar as the model because I'm more familiar with his divine force, but I never thought this would happen…' Once the simulation had passed, Leylin fearfully recalled the scene just then.

"There's definitely something wrong with the natives' power of faith. It's greatly contaminated, and can even cause a true god to weaken, eventually even fall to the prime material plane. Combined with the sacrifices, they become bound to the planet, their mind slowly erased until all that's left is pure instinct…"

Such a miserable thing was no different from suicide. It was no wonder why the gods had forsaken these inhabitants.

'They lost their holy kingdom, and were banished into this area with their consciousness eroding over time. It's worse than confinement… The power of their faith is contaminated, but it's a hereditary thing that they simply can't change…'

Leylin pondered over the issue, 'Since that's the case, I don't have to worry about other gods meddling if I enact my plans on this kingdom. However, I'll have to bear the burden all on my own…'

Although the worship of these inhabitants was lacking, and the spirits they bound weren't as powerful as gods, a demigod who assimilated with those spirits could become comparable to gods! The totemic demigods would be that strong!

Of course, once they left their area, the power of these demigods would fall drastically.

'No matter what, there is a chance here. A huge one!' Leylin's eyes flashed as countless possible scenarios unfolded in his mind. All that was left was to bring them to reality.

"However… The incompleteness and contamination of these spirits still makes me uneasy. If I don't understand them completely…" Leylin recalled several samples of these totems, his divine conscience delving deep into the genes where the ancient memories were located…

There was a fire on the battlefield, floating cities crashing into the ground like meteorites. The arcanists, who were always intelligent and farsighted, who controlled all the truth in the world were now being slain. Their murderers? The gods!

The last remaining arcanists of Netheril cried out in hatred and anguish, "The spark of the arcane spells of Mise will never cease! We will never yield…"

Multiple memory fragments were revealed to Leylin, and even with his power he could only process a small portion of them. However, the information divulged from even that small portion was enough to move him.

"So these people are actually immigrants from the Netheril era!" Leylin gasped. He'd previously seen other people from the Netheril era before, like Helen. Although it was a rather miserable thing to see them run and hide for their lives, they were living in heaven compared to these people.

'Who'd have guessed that the progressive and cultured Netherese have been reduced to such a state over tens of thousands of years. They're called barbarians and fools, some even captured and turned into slaves…' Leylin sighed inwardly.

He could now understand what had happened before. The gods had been displeased with the fearless research of the Netherese arcanists, and it had eventually led to war. They began to kill what looked like all living arcanists, and most of the floating cities crashed into oblivion. The Netherese civilization had crumbled in a day.

It was at this moment that a group of Netherese had gathered. They likely wished to resist the enslavement of the gods, and were resolute in their decision. They swallowed a medicine that caused them to reject the power of faith, the rest unlucky enough to be swept into the high-ranking battle and ending up as collateral damage.

In any case, the Netherese had experienced a complete change in spirit, and were now considered venomous to the power of faith, and in turn to the gods themselves! They definitely wouldn't be taken in by the gods, so they escaped across the seas and started reproducing here.

During this process, due to the powers of the gods and other backhanded means, these people from the Netherese Era had regressed. What was once a renowned and cultured civilisation had now turned into a group of barbaric and foolish tribals…

'If my guess is correct, the ancestors of these natives turned into barbarians after rejecting the power of faith. This had stopped them from finding even one god to turn to, how pitiful…'Leylin felt the anguish of losing a whole civilisation from the bottom of his heart.

His eyes turned red. 'However… Since matters have turned out like this… Hand over your blood, tears, hatred, and your power of belief– everything…'

The gods may not have been able to resolve the issue, but Leylin could circumvent it. His ancient Nightmare Absorbing Physique could absorb emotion itself, and the emotions of millions of people would definitely grant him power to rival gods!

'Of course I have to keep a low profile about this. At least before I begin my ascension, the ability to make use of these inhabitants' power of faith shouldn't be divulged…' Leylin rubbed his temples, feeling a headache. The number of secrets he was hiding continued to grow.

'"I'll have to devise a meticulous plan. Fortunately, Debank Islands is a solitary one, with almost zero contact with the mainland, so there's a chance to keep information from leaking!'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Flame Bird

Hundreds of towering warships glided across the outer seas, making for a magnificent sight.

However, it wasn't so beautiful to the one in charge of the long voyage. There were five thousand men to feed and take care of, which was a huge problem on the seas. On top of that there was the restlessness, and the disease that constantly crept up on Leylin's men.

Fortunately the crew were originally pirates of the Scarlet Tiger, so they could handle such long distance sailing.Tiff himself had dispatched the acolytes under him to each and every ship, boosting the morale of the men. Without holy magic to aid them, it was a very big test.

Leylin was on the deck of the flagship, looking out at the boundless sea. He breathed a light sigh, "Our food and water supplies are depleting quickly. This long distance war is really a huge gamble… Fortunately, we are able to reach Debanks Islands before our stock runs out…"

A flush of red appeared on Isabel's face, a rare sight. Being the captain of the Scarlet Tigers for so many years had killed that elegant young lady. She was now a pirate, filled with savagery and deceit. Only when she was with Leylin like now would she reveal a part of her girly side.

"Are we depending to seize supplies upon reaching the shores? That might not be the safest method!"

Hearing Isabel's surprised words, Leylin shook his head. "We have a limited number of men. Each of them is extremely precious, so we can't make senseless sacrifices…"

Even in Leylin's previous world, it was difficult to win wars after a period of travel.

"What are you thinking of?" Isabel looked at him.

He'd already drawn out a navigation map with Debanks Island at the center. The drawing scale was somewhat absurd, but it had sufficed.

"We will first make a detour and circle to this area." Leylin pointed at group of islands beside Debanks Island. They were large enough to each have a ruling kingdom, with many smaller islands beside them.

"You mean to say… So we take down the Chihuahua Islands first, and use them as a supply point?" Isabel surmised. Although she had thought of this strategy as well, it required too much time to prepare. Leylin had maintained an unhurried pace in front of the pressing situation.

"Yes. There seems to be a tribe with over ten thousand members here, we could use them as practice to polish the skills of our men…" Although both Leylin and Isabel were confident in their army's strength, it wasn't possible to establish coordination in a day or two. Leylin wanted them to undergo some training.

"I got it…" This sort of slow and steady advance told Isabel how determined Leylin was, so she immediately passed down the orders.

……

The Chihuahua Islands were close to Debanks Island. The tribe that resided here were vassals of the Sakartes Kingdom, but because of the ocean supporting them they were quite independent.

After all, with the unskilled boat crafting abilities that these inhabitants have, chopping up all the trees in the area to make wooden rafts would still not be enough to stage a rebellion.

The ruler of this tribe might have had such thoughts, but his elders and priest would have advised him otherwise.

Under such a situation, this tribe was still doing fairly alright, compared to the others which had to offer much more tributes to the kingdom.

The chief of this tribe, Abasa, was now sheltered and served by his maids who lazily fanned a giant banana leaf, at the same time enjoying the taste of the tropical fruits.

Abasa was extremely dark skinned, and he was extremely obese. Layers of fat could be seen on his body, just like a giant hog. However, his neck was extremely slender. This was the sign of nobility, and several metal piercings were found on his lips. On his face were many oiled markings, which hid his original features.

"Something has happened!"

As Abasa enjoyed the service of his maids, an extremely skinny old man dashed in.

"Oh? My wise priest, what has made you come in such a flurry?"

The high priest had a heavy smell of incense mixed with lamp oil around him, and he wore a five coloured feathered crown which the plumes reached the height of three metres, the feathers angling in a very dangerous angle.

"My mighty chief, the king of the Chihuahua Islands, our ancestors' spirits are now enraged, and this needs you to be there personally…"

The high priest fell and knelt on the ground, sounding serious.

"The fury of our mighty ancestral soul? Were our sacrifices not enough?" When it came to matters like these, Abasa found it difficult to continue enjoying himself. He pushed the maid away, eyes surrounded by puffy skin staring at the high priest.

"No, I think this is more like a warning!" There was a patch of blood on the high priest's forehead, evidently shocked by what had happened.

"Bring me there!" Abasa waved his arms, and a few natives who were like monkeys raised the chair he was sitting on and began to walk.

Less than an hour later, all the natives in the tribe seemed to gather as they watched the high priest in the centre performing.

There was some sort of anesthetic incense and gas burning in the surroundings. As the leader, Abasa donned his ceremonial attire, a cloak formed of five-coloured beast hide, with difficulty. He stood at the front of the procession while the high priest unceasingly danced, body writhing as if he had epilepsy.

At the heart of the procession, on a crudely-made flag of animal skin, traces of dark red golden lines appeared.

"Mighty ancestral spirit… What hint do you wish to give us?" Abbas knelt, and the rest of the natives followed suit.

Rumble!*

As everyone kowtowed, a huge cloud rose from the heart of the altar. The image of some creature flashed past, releasing a few roars that were difficult to understand.

"The ancestral spirit is warning us!"

At this moment, the high priest jumped as if he had obtained some divine enlightenment.

"At the west side… unprecedented enemies will appear. They will ride steel fortresses on the sea and bring about massacres and death… They are…"

The high priest foamed at the mouth.

"What are they?" Abbas pulled at the high priest's neck till he turned purplish-red, as if about to suffocate to death.

"They are… the fair-skinned devils!"

After spitting this out, the high priest fainted.

"Fair-skinned devils?" Abasa rubbed his chin, "Send down the order. All warriors are to bring pikes and stone blades and wait at the western coast…"

The vocabulary and experience of natives was limited. Even the chief did not understand what a fair-skinned devil was meant to be. All they knew was that the enemy was coming.

"Oh!" With the encouragement from the ancestral spirit, the sturdy warriors in the tribe completed this task at great speed.

Abbas, who guided his subordinates, was full of mettle, "I shall skin the scalp of the enemy's leader and hang it on the war to serve as my medal…"

……

"Hm? Our attack seems to have been discovered…"

Leylin, who stood on deck, frowned.

"Luckily, this is just a small tribe. Of the natural spirits they worship, they are at most only divine beings…"

Seeing the native warriors at the coastline nearby, Leylin spoke, "Isabel! Tiff!"

"Here!"

"You'll take over commanding. You don't have to worry about anything else. Just take down the Chihuahua Island. Remember to seal of the sea paths and don't let even one escape…"

It was naturally best to have news of his invasion not spread for as long as possible.

After instructing this, Leylin took off, charging towards some divine being.

Isabel, who had taken over commanding, drew the Red Dragon Sword in her hand and glanced at the native warriors who had gathered at the coastline disdainfully. They had wooden pikes and stone blades, as well as canoes.

"Bombard them! Let them see our might!"

Isabel yelled. The natives were equipped so poorly, and there were less than two thousand of them. This was like a fat piece of meat being presented to them.

"Go!" The pirates immediately released terrifying howls from the battleship with reddened eyes.

A wave of bombs were shot to the native tribe's position.

The ferocious explosions as well as terrible cries by his ears left Abbas frozen.

"Ancient ancestor! This huge fort on the sea… and that godly fire? What have we provoked?"

Countless warships closed in. Their canoes were already capsizing, and the guards by his side were already yelling as they tried to flee. The chief could not help but release bellows of despair.

In the next moment, this old chief had his head chopped off by a blade.

"Heh! This fat pig is obviously a high-ranked person. I wonder if there are rewards…" Along with this voice, the gold and silver accessories on the chief's body disappeared in an instant.

"Is this the natives' guarding spirit? While there's divinity, it has low intelligence…"

Leylin took a look at this divine being that looked like a flaming bird, eyes flashing with light from the A.I. Chip.

"Your followers are now being massacred by me, and the power of my domain is diminishing. Submit to me, and I can let you live!"

Leylin used his divine will to send a wave of information, but what he got in return was the flaming bird's howl of rage.

Chiu chiu!*

Along with this sharp chirp, a bundle of golden flames enveloped Leylin, causing the air around him to distort and rise.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Domain of Massacre

"Hmph, what a pigheaded idiot! You haven't even ignited your godfire yet and have the gall to go against me?" Leylin snorted, and the flames immediately went out. After obtaining divinity, he no longer saw anything in regular divine beings. This divine creature in front of him was merely seeking death.

At this thought, Leylin looked through the results of the A.I. Chip's scan.

[Totem spirit (Flaming Bird) Divine being. Strength: 15 (5) Agility: 17 (5) Vitality: 19 (5) Spirit: 20 (5) Possessed feats: 1. Domain: In the range of the followers' prayers, the totem spirit will obtain a boost to properties. All stats will increase by 5. 2. Affinity with flames. 3. Holy form: Immune to all spells below rank 5. 4: Unknown ???]

"While in the range of the followers' prayers, all stats increase by 5? This really is a god similar to earth-bound spirits…"

Leylin snickered, "Is this what you're depending on? Unfortunately… This isn't your time anymore. With the loss of followers, the boost you get from your domain will decrease, which means the optimum opportunity to have you serve under me is now…"

The boost from the domain would obviously come along with the existence of followers.

Now, however, with the pirate army closing in and the young men of the native tribe being massacred, faith was quickly diminishing.

The effects from the massacre was trivial. What was worse was that without the totem spirit's protection, the faith of the natives collapsed.

In a short period of time, Leylin saw the (5) at the end of the stats slowly dim and turn into (4). As the areas they occupied expanded, the numbers went down.

"Is this faith? So powerful and so pitiful…"

Leylin sighed, noticing the fraud that was totem spirits. If he really could become a true god and bestow divine spells, the followers' faith would not crumble so quickly.

Chiu chiu!*

Leylin actually had plans to subdue this flaming bird totem, since this would be his first guide on the Debanks Island.

Unfortunately, the bird had no plans to make use of Leylin's kind intentions and used a huge bundle of fire to end the conversation.

Flames filled with golden luster struck the region where Leylin had been standing, the boiling-hot temperatures taking in all the oxygen in the surroundings and created an area like a vacuum.

"It only has an ability similar to magic and can't make use of the divinity and power of faith in its body well. It's like the instinct of beasts."

Leylin sighed, the Roaring Red Dragon Stuff appearing in his hands then.

As he had used [Dragon Soul Burn] a few times already, the red dragon soul inside had already diminished in size and looked rather dispirited.

[Dragon aura domain]!

[Conical Flames]!

Now, however, in the face of a legend that was merely a divine creature, Leylin did not even need to burn the dragon soul. With a wave of his staff, a powerful dragon aura domain expanded with the dragon aura rippling within.

Roar…*

A red dragon figure appeared above Leylin, spewing out unique conical flames at the flaming bird. Such might immediately had the giant flaming bird snarling unceasingly.

Rumble!* Two huge bundles of flames strived for victory in the air, turning the horizon red.

"How can such brutish strength contend against me?"

Leylin yelled, conical flames piercing through the flaming bird's golden fire and enveloping it.

Chiu chiu…*

The enraged howls of the bird could be heard in the flames, but there was something peculiar about the situation.

Rumble!* All of a sudden, the red dragon's flames exploded into what looked like a red lotus. At the heart of it, the flaming bird did not seem to be injured and instead, even larger.

It chirped in its excitement, swallowing the red dragon's flames with large gulps, its golden flames flames turning crimson.

Chiu chiu!*

The flaming bird that had assimilated with the red dragon's flames became larger in size, eyes looking human and filled with pride as it flew towards the red dragon figure in the air.

"Being able to take in the flames? The A.I. Chip should have found out. Is this a unique divine ability?"

Leylin's eyes flashed with wit, "Are you trying to swallow a legendary dragon soul? In that case, I'll give it to you!"

[Dragon Soul Burning]!

The dragon soul at the tip of the staff completely withered, body enveloped by translucent flames.

With the burning of the dragon soul, the red dragon figure in the air became more solid. Each scale seemed to be more corporeal, and sharp claws held a sharp glint.

Roar…* The red dragon's large eyes showed intelligence as it collided with the flaming bird all of a sudden.

High-pitched dragon howls and bird cries surprised both the natives and pirates on the ground. All of them gazed upwards, watching the battle between the red dragon and flaming bird. Some natives were able to recognise their totem and immediately tossed their weapons aside, beginning to pray right away.

"What are you standing there in a daze for? Go!"

A similar dragon aura burst forth, and Isabel drew her Red Dragon Sword from a native soldier with an unknown duty as she berated the pirates loudly.

With two legends in charge, strength, great equipment, and having more fighters than enemies, they completely crushed the opponents. The pirate army had now pushed through to the outer regions of the tribe, and the enemies they faced had turned into a group of people acting without structure. There were even appearances from the old, young, female and frail natives.

"Those who do not surrender are to be killed with no exceptions!"

With her life as a pirate over so many years, Isabel lacked the pity that regular females had and sent down the command. Those pirates and devil followers that were initially extremely evil carried this out ruthlessly, and perhaps even did this even more cruelly than required.

"All I can do is to give him all my faith and complete all mortal battles…"

Isabel's eyes showed her understanding of her position and charged to the depths of the tribal area. Around her, the red dragon's figure and flames followed, making her look like the most beautiful war goddess.

Chiu chiu…*

Meanwhile, the battle in the sky between legendary beasts reached its conclusion.

While the red dragon was of a legendary rank and had its dragon soul burnt, it was a fact that it was already dead and its power was diminished.

The giant flaming bird was not only a legendary being but even had divinity! Through several rounds, it had torn of large chunks of soul force from the red dragon's body and even swallowed its flames, causing its golden fire to turn red.

Ka-cha! Ka-cha!*

At the end, as the flaming giant gnawed at the head of the red dragon figure, the crystal with the dragon soul at the tip of Leylin's staff shattered.

"Tsk… after so many uses, the red dragon's soul force is completely consumed…"

Seeing the dragon soul vanishing in front of him, Leylin did not look the least bit surprised. The flaming bird, on the other hand, released an elated chirp and gulped down the red dragon figure while absorbing the flames it possessed.

"Then again, it's time I change the core!"

Leylin's figure ascended till he stood before the flaming bird. After absorbing the dragon soul, its body had become more enormous. A sense of a dragon aura was also being emanated by it as it met Leylin's gaze without fear. There was even desire in its eyes.

"Oh? Trying to eat me too?"

Leylin could not help but begin to chuckle after understanding what the bird wanted, "It really is a beast. It can only do everything on instinct and doesn't even care if it can digest me."

"Go crazy…" Leylin snapped his fingers, and the flaming bird immediately began to writhe, layers of flames rising as half of the red dragon's head appeared from its body.

"While being able to assimilate the flames is advantageous for you, you might want to be careful since eating too much could mean you might be assimilated instead…"

A sinister smile rose by Leylin's lips, "As you are now… you are prey truly worthy of being slaughter after being fattened up…"

"Return!"

Leylin tossed the Roaring Red Dragon Staff in his hands, and it began to soar into the air till it reached the head of the flaming bird. The sharp end of it quickly pierced downwards!

Chiu chiu…* The large flaming bird could have easily dodged the attack, but it seemed to have gone stupid as it stayed where it was, golden and red flames twining around and eating at it.

Xiu!*

The red dragon staff was like a sharp arrow that disappeared through the head of the bird, causing flames and golden blood to spurt everywhere.

Chiu chiu…* With the large flaming bird's last miserable cries, a huge explosion sounded. The sound first came from its stomach, which then formed a storm that swept the bird within.

Leylin stood at the side, watching the large body being torn and devoured by the storm..

"If all earth-bound spirits on the Debanks Island have this level of strength, I have nothing to worry about. However, with the support of the native empire, those earth-bound spirits have strength probably similar to demigods…"

Leylin sighed inside.

The pirate allied armies had now killed their way into the inner parts of the native tribes. They began their ruthless massacre of the old, weak and ill, as well as all sorts of atrocious activities.

"Is this what conquering means? Increasing my strength by massacring continuously…"

Leylin's eyes showed his bewilderment for a moment, before the A.I. Chip sounded. [Beep! Host has killed a divine creature. Obtained partial information on the domain of massacre. Massacre domain model establishing. Beginning digitising…] [Beep! Host has grasped domain, massacre.] [Massacre domain. Obtaining strength by constant massacres! In this environment, host's stats increased by 1% (Current effect). With a certain probability, Host can obtain opponent's soul energy. Host's followers can also obtain boost from massacre domain.]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Conquer

"Massacre domain? Truly powerful… " Leylin muttered to himself, "You can strip the enemy of their life and soul energy during massacres and quickly recover yourself… Gods also have specific bonuses, and it might increase in power if I kill more powerful existences…"

The A.I. Chip's prompts continued. [Beep! Host has killed a divine being. Massacre domain has been boosted, absorbing the opponent's divinity.]

In that instant, Leylin had sensed that he'd absorbed the trace of divinity from the flaming bird, something formed by over a century of worship from the natives. A golden light spread across his body, and with the massacre domain in effect its power was transformed into a part of his own.

'The profits this time alone have allowed my massacre divinity to grow greatly. It's worth at least two to three years of worship…' Leylin looked excited, 'This trip to the outer seas definitely is worth it!'

Truth be told, the fastest way for a god to advance was to seize divinity, divine force, or even divine spark from battle. However, the native empire as it was now was not valued. The power of faith in these earth-bound spirits as well as their divine force had huge flaws, which was why the gods did not set their sights on them.

However, Leylin did not fear contamination from the Magi. On top of that, his Nightmare Absorbing Physique allowed him to naturally absorb the might of these native earth-bound spirits without issue.

'After absorbing the divine force, I'll be able to make use of this large bird's divinity and soul to a great degree…' Leylin tapped the crystal on top of the Red Dragon Staff.

Chiu! Chiu!* Dazzling light figured as the red dragon imprisoned within disappeared. In its place was a terrifying large bird, burning with golden-red flames.

"Using a divine being's soul to substitute a legendary dragon soul, that's a pretty good deal…" Leylin observed the soul of the flaming bird. It was now firmly chained within the crystal, and it cried out in refusal.

'Although I've taken the soul already, I still need to forge it into something usable. Until I do that, the Red Dragon Staff needs to be sealed…' Leylin estimated that once he reforged it, the new Red Dragon Staff, although the name would have to be changed, would be more powerful than a legendary item…

As Leylin was killing the flaming bird, the flag above the tribe's altar tore. Ferocious flames devoured the totem. The gathered natives cried out in alarm, and their high priest's face warped and twitched before he fell into a dead faint while frothing at the mouth. The other priests and acolytes reacted in the same way.

The followers of gods possessed some totemic power, which was what allowed them to communicate with the god and do all sorts of otherwise unimaginable things. However, now that their totem spirit was dead they would meet a similar fate.

The extraction of power that had fused with the body was like the removal of organs from a human. It was no surprise for a few of them to just die. Had they been worshippers of a true god, things would have been even more serious.

While it could be worse, this situation left the natives horrified and panicked.

"Ah… the ancestral spirit…. It's dead…"

"The evil god of the enemies, the fair-skinned devils killed our ancestral spirit…"

"Boohoo… our chief, high priest and ancestral spirit have died…"

The situation instantly caused the old, young, and ill to fall apart. They'd originally persisted with the belief that their ancestral spirit would protect them from the attack. The death of that guardian was a huge blow to them.

The fighting continued, and the spirit of the natives was swayed immediately.

"All who resist us will be killed, whether they are elderly or children!" The pirates and many devil worshippers that Leylin had subdued walked towards the tribe's altar.

"My followers!" At this moment, all the pirates who followed the Winged Serpent God Kukulkan heard a low and solemn voice in their years.

"I give you my blessing. You shall obtain power through slaughter; the fresh blood of your enemies shall give you courage, and the moans of terrified souls will restore your vitality!" The words sounded like a divine order as a terrifying phantom Targaryen appeared in the sky.

"It's our Lord! The Winged Serpent God has shown himself!" Unlike the regular worshippers, the acolytes Tiff had nurtured had a more profound reaction to this.

"Massacre domain, boost!" Leylin's figure reached the skies above the battlefield. He willed a dark red light to move from his domain, having it appear by his followers.

"It's the power of our god! The Winged Serpent God is protecting us!"

Robin Hood chopped off the head of a native with a wave of his hand. In this process, he could feel that the stamina he had lost was somehow restored. He took a look around and saw the pirates who should have lost their stamina seem full of life.

'What kind of terrifying might will this ability grant us in battle?' The effects of this domain were incomparable in battle. The little resistance that the natives had still posed crumbled completely, and the tribe descended into a bunch of cries and howls.

With Leylin showing up as a god and displaying his protection of his worshippers, the conviction of the natives completely died out. Many began to surrender, and dense black flames enveloped the skies above the native tribe…

Evening arrived, and the reflection of the setting sun on the sea was as red as blood. Leylin had moved into the chief's palace, listening to his subordinates' reports.

This place was made up of multiple smaller tribes, with a little more than ten thousand people. This 'palace' was just a slightly larger house with beautiful beast fur on the walls. It was still pretty good compared to the houses of the normal natives, though.

"This operation was a complete victory. We killed about a thousand native warriors, and have taken over ten thousand prisoners. Mere tens of our men were lost…" As Isabel spoke beside him, Robin Hood and Ronald began to flush with excitement.

"Also, the sea routes were blocked so not one of the natives' canoes escaped. News of this will definitely not spread."Tiff added. With him and the other elites in charge of stopping the natives, breaking out had been an impossible task.

"Good! Next is to organise the slaves and search the island…" Many natives had still fled in the chaos of war, especially with their lacking manpower. Leylin didn't mind, though; this was an isolated island after all. Now that he had control of the sea routes, where could they go?

"The most important thing to do now is to subdue the natives of the tribe and spread my faith. I can establish a secondary army made up of natives after that…"

The stories of colonialism from his past life gave Leylin many examples to follow. The elite pirates were his core group, and they couldn't easily be dispatched lest they suffer huge losses. Each operation with them had to be a huge success, and give the elites the image that they were all-powerful.

His next task was to manage these natives, dividing them up to form a secondary army and his guard. It would be necessary to assist the native nobles, provoking the tribes to attack each other and causing strife. It would be even better if he was helped by disease.

Due to differences in their worlds, the battles between gods were extremely important. If Leylin could eliminate the totems that the natives had faith in, everything would be much easier. Debanks Island was just a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.

But that was all in the future. Leylin focused his attention on organising the natives of the Chihuahua Islands for now…

Night fell, and chilly winds brought coldness into the tribe. Numerous tied up natives were grouped together, hoping to get some warmth from each other's trembling bodies. In contrast, a huge bonfire was burning in the centre of the plaza, the altar from before long since destroyed and replaced by a brand new idol.

On top of the gigantic obsidian base was a sinister-looking serpent, huge and with fleshy wings. It had sharp claws and a single horn, and its scales seemed to gleam. Large demonic wings spread wide apart, and vertical eyes revealed a ruthless bloodthirst.

This was the statue Leylin had chosen for himself. He still feared the other gods, so he couldn't show himself. The next best thing was the image of a Targaryen.

The natives were being sent to the statue batch by batch, ordered to swear allegiance to it. Before this, they even had to trample the flag of the flaming bird.

No matter how stupid they were, the natives knew this blasphemy meant subjugation. It caused waves of chaos, the influence of an ancestral spirit not fading so easily.

However, regardless of the disturbance, the hot-bloodedness of the natives died down in the face of the pirates' blades. Facing them, one of the natives was cowed into service. The rest soon followed suit.

Leylin could sense the faith of the numerous natives, and the dear that accompanied it.

He looked around and sighed, "Is the reverence for gods by all lifeforms the source of faith? The essence of divine force is astuteness and dignity…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Saintess

Under threat of imminent death, the natives succumbed to the devilish snake that had slain their ancestral spirit, giving it their faith. Although with some unknown contamination, massive and unbridled power of faith surged into Leylin's body through the Weave.

"Reverence turns into faith…" Reaping this new power, Leylin now understood the path of the gods better.

A contract between gods and mortals was just the base of divinity. Another important requirement was reverence. If reverence was lost, it was only a matter of time before the power of faith moved to someone else. And murder and death were the most efficient ways to command this reverence!

'It's just that these natives' faith is incomplete…' Detecting a huge amount of contamination that would erode his own divine powers and eventually destroy him, Leylin smirked, 'But how can my quintessence be so easily tainted?'

Buzz!* Dark red runes crawled over Leylin's body. The Nightmare Eye opened between his brows, beginning to absorb the contamination and refine it into pure dreamforce.

'Dreamforce is definitely the most accommodating of different powers…' Leylin nodded his head in satisfaction.

With his abilities as a Warlock in addition to the Nightmare Absorption Physique, he could absorb the faith of these natives easily.

"However, I need some time to properly digest this much…" Leylin could feel the intertwined emotions of his worshippers through the Weave, and the instability of their faith. Still, this was only the beginning, and he'd gotten it through murder. Leylin was satisfied with the result.

'What matters is the other tribes. I need to change my strategy next time…' Leylin recalled the knowledge from his previous world. Blood and tears proved time and time again that war would always occur. No matter how much one drove for peace, someone would always strike at their enemy's lowest point.

The only way to conquer them was a display of force, constantly killing off their forces until they finally assimilated. There were many unorthodox ways to go about it as well, but they were easily countered.

The theory was simple, it was just a dog eat dog world!

Had Leylin been a simple leader, he would have decided to kill off all the tribes. After all, he already had a disadvantage in numbers. No matter how much they were assimilated, even smaller groups caused problems to large communities, let alone in this situation where the numbers were reversed.

The glory of the bald eagle, of the United States of America, had come on the back of blood, sweat, and tears. However, from a god's standpoint, Leylin had to adopt a different approach.

Gods transcended humanity. Having stepped into such a realm, their vision was no longer limited to that of humans. With everlasting life, the conflict between tribes was trivial.

To put it bluntly, even if he had to use all of the incomplete power of faith that came from these natives to match the power of gods, Leylin would be willing to do it. He thus absolved himself of all conflicts between tribes, only focusing on the power of faith. The more a person worshipped him and provided power of faith, the more glory they would get.

Even a native would be able to become a cleric or even a bishop! As long as they were devout and prayed piously, of course.

Leylin recalled a famous proverb from his previous life, 'Everything between heaven and earth is but a stray dog!'

Although there were many interpretations of it, Leylin himself knew that everyone was treated equally by the divine, with no bias. That was the approach the gods of this world had adopted, at least.

However, the truest lack of bias could only be attributed to the various World Wills. Realistically speaking, as long as a majority of his faith came from the pirates and devil worshippers, Leylin would favour them. However, in the future he would have to rely on the power of faith from Debanks Island once he conquered it. The scales would be adjusted then.

It was only pragmatic and necessary to pick up natives and make them priests or saintesses, showing that everyone was equal and giving them hope. Leylin turned his attention to the field using his divine sense.

The battle continued, with not every native being cowed by the fear in their hearts. When a change of faith was forced, 'heroes' were wont to step up time and time again. Be it man or woman, youth or elderly, the only similarity was the unwavering resolution in their eyes, and the spirit of martyrdom.

The pirates simply beheaded them, the fresh blood pouring into the battlefield striking more fear into the natives' hearts. Beautiful woman who did not comply were a way for them to flaunt their manhood as they slayed the old and young.

Isabel did not stop these acts. A change of faith had to be ignited by fresh blood, and those who wouldn't comply even superficially would only have death awaiting them. If their faith could not be forced from their soul, they would disappear in the flesh.

Before humans grew civilised, killing eliminated problems without solving them. As culture progressed, this method was abandoned. However, the laws of the jungle still prevailed in the World of Gods, even on the mainland.

'There won't be thorns sticking out anymore, but there should be some who've only complied on the surface. They'll be scheming something else in the background…' Leylin mocked this train of thought in his mind. Like the proverbs went, one would grow accustomed to kneeling. Once they swore loyalty to him, he could acquire their faith and strengthen it in the future.

The hidden problems were easy to solve. As a divine being, Leylin could tell deceit and true reverence apart. Those fellows would never climb up the hierarchy, and once they exhibited any signs of rebellion they would be executed immediately.

Using the method of the carrot and the stick, Leylin would convert them completely, making them unwavering in their devotion.

'It's just that I don't have enough time…' Leylin shook his head.

At this moment, many black-robed clerics flooded the battlefield, soothing the natives like they were lambs. "Forget the false gods you believed in, and put your faith in our Lord. Even your family will experience salvation for your choice."

A threat to one's life left them vulnerable in many ways. Tiff understood this himself, having sent the acolytes out to soothe the natives without instruction to. With the gentle words of these acolytes, even more of the natives pledged their faith to Leylin, which strengthened his connection over the Weave even more than before.

A native girl looked up at Tiff, her eyes betraying her apprehension. "If…If I choose to believe in your god, will father be saved?"

Tiff smiled gently, kneeling down. "Who is your father, and where is he?" he asked the girl who had pale yellow skin and dark hair. There were traces of mud and coal on her face.

"He… He was a brave warrior of the tribe. He died today on the shore…" the little girl said timidly.

"He will be," Tiff stroked her hair, "Our Lord has mastered the massacre domain. All souls that perished under him can definitely be salvaged. If you pledge your faith…"

"Then, I choose to believe!" The girl knelt before the statue and kowtowed with utmost sincerity. It was so much so that her forehead began to bruise, and blood appeared.

"Almighty bishop, I know where a group of the tribe's warriors have gone, including the chief. They are in a mountain-hole at Bakala."

The natives stirred in unrest, shocked by the little girl's betrayal. Her calmness surprised even Tiff.

"Very well, you shall be rewarded!" Tiff eyed an acolyte at the side, who relayed this important information to the other leaders. He looked at the little native girl fondly, trying to think of a reward.

Before he could do that, though, a golden light shone out of the Targaryen statue. The power caused everyone to kneel unconsciously.

"Almighty Lord…"

A divine aura seemed to come to life under the holy light, and a beam of it entered the native girl's body.

"You are kind yet resolute, you shall be blessed!" The golden light circled the girl's body, leaving a mark on her forehead.

Once the light dimmed, Tiff looked solemnly at the girl. "Your name?"

"I am Barbara! Barbara Morui!" The girl repeated her name.

"You have received the blessings of the Winged Serpent God. From now, you are the saintess of our church!" Tiff hoisted the girl onto his shoulders, "May the winged serpent always be with you!"

"Kukulkan! Kukulkan!" The numerous acolytes cheered Leylin's divine name in zealotry.

At the same time, this atmosphere, with Barbara hoisted up high, renewed the hope of the natives. Leylin felt the power from their faith surge again, and the web of their faith grew sturdier.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Blackmail

'Congregations are indeed a good way to embellish the atmosphere… No wonder the churches of my past preferred to hold worship on selected days each week…' Leylin who had withdrawn his vision shook his head.

It was just a matter of time before the tribes of the Chihuahua Islands would come to his side. He believed that Tiff understood his intentions, and could exploit the worth of a saintess.

After all these matters were settled, Leylin's gaze turned to Debanks Island. He did not have time to conquer all the tribes of the Chihuahua Islands. He had to conquer the few largest ones first, producing his own divinity and ascending to become a demigod before he could challenge the Sakartes Kingdom.

Once the internal affairs were taken care of, a new round of battle preparations was underway.

'It isn't just subjugating the tribes and killing them. The quest to conquer the natives has to be filled with death and plagues.' To truly win with his small numbers, he had to regard those last two aspects as well.

If he wasn't limited by secrecy from the outside world, Leylin would even have sent people to ask for help from the Goddess of Plagues. With her belonging to the evil alignment, she would definitely be glad to do it.

'Forget it, they'd find out I can absorb the natives' faith. Might as well do it myself.' Pride welled within Leylin. As a Magus, he wouldn't find it difficult to create a new plague if he spent some time. Moreover, being a bloodline Warlock he could even come up with one that was very infectious and fatal, capable of eliminating entire tribes.

While he did not have to resort to such extremes, it was still necessary to give them a good scare. Any tribes going against him would contact the plague. With people dying all the time, the only way to save themselves would be to pledge their faith to him. How much power would that produce?

While some clerics could use magic to resist the plague, how sparse were they amongst the commoners? With their limited spell slots, it would be great even if they could just save the nobility.

Furthermore, their gods were just earth-bound spirits or demigods at best. Their divine spells were rank 5 at most, and the number of casts paled in comparison to those of a real god. This was one major limitation.

Having conquered the Chihuahua Islands, Leylin's army could finally plant their feet down firmly close to Debanks Islands. With the support of their warships, Debanks Island's counterattacks would not amount to much. Even if they discovered Leylin now and took the most efficient course of action, they wouldn't be able to chase Leylin away.

In addition, Chihuahua Islands was now a constant source of war supplies, warriors, and most importantly power of faith. The natives Leylin had brought on board were now released, acting as translators and mediators that aided his governance.

While high-ranking cleric spells like Language Proficiency did exist, the acolytes on the ground couldn't use so many spell scrolls. The likes of translators were of paramount importance.

Of course, this was only the first wave, very soon a new civilisation would be introduced with the common language spoken on the continent. This was in fact how colonialism worked, Leylin had merely borrowed a page from its books. However, instead of harvesting resources he was harvesting power of faith…

Another month passed with this set in stone. Two fifths of the pirates Leylin had brought were now either injured or running operations on the ground. He brought the remaining three thousand on deck and headed for Debanks Island, and the true native empire.

This was three thousand against a million! It sounded extremely absurd, but after past events the crew had placed their utmost trust in Leylin. This fervent worship was the necessity for zealotry. Leylin believed that once he took these pirates through the unimaginable war, the survivors would definitely turn into fanatics.

Getting close to Debanks Island, Leylin passed down the orders for all ships to stop sailing. It was as if he was waiting for something.

To him, each and every one of his troops was extremely precious, so venturing in the dark would be too dangerous. According to his plan, what came next would be an effortless victory.

Zoom!* Five hourglasses trickled by, and a red figure approached from the horizon and landed on Leylin's deck.

"Here he is, just as planned." Isabel was now in her draconic form. Crimson scales littered her body, and a pair of giant red wings protruded from her back. Her pupils had become vertical slits, as typical of dragons'.

However, Isabel seemed to be in a miserable state. The scales on her back were somewhat twisted.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Leylin raised his hand, and an arcane healing spell covered her body. Large amounts of the shattered scales quickly regrew.

"While we were plundering others, we were discovered by the totem spirit and pursued. But it was like you said. It automatically backed off a certain distance from the tribe…" Isabel now looked much better as she tossed an unconscious native to the deck.

The captured native was dressed in bright robes. His rosy cheeks and exquisite skin showed that he'd been brought up in a great environment, and had at least as much power as the chief of the Chihuahua Islands.

"Good! Lock him up at the bottom of the ship and ensure that he doesn't die. We can then happily blackmail the tribe and ask for a ransom…" Leylin waved his arms, and two pirates immediately went forward to carry the unconscious native chief down.

"This is such a crude plan. Will they fall for it?" Isabel asked. Tiff had no intentions of questioning him, as if Leylin's word was gospel, but in spite of Leylin's imposing divine aura Isabel was still his cousin.

"Who knows? We can't go wrong with trying it…" Leylin rolled his shoulders back, feeling like there was a large possibility of this working out.

The natives were foolish, ignorant and naive, just like in the Americas of his previous world. The western colonialists had used extortion to gain countless riches.

While the situation was different, the natives here had sacrificial ceremonies for totem spirits and higher-ups like high priests. There was even a system of divine and royal power. This chief would have some descendants and faithful officials, no? Anyway, Leylin had made up his mind. If this didn't work out, he could just kill the captive and capture a high priest or something.

Fortunately, the tribe did not seem to be able to bear the death of the chief. After Leylin sent out an emissary, the other party's people quickly arrived. In the stipulated coastal waters, a large wave of natives rowing tens of canoes arrived under the Scarlet Tigers' ship.

The pirates on the deck watched the canoes under them disdainfully. In their eyes, just a slight splash from their large ship could drown the entire army, capsizing their boats and killing the people.

After that, though, they could not shift their eyes away. Any teasing or attempts at attacking these natives' canoes would result in a ruthless counterattack.

This was because they saw golden light! Golden light all over the canoes! Bright yellow gold household utensils and large chunks of gold nuggets were transported to the deck as a ransom for their chief! The dazzling colours immediately filled the pirates' sights, and greed appeared on their expressions.

Was this not why they'd become pirates, and struggled with their lives on the line in the perilous deep seas against military and merchant ships?

'While it doesn't amount to much, having them piled together is quite eye-catching…' Leylin knew that in reality Debanks Island didn't have plentiful amounts of gold.

Gold and silver was currency on the mainland, but here it would be items like cocoa beans or obsidian. Gold was just for decoration. If Leylin's emissary hadn't specifically requested this, they could even have brought a pile of obsidian over as ransom. The natives saw being able to get their chief back by handing over a pile of useless decorations as striking it rich.

Leylin stroked his chin, watching the emissaries from the natives' side crawling before him. From their point of view, this large ship was like a lofty mountain, no different from a miracle.

"Mighty beings with fair skin who traverse through the seas and possess tall and large ships, I have brought the items you wanted. Please let our chief go. From hereon, you will also have the friendship of our tribe…" a priest with status said while cowering, and Leylin had no trouble understanding him.

Regular divine beings couldn't compare to him in comprehension ability. The moment he became a demigod, he would be able to understand all languages by instinct.

The priest was now showing cowardice before Leylin.

"I see the ransom, but that isn't enough…" Leylin branded his meaning into the minds of the natives, "A king can only be redeemed by a king. You can meet your chief. After this, you are to declare war on the neighbouring Angodub. Bring their chief captive in exchange for your own!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Plague

Making sure that the emissaries understood what he was saying, Leylin confiscated all the riches that they had brought. He then showed them their chief who was still alive, and chased them out of the warship.

"Do you see this? There are riches all over this island, and the natives managing all this wealth are so cowardly and ignorant…" Leylin stepped on the gold, watching the greedy eyes of his men. He grinned, "Half of this gold and everything we get in the future will be yours. Divide it amongst yourselves…"

The pirates erupted into cheers.

Although the gold seemed to be a lot when piled up, how much would one person get when it was divided amongst three thousand? Still, this display served to increase their greed, and gave them a deeper impression of Debanks Island's wealth. It would motivate them to fight!

Many of the pirates were now zealous, eager to take over the entirety of Debanks Island and willfully plunder its wealth.

If he asked people to believe in him without any benefits, they would not advance wave after wave in the face of death, at least not now. Leylin needed to show them profits, and the sparkle of gold was the best of them all.

"Will they really do it?" Isabel ignored the clamouring crowd behind her, standing on deck to watch the canoes leave. "Angodub is related to them by marriage, no? Their great relationship is what lets them govern this region together…"

"That depends. We aren't natives, and don't know how they think. Besides, how is it possible for two tribes to live so close to each other without friction?" Tiff brought up an opposing opinion.

"Mm. Besides, even if they don't do it we can help. For example, we can spread news of them preparing to attack Angodub, or just pretend to be natives and attack a nearby village…" Leylin's eyes glinted with intelligence. "Once seeds of doubt are planted, they're not so easily removed. There will definitely be a war!"

Isabel now understood Leylin's plan, and had to admit it's feasibility. "Once both tribes are tired out, we can wipe them out with minimal cost, bridging our way into Debanks Island."

Still, she frowned soon. She continued asking, "What happens if the Sakartes Empire finds out. This is a large operation after all. Considering our current strength, we'll be chased away once they step in…"

Debanks Island was the size of several kingdoms, with the Sakartes Empire at its heart. A few tribes surrounded it. Although Leylin enacted his schemes in an isolated area, this was still a single island. There was no ocean to blockade it off, so news would spread quickly.

"Don't worry. They'll be too busy to bother with us soon…" Leylin smiled and shook his head, the hidden meaning causing Isabel and Tiff to shiver in fear.

……

Time passed quickly. Soon enough, the two tribes Leylin had chosen were immersed in war, without Leylin even needing to step in. After all, they were both occupying the same lands. How could there be true friendships between rivals for resources?

On top of that, the totem spirits of the tribes wanted to devour each other to strengthen themselves. With all sorts of factors favouring it, it was natural for war to break out.

To show his sincerity, Leylin's fleet did not stop by the continent and instead sent away many of the ships. Some of those that were left kept away from the warzone, as if this had nothing to do with them.

Leylin even bought slaves from both tribes. They were sturdy, courageous natives, great for regular slave work at the Chihuahua Islands or as soldiers. He wasn't stupid enough to pay in precious materials like gold or silver, instead providing weapons and ammunition.

These arms caused the natives to grow more powerful, and the selling of slaves continued. To avoid falling behind, the opponents had no choice but to do business with Leylin, which created a vicious cycle that caused both tribes to shed blood. Leylin's side had a great harvest.

Amidst the flurry of activity, Leylin stayed holed up inside his lab. The trade was taken care of by his men, who had prior experience in capturing slaves from piracy. His own task now was extremely important, and that was to prevent the Sakartes Empire from meddling in his affairs.

He looked at a petri dish under dim light, at a half-rotten piece of meat. His eyes flashed with light as the A.I. Chip performed a scan.

'Has it been nurtured to this state already?' The piece of flesh in the petri dish was from a native's body. Continuous experiments allowed Leylin to roughly understand the structure of their DNA, and create a toxin that would be extremely lethal to them.

[Beep! Number 2's infection is stable, beginning extraction of data…] The A.I. Chip sent a large amount of information to Leylin, which left him nodding his head.

"Very well…" Using a pair of tiny tweezers, Leylin clipped the piece of flesh and placed it in a test tube with clear liquid.

[Beginning experiment 17642, recording data…] the A.I. Chip's voice intoned. Leylin looked at the piece of flesh dissolve, shaping up like a tentacle before bubbling up.

'Alright, the fission is stable. The chances of success this time are extremely large!' Leylin nodded his head, and spells glowed forth from his hand on occasion, using the radioactive energy to catalyse the reaction.

After the violent reaction, Leylin looked at the test-tube which was now red as blood, and smiled.

[Beep! New lethal virus completed! Give it a name?]

"Number 1 Pathogen!" Leylin named it nonchalantly.

[Beep! Name recorded! Storing data…] The A.I. Chip carried out Leylin's instructions, before reflecting the data back to his eyes.

[Number 1 Pathogen: Weapon to target genes, extremely strong contagious effect! Able to thrive in weather extremities with a lifespan of a hundred hours! Ability to spread through the respiratory tract, pathogenic effect of 90%, lethality 90%! No available cure! Transmission of up to a second degree! (Note: The pathogen is extremely effective against the specimen used, the first wave of natives as per stored in the data!)]

Only effective against the natives with a high contagious, pathogenic and lethal effect. This was like smallpox combined with influenza. Leylin did not doubt for a moment there that once it was released, it will strike fear more than the devils or demons would!

Furthermore, giving the 10% chance of not being affect was not due to Leylin being kind. If all of the natives were to die, there would be no one left to provide him with the power of belief.

"Although I can't let all of them die, but I don't need a large population. The remaining survivors will be enough to provide me with power for be to ascend into a god…"

Leylin stroked his chin and pondered.

If this pathogen was released on his previous world, it would be a total wipeout for the natives on Debanks Island. However, the rules in this world was different. Taking into consideration the existences of gods and extraordinary abilities, and the 10% chance that Leylin had given, there would still be a small number of survivors.

"Once the plague is released, what will follow next are special medicines and vaccines…"

Although there is no immunity to this plague, but immunity granted from external powers are still effective. This was a backdoor that Leylin left for himself.

If the natives were to die waves after waves, how would they react after seeing the cleansing done by Kulkuhan (which was in fact just the vaccines) that could grant them the ability to survive?

It would already be a blessing if those totems and demigods could protect their nobility. There was simply not enough spell to go around to save the commoners.

Hence, Leylin was extremely sure that there would be a big harvest for his power of belief!

"The death of those worshippers of the totem spirits would cause their power to drop. Even as demigod they would not be able to do a thing about it… Much less these spirits who are unable to leave their grounds, as they would suffer a huge decline in their strength. This is checkmate to them!"

Brilliance flashed in Leylin's eyes.

With a simple wave of his hands, he would now determine the life and death of several million natives. Evil would not begin to describe the state of his actions right now.

If he were to sieve the power of belief, he could turn into a god of plague or god of biolife, immediately usurping the throne of the goddess of plagues. But he was not interested the slightest.

"While I must not congregate the belief of plague and diseases, there is one that I cannot miss… Death!

Leylin's plans were always layers atop layers. On one hand, he could conquer the whole Debanks Island in the most time and energy efficient way through the plague and vaccine strategy. While on the other, he would comprehend the domain of death through the sheer amount of people dying.

Massacre and Death! These two domains were exceptionally powerful and suited Leylin's needs, which left him coveting for it.

As the millions of lives were obliterated, the power of death will definitely reached a frightening degree. By then, comprehending the domain of death will not be an impossible thing to do.

Compared to this, the other trivial matters could be neglected.

How Leylin saw it was, only after chaos would peace come. After a period of suffering, the people of Debanks Island would only choose to be under his rule, welcoming the revolution he had created!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Dissemination

In Leylin's opinion, the famed big shots whether in his past life or the current one all had something in common. Once they determined their target, they would advance with fortitude, possessing absolute faith in their path. Since they'd long since marked their path, they feared nothing, and would be unscrupulous.

In his pursuit of eternity and freedom, Leylin cared not for the lives of the natives.

'All I pursue in this life is eternity. Even if I collapse halfway through and face the backlash from my actions, I'll have no regrets…' A tough glint flashed in Leylin's eyes, proof of his staunch resolution. With such motivation, killing humans, burning cities, and wiping out hundreds of people was a mere sacrifice on his higher path.

……

The battle between the tribes grew increasingly intense. It had been a long time since anyone came to care for the chief that Leylin had captive. The two sides were blinded by battle, their primary goal to take out their opponent.

People who started battles did not normally know how to end them. During the war, they would slowly forget their initial goals, leading to tragedy.

The Sakartes Empire seemed to have found out about the situation, dispatching a ten thousand strong army to interfere alongside a large group of clerics. It was likely that mediating wasn't their only goal. Precautionary measures or wiping outsiders like Leylin out would be high on their list.

Sadly, the empire's interference ended quickly, having accomplished nothing much. There was no battle, but the grim reaper had descended on them.

En route to the warring tribes, a plague broke out without warning amongst their ranks. It was infectious, and the rate of death was terrifying. In a few days' time, it had spread across the whole army.

With how crowded their army was, and the lack of hygiene amongst the natives, it was difficult to survive the disease without divine healing. The members of the clergy were hard-pressed and overworked, only able to save some of the officers and elites. They had no choice but to watch the ordinary soldiers fester and die. With their limited number of divine spells, what they'd been able to do was already amazing.

In an era of cold weapons, a casualty rate of over 30% was terrifying. This time, the plague had brought an additional psychological pressure with it. Under the threat of death, the army soon forgot its goal. Some even tried to desert!

With more than half the soldiers dead, the army could do little about the runaways. The officers shouted themselves hoarse trying to bring the defectors back and behead them. Truth be told, even a few officers themselves had fled in fear of the plague.

Soon enough, the army completely broke down. The soldiers spread everywhere, bringing the bacteria in their bodies to even further places and spreading the plague more. The natives died in batches, leaving fields overgrown with weeds. The fowl had wandered off.

The plague had reduced the entirety of Debanks Island to tears. It worried the upper class of the empire out of their minds. Still, there was nothing they could do to stop the spread of the plague. As for the intruders, they weren't a priority.

Taking care of the external interferences, Leylin began completely annihilating the two tribes that had fought each other. Many of them had been infected by the plague in the chaos of war. 60% of them had died out, including almost all of the healthy young men.

Small as the two tribes were, their totem spirits were merely divine beings. They were greatly weakened by the loss of worshippers, and weren't able to obstruct Leylin's attacks anymore. Absorbing their divine force, Leylin sensed the massacre divinity in his body greatly increasing in strength. He was getting ever closer to the threshold of being able to ignite his godfire.

After he got rid of what the two tribes believed in, it was natural for Leylin to take them over. The remaining members were gathered to establish a whole new town, complete with a large new Targaryen statue.

The natives abandoned their old faith. Being baptised by prayer and holy water in front of the statue— in actuality just potions and vaccines— they sensed their suffering and ailments vanish without a trace. It immediately triggered a zealous wave of faith.

The infectious power of faith generated by providing those who were on the verge of death help was something even Leylin hadn't expected. Many who had been at their last breaths, their bodies decaying, became fervent worshippers of the Winged Serpent God after being 'saved'. It allowed his strength to increase.

Soon enough, the surrounding tribes got word of a god's abilities to heal the disease. Getting blessed, they brought their entire families over with their wealth, requesting to join the town.

While the priests of the totem spirits could use divine spells to remove the sickness, they had a limited amount of divine force and spell slots. They could only save those of status, able to do nothing about the commoners who fled for their lives. Even if they couldn't get a single divine spell from the Winged Serpent God, it was already enough to wipe out faith in the rest.

Knowing this well, Leylin dispatched his own priests everywhere, bringing holy water and the like to surrounding tribes and displaying his abilities and achievements. It had a very favourable response.

In the face of death, the authorities could do little to stop them. Groups of natives came and prayed for blessings from Leylin, soon enough filling the town up.

Leylin named the town that had been built upon the two tribes Hope Stronghold, denoting new hope. It was the beginning of his conquest of Debanks Island. Making use of his ability to heal the plague, Leylin had acquired the faith of the natives as well as an army. With the method of the carrot and stick, his organisation began to expand rapidly…

A year had passed, this winter especially chilly. Snow fell even on the southern seas, coating the islands in white.

This applied to Debanks Island as well. The gods seemed to be lamenting the loss of lives, showing their sorrow. The snow on the continent was extremely thick, the older generations unable to remember something so terrifying. Many of the natives that hadn't prepared for this froze to death.

Though the cold weather somewhat curbed the spread of the plague, it could not halt the footsteps of the reaper. Debanks Island had become a hell for the natives in the past year, the horrifying plague spreading unceasingly around the island.

Whole populations were wiped out. There was even a dead city now, one that was completely empty. The corpses of natives filled it, and many rats and crows roamed about the houses and the streets, gnawing at everything. The eyes of the wild dogs on the road had grown bloodshot from eating too much human flesh.

In this land swarming with starved people, Hope Stronghold and the rumoured Winged Serpent God by the sea were their hopes, able to do anything.

Information had spread that this god possessed the powers of massacre and healing. All faith would be treated with kindness, and even if someone was infected by the plague they could still be healed.

Now that these 'rumours' had spread, huge batches of natives fled towards Hope Stronghold. No matter what the bigwigs did to stop them, it was pointless…

East of Hope Stronghold, near a mountain of the Sakartes Empire.

A surge of natives wearing thick fur coats trudged on in the snow with much difficulty. One of them was a young girl, who was encouraging her little brother. "Hah… push ahead. We'll reach the area near Hope Stronghold soon…"

"Will we be saved once we get there, Sister Aya?" The young boy next to this Aya looked about fourteen or fifteen years of age, and he wore a thick fur coat as well. However, his face was almost purple from the cold, and he was cringing as he spoke.

"Yes… The totem spirit there is a huge serpent that governs all life. It can remove the sickness…" Aya kept encouraging her little brother and helped him along, afraid that he would slip in the midst of the crowd. However, as she mindlessly followed the procession up ahead, she sank deep into thought.

The events a year ago had been like a nightmare; a plague had appeared without any warning whatsoever. The infected first saw greenish-black spots on their bodies, like sesame seeds. They were followed by low fevers, and eventually devolved into comas where even divine spells could not help.

At the end, the flesh of the infected would rot and fall off bit by bit. Aya had seen this once, and it had left her unable to eat for quite a few days.

The plague had arrived fiercely. At the beginning, it had just been rumours at the borders of the empire, but in a few sunsets' time, it had spread to the larger cities. The high-ranking priests and nobles hid at the altars and prayed hard with blood sacrifices, but it seemed to have no effect.

The other shamans could do nothing, and soon enough the plague had affected their city. She lost all her relatives to them, the only one left alive her little brother. She followed the stream of people escaping the town to head south. Unsure of what to do, she rushed towards Hope Stronghold.

Although this rumour could be a lie, it was her last hope!

"I'll definitely bring my brother there safely…" Aya kept telling herself as she prayed, "Oh Winged Serpent God in Hope Stronghold. If you truly can cure the plague, then please descend and help us! I am willing to give up everything…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Begin

There were many people like Aya, all fleeing for their lives, but she was lucky in that they had enough food. With nearly half the empire dead, the stored up food was more than enough.

Many times, Aya had to muster up her courage and enter dead villages to clear up some land. She then could enter the homes and find food, one of the primary reasons for staying within this group. After all, making contact with bodies and going into the houses of dead people was very dangerous. Few were willing to do this.

However, once all the reserves of grain disappeared, the famine that would follow would be a huge issue. There were no longer any farmers planting crops, the plague this time had caused immense damage to Sakartes' societal order.

Of course, few of the natives considered this. They only hoped to live past the day.

"AH! Alosasner! Alosasner is here…" At this moment, there was an uproar at the front of the group. Aya could not help but grab her little brother's arm, the two of them freezing upon hearing the word.

These people did not worry about the pursuit of the imperial army or dangers from outside the city. What truly worried them were attacks of the plague!

In the natives' language, Alosasner meant 'the devil unable to be fathomed and found everywhere.' It also implied a bout of serious illness.

"Is there someone in front who's gotten the plague?" Aya had seen quite a number of healthy people who'd just been walking suddenly cough out black blood and collapse by the road. It was the arrival of death.

The siblings passed the watching crowd and only vaguely saw a little figure falling into the snow. People avoided the figure like it was booby-trapped.

"It's Adodole! I was just playing with him a few days ago…" Aya's brother exclaimed with shock, and then lowered his head.

When sickness occurred, life seemed so very fragile. Aya could only hug her brother's head and console him tenderly. These people were already numbed to death, and after moving away from the corpse the large group began to move along more slowly.

Aya recalled the figure that had fallen and sighed inside, 'I hope we reach Hope Stronghold soon… It's too much of a waste to fall here…

'I definitely won't let that happen to my brother. Once we're past this mountain, we'll have reached the territory of Hope Stronghold…' she tried to encourage herself.

At this moment, another ruckus sounded from the back of the group. Voices began to spread, resulting in even more confusion.

"Did someone collapse? No, it's…" Aya's pupils shrank.

"The imperial army! Those darned things… Turn around and run!" A burly native stood out, brandishing a fish fork as other strong natives grasped their weapons. While the men were hard at work, the old and weak quickly dispersed and fled. Aya took her brother and ran with all her might as well, getting away from the army's pursuit.

None of the bigwigs could tolerate losing citizens, even with the plague. They ordered the troops of each military base to stop these refugees. Of course, they couldn't be bothered to worry about how to save these people who were stuck.

Originally, even the troops of the native empire weren't willing to carry out such orders. They, too, were afraid of the spread of the plague. However, a divine order sounded and all the guardian and totem spirits joined hands to stop the refugees from entering the region of Hope Stronghold.

"GO…" The sounds of fighting could be heard behind her, causing Aya's heart to clench. She could only pull at her brother and try to escape.

However, she felt a tug on her arm at this moment, and the dull thud of a heavy object hitting the snow.

"What happened? Did you fall? Get up…

"AAH!" Aya had turned back to find her little brother in the snow. She immediately turned him over, but soon found that her brother had lost consciousness. The traces of black blood stung her eyes.

'He's been taken by the sickness too…' The instant that that thought flashed across her mind, two unstoppable streams of tears began to fall from her eyes. Aya did not care for the possibility of infection as she took him into her arms. "Please save him… Someone, please save him…"

The sounds of battle drew closer, but what Aya saw was hope, "The army has a priest. He'll definitely be able to use divine spells to save him…"

"Be careful, he's infected!" Soon enough, the imperial army had reached them. They watched the siblings on the ground, and didn't dare to draw close. The infection was obvious, and it caused fear to arise on their faces.

"Please, save my brother!" Aya unconsciously went forward, but was forced backwards by numerous lances.

"Don't come over…" Countless soldiers circled her, as if defending against a monster.

"Get the priest and officer. There's a source of infection here!" This iciness and resolution in that voice immediately caused the girl's heart to sink.

Horses trotted along, and an officer and priest wearing bright feathers arrived quickly. Seeing the black bloodstains on the ground and Aya's unconscious brother, the two of them immediately frowned.

"Kill them quickly! Toss dried wood here and then burn it!" Aya's last hopes were dashed ruthlessly.

"Brother… I'm sorry…" The girl's tears fell on her brother's cheek and neck one by one, and she then closed her eyes.

Whoosh! Whoosh!* The sounds of arrows being shot could be heard, but there was strangely no pain.

Aya quickly opened her eyes, and then saw that there was an arrow in the officer's neck. The tail of the arrow was still vibrating, like a little snake trying to dig into the ground.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Sounds of fighting could be heard again, and numerous figures emerged from the surrounding jungle.

"It's the army of that foreign god…" The priest's expression quickly changed, and he urged his horse along to leave. The rest of the natives quickly abandoned the lances in their hands, looking like they were about to fall apart.

'It's people from Hope Stronghold!' Aya held her little brother and headed towards the group of priests that had just arrived, "Kind… and benevolent ones… please save…"

Thud!* Having expended too much stamina, Aya who'd also been infected fell.

Right before everything went dark, she could hear distant voices, "It's a pair of commoners! Saintess Barbara…"

……

Warmth spread through Aya's body, allowing her to feel some strength in her limbs. She slowly opened her eyes to see a warm bonfire, a huge tent blocking the cold air.

"What's your name? How do you feel?" A native woman sat by her bed. She had long black hair and black pupils, with a golden mark on her forehead. She was radiating a sacred light.

"My name is Aya. Thank you for saving me!" Aya expressed her gratitude while blushing, but her expression quickly changed, "What about my brother? Where is he?"

"Don't worry, he's here as well. He was just infected for a longer time, so he'll need more healing…" Saintess Barbara stopped Aya from struggling further, "This is Hope Stronghold… you are safe…"

Three days later, Aya, who had regained much of her strength, elatedly walked out of the tent her brother was in. Gazing at the large Targaryen sculpture in the town, she could not help but kneel down sincerely and begin to pray.

"O great god, thank you for saving my brother. I am your devout follower from now…"

Similar things like this happened in every corner of Hope Stronghold. Waves of resolute and zealous power of faith unceasingly entered Leylin's grasp.

'The number of worshippers has increased again! Looks like sending the army to the surrounding regions to rescue the refugees was a good choice!' A divine will was extracted from the threads of faith, allowing Leylin to see the general situation.

Due to the hope to be cured as well as gains from various areas, the region with Hope Stronghold at the heart gathered a population of over 300 000 natives. And since he was their 'saviour', the faith these people provided, and their gratitude, were all true.

Tiff and his acolytes had put in a lot of work as well, to solidify these threads of faith and have them become devout worshippers who would pray to him regularly.

'Seeing the situation, it won't be a problem to ignite my godfire as long as we take care of all these people. It might even be enough for me to ascend to godhood…' Leylin looked agitated.

With the expansion of Hope Stronghold, and especially with the tribes nearby dying away, Leylin had managed obtain the divinity of quite a few totem spirits. With their help, the power of massacres in his body had risen to its peak, to the point that he felt like he was on the verge of igniting his godfire.

Anyone could see the divine golden lustre on his body. This power of divinity had completely fused with his body and grown to the extreme.

That was not all. With the deaths of nearly a million natives, Leylin had now made contact with the domain of death. While he had only obtained some information about it, and the A.I. Chip could not analyse it yet, it was already quite fast.

'The phase of taking in refugees is done. Next is the war…'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Giant Serpent Church

The plague had cut the population of the Sakartes Empire in half, and their military power had sharply declined as well. Leylin's Hope Stronghold continually absorbed the nutrients of Debanks Island and grew ever more prosperous. However, he estimated that a new wave of power would soon arise.

'The earth-bound spirits and totem spirits should be planning something massive…' Leylin stroked his chin and pondered. The spirits of Debanks Island were in fact borne of the wandering spirits of the various regions. Their strength was somewhat limited to the area they came from and the knowledge they possessed.

Leylin had only slain the spirits of small tribes thus far, even the strongest among the totems containing a shred of divinity. Even if such a spirit possessed a domain, Leylin did not fear it in the least.

However, the Sakartes Empire had several powerful spirits with strength approaching the level of demigods. In their own domains, their powers would be amplified to put them on par with true gods! Put bluntly, if Leylin stepped into the boundaries of the Sakartes Empire he would be mobbed to death by godlike spirits.

On the contrary, if those spirits dared to venture out from their domains, they would at most have the strength of demigods. Their strength would even deteriorate in the vicinity of Hope Stronghold.

Due to these conditions, Leylin was not eager to challenge them. Instead, he would continually weaken them and erode their forces. To him, these spirits were like caged beasts. He could weaken them easily with the power of faith and mortal armies, so there was no need to hurry.

With the aid of the plague, Leylin's forces grew without any resistance, slicing through their opponents like hot knives through butter.

There were even occasional natives who had thrown off their faith in their totem spirits and requested entry into the stronghold. One tribe's nobles themselves had abandoned their beliefs to come seek shelter.

After all, Hope Stronghold represented life to the mere mortals. Outside of it, one could only wait for death. Under such immense pressure, only the most zealous worshippers of the totems would be unwilling to convert.

The spirits did not have any solution to Leylin's plan at all. Given their powers, the priests and clerics they had nurtured would at most be able to save a small part of the nobility. The commoners would be left to die. What was even more shameless was that Leylin's pathogen could infect a person even after they had been healed previously!

Debanks Island had now turned into an island of plague. The natives who didn't comply with Leylin could only hide in their city corners or altars, waiting for the inevitable plague to strike. Once most of them had abandoned their faith, the totem spirits and earth-bound spirits would be a bunch of sitting ducks.

A demigod couldn't sustain their divine force on the backs of zealots, priests, and nobles. Their holy magic would decrease, causing more people to die. It was a vicious cycle. As their control over their worshippers dwindled, so did the domain of their powers.

Right now, Leylin's influence had spread to almost a quarter of the island. Although it started at the corner of a region, the totem spirits of the empire were unable to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Leylin's influence only grew more as each day passed. Leylin felt like he didn't even need to personally attack them. The regional spirits would go extinct purely due to a lack of worshippers.

On the other hand, it wasn't as if these spirits lacked countermeasures against him. Although large scale battles were impossible since the inception of the plague, they had passed down oracles with a strategy to stop the natives from moving over to Leylin. They were spreading rumours that it was Leylin himself who had spread the plague, which ironically was the truth.

"The giant serpent from the west cruelly dug out the hearts of our people, using their fresh blood to make a sacrifice to evil. That is how this devil of a plague was born…"

"The fair-skinned devils never came with good intentions. They covet our wealth and fertile lands, and are even prepared to use our lives in doing the bidding of their gods…" Such rumours were very prevalent on Debanks Island, some even making their rounds within Hope Stronghold.

However, it was precisely from these actions that Leylin detected something abnormal.

'Life and reproduction are the most primordial desires of living beings. The strength of this desire leaves even gods in awe…' He looked at the bustling Hope Stronghold and grinned widely.

'And the desire to live is far greater than the desire to reproduce… Even if I proclaim that I am indeed killing the natives and using their flesh and blood for sacrificial rites, they still have a strong will to live. As long as they are able to undergo my baptism and get rid of the plague, there will still be many natives who come over… Before the gods find an antidote to this plague, this situation will be irreversible. As for the rumours, they can at most increase the workload of Tiff and the church.'

The pathogen Leylin had devised was backed by his ability as a Magus, and the power of bloodlines from another world. In addition, it was only effective on the natives. It was almost impossible for those gods to find a cure for it.

"Almighty Lord… You are the colossal snake which will devour the world, the torchbearer of massacre. One day, you will turn into the stars in the sky…" Tiff entered from a large door behind Leylin, dressed in pristine white robes.

In this vast and boundless world, Leylin had finally established a church with a proper schedule. Constant battle and conquest had given him a great number of worshippers, and the acolytes had undergone a baptism as well. They were now equipped to carry out his bidding.

He had given Tiff a group of clerics, and placed a member of his own family in charge of administration, leading to immense gratitude from both parties. Apart from that, he had a foundation of zealots in huge numbers and a church. Everything else would just fall into place.

Leylin had named it the Colossal Serpent Church, with an image of a Targaryen as the insignia. Tiff was taking care of the holy scriptures and the like. Given that he'd been infused with Leylin's soulforce and was the second legendary of the church, he had naturally been appointed as the pope.

With Tiff's contributions in nurturing the acolytes, the position was his anyway. This was in line with Leylin's plans, and Isabel would never fight over this position.

"What is it?" Leylin turned around, the occasional imposing aura radiating from his body.

"We have already captured a few suspects spreading rumours to taint your reputation," While Tiff had an inkling of the greater ploy at play, neither him nor Leylin would openly admit to it. In cases like this, unless they caught the perpetrator himself in the act of spreading the pathogen, what evidence would suffice?

As for the cure and holy water, they could justify it by saying that Leylin's divine force countered the pathogen. He had not cultivated the domains and godhoods of plague and disease anyway, so he wasn't afraid of an investigation.

Truth be told, if the gods did try to get to the bottom of this, the Goddess of Plagues would become a scapegoat for Leylin. Who asked her to enjoy doing malicious things like spreading plagues and diseases in the first place?

An epidemic not backed by divine powers was unheard of in the World of Gods, where such a thing entailed ascending to godhood in that very domain. After all, what Leylin had done came from another world.

"Almighty Lord, should we punish them?" Tiff asked in a low voice.

The punishment would naturally be their life. After all, Tiff had originally been from the dark world, and had done countless things like this. Even the purest of good gods had people in the church carry out their dirty deeds.

"Tiff…" Leylin's voice was extremely gentle, but it carried a dignity that could not be opposed. Tiff stiffened and listened earnestly. "The church is open and above board. We will grant a fair trial even to those vile rats from the darkness, especially in such matters…"

"I understand…" Tiff put on his best thinking face and left respectfully. Leylin's meaning was for him to convict them of their crimes immediately, only publicly. He could not fool the sages and intelligent people, but so what? In every era the commoners made up the largest part of the population.

Making the Arrest official, and substantiating it with some proof, Leylin could use his rulership to convict them. He and the church needed a white cloth to cover themselves in, and if they disposed of people on the sly it would only lead to more rumours. However, if his prestige and reputation were to pick up, those people who could see past his ploys could no longer overcome this surging wave.

Sometimes, superficiality was extremely important. With his troves of data and memories, Leylin was way ahead of the gods of Debanks Island in controlling the hearts of others.

Several days later, the trial began under the watchful eyes of the people, who bustled to watch the scene.

Tiff did not press them to admit their crimes, instead charging them for 'smearing the holy name and causing distrust amongst the worshippers.' It caused a huge buzz amongst the gathered people.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Invasion

Hope Stronghold and the baptism of its god was the only salvation of the natives of Debanks Island. Only where the light of the Winged Serpent God shone could they avoid the plague. They could even continue living healthily, unafraid of suddenly vomiting blood and ending up dead by the roadside.

Once Tiff exposed these suspects of their crimes, it immediately drew public outrage. The masses jeered and shouted, and if not for the peacekeeping troops on standby these convicts would long since have been ripped into shreds.

These unlucky suspects were adjudged guilty. Not only did they spread rumours and dig for information on Leylin's background, they were even looking for the origins of the holy water, an extremely important mission. Each and every one of these acts was an attempt to smear the reputation of the church.

As expected of the holy protectors, these suspects whom the natives had seen on a daily basis were quickly captured. All evidence pointed towards their guilt. Although they wanted to deny these alleged crimes and confess to their other wrongdoings, they discovered that nobody would believe them.

The stereotype that bad people committed more misdeeds was a prevalent one, and the truths they spoke were dismissed. Very soon, Tiff righteously announced the crimes of these spies, and sent them to burn at the stake. This was accompanied by jubilant cheers from the public. The rumours floating around were very soon suppressed by this event.

Leylin had less and less interest in the dealings of mortals these days.The natives only had two choices anyway; they could either convert to his faith or die from the plague. With the only options offered death and salvation, it was extremely easy to conquer Debanks Island.

Having lost their worshippers, the totem spirits had turned into a thing of the past. They had no more chances to turn the tide.

However, these spirits were no fools. With their existences threatened, they would choose to gamble with their lives…

The very night Tiff ordered the execution of the criminals. The sky was bright and clear, with not a single cloud blocking the vast river of stars and the silver moon. Moonlight and starlight dimly shone upon Hope Stronghold, giving everything they touched a silver glow.

Tiff and Isabel had just ended their daily duties. Suddenly, they felt their hearts constrict and palpitate, as if some prehistoric beast was drawing towards them from the distance. A nervousness made their hair stand on end as they made their way to the windows.

"This is…" they gaped.

A trail of fire lit up the sky, its dazzling rays lighting up the horizon and basking Hope Stronghold in its radiance. At the end of this golden light were several figures with monstrous auras that left the two of them somewhat suffocated.

"The tribal gods! They came here directly…" Tiff cried hoarsely.

These totem spirits weren't foolish enough to let Leylin chop them apart. With the immense pressure he put on them, they decided to band together in a ferocious counterattack. Their sources had confirmed that Leylin was the one behind all this. If Leylin's main body was killed in a holy war, then everything would be over.

"God…" Tiff clenched his crest subconsciously, with apprehension in his eyes.

Even if those spirits had left their strongholds, they were still demigods. Although their powers had waned, they planned to overcome Leylin with sheer numbers. Although Tiff knew he couldn't lose his grip in such times, his heart still skipped a beat.

"It's the Flaming Guardian!" "Almighty Akaban, the sun god…"

The phenomenon in the skies had alerted the natives, and when many of them looked up into the skies they saw the demigods they had forsaken. They cried out in fear, calling the names of the gods they used to worship.

"There is no need to fear, children…" A voice sounded from the Targaryen statue, travelling to the depths of each worshipper's soul. It seemed to come to life, the voice carrying a soothing energy which calmed them down immediately.

Hss!* A phantom Targaryen appeared in midair, facing the enemies.

"Leave this to me. Focus on the natives' fight on the other side…" Leylin transmitted into Tiff's and Isabel's minds. Done with that, he raised his head and sized up what would be the most powerful opponents he'd faced since his arrival in the World of Gods.

'Once I eliminate them, the entire Debanks Empire will fall into my hands…' Leylin's eyes reddened as the Nightmare Eye appeared on his forehead. Splendid golden rays lit up his body, seemingly on the verge of burning up. The powerful aura caused a few opposing totem spirits to change their expressions.

Ooo—* Few totem spirits had come in the first place, they likely knew that divine beings could do little to him. The ones here were all demigods, blazing with their unique godfires.

At the middle was a gigantic flaming chariot with a half-naked native on top. He wielded a golden lance and had a grave face, emitting the distinct aura of a king as his eyes glinted with wisdom.

What was more surprising to Leylin was that the blazing horse that pulled his chariot was also a demigod, yet it stayed under the native and allowed itself to be used as a mount. On the sides of the flaming chariot were a double-headed lion with golden fur standing on end as well as a scorpion that seemed to be made of pure gold.

'Four demigods… Is this all the hidden divine power of Debanks Island?' Leylin met their gazes without weakness nor fear.

"Intruder, undo this sickness! I, the founding emperor of the Sakartes Empire, the Sun God and King of All Kings, Controller of All Flames, Mountains and Rivers, Akaban, can grant you a dignified death if you comply!" the demigod on the war chariot exclaimed in his tongue, holding onto the reins of the blazing horse. Since demigods could comprehend all languages and writings, there wasn't an issue with communication.

'Hm? His mind isn't corroded by the faith of the natives?' Leylin was slightly surprised, 'Is it because he was a native soul who merged with the faith of the empire, becoming a valiant soul after death?'

As Leylin pondered over Akaban's threats, the demigod lion and scorpion snarled terrifyingly. Scanning him more closely, Leylin could not help but feel great pity. 'What a pity… While you're doing all you can to comprehend godhood, you're too ambitious. That won't help you break through the restraints of the natives and become a true god…'

Akaban was obviously very wise in strengthening his domain, but he was still unable to become a true god. It showed how tedious this path was. Leylin conjectured that there were two plausible reasons for the failure. Firstly, there were the flaws with the natives' souls. On the other hand, Akaban himself might be too ambitious.

The domains of the sun and moon could actually contend against greater gods, but Akaban still wasn't satisfied with them. He wanted to spread over into other roles, becoming an overlord. Pitifully, the meagre bit of faith the natives could provide wasn't enough to do so. It left him stuck as a demigod.

Had Akaban chosen domains related to the natives or savagery, he might long since have become a true god. If that were the case, Leylin would have had nothing to do with Debanks Island.

'Akaban… your misfortune is my greatest fortune!' Having thought this through, Leylin seemed to hold the pearl of wisdom. The look of absolute confidence he had evidently stabbed at Akaban's ego.

"What can a mere divine being of another race, someone who isn't even a demigod, do to resist attacks from all sides?" Given that he was a founding emperor, there were no such words as modesty or consideration in Akaban's vocabulary. He looked at convenience and benefits.

With a wave of his hands, the double-headed lion and golden scorpion surrounded Leylin. Akaban himself rode the chariot to roam the battlefield, bundles of golden flames splashing everywhere and forming a resplendent scene in the night.

The blazing horse, itself a demigod, whinnied, and a shadow of a sun rose up behind Akaban. The imposing aura curbed much of Leylin's energy, and Akaban prepared to deal Leylin the final blow.

Chik! Chik!* The golden scorpion cried out without end. Its tail shot forth, containing toxins within that were much more potent that the wizards' Finger of Death. The double-headed lion roared as well, using its innate skills. One head spat out flames, while the other spat out blue lightning.

Most importantly, their domains rippled out, beginning the process of crushing Leylin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Advancement

"Surrender. You will lose in a mere contest between domains." Akaban's voice echoed throughout the battlefield. He was circling Leylin leisurely, aside from the two demigods in combat.

He had the valiant spirit of an emperor, and before becoming a demigod he had clearly been a tactician. His words were designed to affect Leylin's mind. Sadly, Leylin's own hardships had given him a will that was harder than diamond. Such challenges were pointless, only revealing Akaban's lack of confidence to him.

'Are you worried about any trump cards that I have? Or is it my background on the mainland?' The gears in Leylin's mind whirred, and he soon understood what the other party was thinking. Akaban seemed to know a little about the gods on the mainland, which was why he was guessing at Leylin's identity.

Unfortunately, Leylin was now completely alone. Even if he were to be killed here, nobody would cause trouble for Akaban… Besides his main Warlock body, that is.

'I can wipe out all four of them easily if I use the floating city, but then it won't be a secret anymore…' Leylin looked deep in thought. He had amassed a tremendous number of cards up his sleeves, and the jaws of the other gods would probably drop if they found out about it.

The floating city had shifted to the area outside Debanks Island, awaiting his next commands. At its peak performance, the floating city could contest against true gods! Taking care of a few demigods was like playing around.

Unfortunately, such power would be sensed by the other gods, making things difficult for him in the future.

"Massacre domain!" Leylin chose to fight it out with his own strength. The dark red domain burst forth from him, allowing him to get a huge boost in strength. He was now on home ground, after all.

The dark red domain that held the power of tyrannical bloodlust abruptly expanded, and even pushed the domains of the two demigods away. They were now on equal ground.

'Such pure bloodlust, and the strength of this domain…' Watching from the sidelines, Akaban immediately seemed to be put deep in thought, as if he'd gotten some inspiration from Leylin's domain.

'Is it the purity? I was too greedy in the past… To become a true god, I'll need to completely grasp at least one aspect.' This inspiration seemed to change Akaban's body, making his divine form more solid. This was the most terrifying part about him, he could learn and improve even in battle!

If Akaban could walk out of this battle, then he would be able to get rid of the heterogenous elements in his domain and obtain a divine domain. That would make him a true god!

'Unfortunately… you won't get that chance!' Leylin laughed wildly, the legendary spell in his hands seemingly cast instantaneously.

Meteor Explosion! Crushing Palm!

A dazzling explosion and a large palm drowned out the two demigods fighting him. Enraged howls sounded out amongst the bright spell lights as Leylin used Dimensional Leap to arrive in front of Akaban. A golden staff appeared in his hands.

Chiu! Chiu!* Lights flickered, and a flaming golden bird came into existence. Its gigantic wings flapped out flames like they were petals as its large beak began to peck at Akaban.

"A divine being's soul? Is that what you're counting on? How naive!" Facing such an attack, Akaban merely frowned slightly. The horse in front of the chariot abruptly snorted, absorbing all the scattered flames.

"Seeing that you gave me pointers on my path, let me send your truesoul to the astral plane!" The golden lance in Akaban's hand pierced forward, striking the beak of the large flaming bird.

A crisp shattering sound rang out, and the flaming bird's beak began to fragment like glass, revealing the goldens staff underneath. The beak of the bird had actually been the staff's tip.

"Be it the strength of your domain or your accumulation of divine force, you cannot match up to me…" Akaban seemed to sigh, his golden lance mercilessly striking the crystal at the top of the staff.

Chiu! Chiu!* The large flaming bird soul in the crystal emitted a miserable cry, and the core that held a slight hint of gold shattered. However, Akaban felt that something was off.

"Haha… Thank youvery much, you helped me take care of the last bit of resistance. I would have found it rather difficult to tame it!" Light flickered, and Leylin's figure quickly left. The flaming bird at the tip of the staff exploded, and reformed.

However, unlike before it seemed to lack intelligence, looking rather stiff. Bundles of flames enveloped the staff, and energy undulations with more than legendary might rippled out.

All this happened in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. Leylin had made use of Akaban's strength and completely subdued the flaming bird, even refining the Red Dragon Staff once more.

"The name Red Dragon Staff now no longer suits you. Let's call you the Blazing Scepter!" Leylin sized up his work in satisfaction. As he had used the soul of a divine being and had help from a demigod, even if it wasn't a divine weapon yet the Blazing Scepter was much stronger than other legendary items.

'A divine weapon needs the flesh and divine force of a god to be completed…' Leylin sighed in thought.

Meanwhile, Akaban was thoroughly enraged in front of him. "Wretched sinner! How dare you make a fool of me!"

His fury was like that of a regent, and a large hole opened up in the night skies. Blue lightning, each bolt as thick as a human arm, fell continuously. Akaban felt the ultimate humiliation in being made use of to refine a weapon, and teased by a mere divine being.

The wrath from such disrespect could only be eased with the fresh blood and soul of the sinner!

"I will show you the sin you have committed!" The warhorse snarled, and the flaming chariot charged forth. Akaban's lance danced as the lightning in the skies gathered at its tip.

Roar!* *Chik! Chik!* Meanwhile, the two demigods Leylin had occupied for a while pounced over as well. Although they looked a little pitiful, there weren't any injuries. The joint attack of the four demigods pushed the air out of the region, forming a strange vacuum.

The pressure on Leylin rose rapidly, and the force that surged towards him from all directions seemed to want to tear him apart.

"As expected, a divine being trying to fight a demigod will lose…" Leylin could only smile wryly, and then began to look resolute.

"Did you only just notice? It's too late! Your body shall be placed under my golden throne to be used as an eternal decoration…" Akaban roared. Along with the other three demigods, his attacks soon drowned Leylin out.

Lightning, flames, poison… All sorts of forces mixed in with the power of divine force. The domains formed a colourful, spotted, and chaotic region of energy. Leylin's aura quickly weakened within, to the point that it completely disappeared.

"Even I won't be able to deal with the attacks from four demigods…" Akaban withdrew the golden lance in his hands, "It's a pity that I didn't get the method to undo the plague, but I now know that becoming a true god is possible… Hm? Wait!"

Akaban's expression quickly changed, as he sensed the descent of powerful World Origin Force.

Whoosh!* The skies quickly darkened, and the stars and silver moon quickly hid their luster. It was as if a berserk dragon was travelling through the dark clouds, and compared to it Akaban's lightning was like that of a kid playing house.

"The descent of World Origin Force… This is the appointment of a demigod!" Akaban had experienced this once before, and naturally would not get this wrong.

Just as he was about to do all he could to interrupt the process, an absolute and powerful strength burst forth. Traces of the conscient of the World Will sent him and the three other demigods flying.

The gods truly were the darlings of the world, and when they advanced they naturally caught the attention of the World Origin Force. The isolating energy that came was not something four demigods could deal with.

The World Origin Force that had come roaring in immediately attracted the attention of a few powerful gods. While the advancement of a demigod was nothing much, there were a few existences who still noticed him.

"This… it feels like a demigod, and the location is at the the south of the south seas, the natives' territories. Has a totem spirit or natural spirit advanced?" To the gods, the totems of the natives were like a group of useless things. They were weak and could not leave their respective areas, which was why they were not worthy of attention. Several streaks of godly conscients gathered in the skies, and then dissipated like this had nothing to do with them.

However, no matter how careful Leylin was, his reputation of being the youngest legendary wizard was sound, and he had caught the attention of some existences.

Golden light flickered on Faulen Island, within Waukeen's church. It turned into a woman dressed in luxurious golden robes.

'I could never be wrong. This aura is that of the wizard! Has he become a demigod?' Waukeen's eyes crinkled in a smile, 'Interesting! His name as a genius will probably resound through the continent once more…'

At this thought, Waukeen called out sternly. "My servants!"

"Mistress!" A few priests of wealth knelt and listened to the goddess' commands.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Demigod

Leylin had no time to care about the events outside. He was currently immersed in an extremely peculiar state.

Becoming a demigod was as difficult as scaling into the skies, but it was no issue for Leylin. He'd amassed enough divine force a while ago, but he'd lacked a turning point. That turning point appeared today. The immense pressure of four great demigods allowed him to break past his limits, and pushed the ignition of his godfire.

Becoming a demigod required cooperation with the laws of the world. It was a very valuable experience for Leylin.

'In the moment of becoming a demigod, one is shrouded in World Origin Force and laws. It is probably the safest place…' Leylin did not worry about the events outside, immersing himself in his senses. This was just him becoming a demigod. When he attempted to become a true god with a divine realm, even a greater god would not dare attempt anything on him that moment.

The gods usually waited for the process to complete, attacking the new god at their weakest. Compared to their eternal life, a period of patience was minuscule. Just the same, Akaban's group chose to watch on, keeping some distance so as not to infuriate the World Origin Force.

"The sea of origin force has descended…" A golden light glinted in Akaban's eyes as he saw a large sea of origin force that was even greater than the Weave. It surged forth and whistled, forming songs of praise.

'Based on the current situation, the chances of his success are high…' Akaban frowned, sensing that he now had another impressive enemy. But then, he laughed involuntarily.

Unlike him, the three beasts did not have many worries. 'Even if that divine being successfully becomes a demigod, he's still a newbie who can't control divine force properly yet. How could he be a match for the four of us combined?'

They only felt an instinctual fear right now, unable to help growing intoxicated from studying the process in the hope of benefits. It was a rare opportunity to watch the sea of World Origin Force surrounding the ascent of a new god, and no god would let it pass them by.

'These fellows…' Akaban shook his head, shutting his own eyes and using his divine vision to observe the web of origin force. This gushing sea of energy represented everything in the World of Gods, showing Akaban its secrets from behind the veil.

However, this intoxication only lasted for a moment. Akaban's eyes widened in shock as he turned in Leylin's direction.The origin force had already formed a spiral like a black hole, its might leaving his heart thumping in fear.

'What a huge tide of origin force… This is already comparable to a true god… Does that mean his accumulations far surpass my own?' The strength of Leylin's ascent was several times greater than his own. The implications left Akaban in no mood to appreciate the World Origin Force further.

Few in the history of the World of Gods could have drawn such a tremendous sea of origin force as a mere divine being. Although Akaban did not know what this meant exactly, his expression turned dark.

However, no matter how complicated his feelings were now, he could only watch the whistling origin force surge and roll, before being sucked into the black hole with Leylin at the centre.

……

[Beep! Unknown energy detected, host's soul has experienced a transition. Secondary system updating…] The A.I. Chip went to sleep.

Legendaries of the World of Gods were equivalent to Morning Stars of the Magus World. High-ranked legendaries were comparable to Radiant Moons, while divine beings were at the Breaking Dawn realm. A demigod was close to rank 7!

In other words, Leylin's clone was now as strong as his main body in the Magus World. It was quite natural for the accumulated energy to allow the A.I. Chip to upgrade itself.

Leylin was already beginning to anticipate the day he could return this upgraded secondary system to the original. When they combined, they would surely possess terrifying abilities!

Originally, the powerful cheat that had helped him become a Magus, the A.I. Chip, was all-powerful amongst those below rank 7. However, beings of laws had thinking speeds that did not lose out to the supercomputers of his previous world.

A series of inexplicable changes occurred as they traversed through space and time, and the A.I. Chip had fused with Leylin's soul It could now develop with him. The chances of such an event were so small it would likely never occur again in the multiverse.

This miraculous property had allowed the A.I. Chip to upgrade itself multiple times, assisting Leylin. It could give him the upper hand at decisive moments during battles with other beings of laws!

'It's good for the A.I. Chip to sleep for a while anyway. I want my main body to feel the power of laws again…' Leylin slowly withdrew his divine conscient. The golden lustre on his body had grown even more dazzling, causing him to seemingly turn into a god made of gold. It made each and every action of his seem holy.

Lights converged, and began to blaze underneath the sea of origin force. Leylin had taken in Beelzebub's worshippers from the mainland, and established a base in the outer seas. Just the faith from that could support a demigod.

But he wasn't satisfied with just that. He'd crossed the seas to occupy a portion of Debanks Island, and he now had over 300,000 native worshippers! They were indebted to him for saving them from the brink of death, so their faith was very enthusiastic. Even with the flaws in their souls, the power of this faith was still massive, more than enough to support a new god!

All these things combined, Leylin's accumulations could be said to have reached the limits of a demigod. His massacre divinity had condensed to a point unprecedented in history.

A regular divine being would just explode, unable to contain so much power. However, Leylin was different. His main body was near rank 7, and a Warlock at that. His previous experience allowed his divine will to reach all parts of his body, controlling everything.

At this moment, all the followers that worshipped Leylin felt a surge of desire in their hearts. In this state of intense longing, all of them set aside what they were doing. They faced the holy radiance in their hands, a statue in the church, or even just the skies as they began to pray.

"Our Lord, Kukulkan… You are the world serpent that devours all. With the sharp blades of your massacres, even the stars in the sky lose all their lustre before you…" An exceptionally strong wave of faith rushed forth, immediately giving rise to an even more intense change.

Rumble!* The divinity on Leylin's body was now completely visible. It burnt off all his clothing, leaving him in his birthday suit. Amidst this surge of faith, he was like a huge fire in a pool of gasoline!

Rumble!* Golden flames immediately appeared on his body, glowing with a sacred lustre. With the amassed power of faith and the massacre divinity, Leylin's own fleshly body fueled the resplendent glow of the flames.

Drip! Drip!* Leylin closed his eyes, each and every action following that of the World Origin Force. Under the illumination of flames, his perfect body melted like wax into the flames.

The powerful aura fell silent as everything condensed down, including the golden flames. The godfire shrank to the size of a soybean but the power that bean gave off was horrifying.

This was the foundation of a god, the godfire~ Once it was ignited, divine beings would become demigods, truly demarcating themselves from mortals. They had reached the realm of the gods!

The godfire seemed to be a condensation of all laws, and it kept shrinking and growing. It was like the flames were breathing in faith, transforming it into a pure divine force.

Only with divine force were gods able to bestow divine spells upon their followers. It was what qualified them to be gods. This godfire was what allowed the power of faith to be transformed into divine force.

While Leylin had amassed a large amount of faith with the unceasing prayers, his pitiful priests had not one divine spell. They could only spread his faith through word of mouth, and if not for the 'holy water' that could cure the plague, he could probably die trying to spread his faith on Debanks Island. Doing the same in the continent would render far worse results.

The golden threads of divine force sketched an outline of a human figure, forming first the golden bones, then the flesh, veins, and the skin. This was followed by his eyes and other features, as a god's body made of divine force took form. This was a process all demigods had to go through, their lives themselves experiencing a qualitative change as their souls were refined to a higher level.

The golden divine force vanished, to reveal the divine body's true features. Muscles bulged to form elegant and beautiful lines, holding a trace of laws as if the body itself represented the origin force of some will. His facial features were distinct, and filled with a masculine beauty. Although Leylin's appearance had not changed, he now had a tremendously imposing aura to him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Divine Spells

"Is this the feeling of being a demigod?" Leylin muttered under his breath, sensing the ever more sturdy threads of faith as well as the terrifying origin force in his body coming from the godfire. He extended his right hand, and a trace of golden power appeared in the veins on his palm.

This power was something unique to him. His will could transform it into all sorts of energy, be it qi, magic, or something else.

"Divine force?" The tremendous power of faith had been transformed by the godfire, becoming a large amount of divine force that filled up Leylin's body. He felt like he could tear the very world apart.

[Beep! Upgrade complete!] the A.I. Chip's voice sounded at this moment. With Leylin's own soul advancing into the divine, the A.I. Chip had also reaped unknown rewards. Having resumed operation, it began the tedious work of updating Leylin's hugely changed stats.

[Beep! Host has ignited his godfire, becoming a demigod. All stats 5.]

[Host's arcanist rank has risen. Now rank 27.]

[Beep! Host's stats have all reached 20 points. Intermediate Perfect Body has advanced with the bonus of becoming a demigod, and is now Divine Body.]

[Beep! Secondary system has been upgraded, computational power increased. Analysis of levels 8 and 9 of the Weave are at 100%/. Host has obtained all spell models, and will no longer forget any spells. No materials required to cast spells.]

This was evidently the boost the godfire had given to his stats. However, even Leylin himself found the extent of the increase terrifying. Because of the restrictive laws of the World of Gods, it was very difficult to increase one's stats. Once they reached a threshold, each point would grow more and more difficult to attain, and at the same time increased one's might greatly.

This stat increase of 5 points each wasn't small at all. It was a huge increase in his power, over tenfold!

[Beep! Host's stats and data have changed greatly. Recalculating…] Almost at the instant this prompt showed, the A.I. Chip showed his stats on a screen.

[Leylin Faulen. Race: Human (Demigod), Rank 27 Arcanist (Legendary). Strength: 21. Agility: 21. Vitality: 21. Spirit: 27. Arcane Energy: 270. Divine Force: ??? Status: Healthy. Feats: Legendary Sturdiness, Well-Versed, Dreamscape Vision, Extreme Adaptability, Divine Body. Specialties: Origin Force Detection, Arcane Amplification, Illusions.]

[The outer Weave has been analysed completely. Beginning analysis of the inner Weave.]

"With the outer Weave done, I need to begin on the divine spells and web of faith in the inner Weave. I'm already a demigod, so I have the right to use a part of the inner Weave anyway…" Leylin muttered to himself before looking at the description of Divine Body.

[Divine Body. A god's true form is made entirely out of divine force, and can change in any way. Grants peak tolerance to all environments as well as the ability to travel to the outer planes. Grants the permanent ability to understand all languages, as well as Epic Damage Reduction and Epic Magic Resistance. Grants immunity to all spells below rank 9, as well as other spells like Timestop.]

'Divine Body? So that's where the true strength of a demigod lies!' Leylin sighed in awe as he read through the information relating to the feat. The defence the divine body provided him ensured that few beings in the mortal world could harm him. Regular and arcane spells imbued with divine force would now become his best weapons.

'But I can't see my divine force statistic yet. I'll need to determine units for it, and then find the patterns and rules behind it myself…

'Most importantly, I can finally bestow divine spells on my priests. But that's only up to rank 5…' As was instinctual to a god, Leylin immediately knew what divine spells he could bestow.

'In general, they're all blessings and cures. There's also Devil Detection and Massacre Blessing.' A large number of divine spells appeared before him, along with general descriptions. There were rank 1 spells like Blessing, Cure Light Wounds, and Command; then there were rank 2 spells like Bear's Endurance and Bull's Strength. It went up to the rank 5 Cure Light Wounds (Mass) spell and Summon Monster. There was huge variety.

The two specific spell models he named left Leylin in deep thought. The divine spells priests could cast were all virtually the same, but sometimes there were unique ones characteristic of the god that bestowed them.

These two were Leylin's. He was proficient at identifying devils and his domain was the massacre domain. It gave his priests spells like Devil Detection and Massacre Blessing.

'Having acquired divine force, demigods can establish churches. It gives them a chance to eventually compete in the mainland… After all, there isn't much of a difference other than the lower level divine spells. In fact, the time of a church's establishment is the best time to join, the first worshippers will be offered the greatest perks…

Most demigods only established their churches after igniting their godfires. Leylin, however, seemed to be ahead of the pack. If not for his astonishing capabilities and the devil worshippers and natives aiding him, he couldn't have done it so easily.

Now, his church finally had a sturdy foundation, which gave him a shot at competing with other gods for faith.

There was a special title for such demigods in the World of Gods. They were called false gods. They could bestow holy spells and reply to their worshippers' prayers, but weren't true gods yet. They were often repressed by Helm, the God of Protection.

However, Leylin's church was located on Debanks Island, so he wouldn't have to fend that off. The churches on the mainland would wind up in a worse state, so much so that they would have to cease their operations and hide in the abyss. This caused originally good demigods to shift to evil as well…

The transformation ended. What seemed to be a long while to Leylin was only minutes for the four demigods.

"He's out!" Once the tidal surge of forces died out, Akaban looked solemnly at the figure that emerged. Leylin had put on an illusory white robe now, and although his features weren't different he possessed an imposing aura. This was the authentic aura of a demigod!

"You've gathered a lot of faith!" Akaban looked Leylin deep in the eye, his expression betraying his jealous thoughts. The two-headed lion, the golden scorpion, and the blazing horse had similar reactions.

"I am the devouring serpent, the ruler of massacres, the monarch of the devils… The Winged Serpent, Kukulkan!" Divine force streaked past Leylin's eyes. He did not pay any attention to the four demigods, instead letting out a divine decree. A giant half-bodied phantom appeared above Hope Stronghold, declaring Leylin's authority and might.

Having advanced to become a demigod, he could finally get rid of the constraints that held him back when he was weak. He could now connect with his worshippers in his true form.

"Almighty lord, you are the saviour of my soul, the salvation of the mortal world…" Many clerics found after a prayer now that multiple divine spells were inside their bodies. They were like normal magic spells, and could be cast if they were willed.

Even the most foolish would realised that the Winged Serpent God had advanced and grown stronger. They immediately cheered. The large group of priests felt like they'd gotten power which could suppress everything.

Although holy spells were not as efficient as regular spells, clerics trained much faster than wizards, not to mention the number of people who would be training at the same time.

The holy spells were extremely effective at shocking the natives. No matter what plans Akaban had made, they'd now failed completely. The numerous cheers and the tidal surge of faith formed an astonishing current beside Leylin.

"Not good! Now that he's a demigod, this is his domain. Retreat!" As a regional spirit, Akaban had the same weakness as totem spirits. The power of faith he possessed waned if he left his lands, and another divine domain would suppress him.

Before Leylin had advanced, it hadn't been at evidence. Now that he had, though, the suppression was one of equal levels, and it had a frightening effect. Akaban had originally dreamed of crushing Leylin with numbers, but after seeing Leylin's true might, but this founding emperor of Sakartes shuddered in fear.

"First you taint my domain, then you want to leave? Isn't it too late for that?" The massacre domain stretched out, covering the entire sky in crimson. It had already been strong, but Leylin's advancement had maximised its potential.

"I control massacre itself! The ichor of gods will provide me strength, their wails giving me energy. Your bones will form my sceptre, and your eyes will be turned into jewels…"

These words sounded like a song of legends, and the decree of a curse. Leylin instantly appeared before the two-headed lion.

Roar!* The demigod knew that it was in danger, and let out a crazed roar from the depths of its soul. Immense divine force appeared from its jaws.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Kill

[Beep! Host is under attack, activating divine forcefield!] A formless, contorted forcefield appeared after the A.I. Chip's notification, halving the two-headed lion's might. What remained had no more effect on Leylin's divine body, not even affecting his robes.

'Divine forcefield? So in a battle between gods, the focus is now on divine force, divinity, and their domains?' Leylin's eyes flashed as he ignored the lion's attack. He had a way to negate it, but now that he had the powers of the divine forcefield, he could do even less.

The lion roared with rage, and Akaban and the other two demigods saw an unforgettable scene.

"Let it out…" Ignoring the lion's attack, Leylin jumped on its back and ripped through his skin and flesh. Ichor splattered across the sky.

Shing!* Even as cries of anguish sounded, he pulled out the lion's spine.

Such a thing would cause severe injuries even to a demigod with a divine body. After all, the divine body took an immense amount of divine force to build. Leylin had used the World Origin Force to make it the first time, but such a thing could only happen once.

"Your blood will give me strength." Leylin's chant reverberated in the massacre domain, as if the best of musical accompaniment.

"Your bones will form my sceptre, and your eyes will be turned into jewels!" The chant reached a high note, and the severely injured lion shuddered. Four grotesque claws appeared from the void, stabbing the two-headed lion's four eyes.

These claws were a murky green, the skin as dry as the bark of an ancient tree. Strange curse runes were all over them, more intricate even than the runes carved by arcanists.

The four claws pressed on the lion, causing it to cry out in extreme pain. Soon, each of its four eyeballs had been forcefully extracted from their sockets, and they flew to Leylin's palm.

"And your soul… will become the pool of energy for my divine weapon!" Leylin looked at the lion and spat out the final line in this sacrificial rite.

Boom!* Golden flames filled the sky, melting the lion's spine to form a short staff. The eyeballs shrank continuously in midair, finally embedding themselves into the crown, becoming four differently coloured jewels.

Once Leylin spoke the last line, the world itself had seemingly stopped. Formless power restrained the lion, bringing its body in front of Leylin.

"Incinerate!" A wisp of black flame began to engulf the lion. One could see the shape of the totem spirit within, forcefully being extracted from its body and transferred into the staff. The flames licked at the corpse until they reached the godfire.

Bang!* The golden flames dimmed after the lion's death. It extinguished itself on its own, the power it had contained leaving Leylin cautious.

Crackle!* White lightning streaked across the sky, as if sending off this fallen demigod. Only then did Akaban and his party regain their senses.

These demigods only wished to leave this dreamy state. What had they just seen? A demigod perished! He was on the same level as Leylin, but he was slaughtered like a lamb and turned into a divine weapon.

It had happened too quickly. By the time they regained their senses and wanted to help the lion demigod, it was already dead.

Leylin ignored the other demigods, and looked at the staff embedded with with four jewels. 'Hmm… Although it's a weapon made from a demigod, it's an incomplete divine weapon, at most at the same level. Still, it should be enough as the sacred item of the church in the mortal world…'

"What's next… is you guys…" Leylin's eyes slanted to one side as he glared, emanating an incomparably murderous aura.

Chik!* The golden scorpion chirped, turning into a black gust of wind as it disappeared. The speed at which it fled made Akaban's expression turn even darker. His trustworthy comrade had actually been scared away from just a glare.

"This isn't the strength of a demigod. Who are you?" Akaban asked, teeth clenched. He knew that the void had locked in on him, so he instead chose to ask the wise question.

"Me? I am the Winged Serpent Kukulkan! The serpent which devours everything and controls all massacre. Of course, you can address me as Leylin!" Leylin grinned, and walked over to Akaban. The increasingly pressing aura left even the demigod's horse neighing in unrest.

Although they were both demigods, Akaban could only feel fear in front of Leylin!

"Are you mocking me? How could an ordinary demigod have a strength such as yours?" Akaban howled, his eyes turning red.

"You just watched me advance…" Leylin replied honestly, but it made Akaban want to puke blood. If he knew that Leylin would be this powerful after advancing, he would have killed Leylin at all costs the moment he appeared on Debanks Island. However, it was too late for regrets now.

Leylin laughed inwardly as he saw Akaban in a state of bewilderment. Although he had accumulated many trump cards, he was ultimately only a demigod. To really crush others on the same level was impossible. However, he didn't just have one body. There was an even more powerful Warlock, nearing rank 7, in the Magus World!

Once Leylin advanced in the World of Gods, the injuries to Leylin's main body had recovered. They did share the same soul, after all. He could now provide even more strength to the clone inside the World of Gods. Hence, fighting Leylin right now was like fighting a demigod and a near rank 7 Warlock at the same time!

Furthermore, a long period of research, along with the appearance of the World Origin Force and laws, had enlightened Leylin in many areas. It allowed him to transfer Magus spells over to this world. The claws from before, the ones that butchered the two-headed lion, were an amalgamation of his learning.

However, he still wasn't very familiar with the laws of the world. He could only cast Magus spells every once in a while, and even he hadn't expected such good results. It had only been theorized before.

The extremely powerful Magus spell had killed a demigod and scared away another. Leylin could not have asked for a better result. Of course, Leylin would not reveal these secrets to Akaban, only creating a fearsome image which would be imprinted in Akaban's mind.

"Even if you are an evil god from the main continent, don't ever dream of controlling my empire…" A holy war between gods was based on the power of faith, which was the most raw and resolute of battles. There wasn't an inch for negotiation. Akaban's gaze was resolute, as golden rays radiated from his body.

Neigh!* As if understanding his determination, the blazing horse in front of the chariot neighed loudly, as a light golden domain was opened.

"Conquest domain, huh? And with such a combination…" The A.I. Chip's light flashed in Leylin's eyes, but he was not one bit unafraid.

'That's great, it's about time to test units for divine force. A.I. Chip, begin recording!'

[Beep! Mission established. Collecting host data, monitoring divine force] the A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

"Hah!" Akaban was riding the flaming chariot now, waving his golden lance about. The sun runes on his body were even more visible than before, as the shadow of the sun behind him grew even more radiant and searing.

"A tribal demigod is indeed just that. There's no technique at all," Leylin said in disgust, a wave of divine force welling in his hands.

"Divine force transformation— Absolute Break!" With divine force as the source of his power, this legendary arcane spell had obtained even more power than before. A dark light instantaneously hit the tip of Akaban's lance.

A crack soon spread from the tip of the lance, looking like a spiderweb. A moment later, the lance turned into dust. The same came into effect on Akaban's chariot, and his blazing horse's armour. Akaban stared in disbelief as he separated from the flaming horse.

This Absolute Break spell had obtained an unimaginable victory for Leylin.

"However, the native demigods really are destitute. Apart from the weapon and the chariot, there weren't any other artifacts…" Leylin waved his hand, and the golden light of divine force formed a palm.

Shattering Fist! The golden first grew larger and larger, the runes on it as clear as water. This fist seemed to be made of flesh and blood, and carried a massive amount of power as it sent Akaban flying with a trail of blood.

"This is the strongest demigod on Debanks Island? What a disappointment…" Leylin waved his hand again, and this time an incomparably large Mage Sword appeared, shining with divine force. He chose not to control this one with his spirit, instead grabbing it by the hilt.

"Die!" The Mage Sword slashed downwards, and golden light filled the spot where Akaban was struck. The immense power even split a mountain behind the demigod into two.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Running After Defeat

Wooh!* As the Mage Sword was about to strike him, an enormous figure appeared before Akaban's eyes in a flash of red flames.

"No!" Akaban watched his beloved mount get torn apart before his eyes, pitiful moans spilling from its gaping jaw. The flaming horse had moved in front of him, laying down its life to take the killing blow.

"Was that Flame Teleportation? I wouldn't have been able to stop you if you fled… What a pity." Although he was uttering such words, Leylin still moved to the flaming horse's side. The demigod seemed to sense its imminent death, and it turned towards Akaban. Its eyes were full of admiration and helplessness, regret that it had to leave its partner behind.

The horse then summoned up the remaining trickles of its divine force, and an enormous sphere of flames enveloped Akaban. He disappeared from sight.

"NO!" The only thing that remained was Akaban's pained roar, his regret reverberating in the plains.

This noble steed had been his partner in all his fights. He loved and trusted it more than he did his imperial concubines and offspring. Even in death, he wanted his horse to accompany him. Were it not for such passion, how would a demigod allow him to ride it?

Now, everything would be destroyed.

"So you had such affection for your steed? What a shame…" Leylin praised Akaban's loyalty, but the Mage Sword in his hands was unhesitatingly put to use.

Whether he was a hero or a villain was all a matter of perspective. He clearly knew that with the horse's loyalty the chance that it could be soothed into submission was practically zero. What was his course of action, then? With the grudge between them only resolvable by death, he considered the complete destruction of his opponent the most reasonable course of action.

'He's already escaped the outskirts of Hope Stronghold? He really is quick!' Having shut his eyes and sensed a faint trace of Akaban's coordinates, Leylin gave up on his plan of pursuit.

After all, Akaban was one of the tribal gods of the natives. With the power of faith in the Sakartes Empire, he was infinitely close to becoming a true god. Given Leylin's current strength, chasing after him would be a masochistic idea.

This went the other way as well. Had Akaban not acted so stupidly in bringing his subordinates into Leylin's divine domain, he wouldn't have lost as badly as he had.

'The battle of the divine has come to an end. Now, it's time for the battle of the mortal world…' Although he did not intend to continue his pursuit, Leylin did not plan to let Akaban off. Since the demigod was so reliant on the natives' faith, it was time to dig his foundation out. Once he conquered the entire Sakartes Empire, Akaban would be a stray dog with no home. Anyone could slaughter him.

"Tiff!" After returning to the cathedral, Leylin immediately expressed his intentions.

"My lord! You are the stars in the heavens, and the ruler of all there is to devour. Slaughter is the sharp sword that you hold in your hand…" Tiff answered Leylin's summons before long, appearing at the center of the cathedral. His eyes were filled with emotion.

His body still had trace bloodstains on it. It was clear that the mortals had acted in tandem with the gods that had united to attack Leylin. It was a shame, though. All their schemes had disintegrated the moment Leylin ascended and bestowed his divine spells.

"How's the current situation?" Although he could mostly divine what had happened, he still needed Tiff's personal report to obtain the concrete specifics.

Tiff knelt on the ground as he respectfully reported the situation, "The Sakartes Empire conducted a surprise raid. Luckily, my Lord, we had your blessings and managed to force them into retreat. We didn't even sustain heavy losses; those who were injured healed extremely quickly with your divine spells, returning to their troops."

The difference of morale between troops who had priests and those who didn't was like night and day. The power of the healing arts was too formidable. Healing resources were rare in the prime material plane, so the divine spells of the priests were the only clutch that injured soldiers could depend on to survive the battle. The priests were also indispensable when boosting morale directly.

The native troops hardly equalled Hope Stronghold's legions. The only upper hand they had was the surprise attack, but once the clerics came into play they were utterly defeated.

After all, their shamans and other divine Professionals could only wield their divine spells within their god's domain. In Leylin's territory, the opposing troops didn't have the home ground advantage. It was pointless to discuss victory and defeat.

"Mm," Leylin nodded. "It looks like you didn't face many enemies this time. They seemed to have pinned all their hopes on the divine battle, and these troops were only used to sow chaos and serve as a distraction…" His eyes flashed with understanding as he bestowed this divine edict.

"Those despicable natives. They will inevitably pay for their actions today in blood!" Having become a demigod, Leylin's aura had grown even more powerful. It even held a trace of the power of laws.

"As you command, my Lord! Hope Stronghold will start a war. This time, we must teach them a painful lesson!" Tiff respectfully bowed his head.

"No, not a lesson. This will be extermination! I wish to never see the word Sakartes marked on a map ever again!" Leylin's cold reply caused Tiff's heart to constrict in fear.

Tiff gritted his teeth, but he still replied with determination, "Your will shall be done." After all, Leylin was the absolute authority in this place.

"Very well!" Leylin nodded, and with a wave a golden staff flew into Tiff's hand. Its handle was decorated in the motif of a lion, and the four differently coloured jewels on its crown shone radiantly. The entire staff seemed to be encircled by a formidable power.

"Is this… a divine weapon?" Tiff asked as he looked on in bewilderment.

"Yes. It's a weapon I refined using the enemy's false god. The jewels on top contain the power of lightning and fire. It's only a demigod-ranked weapon for now, but it should serve as the authority of a pope."

"My Lord…" Tiff's voice was choked with emotion.

"Go, I will watch you from the skies." Leylin waved him away.

"Yes, my Lord. I will defeat the entire Sakartes Empire for you, and conquer all of Debanks Island!" Tiff solemnly swore to Leylin.

……

Leylin's ascension hadn't just affected him. Hope Stronghold itself had grown enormously stronger. With the support of the priests' divine spells, the troops could now show a military power that was several times greater than before. As for seizing the opportunity to conquer the Sakartes Empire in battle, it was already a foregone conclusion.

With the boost from Leylin's divine aura and divine weapons, Hope Stronghold's main army effortlessly invaded the heart of the Sakartes Empire with irresistible force. The decadent native troops were unable to withstand a single blow.

Well, this was all really just the propaganda spread by the church. Although the outcome did not differ much from what was in the official reports, the course of events was something entirely different.

Away from their homeground, Leylin's armies were facing enemies that had the support of a demigod and similar numbers of clerics and other divine Professionals. Their opponents possessed several hundreds of years more of accumulated resources. However, spring had arrived. Sadly, the plague that had been curbed by the bitter cold broke out vehemently once more.

In Leylin's previous life, spring had always been the season where epidemics spread widely. The situation here was comparable, so it was hardly surprising. The plague was even more ferocious than before as it swept across the entirety of Debanks Island, creating more and more ghost towns. With its ability to infect even those who were once cured, even the divine Professionals were left up to their ears in work.

Leylin had previously killed two demigods, and it was the same as cutting the number of available clerics in half. With the balance at such a crucial point, even a single feather's weight was of paramount importance. What then about losing half of your clerics?

Sakartes was now met with another wave of death. There were so few clerics available that even nobles were dying out, forget the commoners. The troops from Hope Stronghold who had forced their way into Sakartes numbly took over ghost town after ghost town. A high number of enemy troops had surrendered to them as well.

There was nothing else to be done. If they continued to stay, all that waited them was death. Defecting would give them the holy water that could save their lives. At the same time, those natives who had surrendered used themselves as an example to show that none of them had been turned into sacrifices, or demoted to slaves after their surrender. Naturally, this situation was not without pressure.

Furthermore, for the sake of preserving their lives, those native commoners had fallen over each other in their eagerness to riot and erupt in chaos before the troops from Hope Stronghold arrived. They had even sent people to request the Stronghold to rescue them.

Generally speaking, the current situation was going great. It would only be a matter of time before they conquered Debanks Island. In these circumstances, Leylin chose not to personally get involved.

At this point, his personal perspective and status had already changed. He only needed to respond to the daily prayers requesting divine spells, and Tiff and Isabel would take care of everything else.

Leylin had now entered seclusion. After becoming a demigod, there were far too many differences between him and an ordinary mortal. Without much experience being one, he needed to slowly feel out his new role.

With his special senses as a god, his followers were presented before him in successive screens. They were even clearer than when he'd been a mere divine being. His connection with his priests was incomparably more convenient, and a lot quicker than before. Within the limits of the Weave, he could gather faith and bestow divine skills with ease.

"Mystra probably only has complete control of the outer Weave. She can only interfere slightly with the deeper levels…" Leylin understood the innate character of the Goddess of the Weave in that moment. She was essentially a jailor in charge of looking after the many Magi at the core. The numerous gods would never entrust their own worshippers to Mystra's control, so there were considerable limits to her influence.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Beginning of Battle

'The inner Weave is a convenient way for a god to channel faith towards them. It didn't reject me using it, so it seems to be open… The basic requirement is that one is a demigod?' Leylin looked lost in thought.

'The innermost core of the Weave, as well as Karsus' Avatar, the rank 12 spell…' The thought of how difficult it was to release the conscients of the numerous Magi, even Leylin frowned. He had to get rid of the entire Weave to do so, which included the outer Weave that numerous wizards counted on and the inner Weave that the gods used as a channel for faith.

Would the gods willingly abandon such a convenient channel as the Weave? Regardless of their intellectual abilities, and their ability to count the number of worshippers in their divine realms in an instant, the Weave was more than just an upgrade to their calculative abilities. It greatly reduced the cost of bestowing divine spells, and increased the convenience. Having become used to such a great advantage, could they still accept and tolerate more traditional methods?

'Once I shatter the Weave, I'll be going up against the entire World of Gods…' Leylin looked grim, 'It won't just be true gods. All demigods, and even nature spirits or divine beings who can use the Weave will probably become my enemies as well…'

Only Leylin who was from a foreign world would have the guts to take on an entire world. However, even he had to consider his options carefully. While Distorted Shadow still had incomplete conscients in the outer world, he had not done much in tens of thousands of years. That was only to be expected.

'I'm afraid I'll have to push my agreement with Distorted Shadow back…' Leylin stroked his chin, having made up his mind.

Now that he was a demigod, the injuries to his main body should have completely healed. Having taken over Debanks Island, the faith in him had greatly increased. It could even support his ascent to godhood. Time was definitely on his side.

If this dragged on, and both his bodies reached a higher realm, the terror that would be brought forth when they fused would be enough for him to take the plunge and challenge the world!

'The spread of faith is one thing in ascending to godhood. Another is to guide my worshippers, forming my unique role as a god.' Leylin was now aware of the relationship between faith, godfire, divine force, and a god's roles.

Faith was the source, being transformed by the godfire into divine force. This was the root of all gods, and the power of faith wasn't all the same. There were slight differences, and for example the soul energy radiated by great anger was completely different from that in extreme fear. The faith in a demigod was heterogeneous, so it took a lot of effort to transform it into divine force.

A god's roles acted as a guide, planning for the soul energy of their worshippers in advance. If godfire was an engine that purified faith to provide a more stable source of power, a god's roles were the key to separate the diesel from gasoline.

While in general the soul energy that could be absorbed after a god classified themselves would decrease, it would grow in purity. It reduced the burden on the divine, to the point that the amount of divine force left after the transformation was actually greater than before.

After all, which was easier— burning either diesel or gasoline, or both? Most probably would know the answer to that.

'A god's rule doesn't simply separate soul energy. It involves delving deeper into that domain, and acquiring even more terrifying might…' Leylin could now sense the faith from the pious worshippers and their tremendous soul energy. His godfire burned more vigorously than before, a few runes representing laws beginning to appear.

When it came down to it, a god's role was an embodiment of their laws. These runes indicated that he would soon form his own! Even the incomplete golden characters allowed Leylin to gain a better understanding of the World of Gods.

'The essence of the runes seem to tend to massacres and conquest, as well as sickness and healing. Will my first role as a deity be amongst these?' Leylin's eyes flashed with the rays of the A.I. Chip, 'A.I. Chip, is it possible to record this script?'

Although these law runes were incomplete, they were very unique. They weren't three dimensional, instead perhaps near four-dimensional. The A.I. Chip of the past would have been powerless at this, but after the upgrade it's limits weren't defined yet. Leylin wanted to test what it could do.

[Beep! Mission established. Beginning scan…] the A.I. Chip loyally intoned, large amounts of blue data streaming past Leylin.

[Beep! Target scanned. Discovered high energy force field, attempting to break through. Successful, beginning to analyse the characters of laws. Recording… Beep! Target has the properties of a 4D image, discovered interference from spacetime radiation. Data partially lost…]

[Beep! Characters have been scanned. Records only 67.66% complete.]

The large paragraph caused Leylin to grin in glee. He looked at the database of the A.I. Chip, seeing a subdirectory under laws called 'godly role runes.' Within it were the characters that had just been scanned.

Although they seemed less complete than those in the godfire, they still had the distinct charm of the original. The A.I. Chip of the past would definitely have been unable to make this scan. That it could force a partial copy gave Leylin a pleasant surprise.

'If all these characters are analysed completely, the chances of even natives igniting their godfires to obtain godly roles should increase by 50%…' Leylin nodded in satisfaction, and then focused on the analysis of the characters.

'Massacre and conquest, sickness and healing?' The results of the A.I. Chip's preliminary scans were according to Leylin's expectations. This was indeed the image he gave the natives of Debanks Island.

The selection of a god's role could easily give rise to battles between gods. Based on the A.I. Chip's conclusions, Leylin sank into deep thought. 'The characters of laws show that most of my faith comes from massacre and sickness. They're the most likely way for me to become a god. There's less in terms of conquest; the natives don't really have a concept of races and culture, and there are many battles even between their tribes. Faith in healing is the least, huh.'

Pure faith would not lie, and Leylin could only laugh wryly. From the looks of it, even if his church bestowed holy water and helped with the sickness, the natives still treated him as a personification of massacres, sickness, and death.

'Well, faith arising from reverence is always more stable than that from love and respect…' The grin on Leylin's face widened, 'Looks like I'm not fated to be in the good faction…'

Leylin had already decided to walk the path of massacres. With the power he held, he definitely wouldn't side with the good gods anyway.

"From the power of faith alone, massacre and sickness seem more stable…" Leylin had made his choice. He valued a domain in massacres more than one in sickness. Besides, few gods had grasped it, some of them being Cyric and Malar.

Although Cyric was a greater god, he was half-crazy, paying no mind to the administration of his mortal church. It had caused the priests of murder great distress. Things were different with sicknesses and plague. Leylin would rather fight against lunatics and beasts than the Goddess of Plagues who was clear-headed. He did not wish for there to be occasional plagues in his territories.

"And… Cyric?" Leylin lowered his face, ridiculing him with soundless laughter…

……

From the viewpoint of the gods, everything on Debanks Island was right before their eyes.

"Saintess, our vanguard has already taken over the two citadels in Ado City and Dole City. As long as we get Dul City as well, the capital of the empire shall be right before our eyes!" The troops of Hope Stronghold were proceeding smoothly along the massive lands.

The girl Leylin had conferred a title to, Saintess Barbara, had completed her routine prayers. She was now listening to the routine reports of a native army official.

Golden light flashed on her fair forehead, causing her to be bathed in a holy lustre. Aya and her little brother stood respectfully at her side, having become her maid and servant. Out of gratitude for their saviour, as well as the need for survival, the two of them now worked for her. The Saintess seemed to admire the great relationship of the pair, and had brought them with her.

"The capital?" Aya's eyes lit up as if she had recalled something, but that quickly dimmed.

Barbara seemed to think of something, and she asked, "Aya! You came from near the capital, right?"

"Mm! I was once a clanswoman of Ado City's Juna Tribe. I escaped with the rest of my tribe once plague struck…" Aya spoke slowly, and her brother bowed his head as if he had recalled something terrible. Truth be told, most of the natives that had fled with them had died on the way. Sickness and famine were the greatest natural enemies of the commoners.

Less than one in ten had gotten across the mountains and waters, making it to Hope Stronghold.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Devil Hunter

Recalling the hardship along the way, and how they'd made it safely, Aya felt like she was in a dream.

'This is all due to Master Kukulkan!' At this thought, she couldn't help but grab the sacred crest in her hands, beginning to pray silently.

'Mm, the imperial capital of the Sakartes Empire. If I can take that down and offer it to the master…' An idea arose in Barbara's mind, filling her thoughts. She wasn't being greedy, everything was just happening too smoothly.

Although she'd brought less than ten thousand troops from Hope Stronghold, many natives suffering from sickness had requested to enter. Even those from the imperial army changed sides. On top of that, having obtained the news about the divine battle through some secret channels, even the nobles of the Sakartes Empire began to waver.

The consequences of this was that Barbara's army kept expanding without needing to expend effort. They had even reached near the capital with effortless victories. Along the way, in order to obtain the 'holy water' and blessings from the feathered serpent god, many native refugees took on arduous jobs. The secondary army also suppressed rebellions to express their loyalty.

Knowing that Hope Stronghold lacked people, Barbara accepted all offers from refugees and armies. In a short period of time, the army had expanded by five times! There was now a native army made of 50 000 troops, as well as other refugees.

Tiff had initially been worried there might be spies who snuck in, but it seemed that the natives had no intentions in this regard. Rather, due to the huge numbers, making commands and logistics created a headache for them. There had been a few times where things were extremely chaotic.

The Sakartes Empire now looked to be done for, when it could not even take care of such an oversized army.

The continuous successes naturally raised Barbar's ambitions.

"As long as I take down Dole City, the imperial capital will lose all its protection…"

Barbara planned in her mind, before watching the chaos at the city in the distance, stunned. Thick black smoke and screams could be heard from afar.

"Report!"

A knight darted over, looking to he had something urgent to report.

"Let him come!" Barbara waved her arms, and the guards that had held him back dispersed.

"Saintess, a few leaders in Dole City have joined hands to create a rebellion. They have now gotten control of the entire city and agree to giving up their faith to accept the feathered serpent god— But only if we give them the holy water as soon as possible, and that they hope we can take in people from the city that's now in chaos…"

"Proceed!"

Barbara nodded and sent down the order.

At the very beginning, this sort of scenario had gotten her all excited, but she was now numb to it.

She was even feeling disappointment of achieving something herself.

However, at this moment, she had something more important to do.

The takeover of the city went smoothly. Under the threat of death, there were very rare cases of false surrender. Barbara had used her previous experience and sent a batch of people to help fight the fire. She then met with the few leaders and, after promising that the holy water would be provided, the entire Dole City was somewhat in her grasp.

The reason why it was only 'somewhat' in her grasp was because there were still altars and priests. These were also the last bit of resistance in Dole City.

When it came to battles stemming from faith, they were far from intense and terrifying than usual ones. For this reason, Barbara did not relent and headed to the altar.

"Saintess, the altar here is for the two false gods, the giant flaming horse Woods and the emperor who established the empire, Akeban. While the priests of the giant horse has lost all power, the clergy of Akeban still have support with divine force. They've managed to get a group of soldiers to guard them…"

One of the leaders who now sided them led the way with sly smiles. After changing sides, their totem godly spirit had immediately become false gods. If Leylin were here, he would definitely lament at the practicality of humans.

"I understand. Leave the rest to the church!"

Barbara watched the altar that was now treated as a defensive structure, and her beautiful brows furrowed slightly.

While she was disgusted at the betrayal of these leaders, she had no choice to take them in as examples for the rest.

After losing two demigods, the priests of the demigods could no longer handle the demand for healing required, and at this rate, death was certain. In Barbara's eyes, betraying for the sake of survival was extremely understandable.

However, there was a batch of forces that would resist, which made things slightly troublesome.

"Get the warriors from the church over!" After walking through the defensive structure, Barbara finally acknowledged that the enemy's elite forces were truly powerful, and similarly sent her own elite men.

Amongst the natives, there were also exemplary professionals. The classics included forest hunters and amazon warriors, who had caused Isabel some trouble.

Now, many of those guarding the altar were these sort of professionals.

However, after building the Giant Serpent Church, Leylin too began to build a church that was militarised, now that he had a huge number of natives under him.

Now, a batch of half-naked and highly capable native warriors with devil tattoos arrived in front of Barbara.

"Saintess! The warriors of god shall heed your commands!"

"Good, warriors of our master! Use your fury to expel the last bits of filth of the false gods!"

Barbara stood in front and sent forth a command for them all to attack.

Almost at the very instant that the order for mobilisation was made, there was a huge change to these natives. They all began to row, muscles bulging bit by bit as they quickly became mini giants.

The luster of divine spells lighted up on their bodies, bringing with it the unique radiance from the feathered serpent god.

Under the illumination of such radiance, the devil tattoos on their bodies became more vivid, and their eyes shone with a devilish glare.

The abilities that only devils had were given to these warriors.

"For our god. Go!"

These native warriors with devil tattoos unhesitatingly charged forward, resulting in an attack similar to a tsunami around the altar.

"The number of warriors of our master has has increased by a huge degree…"

Barbara now looked reassured, boosting these warriors with divine spells alongside other priests.

As a church, priests and military strength was extremely important. Tyr, for instance, had a distinct professional pathway of paladins.

While combining what he knew of the Debanks Island with his own strength, with help with the A.I. Chip's simulation calculations, he had also created a whole new strength pathway for his church. Devil hunters!

As the name implied, all professionals that had ranked up in this area could obtain sensitivity to devils and the unique tracking ability of hunters.

By activating the devil runes, they could even obtain an ability similar to bloodline abilities of devils!

This profession that was a fusion between warriors and bloodline holders was very powerful, but there were also flaws. The professionals had to meet extremely tough requirements when it came to their willpower.

In addition, the pain from branding devil runes was horrifying.

Thankfully, Leylin now had many subordinates. He had slowly selected beings from 300 000 people, and getting a few thousand devil hunters was not difficult.

Leylin had especially created something special for this strength system.

If a being could capture a real devil and seal them in their own body, the hunter would obtain much of the strength of the devil! Their ranking might even increase!

Only hunters with devils sealed within them were truly devil hunters!

For a certain reason, Leylin might not have a blood feud with the devils, but they were clearly mortal enemies.

The reason he created this profession was in preparation for the devils on the continent. Besides followers of gluttony, all who had anything to do with devils would be struck with fatal attacks from devil hunters! This would begin to weaken the strength of the Nine Hells of Baator.

In addition, devoting efforts to attacking the devils was politically correct for the faction of gods on the continent. Nobody would complain.

Barbara naturally knew nothing of Leylin's intentions. Meanwhile, she was sighing in shock at the astounding abilities of the devil hunters.

Those who had retreated into the church and guarded the altar were obviously diehard followers of the false gods. There was no need to differentiate between them, and it was enough to kill the whole lot.

Once the altar was purged, Barbara grimly stepped inside the hall. The green flooring was now dyed in bloody red, but she did not find anything wrong with this.

For the natives, stealing everything from the opponent, including their lives, was something natural.

At the heart of the altar, there was an obsidian statue with a warrior riding a war chariot. However, the horse in front of the chariot had long since shattered days ago.

Weng weng!*

As if sensing that he was being disrespected, a terrifying pressure rose from the empire establishing emperor, Akeban's statue.

"Hmph! False god!"

Barbara merely glanced at the emperor disdainfully and gripped the holy crest in her hands.

"Our master, feathered serpent Kukulkan! Please bestow upon me strength!"

Holy luster characteristic of Leylin emanated from the holy crest. White rays flashed, and the immense pressure from before disappeared, and there were even some cracks on the statue.

"Destroy the statue and purify everything that has to do with it!"

Barbara ordered solemnly.

Soon enough, statues, holy crests, books, and even drawings hung on the wall were torn down, turning into ashes from the flames.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Founding a Nation

Done with the basic cleanup of the church, they erected a statue of the Winged Serpent God. With Saintess Barbara's lead, numerous warriors, soldiers, and nobles knelt to pray.

"Praise to our Lord, the Winged Serpent God Kukulkan. You are the serpent of the world that devours everything and grasps the power of massacres. Your body extends across the universe, stretching into past, present and future. Your beautiful eyes are like the clearest of lakes, the water from which can cure everything…"

The statue of the Winged Serpent God began to glow with the prayers, setting the worshippers' minds at ease.

"Our master has responded, the statue is complete!" Barbara exclaimed in delight, and then began to pray loudly. The power of faith converged to form a tide.

Within this tide of faith, the two eyes of the statue seemed to come to life as they brightened with intelligence. Dazzling divine force spread in all directions across the church, covering the city and even the skies outside. It was as if it was cleansing something, repelling and rejecting a golden glow tinged with dark red.

"This is a battle between faith!"

From the perspective of a god, Leylin could see all this happening even more clearly. A large region, with Dole City at its heart, had now completely escaped Akaban's control. His own power now filled the area.

Akaban's regions were now dwindling. From hereon out, the area around Dole City would no longer be his home ground, instead becoming Leylin's territory. Akaban's strength would drop if he came over, and Leylin would easily slaughter him.

Maps showed that the faith in Akaban had been reduced to a minimum. All that was left was a tiny region surrounding the imperial capital, the remaining lands surrounded and nibbled away by Leylin. The day they broke into the capital would be the day of Akaban's death.

This was the tragedy of earth-bound spirits and gods. They could not abandon their territories and followers, for only death awaited them otherwise. And for the same reason, Leylin wasn't in the least worried that Akaban would flee.

'Those true gods lead much better lives in comparison. They aren't limited to specific domains or regions for their faith, and even if they fall they can recover as long as faith in them still survives in the prime material plane, if their worshippers call the god's name from the bottom of their hearts… They're basically as tough as Magi of laws.'

As Leylin was pondering, his eyes suddenly shifted.

"Hm? That guy still dares to come here?" His body disappeared, reappearing at a church near the bounds of his territory.

Chik! Chik! A large golden scorpion was waiting in midair. Seeing him, it took the initiative to move out of the way, stowing its stinger and claws as if acknowledging allegiance to Leylin. Some information was transmitted into Leylin's mind.

'Looks like it isn't here to fight. Beasts have an instinct to follow the strong, huh.' The demigod golden scorpion was obviously here to pledge its allegiance. Seeing the death of the double-headed lion, as well as Akaban's constant weakening, this was an obvious course of action.

"Then… prove your worth to me!" Leylin transmitted with a divine glint in his eyes.

He already had plans to take the scorpion in. After all, it was a native god and had so many uses. Since he planned to expand his power and establish a pantheon, he needed to have gods in that category.

Akaban wouldn't work. He represented all of the natives here, and naturally had the right to succeed and rule over the region. Leylin had to destroy him. However, things were different with the golden scorpion, and he could use it as an example.

"You should be the totem of the Raring Winds, right? That large tribe of natives?" Leylin stared straight at it, "Use all your strength and join my attack on the capital of the Sakartes Empire. That will prove your loyalty. I also hope to see you around in the divine battle."

This condition evidently did not surprise the scorpion. Without any hesitation, it agreed.

"Alliances are so fragile in the face of disaster…" Leylin lamented as he watched the scorpion leave.

The rapid weakening of the powerful native gods had given him a great warning. When he built his pantheon in the future, he had to consider things more comprehensively. There was a need for firm contrast, and also a requirement for equal opportunity and justice at the minimum. Without these things, even if the gods grew powerful they wouldn't escape the fate of betrayal and abandonment.

"The last campaign will begin soon," Leylin looked into the distance in the direction of the Sakartes Empire and made his own prophecy.

……

With no more defences blocking her, Barbara was planning to take over the rest of Dole City in one spurt. However, that was interrupted by an order from the church.

"I should await orders? The pope and Lady Isabel are coming as well?" Barbara gasped, and then glanced at the emissary, "I will definitely abide the will of the pope!"

No matter how courageous she was, Barbara would definitely not go against Tiff and the others. When it came to status, she was still a native, while Tiff and the rest had been long-time worshippers. Although there was talk of equality and freedom, the natural gap between them was hard to overcome.

In addition, she was a mere worshipper herself. She naturally had to abide by the orders of the church. Barbara knew full well how much influence Pope Tiff had, and she was merely a worshipper who was bathed in their god's favour and come to be called a saintess. As long as she was not a Chosen of their god, she had no power to go against Tiff.

'What should I do to gain more of the Lord's favour?' Barbara placed her palm under her chin and sank into deep thought…

Leylin didn't bother with such trifling thoughts of his followers. As long as they wanted a better life on Debanks Island, all beings would side with him for a variety of reasons.

This battle was one that would wipe out an entire nation. A new order would be built on the ruins of Sakartes, and something like that would net a person both fame and fortune. It wasn't something to give someone like a saintess.

In reality, even Tiff did not have the qualifications to do so. There was only one person that could govern the area to combine both reason and law. And that was someone who had Leylin's blood flowing in them! For this very reason, once Tiff and Isabel brought the elite army of fifty thousand troops over from Hope Stronghold, Leylin himself arrived at the barracks quietly.

That their god personally came down for them immediately raised the morale of the soldiers to a terrifying degree. In comparison, Dole City was in a dismal situation.

Huge numbers of nobles chose to give up on the rule of Akaban and his children, pledging their allegiance to Leylin in secret. Once the Raring Winds that believed in the scorpion demigod hastened over with their elite warriors and over ten thousand men, they combined forces with Hope Stronghold. With such an army surrounding the imperial capital, even those who had resolutely believed in their emperor now faltered.

The tall city walls could not hinder the spread of the plague, and they could obviously do nothing against the crumbling will of the people.

In a mere three days, the capital of the Sakartes Empire was broken into from the inside. Flames surged into the sky from the imperial palace, causing the army that had planned to fight to halt in their tracks. They could only watch as the palace that represented the glamour and splendour of the royal bloodline vanish.

On that same day, Leylin intercepted Akaban who was planning to escape. He killed Akaban with the scorpion's help, officially ending the more than five-century rule of the Sakartes Empire. The horrifying news that their god was destroyed shocked the leaders and nobles.

Having lost someone to pledge their loyalty to, few chose to fight Hope Stronghold, especially since it had holy water that could cure the plague. Most quickly chose to side with the Stronghold.

The new capital was now called Faulen, and a whole new empire was formed after the flames of war washed away all filth.

Because it was a country formed from faith, Leylin was unwilling to pass on the responsibility to others. He became the very first emperor, and from then the rulership would be succeeded by those with his blood for all eternity.

The new empire was quickly acknowledged by the surrounding tribes. After everything that belonged to the Sakartes Empire was taken over, and his organisation had expanded to the entirety of Debanks Island, they began the intense effort of eradicating the plague and clearing land.

With the 'holy water' and the god's baptism, the grim reaper that devastated Debanks Island was finally controlled. To the commoners, the Giant Serpent Church was like the sun in the sky.

Since the war had ended quickly, and they'd taken in a large number of tribes, the initial assessment of the population in the region came up to an astonishing 920,000. The plague had taken away about half of the initial 2 million natives, but it also left behind a huge amount of wealth.

After all, the mean wealth was lower when a huge population shared limited resources. This was also the cause for life and death battles between tribes. Now, however, the overgrown lands far exceeded the needs of the population, and the intense societal conflicts were eased.

After organising the clearing and plowing of land, as well as announcing the liberation of some slaves to take charge of their own land, the empire quickly gained a positive reputation. Leylin took in all the faith of the followers, turning it into a firm power that would support his ascension to godhood.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter