Chapter 201
Dragon City stood in the San Soliel Mountain Range. From a distance, the entire city appeared to be made from pure white jade, and it emitted a solemn and holy aura under the sunlight. As one came to its foot, the view of the peak would bring even more shock.
Outside the city, the meadow stretched far and wide. Farmers were working hard in harvesting crops in the fields. They sweated like rain, but their faces were full of happy smiles as they busily shouted. Even the children were happily laughing, painting a peaceful scene.
Louie and the elf queen thus came to the outside of the city. The two walked side by side without any attendants or maids. Only they were watching the scene of busy farming citizens.
The elf queen was dressed in a gown like a celestial maiden. With her gentle steps, the frills and ribbons on her dress floated in mid-air. Her snow-white feet would touch the rich fertile soil, yet no dirt could stain her body. She seemed to walk on clouds.
Louie withdrew his gaze from the queen's legs and pointed at the land, "The river there, which I call the Dragon River, flows down from San Soliel Mountain Range and serves as an abundant water source for the city. Its waters are sweet and clear. It runs down towards the southern coast and into the sea."
Louie and the queen stopped by the rover. It was a hundred meters wide and extremely deep. Although the edges of the river were clear enough for one to make out the stones underneath, the center was so deep that this was impossible.
There were countless moats on two sides of the river, splitting it into several streams. These channels flowed straight into the farmlands, and dumpers would scoop up the water and irrigate the farmland.
"What's that?"
The queen noticed these strange devices and asked.
"Those are dumpers used to irrigate the farmland. When I first invented it, I only planned to use it to irrigate my garden, but I then thought that it may be better to use it on the farmlands. It seems that my people were thoroughly convinced of my words and have already used these dumpers in their fields.
Louis smiled and explained to the queen.
In the European Middle Ages, agricultural irrigation technology was introduced from Arabia in the late Middle Ages. The overall civilization of San Soliel, on the other hand, was closer to the early Middle Ages. With no agricultural irrigation, Louie decided to invent something for it since the technical knowledge of making something for farm irrigation was not high.
"So, you can also do this without spells. Your wisdom is truly amazing."
The queen's eyes flashed. She gazed at the irrigated farmland and the tool that could save countless hours of manpower. As a queen who understood the livelihood of the people, she was easily able to calculate the benefits.
"Compared to the convenience brought by magic, these things are not much."
"You degrade yourself too much to the point that you aren't dragon-like. For these ordinary farmers, these dumpers are more attractive than any spell.
The elf queen complimented Louie as they both approached the farmland.
The busy farmers saw the two people, but when facing two people who seemed like nobles and wore flashy clothes, they did not dare come over. They even felt fear and pressure under the two's gaze, causing them to stop joking around and work silently.
Only a few citizens of Dragon City had seen Louie in his humanoid form. If he had appeared in dragon form, he would have been easily recognized by the people.
"Our arrival has frightened them."
The queen calmly pointed out reality.
"Both of our clothes make us look like nobles of the city. It's only natural that they would be afraid. There is always a gap in classes that could never be eliminated, nor do I have any intention of eliminating it. If people were all equal, then would there still be a difference between Gods and mortals?"
Louis smiled.
"Although they were afraid, their smiles were filled with happiness. I can feel that these farmers are inwardly happy."
The queen closed her eyes to feel the farmers' joy.
"This was also an expected thing because I bestowed the land to them."
"You bestowed the land to them?"
Louie's words shocked the elf queen. This was completely different from any of the class systems in the world.
"The king assigned lords to territories, and the lords had knights under them with their estate and land. The knights would tell the farmers who were their subordinates to cultivate the land. However, these farmers had no rights and did not own anything. They would grow crops in surplus, but only a small part belonged to them. The vast majority of them would have to offer what they grew to the knights."
"After these knights take their share, they would have to turn the crops to their lords. The lords would then do the same and offer them to the royal family. The food is grown by farmers, but they get the least while the lords and kings get the most."
"The land near Dragon City is reasonably fertile. If all of this land was used, it would be enough to supply all the city's residents. But why was it that when I became the lord of the city, I found out that the city's residents could only eat black bread and couldn't even eat their fill?"
That's the problem with the current system. In the past, this land belonged to the Theocracy. Any food grown in these lands would belong to them so the farmers were unwilling to work hard. Moreover, no matter how many crops they grew or how great the quality was, they would only receive a set amount which could barely feed them and their families."
Louie pointed at the fertile lands and then pointed at the hard-working farmers. Even under the wind and sun, they seemed to be bursting with life and a passion to do their work. Then he continued, "But now, things are different. I have given them the land while taxing them a small amount. Then I allowed them to decide how they wanted to use the rest of the harvest."
"These farmers could sell their excess harvest for coins. They could even turn the coarse wheat into refined wheat and feed the byproduct to raise their livestock. They could even sell their livestock once they have grown."
"With money, they would be able to buy new clothes. This would motivate tailors into making new clothes to sell. When tailors want to find new materials to make clothes with, merchants would be motivated to find these things for them. When there is material need, more business opportunities would open up and give everyone the greatest enthusiasm to create more wealth. Domestic demand is one of the most important things for the territory, for a country! Only with domestic demand will money circulate and thereby create more wealth."
"What use is there in having so much gold and silver? They are nothing but general equivalents. They do not create wealth by themselves. The real way to create wealth, you see, is actually in the hands of the people!"
Louie paused for a moment.
This was because he noticed that a new branch of his divine authority had been lit up. He now possessed the divine authority of earth.
This made Louie imagine the power of Neltharion, the Earth Warder.
As it turned out, the so-called earth did not specifically refer to the thick ground below his feet. Farming, cultivation, cultural development, and many others were actually a part of 'earth'. They could even be called the most important parts.
'The most important believers of the so-called God of Earth are actually the farmers. They will pray to the wind and rain, and pray to the God of the Earth to send down miracles, for their harvest to be abundant and fruitful.'
Louie reached an understanding.
This was the same as how Gods went through the process of obtaining their divine authorities. It was different from him borrowing the power of faith and divine power to light up divine authorities. This was a true reliance on his own comprehension.
Now, except for 'time' and 'life', Louie possessed three divine authorities: 'dream', 'magic', and 'earth'.
Chapter 202
"Lord Louie, sometimes you seem more like a wise philosopher than a dragon."
The elf queen listened to Louie's words and smiled coquettishly. Her pleasant bell-like voice spread in the air. Even the farmers who were not too far away were attracted to her divine voice and unconsciously looked over.
"Philosopher?"
Louie guffawed and shook his head without saying anything else.
Because it was a world where the Gods exist, the backward civilization hindered everyone from thinking about economics, or about how material wealth was created. Perhaps for the many people of this world, those gold and gems were the so-called wealth, but they did not know that these were only equivalents and not real wealth and money.
Moreover, they still remained the same now that the Gods had disappeared.
"It's just that… Since you are collecting only a small amount of food as tax, this will be unfavorable to your rule. Are you planning to use the food found in another realm to support the city?"
As the queen of a country, the elf queen understood the importance of the state's revenue and food reserves. As a result, she pointed out the flaws in Louie's approach.
This was the reason why the lords and knights of other countries collect so much food as tax from the farmers. Other than acting as currency, there wasn't a large production of crops in the world. If a farmer's harvest were not collected in a large area, the foundation of one's rule would be shaken.
The world of San Soliel was not a modern civilization. It had no machinery for large-scale sowing or planting. Even those poor countries in modern civilization did not have enough to eat, let alone this backward world that was in the Medieval Age.
"This is certainly not possible. Self-sufficiency is the key to sustaining a regime. I will one day become a God, or I might die on the way there. This city may also be handed over to my descendants."
"As a God, how can I just help mortals solve the problems of food every time. What mortals need is to rely on their own efforts."
The food that Louie had gathered from Earth had just been a temporary measure as he understood the concept of 'nobody can accomplish anything without the necessary means'. Louie had prepared a development path for Dragon City, but there was a lack of capital, so he went to Earth to get those supplies that would serve as the initial capital.
As Louie said, he would one day leave the main continent and sit atop his divine kingdom. At that time, the only problems that he would worry about would be his believers and his church. He wouldn't involve himself with mortal affairs. There had to be a divide between mortals and gods. If mortals sought the Gods every time they had a problem, then they would sooner or later become lazy, and the Gods would become their slaves. This was not something God should do.
Louie stretched out his hand while holding a handful of rice grains.
"Do you recognize what this is?"
"This is…"
The elf queen was reminded by Louie and blurted out, "Isn't this the rice I ate in your palace yesterday?"
"This is indeed the very thing you ate yesterday. I call it 'rice'. I have already planted this new crop in another place. With my policy, we will soon completely reclaim the lands nearby. In two to three years Dragon City will be able to achieve self-sufficiency. There might even be a surplus!"
Louie smiled mysteriously and sprinkled the rice on the ground.
"Does the crop called 'rice' have such a big yield?"
The elf queen let out an astonished cry.
"Normally rice does not have such a large yield, but the rice that I brought should."
There was no rice in the world of San Soliel. There was only wheat that Louie had investigated long ago. The special rice that Louie spoke of was hybrid rice that produced great yields. It was hybrid rice that could feed more than a billion people, let alone the population under Louie's rule.
If intelligent beings from outer planes and inner planes weren't taken into consideration, the intelligent beings in the main continent only added up to a few hundred million.
"As long as there is enough land, this rice alone could feed a million people. If there is any need, I could even find the divine object known as a potato to feed a larger population."
Louie began to think that he was becoming more and more like a God of the Earth as he worried about the food of mortals.
"Your Majesty, what do you think about the taste of rice?"
"The grains could fill up one's hunger. It's sweet and delicious. While white bread made from refined wheat had a more wonderful taste, it far surpasses black bread."
The queen recalled the meal that she ate the day before and described it in her own way.
She thought that the rice she ate was just like the cakes – a very rare luxury, but now, she had learned that it was actually just a common crop.
"The elves in the main continent have a population of around a million, but elves are not good at agriculture. I know that you spend a lot of effort every year to use elven specialties in exchange for food from other countries to meet the daily needs of the elves. However, you are only capable of exchanging black bread while the other important food sources still belong to other countries. This isn't good for your regime."
"I believe that in a few years when the agricultural production of the city reaches its targets, I can provide the elves with a large amount of rice that you ate yesterday. The problem with the food for a million people could be solved by our joint effort."
Louie slowly spoke. This sentence hit the elf queen's heart in its soft spot causing her to tremble. If not for the mist covering her face, Louie would be able to see her face lose color.
Louie believed that the elf queen could not refuse this offer. The most important thing she cared about was the lives of the elves. If the elves truly could not get enough food and starved to death, even the Gods would not be able to save them. When the Gods lose all their believers, they too would also be dragged down from the stars.
The queen's heart thumped faster after Louie's words. This was something she had been worrying about for more than a thousand years as the queen of the elves. The elves had low fertility rates and coupled with their unproductive habits, their race had a hard time growing strong.
If what Louie said was true, then this solution would be the key in unraveling the queen's biggest worry.
But the elf queen also knew that Louie would not give out preferential treatments for free. She understood that the elves would also have to pay a great price.
Louie looked at the elf queen who was in melancholic contemplation. He interrupted her thinking and said, "This is still a matter a few years into the future. You don't have to worry about it now."
The Gods were about to return. Even if Louie was standing on the same starting line, it still brought great pressure. Moreover, most of those Gods knew each other well and would be able to create alliances. On the other hand, Louie knew none of them, so he wouldn't be able to find allies.
Therefore, the Silver Moon Goddess wasn't a bad ally at all. As the elven goddess, she would definitely be against most of the human gods. Louie's current believers were humans and beastmen, but in the future, he would become the Dragon God. When that happens, the two of them could definitely become good allies.
Especially when Louie could tell how big the Silver Moon Goddess' plot was. A million elven believers were not much before the Era of Disaster, but in this era, it was already very overwhelming.
This made her a good ally. As for how everyone's interest could be exchanged, it will be discussed during that time.
"Your Majesty, let us continue. I will let you witness the changes in Dragon City and let you believe in my capabilities."
Louie said in an arrogant manner.
Chapter 203
Louie had already decided that the best way he could obtain more benefits from his cooperation with the Elf Queen was to have her see the potential of Dragon City.
Since he and the elves were already in a tight relationship, their destinies were already set in stone in a way. Given the locations of their respective territories, they would either become lifelong enemies or perfect allies.
Louie continued giving the Elf Queen a tour of his city to increase their intimacy.
"Asides from being situated in a geographically advantageous location, Dragon City also has fertile lands within its vicinity. In the west, we have grassland suitable for grazing. I have had the beastmen put it to good use."
"To prevent chaos, their livestock can only feed on their allotted grasslands. They offer some as a tribute to me as well as some of the state's official currency."
"Over there is a cow pasture. Why don't we take a look."
Louie and the elf queen approached the edge of the pasture, where the cow breeders were diligently milking the cows.
"There aren't many cows at the moment. Fresh milk is a luxury that has always been enjoyed by the nobility and royalty as well as those with money and labor to raise cows in their estate. It has never appeared on a scale large enough for public enjoyment."
"However, I think that as dairy herds expand and Dragon City becomes richer, even the most ordinary citizens could enjoy fresh and delicious milk."
"Milk is currently hard to sell as only rich merchants from other countries can afford it. I let them sell it at the market price, unlike countries who only turned these people into their workforce."
"These cows belong to me, and they are considered as something that I loaned to the herders. The cows that are born later would belong to these people. They just need to return these cows that I loaned to them. It might take several years, but for dragons, waiting for a few years is no big deal."
"Once the people of the territory become richer, my territory will become stronger. It will become a land where those seeking prosperity will flock to."
The elf queen seemed to have understood and nodded her head as if she didn't. She pondered for a moment and said, "You truly have an acute foresight and business acumen. If I didn't know you had intentions of becoming the Dragon God, you could perhaps become the God of Wealth. Printing money sounds good, but there is a downside to doing so. If too many of those notes are printed, it's easy to cause the price of goods to collapse."
Louie let out a smile after hearing this.
"You are talking about inflation, right? This is something I've been careful about. The notes I print are priced equivalent to the Subila Empire's currency. Any merchants that want to trade in my territory would have to exchange Subilan currency with my notes. In any case, the Subilan currency is still the most trustworthy.
"On the other hand, my goal is to one day make every country and power in the main continent accept Dragon City's notes as a currency that could substitute Subilan currency."
"As for the over-issuance of paper money, as long as it is within a certain range, there is no problem. What do you think is the most important thing for a country? That is the government's credibility. As long as the citizens of Dragon City believe in me, believe that I will always rule this territory, then there will be no problem. If a crisis were to occur, then I would like to thank the racial diversity of San Soliel. We could simply start a war to transfer the crisis to other countries and races."
Louie smiled cruelly. Domestic problems being transferred into the war was a common tactic. For example, World War II had been caused by economic depression. On the other hand, Louie as a dragon did not need any excuses to start a war. As long as his troops were strong enough to attack other races and countries, they could plunder and seize wealth to deflect possible problems within the territory.
On the other hand, elves were a peace-loving race, but that was only comparatively speaking. True pacifists would never survive in the world of San Soliel. Even the paladins of the Goddess of Morning would not speak about benevolence in the face of evil.
"This is indeed a good method. Four thousand years ago, the Forest of the Moon encountered a huge natural disaster. Many elves almost lost their lives. At that time, I started a war with the humans to shift the crisis, allowing the elves to survive."
The elf queen approved of Louie's words.
A dragon and an elf talked with each other with rather cold and ruthless political words. For them, kindness might be a necessity, but when the crucial moment came, citizens would just become mere numbers. As long as there were enough benefits, Louie and the elf queen would not mind sacrificing the citizens. They actually only needed one thing and that was faith.
"These radishes also provide a lot of nutrients. If they are pickled, they would taste a lot better and can be eaten by the common people."
Louie pointed to the radish field which was filled with ripe produce that was ready for harvest.
"Pickled? That requires salt to do, but salt is expensive and the average citizen can't afford it."
The elves' demand for salt was much lower than the humans or beastmen, but they would still need to import a lot every year. The elves would trade their handicrafts and specialties to countries outside the Forest of the Moon.
Fortunately, the Forest of the Moon was vast and abundant. The elves' fertility rate was low enough that the population would not skyrocket, otherwise, they would have long been extinct.
"Salt is actually not expensive. Other than technical limitations, a few countries can produce a lot of salt, but they control its production to give it an illusion of being a valuable resource."
San Soliel used boiling salt instead of basalt. This method wasn't that great. If Dragon City was in a territory close to the sea, Louie would probably have been able to make his own salt. In an instant, it would become worthless.
"Luckily, Your Majesty has come out to watch an interesting drama with me. Those merchants think that they can't produce salt in Dragon City, so they want to sell it at a high price. Come watch with me how those people go bankrupt."
Louie sneered.
The queen gladly agreed. She raised her hand to call forth her carriage. Although Louie was a dragon, he entered the carriage first and extended his hand to the queen like a gentleman.
Seeing that Louie looked like a male elf with the same moonlight-silver color as her, the queen did not stay reserved. She extended her delicate hands and let Louie support her. With a gentle pull, the queen was lifted up, and her bare feet touched the edge of the carriage.
Chapter 204
A unicorn pulled the carriage quickly through the wilderness. As they approached a wide river, Louie spoke, "My scouts have reported that there are many monsters and foreign races downstream. There is also a group of pirates hiding there. When Dragon City is sufficiently developed, I will create a river port that will go straight to the southern shores. If I could open a path from Dragon City to the southern sea, it would have a huge effect on the economic development of the territory. I have even thought of a good name to give the harbor."
The queen asked, "What is it?"
"Heh, let's call it Dragon harbor."
Hearing Louie's answer, the elf queen almost laughed out loud, but she hurriedly calmed herself. In a calm voice, she said, "Your naming is really simple. If there's a city you would name it Dragon City. If there's a river, you would call it Dragon River. And if there's a harbor, you would name it Dragon Harbor."
"This can't be helped. I am not that good at naming, but I think this name isn't bad. At the very least, people would associate it with me when they hear it."
Louie looked a little embarrassed but he still spoke cheekily.
The two people continued talking until the carriage reached the city. Because their identity would be exposed, Louie and the elf queen did not continue in the carriage, but on foot. With the use of magic, they changed their appearances. In the eyes of mortals, the two of them would look ordinary and no one would recognize them as demigods.
"Is there a festival in the city today? Why are so many commoners out on the streets?"
The queen looked at the mass of people that moved towards the center of the city and asked.
"You will find out."
Under the queen's interest, they opened a path with their divine might and easily arrived at the square and occupied a seat.
At the center of the square were officials of Dragon City busying themselves. There were many simple dressed civilians gathered together. Just like the queen, their eyes were filled with curiosity, and did not know what kind of proclamation the city lord was going to declare.
Louie had issued many decrees in the past. In the beginning, the people were half-hearted and suspicious. In the end, they found that those who followed his decrees obtained great benefits.
As a result of this, their trust in their lord grew. As long as the lord's orders were followed, they would get benefits, this allowed Louie to issue his orders easily.
And all of the city lord's decrees had the same scene. They would be announced by the officials in the central square so that the people could spread it in all corners of the city. The gradually trained soldiers acted as the final guarantee that the decree would be implemented.
Among the crowd of onlookers, there were not only residents of Dragon City, but also merchants and adventurers from other countries.
"My people!"
A young man wearing the uniform of the officials in Dragon City walked up the stage and opened up a magic scroll. It had the effect of amplifying his voice.
"Our great Lord Galakrond has issued a new decree. Please maintain silence."
With this announcement, the chaotic square fell into a deep silence. Everyone was full of expectations at the decree.
Those free-spirited adventurers were in disarray at the beginning, but as the surroundings became quieter and quieter, the human herd mentality came into play. In this bizarre atmosphere, they could only shut up, afraid that they might become a target of scorn.
When there was almost no noise left, the government staff nodded in satisfaction and shouted, "The lord is concerned with the livelihood of the people. Our city lacks salt and doesn't produce it. Therefore, those greedy merchants from other countries began to sell poor-quality salt at exorbitant prices."
"Salt is a necessity in all living beings. Humans, elves, and beastmen alike need it. Many foods also need salt to prolong their shelf life. Yet, those greedy merchants ignored the plight of the people and played with their lives for their own benefit. As a result, we would have to spend every penny we earn on salt, which is absolutely not allowed by the lord!"
"To solve the livelihood problems of the citizens, and to punish those rampant salt merchants, from today onwards, the government will begin selling salt. The residents of Dragon City can use their identity cards and salt tickets to buy salt at low prices to meet your necessities. As for non-residents of Dragon City, we are very sorry, but you would need to buy it at a market price."
In order to make the people believe his words, the government official waved his hand. In an instant, ten soldiers came forward each carrying sacks that had been part of the piled stacks behind the official. They cut the sacks open one by one. The countless people who were gazing at the scene were dumbfounded. As the sacks opened, pure shite salt poured out from the sacks.
In an instant, the crowd was stirred up. If no soldiers were guarding, some people might have been bold enough to go and grab some.
"Praise the Dragon. Is that all salt?"
"What a pure white color. It's completely different from the yellowish black trash that we eat."
"I heard that the salt that nobles and royalty eat are white, but this salt is too white."
Praise the Dragon! Can this really be bought at a low price?"
"When has the lord ever cheated us? Look at the white bread. How dare you not believe in the lord's decree? Do you want to die? Believe it or not, I will report you."
"Oh, mighty dragon! This salt has been wasted and spilled all over the square!"
"Isn't it just a little dirty? I would still lick it if it's just a little dirty."
"…"
When people came to their senses, the official once again raised his hand, causing everyone to quiet down. He coughed once and once again shouted, "You must believe in the lord. The mighty dragon will guide you to live a more prosperous life!"
You have to remember to be thankful. For the progress of Dragon City, for the prosperity of the lord, contribute yourself by working hard!"
"Before meals, and after meals, do not forget to pray. Once the new church is built, go regularly to pray!"
"You have to go with a devout heart and give thanks to the life you have now. Look at the world outside of Dragon City and think about your past lives, those outsiders are still eating black bread and worrying about their next meal in hunger."
"They are still being exploited by the greedy salt merchants. Those people couldn't even be called humans, but beasts!"
"You must defend the life you have now with your faith and with your strength. Be proud that you are inhabitants of Dragon City!"
"Give your life to the lord and offer your faith."
The more the official spoke, the more impassioned he became. He thought about what lord Clooney had taught him and shouted with an intoned voice.
"Long live the lord!"
"Long live Lord Galakrond!"
"Long live Dragon City!"
"…"
The crowd cheered fiercely. Their voices were like a tsunami that swept the entire Dragon City. Their deafening chants even reached the Adventurers' Guild branch.
When the crowd had finished venting their excitement, the official solemnly posed and uttered these final words.
"May the Dragon God be with you all!"
Chapter 205
The crowd cheered with great enthusiasm. By contrast, the expressions of the well dressed individuals who stood next to Louie and the queen were ashen.
"Uncle, what do we do? If we can't sell off our stock, we'll eat a huge loss."
A young man of about twenty anxiously asked the bearded forty-year-old man beside him.
They were from a family of merchants with a large sum of wealth. After hearing that Dragon City had not collapsed under its new lord's leadership and that it was in fact flourishing, they invested the larger part of their funds in bringing in carts of salt from salt-producing countries. They had intended to make a fortune by scalping the populace.
Now, however, the city lord's decree had effectively ruined them. Not only was the quality of his salt leaps and bounds above what they brought, but its price put theirs to shame many times over.
The man who was called uncle by the young man had cold sweat on his forehead. He gritted his teeth and said in a fierce voice, "Let us wait a bit more. Dragon City does not produce its own salt. I do not believe that the lord can continue selling salt for such a low price for a long time. Dragon City has more than a hundred thousand people. It won't take long for problems to arise when they sell at such prices."
Although he said that, the man knew that his words were whimsical by just looking at the citizens of the city. The residents of the city could eat white bread every day as if it was a cheap good. Even a merchant family like them couldn't afford this back at home.
In all likelihood, the city lord would sustain this practice for the foreseeable future. Thinking of this, the middle-aged man began to despair.
They had incurred huge expenses in hiring mercenaries to protect them as they transported their cargo to Dragon City. If they had to leave with it, the costs of protection on the way back and the losses due to dangers on the way would only make things worse.
Although Louie knew that the merchants were risking a lot to ship these salt, the benefits that they gained were too high. Louie would not let them merchants exploit his people. Salt was a basic necessity that every human being needed. If the people spent too much of their income on salt, then they would not have enough money to spend on anything else. This would prevent the development of the city.
In order to facilitate healthy economic development, Louie had to shut them down.
"In fact, I might just become a resident here. Look at the lives of the people. They are a lot happier than us merchants."
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly.
At this time, some adventurers had the same thoughts. The amount of money needed by citizens of Dragon City for basic food and drinks was too little. And they, the non-residents would have to spend five to ten times more to enjoy the same thing. How could this not make them jealous?
"If I might ask, how can I become a resident of Dragon City? I hear there are identity cards of some sort."
Some bold adventurers shouted. They were immediately supported by many adventurers and merchants. At the same time, those residents of Dragon City were beaming with pride.
In contrast to their previous selves and these outsiders, the citizens of Dragon City find themselves as if they were living inside God's divine kingdom. Their lives were paradisiacal.
"Hehe. That is a good question."
The government official was obviously prepared for this question. He shouted under the eager expectations of the people, "First of all, you must also put your faith in the mighty lord. This is the most basic requirement. Secondly, the lord does not like idle people. Even for those who are already residents of Dragon City, once you become too lazy, the lord will take back your status as a citizen. Only hard work can make the lord satisfied."
The words of the official inspired the people and caused them to whisper. These people had already tasted good food and were living fulfilling lives. They could live in comfort as long as they worked hard, and so they were absolutely unwilling to go back to the former status quo.
"What is this identity card, Lord Louie?"
The queen who had been silently watching the people openly asked this question.
"That is a card that proves someone is a resident of Dragon City. Humans are greedy creatures. If the amount of salt and wheat they could buy wasn't limited, then there would be speculators who would buy food from the city at a low price and sell it to other countries. This is absolutely forbidden."
In this world where civilization was not developed, food was an important resource. Louie allowed the people to trade freely, but food and other necessities needed to be strictly monitored. Even with his means, Louie had to be careful with them.
"I can see that Dragon City is still expanding. The number of residents here is indeed a bit low. You plan to use better living conditions to attract more people to become residents of Dragon City and gain believers as well."
Louie nodded his head, "According to my design, I would need at least three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand people to fill up the city."
"But believers obtained that way will not necessarily be true believers."
The queen's tone was a bit hesitant because the way Louie attracted believers was in truth an unconventional gambit that even she could not predict the effect of. That was because no one could imitate Louie in how he gathered believers with material satisfaction.
"Gods should be able to distinguish between followers, can't they? If faith becomes the basis of the test, then only those who have true faith can live a privileged life and become rich. If that's the case, then all human beings would become true believers of God in order to live better lives."
"Humans dream of becoming Gods. For these ordinary people, their dreams have always been to have enough food to eat and to wear warm clothes. To obtain these, each of them was willing to dedicate themselves to their faith."
As long as the parents are my believers, their children would also become my believers. After a few generations, these beliefs will become fixed. My way is definitely the fastest way to garner faith."
Louie paused for a moment before nervously asking, "Your Majesty, I do not know much about the world of Gods. There are some things that I may need your answer to solve. I would like to ask, how strong does a God need to be to maintain their godhood? How many believers would they need?"
"I can answer that question. A god with powerful divine power would require at least 500,000 true believers to satisfy the needs of their godhood."
The queen said in a sultry tone. She didn't seem to be surprised that Louie had ambitions to become a powerful God.
"I see. 500,000 true believers. It seems that I have a long way to go."
Louie pondered for a moment.
Even if Dragon City gained 500,000 residents, he did not dare guarantee that these residents would be true believers. Louie estimated that only about 300,000 of them would be. In other words, Dragon City would not be able to meet his requirements. In the future, Louie needed to expand his faith. He would need to expand his territory and the races under him.
There was a huge gap between true believers and pseudo believers. The latter could be said to have faith in God, but would not follow their teachings.
For example, Christianity claimed to have billions of believers, but in fact, more than ninety-five percent were probably just pseudo-believers. They only prayed occasionally and considered themselves believers of Christ, but in reality, their choices and lifestyle were far from what their faith required.
"And so, Your Majesty, there is nothing more to see here. I will bring you to the last place. After that, I will sleep for half a month before traveling with you to the Shadow Realm."
Louie and the elf queen left without a word, but the decree on salt had spread in Dragon City. This seemingly simple decree would bring great changes to Dragon City's future.
Chapter 206
The place Louie brought the elf queen to the noble district of Dragon City. It was quiet throughout the place and in the middle of a beautiful garden, a high tower stood.
With Louie and the Elf Queen's arrival, the beastmen warriors guarding the entrance saluted.
A dragon and an elf thus joined hands and entered the door. Once inside, the queen felt several magic fluctuations coming from the tower. At the same time, she could hear the orderly recitation from children.
"What is this place?"
The queen was a little surprised. Although her eyes were hidden behind a mysterious mist, skilled individuals could still discern her expressions.
Louie did not answer. He only smiled and continued to lead her to the basement of the tower.
In the basement of the tower were jars, pots, and pans strewn all over the place. Marches was on the side making potions and beside him were two dozen magical apprentices in plain robes who were respectfully helping him.
When Louie arrived, Marches immediately sensed it. He stopped his activity and trotted over with a smile on his face, "Master, when did you find time to come visit the 'Magic Tower'?"
Those few apprentices who were originally dumbfounded and stood aside without knowing what to do immediately reacted when they heard Marches' words. They ran over in a panic and knelt down in front of Louie saying, "Welcome milord!"
These mage apprentices were just ordinary civilians in the past. Because of Louie, they were able to eat well, and this earned him their admiration. In the spirit of repaying him, they became mages and trained hard to serve him. Although they were only apprentices, there was a high possibility of them becoming middle-ranked mages in the future.
A middle-rank mage in the current San Soliel could be considered famous if they were in an adventurer's party.
"Get up. I'm only here to show Her Majesty around."
Louie waved his hand to indicate for everyone to get up. After hearing Louie's words, Marches became more humble, "So it's Her Majesty the Queen of Silver Moon Kingdom."
He did not dare look at the queen because she emitted an indescribable fatal charm. Even Louie would be lured in from time to time. Moreover, the queen was one of the most famous demigods in the main continent. As an archmage, Marches was just a worm that she could crush at the drop of a hat.
"So these are the most talented among the apprentices?"
Louie looked at the young mage apprentices. They were a group of mixed male and female students with the oldest no older than seventeen and the youngest no younger than ten. In poor family homes, children matured very early. They respectfully bowed their heads with some excitement, but also with faith and respect towards Louie. They stood there without saying anything, but Louie could see the thread of faith that was connected to him with satisfaction.
"Yes, master! These are the ones with the highest degree of affinity to magic power. They are among the fittest after drinking magic positions. They only took a short amount of time to feel the presence of magic power and were able to control it with their own will."
Marches hurriedly replied.
"Very good. Nurture them well and try to make a few more archmages appear in Dragon City. As their teacher, you would also be able to gain abundant benefits. Continue with your work. The queen and I still have something to talk about."
"Yes, master."
Marches led the mage apprentices back to continue brewing potions.
Louie walked to the side, picked up a wasabi plant, and asked the elf queen, "This is a new kind of plant that I unintentionally found. It can be used to create the foundational magic potion that will allow Dragon City to train mages in large quantities. Although I cannot guarantee their quality, I would definitely have them in quantity."
"The ones reciting at the higher levels of the tower are children with a great talent in learning. In the future, they will all become members of Dragon City's Mage Corps."
The queen's voice was filled with surprise, "You are actually mass-producing mages?"
Although elves were born with a high affinity for magic and did not need to drink magic potions like humans, the difficulty of becoming a mage was still high. And today, she found out that Louie was creating low-rank mages with large amounts of magic potions.
"That is indeed so. Mage's spells have many magical effects. Even if the mages do not go into combat or research, as long as they can bring convenience to Dragon City, that would be enough."
Louie affirmed the queen's speculation with a hint of unquestionable pride.
The elf queen pondered for a long time before saying, "Lord Louie, I am very sure that the Goddess of Magic hasn't fallen. If we wait until she awakens and returns, there is a great possibility that the Goddess of Magic will create a new magic network again."
Louie knew about the magic network. It was recorded in many canonical books. This was something that mages dreamt of even until today. As long as they entered a spell in advance, they could release it whenever they wanted. It could be said that this was the best tool for them to cast spells.
"I see, creating a new magic network… that will indeed cause explosive growth in the number of mages, but it will reduce their overall quality. Do you really think that a magic network could be built overnight? Heh, I could probably have produced several legendary rank mages by then."
The queen shook her head slowly, "Even if the Goddess of Magic can regain her strong divine power, creating a magic network from scratch would be a huge project."
"Once the Goddess of Magic wakes up, she would have to recover her divine power and then create a magic network. That would take who knows how many years. Moreover, I also possess the divine authority of magic. If she finishes creating her magic network, then any creature that wants to use magic would require her consent. Unless of course, one bypasses the magic network, but that would be no different from present-day mages."
"Your Majesty, I think you also don't want to see the magic used by the elves become subject to the Goddess of Magic's control. Even if the Goddess is said to be an absolutely neutral God, she still has her preferences and will make partial decisions. But if the elves can help me seize control of a portion of the Goddess' magic network, the benefits would be big."
Louie finally said one of his goals – to seize the divine authority of magic from the Goddess of magic. Even if the other party had not yet awakened, even if the other party had to take an unknown number of years to recover, Louie still needed allies to fight with him.
The elves were aware that they could not face the Gods, but the Silver Moon Goddess could.
"You have a part of the divine authority of magic?"
The queen was speechless.
Although the Gods' divine authorities fragmented after the Era of Disaster, every god would try to complete them once they return. Louie grabbing a part of the divine authority of magic was very incredible in the queen's opinion.
However, the faint magical domain emanating from Louie made the queen believe it.
Once the Goddess wakes up, she would probably become depressed after finding that her most important priesthood had been fragmented.
Louis smiled without saying a word. What he was doing now was showing off his power to make himself the best collaborator and find the right allies to face off against the Gods.
Chapter 207
After the brief tour, Louie returned to his nest in preparation for the expedition into the Goddess of Night's kingdom.
He believed that given the clear potential of his city and growth, Carandia and the Silver Moon Goddess would not act foolishly against him. As Dragon City was close to the Elven Kingdom, the price of falling out would likely be too great for both sides.
In the future, they would collaborate even more, and he could support them with material resources from Earth and in other ways subject to negotiation.
Louie's ultimate goal was to become a god, and after a hundred years, he would likely become the highest-standing God. The power of Dragon City would certainly be passed on to the next generation, and concessions were not popular in the world. Louie would definitely pass on the position of power to his own bloodline. Giving birth to an excellent heir was something that he pondered about.
At the same time, he thought about how his heir would continue maintaining a good relationship with the elves. This was also another difficult political question.
Truly wise people didn't only think about the current events. They always had a strategic approach to matters. They would think tens and hundreds of years ahead. They might change the details of the plan but never the overall means.
Louie had to prepare for all situations. The elves had the Silver Moon Goddess behind them. In the era when the Gods woke up, the Silver Moon Goddess would definitely regain her strength with the faith of a million elves in a brief period of time. However, because the Goddess might feel a threat from Dragon City, she might order the elves to invade it. If a God was well-prepared, their strength could definitely not be underestimated. It was something the current Louie could not fight against.
If things truly became that way, Louie would give up on Dragon City. He would sacrifice it and have the people fight against the elves while he would go into hiding and return to Earth to find the energy sources. Once he reached the perfect state, he could absorb the faith from Earth and turn them into divine power in the 'Foreign God' godhood.
As long as he was patient and waited until the 'Foreign God' godhood obtained strong divine power, Louie would no longer have to fear anything. He wouldn't be shackled by faith. He could break the rules of the world and massacre their believers.
Once a God lost all its believers, they would lose their power and fall from the stars.
Of course, this would be the worst-case scenario. Louie did not want to experience 'hell mode difficulty' and have every god become his enemy. It was honestly better to play with 'normal difficulty'.
'If it was before the Era of Disaster when the Gods were divided into camps, the Silver Moon Goddess might refuse as chaos and order, and good and evil were in opposition. This made covenants between Gods become extremely difficult to make. But now that the world had changed and the rules were all jumbled up, the Goddess would definitely choose the right approach.
Thinking of this, Louie temporarily eased up and fell into a short sleep. He began to convert his accumulated faith into divine power.
After half a month, he opened his eyes. His inverted pupils let out a flash of light. Because he wasn't a true God, he ordinarily shouldn't have been able to use the power of the godhood, but with the support from the power of faith, he was able to tap into some of its abilities. In a lot of aspects, he had improved greatly and deviated further from mortality.
The divine authorities of earth, magic, and dreams filled his body. Although he could not fully display their might unless he became a demigod, he uses their basic abilities, which make up his trump cards. These abilities were not something that normal mortals nor magic could defend against.
''Everything's ready. It's time to go.'
It was better to explore the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom sooner than later. The more it was delayed, the higher the chances that the Gods would wake up. If that happened, the result of the expedition would truly be up in the air.
He spoke to one of his maids, "Go invite the queen over!"
"Yes, milord."
The elven population of Dragon City was extremely happy that the queen had visited Dragon City. Being able to see the lord and the queen were good friends was a pleasant sight for them. If Louie and the Silver Moon Kingdom had a wedge between them, then they would have been put in a difficult position.
Soon, the elven queen arrived. Looking at her once more, he felt that barely any time had passed since they last spoke. It was likely the same for her.
The queen did not remain polite. She raised her head to look at the dragon atop the golden mountain and asked, "Have you finished preparing?"
"It's already done. We can go anytime."
"Don't you need to give your orders to your subordinates?"
"Dragon City has its own management and operations. I, the lord, only decide on the strategy that we will go with. I do not involve myself with specifics."
With a new government, Dragon City flourished. The government's structure was also extremely simple and clear. Everything unnecessary from the old regime had all been tossed aside. Dragon City was still far from Louie's standards, but it wasn't going to decay if he was temporarily absent.
"Your Majesty, how is the resettlement of the elves going?"
"I spent half a month settling them. You don't need to worry."
This was the result of the queen's discussion with Louie before he went to sleep. The Silver Moon Kingdom had once again transferred 30,000 civilians to live in the civilian district of Dragon City. This brought the number of elves in the city to 40,000, while the total population of Dragon City was 160,000.
The 40,000 elves were chosen by the queen and had lived difficult lives. All of them were pseudo-believers, as true believers were rare in the absence of the Gods.
The 40,000 elves became residents of Dragon City, which meant that the queen acquiesced that Louie could reform their thoughts. They would then become Louie's believers. 40,000 elves left the Silver Moon Kingdom to live in Dragon City, but this also meant a relief on the Silver Moon Kingdom's financial burdens. 40,000 pseudo-believers was not a loss to the faith of the Silver Moon Goddess.
It was a happy deal for everyone involved. Louie needed a population and a source of faith. The Silver Moon Kingdom needed to eliminate the poor population and reduce its financial burdens. Both sides were very satisfied with the results.
Louie always had the illusion that he was buying and selling people.
But as the number of elves in Dragon City increased greatly, the future of the city might be one with many mixed races.
Although the life expectancy of the elves far exceeded that of humans and beastmen, and some elves looked down on them because of it, the power of love was almighty. It was likely that some people would break racial boundaries in the name of love. In the future, the number of people with halved races would gradually increase.
'I feel that my territory is developing to be more and more like America. The racial diversification was almost the same. And the means of economic development was also close to American history.'
Louie sighed and decided to study the history of the United States of America once he returned to Earth.
"Then, Your Majesty, let us take our leave."
Chapter 208
The Shadow Realm was forever shrouded in a hazy light. It was a mirror image of the main continent, and as a result, the dimensional walls between the two realms were very thin. In the past, merchants and mages who moved through the main continent would use other realms like the Shadow Realm as a transit point.
But nowadays, the different realms had drifted further apart, and only powerful individuals could cross between realms. Moreover, there was nothing to see in other realms. Without the presence of the Gods, the Shadow Realm had turned silent and cold.
The main continent was the most important realm in the world of San Soliel. It could even be called the center of the world. Whether it was the Inner Elemental Plane or the planes in the outer layer, all of them were centered on the main continent. The reason why the Gods placed importance on it and the reason why they attached so much importance to it was because of the large amounts of faith that it could produce. As for the believers from other realms, the amount that they could gain was quite small. It was about the same amount as what Louie got from Earth after the faith passed through many filters.
Therefore, the Gods could actually abandon all their believers from other planes, but they couldn't ignore those on the main continent.
When Louie and the elf queen arrived in the Shadow Realm, the sky was still the same dull round sun.
As demigods, the two of them didn't need to take any shortcuts when going through the Shadow Realm.
"Huh? What's that?"
Every location in the Shadow Realm corresponded with an actual place on the main continent. As Louie and the queen had teleported from Dragon City, they appeared at its Shadow Realm coordinates. Quickly, however, the queen recognized some people in the distance. They were none other than soldiers dispatched from Dragon City to supervise the fetchlings. At the moment they were doing just that.
"A few months ago, the soldiers found a natural portal to the Shadow Realm near Dragon City."
"The fetchlings are slaves captured by my forces, and I have ordered the soldiers to capture as many of them as possible to serve as a source of labor. As for the creatures watching the leaves, they were Noella's subordinates. I had them shadow creatures cooperate with the soldiers of Dragon City. As long as they do not stray too far from this area, they will never encounter danger."
Louie noticed the queen's curiosity and so gave a succinct explanation.
"Why does Dragon City need the fetchlings as slaves? Although the fetchlings retain their human habits from when they were human, they have already adapted to life in the Shadow Realm. It's impossible for you to bring them to the main continent."
"I have studied the Shadow Realm before. The land here is very fertile. The lighting might be poor, but it's barely enough. With an unoccupied land this big, it would be a waste if the food was not grown here."
Louie pointed at the endless plain in the valley in front of him.
"Growing food in the Shadow Realm? Your idea was proposed a long time ago, but no one succeeded. The main reason was that there are no water sources in the Shadow Realm. The water here is extremely brackish and can't be used for crops. Only some native plants from the realm could be grown with this water."
"The fertile land you see in front of you is also rare in the Shadow Realm. Most of the land here is barren."
The elf queen was afraid that Louie was taking the wrong path and kindly advised.
"I know Your Majesty has good intentions, but I also want you to believe in me. I have a solution to these problems. With land so vast and no enemies, it would be a waste not to turn it into a field. And as long as the land in the Shadow Realm could be utilized, then we would not need to worry about food anymore."
Louie laughed with confidence. For a while, the queen felt puzzled at where this confidence came from.
The Shadow Realm was either barren or devoid of freshwater. As a result, there were only a few native plants that grew. Therefore, creatures living in the deep water and fiery pits were more frightening.
The natives of San Soliel were also unable to solve these problems. Although the Gods could change the fertility of the land and change the water, they had no reason to expend their divine powers in such an endeavor.
However, seeing Louie's confidence and certainty, the queen did not speak further. That was because the dragon in front of her had already brought forth many miracles.
Louie had discovered the unique features of the Shadow Realm earlier on and searched for a solution on Earth. On his last trip, he brought seeds of 'saline-alkali tolerant rice'. Even if the water source of the Shadow Realm was close to seawater, there was no problem at all. The problem of the land being infertile was easier to solve, and he only needed fertilizer. The people of San Soliel didn't know how to fertilize their crops, and c=so they could stand to gain much in terms of improving their yields
Although this kind of rice had a relatively low yield, the amount of land that could be utilized in the Shadow Realm was plenty. As long as they didn't move towards the territory of certain monsters, then the place was a lot safer than the main continent. With Noella's rule for thousands of years, she had gathered many subordinates. These had all become Louie's spoils which were more than enough to protect the crops.
Even if the yield was low, as long as the land was sufficient, there wouldn't be any problems. The problem of manpower was also solved by capturing fetchlings as slaves. The taste of the food was no concern for the people of San Soliel as long as they could eat their fill.
As soon as the food problems were solved, many other problems would also be solved and a different social structure would form.
But Louie did not try to explain all these to the elf queen and would simply let her witness the terrifying changes later on.
Naturally, the two demigods did not walk like mortals. They both used teleportation to jump unknown distances. Soon they reached their destination.
"We are here Lord Louie."
The queen raised her jade-like arms and pointed at the front.
She had an unusually serious tone, and Louie could make out a hint of tension in her voice.
Louie took a deep breath to adjust his mental state, and then looked at the direction the queen's finger was pointing to.
From the coordinates given by Noella, they had indeed reached the location of the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom.
Chapter 209
At the moment, Louie and the elf queen stood outside the San Soliel mountain range. The dull light of the Shadow Realm enveloped the plains beneath their feet, and endless darkness seemed to stretch beyond the horizon.
This bleak darkness, difficult to tell from any other patch of earth in the Shadow Realm, was the divine kingdom of a God. Louie was positively stunned by this. By his reckoning, there should at least have been physical ruins of buildings and stones, but the plains seemed devoid of any trace of the divine. It would be impossible for all traces to erode naturally in such a short time span.
However, Louie did not say anything and prevented himself from showing fear. He noticed that the expression of the Elf Queen was quite solemn and heavy. This meant that there was something in the barren plains that Louie could not understand.
As expected, the elf queen's eyes landed on a small pile of rubble and slowly said, "The path to the divine kingdom has been destroyed. 30,000 years is too long."
This was when Louie saw a pile of rubble. At first, he thought that it was just a useless pile of stones, but when the queen told him that, he noticed that they had traces of artificial tampering.
Thirty thousand years of time had completely erased everything. The traces of the Gods, as well as the divine power on the land, had all disappeared. In the eyes of those who were not aware, the pile of debris felt natural.
'Although the divine kingdoms of the gods are situated in different realms, they were not part of the occupied realm. They were more like miniature realms, but the difference compared to actual miniature realms was that normal miniature realms were formed naturally, while divine kingdoms were created by the Gods.
This was also the reason why the miniature realm inside the Divine King's Crown was an important item left behind by a powerful God. Since the nature of a divine kingdom was the same as a miniature realm, then choosing a miniature realm to turn into a divine kingdom was simple.
Louie understood that he was still in the dark about the world of the Gods. This was why he talked less and listened more. In order to not let the Elf Queen notice this and expose his ignorance, he gently nodded and pretended to agree with her words.
"I came to observe this place for half a month and determined that no one had come here in the last few hundred years. However, I have confirmed that there are traces of activity here from at least a thousand years ago."
Rashly entering a divine kingdom even if it was in ruins was a suicidal act. The Elf Queen had been able to understand how much danger there was after observing for half a month.
"The person who came here a thousand years ago should be Noella. It's also quite possible for it to be the demigod lich that told Noella about the coordinates of the Goddess' divine kingdom. Do you have any idea who the lich could be?"
Louie thought about the lich who took Noella's body and told her the location of the divine kingdom and immediately asked the Elf Queen.
The lich was truly mysterious. It was unknown if there was a god affiliated with her, or if she was delusional and was trying to steal the throne of a God as a demigod. There might also be a connection between the lich and the Goddess of Night, but Louie did not know. The old demigod had lived for who knows how long, so he asked another old demigod.
The Elf Queen pondered for a long time before shaking her head and said, "In the years after the Era of Disaster, many powerful liches were born, but they have already passed away. Without seeing the lich for myself, I dare not jump to conclusions."
"Although the liches are considered as twisted undead creatures, they have low desires, but at the same time, they also have extremely long lives. It is possible that one hid in the shadows for 30,000 years and accumulated its power in preparation for the coming era."
Louie raised his eyebrows for a moment, "What you said is correct. It is not necessarily true that the lich has any ambitions.
If liches and other undead creatures wanted to become Gods, they would have to lean towards the few divine authorities related to the undead creatures and death. It was impossible for them to become a god of justice or the god of the sun.
This restricted range as well as the dangers of following such a heretical path meant that few would seek to become liches.
Louie and the Elf Queen walked down the hill in silence and reached the pile of rubble. When Louie got closer, he was finally able to see some stone pieces and broken pillars with inscribed patterns. The patterns and designs presented should be related to the Goddess of Night, but because she did not have the power to protect the place, it had been corroded by the years of exposure to the Shadow Realm's elements.
The Elf Queen squatted down and started picking up some stones. Her tender legs were quite eye-catching as they peeked out from her dress in this barren plain.
After assembling the stones into a formation, the queen exhaled and said with relief, "Fortunately, these stones inscribed with the emblem and doctrine of the Goddess of Night are not completely destroyed. We can still open the door to the divine kingdom."
Louie saw that the queen's expression became even more serious. This elf's understanding of the Gods was too incredible from his point of view. 30,000 years of time had passed. The secrets of the Gods had long been lost, but this elf still knew how to open the door to the divine kingdom. This was somewhat incredible.
"Lord Louie, please stand with me. I will open the door to the divine kingdom. I'm not sure what it's like inside, but please be prepared to fight at any time."
Louie nodded his head to indicate that he understood. He stood by her side in preparation as she mouthed off some spells in the language of the Gods.
Divine power melded with her commands and flowed out of her body. Soon, a doorway appeared in the air before them.
It seemed to have no concept of size. His eyes told him that the door was only about 4-5 meters tall, but his divine senses seemed to hint that its presence extended far beyond that.
A burst of dark fog blew out from the door as it slowly opened. A mysterious purple light shone from within. Louie and the Elf Queen looked at each other and took a step into the doorway together.
Chapter 210
Stepping into the doorway, Louie felt his divinity tremble slightly. He could tell that from that very moment, the laws governing the world around him had changed. It was a subtle, almost imperceptible difference, but it was there nonetheless. Likely only demigods could detect it.
The momentary unease subsided and soon he felt the solid earth under his feet. Eyes flashing with divine power, his gaze swept around the surroundings.
After a few moments, though, he relaxed. In her heyday, this would have been a suicide mission. Asides from facing another God on their home turf, the Goddess of Night had an especially strong hatred of intruders.
The world was silent and blanketed with a thick carpet of dark fog. The ground was layered in all directions with broken walls and tiles. And when the wind blew it whistled with a dreary tone.
Louie picked up an obsidian fragment by his feet. It was a remnant of one of the proud residences that stood here 30,000 years prior. Peering into the distance, he could see a shattered mountain peak pulsing with chaotic energy.
The elf queen walked next to him and spoke, her tone a mixture of several complex emotions, "The laws here seem to be converging with the laws of the Shadow Realm."
"Normally, a divine kingdom has its own rules which increase the power of its master, but this kingdom has almost assimilated with the Shadow Realm. It is to the point that the rules of this realm have already been replaced by the rules of the Shadow Realm. This divine kingdom has already become useless."
The Elf Queen closed her eyes slightly to sense the surroundings and said, "The size of the divine kingdom is no longer the same. In the past, the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom reached millions of square kilometers, but now, it is so large that I can not sense the boundaries."
She sighed in pity.
Louie replied, "You seem quite familiar with the Goddess of Night."
At this, Carandia smiled and continued, "Even without her support, the Goddess of Night's divine throne hasn't completely fallen. Even if the entire divine kingdom has fallen into desolation, the divine throne still stands at the core of the divine kingdom. That is our target."
The Elf Queen once again pointed at a direction in the distance. Louie looked and sensed powerful fluctuations of divine energy spilling from a tower.
Once that building likely housed the Queen of Night's divine throne. It was a symbol of her immense might and could strike fear into the hearts of any other God. Now, however, it was in ruins.
"Let's go," he said.
He let the elf queen take the lead in this situation since she seemed more familiar with the Gods.
The Queen nodded her head and went forward first. At the same time, she said, "Normal divine kingdoms have various rules that prohibit things like teleportation or even flying. Even if the kingdom is in ruins, it is still better to follow the rules to prevent touching some prohibitions that may still exist. We are better off walking, Lord Louie."
The two walked quickly side by side.
Suddenly—
"Lord Louie, be careful."
From both sides, the darkness began to churn. A long-robed monster, reminiscent of the Grim Ream emerged from the cloudy fog. While distinctly humanoid, its body was extremely distorted. Its face was the texture of a willow tree's bark, and its limbs appeared desiccated and thin.
Seeing Louie and the elf queen, the monster rushed in their direction. Its behavior was more akin to the ecstasy of finding prey than anger at its territory being intruded on.
"A divine creature?"
Louie could sense the faint divinity from this misshapen creature. Its divinity resembled the shard of the Goddess of Night that he had obtained from Noella.
"No, it's a divine creature that has been freed from the control of the Gods."
The Elf Queen denied Louie's answer and explained further. Then she took a step forward and brandished a magic staff.
Louie waited for her to act.
To his astonishment, the staff began to shine with moonlight. Its head detached from the rest of it and rose in the air, growing till it became a gigantic, spiky ball. The lower part of the staff solidified into a bar of iron. A chain of light appeared to connect the two together.
This staff had actually turned into a morning star. This was a weapon that few people could wield properly. Most of those who did had burly figures and powerful muscles.
By contrast, the elf before him was thin and almost frail-looking.
Louie felt his scalp tingle.
'C-could this be the legendary way to allocate points for a mage class? Adding one point to magic arts and the rest to strength?'
Chapter 211
For a moment Louie fell under the elf queen's spell. Wielding her imposing weapon, she danced through the air with exquisite grace and elegance, and she lacked any of the violent and fierce aura that the beastmen had.
As she moved, her body emitted the potent divine power of the silver moon. In this divine kingdom shrouded by darkness, the crescent moon seemed to rise in the empty sky. Seeing this the monster seemed to enter an even greater frenzy, and it lunged towards the queen with greater desperation.
In response, the queen smashed the head of the morningstar into its body.
As the spiky ball sank into the willowy figure, it began to transform once more. Light coalesced around it and the sphere turned into four curved blades.
The four of them spouted out from the monster's body, fixing it in place. The queen did not panic and followed up with a spell, shouting, "[Prismatic Spray]".
The rainbow light and the light of the silver moon overlapped, turning the world into a brilliant color like fireworks. The colorful lights sprayed out as the monster let out miserable screams. Its entire body was completely obliterated by the spell.
The flail suddenly turned back into a staff. In the end, the queen was no warrior, just an incredibly unique mage.
Louie was stunned.
The way the queen used the seven-ring spell [Prismatic Spray] was completely different from other mages. She released the magic with divine power. Although the spell looked the same, it released two different types of energy that gave it a qualitative boost.
As a divine creature, it was supposed to have a high resistance to magic, but with the assistance of divine power, the monster's resistance was invalidated and was wiped out by this seven-ringed spell.
However, Louie knew the reason why she was able to destroy the monster so quickly wasn't because of the spell, but because of the divine power and the weapon in her hands.
It was a divine weapon. It wasn't a lesser divine weapon that could be mass-produced, but a genuine divine weapon that required effort and dedication on part of any God. It was one of the strongest weapons in the world of San Soliel, and its silver appearance and energy fluctuations made it clear that it was the weapon of the Silver Moon Goddess!
The goddess' weapon was enhanced with the divine power of the silver moon. Although the power emitted by the Elf Queen had a qualitative gap compared with true Gods, she could still become the strongest among the demigods.
'I might not be able to beat that.'
Louie sucked in the cold air. A bunch of thoughts flashed through his head. After making various comparisons, he came to the conclusion that he could not beat the queen, but as long as he wasn't trapped, the queen would not be able to do anything to him.
But then Louie thought about it again. The queen had already lived for tens of thousands of years while he had only lived for thirty years including his past life. So there wasn't any reason for him to feel depressed.
While Louie's thoughts were flying everywhere, the dead divine creature turned to ashes, leaving behind the divinity of darkness.
"Divinity is the symbol of the immortality of the Gods. As long as no external force influences it, it will never decay. Even after 30,000 years, the divinity here hasn't changed at all."
The elf queen explained to Louie. Stretching her hand she beckoned the clump of divinity to approach her. There was some resistance, but it eventually settled in her palm, docile.
"This divine creature should be Shae's warrior. In the past, only the most loyal believers and strongest warriors have been bestowed with divinity. Although She had not yet fallen 30,000 years ago, the divinity of the kingdom was hardly different. The immortal properties of divinity still remained, but because of the disappearance of the Gods, the warriors have lost their minds and turned into monsters.
God's divinity was not endless. The stronger Gods had more while the weaker ones had less. To make more divinity, Gods would have to spend at least a hundred years of time. So they would not simply give away their divinities unless they had abundant quantities of it. Moreover, only a select few were qualified to receive it.
The more ancient a God was, the more divinity they had. Normally, powerful warriors were the ones bestowed with divinity. This would cause their abilities and power to improve greatly. Moreover, if the one who received divinity was a legendary rank powerhouse, then there was a greater chance of them becoming a demigod if they had enough talent.
Louie stared at the divinity in the queen's hand. Divinity was something that he lacked the most at the moment. Right now, he was only a partial divine creature and became closer to one due to his godhood. Once he collected enough divinity, he could then ignite the divine fire.
There was absolutely no such thing as too much divinity. A lot of divinity was required to become a true God. There were two main ways to do it: by cultivation or by stealing.
Demigods were also able to cultivate divinity, but this method would only create weak divine power. It would take at least a thousand years to obtain a substantial amount. Louie could not wait for a thousand years, so stealing was the best method for him.
'Unfortunately, this divinity was not earned by me.'
Louie felt a bit regretful. If he knew that it would drop divinity, he would have taken down the monster. Louie did not try to become cheeky because for the elf queen, having more divinity was also better.
As if sensing Louie's passionate gaze, the queen seemed to be amused and tossed the divinity in front of Louie without a second thought.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Louie frowned. He did not gladly take the divinity floating in front of him but asked with doubt.
"I can see that you want it eagerly. This is different from the confidence and indifference that you've shown before. This divinity has Shae's will, but it's very weak. You only need to destroy the will and the divinity will belong to you. If you don't know how to do it, I can also help you destroy Shae's will."
The queen's voice was calm and elegant. She wasn't arrogant because of her power and still spoke with enough respect in the face of Louie.
"This divinity should also be important to you, right? Is it really good to just give it to me?"
Louie was hesitant and even thought that there might be a catch.
"For me, this divinity is not that useful, but for you, it is very important."
'Not useful? How could it not be useful? Even a weak divinity should be important to demigods. How could one actually say that it was not useful?'
'Does the queen have too much divinity, or is it because she had no intentions to become a god so she did not need to collect any?'
'The first one sounds impossible. Where did she get so much divinity? Has she killed a god?'
'The second one also sounds impossible. Even a devout believer would choose to become one. She could even be subordinate to the Silver Moon Goddess!'
'Wait a minute, did she just directly use the Goddess of Night's name? This is the real name of the Goddess of Night, right? Hey, hey, hey, anyone with basic knowledge about the Gods should know to never call a God's name. That is simply extremely dangerous behavior.'
At this moment, Louie felt as if he had guessed the true identity of the elf, but he was not fully certain of it.
Chapter 212
Though he had his speculations, he did not have any evidence to substantiate them. And since the other party said nothing, he pretended not to know. Regardless of her identity, there were substantial benefits to be had from going along with her.
For example, the divinity in front of him!
"Then I won't reject Your Majesty's help."
Louie smiled gently as he gazed at the Goddess of Night's divinity. He felt that he was robbing the warehouse of the Goddess and taking from her whatever he needed.
The will of the Goddess was thin inside. Perhaps this was still an unbridgeable distance for mortals, but Louie, who had strong divine power and godhood, was able to easily destroy the will with his own will.
As the divinity was absorbed, Louie's divinity grew by a bit. He licked his mouth with a sense of satisfaction. Suddenly, he looked eagerly at the divine kingdom.
Now that the divine kingdom's size had gotten smaller after being taken over mostly by the Shadow Realm, Louie could tour the entire kingdom and see everything.
DIvinity was something that could only be cultivated by the gods, making it extremely difficult to find in the world of San Soliel. Now that every creature in the Goddess of Night's fallen divine kingdom seemed to be a divine creature, it would be a waste for Louie to give up on killing them. When the Gods returned, it would almost be impossible for Louie to have another chance like this.
"Lord Louie, are you intending to…"
Noticing Louie's expression, the queen also guessed his thought. She smiled and asked.
"There are so many divine creatures in the Goddess' divine kingdom. If Your Majesty isn't in a hurry, I wonder if you can wait for me first so that I can sweep this place clean of them?"
Louie also did not hide anything and bluntly stated his goal.
He needed to kill as many divine creatures as possible and gain enough divinity.
If he guessed the identity of the queen correctly, she would most likely agree to his request. Although killing these divine creatures would take away the divinity of the Goddess of Night, she wouldn't suffer any losses, but she would definitely feel uncomfortable. As long as the Goddess of Night could feel uncomfortable, the 'Silver Moon' would definitely do it.
As expected, the queen did not hesitate at all and nodded her head, "Since you need divinity, this is indeed a good place to gain some. However, you shouldn't hope for too much. Thirty thousand years have passed. How many divine creatures are left in this fallen divine kingdom is anyone's guess. I think there won't be too many since most of them should have died when the divine kingdom fell."
"However, if you really need a lot of divinity, I can introduce you to a better place. I will tell you the coordinates after this exploration is over."
The queen said sincerely. She did not hide anything and spoke in a somewhat straightforward manner.
'Split the danger of this divine kingdom with her and provide sufficient compensation afterward,' Louie thought.
Since the queen had the courage to come to the Goddess' divine kingdom, it meant that the danger was not as great as he imagined. Otherwise, the queen would not come here with the way she acted for the past thousands of years.
"Okay. That's a fair deal."
Louie nodded his head in agreement.
It seemed that the queen would pay a certain amount of divinity to make Louie explore the divine kingdom with her. From this point of view, Louie was the one who had gained, but because divinity was useless to the queen, she exchanged something useless for Louie's help, making it fair in terms of trade.
In the following days, Louie, with the company of the Elf Queen, circled the entire divine kingdom. In this ruined divine kingdom, there were no other life forms other than a few divine creatures. It was so barren that almost no living creature, not even plants, could be found.
The divine creatures might be unbeatable in the eyes of mortals, but in front of two demigods, they were easily eliminated and had their divinity taken away.
Since the foundations for the Dragon God church had been established in Dragon City, Louie's divine power was able to slowly recover. Now, the more divine creatures he hunted, the stronger his divinity was, which allowed him to accelerate the process of converting faith into divine power. Louie's divine power did not drop anymore and even had a slight increase after coming to the divine kingdom.
On the other hand, the Elf Queen's divine power seemed to be endless. No matter how much she used, it never seemed to change anything for her. Although her strongest attacks were only at the demigod level, her divine power's recovery speed was almost similar to the Gods.
In the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom, there was no such thing as daylight. So even Louie did now know how long they have been exploring the divine kingdom. They only stopped exploring when they were no longer able to find any divine creatures.
In this hunt, Louie had gained around 20 fragments of divinity. Although the qualities were not enough for him to become a God, Louie could now ignite the divine fire at any time and become a real demigod. This way, he would not need the godhood to pretend to be a demigod anymore.
As long as he became a real demigod, Louie could become immune to a vast majority of spells. Only spells that contain divine power would be able to hurt Louie.
'Unfortunately, this place isn't suitable for igniting the divine fire, and I cannot let the queen notice that I am just igniting it. Otherwise, she might doubt where my divine power came from.'
After making up his mind, he decided to ignite the divine fire after returning to Dragon City. Louie calmly said to the Elf Queen, "Your Majesty, There are no more divine creatures to be found and I have also obtained enough divinity. Let me fulfill my agreement with you to explore the core of the divine kingdom."
Louie looked at the black tower in the distance, which was visible from anywhere in the divine kingdom. It was as if it was in front of his eyes.
The queen smiled sweetly and spoke with a warm spring-like voice, "Please prepare yourself for what is to come. I can't even predict what will happen in Shae's throne room."
Saying so, the two of them looked at each other and took a few steps forward, in an instant, they directly crossed space and reached the tall tower.
After traveling around the divine kingdom, Louie and the queen figured out more about it. The most important thing was finding out that all restrictions on abilities had been lifted. There were no dangers in using teleportation or flight within it.
When the two reached the entrance of the tower, a mysterious and ethereal yet beautiful voice sounded, "What's in the throne of the Goddess of Night's divine throne you might ask? Naturally, it is the Goddess of Night."
With the appearance of the voice that seemed to be close yet far away, Louie and the Elf Queen's expressions changed.
"Goddess of Night?"
"Shae."
One was doubtful while the other was affirmative. One was addressing the God by their honorary name while the other called out the true name of the God. Regardless, they both referred to one and the same person.
"We have not seen each other for 30,000 years, and you have not fallen. This is good news that makes me leap for joy, my dear sister."
Neither time nor emotion could be heard from that voice. It seemed to be teasing, to be indignant, and to be happy all at once.
Chapter 213
Along with this mysterious yet enchanting ancient voice, Louie could sense that the Elf Queen beside him had stiffened.
Although she immediately relaxed, her movements could not escape his senses.
Of course compared to this, the meaning behind the words of the Goddess of Night interested Louie more.
Not meeting for thirty thousand years and calling her 'sister'. These two phrases alone exposed the identity of the queen.
In the myths, the Goddess of Night was born with a twin that symbolized the light. In the subsequent years, that sister lost her divine authority and gained that of the moon in its place. She created the elves and became their goddess – the Silver Moon Goddess – Selune.
Louie thought back to Sisna. Her full name was Sisna Susiril. In the ancient elven language, Susiril was another name for Selune. By bestowing this surname to Sisna, Louie thought that this was only done for reasons of honor and glory. After all, a God's name could not be used directly.
But now, it seemed like things were not as complicated as they seemed. The Silver Moon Goddess simply used her name as Sisna's surname.
Although he had guessed her identity, Louie still could not believe it. How was the Silver Moon Goddess different from other Gods? How could she be active while the other Gods were asleep? And what was she actually doing for the past 30,000 years?
If the Goddess could do this, why couldn't the other Gods? Or was it that the other Gods could do it, but they were not willing to do so?
Many questions popped up in Louie's head. He could only hope that after safely leaving the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom, the Silver Moon Goddess would explain everything to him. He would also try to learn more about the situation while listening to the two Goddess' conversations.
Louie watched with cold eyes, trying to recall everything he knew about the two Goddesses.
Unlike most Gods who were born from mortal bodies, these two Goddesses existed at the birth of the world. In terms of Eastern Fantasy, they were primordial Gods and Goddesses that had the power to bend the rules of the world, but in the end, they became similar to Western Gods and Goddesses that required the faith of the believers to maintain their power.
In the myths, the Goddess of Night and the Goddess of Silver Moon were born at the same time, making them twins. Selune was the older and Shae was the younger, the former in charge of light and the latter in charge of darkness.
The Goddess of Light and the Goddess of Darkness – from their divine authorities they were born as oppositions. Even if they were sisters, kinship was meaningless to the Gods. Even if it meant something, they wouldn't be able to go against their divine authorities.
Thus when the two were born, their battles never ended. It could be said that they had fought since the birth of the world till now. Although the battles between the two had been erased by history and forgotten even by the most ancient of Gods, the result of their fight was clear – Shae won and Selune lost.
Because Selune's divine authority had changed from light to moon, her state had degraded. On the other hand, the Goddess of Night had never lost since the birth of the world. She never lost any piece of the divine authority of darkness. Even after the Era of Darkness, she still remained as the Goddess of Darkness!
"Why have you appeared here, Shae!?"
Carandia, or to be more accurate, the Silver Moon Goddess, Selune let out a shocked voice filled with suspicion. It was as if Shae's appearance here was completely out of her expectations.
"Are you trying to pry the secrets from the lady who symbolizes secrets? How foolish, Selune!"
That unusually thick yet sweet voice 'giggled' loudly. The taste of mockery was so strong that it seemed tangible.
Louie tried to recall information on the Goddess of Night. She was an ancient and powerful Goddess with many unusual titles such as Lady of the Night, Lady of the Unseen, Lost Maiden, and so on and so forth. In the long-gone era, there have been countless people praising her with all kinds of names.
"Although the Gods have awakened, most of them should only be able to look into the world and convey their will, but none should have been able to descend."
The Silver Moon Goddess murmured as if she was explaining things to Louie.
"Instead of choosing to sleep, you mustered up your so-called 'courage' to stay in the main continent. I thought you would have fallen without a trace, but I didn't expect you to survive all these 30,000 years and appear in front of me again."
The indistinct and distant, yet extremely enchanting voice echoed with contempt as it mocked the Silver Moon Goddess.
"My sister, I have been waiting for a long time. A thousand years ago, a little dragon came here. I let her know of my existence and thought that she would expose this information to the world and pull you in. I didn't expect her to remain calm and keep the information all this time. Only after a thousand years was I able to feel your presence in the Shadow Realm."
The voice of the Goddess of Darkness was so close yet so far that Louie began to wonder if she was inside the tower in front or in the path of darkness behind them.
At the same time, Louie became thousands of times more alert. 'Attract' was not a word with a good meaning. This meant that the Goddess of Night had set everything up to lure the Silver Moon Goddess. She definitely had a card to play against the Silver Moon Goddess. Selune's expression of surprise had also let Louie understand that the situation was already a bit out of their control.
He tried to reduce his presence as much as possible and prepared to escape if things went awry. The danger should decrease once he was out of the divine kingdom.
Unfortunately, even if Louie wanted to reduce his presence, the Goddess of Night didn't let him go.
"Selune, is this the helper that you brought into my kingdom? It's just a small dragon. I didn't think that after thirty thousand years, your eyesight would become so bad. You actually dared to hang out with such a lowly species like a dragon? What a disappointment."
Faced with ridicule and mockery of the Goddess of Night, a normal dragon would have been enraged and charged towards the Goddess. However, Louie would not make such a stupid mistake. Although he was angry, he kept his calm and thought of finding an opportunity to give this Goddess a hard hit.
As for the Goddess calling him a small dragon, Louie did not mind it. Even if he was truly thirty thousand years old, he would still be young in front of these two goddesses.
'Although my age is small, there is a place where I am big!'
Louie thought with ill intent.
The Silver Moon Goddess also did not like hearing the Goddess of Night's disgusting words. With a solemn and cold voice, she said, "Shae, I dare you to show me why you're so calm! I'll let you know that you are now no longer a true God!"
After her words, the Silver Moon Goddess once again raised her magic staff!
Chapter 214
"Lord Louie, please remain still for now. I don't know why Shae is so confident, so we must remain aware of our surroundings."
The Silver Moon Goddess' thoughts were conveyed directly to Louie's mind. Louie nodded his head and replied in the same way, "Please rest assured Your Highness. Just leave the surroundings to me. In a world where there are no true Gods, I need not fear what moves Shae has."
There was a reason why Louie suddenly changed his way of addressing the Elf Queen to 'Your Highness'. These words used the language of the Gods. Among the Gods, there was only a hierarchy of who was stronger and weaker. Those who were stronger were naturally addressed with 'Your Highness' by the weaker. So far, there has never been a 'Your Majesty' among the Gods.
Louie's tone was confident and arrogant. As he had said, in a world where True Gods did not exist, and demigods were the strongest, he did not have to feel fear of panic. Even if the Goddess of Morning suddenly descended in the next moment, he would have the power to fight.
The Silver Moon Goddess also understood this logic. This allowed her to focus ahead while leaving the surrounding security to Louie. Now that Louie's Dragon City needed the help of the elves to become strong, the Silver Moon Goddess did not need to worry about Louie's betrayal.
It hadn't been long since she came in contact with Louie, but she also understood that he was only interested in becoming the supreme dragon among the dragons.
"Shae, why don't you come down from your high horse!"
The Silver Moon Goddess shouted and raised her flail, the 'Four Moon Staff'.
The staff's neck once again spread out and turned into four moon-like blades. A moon once again appeared in the dark skies.
This place was the throne of the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom ever since its establishment. And this might be the first time it had been invaded by an enemy.
The four crescent moons were sent flying out by the Silver Moon Goddess. At the same time, a ray of moonlight shot down from the skies, following the wheels forward. The black crystal tower was the seat of power of the Goddess of Night. In the era long past, it would have been defended by countless defensive mechanisms, but now none of them remained.
Soundlessly, the silver moon caused the darkness to disappear as the four wheels cut open the doors of the tower. No matter how hard the gates were, they could not withstand a blast of divine power. As the doors broke, it made the divine kingdom look even more ruined.
Clack Clink
Pieces of crystal shards fell from the tower. The tower was worthy of being the throne of the Goddess of Night. Even without any protection, it still wasn't completely destroyed from a demigod's blow.
However, a deep hole was still created in the end.
Louie stared past the doors and could see nothing but endless darkness. Inside the matchless black, a woman could be faintly seen wandering.
"Sigh…"
It was an extremely ancient sigh but followed by an endlessly charming voice that carried the weight of history, "Selune, you are still this short-tempered. This is why you lost the fight with me at the beginning of the world. You have fallen from a powerful God to a middle-class one. As the oldest god in the world, you have taken shelter under the newborn Gods, which is really ironic—"
"If the disaster had not arrived, the elves of your faith would have gone extinct and you would have been pulled down from the stars."
With this voice, Louie finally saw the true appearance of the woman.
It was an extremely beautiful woman with very little clothing. She was clad in the apparel of beautiful Arabian dancers. The black-colored muslin that covered her body touched the obsidian floor. She was almost entirely naked down to her delicate feet. However, under the cover of that layer of muslin, everything seems blurry.
Her skin color wasn't white like the Silver Moon Goddess, but a stunning black jade color that carried unbelievable charm.
It was a unique color that was more like translucent light that emitted a faint shimmer.
The Goddess of Night had a perfectly flawless body. She had curves in the right places and her wasp waist carried a deadly charm. When he raised his head to look at her face, he saw that the Goddess was wearing a veil that made her features look hazy yet beautiful, especially her black eyes that carried a provocative feeling.
Louie looked her in the eyes and felt like he was in a trance —
"No!"
Louie was startled when the divine power in his godhood surged up. This caused his consciousness to quickly clear up. When he looked into her eyes, he felt like he was about to be converted into becoming her believer. Her seductive charm was different from a succubus, as hers carried an allure that sinks one into darkness.
'How terrifying. This Goddess' charm is simply unbelievable. I'm afraid that the countless people who kneeled in front of her believe in that mystery and nothingness.'
Thanks to his divine power, Louie was finally able to resist the Goddess's charm and able to look her in the eyes. On the other hand, Louie's instincts as a dragon caused him to endlessly praise her beauty. Being able to look at the Goddess like this was a great opportunity that would never come again for a long time. If he did not take advantage of the moment to burn her image in his mind, it would be a huge loss.
However, compared to the beauty of the Goddess of Night, Louie was more focused on her power.
Louie could sense that the Goddess was at the very moment — very weak. Although she had divine power and could be called a demigod, Louie was sure that even he could defeat her.
"Incarnation? So that's how it is. The Gods would awaken gradually. You won't wake up in your own bodies but can only appear in the forms of incarnations. Perhaps that incarnation would not even be able to operate for long in the main continent."
The Silver Moon Goddess had a much richer knowledge about the Gods. She was able to see through the true form of the Goddess of Night in an instant.
"You dare appear in front of me with just an incarnation? It seems thirty thousand years have already caused some problems with your brain. Let me destroy your incarnation and make you lose everything you ever had!"
The Silver Moon Goddess raised her flail and charged in as she prepared to smash the Goddess of Night.
On the other hand, the Goddess of Night was not willing to show any weakness and took out her weapon. The weapon looked the same as the weapon in the Silver Moon Goddess' hand. The only difference was that it was pure black.
Chapter 215
The divine clash between sisters began
The Silver Moon in the sky descended and the black fog on the ground rose up. The Goddesses exerted the full might of their divine power, transforming the area into a sea of divine power that sparkled with black and silver light. The rules of the silver moon and darkness engulfed the area, turning into a symbol of power for the two goddesses.
Louie retreated backward while watching their battle with cold eyes, hoping to learn something from it.
Each strike carried devastating power that could tear the world apart. The ground cracked underfoot like a mirror.
Whenever the Silver Moon Goddess waved the 'Four Moon Staff', magic containing power would shoot out. Although these spells could only be nine rings at most, the usage of divine power instead of magic power allowed it to damage the body of a god. Moreover, the Goddess of Night was only a demigod at the moment.
Compared to the Silver Moon Goddess, the Night Goddess' fighting methods made it harder to keep up. The Night Goddess was closer to an assassin in terms of occupation. Her silhouette flickered and the dark moon in her hand weaved around like a boomerang. From time to time, she would use coarse language to provoke the enemy and cause fluctuations in Selune's psyche.
The battle between the two Goddesses was quite exciting. It looked like the collision of light and darkness at the beginning of the world, but compared to the power used at that time when they were complete Goddesses, their current battle was small scale.
The divine power of the two collided over and over again, but Louie felt that something was missing. After pondering a bit, he could understand why. Currently, the two goddesses had lost their position as gods, otherwise, they would have used their domains to fight. In the end, they could only fight like Louie after losing all their complex and versatile abilities. The battle had become quite monotonous.
However, this monotony was only from Louie's perspective. If a mortal or even a legendary rank powerhouse were to witness this, they would probably not last long from the shockwaves caused by their collisions.
However, anyone who witnessed this battle could be considered lucky to be able to watch two goddesses with unparalleled beauty in close physical combat. This kind of opportunity was very rare because gods would not fight each other directly unless necessary. The difficulty in killing each other was simply too high, especially when they only relied on their flesh. Moreover, the two who were fighting were the oldest of Gods.
The Night Goddess was now in a bad state. After several exchanges with the Silver Moon Goddess, she had been beaten back over and over again. She would even make some extra movements from time to time, but there was no effect at all.
Louie guessed that the Night Goddess was trying to use her transcendent powers but couldn't do so because she was only a demigod. Without being able to use a true God's ability, her movements and behaviors look a little commercial.
"Since the Elf Queen is the Silver Moon Goddess, she has remained and lived in the main continent for 30,000 years, making her exceptionally familiar with demigod level combat. On the other hand, the Night Goddess had been asleep for the past 30,000 years and was born a God. She simply did not know how to fight as a demigod. The gap in power between the two was that huge.
Louie carefully perceived that the Night Goddess' divine power was becoming unstable. Compared to the Silver Moon Goddess who was splurging her divine power, she was quite careful at using hers. Although she was a powerful God, she had to have a huge amount of support for her divine power. The speed of her conversion might be fast, but it seemed like there was a limit.
'The Night Goddess has believers in the main continent, but there's not many of them.'
Louie was able to instantly guess the reason. Compared to the Silver Moon Goddess backed by around a million elves, the Night Goddess most probably did not even have as many believers as Louie. The reason she was able to persist until now was that she was using her capital, using the barely remaining divine power in her godhood. This was the same as Louie's first battle.
"Shae, you too have fallen. You can now only pay lip service. I don't know why you dare speak with such recklessness."
The Silver Moon Goddess slightly raised her hand and used a nine-ringed spell [imprisonment] with her divine power. The Night Goddess was only a demigod, making it impossible for her to defend against the spell. Her body slowly went numb and seemed to freeze for a moment.
Immediately after a silver-white wheel cut open her veil, revealing her mysterious and charmingly beautiful face, but a scar appeared on her black-jade skin that let out traces of blood.
Because her divine power wasn't enough, she had to economize in this battle. Coupled with her lack of fighting experience as a demigod, it was not surprising that she would be beaten by the Silver Moon Goddess without fighting back. This was something that had never happened in all of their battles.
The Goddess of Night, Shae, was in a wretched state. Although her occupation was close to an assassin, she was more of a mage. But for anyone with the same set of abilities, the distinction between the two occupations disappeared once they reached the legendary rank, let alone the demigod rank. What was truly scary about demigods and gods was their utilization of divine power. Few people would use lower leveled skills and instead opt to use magic that was more akin to divine magic.
"Shae, what gave you the guts to dare wait for me here. It's already different from the Era of Disaster. Although I have lost to you in the long past, the last laugh will belong to the winner. From today onwards, our statuses will completely change!"
Thinking about her own tragic state in the past, the Silver Moon Goddess spoke without restraint and even felt excited.
She had waited a long time for this moment. She had chosen the thorny road to reverse her decline. This allowed her to obtain an upper hand for the first time ever.
At this moment, the Goddess of Night was a little furious to lose to her sister, causing her mood to go sour. She suddenly shouted into the void, "I have created a chance for you. The Silver Moon Goddess here is her true body. If you can kill her, then her divinity will all be yours. Even if you can't take all of it, it would be sufficient for you to reach mid-tier divine power!"
With Shae's words, the Silver Moon Goddess and Louie turned serious as their expressions changed. In an instant, Louie transformed without even thinking. He turned from a human to a dragon so that he could display his full might.
Chapter 216
The air took on a salty flavor as the smell of fish wafted in from some indecipherable location. One could make out the roaring of waves from the distance.
This was the power of a demigod and Louie was sure of it.
Only they and true gods could cause such drastic changes to the environment and make it seem natural. Mortals and legendary rank individuals could also do so, but the signs would be a lot more obvious.
Of course, the power of Gods would be more difficult to detect than demigods.
In this world where demigods were now at the apex of power, the appearance of a demigod represented an increase in the danger level.
"This must be the divine authority of 'sea breeze' or perhaps some other ocean-related divine authority. This demigod must be related to the ocean."
The Silver Moon Goddess quickly explained the origin of the divine power, but even if she did not say anything, Louie could already tell what it was.
However, her next words gave Louie enough information that he needed.
"The God of the Ocean fell during the Era of Disaster. This demigod is definitely not the God of the Ocean. From Shae's words, this person requires divinity, so they must be a demigod who has an ambition of claiming the seat of the God of the Ocean."
"So the God of the Ocean has fallen. In other words, the enemy is a creature born after the Era of Disaster."
After hearing the Goddess' words Louie wasn't happy and instead strengthened his vigilance.
Compared to meeting a demigod born after the Era of Disaster, Louie would rather face one of those sleeping true Gods. Because a long time had passed and many true Gods had lost their believers, their divine power would be insufficient, making it a relatively easier fight. It would be like the Silver Moon Goddess gaining an upper hand while fighting the Goddess of the Night.
However, demigods born after the Era of Disaster were different. They were likely to be leaders of some country or power like Louie. As long as they were not foolish enough to try and ascend, then their strength would be more terrifying than a newly awakened true god.
Because these demigods relied on themselves to raise their own positions, they fully understood how to fight on their level. The youngest demigod in the world should be around a few hundred years old. Who knew how old the enemy was?
"Lord Louie, please help me stop the demigod. I will go take care of Shae first!"
The Silver Moon Goddess knew that she didn't have much time, and quickly laid down her plans, "The current Shae is only an incarnation. She does not possess much divine power. By killing her incarnation here, it would be difficult for her to influence the main continent for a significant period of time, especially with the current state of the Gods. In the age of chaos that follows, she will lose a lot of opportunities."
"I understand. Then, I'll leave the Goddess of the Night in your hands, Your Highness!"
Louis nodded his dragonic head. The unknown demigod had already released his divine domain of the sea breeze, so it would be impossible to escape even if he wanted to.
Louie took a deep breath and quickly utilized the power of his godhood. The abundant divine power covered his entire body, causing him to expand and grow to the size of the sky. He had instantly become a dragon that was hundreds of meters big.
For a God, the size of their body did not mean much. A larger body did not necessarily mean that it would be easier to hit. This was because the combat of Gods was inherently different from that of mortals.
"So it's a primordial dragon. I thought that all primordial dragons had gone extinct. It's no wonder that Selune would bring you into my world. A demigod primordial dragon is indeed strong."
The inky eyes of the Night Goddess gazed at Louie's body. Demigods did not have the ability to freely change the size of their bodies. Only true Gods could do that. So in the eyes of the Night Goddess, this 300-meter-long form was definitely Louie's true body.
As with everyone else, she did not know that Louie possessed the Dragon God's godhood. His primordial dragon form had simply fooled almost everyone.
The Night Goddess's tone was calm. Although she praised the power of the primordial dragon, she seemed to not care at all even if they were more disadvantaged compared to Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess. She still remained calm and relaxed.
After Louie changed into a dragon, he only displayed one head, but after a single thought, two more heads appeared, turning him into a three-headed dragon. Each head represented a divine authority that he had grasped. His appearance with three heads was also his strongest form.
Facing the tidal wave of oceanic power, Louie knew that the fastest way to counter this was to unfold his own domain —- the divine domain of earth.
With the thick spread of divine power, the parched earth seemed to become fertile. The tough earth collided with the surging ocean. The two sides fought fiercely against each other, but no matter how aggressive the power of the ocean was, faced with the stability of earth, it would take a long time to break through and could only stay frozen in place.
"Divine authority of the earth?"
The Night Goddess sensed Louie's power and snickered.
"You have grasped a fragment of God's divine authority. It will definitely bring you disaster as that is also a very ancient God."
The Goddess of Darkness, Shae, seemed to be reminding Louie of the dangers of the divine authority of earth. She thought that Louie was a dragon who was trying to steal the complete divine authority of earth.
For a demigod, choosing a divine authority was very important. Before the Era of Disaster, demigods who wanted to become Gods had to choose a divine authority unrelated to any other existing Gods. This was the safest and most secure way of becoming one.
Although many Gods had fallen after the Era of Disaster and many divine authorities remained vacant. Even if that was so, a demigod had to choose a divine authority towards what kind of God they wished to become. For example, the unknown God chose the divine authority of sea breeze to become the new God of the Ocean.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Goddess of the Night, Louie was trying to become the God of the Earth.
However, even the Goddess of the Night who was a master of secrets could not tell that Louie relied on his powerful godhood to obtain his divine authority. He did not go through a painstaking effort to cultivate his divine authority like other Gods, so his choices were plenty.
The Goddess of the night reminded Louie like a good person, "The Goddess of the Earth is a powerful existence even among the Gods. Turning her into an enemy is very foolish behavior. O primordial dragon, how about you team up with me in killing the Silver Moon Goddess before you?"
"What she appears now is her true form. If you kill her, I am willing to share half the divinity she possesses with you. Even her 'Moon' divine authority could be given to you so that you can become the new God of the Silver Moon!"
The words of the Night Goddess were like a devil's temptation. Her voice seemed to be enchanting and seductive. This caused the Silver Moon Goddess' expression to change as she looked at Louie.
Chapter 217
Selune was extremely aware of the dragons' tendency towards greed, and her interactions with Louie only confirmed this.
While he seemed intelligent and reasonable at a glance, that was only a farce he pulled to ensure he gained even greater benefits in the long run.
In fact, dragons were cunning when they hunted, but in terms of political skills, they were far from humans.
However, Louie was different from other dragons and could be called extremely intelligent.
That's why the Silver Moon Goddess used promises and baits. She told Louie that there was no danger in exploring the divine kingdom, and as a result, Louie made the decision to follow her.
In the original plan, there should have been no danger in this exploration. According to her research, the Gods who were sleeping should not have been able to influence the main continent. But for some reason, the Goddess of Night was able to influence the world for a short time, which was absolutely bad news to her.
Because of this mess, the exploration that was safe had turned dangerous. The Silver Moon Goddess was afraid that Louie would cooperate with the Goddess of the Night and become her enemy.
The Silver Moon Goddess' face was shrouded in mysterious clouds, but Louie could detect nervousness from her.
At that moment, numerous thoughts flashed through Louie's mind, and he began to analyze the pros and cons.
To be honest, the words of the Goddess really moved him. From her words, he understood that she had promised this unknown demigod with a portion of the Silver Moon Goddess' divinity. Even just half would be enough to obtain a mid-tier divine power.
According to this, the Goddess of the Night was going to take half of the divinity for herself.
But with Louie's appearance, she had surprisingly offered the benefits of what she would have gained. She even offered the Silver Moon Goddess' divine authority.
This goddess was truly worthy of being one of the oldest gods. She had always had the upper hand when fighting against the Silver Moon Goddess. She was also decisive and ruthless as she wished to kill the Silver Moon Goddess forever. If Louie did not know that they were sisters, he would have thought that the two had killed their parents in an unholy feud.
At that moment, Louie was hesitant to make that jump. If he could really get the divine authority of the silver moon, he would have the chance of replacing the Silver Moon Goddess. It must be understood that the Silver Moon Goddess had been pretending to be the Elf Queen for 30,000 years. Not even Sisna knew that their queen was the Silver Moon Goddess. In that case, Louie could become the new God of the Silver Moon and do things behind the scenes without anyone finding out.
But in the end, Louie suppressed his greed and regained reason.
First of all, he did not trust the Goddess of the Night. She was a goddess who managed secrets, but was also ready to use secrets to fight her enemies. From the only records about her, she was a wise yet sinister Goddess. If she did not pledge by the River Styx, then Louie would never trust her promises.
Even if Louis could become the new God of the Silver Moon, it was impossible for the Goddess of the Night to let him keep this a secret. She would definitely tell this to the elves and cause their faith to collapse. When that happens, Louie, who had the divine authority of the moon, would most likely be pulled down from the stars and face complete annihilation.
Secondly, the Silver Moon Goddess might have some unknown trump card that could help her escape. If that happened, Dragon City would enter a full-scale war with the elves. With Dragon City's current state, Louie could not win at all.
Naturally, the most important thing of all, he possessed the divine authority of the 'Dragon God'. It was just that he could not use it at the moment. If he accepted the divine authority of the moon, then he would have to give up on the divine authority of the Dragon God. With these on the scale, Louie immediately knew which side he should choose.
Choosing the 'Dragon God', and giving up on the 'Moon'.
After making a decision, the head that possessed the divine authority of dreams opened its mouth and sprayed out a mouthful of Emerald Dragon Breath. In this way, Louie had told the two goddesses his choice.
The Emerald Dragon Breath landed on the unknown demigod's divine domain, shifting reality to illusion. The sea collapsed and turned to bubbles as if everything was just an illusion. In an instant, the divine domain turned into nothing.
"What a pity. It seems you made the wrong choice that you will regret for the rest of your life, little…"
The Goddess of the Night let out a sigh as if she was feeling pity for Louie.
But Louie ignored her. With the Silver Moon Goddess holding her down, he only had to eliminate the other danger.
With a gap in the divine domain of the enemy, Louie was finally able to see the mysterious demigod's appearance.
He or she was wearing a light blue robe and was dressed like a mage. The only thing different was that they were wearing a large wizard hat. At first, Louie thought that the person was a witch. From the demigod's appearance, Louis suspected that this demigod was female or perhaps a crossdresser.
However, whatever the demigod's gender was, they were finally within Louie's vision.
For a dragon, their strongest weapon was their naturally strong body that was known as a miracle of the world. Most spells cast against it would be rendered useless.
…
Therefore, after seeing this unknown demigod, Louie did not even think twice and used his claws to smack them down.
With a body that was three hundred meters long, Louie's palm descended with the force of a meteor. With the support of his divine power and the genetic transformation performed by the Terran Civilization, his physical body was absolutely stronger than any creature in the world.
Compared to his claws, the demigod's body looked so small. The moment their sight was obscured by Louie's dragon's claw, they took out a trident. Aqua blue divine power converged on it and the sound of waves echoed from the void once again. The trident and the claw collided with each other.
"BOOOOOOOM"
A terrifying explosion sounded. A giant hole appeared in the Goddess of the Night's divine kingdom. The demigod was slapped hard onto the obsidian ground by Louie's strike.
At the same time, Louie felt a stinging pain from his claw that was cut by the trident.
'It's a divine weapon, but only a lesser one.'
Louie judged that the other party was different from the Night Goddess and the Silver Moon Goddess. She lacked the resources and backing to have a genuine divine weapon.
Although lesser divine weapons were powerful, they were not that deadly to Louie. He only needed to be careful if the other party held a genuine divine weapon.
For dragons, their bodies were equivalent to a divine weapon. Although Louie's body could barely be categorized as a lesser divine weapon, it was only a matter of time for him to evolve into his final form and make his body to be similar to a genuine divine weapon.
Chapter 218
And sure enough, she erupted from the hole in the ground a second later. Her robes were completely intact, suggesting that she took very little damage from the affair. She raised her trident once more and flew towards Louie's face.
"Going for my eyes? Not bad," Louie laughed.
There was no such thing as a disability for a God. Even if their eyes were blinded or they lost an arm, they would recover with time, but Louie was not willing to be blinded by others.
Seeing her lean but toned figure, he surmised that she was a warrior who emulated magical methods with divine power.
In a second he recalled all the spells he had learned so far. After his evolution, he had learned how to use all spells below the demigod rank. As for legendary ranked spells, he would need a deeper level of understanding before he could use them to the same degree. Save for the necromancies he obtained from Noella, he couldn't easily utilize most classes of such magic.
Despite the other party's diminutive stature compared to his size, he would take her on with utmost seriousness.
Louie raised his dragon claws again and slapped towards the mysterious demigod once more. In a bid to evade this, she twisted mid-air and soared faster towards his face.
Under normal circumstances, let alone Louie, even a demigod would not be able to avoid the trident. At most, Louie could close his eyelids and let himself be hit. However, Louie smiled and changed his claw strike to a poke.
"Order, Shock!"
This was one of Louie's favorite spells in the 'order system'. Its effects were the same as Words of Power, which used words to cause powerful spell effects. Although it wasn't as powerful as prophetic spells, it was still powerful.
If an ordinary mage used the order system of spells on a demigod, it wouldn't have any effect. But if divine power was used, it would be enough to break through any natural spell resistance of demigods.
Louie pointed his finger-like claws at the demigod, and for a split second, she felt her muscles stiffen. This was enough time for Louie to do many things.
"Nine-ringed Spell, Time Stop!"
The authority of magic granted him the ability to learn almost any spell and use them with expert-level proficiency. This was also why the Goddess of Magic could understand every spell. Mortals could never compare to this kind of ability..
Louie was also grateful to the Era of Disaster. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the divine authority of magic to appear in his body. When the Era of disaster happened, many divine authorities were fragmented, creating multiple copies. The majority of the divine authority of magic was still in the hands of the Goddess of Magic, as she was the rightful God of the domain.
But with the divine authority of magic that Louie seized, he could also become a God of Magic.
The nine-ringed spell 'Time Stop' sounded outrageously powerful, but in fact, it didn't fully live up to its name. All it did was to alter a creature's sense of time and create a gap between their perceived sense of time and the actual passage of time in the world around them. Unless Louie lit up the divine authority of time, which was a strong and rare divine authority, he wouldn't be able to actually halt its sands.
The effect of the nine-ringed spell was too perverse. In the face of it, the resistance of Gods and demigods would also become stronger. Louie naturally knew that even with divine power, it was impossible for him to make a demigod come to a complete stop, but the demigod never imagined that Louie would use this spell on her.
Louie did not seek to freeze the enemy. As long as her time stood still for a moment, he could use many stronger skills.
After stopping the demigod with shock, Louie used [Time Stop] to increase this gap. In that instant, Louie unleashed countless spells. These spells were delayed spells he had prepared beforehand, but to outsiders, it would appear as if Louie unleashed powerful spells in one breath.
"Crushing Hand"
A giant hand of darkness appeared in mid-air. This appendage expanded violently and fell down like a divine palm from the sky. The demigod with the power of the seas was slapped back down the ground.
"[Great Mage's Disjunction]!"
Louie's claws once again slashed, creating a crack in the void that moved towards the demigod.
The demigod raised her trident in front of her to block the attack with the divine power in his weapon, but he did not expect Louie to use such a spell. In a panic, she moved back to the divine equipment.
This spell was extremely subtle. Its power did not affect living bodies, but it was effective against material objects and spells. It wasn't a legendary spell, but it was capable of damaging even divine equipment.
Although the chance was small, the possibility was not zero. If the divine equipment in the demigod's hands was a genuine high-class divine weapon, Louie wouldn't dare use this spell as even if he succeeded in destroying it, the resultant shockwave would threaten even him.
But if it was just a lesser divine weapon, then Louie did not care. Even if it was destroyed, there would be no repercussions.
Even if the possibility of breaking it was also low, demigods cared for their weapons very well. Even if there was a small possibility, the enemy demigod was reluctant to try it and instead put away her weapon.
This gave Louie the opportunity he needed.
"Finally, [Polar Ray]!"
Louie had used three high-ranking spells in quick succession, catching the mysterious demigod off guard. Louie clearly had a powerful body, but actually used magic to fight. An extremely cold ray of light shot out from Louie's fingertips and penetrated the demigod's torso, covering her with a layer of frost.
"…"
The demigod grunted in pain. This was the first time she let out a sound ever since she appeared. This allowed Louie to finally determine her gender.
She was dressed like a witch and was a woman. But she couldn't use magic at all.
Chapter 219
The demigod of the ocean was still recovering from the shock of witnessing Louie's magical prowess. Among the members of the illustrious draconic race, there were indeed a few who learned how to use magic, but these individuals were extremely rare. And those who could reach the domain of legendary or 9th ring magic were exponentially rarer.
Initially, she had prepared for a brawl, but he sneakily subverted her expectations and pulled the rug from under her feet with his magical attacks.
In fact, if not for the divine authority of magic, Louie would not be able to use magic at all. Learning spells required talent and perception. This was the same as algebraic geometry. Louie was previously just a normal human, and saying that he had any latent talent was obviously impossible.
The demigod rose in anger again.
The air once again became humid. The sound of waves and the breeze once more spread out. Louie could even see the sea appear in the distance. Its mood was tempestuous and raging, likely mirroring the demigod's.
The waves fiercely slapped down, every single droplet in them containing divine power. It seemed that the demigod was truly furious and even ignored the cost of such an attack.
Although demigods couldn't create miraculous attacks that Gods could do, the pure destructive power was on a similar level. A monstrous wave struck the great earth in the Goddess of Night's divine kingdom, and azure light filled the sky and the earth.
On the other hand, Louie spewed out his Emerald Dragon Breath. Any matter that it touched was turned into nothingness. Even the divine power used to create the ocean disappeared after being hit. It was as if the seawater evaporated due to the high temperature. A huge hole had appeared and at the same time, Louie's other head spewed out Magical Dragon breath that contained pure magic power. Each breath of his wreaked destruction and chaos.
His huge body danced in the air and occupied the skies, while the other demigod integrated with the ocean, turning herself into pure water. With one in control of the air and one in control of the sea, the two unleashed wanton destruction in the Goddess' divine kingdom. Even the dark tower was completely annihilated.
After the initial explosions, the demigod who mastered the sea seemed to have calmed down as the sea calmed down as well. She understood that she could not cause any harm to Louie in the skies above.
After it became obvious to the demigod that she was helpless against Louie, she ceased all activity and stopped fighting. The cooperation between the mysterious demigod and the Night Goddess was without a doubt to kill the Silver Moon Goddess and her divinity, but Louie's appearance had greatly reduced their chances of success. Knowing that she might not get any benefits in this battle, the demigod stopped putting in any effort into her work.
Whether it was Louie or the demigod, both were just demigods. Every drop of divine power was previous to them. Louie at least had the godhood which could be filled up with tanks of divine power, but the mysterious demigod seemed to have a limit.
If Louie truly fought with her to the death, then there was a high chance that he could kill this demigod, but there were no benefits to it. Louie was currently lacking in divinity, but if the other side blew up their own divinity, then he wouldn't be able to gain any benefits. Moreover, if other demigods caught the news that he was exhausted and injured after this fight, they would definitely flock to him like vultures.
Thus, Louie and the ocean demigod came to a tacit understanding. One flew in the sky and occasionally blew out dragon breaths, while the other wandered in the sea and occasionally sprayed some waves for show. The two focused on the sister goddesses instead.
Louie now needed to protect the Silver Moon Goddess under any circumstances. He could not let her life be in danger. As long as the both of them were able to leave this place, then the Silver Moon Goddess would owe him a huge favor. The favor of a God was a great opportunity, especially when the Silver Moon Goddess hadn't told him where to find more divinity. He would never let this Goddess encounter any problems.
But soon, Louie found that he had been thinking too much about their battle. The Silver Moon Goddess stayed dominant the entire battle, while the Night Goddess was on the side of the suppressed. It was like a powerful god fighting a weak god. Both of them weren't on the same level at all.
'If I go, I think I can also win!'
Seeing that the Goddess of the Night was this weak, this idea emerged in Louie's heart. If the Goddess of the Night did not have her divine weapons, which increased her power, she might have already been defeated.
Louie's nervousness and fear towards the sleeping gods were all gone. If all the Gods were to be at this level of combat power when they woke up, Louie was certain that he could beat them.
Suddenly, the light from the silver moon and the dull light from the darkness collided together and exploded. The once-powerful ancient gods were now reduced to this crude manner of using divine power. During this collision, the Silver Moon Goddess' body was knocked back and smashed against a hard black mountain. The Goddess painfully grunted, and even the mist covering her face dissipated.
At this time, Louie had no time to care about the Silver Moon Goddess and paid more attention to the Night Goddess. She was even more miserable. With the explosion of divine power, she was smashed to the ground below and the divine power covering her body had instantly weakened. 30,000 years of sleep had reduced her divine power to the extremes.
Louie's eyes shone. Now that the Night Goddess had temporarily lost the protection from divine power, her beautiful body was exposed in Louie's eyes.
Louie did not keep watching the beautiful body. He suddenly raised his claw and fired a 'high-energy beam'.
This was the weapon created by the Terran Civilization on his body. Because there were no magic or divine power fluctuations, the ocean demigod was not able to react at all. By the time she saw the beam of light, it had already penetrated through the Night Goddess' chest from the back.
This scientific sneak attack could not be detected at all, and Shae was caught completely off guard. She only felt pain in her chest as a bloody hole opened. She spat out a mouthful of blood and shriveled up.
"O Great Goddess of the Night, Shae, although this is only your incarnate, please die under this little dragon's wrath."
Louie had long felt discontent from the moment the Goddess of the Night looked down on him. He didn't abandon this chance at all and flicked a few more times, causing countless energy beams to shoot out of his fingers.
Chapter 220
Louie's sneak attack was something that neither Shape nor the ocean demigod did not anticipate.
Both of them had guessed that Louie might perform a sneak attack, but they never imagined his methods to be this stealthy.
What he used simply did not have any spell fluctuations, divine power fluctuations, or even sound. It was completely beyond their predictions that he would fire such a terrifying beam of light.
If the Goddess of the Night still had divine power protecting her body, the high-energy beam would not be able to deal any damage to her, but Louie had grasped the moment when the two Goddesses crossed divine powers. At that moment, the Goddess of the Night temporarily lost divine power, giving him the chance to launch the perfect sneak attack.
After succeeding once, Louie wanted to continue and fired more high-energy beams. This time the ocean demigod was able to react. She quickly raised a wave that contained divine power to block Louie's beams. This gave the Goddess of the Night a chance to breathe!
However, this chaos caused everyone to forget about the strongest among them, the Silver Moon Goddess. Just when the Goddess of the Night and the ocean demigod were both scrambling, four silver moon blades flew out with the moonlight. The Goddess of the Night, in a pinch, directly blocked the weapon with her 'dark disk'. The divine power collided once more, but the divine power that came from the Goddess of Darkness was much weaker than it was at the beginning.
On the contrary, the Silver Moon Goddess had the backing of millions of elves. Even if she had lost her godhood and could not compare to the amount of divine power that Louie could store, she had high-tier divine power, the support of the elves, and an unimaginably fast faith to divine power conversion rate. This made her divine power seem infinite while the Goddess of Darkness was completely out of breath.
The Goddess of the Night was unable to fully display her abilities as a true god, and her profession was closer to that of an assassin. She wasn't good at defense at all. After blocking several times, the Silver Moon Goddess finally obtained an opportunity.
"[Implosion]!"
The Silver Moon Goddess' moon rings transformed back into a staff and pointed it at Shae. Shae was locked in place as silvery gloves erupted from within her body and a trail of black smoke effused the air around her. Her jade-black body was tinged with white spots as if she had some kind of skin disease.
The Silver Moon Goddess did not use a spell, but a priest's holy magic. While she was a mage, the Silver Moon Goddess was also a priest.
The battle between demi gods or gods was not as complicated as the lower-ranked professions where the scales could shift because of various circumstances.
Other than the difference between the godhoods, the most important thing was their numbers. In other words, it was always better to fight as a group than to fight alone. This was why the gods had split apart. Even powerful Gods need to belong to a faction.
Unless they were desperate, Gods would not use their true bodies to fight. On the other hand, using incarnations did not affect them too much. At most, they would just coop themselves up in their divine kingdoms and not make a mess of things.
The Goddess of the Night knew that she was no match for the Silver Moon Goddess in single combat, but the reason she lured her in was that she wanted to rely on the ocean demigod to help her. This would allow them to team up and kill the Silver Moon Goddess. In any case, this place was her divine kingdom. Even if it was in ruins, she had the ability to limit people from entering or leaving it easily. This would trap the Silver Moon Goddess like a turtle in a jar.
Louie's appearance wasn't out of Shae's expectations. Since she had a helper, it would be natural for the Silver Moon Goddess to also find helpers to come and explore the divine kingdom. She had already planned to seduce Selune's helpers and make them betray her. With everyone attacking the Silver Moon Goddess, she would most certainly die here. This ruined divine kingdom was simply prepared by Shae as her sister's burial place.
However, the only thing Shae did not expect was that Louie would remain steadfast in the face of such temptation. He did not choose to betray Selune and instead chose to continue to help her. This made Shae puzzled and curious.
This was a one-of-a-kind chance. As long as Louie joined hands with her to kill Selune, then Louie would be able to gain mid-tier divine power without any obstacles. Mortals and demigods would never give up this chance to become a God, but Louie's decision was simply incredible.
'This dragon must have its own secrets.'
The Goddess who lorded over secrets instantly became interested in Louie. Although her attack on the Silver Moon Goddess had failed, she was not annoyed. This was the difference between gods and mortals. Mortals could be ruined over a single failure, but for Gods, as long as their real bodies were fine, they were indifferent to the destruction of an incarnation and other such things. Moreover, Shae still had a trump card, so things had not yet concluded.
Shae had been hit in the chest by Louie's high-energy beam. Because of the high temperature, it had cauterized, but her divine power started moving and began to close her wound. However, compared to this wound caused by Louie, the injury caused by the Silver Moon Goddess was obviously more difficult to recover from.
Her black muslin had been torn to strips of cloth. Her alluring delicate body that seemed to be perfect was now riddled in with wounds. This was all caused by the Silver Moon Goddess' weapon. The white spots on her jade-black skin were burning her body, and she could only wrinkle her brows in pain. The only thing that could resist the power of the silver moon was the power of darkness within her.
The intense battle had left her with little room to repair her damaged clothing, and consequently, she was currently topless.
After the intense battle, the divine power of both sides had weakened significantly. Even the Silver Moon Goddess' total divine power had decreased. The ocean demigod withdrew her domain to save her divine power. She held a trident while standing by Shae's side. Louie also shrunk his body back to 40 meters. Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess were hovering in the air and watching the two enemies in front of them.
"Thank you for your help, Lord Louie. It's thanks to you that I was able to gain an advantage~"
The Silver Moon Goddess, Selune said gratefully. Louie's choice of helping her, when posed with the choice that no one should be able to reject, moved the Goddess' heart. It must be known that Shae's temptation just now was something truly irresistible. It was the hope of stepping towards becoming a god. Anyone might be willing to fight for such a chance.
"Your Highness now is not the time to let down your guard. Shae will not easily give up and I have a hunch that her plan isn't this simple."
In truth, if Louie did not have the godhood of the Dragon God, he might have worked together with the Goddess of the Night and eliminated the Goddess of the Silver Moon.
For a newly ascended God, taking steps from a god with low-tier divine power to mid-tier divine power was incredibly difficult. Instead of walking around blindly, it was better to kill a God and steal theirs.
But because Louie had a godhood with high-tier divine power and his divine authorities were already fixed, he chose to help the Silver Moon Goddess.
"You are right. I'm afraid She will not give up this easily… We have to be a bit more careful. This world seems like it's about to collapse. After a period of time, this divine kingdom would without a doubt complete collapse and disappear into the Crystal Wall System."
The SIlver Moon Goddess calmly said. The mist that had been hiding her face had already been completely dissipated after fighting with the Goddess of the Night, revealing her true appearance.
Chapter 221
"Lady, things have taken an unexpected turn. If you have no other means, please don't blame me for leaving here. I am not prepared to take on two powerful demigods."
The mysterious demigod of the ocean stood next to the Goddess of Night and spoke sharply.
No demigod was foolish. And as it became increasingly clear that an unfavorable gap existed between the two sister Goddesses, and between her and Louie, she felt little compulsion to continue the battle.
She had already been beaten back to the point of retreat. The aura of the Goddess of the Night was also getting weaker and weaker. The divine power in her incarnation was close to being used up. If the Goddess was killed here, then only an incarnation would die, but if the ocean demigod was negligent, she might really fall.
This was the difference between true gods and demigods. One allowed defeat, while the other one didn't.
"Even without the divinity of the Silver Moon Goddess, I have a great guarantee that I could become a god, but I will still need to accumulate divinity diligently. That would be better than risking my life here. If you have no better plants, then please forgive my choice."
The ocean demigod's tone gradually became harsher to the point that she was already threatening the Goddess of Night.
She looked at Shae as if she would choose to betray her if she could not provide a satisfactory answer.
In the beginning, the ocean demigod was being very respectful to the Shae, but her attitude became worse and worse as the situation changed. Those that could become demigods were very sensible people. The ocean demigod had probably found out from the battle between the Goddesses that the Goddess of the Night was not powerful. She did not have to please her at all.
The Night Goddess was indeed the weakest of the four people present at the moment.
"Your Highness, it seems the other side is having an internal strife."
Louie stretched his body. If the Goddess of the Night still had any cards to play, he had to prepare countermeasures for any situation.
"It seems their relationship is quite business-like. They aren't good friends like us." Selune smiled, her tone thick with mockery.
For a moment Louie wanted to rebut by saying that their relationship was also founded on interests, but seeing the resentment Selune had for her sister, he swallowed his words and nodded in agreement.
Had Louie not accompanied the Silver Moon Goddess today, then she would definitely have met with trouble. Shae would have been able to tempt whoever she brought along to turn on her.
The Goddess of the Night had just woken up, but already began to plan against her sister. It seemed that the battle between the two would never end until one of them disappeared from the world. Only when another invasion like the invasion of the Terran Civilization occurred would they stand side by side to fight.
Louie turned his head to look at the Silver Moon Goddess' face. Without the mysterious mist covering it, Louie could clearly see her appearance.
The Silver Moon Goddess and the Night Goddess resembled each other. The only difference was their temperaments. The Goddess of Night was like a blooming mature flower that contained endless charm. Her delicate body was quite lovely enough to fascinate any male creature into her eternal dark temptation.
On the other hand, the Silver Moon Goddess was different. Although her every movement carried a suffocating attraction, her temperament was quite cold. She was like a moon in the night sky that could be seen from afar, but not touched. With her delicate and soft features and the subtleties of her bare skin, her beauty gave a sense of holiness.
In particular, her jade-like skin was as strange as the Night Goddess' skin. Her skin was close to transparent silvery-white as if it was suffused with pieces of moonlight. It seemed to be the inverse of Shae's dark-jade skin.
"Kukukuku, hahahaha, don't be in a hurry just yet." Shae cackled.
The Goddess of the Night placated the ocean demigod, but Louie could clearly hear her displeasure in her laughter. It seems that being threatened by a demigod made this ancient goddess feel that she had lost face. In addition to the Silver Moon Goddess' mockery, this Goddess, who did not know the meaning of generosity became even more resentful.
The Silver Moon Goddess' helper, Louie, could not only resist her charms but also shared their joys and sorrow. On the other hand, the helper that she found began to threaten her with betrayal the moment she found out that they were at a disadvantage. Comparing the two, it was impossible for the Goddess of the Night to be happy.
Shae was not in a good mood. Her tone of voice changed and shouted at this realm that was almost close to collapsing, "This is the best chance of revenge that you have had in tens of thousands of years. What are you still waiting for, the collapse of my divine kingdom? Selune will soon return to the main continent and you will lose your only opportunity."
"Shae, I don't need you to tell me that. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."
Suddenly, from the darkness echoed a confused, chaotic, and bizarre female voice. The surrounding environment changed once more. If the previous world was the pure darkness of Shae that did not contain any evil, then at this moment, an abyss-like evil atmosphere had dominated everything.
Hanging in the middle of this chaotic world was a thick nauseating miasma laden with pure negativity.
Then as the darkness rolled by, the figure of a tall woman appeared. She had long ears that were similar to those of the elves, but her skin was grayish-black rather than fair. She wore a priest's robe that was inlaid with golden tassel embellishments that looked like human bones. The limbs growing out from behind her looked like bony black spider legs, revealing her identity instantly!
"Spider Goddess Rose?!"
The Silver Moon Goddess exclaimed. She didn't expect to meet the greatest traitor of the elven gods here.
Chapter 222
"Rose, why is a traitor like you here?!"
The Silver Moon Goddess' expression instantly changed when she saw the spider woman. Her cold and unparallelled beautiful face changed to one of anger. It was an even stronger reaction than when she was facing the Goddess of the Night.
"Traitor? No, you are the one who lied about dying. But this is really good. Now I can kill you myself."
The Spider Goddess with black hair and gray skin let out a whistling sound of surprise. The atmosphere of decay and corrosion that surrounded her became thicker and thicker. This Goddess that had just appeared seemed to also have the characteristics of the divine authority of darkness. When her darkness united with Shae's, they surprisingly looked complementary to each other.
After the Spider Goddess appeared. Shae seemed to have become a bystander. Her charming eyes watched the Spider Goddess and the Silver Moon Goddess. Her pupils were dark and sinister, desiring the Spider Goddess and the Silver Moon Goddess to take out each other.
Louie inwardly cursed the moment he saw the beautiful woman with spider characteristics.
There were few to no records of the events that happened during the Era of Disaster. However, there were many records of events that happened before that era that had been preserved.
Although the Gods had been asleep and did not show their miracles for more than 30,000 years, any records obtained from those eras were like myths and stories. In order to understand the Gods, Louie studied those documents and canonical texts.
Among them, the love-hate relationship between the Spider Goddess and the Silver Moon Goddess was a very straightforward and interesting story.
In order to explain the emotional entanglement between the Spider Goddess and the Silver Moon Goddess, one had to start from the Goddess of Night, Shae, and the Goddess of Light, Selune's rivalry. The Goddess of Light was the previous form of the Silver Moon Goddess. At that time, she was the one who mastered the divine authority of Light. She and Shae were named as two of the world's strongest Gods. When faith had not yet existed, these two were natural Gods created by the Crystal Wall System.
Because their divine authorities and concepts were opposites, the twin goddesses warred with each other. In the beginning, they were both evenly matched. The war continued for an unknown amount of time until the rules of the world changed. The Gods lost their original power and required faith to survive. It was this shift that allowed Shae to seize the opportunity to put down the Goddess of Light in one fell swoop.
This caused the Goddess of Light to lose her divine authority of light, but she did not immediately become the Silver Moon Goddess. At that time, there was a powerful God of Nature among the ancient Gods. For some unknown reason, he had chosen to sacrifice himself and give all his divine authority of nature to her.
At that time, the Spider Queen Goddess Rose was still the Goddess of Fate of the elves. She was someone who possessed high-tier divine power and became the companion of the Silver Moon Goddess.
The two were thus coupled. The Silver Moon Goddess was essentially female, but it was not difficult for the Gods to change their gender. At that time, the Silver Moon Goddess became the main god of the elves and obtained the divine authority of nature, turning her into a male god. To a certain extent, she could have been called a fraud.
After that, a series of events happened which led to the relationship between the Goddess of Destiny and the Silver Moon Goddess deteriorating. Eventually, the Goddess of Fate chose betrayal and joined forces with a group of evil gods to invade the Kingdom of the Elves. She herself had fallen into depravity and changed from the Goddess of Fate into the form of a spider. The elves who believed her had also degraded and turned into drows who were banished to the dark regions.
Louie would never believe it if someone told him that the Goddess of the Night did not push the Spider Goddess to betray. In the end, the former God of Nature had disappeared and the main god of the elves became the Goddess of the Silver Moon. From a god with high-tier divine power, she had become one with mid-tier divine power. The Goddess of the Night had once again won.
After that, the Goddess of the Night continued to play tricks that weakened the Silver Moon Goddess further to become a god with low-tier divine power. At this point, the Silver Moon Goddess who could be killed cleverly chose to find other powerful Gods to shelter her, thus escaping the fate of being killed by Shae.
Afterward, the descent of the Era of Disaster had given the nearly desperate Silver Moon Goddess another chance to live so that she could once again restore her original powers.
The Spider Goddess and the Night Goddess who were both here at the moment could both be called her mortal enemies. If the Night Goddess was considered as a rational enemy, then the hatred between the Silver Moon Goddess and the Spider Goddess had reached a paranoid level.
At this time, Louie felt a headache and wondered if choosing to help the Silver Moon Goddess was the right decision or not. Her enemies were simply too many. The most troublesome among them was the Goddess of the Night. This enemy was simply like gangrene that had followed since birth till now.
"Rose, why are you helping Shae!"
The Silver Moon Goddess was shocked and angrily shouted.
"Because I have the same Goal as the lady of the Night, and that is to kill you! What's wrong with our cooperation?"
The Spider Queen's eyes burned with hatred for Selunes.
Although Rose had transformed into a spider, she remained beautiful in Louie's eyes. Her human and arachnid features blended together to form an exotic and captivating appearance, especially for one with a dragon's sensibilities.
"As long as I can kill you, I don't care who I work with. It's great that your true form is here. When I kill you, I will send an army of drows to attack the Forest of the Moon and kill all the elves!"
The spider legs behind Rose began to shake. Any sane mortal who looked at them would probably quickly go man.
"Shae is now the common enemy of the gods. It was with her cooperation that the invaders were able to cause the Era of Disaster. When the gods all return, they will never let her go. I don't think you also want to be the enemy of the gods."
The Silver Moon Goddess' words stunned Louie and the ocean demigod. They never expected such a secret backstory about the Era of Disaster. They never expected that the Goddess of the Night cooperated with the invaders to let them in and attack the Crystal Wall System!
Chapter 223
'This is really shocking news. The Goddess of Night Shae was actually a traitor to San Soliel. Perhaps her ambitions were so great that she wanted to annihilate all of her competitors and rule over the world of San Soliel by herself?'
For a moment, many thoughts swirled in Louie's brain. He was very interested in the events that transpired. After all, this was a secret that even he did not know. It seemed that there were more secrets to uncover about the Era of Disaster.
Louie did not know much about the Terran Civilization that invaded the world of San Soliel. Other than the silent Intelligent Brain who would only speak up when Louie found an energy source, Louie did not know anything about civilization. Just from the technology that the civilization left, he could guess that they were very powerful.
At first, Louie thought that the Terran Civilization directly made a massive invasion of San Soliel and destroyed many realms. He thought that they would not contact anyone from this 'barbaric lower civilization', but from the words of the Silver Moon Goddess, the Terran Civilization had not only contacted an indigenous creature of San Soliel, they even contacted one of the strongest gods of this world.
When the words of the Silver Moon Goddess fell, the Goddess of Night's expression turned to gloom. Her pair of alluring as if always teasing dark beautiful eyes have become quiet. That sudden change in atmosphere let everyone know that the Silver Moon Goddess' words were not lies.
Afterward, the ocean demigod unconsciously distanced herself by a step from Shae. Although it did not mean completely abandoning their relationship, this behavior told others that their relationship had become complicated.
The ocean demigod was not stupid. She chose to cooperate with Shae just to obtain the Silver Moon Goddess' divinity. If Shae truly became the enemy of the Gods and she joined her side, then it was the same as courting death. Unless Shae became the strongest goddess of the world and was dubbed as 'Her Majesty', then it was impossible to win against that many Gods.
If they were at times of peace, Shae's high-tier divine power would save her life even if all gods became her enemies. At most, she would be suppressed by the Gods, but no God would dare enter her realm and attack her. The Gods were also self-preserving creatures and feared death.
However, the present era was soon going to become chaotic. It would be the era when the Gods revived. Shae wouldn't have her divine kingdom, and the card she left behind in the Theocracy did not seem to be successful. If the Gods were to stand against her, she would undoubtedly fall.
"That's why you chose to attack the Silver Moon Goddess here. You plan to seize the divine authority of the moon and pretend to be the Silver Moon Goddess. With a million elves believing in you, you could gradually recover and stand at the forefront of the gods. At that time, even if the Gods become your enemy, it would be impossible for them to wipe you out."
Louie spoke out and immediately understood the Goddess of Night's plans. He finally understood why she wanted to do this. In addition to her hatred of the Silver Moon Goddess, she wanted to use the life of the Silver Moon Goddess to obtain a new life.
At the same time, Louie's heart was also shaken. The Goddess of the Night was truly worthy of being an ancient god who warred with the Goddess of Light. She was even almost successful in playing the Silver Moon Goddess to death. Her plot and cunning were simply terrifying to the extreme.
Louie was lucky. If he had been tempted by the Goddess of Night and backstab the Silver Moon Goddess, then he would never be able to get the divine authority of the moon. Even if he got it temporarily, he would soon become her next target and become a thorn in his flesh.
If other Gods had invited the Silver Moon Goddess, she would not have been fooled, but the Goddess of Night clearly understood the hatred between the two of them. She knew that the Silver Moon Goddess would jump into the river to kill her and this would never be washed away as long as the Goddess of Night showed traces of her whereabouts. The Silver Moon Goddess would certainly follow the traces and thus be tricked into this world.
At the same time, the Goddess of the Night also invited the Spider Goddess Rose, who also had a feud with the Silver Moon Goddess. From Louie's point of view, the Spider Goddess was like a madman who wasn't right in the head when facing the Silver Moon Goddess. She was like a resentful woman who had been abandoned by her lover. She was even willing to cooperate with Shae in order to deal with the Silver Moon Goddess.
The Goddess of the Night was standing on a one-way bridge and calculating everything to ensure success. This made Louie feel awe. She was so close to succeeding. From a weak god, she could instantly stand at the peak.
Louie's words made the Silver Moon Goddess slightly smile and nod. Her beautiful face was like the caress of the moon, indicating that he was correct. On the other hand, the ocean demigod began to openly back away far from Shae. After knowing her scheme and tricks, the ocean demigod also began to feel afraid, afraid that she wouldn't even gain any benefits and be sent to death by Shae as well.
At this time, the Goddess of the Night became isolated. Although the Spider Queen was in a cooperative relationship with Shae, she was able to maintain sanity in her madness. She was only here for Selune and did not want to entangle herself with Shae.
The Goddess of the Night paled. For her, a woman who loved to keep secrets, she hated her secrets being exposed the most. Only when her secrets were forever kept would she be able to control everything behind the scenes. But when all darkness was exposed to the light, she would have nothing to hide.
This was why Shae had always fought with Selune.
"Your Highness, why did Shae choose to join forces with the invaders from outside the Crystal Wall System? Could it be that she truly has big ambitions to become the only ruler of this world?"
Louie felt doubtful, and the Silver Moon Goddess did not hesitate to expose secrets, especially ones that belong to Shae. She preferred to let everyone know her secrets.
The ocean god slightly turned sideways. Her robes prevented people from seeing her figure and appearance, but she was also greatly curious about the secrets of the Era of Disaster.
The ocean demigod only knew that the Era of Disaster had something to do with beings outside the Crystal Wall System, but she did not know the specifics. As a result, she became willing to listen to what happened from the mouth of a god.
In any case, as long as she did not go help Shae anymore, Shae would become a true turtle in a jar.
Chapter 224
"Shae's origin is darkness: the absolute destruction, the nothingness before time began to flow. Her original form is the chaos at the beginning. Because of the influence of darkness, no, I should say that because of her own essential nature, she is cold and ruthless to the point that she desires to return everything to nothing. She loathes all civilizations and order, and she loathes all life.
The Silver Moon Goddess Selune stared at the enchanting figure of darkness and spoke about Shae's origins.
"When the world was born, Shae and I were born from the chaos itself. At that time, there was nothing, no chaos, no order, just absolute tranquility that Shae loved. I was the opposing light, but I lost a portion of my power because of the need to create order. As a result, the world finally began to move from chaos to order, but that gave Shae a significant advantage over me.
"The evolution of the world changed the very root of the world, causing it to balance out the rules. The Gods began to be limited by faith, and Shae began to pursue more power. She took on the form of darkness and night, attracting the worship of beings who lured others, lied to them, betrayed others, killed people, threatened others, and so on. Thus, she became a Goddess worshiped by creatures of the night who hate the light."
In the subjective consciousness of mankind, Shae is a pure and evil God who longs for darkness and nothingness, for peace and the stillness of eternity. She only treats her followers like 'props' to maintain her existence and become more powerful. She never cared about her believers."
"Rose, don't you know how petty Shae is? Before the Era of Disaster, she vainly tried to destroy and kill you. She longs for the drows who believe in you to become her believers, longs for the lives of the drows who live in the crypt. Working for her is the biggest mistake you're going to make. That will not only put you as opposing the Gods, but the slightest misstep will make Shae replace you."
The Gods were truly worthy of being so. The Silver Moon Goddess was not the God of Justice, that divine authority belonged to the Goddess of Morning. Even at this moment, the Silver Moon Goddess was still persuading the Spider Goddess to make her turn back against the Goddess of the Night.
Although the Silver Moon Goddess felt angry at the Spider Goddess' betrayal, Louie could feel some guilt in her words. He felt that there was something deeper about this story. Perhaps the Silver Moon Goddess also did things to twist the Spider Queen's emotions to make her like this.
Compared to this Spider Queen who lived in the Abyss, the Silver Moon Goddess was more concerned with Shae. Ever since the beginning, she had never won against her after all.
After listening to the Silver Moon Goddess' dissection of Shae's nature, he just said, "So the desire and ambition of the Goddess of Night is not to stand above the Gods and all mortals. What she really wants to do is to exterminate all civilization, order, chaos, and evil and let the world return to its original nothingness and tranquility that is devoid of all life."
If this was what Shae truly desires, then she was simply the enemy of the world. Regardless of whether it was order or chaos, good or evil, she wanted the extinction of all living creatures. It was a void lonelier than death.
Louie felt that the Goddess of the Night was an extreme loner and antisocial deep inside. She did not want any living creature to exist and only embrace the darkness.
"This is why she does everything she does. Her desire for strength, or power, for supremacy, was all to complete this ultimate purpose. If she one day obtains this power, then she would return the world of San Soliel back to its original form!"
"Only I, who was born at the same time as her, can understand her true nature. Sadly, no other god believed what I said before the Era of Disaster happened. No other god was willing to make enemies of Shae for something no one could ascertain."
The Silver Moon Goddess said in an indignant voice that was full of tiredness and helplessness.
"So, does that mean that after the Ter… the Crystal Wall System had been breached, Shae felt that the invading power could help her exterminate all order thus deciding to cooperate with them? She turned her back on mortals and Gods of San Soliel?"
The Silver Moon Goddess did not notice Louie's slip of the tongue, but the Goddess of the Night looked at him. Her charming eyes flashed and blinked twice.
Louie's heart jumped. She might have sensed something wrong about him as she had been in contact with the Terran Civilization before.
'No, what made the Goddess suspicious is not my wrong words. Most likely, she had already been suspicious at the light that I shot her with.'
The means he used to attack her had indeed belonged to the Terran Civilization.
But Louie did not know the Goddess of the Night had come in contact with the Terran Civilization.
"It's just as you said. Shae has turned her back on her followers, on the entire world, and is in league with the greedy invaders who seek to wipe out everything in this world. Everything is in line with Shae's desires. In the beginning, Shae helped the other side by providing them with information. From the main continent to the outer realms of the world, from the Shadow Realm to the inner realms of the world, almost all beings were wiped out."
The Silver Moon Goddess' anger overflowed. As the original God of Light, her nature was opposite of Shae's. She wanted the world to develop as well as maintain order. Everything that Shae did was contrary to her existence.
The Goddess of the Night was simply the world's biggest douchebag. She directly betrayed the whole world which was amazing in its own way.
"The end result of all that was a war between the Gods and the invaders. That could be described as the twilight of the Gods where countless gods fell. However, the invaders also suffered a huge blow. Those invaders could not understand the power of the Gods, so they plotted to capture Shae at the end and study her in order to study the gods…"
The Silver Moon Goddess stopped her sentence, but any intelligent being could understand where she was getting to. The Goddess of the Night wanted to turn the world to nothingness, but this did not mean she wanted to die. So, when the Terran Civilization tried to capture her, she must have sensed that something was wrong. She once again stood on the side of the Gods and fought against the Terran Civilization, ending up where she was now.
'The original Five-colored Dragon God is really miserable. The Terran Civilization wanted to capture Shae, but she ran away. In the end, the Terran Civilization paid a great price to capture the Dragon God, who became her 'substitute'.
Louie mourned for the fallen Dragon God.
The ocean demigod was listening with thrill. She did not expect the Era of Disaster to be like this at all. Even she could not understand how terrifying those invaders that broke into the Crystal Wall System were. They actually wanted to capture and study a God. This was much more terrifying than those great arcane masters spoken in legends.
Facing the traitor of the Crystal Wall System, the ocean demigod was not stupid enough to not know what she should do. She silently moved away from Shae and expressed an attitude that she had nothing to do with Shae.
Shae already knew that there was no way for her to escape today. Her incarnation would definitely be eliminated. If the ocean demigod was still willing to help her and the presence of the Spider Queen, she would have been able to achieve her goal. However, the secrets of her past were suddenly exposed, causing her to become a loner.
Annoyed, Shae immediately shouted, "Rose, this is the last chase I can create for you. Selune's death now depends on how much you are willing to pay here!"
Even if her incarnation died here and she would have to go into hiding in the future, Shae would definitely make the Silver Moon Goddess pay a price!
At the same time, Shae began to calculate her next plan.
Chapter 225
The will of darkness, decay, and evil had descended in this almost ruined divine kingdom. The inky black had finally coagulated into a substantial presence than when only Shae revealed herself. This was because the Spider Goddess was a lot closer to the image of an evil god than Shae. Anyone in her domain would feel suffocation and madness engulfing them.
Elves and spiders were the sources of her faith, but this divine authority could only be considered as a racial divine authority. Other than providing her with a fair amount of faith, it did not make her any stronger. So, it was natural for her to also have other divine authorities such as evil or darkness.
The Silver Moon Goddess said that She wanted to kill the Spider Goddess and gain her divine authority. The divine authority of darkness was originally Shae's but after the battle with the invaders, she had lost parts of it. Some of these were taken by the Spider Goddess.
With this power, the Spider Queen added the power of destruction and evil to her domain.
It was chaotic and pervasive as if the evil power that belonged to the Abyss had now pervaded the small divine kingdom, drowning everything and competing with the moon in the sky.
"Lord Louie, leave Rose to me. Please deal with Shae. She is currently very weak and only has a little divine power left. Just be careful of her schemes and tricks."
The Spider Queen's appearance changed dramatically after using her divine powers. Her humanoid form transformed to look like an arachne with the upper half of her body being human and the lower half being spider, and in her hands was a pitch black whip.
She immediately entered a frenzy and started to lash out at Selune.
Louie concurred with Selune's advice as it was the best for the moment. The Silver Moon Goddess would deal with the Spider Goddess who still had abundant divine power while he dealt with the exhausted Goddess of Darkness. Although the Spider Goddess still had full divine power, it was impossible for her to defeat the Silver Moon Goddess. As long as he killed Shae's incarnation, then the divine kingdom would completely collapse, allowing Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess to leave at any time.
With this in mind, Louie did not hesitate. His three dragon heads sprayed out three different dragon breaths that contained different divine authorities. These converged on the Goddess, enveloping her.
At the same time, Louie still remained alert of the ocean demigod. Unless she made a move, Shae wouldn't be able to last a few rounds against Louie.
On the other hand, the ocean demigod, after finding out She's true nature, did not want to participate in this battle anymore. After knowing that she could not obtain the Silver Moon Goddess' divinity, this demigod stimulated her divine power and began attacking the divine kingdom with the trident in her hands. She and everyone else had the same thoughts of breaking the restrictions of the divine realm and gaining freedom.
The ocean demigod's attack on the divine kingdom was tantamount to helping Louie. She was manipulating the rules of Shae's divine kingdom with her divine power. To add insult to injury, Louie would attack Shae from time to time with his sharp claws and tail, causing her to defend with her divine weapon and expend divine power. Although the weapon was powerful and could easily cut through Louie's scales, the degree of injury was nothing with his size.
On the contrary, the more his blood flowed, the more frantic Louie became. He knew that she had little divine power left. The Goddess of the Night might be more efficient in using divine power compared to Louie, but the absolute gap in amount soon left the Goddess of the Night in a sorry state.
Driven by bloodlust as well as plain lust for her beautiful form, Louie roared and continued to wreak havoc in the divine kingdom.
Although dragons were chaotic creatures, they could suppress their desires during battle quite well and devote their minds solely to combat.
Squish–
Louie's mouth opened and bit on the waist of the Goddess of the Night, almost splitting her in half. The Goddess cried out in pain but still looked rather calm. She wanted to use her divine weapon to cut off Louie's teeth, but he did not give her that chance. With another bite, he tore off the Goddess' arm.
The arm was too small for Louie's size. He couldn't even chew it and just swallowed it directly. With the help of a dragon's intestine and divine power, Louie digested the arm that was a mass of divine power. At this point, Shae's divine power was close to being empty.
A disgusting bite mark had appeared on the Goddess' waist with only a bit of flesh connecting her body together. However, her insides were different from those of a human. The incarnation did not have any internal organs and only divine blood spilled out.
Louie's claws once again lit up and shot out beams of light. This had turned the body of the Goddess into a sieve. As if she knew that her incarnation was reaching her limits, she no longer tried to defend and allow Louie to destroy her body.
Louie's body changed once more and transformed from dragon to human. One of his hands became a sharp knife and directly pierced her and he held it in his hands.
At this time, Shae and Louie's bodies were sticking together. The Goddess suddenly revealed a demonic smile. Her tattered body moved forward and closed in on Louie's ear. Like a lover, she whispered, "Dragon, you have successfully aroused this goddess' interest. I will come to find you again. At that time, let us talk about the 'Terran Civilization'."
Shae's words caused Louie's expression to change. Seeing how his mood changed, Shae cackled and continued, "Since you want divinity, let me give the divinity in this body to you!"
After her words, the body of the incarnation began to burn. She did not ignite her divinity for a final counterattack before her death like a normal demigod. Instead, she gave her divinity as a gift directly delivering it to Louie's hands.
As he watched the Goddess of Night disappear and a part of divinity in his hand, Louie's expression turned ugly.
This was because the Goddess had found out a part of his own secret. This was the difficulty of killing Gods. Even if he killed Shae now, it was only her incarnation. As long as she still had divine power, she could just create a new one.
Not even a prairie fire could eliminate the grass. It would grow again when the spring breeze blew.
But no matter what was said, Louie had successfully killed a god.
Chapter 226
Rumble Rumble
With Shae's 'death' the divine kingdom began to collapse. The once pitch-black sky faded away to the dull gray of the Shadow Realm, and fissures appeared in space as the minor world shook.
The Silver Moon Goddess and her former lover continued their battle, paying little attention to the shattering world around them. Their collisions accelerated the destruction of what was once one of the most dangerous places in San Soliel. In the midst of all this, the demigod of the ocean punched a hole in space with her weapon and fled through it without looking back.
She did not dare wait for Louie and Selune to organize themselves and gang up on her.
Louie noticed her flight and even considered stopping her for a moment, but ultimately he decided against it. There would be little meaning to killing her here. What he wanted more than anything was divinity. Had she been a true God he would definitely have stopped her, but she held little value to him as a demigod.
'No matter. I've memorized your divine signature. The next time we meet I'll know it's you,' he thought.
The collapse of the divine kingdom accelerated as the process continued. Louie flew high into the air and felt the laws of the minor world unravel around him. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the composition and rules that a powerful Goddess had implemented in the construction of her divine kingdom. For an up-and-coming god like Louie, it was a priceless opportunity.
Although he didn't completely understand everything at the moment, he could nonetheless put away what confused him into memory. When the time came to build a divine kingdom he would examine them step by step.
Finally, as if a heavy object landed, the entire realm shook. The sky collapsed fully revealing the scenery outside which was a world of gloomy and dull light. Shae's divine kingdom had finally vanished.
Everything related to the divine realm disappeared. The Spider Queen and Selune were still locked in combat, neither giving an inch to the other.
Her fight with Shae prior to her current battle had taken a lot out of her. And though she had recovered slightly, the Spider Goddess was still a lot for her to handle. If this continued they would likely just exhaust themselves.
No matter how powerful the Spider Goddess was, she was the same as other Gods and had slept for 30,000 years. She wasn't like the Silver Moon Goddess who remained in the main continent for 30,000 years. If they fought a protracted war now, only the Goddess of Morning and God of War could compete with the Silver Moon Goddess.
Although Rose's character seemed crazed, she maintained a sliver of reason. After finding that she could not accomplish her goal, she was not willing to continue wasting her precious divine power. With Louie still watching, she knew that she would be defeated if it joined the battle.
The Spider Goddess retreated and distanced herself from the Silver Moon Goddess. She spoke with an evil voice like a dull knife scraping on a chalkboard, "Selune, count yourself lucky this time with a dragon helping you. Do not think that this is the end between us!"
"You have stayed on the main continent for 30,000 years, but I have the opportunity to instantly become a powerful God again. Do not think that the Gods will stand by and watch you go ahead. Like your sister Shae, you are now an obstacle in the eyes of the Gods. They will never allow the main god of the elves to become the highest seated power in the system.
"Just wait for it. You have banished the drows to the dark regions but they will never forget their hatred. I had almost lost the drows' faith, but their hatred still remains.!"
"I will regain my faith and lead the drows out of the dark regions and wipe out the elves! Just you wait!"
In a burst of mad laughter, the Spider Goddess returned to her normal form and opened a portal made of divine power behind her. Louie could feel that it led to the main continent, but it was somehow different from the one that he knew. It was a realm without sunlight. A realm shrouded in darkness and dampness. It was the place of exile of the drows – the Dark Realm!
Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess did not stop the Spider Goddess. This was because killing only an incarnation of a goddess was not worth the price paid. There was not much divinity in the incarnation and Louie had already obtained divinity from Shae as well as the divine creatures he killed earlier. He only had a bit of the way to go if he wanted to ignite his divine fire.
And as long as he managed to do so and consolidate his faith, he could become a god anytime.
Now only Louie and Selune remained in the immediate vicinity.
Chapter 227
In the middle of the Shadow Realm, Louie reappeared in human form. He looked at the divinity of darkness that had once belonged to Shae. After easily eliminating Shae's will from within, he breathed in the divinity into his body.
He made a slight calculation and found that he needed a bit more divinity to ignite his divine fire. But so long as he used the method that Selune mentioned earlier, he would manage to do so soon.
Thinking like this, Louie looked at the Silver Moon Goddess. At this time, her face was incredibly pale due to using large amounts of divine power. Her eyebrows were knit together.
The Goddess only had the body of a demigod at the moment. Forcefully converting a lot of faith into divine power would cause great harm to her body. She was like an old machine being forced to run for a long time.
"Your Highness, I never imagined that you would actually be the Silver Moon Goddess and that you are in your true body,"
Louie's eyes glittered as he spoke. Facing the true body of the Goddess, many thoughts passed through his head.
Even during the Era of Disaster, the Gods that appeared were mostly in their incarnations. It was very hard to actually encounter their true bodies. A God's true body was their foundation. If their incarnations died, they could just use divinity and divine power to create another one.
However, in front of him was the Silver Moon Goddess' true body that contained her divinity and divine authority. This was her truest form.
"I also had no choice but to conceal it. I hope you will forgive me, Lord Louie."
The Silver Moon Goddess let out a bitter smile. She did not have the presence of a God. Perhaps it was because Gods and demigods were in the same position in the current Era. Moreover, Louie had helped her get through a difficult situation just now. The elves and Dragon City were also in a cooperative relationship. If the Silver Moon Goddess was high and proud, then she would not give Louie any face.
"I understand your plight, milady."
Louis nodded gently, knowing that for the Gods, especially for Gods in their true bodies that were at the demigod level, she had no choice but to conceal her identity. Otherwise, if other demigods found out about this, she might be besieged on all sides and be killed. This was because killing a true god's true body would allow demigods to take another step to become a god.
"Now that all secrets have been revealed, I think you have no need to hide them. In order for us to see each other honestly, I hope that you can tell me the secrets of the sleeping Gods and why you are able to stay in the main continent for 30,000 years while others are all in deep sleep."
Although Louie had already guessed the reason, he asked anyway.
It was better for the other party to confirm his speculations.
Selune did not hide anything anymore. She straightforwardly spoke, "After the end of the Era of Disaster, due to the world of San Soliel being heavily damaged, most Gods lost their faith and could only fall dormant with the world. At that time, the Gods had lost energy in their godhood and became demigods. Less than 10% of the population of the world survived, but a portion of demigods still lived.
"At that time, the demigods were all the Gods' enemies. When everyone was a demigod, choosing to sleep with the world was the best choice. As long as they did not fall and still possess a throne, then they would have their chance. For the Gods, time had no meaning. Whether it was 30,000 years or 50,000 years, they could return to glory as long as they did not fall."
"Thus, most Gods chose to go to sleep, but I was different. At that time, my divine power was already low-tier. The elves were also almost extinct. If I chose to sleep, then I would definitely die when I woke up. Shae and Rose would definitely not let go of me. Under that situation, I had no choice but to completely give up on my godhood, becoming a demigod. I had to prepare to fight to the death."
From her bitter smile, it was clear that the Selune at that time did not make the choice because she was brave, but because she had no choice but to pick that option.
"In the era after the Era of Disaster, the demigods still knew about the many Gods that were alive. They knew that I abandoned my godhood and only retained my divinity and divine authority. Thus, I was besieged by the demigods and experienced many life and death battles to survive."
The Silver Moon Goddess spoke calmly, but Louie knew how difficult it was to do that. When everyone was a demigod, anyone who could kill Selune would gain a chance to become a God. Few could not resist such a temptation. The fact that the Silver Moon Goddess could survive that attack was worthy enough to become an epic.
"So, you survived in the end, and the demigods who attacked you all died?"
"Yes. I killed any demigod who knew that I was the Goddess of the Silver Moon to survive. Over the course of a few thousand years, I killed all those who knew."
The Silver Moon Goddess' tone contained coldness and brutality.
"Why are there no other demigods among the elves?"
This was a strange point that Louie could not understand. As there were more than a million elves, the only demigod was the Silver Moon Goddess.
"If a demigod is born among the elves, there is a huge chance that my identity will be revealed. I will not allow a demigod to be born among the elves before I return to my throne again."
The Silver Moon Goddess told Louie with great clarity. She had probably killed those elves who had become demigods as well.
"Then, what about Sisna?"
Louie once again asked in a straightforward manner.
The Silver Moon Goddess hesitated for a moment before sighing, "You have probably seen through it already. Sisna is actually a clone that I made for a purpose. A thousand years ago, I detected signs of the Gods' revival…"
"To be on the safe side, I created a 'daughter' of my own and put a part of my divinity into her. If there really was an accident and my real body fell, as long as Sisna could become a god, I would have a certain possibility of taking over her will with my divinity and using her body to return to the world."
Louie secretly nodded his head, thinking that this was definitely a means that a god possessed. As he had expected, Sisna was not the Silver Moon Goddess' adopted daughter, but a creature she had created. She could be called a furnace for her revival.
"Lord Louie, the Gods are beginning to gain influence on the main continent once again. I'm afraid that it won't be long before the drows come and take their revenge upon the elves. Now that the elven race is suffering from internal and external problems, I implore you to join hands with me and rise up to face the upcoming chaotic era."
The Silver Moon Goddess spoke sincerely. In the beginning, she already thought of joining forces with Louie, but there was no sense of urgency. However, after encountering two Goddesses during this trip, she found that things were developing faster than she had expected. With the elves as her foundation, she had to preserve them as much as possible before becoming a God again.
But, now that the elves were utterly isolated, Rose would definitely not let this chance go.
Although Shae had suffered heavy losses today, everyone knew that she would not stop. She would definitely appear again and target the Silver Moon Goddess.
On the other hand, the strength that Louie had shown this time, the way he resisted the temptation, his courage, as well as the potential developments of his city made the Silver Moon Goddess feel that joining forces with Louie was the best means of breaking all obstacles.
It was just that before entering the Shadow Realm, she believed that Louie had a high chance of joining forces with her because there were many benefits for him, but now, she wasn't so sure.
As expected, Louie shook his head and said, "Your Highness, the enemy you are facing is not my enemy. There is no grudge between me and the Spider Goddess. As for the Goddess of the Night, she would rather deal with you rather than a dragon like me. Making enemies for no reason is a very foolish act that I would not do. Moreover, I do not trust you now." Louie said frankly.
Each one of her enemies was not easy to deal with. In order to keep her identity a secret, she had killed many demigods, even the demigods of the elven race were not spared. Moreover, in order to keep her life, she also used Sisna as a tool. The nature of the Gods was really cold and ruthless.
However, this was more in line with Louie's perception of the Gods.
The Silver Moon Goddess also knew that her present self would not be able to easily gain Louie's trust and pondered, "Lord Louie, I can make an oath to the River Styx and am willing to work with you for three thousand years."
With an oath that lasted three thousand years towards the River Styx, then they would not need to worry about the other backstabbing them.
However, Louie shook his head, "Your Highness, you should know better than me that Gods are Gods and mortals are mortals. Even if I make an oath with you, once we become Gods far above the main continent, my future city and your elven clan are not bound by this oath. This will become a huge loophole. Even if you and I are bound by the oath, our followers are not."
"Then, do you have a better way?"
The Silver Moon Goddess became agitated as she knew that she was in a bad position. The fact that the Gods could act with their incarnations was beyond her expectations. This change in the rules wasn't very friendly towards her.
With only her true form, she was prey for the Gods. Whoever killed her could get everything she owned. The time for mortals to become true gods hadn't come yet. Before that moment comes, she would be in her weakest and most dangerous state.
What she needed right now were allies, allies that would go through thick and thin with her. She couldn't trust gods. Even the Goddess of Morning who was enemies with the Goddess of Night and Rose could not be trusted. This was because she also had qualms with her. When she lost the divine authority of light, a portion of it was taken by the Goddess of Morning.
On the other hand, Louie did not take Shae's offer to betray her before. This virtue and nobility were obviously more favorable to her. If Louie desired her divine authority and divinity, it was indeed the best time to strike, but Louie did not betray her.
Louie looked at the Silver Moon Goddess after much consideration. He slowly said, "I need to have a bind and a medium with you. The best way would be to give birth to an heir. With your true body and my true body, a true 'child of god' would be born. He will inherit everything from me once I become a God and will become the best link between the Dragon City and the elves."
The simple translation of Louie's words was: Oh Goddess, give birth to my child!
Chapter 228
Selune was speechless upon hearing this. She stared directly into Louie's eyes and contemplated her response. At first, she thought that this was another manifestation of male dragons' instincts, but she detected little lust within his eyes. Only consideration and contemplation.
She fell into deep thought.
She was no common prude who valued things like chastity and treated sex as some sacred act, and so the actual details of the act were of little consequence to her. Rather, in the manner of a true Goddess, she began to ruminate over the pros and cons of such an arrangement.
While she wasn't against the action in principle, being in union with another God in their true bodies was not a simple affair, and there were many things to consider.
Louie waited silently for Selune's response. This was obviously not a choice he made due to his lust. After all, compared to the benefits of becoming a God, momentary pleasures were meaningless. When he truly ascended he would have all the time in the world to slake his desires.
The formation of a bloodline bridge between him and Selune would ensure that no matter what, the elves and Louie's kingdom would be in the same boat. After all, even Gods would find it hard to be vicious towards their children. And in fact, many of them valued them greatly due to the difficulties of reproduction.
"Lord Louie, the possibility of a child being born between gods is very low. According to past experiences, children born from two gods have a ninety percent chance of becoming abominations. I think you are aware of this."
Louie, of course, was. The spawns of Gods were often born as distorted entities with twisted souls. They were resentful of all existence, and bearing the powers of Gods, they unleashed great destruction on the world until they were either banished or sealed away by the Gods.
It could be said that these abominations were embodiments of the pain and curses that gods experienced when giving birth. Unlike mortals for whom that was the natural process, their pain could manifest as powerful curses and greatly warp the nature of the child.
Gods needed to provide divinity to give birth to a child. This would cause both parents to become weak. The birth of an abomination would cause the parents to be in danger and have a chance to fall.
Because the chances of gods giving birth to abominations were so high, those lucky few that were born would become true gods with low-tier divine power. In the end, because of the huge chance of giving birth to an abomination, gods had to be very careful and cautious about this matter.
Louie had also expected this point and calmly said, "Your Highness, what you said is correct. Normally speaking, there is a high chance for creatures born between gods to become abominations, but both of us are only demigods now. It's not possible for demigods to give birth to abominations. Because of the rules and environment of the current world, I should say that it's the best time for gods to give birth to their own blood-related children."
If it was during the era of the gods, it would be impossible for the gods to change their real bodies into demigods unless they were willing to give up on their godhood. But there was no god stupid enough to do that.
However, the world is currently different. Because the rules of the world had changed, all the gods had become demigods. Now was the best time for the gods to perform unions and give birth to children. Those children would become their own children and not abominations.
Naturally, the child would not be born as a true god. At most, they could only be born as a demigod.
The Silver Moon Goddess was somewhat moved and only had a bit of hesitation left.
The gods of the world of San Soliel were not free of worldly desires. They were closer to gods of Greek mythology and had their own desires. They followed their divine instincts and even acted similar to mortals.
Among the gods, there were also some who were sexually debauched and willing to have intercourse with mortals just for pleasure. However, for ancient gods born with the world such as the Silver Moon Goddess and the Night Goddess, they did not partake in pleasure like those gods who were once mortals. With their pride, they might use their beauty to seduce followers, but at the same time, they despised those who could only rely on their bodies.
Selune was now very hesitant, but her instincts told her that this was the best way to solve the problem.
Compared to being an immortal god, everything could be put aside. Even if it was pride and self-respect, even if they had to become playthings of some monster, as long as they were alive, there were countless opportunities to retaliate in the future. In a sense, the majority of gods had no sense of modesty and chastity.
In order to build on this and make the Silver Moon Goddess agree to this proposal, Louie decided to use his trump card.
In the current situation, it was also in Louie's best interest to join forces with the Silver Moon Goddess, but gods were not easily trusted. Even with the River Styx Oath, lies and deception always existed. He needed more assurance before he dared to give out his trust.
"Your Highness, I would like you to make a River Styx Oath that you will never tell anyone what I'm about to say."
Louie spoke out, interrupting the Goddess' thoughts.
Selune raised an eyebrow. Her silver-white eyes flashed with a touch of doubt. She knew that Louie was trying to tell her a secret. After thinking about it, she felt that there was nothing wrong with this kind of oath and said, "I swear by the name of the Silver Moon Goddess Selune to the River Styx that I will never tell another soul about what Lord Louie will tell me next. If I violate this oath, may I sink to the bottom of River Styx and be bathed in its waters."
After hearing her words, Louie was relieved. Any creature who made an oath to the River Styx other than gods would meet certain death once they violated it. As for the gods, they would at least be imprisoned for many years and have their divinity reduced. This was a very dangerous thing to do, and no god was willing to accept this punishment.
Louie transformed his body and exposed his heart. There was a floating crystal within whose form could not be determined.
He spoke, "Your Highness might be wondering about my relationship with the Five-colored Dragon God. This is the answer."
Chapter 229
"This is… godhood?!"
The Silver Moon Goddess muttered. Her bright eyes opened wide, and her pupils flashed with disbelief. Her lips even opened unconsciously, showing how shocked she truly was.
As a god, even if the Silver Moon Goddess had already lost her godhood for more than thirty thousand years, she would never mistake it for anything else. If divinity was the source of a god's immortality and divine authority symbolized the power that they grasped, then godhood represented the difference between gods and mortals.
Only those with a godhood could be called a true god. Even if the Silver Moon Goddess had high-tier divine power, had the divine authority of the moon and elves, and had a million followers, she could not be called a true god because she did not possess a godhood. She could only be called a demigod.
After the Era of Disaster, the biggest change in the world was that no new godhood could be formed, resulting in the prevention of new gods from being born.
The perfect yet irregular crystal that emerged from Louie's heart was without a doubt a godhood. Although it was empty inside and could not be filled to full with divine power, its sublime nature made it easy for Selune to tell that it was a godhood.
"Did you meet with His Highness Five-colored Dragon God, who was dying 30,000 years ago, and he gave you his godhood?"
The Silver Moon Goddess' thoughts turned over. In a flash, she made up a tear-jerking romance story for the events 30,000 years ago.
The godhood had a characteristic that it could not be plundered. Even if a true god died, their divinity and divine authority would scatter for everyone else to take. Only their godhood would completely break into nothing. As a result, the only thing that made up a god that could not be stolen was godhood.
This was why Louie dared to take out the godhood. Even if the Silver Moon Goddess killed him, she would not be able to steal it. Moreover, she did not even have the ability to do so at the moment.
To obtain a complete godhood, a god had to take the initiative to bestow it. In the era of the gods, some powerful gods would bestow their own subordinates with a low-level godhood, allowing that mortal to become a god.
Therefore, given the characteristics of godhood, the only conclusion that the Silver Moon Goddess could draw was that the godhood belonging to the Dragon God was bestowed to Louie by the Dragon God himself. Moreover, the Silver Moon Goddess filled up the holes in her doubts in her mind by herself.
Thirty thousand years ago, the Dragon God was forcibly captured under the watchful eyes of many gods. In the Silver Moon Goddess' opinion, the Five-colored Dragon God did not die immediately after being captured. He may have escaped from the invaders and met Louie.
However, Louie was far away from the main continent at that time and there were almost no living creatures left in the world of San Soliel. Without the support of faith, the Dragon God was certain to die. After seeing his own people, the Dragon God chose to give out his godhood and divine authority. This was a very likely event.
As for the Five-colored Dragon God's divinity, Louie was not able to obtain it. Most likely, Louie was still a mortal 30,000 years ago and was unable to accept the huge amount of divinity, so the Dragon God gave up on that.
However, there was one point of doubt. If Louie had the Five-colored Dragon God's godhood, why wasn't he asleep like other gods? Perhaps Louie had the godhood but could not 'activate' it, resulting in him escaping the trap of slumber.
The world was filled with unbelievable secrets, which even Shae, who was in charge of secrets, did not know. After not finding a plausible explanation, she finally gave up.
"As you said, 30,000 years ago, I met his Highness the Five-colored Dragon God. Thanks to his love, I was able to obtain his godhood and divine authority."
Louie said haughtily while expressing reverence for that departed Dragon God."
This was called the perfect lie. He did not need to say anything and just let the other party form their own conclusions. Louie had already brought out his godhood, so the Silver Moon Goddess could help him find the right excuses. This way, Louie could righteously display his Dragon God's divine authority in the future and prevent others from suspecting that he was related to the Terran Civilization.
As for why the godhood of the Five-colored Dragon God remained after its death, Louie could only guess that this was the work of Terran Civilization technology, or maybe because the Five-colored Dragon God died in another world, producing a different result due to the difference in the rules.
Among these two guesses, Louie preferred the second option. After all, the Terran Civilization did not have a great understanding of the gods, and so their skills shouldn't have allowed them to make use of the godhood.
Other than finding a reason to become the Dragon God, Louie also pushed down the last barrier in the Silver Moon Goddess' mind. This godhood was enough to prove that Louie's future was boundless.
"Your Highness, you already know that my goal is to become the Dragon God. In the future, I may need your help in suppressing the dragons who have already forgotten the glory of the gods. If I succeed, I will establish a friendship between the dragons and the elves to continue forever. Our children will become the most crucial point for this cooperation to succeed."
Louie extended his hand and bowed like a gentleman. His slightly raised eyebrows and the sincerity in his eyes made it look like he was courting the Goddess. The Silver Moon Goddess' heart was in turmoil, and her thoughts were complicated, causing her to become confused, but one side of the scale had fallen, so her choice had already tilted to one side.
Although Louie had the ambition to become the Dragon God, the Silver Moon Goddess only treated it as his ambition, because for mortals, it wasn't easy to become a god. Moreover, the Dragon God was a racial god with a racial divine authority, making it incredibly unique.
But, after seeing Louie's godhood, the Silver Moon Goddess stopped thinking that this was just ambition and realized that it was already a foregone conclusion.
He was a qualified lord. As a dragon, he understood how to spread his faith, allowing him to meet the basic conditions of becoming a true god. With such powerful godhood and divine authority, the chances of Louie becoming a god were already more than 90%. He was simply the chosen one of the world, the chosen dragon.
The Silver Moon Goddess had almost always fought alone since the beginning of the world and even single-handedly held up the elven god system. Although she had allies among the gods in the past, the vast majority of them fell during the Era of Disaster. Moreover, those allies were also human gods. Even if both sides were in a covenant, they wouldn't be too close.
Even gods would feel tired after fighting alone for such a long time. Moreover, Selune was a god who had turned from a powerful god to a weak god, so she was eager to have a powerful ally that she could trust.
Louie's presence simply appeared to sate her thirst. Louie was a dragon that was part of the dragon god system. The rivalry in that system was very simple unlike the complexity of the human god system. So, there was a huge possibility for the two races to enter an alliance.
Secondly, although the dragons were not strong among the gods, they were incredibly strong among mortals. It could even be said that they were part of the dominant races in the main continent. If the dragons and the elves could work together, then the Silver Moon Goddess would not need to worry about the safety and security of the elves in the main continent.
As long as the Silver Moon Goddess herself could become a powerful god again and help Louie become a powerful god, she would have a powerful lover. Selune would not need to fight alone anymore, would not need to worry about falling back to being weak again, would not need to worry about being chased by Rose, Selune, or any other god.
Gods also had their dignity, and their dignity and arrogance far exceeded any mortal. Selune did not want to experience that kind of suffocation anymore.
The Silver Moon Goddess took a deep breath and decided.
She nodded her head with reserve, "Your Highness, your proposal is not only for me and you but also for the elves and dragons. With a child born under us, we can build a bridge between the two races."
The Silver Moon Goddess' way of calling Louie had completely changed. She was now treating Louie as an equal god, not as a demigod who was trying to be a god.
This was a kind of political union of gods. There were no outside forces as they decided it by themselves.
Chapter 230
A red tinge appeared on Selune's cheeks accompanied by a slightly flustered expression. Of course, this was all an act. Demigods could control their bodies at will, and so it was impossible for her to be bested by her emotions. Rather, this was likely just an act to further tempt Louie.
Which wasn't to say that it was unsuccessful.
Anyone, regardless of race, as long as they were men, no, even women would be charmed by the Goddess' temptation. After all, every pore of her skin radiated divine charm.
If the Goddess of the Night was enchanting and charming, then her sister, the Goddess of the Silver Moon was a cold beauty. And when she seduced people, her charm was even more unbearable.
"Your Highness, we can carry out the act of procreation at any time. Our way of procreation is different from mortals, and we can use divine power to catalyze the birth, but ultimately, it would require some time."
For one of the most ancient Goddesses, since she had made a decision, she would not beat around the bush like a small woman. Now, she was very eager to give birth to an heir and establish a solid alliance with Louie. This way, the two could help each other and gain more power.
Louie was indeed stimulated by the Silver Moon Goddess. His draconic instincts in particular rose to the occasion.. He almost nodded his head immediately and attempted to unite with the Goddess in the Shadow Realm.
However, at the critical moment, the last silver of reason in Louie's head prevailed. He did not immediately agree to this, not because he felt that the location was bad, but because once the two of them were to have intercourse, then his roots as a fake demigod would be exposed!
Louie was just considered as a divine creature at the moment and not a demigod who had lit up his divine flame. He has been disguising and deceiving everyone with the power inside his godhood. Now that the lies were piling up, he had to make a way to turn the lie into a reality.
Fortunately, after this journey, Louie had gained enough divinity from the Goddess of the Night and was just a hair short of igniting his divine flame to become a true demigod. So he pretended to be calm and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to be anxious. You and I have just consumed a lot of divine energy. It's best if we go back and rest for a while until we are in our best condition to give birth to an heir."
The act between mortals could be over in a few minutes, but an act between gods could last for three days and three nights, especially when it was not done for enjoyment, but for the birth of a 'divine child', which would require divine energy and divinity every moment.
As a veteran, the SIlver Moon Goddess could naturally bear it, but Louie might not be able to complete the ceremony. If he suddenly failed at the last moment, then his pride as a man would be shattered.
A man could never say no, so Louie was the one who needed to recover his divine power.
However, the Silver Moon Goddess did not know Louie's thoughts. She never had a child before and did not know all the twists and turns. This made her feel that Louie's words were logical. Since it was for the birth of an heir, it would be best if they were in their most optimal states. Since it was her real child, the child of the Silver Moon Goddess, she needed to make her own divine child perfect and prevent anything wrong from happening.
The Silver Moon Goddess slowly nodded her head, "Your Highness, just as you said, things shouldn't be rushed. I will go back to the Silver Moon Kingdom and recuperate. After you have finished recuperating, you can find me in the shrine."
Facing the Silver Moon Goddess yet being able to retain reason and suppress his desires made the Silver Moon Goddess have a higher opinion of Louie. She felt that this dragon did not only have pure luck to be the chosen dragon. For him to be able to get everything he had now, he had to be an excellent dragon, and would also become an excellent god in the future.
The goddess would only allow such a god to unite with her. Only such a God was trustworthy. The gods had always lived a drunken life without knowing the possible dangers, causing them to fall into decay.
Selune had encountered many mortal creatures falling for the charms of a goddess in her entire life. Let alone dragons, any creature would want to embrace a goddess.
"Your Highness, you don't have to rush to leave. Before entering the divine kingdom, you told me about a place where I could obtain the divinity that I need. I hope you can pass on that information."
Seeing Selune's attitude, Louie was a bit embarrassed and strangely felt as if he was the one who was about to be taken by the Goddess and not the other way around. She was simply in too much of a hurry. Although in terms of age, he was just a grass compared to her.
"With our current relationship, you don't need to be so polite… about the divinity that you need, it's in the astral realm, the realm of the stars. When countless gods fell during the Era of Disaster, their corpses were pulled into the astral realm. After 30,000 years, the traces of the gods should be done, but there are gods who left behind traces of their divinity. During those years, I recorded where the corpses of the gods lay in case I needed to use them in the future."
The Silver Moon Goddess spoke in a much more intimate manner. Although it still contained pride and coldness, it was much more humane and no longer as distant as compared to the past.
Before Louie could ask further, the Silver Moon Goddess had informed him of the coordinates of which stars to find the corpses. With Louie's abilities as a divine creature, remembering these coordinates was an effortless task.
The astral realm was equivalent to the universe in the Earth's system. It was a moving, collapsing, and vast realm. A small amount of negligence would lead to one being lost in it without finding a way back.
With Louie's identity as a demigod, he had already remembered his coordinates in advance in order to not get lost in the astral realm. However, finding one particular thing was like finding a needle in a haystack, but thanks to the Silver Moon Goddess' coordinates, Louie would be able to reach his goal. If he did not have prior information, he would probably not be able to find any of the corpses.
"Please don't keep me waiting for too long, Your Highness!"
The Goddess' vivid lips raised into a clear and stunning smile. Her beautiful face made Louie breathless. With a wave of divine power, she opened a portal to return to the main continent and disappeared in front of Louie as if she had disappeared into the foggy night.
Louie waited until the Silver Moon Goddess was completely gone before taking a deep breath. He was not preparing to return to Dragon City, but going directly to the astral realm.
An ancient Goddess was waiting for him. If he still took his time, it would become unromantic.
Chapter 231
The Astral Realm was like a boundless universe. Its edges could not be seen, and it was infinitely large. Or perhaps it was a realm that would grow endlessly until the day it collapsed.
The universe outside of Earth was not a viable place for carbon-based organisms to live in. It was a vacuum without any air and a region where various kinds of radiation spread. If a carbon-based lifeform was to go in without any protection, it would not take long for them to die.
The Astral Realm was also the same. This was not a realm that ordinary people could reach. It was the outermost layer of the world of San Soliel. Even the gods could not tell how big it was, let alone where its edges were.
Some people have said that there were other continental worlds in the Astral Realm, but this rumor had never been confirmed. In people's orthodox perception, the Astral World was the last barrier of the Crystal Wall System, and one that left its edges would cross past it. Because of the unknown dangers that they could encounter, let alone normal people, even the gods would never try it out.
In the vast expanse of the Astral Realm, a portal made of divine power opened up, and Louie walked out of it with his huge dragon body.
When he appeared in the Astral Realm, Louie could feel an indescribable eerie feeling. This realm was the only world where a god's corpse could rot to nothing. In this place, tens of thousands of creatures' thoughts were mixed together. This was the graveyard of the gods, the place where chaos originated and continued to expand. Powerful mortals had to use special techniques to stay here for a short period of time. For the gods who possessed divinity, they could easily use their divinity to block the erosion of the Astral Realm, but staying for too long would corrupt their divinity.
Darkness entered Louie's eyes. He could only see giant rocks floating in the Astral Realm from time to time. As the Astral Realm was boundless, its resources were nearly unlimited, but finding them was difficult and required long periods of exploration.
The Astral Realm was not like the universe with countless stars, because each star in this world represented a god of the world. It wasn't an actual object, but a reflection of the shadow of a god's authority. Therefore, in an era when the gods were asleep, no stars could be seen in the sky except the moon.
"This place is really uncomfortable. No wonder the gods had banished the abominations here. Not even the gods would be willing to stay for long."
Just as mortals were reluctant to go to the cemetery, the gods were also reluctant to come to the Astral Realm which was littered with the graves of the gods. It would give them a bad feeling as it portrayed their potential end.
"Let's find the divinity we need quickly. I can't keep Selune waiting for too long. Hehe…"
Men would always struggle to get beautiful women. Now that a true goddess was in front of Louie, he had enough motivation.
In his mind, he quickly recalled the coordinates that the Silver Moon Goddess had told him. The Astral Realm was infinite, and even if he had the coordinates, it would take a lot of divine energy to teleport long distances.
Louie slashed the void with his claws causing a doorway to open. He flew into the portal to the location recorded by the Goddess.
"Hmm? There's nothing there."
Louie looked at the empty space in front of him and searched carefully. Finally, he was able to find a piece of rock that looks no different from an ordinary rock. It was around ten meters tall, but in front of him, it was incredibly small.
"This stone should be the corpse of a god. There is still a very faint divine power fluctuation on it. Even the gods can decay. It seems that immortality is not enough to make a god relax. Maybe becoming a god is only just another step towards immortality and eternity."
Louie sighed when he saw the remnants of this god's corpse.
A mortal's corpse will rot after death, but a god's corpse will become such a stone after death. Under the pressure of the Astral Realm, there will come a day when all traces of this god will disappear into nothing.
Louie shook his head and stopped looking at it from this point of view as it gave him a lot of psychological pressure. This might be the power of the Astral Realm in wearing down the will of the gods.
In the Astral Realm, Louie felt that the conversion of faith from the main continent was slow, but the faith from Earth became relatively clear. It might really be the case that the Astral Realm was the last barrier of the world.
Taking a deep breath, Louie once again used his divine power to teleport to another empty location. He shook his head and searched again.
After exploring five to six locations, Louie did not find a single bit of divinity, but he wasn't anxious. He even inwardly rejoiced. This was because the locations that he went to had remnants of a god's corpse. This meant that the Silver Moon Goddess' information was correct. The only problem was probably because the gods were too weak, and as a result, they were quickly assimilated by the Astral Realm.
There was no concept of time in the Astral Realm, so just like that Louie searched at four more locations before finally finding the object that he needed.
It was a giant rock the size of a meteorite. It floated quietly in the void of the Astral Realm. Mortals would think that it was a neat piece of stone, but in Louie's eyes, it contained the will of a god.
When Louie appeared in front of this meteorite, the divine power inside his body resonated with the meteorite. The corpse of the decayed god seemed to open its eyes as if it had only been sleeping for tens of thousands of years. It emitted a dry, decaying voice, "I can't believe that I'm seeing a living creature in the Astral Realm."
"Oh demigod dragon, if you are able to return to the main continent, extol my name and allow me to return to the Astral Realm. I shall…"
"Cut the crap!"
Without waiting for the unbearable voice to finish, Louie just hit it directly.
After a god got pulled down from the stars and became a corpse, they would lose their believers and their connection to their believers. After the passage of time, they would lose any kind of faith. They would finally fall permanently after they were forgotten.
Louie already guessed what this god wanted to say. It was probably going to promise him benefits so that Louie could spread its faith again so that it would have a chance to return back to life, but Louie could not see any benefits at all. The only thing Louie wanted from the other party was the little remaining divinity that it possessed.
"I don't care if you were a powerful god in the past or how much glory you had. In front of me, you are only a decaying, near-dead god that is about to fade away. Just give up and make a contribution to me and the world."
The corner of Louie's mouth showed a fierce smile. A mere corpse of a god was trying to deceive him and tempt him. He could resist the temptation of the Silver Moon Goddess and the Night Goddess, how could he not resist the corpse that smelled like a carcass?
Louie's golden head began to divide into three. With the divine authority in each head, he began to spray his breath on the corpse.
"No, you will pay the price for your greed, dragon."
The god let out a frightened and angry voice. A horrific wave of divine power blew out.
"Bluff!"
But Louie clearly saw his weakened nature. The divine power it emitted was just there to scare people.
"Fall completely, you are a failure of a god. You have already lost and been eliminated by the times. Just give up and stop wasting resources."
Dragon breath rained down on the rock. At the same time, Louie used his hand to make symbols. With a light tap, a rainbow-colored ball of light shot out from Louie.
This was a nine-ringed spell that contained divine power [Prismatic Sphere]!
He vowed to finish off the corpse in one fell swoop.
Chapter 232
Louie knew that a god's corpse was still a huge threat to mortals, but for demigods and gods, the danger was greatly reduced. Still, this was also the first time Louie encountered such a corpse. It had already been dead for 30,000 years, but its intent had not yet completely disappeared. Its consciousness could still retain reason. It could even tempt people like a ghost.
Louie had never seen a divine corpse before, so he did not hesitate to use his killing move and used his breath as well as a nine-ringed spell that contained divine power. This was to ensure that the ancient corpse was finished in a strike.
"You greedy dragon, receive this curse from a god!"
The unknown god let out an enraged roar as it faced Louie's attack. As a corpse it knew that the last portion of his will would disappear after this blow. It would never be able to resurrect and its name would forever be forgotten. Even if it gained faith again, there would no longer be any use.
Louie heard its roar. A god's curse was no laughing matter, especially from a god that was about to die. Louie immediately covered himself in divine power and stayed alert.
Sure enough, an indescribable divine power fluctuation came towards him. It was like the final attack of the god. In a flash, Louie seemed to see the god's previous rule.
It was an extremely grand and magnificent divine kingdom. Countless people prayed and lived in it. Mortals chanted the name of the god and kneeled in front of the temple to give their faith, but Louie could not hear the name of the god, as if the god had been completely forgotten by history and the world.
At the same time, Louie saw an uncountable army of the god, rushing to kill him. Its overwhelming killing intent was like a freezing wind that seemed to extinguish the flames of life.
At that moment, the godhood in Louie's soul trembled, waking him up from his hallucination. The god's curse immediately 'dispelled into thin air' as it touched the godhood.
"God's are truly powerful. Even a dying corpse still had such great power."
Louis sighed in relief. Luckily he was vigilant enough to not let this corpse take advantage of him. The curse would not kill him, but it would be a bit of a pain in the coming days.
The killing intent of the phantom army was completely annihilated by Louie's dragon breath and continued to strike the god's corpse. The rock began to shrink at visible speed as the [Prismatic Sphere] fell on it. The dragon's breath and the spell produced a powerful, destructive effect, causing the rock to disintegrate from inside out.
"No, please. Please spare me. Please!"
This unknown god issued a final howl of pain, but Louie just looked on coldly. The cries of the fallen god gradually disappeared, and even the divine power fluctuations were becoming flat. When the 10,000-meter big meteorite became less than a meter big, the god's existence had been erased from the world.
"It's done. Let's see how much I got."
Louie was happy and perceived it carefully. Only after he could not detect any more traces of the god did he approach the rock.
When he raised it with his claws, the rock shattered, causing a radiant light to appear from the inside.
This was divinity.
"Haaa~. This divinity is sufficient."
Louie looked at the divinity with amazement. If the divinity Louie received before was only a hair, then this was a finger. It was even more massive than the divinity that Louie obtained from Shae.
"This unknown god might have been a powerful god!"
Louie was sure that this god died 30,000 years ago, or perhaps even earlier. It could also have died long before the Era of Disaster. After having wasted away in the Astral Realm for a long time, it was still able to retain so much divinity. This was only something that a powerful God could do.
But now, Louie had earned this divinity easily.
Louie had been worried that his divinity was enough. Even if he could ignite the divine fire, he would still need to provide divinity to give birth to a child with the Silver Moon Goddess. Gods had to give their divinity to the child, which was why they scarcely had children. Every time a child was born, the gods would also take a toll. If an abomination came out, then they would suffer a big loss.
If Louie had a child with his original amount of divinity, he would probably have nothing left. It was not easy to accumulate enough divinity to give the child, but he was in a good spot. He had now gained a lot of divinity to the point that he could have a child.
"I am really lucky. I thought I would have to stay in the Astral Realm for some more time, but now that I have this much divinity, there is no need for me to continue."
Louie quickly took in this divinity. Because the owner had completely fallen, there was no need for Louie to disperse its will. In an instant, Louie's soul let out a satisfied feeling. He instinctively knew that he could light up the divine fire. The speed at which he converted faith into divine power was also twice as fast compared to the past.
After obtaining great satisfaction, Louie breathed out comfortably and did not delay. He immediately used divine power to open up a portal and returned back to the main continent.
It was hard to stay for long in the Astral Realm. Every minute would shave away divinity, and Louie was not willing to become a demigod of the Astral Realm.
After returning to the main continent, Louie did not return to Dragon City and instead moved towards a mountain near Dragon City where he found a cave without any signs of life.
Louie did not know how long it would take for him to light the divine fire. It was dangerous to do it in Dragon City. Only in this uninhabited place was he able to be more at ease.
The snow between the mountains would completely cover the cave entrance. Louie then set up a complex spell that would alert him of invaders. He lay down on the ground and began to recover his divine power.
The battle in the Shadow Realm and the battle in the Astral Realm had depleted Louie's divine power. He had to recover it to a certain extent before igniting the divine fire. He also had to accumulate some divine power for the subsequent child-making.
Human males were required to have their essence consumed in the act of procreation. On the other hand, gods were required to have their divinity and divine power consumed.
Chapter 233
After a few months, Louie opened his eyes, his body brimming with divine power. Naturally, this divine power was still insufficient to fill up his godhood. For a god with high-tier divine power, filling up their godhood would require hundreds of thousands of believers and countless years of their devotion.
A demigod's consumption of divine power, on the other hand, was far too low.
In these few months, Louie's divine power recovery speed became faster. This wasn't something Louie had caused, but because his believers had grown in numbers and quality, allowing him to recover faster.
"Clooney is doing a good job…"
Louie was still lying in this cave. Since no one had found it for several months, it meant that the place was safe for the time being.
The lord of Dragon City was praising his subordinates. From the moment he left Dragon City to go to the Shadow Realm, from the Shadow Realm to the Astral Realm, and from the Astral Realm back to the main continent, almost a year had passed and Louie had not returned to Dragon City during that time.
Within a year, Louie's followers had increased rather than decreased. This meant that Dragon City was running according to his will without any mishaps. The administrative system that Louie had set up did not require him to do all the work. As long as he had set a direction for the city, his people could make the city continue its operations.
If he was a lord on Earth and had disappeared for a year, he might have already been usurped by his people. However, in the world of San Soliel, a world where individual strength was paramount, Louie did not have to worry about it happening.
The reason why Dragon City was still standing in this continent without anyone daring to invade it was mainly because of his presence as a demigod. If Louie gave up on the city and relinquished his title as its lord, then the city would definitely fall under siege in just a few days.
So, compared to other people, the citizens of Dragon City would prefer him to stay as the lord.
"Your lord will soon become a true demigod."
Louie's tone was filled with excitement.
There were three steps required to become a true god. The first was to ignite the divine fire. The second was the creation of a divine throne. And finally, the formation of a godhood while creating a divine throne. This was also the hardest step.
Louie did not need to do this hardest third step anymore and only needed to do the first two steps well. Now, Louie was going to do the first step to become a god – igniting the divine fire!
Louie took a deep breath. After checking his body to make sure there were no problems, he closed his eyes and sunk his consciousness into the deepest part of his spiritual sea. There, he saw his godhood and divinity as well as the incoming divine power.
These were all the things that belonged to him. Even the godhood had become one with him and was brewing in his soul. With his own consciousness, Louie began to mobilize the divine power inside and injected it into his divinity.
Pop!
There was a sudden indescribable sound in his soul, and soon, a fire appeared on top of his divinity. This was not a real flame, but a conceptual embodiment. Because it resembled fire, it was called 'divine fire' by the gods.
With the creation of this fire, Louie's divine power began to be consumed at a quicker rate. It strengthened the flames and they began to burn with ever greater intensity.
Following that, changes occurred in Louie's body. His soul and dragon body fused into one. His entire body collapsed into basic particles and fused with his soul. They formed muscles, blood vessels, nerves, bones, skin, and other organs. Once again, it turned into a dragon form.
If the modification done by the Terran Civilization gave Louie a perfect body, then the ignition of the divine fire was an evolution to his soul.
[Starting to record the host's process of becoming a god.]
[Terran Civilization's highest priority research project has started.]
[Confirming the connection between the soul and the body.]
[Recording in progress… recording in progress…]
The Intelligent Brain, which had been silent until now, began to whir into action once more, unbeknownst to Louie.
…
When the last bits of Louie's divinity turned into a flame, a blazing fire that seemed to burn for eternity appeared in the depths of his soul. This was a divine fire that belonged to the gods where the divinity resided.
With the appearance of the divine fire, Louie's soul had changed… it had become a 'divine soul' which had the nature of being immortal.
At this moment, Louie had achieved an infinite lifespan.
Many creatures could achieve physical immortality in the world, but the passage of time would cause their souls to be worn out. Only gods could make the body and soul become one, thus reaching the highest point of the divine.
Louie opened his eyes again to see that the world had changed from his viewpoint. What he saw were no longer external manifestations of matter, but the hidden rules behind everything in the world.
With the immortal divinity burning like an immortal fire, it became a constant energy source, acting as a perpetual motion machine for the gods that became their sustenance.
"This is the world of the gods, or maybe the world of the demigods. No matter what's the case, I have already taken the first step to become a god. Once the world's rule changes again, I can immediately become a god, and that day is quite close at hand."
Louie's tone contained undisguised excitement. He was now a god that only mortals could dream about.
"Heh, with my current ability, I can carry out an equal 'battle' with the goddess. For the future of Dragon City, I must soon give birth to an heir. At the same time, I can test out my breeding ability."
In fact, Louie also couldn't wait to give birth to an heir as a bridge to be in alliance with the elves. Louie also knew that he would one day leave the main continent. The lordship of Dragon City must be handed over to the next generation. The sooner the heir was born, the more he could teach. He would teach them more knowledge and abilities so that the heir could perfectly inherit everything he owned in the mortal world.
Louie stood up and stretched his body. The coordinates of the Silver Moon Kingdom appeared in his mind and he opened a portal with his claw and crossed over.
Chapter 234
The Forest of the Moon was located in the southernmost part of the main continent, in a vast region filled with many natural and mineral resources, and populated with a variety of races.
Not counting the elves living in other realms, the number of elves living in the main continent totaled more than a million. Almost all of them lived in isolated, tribal societies within the Silver Moon Kingdom in the Forest of the Moon.
In truth, the Silver Moon Kingdom was a city in the middle of the forest with various elven tribes living around it. And because the forest was too wide, the Silver Moon Kingdom only occupied a part of the Forest of the Moon.
After passing through the portal, Louie arrived at the outer edge of the Silver Moon Kingdom. In the past, Louie did not know much about spells, so he did not find anything suspicious about this palace. Now that he had gained the divine authority of magic and learned many spells, he discovered that there were actually many protective spell formations on the outskirts of the kingdom. Its main purpose was to prevent the infiltration of powerhouses above the legendary rank.
'The Silver Moon Goddess used ten thousand years to set this up. No other race can learn this.'
Louie looked at this formation that covered the entire Silver Moon Kingdom and sighed in relief. Only the Silver Moon Goddess could do this kind of thing. Whether it was humans or beastmen, they definitely did not have the ability, energy, or material resources to set up a defensive formation for the entire country.
Naturally, the main thing was that when the formations were activated, it was equivalent to closing off the entire country. Against invaders like beastmen and humans who overwhelm them in numbers, this was the best method for the elves. With the number of elves, losing a small number of them was already considered a huge loss.
When Louie crossed the formation, he noticed that the elven scouts lurking in the forest did not panic or attack, but knelt respectfully on one knee. It seemed that the Silver Moon Goddess had already informed her people and guards about Louie coming to visit and had instructed them to allow him to cross the defensive line without any hindrance. As a result, Louie was able to safely arrive at the heart of the Silver Moon Kingdom.
With Louie's flying speed, it didn't take long for him to reach the royal capital, a beautiful fairyland-like city. There were old but flourishing trees, a rainbow reflected in the sky, a waterfall flowing down the mountains, a clear stream, roads lined with grass and flowers, as well as elves living in tree houses.
The elves of the Silver Moon Kingdom lived very leisurely lives. With their long lifespans, they would never let themselves get too busy. If Dragon City was a busy modern city, then the country of elves was a small city in the mountains.
Louie flew over the royal capital, causing a commotion, but the elven inhabitants only watched curiously. As his 40-meter-long body flew past, the elven soldiers did not react in any way, allowing him to head towards the Ancient Tree of Life.
"What powerful vitality."
When Louie saw the Ancient Tree of Life this time, he was able to glean more information about it. When he first came to this world, he only thought that it was just a magical plant, but now that he was a true demigod and gained more knowledge about the world of San Soliel, he could faintly tell that the tree emitted fluctuations of divine power.
"This Ancient Tree of Life should have been a god in the past, and a strong one at that. I'm just not sure if the god is asleep or is already dead for them to become such a large tree of life.
Louie did not think much about it. His body landed on the square in front of the Silver Moon Palace and rapidly transformed into an elf.
After all, Elven structures simply could not accommodate his natural size.
The square was guarded by elven guards, and when they saw Louie, the elves in their fine armor bowed their heads in greeting and allowed him to walk up the white wooden steps towards the temple where their queen lived.
Louie, whose clothes had changed into the intricate style of the elves, walked up the steps and entered the palace gates. As he opened the gates, elven maids were on their knees and the elven guards bowed without a word. No one dated let out a sound, causing the whole place to be enveloped in a quiet and tranquil atmosphere.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Louie's footsteps echoed down the hallway as he moved forward. When he entered the main hall, the entire hall closed up with roots blocking all entrances, turning the inside into a closed space.
The Silver Moon Goddess could not reveal her identity yet, and their current alliance was a secret. Louie had discussed with the goddess that they would not notify the public until their child was born. Once they did, Dragon City and the Silver Moon Kingdom would be completely united.
This was the first time Louie came to the Goddess' palace. The entire structure of the palace contained the aesthetics of the elves – noble, elegant, colorful, but without the materialistic decadence of human palaces. The trees coiled and formed the palace as if it was all made naturally.
Although the palace was beautiful and relaxing, the most beautiful one was the one standing at the top, the Silver Moon Goddess who wore a silver muslin and on her bare feet with her back towards him.
"Your Highness, are you finally ready?"
The Silver Moon Goddess slightly tilted her head sideways, and Louie found that her face was once again covered in the layer of mysterious mist. In the hall, there was a statue. When Louis looked at its face, he was able to tell that it was the Silver Moon Goddess herself. At this time, he finally understood the purpose of the mist. It was to stop other people from finding her roots.
But after seeing Louie, the mist gradually dispersed, revealing her clear and beautiful face. Although it was only a side profile, her perfect contours could make a bard sing out countless beautiful poems.
This time, Louie's feelings were different from before. Now, he was able to completely form the attitude of appreciating the beauty of the goddess, so he did not hide his eyes that were burning with desire.
The Silver Moon Goddess' voice still contained coldness like a frosty moon, but Louie knew that her harp-like voice was full of her emotions.
"Yes. I have reached the best state."
Louie gently nodded to show that he had finished his preparations.
The Silver Moon Goddess smiled and seemed to giggle a bit, but she did not let out a sound and walked forward with her delicate foot on a small cobblestone path. With her light steps, the white muslin covering her body also fell to the ground, unraveling her beautiful back.
Louie greedily looked at the Goddess' back. There was no piece of her that was ugly. Her skin glowed with the moonlight like transparent jade, releasing a creamy white luster. From her slender neck to her shoulders, from her backbone to the bend of her legs, every inch of her skin exudes an unspeakable charm.
She was perfect the way she was. If any part of her was longer, it would be too long. If any part was shorter, it would be too short. If white powder was applied to her it would be too white. If red powder was applied, it would be too red.
At this moment, Louie's breathing increased. He finally understood the true meaning of the concept of flawlessness.
The Silver Moon Goddess lifted her foot and walked into the blue spring in front of her. Her silvery fragrant hair glowed under the moonlight. At the same time, she invited Louie, "This is the moon spring of the elves. Even if gods soak in it, they will feel comfortable. Your Highness, would you like to come and try?"
Louie did not hesitate or feel embarrassed. He lightly chuckled and walked forward.
Chapter 235
"According to rumors, the moon spring has a magic power recovery effect. It is a rare treasure of the world."
Louie walked forward as he spoke. With his footsteps, his clothes that were made with divine power gradually disappeared. Louie walked towards the side of the spring without any shame. He looked at the clear turquoise water and did not hesitate to step into it. The water wasn't deep so he was able to sit down in it.
At this moment, Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess were sitting on opposite sides. The clear pool water did not obscure any of their body parts. Louie looked at the Goddess' alluring body without shame.
"The moon spring is a natural spring created by the condensation of the essence of the moon which can only be found within the range of the Ancient Tree of Life. In the past, when the 'Gate of the Moon', my divine kingdom, still existed, I had altered the rules within the realm, allowing it to be found everywhere in my divine kingdom."
"If you were to visit my kingdom 30,000 years ago, you would have been able to see moon spirits dotted like the stars."
The Silver Moon Goddess cupped her hands on the spring water and raised it above her head. The spring water that contained magic power slipped through her fingers and soaked her silver hair. It continued flowing down her tender soldiers until it fell back into the spring again.
The Goddess was not using the moon spring's water to cleanse her body. As long as divine creatures possess divinity, their bodies would not produce any bodily waste. She just had a habit of enjoying a comfortable bath, but she did not know her actions caused Louie's blood pressure to rise in anticipation.
"Visit your kingdom 30,000 years ago?"
Hearing the Goddess' words, Louie lightly laughed. He had not been born thirty thousand years ago. Even if he was born, how could he have had the chance to enter the 'Gate of the Moon' as a mortal? Let alone getting to enjoy a taste of the Silver Moon Goddess' body, he wouldn't even have been able to see her bathing like this.
Now was really a great time. The gods were not high up anymore and mortals had the chance to participate in the epic story of divinity. However, it was also the worst of times. The gods had revived to compete for faith. They would certainly break the existing order and laws as the age of chaos approached.
Louie raised his head and looked at the opened-domed roof of the palace. He gazed at the moonlight and thought about it. In Shae's divine kingdom, Louie had seen its basic rules. At this time, he could also sense that the rules inside the palace were also different from the outside world. Ten thousand years of time allowed the palace to become a similar existence to a divine kingdom. It took more than 10,000 years to make, but it was inferior to one made in just a few years by a weak god.
The gap between gods and demigods was just too big.
When Louie was about to speak, the Silver Moon Goddess interrupted him, "You can just call me by my name. There is no need to be so polite. We can be a bit more intimate… You might just be a beginning as a god on the path to immortality, so you can ask me anything that you don't understand."
"At the end of the Era of Disaster, I fell to become a weak god, but as a god born since the beginning of the world, I once stood at the top of the gods. I should be able to meet your needs in regards to knowledge about the gods."
The Silver Moon Goddess's voice was cool and clear. The corner of her mouth contained a faint smile, and her tender fingers which were more delicate than flowers fixed her messy hair in front of him. Her words did not contain any other meaning, other than telling him a fact.
"Your Highness, Selune…"
Although the Silver Moon Goddess originally intended Louie to call her by her name, Louie still gave the most basic respectful title. Even if he ended up giving birth to an heir together with the Goddess and enjoying her body to the fullest, relationships between the gods could never easily go past a certain bottom line to prevent hatred from brewing.
Any god, even the weakest god, was to be respected unless two sides were originally hostile.
"Then, the Ancient Tree of Life…"
The Silver Moon Goddess, Selune, like the Night Goddess, Shae, definitely knew the most ancient secrets of the gods. She possessed the most profound knowledge among the gods. Louie knew that on his path to becoming a god, the Silver Moon Goddess would be his mentor, his guide, and of course, his lover.
"Your Highness Louie, have you perceived the breath of that god? Hmm, when you showed me your godhood, I did feel a tiny touch of the divine authority of life in it as well as another powerful divine authority that was once partially obtained and lost by the Goddess of Magic."
The Silver Moon Goddess was slightly stunned, but she soon came back to her senses and lightly spoke of these things that shocked Louie.
The Silver Moon Goddess was able to see a lot of his secrets the very first time she saw his godhood. He really could not underestimate these ancient and powerful gods.
Louie himself had not yet lit up the power of the divine authority of life, but the Silver Moon Goddess had surprisingly been able to detect that he had a fragment of it. At the same time, the Silver Moon Goddess said that the Goddess of Magic once possessed but lost the fragment of strong divine authority. That should be the divine authority of the time.
"Perhaps I have a real connection with you, Your Highness. The divine authority of dreams within you was originally mine. I had lost it during the Era of Disaster. I didn't expect that the complete divine authority would be in your possession."
The Silver Moon Goddess' words solved one of Louie's doubts. It was no wonder why he felt the divine authority of dreams was the strongest at that time. It turned out that the divine authority once belonged to the Silver Moon Goddess, and she had lost it. When Louie first understood the nature of divine power, he borrowed godhood to alter the rules of the world and put this divine authority under his possession.
Although it wasn't as important as the divine authorities of magic and earth, it was still a complete divine authority that allowed Louie to make use of it completely.
The majority of the divine authority of magic was in the hands of the Goddess of Magic, and the majority of the divine authority of earth was with the God of the Earth. The only complete divine authority that Louie had was 'dreams'.
'But according to the Silver Moon Goddess, no other god possessed the divine authority of time. As long as I can light it up, I can obtain the full divine authority!'
The thought of this made Louie excited, and the Silver Moon Goddess' next words also gave him a surprise.
"I will explain details about that god afterward. It just happens that they hold the divine authority of life. This divine authority is not of great use to me. If you need it, I can transfer it to you!"
Saying this, the Silver Moon Goddess stood up. Her white skin was like a crystal under the silver moon. The moon spring added to her charm and seductiveness.
"Your Highness Louie, there is no need for gods to forcefully suppress their desires. You don't need to use reason to endure anymore… What you will taste next is my true body, the true body of a goddess, not just an incarnation."
This ancient goddess smiled sweetly. As she walked in front of Louie, thousands of flowers seemed to bloom and bless that divine body.
Chapter 236
Their 'battle' lasted for three days and three nights.
After a long sigh, Louie felt empty inside and clear-headed, as if he had become an old monk, or like the Buddha who became a buddha under the Bodhi tree.
Men experience post-nut clarity, and so did dragons.
Louie left the side of the Goddess and walked away from the moon spring. The clear spring had long been tainted and was no longer the same clear turquoise.
'As expected of a goddess.'
Louie exclaimed, 'For her to be able to fight with me for three days and three nights… I am afraid that even another female dragon would already be begging for mercy… but it looks like the Silver Moon Goddess was able to hold on. From her look, it seems that she could continue for another three days and three nights.'
Louie had to admit that the body of the Goddess gave him a lingering pleasure. Being able to come in contact with the true body of the Goddess was a rare opportunity that even other gods could not obtain. True gods probably acted only with their incarnations when embracing other gods and mortals. No god was willing to have their true bodies exposed to other gods. A slight carelessness could lead to danger.
Only in a special era like now could one obtain the real body of the goddess.
So in a way, even the most licentious god and goddess should be considered virgins, unless they had a relationship before becoming a god. Gods usually only use incarnations to pleasure their spirits, but not their real bodies.
The only cases when two gods used their real bodies were when they were married and wanted to give birth to an heir.
Selune sat under a tree. Her beautiful body that even bards could not praise was covered in a veil.
"You have completely obtained everything that belongs to the Silver Moon Goddess, Your Highness Louie."
The goddess' face was flushed. She looked languid as her silver-white pupils contained clear transparency.
"I only obtained the body of the Silver Moon Goddess, Your Highness Selune."
Louie said solemnly, correcting the SIlver Moon Goddess' words.
Just as he said, what he got was only the body of the Goddess. The exchange between the two of them wasn't like mortals that contained strong emotions. They were just giving something for their own benefit. It did not matter who gained or lost. Although Louie had gained a beautiful lover from a mortal man's viewpoint, as a god, he did not lose or gain anything. Not only were Louie's desires satisfied, but the Silver Moon Goddess as well.
"You aren't wrong, Your Highness."
The Silver Moon Goddess thought for a bit and gently laughed.
Her flawless body was wet, but soon, she dried herself.
As for whether he could get the heart of the goddess, Louie thought that it was possible. The gods of the world of San Soliel were not immortals who were free of worldly desires. They had their own desires and long for contact with people. If the two did not have any conflicts and their morals were similar, then it wasn't impossible for Gods to become couples.
"I can already feel our child growing here, Your Highness Louie!"
The hand of the Silver Moon Goddess brushed against her abdomen, which was already slightly bulging. Normal mortals wouldn't experience such quick changes even if they were pregnant, but the goddess was different. After the Goddess felt the life conceived inside her belly, she infused a large amount of divine power to stimulate the growth of life in her belly.
If the child was born from two gods, then this amount of divine power wasn't enough, but as they were only demigods, this divine power was enough to quickly let the child grow.
For the birth of the child, Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess gave their divinity and divine power. For the Goddess, who was once a powerful god, this amount wasn't much, but for Louie who had just become a demigod dragon, he did not have much.
When the child was conceived Louie had given close to half of the divinity that he had.
Afterward, he would find another chance to go back to the Astral Realm and replenish his divinity.
Thinking like this, Louie fell silent as he thought about the corpses of the gods.
"I never imagined that I would one day have my own child."
The Silver Moon Goddess had a complicated expression. A maternal tenderness surfaced from her face unconsciously. Even if she was a goddess, her maternal nature seemed to appear when she had a child.
She gently stroked his stomach, and a soft smile appeared on her face. The moonlight spilled down her body as if she was feeling the joy of the conception of a new life.
As one of the oldest goddesses that accompanied the birth of the world, it would have been impossible for her to give birth. She would never have exposed her true body to another god, nor would she be willing to expend divine power and divinity in order to give birth. This was because she had to keep ready to face Shae's schemes and tricks. If she was ever so slightly weakened, she would have fallen into danger.
Moreover, the chances of true gods giving birth to a normal child were low. This probability alone made nearly every god give up. But, she never thought that an era like this would come, an era where she would turn from a true god to a demigod to conceive a child of her own.
This was not a child that was created purely from divinity like Sisna, but a child that was completely hers, conceived by the true body of the ancient goddess.
This was truly the divine child of the elves.
"That is our child, Your Highness Selune!"
As Louie said so, he once again used divine power to cover his body up with clothes. He now had a clear understanding of the three views of gods. Now that he was the lover of the Silver Moon Goddess, he could come to find the Silver Moon Goddess at any time. With long days still ahead, he would not swallow this ginseng fruit in one gulp, but slowly savor it over time.
The Silver Moon Goddess was correct. God's time was long. There was no need to rush in doing anything. This was the way of a god's survival.
Louie's eyes gently gazed at the Silver Moon Goddess' belly. His own divinity and bloodline were calling towards him, telling him that there was a new life strongly growing there. It would be a new species and the only one of its kind in the world. When it was born, it would be a demigod that stood at the apex of mortals.
"Then, Your Highness Selune, it is time to make an oath to the River Styx, to make our 3,000-year agreement."
Chapter 237
Ultimately, bearing a child would not bring two Gods together completely. Mortal couples would be more united because they recognized moral and social laws, and were protected by them. Gods, on the other hand, were bound by no such things. If there was anything with such binding powers, it was the Oath of the River Styx.
"I swear by the name Louie Galakrond to the River Styx to be allied with the Silver Moon Goddess Selune for the next three thousand years. I will not betray or attack her for any reason. When the Goddess also makes this oath, then this oath is established. If I violate this oath, may I sink to the bottom of River Styx and be bathed in its waters."
Hearing Louie's oath, the Silver Moon Goddess smiled and opened her mouth. With her charming voice, she also made the oath.
With the two oaths complete, Louie felt that his divine fire was connected to the spectacular waters of the River Styx, which rushed from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. The content of the oath was also engraved in the divine fire. If he broke his oath, his divinity would sink to the bottom of the River Styx and would be eroded by its waters.
The River Styx Oath was one of the most basic foundations of the world of San Soliel. It was also one of the powers that the Terran Civilization could not understand, as there was no apparent materialistic principle guiding it.
Three thousand years was the maximum effectiveness of an oath. No matter what kind of oath, it would be invalidated after three thousand years. Louie felt that in those three thousand years, all the gods would have already returned. Whether or not some of them would renew their contracts with the Silver Moon Goddess was a matter for later.
This time, Louie made a true oath to the River Styx. Compared to the time when he wasn't a full-fledged demigod, his oaths at that time weren't effective, but now anything he swore would be impossible to break.
Naturally, even if Louie broke the oath, all he would lose was his identity as the 'Dragon God', but because he also had faith coming from Earth, his identity as a 'foreign god' would remain.
It was just that his power as a foreign god was a trump card. If possible, he would rather wear the skin of the Dragon God for life and not let anyone find out his identity as a foreign god.
With the establishment of the alliance, Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess both relaxed. There was already no separating the two, at least, they could rely on each other for three thousand years.
"I congratulate Your Highness Louie for obtaining the full divine authority of life."
The Silver Moon Goddess' rapid breathing gradually calmed down. As she stood up, her gown flowed to the ground like mercury, revealing her exquisite and delicate body. Even the slight bulge on her stomach could not affect her beauty. It even added a touch of maternal radiance to her.
Even if they were already so intimate with each other, the honorific name-calling between gods made Louie uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to follow the custom. Louie did not try to correct an age-old custom.
He nodded his head and happily said, "This is all thanks to your help, Your Highness Selune. If not for it, I wouldn't have been able to get it so easily."
Louie had already lit up his fourth divine authority. Now, he only needed to light up the divine authority of time. When the time came, he would then be faced with the hardest problem – obtaining the divine authority of dragons.
With the divine authority of life, Louie had gained a new ability. His vitality was now bigger and stronger. His connection with nature was also strengthened since the divine authority of life belonged to the system of nature gods. With this divine authority, he was now also closer to the elves.
If Louie became a true god this time, he could bestow upon his believers healing magic. His believers would even gain longer lifespans, causing them to be more devout for longer. Perhaps if a bard became his believer, they could heal injuries with their poems.
To put it bluntly, Louie's ability was the ability to live longer.
In the process of making love to the Silver Moon Goddess, the Goddess gave him this divine authority. This made Louie feel as if he was practicing some kind of dual cultivation with the Goddess.
The clothes of the Silver Moon Goddess were not made from divine power like Louie's, but real clothes made of real materials. At this time the Silver Moon Goddess could not call her maids, so she had to dress herself.
After putting on the complicated and complex clothing, she placed the muslin at the end. Noticing Louie looking at her delicate body, she smiled and said, "The gods are not as prone to miscarriage as mortals, but it is better to avoid any excessive behavior during pregnancy."
The hidden meaning behind the Goddess' words was that she was not physically inconvenienced and that she could not continue to have sex with Louie. If he really wanted to enjoy the taste of pleasure, he had to wait till after the child was born.
"How long will it take until the baby is born?"
Louie did not want to imagine waiting for the child to be born only after ten years, but he quickly felt that he might seem like he was in a rush, so he quickly replied, "I don't mean anything else. It's just that the age of chaos is coming and this child may be of help to us."
The child would be born as a demigod. In the current era, it was enough to call it strong.
However, the Silver Moon Goddess had indeed misunderstood Louie's statement and said, "You don't have to be embarrassed, Your Highness. The gods are supposed to enjoy themselves. Otherwise, what was the point of being a god… Moreover, I also like sex very much. It stimulates my pleasure nerves."
Louie became embarrassed, "No, I really did not mean that. I just want to know the common sense about gods giving birth…"
Sometimes the more you explain, the less you could explain, so Louie simply shuts up in the end.
The Silver Moon Goddess closed her eyes and after a slight pause, she said, "If this was a true god, I might need to be pregnant for a hundred years, but my current child is just a demigod. In addition to the divine power that I accumulated, as long as I continue to pour divine power into it, it would take just a few months for this new life to come out.
"Thank you for your hard work, Your Highness Selune."
Louie felt grateful. In order to let this child be born faster, she was consuming her divine power continuously.
"This is what a mother should do."
The Goddess said in a warm voice. Immediately after, her face was once again covered in a layer of fog, and she invited Louie, "Your Highness Louie since you haven't toured around the Silver Moon Kingdom after your return to the main continent, why don't you let me give you a tour?"
"Since Your Highness Selune invited me, how could I dare refuse."
Louis smiled in agreement.
Chapter 238
On the Ancient Tree of Life, Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess walked side by side.
The Silver Moon Kingdom was something that the Silver Moon Goddess created during her time in the mortal world. This place wasn't her divine kingdom with many restrictions, so she could be said to have introduced the elven territory in detail to Louie.
"Before the age of the gods, mortals were scarce and the ancient gods ruled the world. There was a battle of the gods that spread throughout the world of San Soliel. The war wasn't as violent as the events that transpired during the Era of Disaster, but the gods themselves fought on the field. This battle dealt a devastating blow on the entire world of San Soliel."
"At that time, the sky was filled with flames, the seas poured into the land, tall mountains tumbled down, the sun and the moon collapsed, the earth dried up, and entire natural environments were destroyed. The gods poured out their divine power recklessly, bringing a huge disaster to the world. As a result, the world changed the rules of its own accord. It forced the ancient gods to be shackled by mortal faith. In this way, a balance was developed to prevent the world from being destroyed."
The Silver Moon Goddess' clear voice was very clear as she described the ancient long-lost history of the world. At that time, the ancient gods were free to do as they please. Without the rules that had yet to be established, the gods abused their never-ending divine power with no restraint. This was the same as humans polluting nature. In the end, the world eventually took revenge.
The gods used the world's imperfect rules to act wantonly, and with the evolution and development of the world, its rules gradually became complex and perfect. It had formed a variety of rules to give the gods supreme authority, but it also gave them positions to prevent them from ruling with tyranny, forcing them to comply with the rules of order and chaos.
"Not long after the birth of mortals, professions had also appeared. Elves were also born at that time."
"The war of the gods made the world wither and nature collapse. There was a god with a compassionate heart for the world. He sacrificed himself to return the world to its natural balance, rejuvenating the whole world. It was said that his sacrifice allowed mortals and gods alike to survive."
"During that war, many gods also fell. As a result, the gods learned from their mistakes and began to sign agreements and covenants, so that they could not easily descend on the main continent any longer. At that time, the gods had also built their pantheons in the world. It became a place for the gods to argue and show their authority."
Louie listened to the ancient story like a nursery rhyme. He listened to the moving voice of the goddess who had lived since ancient times, and he said in a daze, "Then that ancient god should be the Ancient Tree of Life under our feet."
"It's just as you said, Your Highness Louie. He was the God of Nature, the giver of life, the protector of the druids and forest dwellers. He was said to be the embodiment of the balance of nature."
The Silver Moon Goddess said while expressing her respect for that self-sacrificing God of Nature.
"The reason why the elves could live for a thousand years was because of his love for them. He gave this race the source of life. After he chose to sacrifice himself and because of my good relationship with him, he gave me the divine authority of nature, life, and elves."
"But, Your Highness Selune, your foundations are not that of nature at all."
Louie did not expect the Silver Moon Goddess to tell him these secrets. It turned out that the elves weren't associated with the Silver Moon Goddess at all. It was mainly created by an ancient god who had sacrificed themselves to become the Ancient Tree of Life. Before this, Louie had his doubts as to why the Silver Moon Goddess had the divine authority of the elves and became part of the elven pantheon.
It needed to be understood that Selune was the most ancient God of Sun and Light, while Shae was the Goddess of Darkness and Night. Selune lost the divine authority of sun and light, but she stole Shae's divine authority over the moon. Still, her nature and foundations were simply too far from the elves.
If the elves weren't created by Selune but another god, then everything made sense. Selune only received it as a gift from another god, allowing her to become the main god of the elves. At the same time, she had to protect the elves and assist in their development because her followers had become the elves.
Perhaps this was why the ancient God of Nature gave Selune the divine authority of elves. It was in order for Selune to protect the elves in his place.
But this incident happened a long time ago. From then on, the Silver Moon Goddess became the protector of the elves, and rumors of them being people of the moon were spread. But in fact, elves were people of nature.
This was the reason why Selune could stay powerful even if she only had mastery over the divine authority of the moon. It was because she had the divine authority of the elves and nature.
"I am not compatible with the divine authority of nature and life. If I could, I would prefer to regain the divine authority of the sun and light that once belonged to me…"
At this time, the Silver Moon Goddess looked at Louie and said with a soft voice that contained a hint of earnestness.
Louie knew what the Silver Moon Goddess wanted. She hoped that he could help her deal with the Goddess of Morning. She did not ask him to get rid of the Goddess, but only to take back the divine authority that was taken from her.
"By your will! Since we have both taken an oath, your enemy is also my enemy. We should advance and retreat together."
Louie had long known that allying with the Silver Moon Goddess would mean that her enemies would also become his. But Louie did not lose anything at all, because Louie himself also had a lot of potential enemies such as the Goddess of Magic and the God of Earth.
Louie's divine authority included magic and earth, which would definitely cause him to turn the gods into his enemies. These divine authorities were the basis of Louie's faith and godhood. He could not just give them up to make peace with those two gods even if he wanted to. So Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess would have to face those powerful gods.
The only good news here was that their enemies had no basis to form an alliance. For example, the Goddess of Morning and the Goddess of Night were in a hostile relationship. This allowed Louie and the Silver Moon Goddess to take them down one by one.
Moreover, the Silver Moon Goddess was going to give birth to his child. As the father, he naturally had to help his child's mother.
At this moment a male elf came from the distance. After seeing the male elf, the Silver Moon Goddess stopped talking about ancient secrets as her identity was still a secret. Before she becomes a god again, her identity should never be exposed.
"Your Majesty!"
The extremely handsome elf respectfully kneeled in front of the Silver Moon Goddess and greeted her. At the same time, he looked warily at Louie with eyes that contained a surprising hostility.
The corner of Louie's mouth raised up. He guessed that this male elf was her admirer, but this was a normal thing because her charm was simply irresistible to both men and women. Even if her identity was a secret, the elves would still have strong feelings toward her.
Chapter 239
"Lord Louie, this is Devon. Although he is young, he is a legendary rank warrior stationed at the Ancient Tree of Life."
The Silver Moon Goddess smiled as she introduced him. There was a pause in her tone as she reverted back to how she called Louie before instead of using 'Your Highness'. Although mortals were unable to understand the meaning of the term, she took care not to slip up even in this small regard.
Louie had to admit that the elf named Devon was a handsome male elf with a soft look and elegant posture. His manners were polite and fit that of an elven nobleman. If he was on Earth, he would have driven all the rich women mad and received thousands of gifts.
The male elf felt extremely hostile towards Louie, but in the face of a demigod dragon, he did not dare show it too openly. Who knew what would happen if he even slightly provoked the dragon. He would be squashed like a bug.
"Praise be to you, revered Lord Louie."
His tone was respectful and without any flaws.
Louie just smiled and nodded calmly. He did not care about this elf's hostility. He was already a true god dragon, so why was there any need for him to mind a mortal's thoughts? Louie was generous enough to allow people to not love him as long as the other side did not go overboard, but if the other side unreasonably crossed the line, Louie did not mind reminding him of his place.
Louie thought evilly, 'A legendary powerhouse at such a young age? This Silver Moon Goddess should be paying close attention to him, not because he was a genius, but because of the possibility of him becoming a demigod.'
If the elf held the idea of becoming stronger and becoming a demigod to obtain the Silver Moon Goddess' favor, he would soon fall into despair as that would be the time when the Silver Moon Goddess would kill him herself.
Gods were such incomprehensible beings. Although they had feelings, they were more selfish than anyone else.
"Devon, are you guarding the palace today?"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Sisna went to Dragon City, so your palace will be guarded by me."
The elf named Devon bent over with his right hand over his left shoulder while giving Louie an unobtrusive glance.
The Silver Moon Goddess nodded noncommittally and said, "You've done well. I've had you take care of these insignificant tasks even though you are a legendary rank warrior."
"No, Your Majesty! It is my greatest honor to serve you. Anything related to you is not a trivial matter. You have protected the elves for more than ten thousand years. The beauty of all things will one day fade, but you are eternal."
The elf expressed his heartfelt feelings while not forgetting to praise the Silver Moon Goddess.
"I have received your praise. I still have to accompany Lord Louie to visit the Ancient Tree of Life, so you can go about your business."
The Silver Moon Goddess' voice was cold and indifferent, completely different from when she was facing Louie. She spoke calmly and clearly as if this was just business.
"Yes, Your Majesty. May the Silver Moon Goddess always shine on you."
The elf said respectfully and didn't say anymore. He stood up and took a step away.
Louie simply wanted to laugh at this flirt of a male.
'May the Silver Moon Goddess always shine? Please, the person in front of you is the real Silver Moon Goddess. If this elf knew her real identity, I wonder if he would become more enthusiastic at conveying his love, or would he be scared and kneel down on the ground?'
Louie thought that the second possibility was higher. The gods did not care about mortals conveying their love to them, but if this love contained strong desires and selfishness, it was simply tantamount to blasphemy. If the gods were in a bad mood, sending down divine punishments was also possible.
In the long past, there were a few that had gained the favor of gods and goddesses, and they even got to enjoy doing it with their incarnations, but they were extremely rare. On the other hand, for ancient gods like the Silver Moon Goddess, none of them had ever done it with a mortal.
When the elf left, the Silver Moon Goddess' tone softened, "I apologize for the disturbance, Your Highness Louie. Let us continue."
"Okay. After visiting the Ancient Tree of Life, I also need to return to Dragon City."
Louie nodded his head slightly. He pressed closer to the goddess' alluring body with one hand holding on to her delicate waist and feeling her smooth skin under the muslin. The Silver Moon Goddess ignored Louie's small movements and continued to tour him.
"You have not been back for more than a year. It is already the era when we should be overseeing our cities as the power of mortals is rather important to us."
"Before leaving for the Shadow Realm, I have already given my subordinates the task until next year. I am returning this time to check their work. If things go well, Dragon City will soon be able to help the Silver Moon Kingdom in solving the basic problem of food."
"Then I shall wait and see, Your Highness Louie."
The Silver Moon Goddess spoke softly, mixed with a slight hint of joy.
"When you return to Dragon City, I will also try to raise our child. On the day I give birth, I will inform you."
"Ah, that is something I can't wait for. This is the first time I've become a father."
Louie thought about his past life when he was worried about having a job, getting a high salary, owning a house, and having a girlfriend. Who would have thought that one day he would not have to worry about any of these at all and also father a child with a goddess? Everything felt unbelievable to him.
The Silver Moon Goddess giggled with a bell-like voice and continued to guide Louie to the upper levels of the Ancient Tree of Life.
…
Dragon City was now a famous city known all over the continent. As a hub, the city was completely open and welcomed any race. Even if they were kobolds or dwarfs, everyone was welcome as long as they complied with the law and paid attention to cleanliness. Otherwise, the guards would send them out.
In Dragon City, even the most ordinary citizens could taste food made from refined wheat that only nobles could eat. From the outside, the city was known to be a mysterious place. There were even rumors that it was full of gold and every resident was extremely rich. In addition, the city's surroundings were filled with areas of exploration, which attracted many adventurers and merchants to try and make a fortune here.
Even among the merchants, Dragon City was privately known as the Capital of Gold. Because of the strong purchasing power of the residents, as long as the goods could be shipped to the city, it was easy for the merchants to earn a lot of money in just one year. This place had become a place that exceeded the City of Wealth of the Seven Kingdom Alliance.
It was a city that was a hundred years ahead of the current era. It was like a bright star on the main continent.
Chapter 240
"This is a short sword product of form Selar, forged by the northland dwarves. You can see the dwarven enchantment on it. I found this in an ogre's lair. How about it, I will sell you this good weapon for cheap?"
"Come take a look. This is a fruit produced from the Forest of the Moon. It is the favorite fruit of the elves. Do you know why the elves are so good-looking? It's all because of this fruit. it is sold for only five cents, definitely worth the money."
"Vanilla, a specialty of the southern seas, is a rare commodity. Those undersea races have always kept the origin of the herb a secret and could not be found on the continent. Other than the City of Wealth and the Subila Empire, you can never find it elsewhere. Buy some and try cooking with it at home. You will definitely feel the wonderful aftertaste."
"Friend, want to buy some of this seasoning called cumin? The beastmen praise it endlessly and even the lord is enjoying it."
"Guards, guards. Someone is selling contraband here."
"This seasoning is only given by the lord to his men. Where did you get them?"
"This man is probably a thief! Don't let him get away. Take him to the barracks!"
…
The trading square was thrown into chaos, but soon, a group of soldiers in armor surrounded the cumin-selling thief. The thief fell to his knees, raised his hands in surrender, and was escorted away in chains.
Though this trivial matter was over, the general chaotic energy of the market persisted as countless merchants from all over the continent hawking their wares. Adventurers and non-adventurers weaved in between them by the dozens as they made their purchases.
The market was a hodgepodge of races and professions. There were warlords from Khoos, barbarians from Tumibia, and even wandering bards from Evermere were sitting on the floor, playing their lutes, and singing songs. There were beastmen from different races laughing loudly. There were dwarves from the northern lands selling their weapons with rough voices. There were even rarely seen elves as well as dirty goblins. The whole market was simply a mixture of all beings.
Eden stood expressionlessly in the middle of the market. He was occupying the area, but the crowd walked cautiously around him. None of them dared to anger him because he was wearing a gorgeous light purple robe and holding onto a wooden staff. His entire being was even emitting a kind of spell fluctuation that would cause anyone with a profession who saw him feel their hearts palpitate.
At the very least, they could tell that he was at or above the level of an archmage!
This was what everyone thought when they saw Eden. An archmage was someone who was at the level of seven rings. This was already considered as powerful in the world. They were not individuals that normal adventurer groups could deal with head-on. Only those elite adventurer groups could ignore them.
However, these people were still underestimating him. He was not an ordinary archmage, but a famous legendary rank mage. However, with the lack of a convenient method to transmit information, it would be hard for people to recognize the strong even if they heard the name.
Eden was a man who appears to be in his forties. He had a hardened face that looked like a scholar's. His eyes seemed to be looking at the guards who had just captured the thief, but in fact, his main focus was on the low-ranking mages that were following the guards.
"Oh Goddess of Magic, there is indeed a problem with this city. Those low-ranking mages are carrying the symbol of the dragon, indicating that they are people of Dragon City. I have seen at least a hundred low-ranking mages here, and they are actually doing service and city construction work. This number is really absurd!"
Eden could not help but mutter darkly. He clearly knew that when Dragon City was still named Central City, there weren't many mages here. In other words, these images only emerged recently. And creating a large number of low-ranking mages would require a huge amount of resources. As a legendary rank mage, Eden had always paid close attention to the magical materials market, but there had been no signs of a large-scale purchase.
"Where did that demigod dragon find so many raw materials?"
Eden decided to investigate this matter. For a mage like him, there were countless ways of obtaining the information he wanted from the mouths of these low-ranking mages.
"However, I cannot be reckless. There is a powerful demigod here. If I am accidentally discovered by him, I will be in danger. I should first explore the entire city before making any moves."
Eden secretly decided. He decided on a direction and advanced. As he advanced, two emblems came out of his sleeves. One of them was a circle with blue and white stars surrounding a red fog that flowed in the middle. An expert would have been able to recognize that this symbol was the divine emblem of the Goddess of Magic!
In addition to the divine emblem of the Goddess of Magic, there was another emblem that had a purple staff. This represented a famous mage organization in the world of San Soliel.
Eden was precisely a member of this organization. He was also a believer in the Goddess of Magic. And just recently, this devout believer received an oracle while he was performing his habitual prayers. This felt incredible to Eden because, in the past ten thousand years, the gods had long since ceased to appear on the main continent.
In addition to the oracle, the Goddess of Magic also bestowed magical knowledge upon him. As a legendary rank mage, Eden was able to quickly verify its authenticity, making him sure that he had indeed heard the Goddess of Magic.
The content of the oracle was simple. It was to have Eden come and investigate Dragon City. At the same time, she wanted him to gather believers and prepare to establish a church. The Goddess had promised him that he would be rewarded with knowledge that he could only dream of as well as divinity that only a chosen few could obtain if he succeeded in his tasks.
In front of such temptation, Eden could not refuse and agreed to the Goddess' request.
However as a legendary rank mage, he also felt a vague sense of unease as if this was the calm before the storm.
'The gods are beginning to wake up. The era of the gods is coming."
Eden had a feeling.
As for whether people could seize an opportunity in this era or not, it all depended on the luck and effort of each person.
Chapter 241
Cock-A-Doodle Doo —
As the rooster crowed, the sun rose from the east, shining down on Dragon City and gleaming off its white, immaculate walls.
In the hotel, the adventurers were still sleeping. These bloodthirsty mercenaries spent a lot of money on their breaks. They would sleep until they woke up naturally. These men and women never knew when they would die in the wilderness, so they tried to enjoy every moment of their lives.
Merchants and vendors on the other hand got up very early. They would prepare their stalls and eagerly try to sell out their goods today.
The residents of Dragon City were already very rich compared to other places. And though most people's primary instinct was to ensure they had enough food stocked up for survival, the citizens of Dragon City didn't have to worry about this. Their lord ensured everyone who worked was well-fed, and so many people had enough funds left over to indulge themselves. This turned Dragon City into a trade hub and developed the economy.
Money could only be called money if it was spent. If paper money and gold coins were left at home, they didn't serve any purpose since they could not be eaten or worn.
The merchant Benson was a modest caravan leader. He was a Subilan who was once a person just living in the slums of the lower class and struggled to obtain the wealth he had today. Although he wasn't famous, he was able to live a relatively luxurious life.
He was already 40 years old this year. A few years ago he met a beautiful woman and got married. He also had a lovely daughter with her. This made Benson work even harder. He only wanted to earn more money while he could still move to let his wife and daughter have a better life.
"Hey, Gener, you're already up!"
Benson came down from the second floor of the hotel and saw a middle-aged man wearing leather armor. This man was named Gener, a warrior who was part of a six-man adventurer party. The party wasn't famous, but it was the only one merchants like Benson could afford.
"I didn't sleep last night; I had a few drinks with a few people."
After seeing Benson, Gener raised the glass of ale in his hand and laughed, "This place is great. It's like a money pit that's better than the capital of the Empire!"
"Then you should rest well tonight… We will leave for the territory of the beastmen tomorrow."
"Relax, relax. We have known each other for so many years. You don't have to worry about me… I still have the basic professionalism."
Hearing Gener's assurance, Benson nodded his head.
As a merchant, he had to take leverage of local scarcity to turn a profit, and this usually meant he had to do a lot of traveling. Dragon City was just the most important transit point where he could sell some of his goods into dry currency, and then he would join with other merchants to bring the rest of his goods to the faraway beastmen nation.
In this way, the hired adventurers would be able to work together to form a considerable strength, so as to deal with dangers on the road.
'I give thanks to the dragon who took the city away from the Theocracy and turned it into an open city.'
Benson inwardly thanked the dragon whom he had never seen before. In the past, when the city belonged to the Theocracy, they did not open this important trading hub due to their fanaticism. When merchants wanted to transport supplies between the east and west of the continent, they would have to take a big detour to the northern lands. This was not only more expensive but also more dangerous.
Now, with the opening of Dragon City, everything was a lot better. It had now become a transit point for the entire east to the west road, with countless people coming and leaving every hour. Supplies from the entire continent were delivered and the arrival of many people had driven the city's consumption. The moniker of 'City of Gold' had truly become a reality.
Benson walked out of the hotel. The street not far away had quieted down in the morning. It was the so-called red-light district. With the development of Dragon City, gray industries like it would naturally appear, especially when there were always merchants and adventurers visiting.
As an 'old driver', Louie would not bury these gray industries to the ground and have them controlled by some gangster forces. As the city lord, he gave the street the name 'Tulip Street' or as some people like to call it, the 'Flower Street', which clearly told others that he supported the sex industry.
As a former Chinese, he had felt the suffocation of not being able to do it.
The theaters, brothels, and box stores on Flower Street were all licensed by him and were protected by the city guards. It was just that the taxes he placed on them were relatively high, effectively making them no different from the protection fees charged by gangsters who controlled the sex industry in some cities. However, as the person with the most power, Louie's soldiers were clearly Dragon City's largest underworld.
When the government supported the development of these industries, it could earn more money.
Other than young women who could only make a living by prostituting themselves, there were also barbarian women from Tibial Plateau, natives from the southern seas, some strange fishmen, beastmen of all races, fallen nobles from the Subila Empire, and even elves that were rarely seen anywhere on the continent.
There were more than a million elves in existence, so it would be natural for there to be some free-spirited ones who were willing to sell their bodies. This was something beyond the Silver Moon Goddess' or Louie's could control.
Naturally, compared to elves, the most popular thing in Flower Street at the moment was something that a powerful archmage brought.
As the barrier between realms became thinner and thinner, the ability of mages to cross realms rose significantly. This powerful mage had the audacity to break into the bottomless Abyss by himself. In that corrupt and degenerate world, he had luckily obtained a succubus.
This succubus wasn't strong and the mage used powerful spells to restrain her. Then he sold it to the Flower Street of Dragon City to let her receive customers. Perhaps feeling a little guilty, he left behind a small part of the money he earned to the succubus.
Succubi were originally lascivious demons. Other than upper-class succubi who were more reserved and only served those who were truly strong, those lower class succubus would never refuse a request.
With the spells of the mage, no one needed to be worried about being sucked dry by the succubus. Since she could earn money while meeting her physical needs, the mage's work had stirred up Flower Street. The succubus that came from the Abyss had also become the banner of Flower Street. Rich people would try to go there, wanting to have a taste of her.
It was a demon that was rare on the main continent especially after the realms had been separated.
Benson gulped at the thought of the succubus, but could only scratch his head.
He simply could not afford to play with the succubus.
'How unfortunate.'
With a sigh full of regret, Benson headed in the direction opposite Flower Street.
The streets of Dragon City were beginning to get more and more populated with people. These people had serious expressions that pervaded the atmosphere. Even Benson's expression had changed to become a serious one.
He knew that this was the most important activity of the people every day at regular intervals – a prayer to their god, the mighty dragon.
Chapter 242
To become a citizen of Dragon City, the most important thing was to become a believer in Lord Louie.
A person didn't need to become a devout believer, and they could just be a pseudo-believer, but to become a citizen of Dragon City, one couldn't have faith in any other Gods. For the time being, the only exception to this was the elves. The lord had allowed them to believe in the Silver Moon Goddess while staying as citizens of the city.
To obtain a high power in the city, the most basic requirement was to believe in Lord Louie. Naturally, to prevent those with strong faith but little ability or idiots from obtaining high positions, Louie had set up an extra rule. Talent would be the first basis of consideration when selecting individuals to fill these roles. If more than one person was qualified, then faith would be taken into consideration.
In this way, Louie could ensure that his regime would not collapse for a few hundred years.
Every morning, evening, and before meals were the times of prayers for the inhabitants of Dragon City. There was also a day of worship every ten days where everyone rested and was required to go to church to worship. This was a rule set up by Louie's church.
Other than this rest day, believers could worship at home or at the city square with other believers.
For the citizens of Dragon City, they considered this as an act of piety and a way to become closer to the great dragon. As a result, most of them took the initiative to get up early, come to the square, and under the leadership of a priest, they would hold a ceremony similar to a flag-raising ceremony.
In the past year, Louie's Dragon God Church's foundation and growth were thanks to Clooney. He was a true religious genius worthy of being someone who was trained by the Theocracy. He led the development of the religion from head to tail and from top to bottom without neglecting anything.
A magnificent church had also been built at the center of the city. Although it was not yet fully completed, it already exuded a magnificent atmosphere.
Regarding building a church and gathering believers, Louie felt that even if he were to take on the task himself, he would not necessarily be as good as Clooney.
At this time, Louie had already concealed himself and stood in the square, watching the prayer ceremony.
In the past year, the Dragon God Church had also trained some priests at the bottom of the hierarchy. Because Louie was not yet a true god, these fellows did not have the ability to perform divine magic, but their professional ability to propagate the faith and lead believers to pray was very strong.
These priests were extremely devout. Even if they did not obtain any supernatural abilities, their faith still remained pure.
'Once I become a true god, these priests will certainly be able to grasp divine magic. Although it won't be strong in terms of fighting, it should be capable of healing. As long as believers pay a certain price, they can ask these priests to cure them of ailments.'
Louie thought. As the person who had the complete divine authority of life, he had already surpassed other gods in healing divine magic. If the Goddess of the Moon was not compatible with the divine authority of Life, she wouldn't have given it to Louie.
This was also why Louie did not create any hospital businesses in this world. This was because a priest's healing ability could exceed that of medical science. The highest level of healing magic could even bring the dead back to life, which was something modern medicine could never do.
It would still be difficult to have these priests go to the battlefield, but once the church expanded more, they would naturally be included in the church's armed forces.
Under Louie's watchful eye, a young priest respectfully and reverently placed a divine emblem in front of the stone table for prayer.
Louie's divine emblem was disc-shaped. In the center was the head of a dragon and around the circle were dragon heads looking in various directions, adding up to a total of nine heads.
As a former Chinese, Louie had always believed that nine was the extreme of numbers. Nine represented the highest and noble meaning but also had the meaning of nine sons born to the dragon (idiom: everyone has different qualities). This was also done to distinguish himself from the Five-colored Dragon God.
When the priest placed the divine emblem on the altar, he recited the doctrines and scripture in a loud chant.
"God said, I came into the world as light, but whoever believes in me will never dwell in darkness."
"God said, though you were small in the beginning, you will be great in the end."
"God said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"…"
"O Lord Louie, you are the God who is and was forever."
"…"
"O Lord Louie, you are the lord of dragons, the only true god of dragons."
"…"
"O Lord Louie, you are the weaver of dreams, the guardian of earth, the champion of magic…"
"…"
"O Lord Louie, you are the master of Dragon City, you are our protector…"
"We are all your sheeps and goats grazing on the earth. Glory to you. Victory to you. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
"…"
"O, Lord Louie…"
As the priest spoke, many believers also chanted. The more they chant the more the chants united into harmony, creating an overwhelming, sacred, and magnificent atmosphere. No mortal dared express any other emotions other than awe; awe at the scene that made them feel cleansed from inside out.
People kneeling on the ground were becoming more and more devout. In this mass-like atmosphere, those unbelievers would also turn their heads and join in. Naturally, this ceremony was done in order to change people's hearts.
In the vicinity of the city square, there were many people from other parts of the continent. These people were taken by the ritualistic prayer ceremony and did not dare make any moves as they stood still. Even those who did not have any faith would unconsciously bow their heads and express their respect.
Some of them even instinctively kneeled on the ground as they were influenced by the atmosphere of the ceremony and began to pray.
The power of faith gathered in the sky above Dragon City. The power of faith looked for their master and descended upon Louie's body. With his power as a god, the faith transformed into divine power and then stored in the quiet godhood.
Countless voices echoed in Louie's mind. There was not only the crowd praying on the spot, but also from many other places. These sounds resounded in his soul. There was no clutter from these sounds as they washed Louie's divine soul, almost making him moan out.
'How wonderful. This is the feeling of God!'
Now that Louie's divine fire had been lit and he had a divinity, a godhood, and a divine authority, he was already a god in normal situations. But because the world's rules had not yet returned back to normal, Louie was unable to begin his apotheosis.
Although Louie was not yet able to use the transcendent abilities of a god, his senses were already on that level.
'If a mortal receives this much faith, they would probably collapse and die… Also, I think I should have them add one more phrase to the end: you are the giver of life. This should correspond to the divine authority of life.'
Because Louie did not yet have full possessions over the divine authority of magic and earth, he only called himself the champion of magic and guardian of the earth. Although he was already on hostile terms with the Goddess of Magic and God of Earth, it was still better to not stimulate those two gods too much and give them a basic level of respect.
Thinking this way, something suddenly caught Louie's attention as he looked towards the gate of Dragon City.
'Eh? The Subila Empire's royalty and the paladin from the Theocracy?'
'The words, ' you are the master of Dragon City', in the prayer meant that Louie was ruling the area centered around Dragon City, representing that he had divine authority over the region. He ruled over the area of a hundred kilometers around Dragon City. Therefore, his perception was infinitely expanded over the area. No movement, not even from the wind or grass, could escape his eyes.
This kind of divine authority was not strong. At most, it could make a person become a low-tier god, but if the divine authority was turned into a supplementary one, it had its uses, just like what Louie was doing now.
Chapter 243
Going back in time a few days—
The western region next to Dragon City was a land called Freshwater Desert. Its name originated from the fact that it was once the site of an enormous lake, home to countless creatures.
But after tens of thousands of years, the lake had completely disappeared, leaving behind a huge desert.
No one knew why the lake had disappeared. Some said that it was a natural occurrence, but others said that gods had once fought there, causing the lake to become a desert. So far, no one knew the real reason why the desert was formed.
With the Freshwater Desert in the middle, the eastern part of the territory belonged to the Subila Empire while the central to the southern region was part of the San Soliel Mountain Range, which was now under the jurisdiction of Dragon City.
"Watch out! It's a mummy!"
A young warrior loudly warned his comrade while raising his huge sword to block the old mummy in front of him.
This evil creature might look dried up from the outside but its strength remained great. With a swing of its arms, it flung away the warrior, but fortunately, a shield took the warrior's place, blocking the mummy's pursuit.
"Be careful. Don't let the mummy scratch you. Its claws contain poison. Someone, prepare the antidote."
The warrior who had been sent flying seemed to be experienced as he commanded.
A bard recites an incantation with his singing, summoning out a swarm of insects to hinder the mummy. This was one of the spells that bards could learn after advancing in rank. Unlike mages who relied on learning to learn magic up to the ninth ring, a bard was only limited to casting six-ringed spells.
After finishing his incantation, the bard raised his sword to join the battle.
At this time—
"[Holy Judgment]!"
A high-pitched female voice echoed and in an instant, the mummy roared in pain. In the blink of an eye, it was covered in smoke and disintegrated in the desert.
"Phew…"
The adventurer squad breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly put down their weapons while maintaining vigilance.
This was a small adventurer group that consisted of a warrior, a wanderer, a bard, and a ranger. Except for a mage and a priest, it was a standard party.
In the era where the gods weren't seen anymore, priests were rare and mages were more reclusive. It would be hard for an ordinary adventurer party to have them.
But apart from the members of this party, there was an extra woman.
This was a beautiful young girl that looked like an iris. She wore white robes that looked solemn in this desert. She did not smile at all and even looked so pure that even the sand did not dare stain her robes.
This person was a paladin, an extremely powerful paladin.
"Thank you very much for your help, Miss Roselia!"
The young warrior was the leader of the party, Bowen. He felt a bit ashamed and gratefully thanked this holy maiden.
The adventurer squad met this holy maiden in the desert. When this paladin walked alone in the desert, Bowen boldly struck up a conversation with her. After knowing that both of them were heading to Dragon City, he invited her to join the party.
'Good thing I was bold enough to invite this paladin, otherwise we might have lost someone on our trip here.'
Bowen sighed. Their journey to Dragon City wasn't smooth sailing. Not only did they encounter a large number of dead dogs, but they also encountered a special gnoll tribe called the Yenogu Poisonfang, and now there were even mummies. It would be good if they didn't encounter a mummy lord next, otherwise, they would be wiped out even with the paladin there.
But whether it was the mummies or the gnolls, there were no threatening enemies in front of this paladin at all. Miss Roselia easily destroyed them with her holy powers.
Bowin did not dare to guess the lady's rank, but he guessed that it should be above the seventh rank. A powerhouse of this level was not something a mid-ranking warrior like him could touch, and fortunately, she was a paladin!
"You don't have to thank me, Mr. Bowen! It is my duty to destroy evil, and it is my duty to protect the good in the face of evil!"
The paladin named Roselia spoke in a noble tone. Her expression looked sacred and the atmosphere around her was awe-inspiring.
Looking at the paladin with gold and silver hair in front of him as well as the contrast between the desert and her white skin and beautiful face, Bowen felt as if he was falling in love.
'Unfortunately, she is a paladin!'
Bowen once again sighed.
Although not everyone liked the people from the Theocracy, there was a group of people that deserved to be respected. They were the ones called God's chosen warriors – the paladins.
These were the warriors of the Goddess of Morning. They had noble souls and valued glory more than anything, and they would dedicate their souls and swords to fight against evil. They spread justice and enforced the law, helped the poor and the needy and crushed the evil and the greedy. They were simply the perfect embodiment of the Goddess' stance towards the world.
Although there were times when paladins were too stubborn to convince, their souls and virtues were absolutely faultless.
However, these paladins did not understand love at all. They believed that it was a selfish thing. Only through dedicating their body and soul to the gods was their existence actualized.
Roselia, the current head of the Iris Knight Order of the Slaine Theocracy was a ninth-ranked paladin. She was going to Dragon City to face the evil dragon and ask for the holy weapon that belonged to them. Although she knew that she had no power to confront an evil demigod dragon, she still went without hesitation.
These paladins were muscle brains that would sometimes ignore the pope's orders. They were the most trustworthy in the Theocracy, but at the same time, they were the biggest headache.
"Leader, there is a carriage coming from the west!"
The wanderer who was keeping guard of the surroundings quickly reported when he found something wrong.
"Carriage?"
Bowen was a little surprised. How could there be any carriages in the middle of the desert? Even if it was a nobleman, they would never choose to cross the desert. Instead, they would choose to take the comfortable long way around.
Moreover, seeing a carriage in the desert was a strange thing. In an instant, everyone became alert. Even the paladin named Roselia solemnly looked to the west.
"There is someone strong inside."
She asserted.
…
"Your Highness, there is a group of adventurers ahead."
"Ho~, it's the first time we've seen adventurers in this Freshwater Desert. Can we stop by and take a look?"
A pure, lively voice that brimmed with curiosity sounded from inside the carriage.
Chapter 244
In the carriage sat none other than Princess Andrea Abel Subila of the Subila Empire. The one inside the carriage with her was the Emperor's guard commander Derek, and the one driving the carriage was the princess' guard commander, Corvin.
The princess was wearing a court dress that was bound by an emerald green girdle on her waist. A luxurious headdress sat on top of her golden hair. Together with her perfect smile that seemed to shine brightly, she looked like a beautiful angel that could only be seen in heaven.
After hearing her request, the commander of the princess' guards, Corvin, instinctively wanted to agree, but he quickly swallowed back his words. After all, the princess and he were commanded by the Emperor to listen to Commander Derek's words.
'I am just an eight rank warrior, but Commander Derek is a legendary rank warrior.'
Corvin smiled to himself. If he was a legendary rank warrior, then he would have been able to grant any of the princess' requests, unlike how currently the princess needed to obtain others' consent.
He looked lovingly at the princess to whom he was loyal and looked at Commander Derek again.
The steady middle-aged man mused. He glanced at the elegantly-smiling princess, whose eyes were pure and radiant, and sighed.
'This princess is really as beautiful as an angel. She is so gentle and kind. If not for my old age and low chances at becoming a demigod, I would have asked His Majesty to give me her hand in marriage.'
Derek might look like a middle-aged man, but he was actually more than a hundred years old. Thanks to being a legendary rank warrior, his age did not matter.
'However, can this princess really not see that this trip is part of the two imperial princes' scheme?'
'With the wisdom the princess displayed in front of everyone, she should have been able to see it, but even so, she still agreed to this trip. What does that mean?'
Derek shook his head and decided not to think too hard about these things. He did not want to get too involved in this battle of succession, but the princess was a truly moving person. The most Derek could help her was to save her life in future plots against her.
'His Majesty is also quite old and close to the limits of life expectancy.
"Your Highness, by principle, I cannot agree with your idea. You should understand that the power structure of the Empire has become more chaotic and complex. Many religions are even emerging from the shadows to spread their faith in the empire. Many nobles and city guards have become followers of certain religions and His Majesty suspects that this is a conspiracy made by the Theocracy."
"This is especially so for the organization called 'Brotherhood of Lies', which recently appeared in the imperial capital. They claim to believe in the God of Lies and have already carried out many illegal activities in the imperial capital."
Derek said so, but he knew that it had nothing to do with the Theocracy. As a legendary rank powerhouse, he could perceive that a great change was coming. These religions that were stringing up were not evil cults, but actual churches of the gods from the past.
'The gods have appeared once more.'
This was what Derek suspected. Although he had no evidence, the fact that these religions that had hidden in the mountains and forest once again appeared in public to spread their faith was very unusual.
And if the gods were really awakening, then this would hugely affect the Subila Empire.
As the only human empire and an empire that did not belong to any religion, its power had always been in the hands of royalty and no one was allowed to contend against it. However, how could the gods allow mortals to contend with them?
If the gods awakened, then it was impossible for the Subila Empire to fight against the odds. The entire empire would eventually fall apart.
The gods do not need any great human power to exist. They only needed faith.
This was what Derek was most worried about.
After finishing his words, he saw the princess' disappointed expression and hesitated. He said, "Forget it, since Your Highness wants to go over and take a look, then let's go over there. I don't think there's anything in this desert that can threaten me."
He said rather proudly. As a legendary rank warrior, he really did not have anything to fear unless a demigod or a true god descended.
"Thank you so much, Commander Derek."
Andrea's expression changed from disappointment to joy. She cheerfully smiled and bowed.
The carriage also changed its path at his orders.
"Miss paladin, they are coming."
Bowen came to Roselia's side and spoke. Only by standing beside this paladin did he feel safer.
Roselia also nodded and stood there waiting. Soon, she was able to see the carriage with her eyesight.
The carriage was very luxurious. Although the family crest was hidden, anyone who looked at it could tell that it belonged to a high noble or a royal. The horses pulling the carriage were not of a common breed, but rather had dragon blood flowing in their veins. They were probably born from a dragon mating with a female horse.
The adventurers held their weapons tightly. In the desert, it was best to stay vigilant, especially when encountering strangers. A slight degree of negligence could cause their deaths.
The driver of the carriage also knew that approaching adventurers for no reason was quite rude. With a distance of ten meters, he stopped the carriage.
The curtain of the carriage was pulled back and a middle-aged man's head was revealed. He looked awe-inspiring to the adventurers. Other than Roselia, the adventurers stiffened without being able to resist.
Derek scanned around and found that no one could threaten the princess and felt relieved. Then he looked at the beautiful girl who looked like a beautiful iris and said in a deep voice, "A paladin who believes in the Goddess of Morning?
"It is so."
As a paladin, Rosalia never lied and was proud of her own identity.
"Huh? A paladin? Those are rarely seen even in the Slane Theocracy."
The princess' cheerful and lively voice came from the carriage. She ignored the commander's objection and pulled open her side of the curtain. With curiosity, she looked at these adventurers and Roselia.
The princess and Roselia's appearances were neck and neck, but her noble temper and the pure atmosphere surrounding her were superior to Roselia to the point that the heartbeat of those who looked at her would speed up. Those adventurers unconsciously lowered their heads as they were taken by the princess' glory.
As a paladin, Roselia was accustomed to using [Detect Evil] regardless of whoever they were. Whether it was the legendary rank warrior or the young warrior, both of them had faint red lights on their body which was quite normal, because it was impossible for people to not carry any sin.
But when she looked at the Imperial Princess, her expression stiffened.
This was because, under the detection, the princess did not let out any red light at all no matter how faint. It was as if she was born pure and immaculate. It was a soul that was so holy that it could become a link between mortals and gods. If she appeared in the Theocracy, she would definitely be raised with utmost importance.
It was even more precious than a paladin like Roselia.
However, Roselia felt that the princess in front of her was somehow twisted as if her pure and immaculate appearance was an 'illusion' for deceiving others.
Chapter 245
"Are you the third princess and the head of the Imperial Guards of the Subila Empire?"
Every paladin was favored by the goddess. They had truly noble hearts and were the Goddess' representative on the main continent. These paladins had a high position in the church. With their high moral character, they never competed for profit or power, thus the Theocracy was comfortable giving them authority.
As a senior figure among the paladins, Roselia knew about the higher-ups of the Empire that were hostile to the Theocracy. Therefore when the Emperor's closest commander and princess appeared, she recognized them at first sight.
Roselia's words made the adventurers shocked. They simply never expected to meet a member of the Subila Empire's imperial family here. Thinking about the hostile relationship between the Empire and the Theocracy, these adventurers were fearful, and they worried that this paladin would clash with the other party. If that happened, they would become bystanders who got caught in the crossfire.
As Roselia's words fell, the nervous Corvin rushed forward to protect the princess while watching the paladin with hostility.
Although paladins were well-known for their stubbornness, it did not mean that they could not read the atmosphere. In their code of conduct, they were the Goddess' warriors. The battles between the Theocracy and the Empire were not even considered by them. If the people in front of her were embodiments of evil, then Roselia would not hesitate to go forward and fight, but since they weren't evil, Roselia could pretend to not have seen anything.
"I am Andrea Abel Sublia. It's a pleasure to meet Miss paladin."
A lively and cheerful heavenly voice came out of the princess's mouth. The princess who had a beautiful face looked at Roselia with curious eyes. Her smile was like a pure angel that could make anyone happy. Even those nervous and fearful adventurers felt admiration from the bottom of their hearts and could not bear to carry any hostility against her.
"I am Roselia, belonging to the Holy Iris Knights of the Goddess of Morning," she replied.
"I have heard of the princess before. Her fame within the Empire is resounding. She takes care of the lower class people and often distributes relief goods in the imperial capital for those poor people to eat."
"It is said that she also proposed a lot of laws for the poor people, but every one of them was rejected by the emperor and the nobles."
"I also know about this. There are so many poor people within the empire who lament the fact that the princess is third in the line of succession and cannot become the emperor."
Roselia's ears sharply picked up the whispers of the adventurers and could tell the admiration in their words.
Many adventurers were actually forced to take this path. They had experienced poverty in the past and could only survive by selling their lives. Those that had good luck could save up before growing too old and return to their hometown to buy a piece of land, while the worst luck would die somewhere without anyone knowing.
These adventurers wanted to go to Dragon City because they heard that it was the 'Capital of Gold' and thought that they could earn some money.
In the face of this angel-like being who helped the poor, it was natural for them to exude goodwill from the depths of their hearts.
However, Roselia felt a chill. The more innocent the princess smiled, the more her soul trembled. Her keen instincts told her that the princess was not as simple as she seemed.
She did not move and nodded her head, "Your Highness and sir, we are heading towards Dragon City. If you have nothing else to say, we will take our leave."
Roselia's voice was resounding. Even in the face of a higher legendary rank powerhouse that she could not defeat, she still remained fearless.
Her words were in line with Derek's thoughts. Although the paladin's power was nothing in his eyes, paladins had a special place in the Theocracy. He didn't want to touch her even if he could.
But before Derek could say anything, the words that came from Andrea's mouth surprised him, "Sister Roselia, you are also going to Dragon City? Our destination is the same. How about we go together? I've read in books that when adventurers meet together, they unite to lower risks."
The princess's tone was light. Her face carried an innocent expectation, but her capricious words made Derek, Corvin, and Roselia frown.
"Your Highness, she is from the Theocracy."
Derek couldn't help but remind her.
"It's fine Commander Derek. Although sister Roselia is from the Theocracy, she is also a paladin."
The princess' words were full of trust. If it was a normal person, they would have already appreciated the princess' benevolence, but Roselia was a paladin with special skills, so she could not help but be wary.
The princess' words left Derek speechless, and even Roselia's mouth unconsciously opened. They were not able to find any words of rebuttal. As a paladin, could she even call herself untrustworthy?
Having no choice, Derek could only say, "Since that's the case, miss paladin, please come with us to Dragon City."
Roselia let out a sigh. She knew that she could not refuse. She could only calmly nod her head and get on the carriage without saying anything while the head of the princess guards, Corvin, watched her warily. For the sake of the princess' safety, he should not completely believe in the paladin.
Just like that, the two factions in the west that were hostile to each other came together. They moved through the Freshwater Desert and towards Dragon City. With Derek, a legendary rank powerhouse, they had nothing to fear as long as they did not encounter something on the level of an ancient dragon.
When this group of people entered the range of Dragon City's territory, Louie was able to immediately sense it.
He looked with his eyes to gaze at several people.
"The paladin has the same atmosphere as that warrior I slapped to death when I first arrived. Is she here to take revenge? But she isn't even of legendary rank. If she's coming for revenge then she's really looking down on me too much."
Louie shook his head. Then he looked at the legendary rank warrior, Derek. This level of a warrior was someone no one could fight against other than Louie in the entire Dragon City. He was worth his special attention.
"As expected of a legendary rank warrior, he actually noticed my gaze."
When Louie's eyes fixed on Derek, Derek's body tensed up and subconsciously gripped the weapon in his hand.
Finally, Louie looked at the young lady who exuded a lively and innocent atmosphere, but he raised his eyebrows as he looked.
"How strange. There is something strange with this woman."
Louie just quietly watched the arrival of these people. He wanted to see what their goals were. Recently, several legendary powerhouses had arrived in Dragon City, but as long as they did not cause trouble, Louie would not pay attention to them.
Dragon City was open to the world.
Now that he was infinitely close to becoming a true God, he naturally had a god's reservations.
Chapter 246
"Stop and check!"
When the imperial princess' carriage reached the toll station, it was directly stopped by a male elf.
Naturally, neither the princess nor Commander Derek knew what a toll booth was. They just thought that it was a guard post. Derek was a bit suspicious as there were no warnings at all.
"This elven gentleman, what do you want to inspect?"
Derek said with a solemn face. If this elf said that he was going to check the inside of the carriage, he would never agree. The inside was not a place anyone could get on. Moreover, he could not just allow anyone to inspect the imperial princess' carriage.
The male elf glanced at him. Although Derek's appearance intimidated him a bit, his pride as a resident of Dragon City allowed him to boldly say, "I'm not here to inspect anything, but here to collect a toll."
"So it's a toll."
Derek nodded with understanding. This rule of paying to enter also existed in many cities. It was just that the toll booth seemed to be far, too far even. Dragon City should still be at least many kilometers away from here.
"How much does it cost?"
"It depends on how many you are. One person is a Subilan copper, while a carriage is one Subilan silver. It shouldn't be expensive seeing how you people are nobles. The road behind is the 'highway' that the lord just established. If you are willing to take the side path with the commoners, it could be cheaper."
The elf was trained to take advantage of the noble's love for appearances and encouraged them to spend. Any noble with a little more money than normal would choose to take the so-called 'highway' instead of huddling with the commoners.
Derek frowned a little. Although he thought that the price was a little expensive, he did not care about this little money and silently took the coins out and handed it over.
The elf looked disgustedly at the silver coin of the Subila Empire and said, "It seems that you don't know the rules of Dragon City. We don't accept metal money here. You need to exchange it for banknotes issued by the lord. There is a banknote exchange office over there. You can go exchange some for the toll first and when you get to the city, don't forget to exchange your coins. Otherwise, you will not be able to do anything in Dragon City."
Explaining the rules of Dragon City to first-timers was also one of the main tasks of the elf working in this toll booth.
"You…"
As the princess's guard, Corvin had never encountered such a situation before and only felt that the princess he admired had been insulted.
Derek quickly pressed his shoulder and said, "Do not cause trouble. This is not the Subila Empire but Dragon City. I see a lot of people exchanging for the so-called banknotes over there. His words aren't done to make things difficult for us but reflect the law here. Corvin, go exchange some money."
In the face of the powerful legendary rank warrior, Corvin did not refuse. Among them, his identity and strength were the lowest, so he obediently went to exchange.
It didn't take long for him to return to the carriage and pass the money to the people inside. Whether it was Princess Andrea, Roselia, or Derek, they all curiously inspected the banknotes.
"There are traces of magic on them by using a magic potion. Forging it would be uneconomical as the cost of doing so would be greater than the value of the note itself"
The experienced Derek immediately saw the anti-counterfeiting system of the banknote.
After paying the toll to the elf, he became solemn, placed his hand on his shoulder, and piously said, "May the Dragon God bless you."
Other than Roselia, who was a believer of the Goddess of Morning, no one else felt anything wrong with the words. They drove the carriage on the so-called 'highway' after being allowed to go.
"Huh? What did the elf just say?"
After passing the toll booth, Derek began to wonder.
"What's wrong Commander Derek?"
Princess Andrea blinked with pure eyes as she curiously asked.
Before Derek could explain, Roselia cut in, "The elves are believers of the Goddess of the Silver Moon. As believers in the Goddess of Morning, we are hostile to the followers of the Goddess of the Silver Moon, so we know a lot about them. Most of them grew up in the Forest of the Moon, and they placed their faith in the Goddess of the Silver Moon, but the elf just now said that he believed in the Dragon God."
The paladin paused for a moment before continuing her explanation, "The Dragon God church is the church that the lord of Dragon City had just established not long ago. It is a faith that was based on the demigod dragon."
"The paladin lady is right. I also felt that that was strange."
Normally, in a world where gods existed, it would be hard to change the faith of someone who had it since young, but because the gods had disappeared and could not be fully perceived by their believers, faith had become more spiritual. Even if the Silver Moon Goddess had been ruling the elven kingdom as the queen and forced people to believe in her, the faith would not be as firm as the believers during the age of gods.
Being able to see god and perceive god would definitely create firm faith, but if the god's seat was empty, then it would just be a habitual faith.
Moreover, this group of elves in Dragon City had been the poorest in the Silver Moon Kingdom. When they came to Dragon City, they obtained an identity as residents and lived a good life. It was easy to change the faith of these elves who had been fed. With a god sitting on the throne, their faith naturally became unshakeable.
Now, other than some elves who had a high position in the Silver Moon Kingdom, the ordinary elves had long changed their ways. They stopped believing in the Silver Moon Goddess and instead believed in Louie, the Dragon God.
Just as several people were talking, Princess Andrea suddenly said, "The road here is so smooth."
The princess' words stirred up Derek's heart. He quickly lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. He noticed that the road they were on was actually a smooth tarmac. He was simply shocked.
'The elf called this a highway, but how in the world did they get a road this smooth?'
To become rich, it was important to build roads. Although this phrase did not exist in San Soliel, everyone understood this logic. The more economically developed a place was, the more convenient the transportation, but even the capital of the Subila Empire did not have roads as smooth as these.
"Look there."
The paladin pointed a short distance away from where there were many workers repairing the road, but their method of repairing the road was completely different from normal people. There were some mages in robes who were consulting with a few foramen. Then they used spells to turn rocks and those uneven roads into muddy water. The workers quickly went up to pave the road and the mages once again solidified it with spells, immediately creating an unbelievable flat road.
"It's [Create Stone] and [Create Cement] just these two spells. So these roads were being repaired by mages… But actually being able to make those mages fix the roads, how did that lord do this? And where did he get so many images from?"
These people from the Empire and the Theocracy, even the princess who claims to be well-informed, and the paladin were all shocked. They felt as if they had entered a large garden maze with many unknowns. This Dragon City was completely different from any other cities that they had been to. Just by looking at the pure white walls of the city, they felt that it was endlessly mysterious.
Chapter 247
The white city was located at the edge of a wide mountain. Its marbled, lustrous walls filled all who saw it with a sense of majesty and sanctity that was rare, even on the main continent.
In truth, Dragon City could really be called a divine kingdom because its ruler was a true god.
Roselia looked at the city with a complex gaze because a few years ago, this city had belonged to the Theocracy, but now it belonged to a powerful dragon.
The gates of Dragon City were wide enough for dozens of carriages to travel side by side. When Corvin drove into the city, he was immediately met with a lively, surging, passionate atmosphere.
All races or merchants and adventurers walked through the city. This was a unique scene in the world of San Soliel. Whether it was the human or the beastman kingdom, they shunned other races. Only Dragon City could do such a thing because its ruler was a dragon. As a result, it was possible to see all manner of individuals, be they human, beastman, or even elves.
"Good day sir, this must be your first time in Dragon City. I am a permanent resident of Dragon City and I know the city very well."
There were many local guides at the entrance of the city. They would approach nobles and merchants coming in, but they don't bother the adventurers.
This was because they knew that adventurers were not willing to spend money just for this. They prefer to rely on their own feet to seek information.
Corvin did not say yes or no. He just looked at the carriage and waited for the princess' answer.
"Corvin, I happen to be hungry. I heard that the food in Dragon City is different from other places. Why not have this guide take us somewhere to eat."
Andrea's tone was brisk and her voice soft.
"Hear that? My lady said she wants to eat. Take us to the best restaurant here."
Corvin whispered and pulled out a silver coin before pausing. He placed back the silver coin and took out banknotes, "Right, first take us to a place where we can exchange for the money here."
The coinage from the Subila Empire was applicable everywhere on the continent. It could even be called the mainstream currency of the continent. This was the first time Corvin encountered a place that did not recognize the Empire's coinage.
"Don't worry, I'll have you dining in a jiffy. The best restaurant is a place the lord himself dines in on occasion. I'm sure you'll have a good experience."
"The restaurant receives normal customers when the lord is not eating. Due to always being in service to the lord, the restaurant has also received condiments that only the lord possesses, but the food there is expensive. Of course, that isn't a problem for the truly wealthy. And it's absolutely worth it."
The guide's eyes shone after Corvin gave him the money. He immediately guided them to exchange some money.
Not far from the princess' carriage was a man wearing a bright golden robe with one hand behind his back. His presence was bright, but the crowd passing by seemed to not see him and passed by beside him. This was Louie's power, the power of a god.
His inverted pupils watched as the carriage moved forward. After thinking a bit he leisurely followed behind.
This was one of Louie's favorite activities – moving in the territory unnoticed, observing the construction in the city, and feeling the faith coming towards him. Seeing the changes to the entire city in accordance made him feel happy.
This was the territory that he created and owned.
Louie thus followed these distinguished visitors to a three-story building in the noble district. He watched as two men and two women walked into the restaurant. He also followed closely behind and stepped in.
"Your Highness, what an aromatic smell."
The restaurant was worthy of the claim that it was dedicated to cooking for the lord. Its interior decorations were luxurious with many private rooms inside, giving enough privacy to the people who came here to dine.
After the four people were seated, Corvin's nose twitched, and he let out a sigh.
He looked around and saw that the waiters in this restaurant were all beautiful female elves who filled all others with adoration. And surprisingly, the restaurant's chef was a halfling, a race known to have the most advanced culinary skills on the continent.
"Damn, this place is truly extravagant. They actually have elves as waitresses. Also, just looking at that halfling's cooking skills, it might be at the top among all the halflings. The cost of food here is definitely not low."
Corvin sucked in a breath of cold air. He might be the princess' guard, but he didn't have much money. If he was on his own, he would definitely not come here to spend.
Looking through the menu, Derek's eyes jumped. He was shocked at the meal prices. He looked around and found that the people who dine here were dressed luxuriously. They were either big noblemen or big businessmen.
After hesitating for a while, this legendary rank warrior let out embarrassed words, "Your Highness, can I apply for reimbursement?"
"It's okay, please order as much as you like, Commander Derek! I will explain it to my father upon my return."
"You truly are an angel."
Hearing that the princess was going to settle the problem of cost, Derek did not remain polite.
The paladin beside him sneaked a glance at the menu prices and immediately went stiff. She felt inward apprehension, touched the money pouch on her waist, and knew that her money was not going to be enough.
As a paladin, she could not bear to dine and dash. If that happened, she might be detained to work off her debts and thought that the Theocracy would pay for her freedom.
"Sister Roselia shouldn't be polite. Please order anything you'd like to eat."
The princess smiled sweetly.
"H-how could I bear to…"
Roselia wanted to refuse the princess treating her, but her sharp sense of smell made her fascinated by the aroma. For a moment, the devil in her mind made her surrender and she agreed. She was originally wary of this strange princess, but now, her good feeling suddenly increased.
'Oh Goddess of Morning above, I lack training.'
In a panic, she hurriedly closed her eyes and began to pray.
At this time, Andrea seemed to have noticed something. She gazed at a private room not far away and her expression filled with anger.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?"
Corvin, who had been watching, noticed her expression and asked in a low voice.
"That is the son of the Imperial Archduke Campbell, and those people around him are also children of imperial dukes, marquises, and earls."
Andrea's voice contained irritation.
Corvin immediately understood the situation. In the private room close by, there were children of large noble families often coming here to eat. By association, this meant that they were spending money like water. These nobles were perhaps scrounging the people of the empire and then bringing their wealth to spend lavishly in Dragon City.
"I have always heard that many nobles in the empire are bringing huge amounts of money to Dragon City for entertainment. Even some of the top prostitutes of the Empire have traveled here for work. I even heard that some count almost lost his family heirloom here. I had laughed it off as a joke and thought that it was impossible for a city to make people spend so much money, but now, it seems to be all true."
Corvin whispered in shock and anger.
These people in the upper echelons of the empire were pulling wool over its eyes. The lavish amounts of the empire's money helped Dragon City to grow.
The paladin at the side also nodded her head and sighed. Just eating a single meal here would probably force the paladin to sell her body!
Chapter 248
"Howard, this should be your first time in Dragon City, right? How does it feel?"
"Haha my friend, after tasting the food here, I feel that all I've eaten in the past is only fit for pigs."
"Hahaha, that's right! That's right! We've only eaten pig's food so far. Ah, I don't want to go back to the Subila Empire anymore. Even if I become an emperor, it would not be as pleasurable as coming to Dragon City."
"Let's eat! After eating I'll take you to the casino to play. The gambling here is very interesting and fancier compared to the Empire's. This is especially so for the game that lord dragon created — Gwent, where three people have to 'fight the demon'. Even if you play for a day, you won't feel tired at all. The Dragon God is truly mighty, I truly want to worship him."
"Nighttime is also very lively. I will take you to Tulip Theater to have a good time. If we're lucky and there aren't many competitors, we can even play with succubi and elves. It's said that the succubus is beautiful and seductive. You wouldn't be able to stand after you're done doing it. Moreover, there are also elves. Did you know that my old man has an inherited elf? He treats it like a treasure every day and won't even let me touch it. I really want him to hurry up and die and leave things to me."
"Are there really elves and succubi?"
"Why would I lie to you? Do you have enough money with you?"
"After listening to you, I sold a few manors and brought a lot of money with me this time."
"Haha, that's good then. Let me tell you, there's a woman who looks like our princess in Tulip Theater. Although her temper and quality are a bit worse, you can let her pretend to be the princess. You can enjoy it a lot like that. Hahahaha!"
As their unpleasant words echoed, Princess Andrea's guard, Corvin, looked furious. He wanted to stand up and teach these two who didn't know any better, especially if they dared molest the princess.
"Corvin, don't be impulsive!"
Andrea stopped her guard and whispered, "They are the sons of Archduke Cambell and Archduke Howard. If you hurt them, even I can't protect you. This is Dragon City. If you strike and hurt someone, I'm afraid that you will anger the lord dragon."
Saying so, Princess Andrea also held back her anger and said, "If the upper echelons of the empire are this corrupt and degenerate, then the empire is in danger."
She murmured with compassion and concern for the country.
Those elves who were serving meals also looked indignant when they heard the noble's words. Toward the elves who decided to sell their body, they could not say anything, but when they heard about the elven slaves, they felt incredibly annoyed.
However, they also remembered the teachings of the Dragon God. When facing these rich people, they should wait until their pockets are emptied. By then, they could send them out without hesitation.
Louie invented many things that could cause people to get addicted. For example, he created many forms of gambling. He had the confidence of being able to dry up the reserves of these corrupt nobles and use them as city development funds.
After hearing the remarks of those nobles, Roselia could not help but use [Detect Evil]. If the words of those nobles were taken into consideration, then Dragon City was the capital of sin and that dragon was simply an evil god like the Goddess of the Night.
Although the Theocracy also believed in the Goddess of the Night, their numbers were small. Moreover, all the followers of the Goddess of Morning treated the followers of the Goddess of Night as if they were worshippers of an evil god.
But when Roselia looked at the city with her spell, she was stunned to find out that there wasn't much evil in the residents of the city. It was all within the normal range. The fact that these people believed in the Dragon God meant that the teachings of the Dragon God weren't meant to persuade people to perform evil deeds, but it wasn't to persuade people to do good either.
For a moment, the paladin felt a bit depressed that these people weren't evil. If they were, she would have been able to exercise the justice of the Goddess of Morning.
At this time, the halfling chef had finished cooking and the elven waitress brought their food to the table. The fragrance of the food whets their appetites as they all focus on the food.
They found that the restaurant also prepared a knife and a fork for each diner. This was definitely the noble treatment, worthy of being called a restaurant that provides food for the dragon. Both the service and the food could definitely make any guest want to come back.
The four people took bites of dishes they hadn't heard of before. It's said that the dishes here were made from seasonings that only the dragon possessed. When they took a bite, they felt their taste buds explode with pleasure. Even Roselia forgot about the city's evil and felt that committing some sin for the sake of eating delicious food was worth it.
The four of them did not speak, as if they competed on who could eat the fastest. Even the elegant princess dropped her manners. They felt that the private rooms being quiet was normal. With such delicious food, who would want to talk?
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the entrance. They thought it was just another person coming to dine, but were soon surprised when the footsteps were heading towards them. Derek, Corvin, and Roselia were instantly on high alert as they put down their knives and forks.
When they looked up, the light seemed to have been cut off, as if all things bowed down before him. The person standing there seemed to be an unforgettable, unparalleled existence.
It was a man wearing golden robes that made him look as if he was covered in gold, but the gold did not give him a sense of vulgarity and instead gave him the air of noble arrogance. His body was tall and his face looked beautiful. His black hair which was rare in the world of San Soliel and his golden inverted pupils gave off a sense of majesty and would leave people breathless.
'Wait, golden vertical pupils?!'
Derek and Roselia immediately reacted. The two people's faces were nervous and their voices trembled, "Demigod dragon?"
Because Louie had not yet become a god, they did not use 'Dragon God' like how his followers addressed him.
"Dear guests, I wonder if the food here is to your liking?"
Louie walked up to them leisurely. His tone seemed easy-going but hid an absolute arrogance.
As he approached them, the dragon's might and god's might became more and more obvious. Corvin trembled as his forehead was covered in sweat. He couldn't even control his hand and let the knife and fork fall to the ground.
Derek and Roselia were powerful enough to resist with pure will. Andrea appeared like Corvin and trembled in fear, albeit a bit less than expected.
The four people never imagined that they would meet the lord of Dragon City here.
Chapter 249
"Milord!"
When Louie walked in and displayed his inescapable divine might, the believers immediately perceived that their god had descended.
The elves, who were serving plates and pouring water became excited and fell on their knees, bowing to Louie.
Louie looked down on these elves from above. Through their light muslin elven dresses, he could see their snow-white mounds.
"You are Ella."
Louie appeared calm and smiled like a god above. He spoke the name of the nearest elf in a soft voice.
"Milord! You know my name."
The elf named Ella trembled. Her eyes were red and tears streamed down her face. She was so excited that she almost fainted.
She never thought that the god she believed in would know her humble name.
Louie smiled and did not say anything. After she had become his believer, Louie could see through the other party's true name and past.
For example, the elf in front of him named Ella was having her past exposed in front of his eyes.
She was born in a poor family in the Silver Moon Kingdom. Their family had been living in poverty and could not even afford enough food. As elves, they should have been beautiful, but their muscles had become dry and shriveled. Because they had no money, they could not even afford to wear any fabric and could only follow ancient elven customs of using leaves to cover their lanky bodies.
She did not know the beauty of the capital of the Silver Moon Kingdom. In her world, there was only the small tribe of elves and the will to struggle to survive.
Just like that, they had lived in poverty for more than a hundred years until they were ordered by the elf queen a year or so ago to go to Dragon City.
At the time, they were terrified. They thought that the queen could not tolerate them anymore because they had always lived in poverty. In the mind of the elves, anyone sent outside of the Forest of the Moon was either a powerhouse or those that were treated as money or slaves. And they were the latter.
With this fear, the elves came to Dragon City from the Forest of the Moon and gained residential status in Dragon City. Gradually, this beautiful and civilized city brought them real hope of living.
As long as they worked hard, they could eat. As long as they exerted effort, they would be rewarded. As long as they believed in the great Dragon God, they would be saved.
Louie once again gazed at the elf who was no longer as skinny as in the past. Her dry hair and skin had regained the beauty innate to elves. Her poreless skin that looked like alabaster and the slight flush on her face signified that she had gotten good food and sufficient nutrition. Moreover, she did not have to walk in the forest wearing leaves like in the past. She could now wear beautiful clothes that only those richer elves could wear.
Louie could not change the entire livelihood of the world of San Soliel, but he could change the lives and fates of the people in his territory.
The elf was not shy and uncomfortable over being watched by Louie, on the contrary, she was proud and excited to give her all to the great god she believed in.
However, Louie was not hungry enough to make a move on his believers. Even if he did, as the Dragon God, he could only do it with the Silver Moon Goddess that these elves used to believe in.
"You can get up," Louie said and allowed his believers to get up.
The customers of the restaurant immediately understood how high the status of this restaurant was. Although elves were beautiful there were more than 50,000 of them in the city and only those who were devout in their faith to Louie could get a better job. These elves might look like ordinary waitresses, but their income was enough to let their whole family live rich and noble lives.
Louie was using this method to tell everyone that he would give the right jobs to the right people, but only those who were pious could reach a higher place.
'But appearing in front of believers like this should be done sparingly.'
Louie thought so.
Nowadays, because his divine kingdom could not yet be established in heaven, he could still walk on the main continent, but a god needed to keep a certain distance from their believers. Appearing too much would reduce people's sense of mystery about their Gods and reduce their faith.
This was why Louie did not show himself when touring his territory unlike in the past when he patrolled in the sky in his dragon form.
When a God appears in front of the people, their believers would kneel down in worship. This scene was shocking and unimaginable.
A god appearing was different from an authoritative person appearing. Those that kneel down to authority were doing so out of fear and terror. Worshiping a god was done straight from the heart when the people devoted their hearts and souls without any fear. Even their kneeling appearance would give a sense of sanctity.
The entire restaurant was so silent that it was possible to hear a pin drop.
Even the imperial nobles who were loud and reckless with their words before trembled and did not dare to speak.
True gods were gods in the sky while demigods were gods on the ground. In this era where the gods hadn't walked for a long time, demigods represented the highest level of power in the world.
And at this moment, the few imperial scions saw Princess Andrea and the others.
It was only then that they realized their words just now were heard by them. However, these people were the young masters of powerful noble families in the Empire and did not need to fear anything. They were even looking at Princess Andrea with greed at this moment. They could easily ignore Corvin, but when they saw Derek, they trembled in fear.
In their point of view, the imperial princess was nothing more than a political sacrifice. Perhaps one of the people among them might even become the princess' husband.
Louie casually came into the group of four. While the other party was wary, curious, angry, or fearful towards him, he casually sat down as if this was his home.
To begin with, this place was his kingdom, his territory, and everything here belonged to him.
"A beautiful princess of the Subila Empire and a paladin of the Goddess of Morning from the Theocracy appearing together is quite a surprising combination. So, what are you doing here in my kingdom?"
"And the anger in your eyes, Miss paladin is too clear. In the face of a god, you need to be humble!"
Louie coldly looked at Roselia.
His inverted pupils held great majesty, which caused the heart of the paladin to tremble, but Roselia clenched her teeth and shouted in anger, "Evil dragon, you are guilty!"
As her words fell, everyone inside the restaurant looked at the paladin in horror. They could feel terror somehow become physical.
Chapter 250
The expression on the elven followers inside changed dramatically. They looked at Roselia and her group in rage. If it wasn't because they were powerless, they would have already picked up sticks to beat them up.
These elves originally believed in the Silver Moon Goddess. Because the important divine authority of the Silver Moon Goddess was stolen by the Goddess of Morning, their believers entered a hostile relationship. Now that these elves converted to the Dragon God faith, they still did not have much goodwill towards the followers of the Goddess of Morning.
Seeing how the paladin dared to say such disrespectful words to their god, they felt outraged as if their parents were being cursed.
The halfling chef who was cooking in the restaurant was also furious. This peace-loving race was also Louie's believer. Other diners were already frightened and wanted to leave, afraid that the demigod dragon's anger would also fall on them.
Derek let out a bitter expression. He knew that paladins were well-known as muscle brains, but he never imagined that they were this lacking to even openly say such treacherous words. Moreover, their group had arrived with Roselia, who knew if the lord would also treat them as accomplices?
With this in mind, Derek moved closer to Princess Andrea and shielded the princess from the side. Although Corvin was trembling in fear, he also had to fulfill his duty as the princess' guard and blocked the princess from the front.
Even Andrea, who was a beautiful girl with a sunny smile, went pale. Apparently, she did not expect the paladin that they just met to do such a stupid thing.
'Is she trying to drag the empire with her?'
As a member of the Subila Imperial Family who grew up living in a world of deceit, Andrea was aware of various schemes. She immediately thought that this was the paladin trying to drag them with her to fight the dragon.
Louie did not panic. The longer he lived in San Soliel, the more familiar he became with the culture of the world. He knew that paladins were the kind of people who faced evil regardless of the occasion. They would follow their own justice even if the enemy was stronger than themselves.
One might wonder if Louie was evil, but he did feel that he was evil. For example, he set up a casino in Dragon City and reproduced various games from Earth. In this world where resources were lacking, their entertainment was also lacking. Playing fancy gambles coupled with extravagant spending was definitely more addictive than any drug.
In Louie's opinion, gambling was worse than drugs in this world. Modern methamphetamine was cheap to produce. Rich families wouldn't even go bankrupt if they drugged themselves to death. However, there were special abilities in the world of San Soliel that could clear the drug addiction, making them less effective.
On the other hand, gambling was different. Gambling was an addiction that was difficult to quit. As long as you got addicted, it was possible for your family to lose everything overnight. Louie established those casinos to attract corrupt nobles all over the land. By making them addicted to gambling, they would gamble away their property to Dragon City and fill up Louie's treasures.
Just the fact that it causes people to fall was definitely the behavior of an evil god. Even a believer of a good god could also become an evil god's believer if they weren't careful. As a result, there wasn't any mistake when Roselia called Louie evil. Normally, other evil dragons would just kill you physically, but Louie would drag down your spirit, twist your will, and crush your soul. This was much more terrifying!
According to calculation, Louie was roughly between the camp of order and the camp of chaos.
However, since the paladin in front of Louie had an agitated face and a righteous depression, he could not help but become annoyed.
This was the difference between a world with gods and a world without gods. The Church of Light or Church of Righteousness was always the most annoying group in novels. They would hide all the dirty things and serve their gods with gloves on their hands, saying that they represented justice and all things good.
The main divine authority of the Goddess of Morning was justice. She also had a portion of the Silver Moon Goddess's divine authority. Therefore, this goddess could also be called the Goddess of Justice. With just these divine authorities it was understandable what the Goddess' style of action was. If the believers were all facing the Goddess of Morning, there was no need to worry about them committing evil as the Goddess would never allow it.
This was why the Goddess of Morning still had many followers in the era when the gods were still asleep. If she wasn't, many people would probably be excommunicated already. On the other hand, the Goddess of Night's doctrine was all about satisfying dark desires, but believers who did such a thing would definitely be hunted down as the Goddess of Morning persuaded people to do good and fight evil. Normal civilians would not have to think too much about who to believe.
If Louie was a powerless mortal, he would definitely believe in the Goddess of Morning. If the Goddess of Night bestowed him with power then he will follow the Goddess of Night.
So, although Roselia's actions were inappropriate, no one could say that she was doing this selfishly as she acted for justice.
But blasphemy was blasphemy. Since Louie was now infinitely close to becoming a god, he would never allow others to commit blasphemy against him. He would not make an exception even if she was a believer of the Goddess of Morning.
Towards this believer who was loyal to light and justice, Louie had countless ways to play with her body and mind.
As a result, Louie had decided to properly punish her, and make her truly understand what was evil.
Blasphemers would be punished by God!
"Do we know each other, miss paladin?"
Louie asked frankly and freely.
"No, we don't."
Roselia would never lie.
"Then did I kill your parents or rape you to make you so angry?"
Louie's tone was calm. Although the words he uttered were unpleasant, everyone could still feel the sacredness in them. This was the power of a God.
"Evil must be eradicated, this is our creed as paladins. Moreover, you killed the former commander of the order. Of course, I understand that it was on the battlefield, so killing the enemy is not a crime, but you took away the holy relic of the order. As the current commander, I have an obligation to retrieve it."
The paladin spoke in a clear manner. Although she was stubborn and could not tolerate corruption, she knew that deaths on the battlefield could not be judged. So she wasn't angry that Louie had killed her commander.
This sentence alone made Louie have a good impression of her, and also a good impression of the Goddess of Morning. Her doctrine seemed to be consistent with the vast majority of good people. It was no wonder her faith was quite prosperous.
But at the same time, Louie was a bit in awe. This was because the Goddess of Morning was the enemy of the Silver Moon Goddess, so he was also hostile to her. This Goddess was definitely an enemy that he had to be very careful of. She would also be the most terrifying enemy.
Roselia habitually activated her [Detect Evil] to look at Louie, but this would be the first time she would suffer for it. There was no good light or evil light coming from Louie, only a brilliant divine might. When her spell acted on Louie, Roselia let out a stifled grunt. Her face went pale, and her spirit was shaken.
'Mortal, you shall not look at God directly!'
Roselia instantly had this realization. Fear instantly appeared within her. That was because this 'god' did not just represent a demigod. A demigod would still have been subjected to the [Detect Evil] spell.
This could only mean that the evil dragon in front of her was already infinitely close to a god.
Chapter 251
Roselia was shocked at the thought that the dragon in front of her was so close to godhood, but as a paladin, her faith remained firm even in face of that terror. In fact, even if she stood in front of Shae, the Goddess of Darkness, in her current state, she would likely manage to keep her wits about her.
This was the first time Roselia encountered a situation where she couldn't use [Detect Evil], leaving her confused about what to do.
Paladins would only strike out against evil. They could join wars, but those were rare occasions. If they were fighting against good people, then they would gradually lose their power. This was why [Detect Evil] was a standard spell for them. It was thanks to this spell that they could tell where evil was.
Everyone knew about a paladin's restrictions, but when these were circumvented, they could be extremely powerful. They had strong attack power and stronger resistance to physical and magical attacks. They could dominate those of other professions within the same rank, and when it came to evil creatures, paladins could slay most of them in seconds.
This was a give and take. By following the ultimate goodness and order, they could gain unparalleled power!
Roselia was at a loss. She hesitated as she could not tell how evil the dragon was. But in the next instant, she decided to use her own instincts to judge his evil.
Even if she knew that she was like a firefly, like a mantis trying to block a car, she had already resolved herself when she came to Dragon City.
"Evil Dragon, return the holy relic and have your sins judged!"
The holy maiden's body shone with sacred light. This light was so dazzling that the imperial nobles not far away let out terrified screams as black gas emerged from their bodies. This was their inner evil being illuminated by the light of the paladin.
In fact, Roselia had long known that the nobles were criminals, but the reason she did not take action was that a paladin was a defender of the law. This meant that even if the other party was evil, these nobles could only be tried legally.
However, great nobles always had countless ways to use loopholes in the law to escape sanctions. This was the inconvenient part about being a paladin. They were not above law and order.
However, a dragon was different. Dragons were a race that was close to evil in nature. Paladins had the ability to judge evil, but this time, Roselia was not judging a normal dragon, but a pseudo-god!
"Arrogant mortals, how dare you try to judge a god?! Blasphemers will pay the price."
Louie shouted angrily. His divine will spread, and in an instant, time seemed to stop.
Since Louie was infinitely close to being a god, Louie's will and soul had also begun to transcend. His whole being had already begun to slowly change as the shackles of mortality were released. In the face of blasphemers, he instinctively became angry.
These were the instincts of a god that were separate from Louie's will. They wouldn't affect his reasoning, but they would make him unconsciously release his divine might in retaliation. It was much like how the bussing of a mosquito would irritate a human being.
This anger was directed at Roselia, causing her face to pale and making her take two steps back.
"[Order: shock]"
Louie pointed his fingers, cursing the space to shake from the divine power. As the spell fell on Roselia's body, she trembled slightly and froze in place.
If this spell was released by a normal mage, it wouldn't even have any effect on a ninth rank paladin, but a spell made with divine power was considered a divine spell that even a paladin could not defend against.
Mortals could never fight against the gods. Only legendary rank powerhouses could enter a god's eye and receive a certain level of respect from a god. Anything below that was merely an ant.
After being hit by the spell, Roselia lost all resistance. Louie's finger activated another spell and his right arm turned into a long whip of flames. With a swing, Roselia was whipped from top to bottom.
This was a spell from the transformation system — [Flame Whip]
Slap Slap
Louie was now like a slave owner whipping his slave. With a crisp sound, a deep red mark was left on Roselia's beautiful face. The terrifying force caused her to be flung away through a window, and her body fell from the third floor.
Even if Louie was not yet a true god and could not display the full might of divine power, anything that contained divine power already exceeded mortal understanding.
Roselia only felt a hot pain on her face. The blood flowing out made her close her left eye. Paladins had a natural resistance against spiritual attacks, but that was only to an extent against mortals. Against demigods, she couldn't even dream of defending.
The hard floor cracked when she hit the ground. For a ninth rank paladin, falling from the third floor would not be able to injure her, but Louie's spell had done a serious number on her.
"What a bunch of stupid people with their hands in the sand. I'm very curious what a paladin's brain looks like."
Louie walked out from the main door and walked beside Roselia. She knew that she could not win, yet still came to die. In Louie's opinion, this was no different from stupidity. Fortunately, he was not involved with the order camp, or else he wouldn't have been able to accept having a subordinate like her. Only the Goddess of Morning would love these kinds of brainless idiots.
"You are not allowed to insult us paladins, evil god!"
Roselia struggled to get up from the ground. When she raised her head, there was no anger in her expression, only insistence on her faith and will.
She did not call Louie an evil dragon anymore; instead, she called him an evil god because she recognized that he was a divine entity.
In the world of San Soleil, evil gods were also true gods. They weren't fake gods, but truly divine albeit vile beings like Shae and Rose.
"Milord."
The crowd passing by was originally frightened by the sudden battle that took place in the city. They panicked and thought of running away. The guards on the other hand immediately responded to the situation and hurried over to maintain order. The residents and guards of Dragon City were all Louie's believers. At the sight of Louie, they recognized that it was the great dragon god who gave them the happy life they had today and the one whom they believed in.
All of them spontaneously kneeled on the ground. Some with stronger faith even let out frenzied expressions and cried.
"That woman actually dares to bother our lord, our God!"
"She is a blasphemer! A criminal!"
"Don't let her run away!"
"She is the embodiment of evil!"
"…"
After that zealous scene, the people began to roar while being led by those fanatical believers. They surrounded Roselia like a group of zombies. In her consternation and disbelief, the saint had been labeled as evil by the populace.
"You should be able to feel it right, paladin! This is the power of faith. It is the power of the people you protect. Let me see if your will can resist it."
Chapter 252
In Louie's palace, Noella remained lying on the ground in boredom. Her pupils stared ahead without blinking while she occasionally swallowed her saliva.
At the moment she was gazing at a real mountain of gold. Gems and all kinds of shiny rare metals filled the palace to such an extent that even her original body would have looked tiny in comparison.
This gold mountain was all part of Louie's collection. With The rapid development of Dragon City's economy, Louie's treasures kept on increasing. Now, his wealth and treasures definitely ranked at the top among dragons.
How could another dragon's method of collecting treasures ever beat Louie's capitalist methods? With the power of gambling and other evil methods, he would be able to take all the wealth from the rich and nobles.
"Ah, how wonderful would it be if these treasures were mine."
Noella's eyes glowed red and greedily looked at these treasures. Although these did not belong to her, she still watched them attentively. Noella felt happy as her dragon tail wagged like a dog.
Although Louie liked collecting treasures, he did not have the same twisted possessiveness. When he was not in Dragon City, he allowed Noella to roll in his gold mountain, as a result, Noella also treated these treasures as her own. When she had nothing to do every day, she would lie there and stare at them, which could be considered as her helping Louie guard the treasures.
After staying in Dragon City for more than a year, the former Queen of Calamity found herself getting lazier and lazier, just like the lazy dragons she detested. Every day, she was well taken care of and ate things that even she, a dragon, thought were rare and delicious in the world. She felt that this was the food of the gods and this life was really beautiful.
With Louie's divine aura getting stronger, she looked forward to the time he became one. Since she was deceived into signing a contract, Noella could only remain obedient, but she also had no idea how to escape. She'd rather wait for Louie to become a god and help her get her body back.
Although she didn't say it on the surface, this proud dragon had already acknowledged Louie as the Dragon God.
"Eh? Did someone provoke the lord? How bold. How dare they do such a treacherous thing in Dragon City."
Noella already felt a sense of belonging and began to think of herself as a member of Dragon City.
She thought about it and felt that as a diligent dragon, it was not good to stay there all day and night and grow mold. She was also curious about the one who dared provoke Louie, so she cheerfully left the great hall and flapped her wings.
Noella felt that she should defend the dignity of Dragon City and show her ability as a subordinate. Perhaps the lord would be happy with that and reward her in return.
"He's about to become god, so he shouldn't be too interested in treasures anymore, right?"
The Queen of Calamity thought. When she flew into the air, she did not immediately fly to where Louie was but circled the sky naughtily. When she felt the shock of the people below, she satisfied her ego and headed to her goal.
Some of the people in the city had never seen Noella before, but no one paid any attention to it. This place was named Dragon City, even if there were other dragons other than the city lord, it wasn't that big of a deal. This thought made the people continue on with their business.
…
In a remote alley of Dragon City, a middle-aged man wearing a violet robe used a spell on a young man who was wearing a mage apprentice's clothing.
As a legendary mage, it was easy for Eden to obtain information from a low-rank mage. After hesitating a bit, he removed the spell and made the mage apprentice forget everything that had happened and leave.
Although the number of mages in Dragon City was outrageous, every apprentice was recorded. If one or two go missing for some reason, it would definitely attract attention, and Eden didn't want to be noticed yet.
"That demigod indeed has a lot of foundational magic potions."
"The raw material of those magic potions is not the 'Heart of Mismisella' but a strange plant called 'Louie's essence'."
"That demigod dragon found a substitute for the raw material of the foundational magic potion."
Eden was shocked, muttering that if this news was passed to the entire mage community of San Soliel, it would cause a huge uproar.
The proliferation of such materials would greatly lower the threshold of entry for mages. If this becomes widespread, the status of mages will plummet. Even the lord of the city was just treating them as workers!
This was simply an insult to noble mages.
As a legendary mage, Eden had a rich amount of knowledge. He even knew that before the Era of Disaster, a 'magic network' existed in the world. Mages at that time were not rare as all kinds of low-ranking mages were very common.
At the same time, Eden also knew that even if the Goddess of Magic awakens, the magic network would not be established overnight. Leaving aside the amount of time the Goddess needed to recover her divine power, just recreating the magic network alone would take more than hundreds of years. In other words, there would be a flood of mages in the future, but that would be a long time to come.
Before the magic network was reestablished, he would remain as a noble mage and had the noblest identity. He could even use his identity to obtain a lot of materials to try and become a demigod in his lifetime.
However, if the materials of the low-ranking mages flood in, it would cause the era of the magic network to arrive.
People without the talent would be willing for that era to arrive, but those with talent were absolutely unwilling. That would decrease their power and prestige. This was the collision of different interest groups among mages.
"No matter what happens, the next era will be filled with danger. I must grasp all opportunities with my hands. I need to diligently work to become a demigod and at the same time cling to the legs of the Goddess of Magic tightly. I need to quickly establish the Goddess' church."
Eden immediately had this idea. Those that could become mages in this era were not idiots.
At this moment, a dragon suddenly appeared in the sky, causing Eden to look in confusion.
"Shadow dragon? Is that the thousand-year-old Queen of Calamity? She actually turned into a shadow dragon?"
Eden looked and an idea suddenly came to him.
"Blessed be the Goddess of Magic. Let your devotee test the lord of the city."
Chapter 253
"It is the might of Dragon God that has allowed me to live a life that can be called human. You blasphemous woman, you are simply a devil from the Abyss."
"This woman is a blasphemer who dared to assassinate the lord in public. She has violated the law."
"O my Lord, my son Alan has just been chosen to enter the magic tower to learn knowledge and become a noble mage in the future. This is all a gift from the lord. But you, you are a devil who tried to deprive mine and my child's life. Even if I die, I will not let you take one step closer to the lord."
A middle-aged woman shouter in a shrill voice like a mad man, but the fervent faith in her gaze and her hope for the future made her madness rather sacred.
"Tell her to get out of the city. Dragon City does not welcome such evil demons."
"No, we can't let her get away with this. We have to tie her up and send her to the inquisition. We will tie her up in the middle of the square and make her repent for her sins in the fire."
"Go to hell, you devil from Hell."
"I have seen a devil from Hell before. Even those devils are more polite than this blasphemer. At the very least, those devils know how to respect our lord, while this woman is even worse than them."
The people were in a frenzy. They hissed and roared as they threw countless charges at Roselia.
They pinned blame, both justified and unjustified on her, saying that the decreased yield of food for the day was her fault, that the cows weren't producing enough milk was also her fault, that old John losing his dog was also her fault.
These passers-by took out vegetables from their baskets, picked up stones from the ground, and threw them at Roselia. People were always itching to join in liveliness. When they found out what was going on here, more and more people joined in.
After hearing what the woman had done, hearing that she dared assassinate the lord, they all began to act as if they were crazy. A priest in robes looked at Louie's figure with tears and sobs and took out a knife from his pocket. If he wasn't stopped by the people around, this priest, who had no fighting experience, would probably have been beaten by Roselia.
After being treated like this by the residents, Roselia was indignant. She activated [Detect Evil] and found that there was only a faint red light on these people. This meant that they had not committed any heavy crimes at all. All of them were law-abiding citizens and some of them even only had specks of red light. This meant that these people normally performed good deeds.
'Why, why would these people, who could be called good, treat me, a paladin, like this? The city created by an evil god is really the capital of sin. Because of luxury, decay and corruption must have broken many families already. He drained them like vampires, like those greedy nobles who would only use the people of the lower class, and used their lives to exchange for glory. Although the evil god hasn't shown how cruel he is just yet, when he changes his doctrine and has these people take pleasure in doing evil, they will end up abandoning goodness and will fall into evil.'
This was what worried Roselia the most. As a high-ranking paladin, she had read many ancient documents. She knew that before the Era of Disaster, many evil gods displayed their evils like this.
Those evil gods would exploit ordinary people and make them fall from goodness to vice. Then they would be taught the doctrines of their gods to become crazy cultists.
This logic wasn't hard to understand. In fact, many people believed in gods due to the goodness in their hearts, but when their faith became deep enough, they would be influenced by the doctrine. The deeper the faith, the more chances they would fall into corruption. On the other hand, those who had weaker faiths were more likely to maintain goodness.
Pseudo-believers were dependent on their own will to choose their faith. Whereas true believers had lost the ability to choose and lived only to follow the teachings of their gods.
Looking at the crazed crowd nearby, Roselia believed that they were already true believers of the evil god. These people would do good when told to do good and would do evil without hesitation when told to do evil. This was the most terrible part of faith, it could distort the ego!
Roselia was surrounded by people. She was at a loss as she shook her head and said, "No, I am not. This had nothing to do with me. I didn't do anything wrong."
She was a little confused as she did not know what she did wrong. She really had no selfishness and just wanted to destroy evil and have the world be wrapped in goodness.
Roselia did not resist as stones were thrown at her. She was afraid that those stones would hurt other innocent people because of her. She could only suffer silence and let these stones bruise her beautiful face and skin.
A paladin could not hurt innocent people. The people who surrounded her were all innocent people and did not go overboard against her, so Roselia could only endure the abuse and stones being thrown at her.
Louie watched with cold eyes. Let alone a backward civilization like San Soliel, even modern society had many foolish people.
These followers of his were fools in a way. They didn't think much for themselves. They hadn't studied philosophy and refined their logical thinking. In their simple life and thoughts, being able to live like a human being, being clothed and fed, was the greatest happiness. The God who provided this was a good God, while the paladin who wanted to break their livelihood was the greatest evil.
These poor faithless people would follow Louie's words because he had given them the dignity of life. Even if Louie deprived them of their lives today, they would no longer resent god but would consider their suffering as a punishment brought by their rebellion against the god.
Those who could get angry at the gods for their suffering were not true believers. True believers had an almost unshakable faith. This was why making people believe in the gods was the most difficult step. As long as the believers held faith in a deity, they would try to please them. They would treat all hardships as the whip of love from the god and would never pour out their anger on them.
On modern Earth, even if there were no true gods, there were many people placed under the brainwashing of cults. In San Soliel, a world with true gods, gods could give feedback and reward the people who followed them. This only made people crazier.
A world with a god and a world without a god had their pros and cons.
In a world with gods, evil people could exercise evil at will because evil gods would shelter them. The good could also perform good deeds because of the gods behind them. Once a mortal believed in a god, their wills would begin distorting. The dogma of the gods would replace their own, and they would lose their original selves.
Louie looked with pleasure at the pain and bewildered expression of the paladin. He wondered if she would be heartbroken by the misunderstanding and abuse of these people who were equally good people.
The best way to deal with paladins was to defeat them with goodness. Once a paladin went against their creed, they would have already lost. This fall was even more horrible than death.
Chapter 254
A sorcerer's power originated from their bloodline, a mage's power originally stemmed from the magic network, and a priest's power originated from gods. A paladin's strength was derived from 'goodness and order', one of the basic foundations of the world. They had to abide by the code of goodness and order, not the doctrine of a particular god.
Therefore, this group of people was not well-liked by the gods. A paladin also did not need to believe in the gods. Only the Goddess of Morning was an exception because her teachings were very close to the 'order and goodness' that they believe in. As a result, the Goddess accepted these paladins who chose to believe in her.
These paladins also become the Goddess' representative, becoming a group beloved by her.
In the past, when the gods were not visible, the only reason the Theocracy was able to stand strong was due to the great efforts of these warriors. Because their power did not come from Gods, they were able to remain strong even in a world without them. As long as their hearts remained pure, anyone could become a paladin with mighty power. This resulted in the Theocracy obtaining superior status.
Paladins could also appear among Louie's followers, but becoming one meant abandoning their faith because no matter how one looked at it, Louie's teachings and actions were not in line with the dogma of the paladins.
Louie looked at the beautiful sacred paladin with interest. As she was being surrounded by the civilians with reddened faces, she tried her best to refute their words, but hopelessly found that to be fruitless.
In an instant, Roselia's heart wavered, and began to wonder if what she had done was really wrong. Was the justice she was exercising not the justice that the people saw?
She thought of the past lives of these believers from their fervent faith and anger. Like most people on the continent, their lives had been at the bottom. They could not even afford food to eat or clothes to wear until the Dragon God appeared. After various events, they were happy to be reborn. They got to enjoy their basic rights as people, and they were finally able to live well.
From this point of view, the dragon was a good god, and his teachings were mostly to persuade people to do good, but the city had a lot of dark spots.
It was the first time she had heard of these casinos that could lead people to become corrupted. Although gambling existed in the world, it was the first time she had heard that even the most virtuous people could be corrupted if they were drawn into gambling.
He also supported slave trading. Other than elves, he allowed people to plunder women of other races and sell them to Flower Street, as well as accept money stained with evil. She also heard from passers-by on the way to Dragon City that there were a large number of slaves being turned into products by the dragon to provide for the needs of the city.
All of these were the dragon's sins. He encouraged people to go outside to rob, kill, and plunder. For the development of the city, to meet its needs, he approved people to commit evil.
Would such a God one day also have his followers commit murder and rob others?
If Louie knew what Roselia was thinking, he would have scoffed at her. Louie would not let his followers become such madmen. Although this would bring Louie a lot more followers in a short time, this would become a big blocker for long-term development. Even if he was currently a high-tier god, he would fall to mid-tier with the passage of time.
Although Louie had hidden his power as a 'foreign god', he would not just give up the development of the city and abandon the godhood of the Dragon God. This was the best way to fool people. No one would be able to see through the fact that he was hiding his true power.
The paladin was confused.
'This city was built on the death, dedication, and blood of countless people. It can be said to be an accumulation of brutality. Therefore these people are actually eating human blood buns to live a good life. It could be said that they have sacrificed others.'
'Therefore, shouldn't they be sinful? Shouldn't I just judge them like how I judge other evils? Shouldn't I just judge these civilians?'
'No, Roselia, you can't do that to the innocent. They are just working their hardest to obtain resources and survive. They don't know anything and don't kill, loot, or plunder others just to have a better life.'
'But they ate human blood to obtain what they have now… Ahhhh.'
'You can't break the law. Killing the dragon for no reason like this… this isn't even done for the greater good, nor is it done to protect fellow humans…'
Roselia felt as if she was about to go crazy.
The paladin's inner angel and demon were locked in combat with each other for dominance over her conscience. She began questioning the creed that she once blindly followed.
There weren't any written manuals that she could consult, so she could only use her heart to find the way forward.
Whoooosh—
A shadow dragon came from high in the sky and changed to human form as she landed next to Louie.
The people around who were cursing Roselia all respectfully saluted when they saw Noella. As Louie's subordinate, the city's residents treated her as the protector of Dragon City and gave her their greatest respect.
"Aha, it's surprisingly a paladin."
After seeing Roselia, Noella's crimson eyes flashed and her voice filled with excitement and bloodlust.
"You don't seem to like her."
"Of course. There's no one in the world who likes paladins. If it wasn't for those crazy paladins sacrificing themselves a thousand years ago, how could I become what I am now?"
Noella said with hatred in her voice.
Louie listened and smirked.
'A thousand years ago, you destroyed two principalities and killed who knows how many people. You were basically asking for it.'
"Milord, it seems that you don't like these crazy people either. What are you trying to do, making the paladin fall? This is probably the best way to let these annoying bastards perish, letting them drown in their own goodness and order and letting them decay and self-destruct."
Noella acted like a great demon king as she excitedly shouted with a twisted expression.
"The dogma of a paladin was not unchanging as 'order and goodness' had also changed meanings in the past. In these 30,000 years, the gods had fallen dormant, resulting in a change in their dogma. Right now, I'm just teaching this paladin that after the awakening of the gods, order and goodness will once again change. If she cannot adapt to this new change, then she would lose all her powers and be annihilated under 'evil and chaos'."
With one hand behind his back, Louie was like a god giving others the power to choose.
Suddenly, the knot on Roselia's face was untangled. She once again became holy and radiant. She accepted the curses and accusations from these people with a firm expression, without any feeling of anger. Her holy aura and power were also increasing.
Noella froze, "I came here to witness the fall of a paladin not to witness her destroy the demon in her heart and grow stronger."
This thousand-year-old Queen of Calamity was a little bewildered.
Louie's expression also became serious, "That is the divinity of the Goddess of Morning. This paladin is her chosen one that she had always been observing."
Gods were truly attracted to each others' presence like magnets. With the coming of the age of gods once more, these gods were beginning to spring up all over the place.
Louie did not expect that after meeting the Goddess of Night, he would encounter another god in such a short period of time.
Chapter 255
Since the Gods had not yet fully returned they could not give their believers any power or elect chosen ones.
The title of 'chosen one' could be said to be the highest gift that a god could bestow upon their believers. The gods would directly transform the mortal bodies of believers into saints. By bestowing them a portion of their divinity, the chosen ones would possess the power of a demigod. Because these people could communicate directly with gods, they were more terrifying than some demigods.
Although a god with high-tier divine power could elect many chosen ones, they were still the gods' most favored people.
Today, the rules of the world had completely changed, even that of chosen ones, but Louie was sure of one thing. The paladin in front of him was the Goddess of Morning's chosen one.
Each god had at least tens of thousands of believers, so they would not waste their precious energy to bless every single one. Only the believers that they truly favored would receive more of their attention, and Roselia, it seemed, had made the cut.
In the era of gods, mutual covenants existed that prevented them from easily influencing the mortal world. No other god would say anything if they just walked around the continent in their incarnations, but if they got too involved in the mortal realm and exerted their will without restraint, then other gods would stand in opposition.
Therefore, a god's church and its influence were the most important thing. In general, gods let their believers go around accomplishing tasks for them. How strong a god's believer represented their power.
Even if their own believers provoked another god, as long as the believer was favored by the god, they would, on occasion bear the brunt of the other God's ire. And so pleasing their Gods was something all believers strove to do.
This paladin named Roselia was probably favored by the Goddess of Morning and received her protection. This was most likely due to Roselia's natural willpower and goodness.
The holy light from the divinity of the Goddess of Morning was the best proof of this.
Mortals could not resist gods. The civilians who were surrounding Roselia cried out from the holy light and began to repent of their sins. Even if they were Louie's believers, they could not look at the light of other gods without restraint.
The bruises and blood marks on Roselia's face disappeared under the holy light. There seemed to be an infinitely mighty figure of light standing behind her. Although it was illusory, it brought a sense of light, holiness, and the morning sun.
Louie's face sank and he said in a cold voice, "Your Highness, you are trying to exert your influence on my believers in front of me, are you looking down on me or do you think that a new god like me poses no threat to you?"
Mortals must not look directly at God. No mortal could resist the power of a god. In their presence, any faith will become pale and powerless. Unless they become holy spirits and merge with their gods, their firm faiths as mortals would still collapse under the strong interference of the gods.
This was the effect of the holy light that the Goddess of Morning was creating. In the radius of this light, Louie's believers could receive the influence of goodness. Although it would not make them believe in the Goddess of Morning, it could collapse the people's faith in Louie.
With Louie at the center, his divine domain suddenly expanded. These believers were still Louie's believers, resulting in them instinctively following Louie's will. Under the power of the divine domain, the holy light lost its effectiveness and became mere light.
But Louie did not end it there. The Goddess of Morning dared to do such a thing to his own believers, so Louie would naturally return the favor.
If this was in the era of gods, Louie would probably have to call for a meeting of the gods and curse this god. Naturally, this would require Louie to have equal or stronger power than the Goddess of Morning.
"[Order: Die]!"
The angry Louie attacked with a killing move, to kill with the power of words.
With the words containing divine power, the spell reached a higher level. Louie pointed at Roselia, firing the power of death on her.
If Roselia could not resist this power, then she would die with just a god's words.
"…"
Roselia let out a stifled grunt. Her face instantly turned white and her body fell backward. This battle was no longer about her blasphemy, but a clash between two gods.
If Roselia was still herself, she would not be able to block Louie's attack, unless she was a legendary rank powerhouse. Now, although she could not block it, the god that she believed in could block it.
The Goddess of Morning's divinity once again released holy light, blocking Louie's spell, but looking at Roselia's appearance, she wasn't unharmed as her body was infested with the cure of death.
The Goddess of Morning was ultimately using Roselia's body to fight against Louie. Although Roselia was the Goddess' chosen one and became possessed by the Goddess, she still had a mortal body. How was it possible for her to completely ignore the wrath of another god?
"Your Highness, you don't have as strong a divine power as you once had. Unless you come in person to defeat me now, the gap in our power is not as great as you think."
"But as the Goddess of Goodness, I don't think you want to let these innocent mortals suffer from harm, so how about going to another place with me?"
Louie's angry look disappeared as he became calm again as if his previous anger was just an illusion. This was one of the god's innate ability to change faces.
It was also fortunate that it was the Goddess of Morning, a goddess of the good faction, who appeared in front of Louie. If it was an evil god, they would probably not even care about the location of the battle and cause chaos in Dragon City. Since the agreements of the gods were no longer in place and the gods hadn't signed a new pact, there was nothing stopping them from doing so.
For Louie, any loss and death in Dragon City were absolutely unacceptable.
The figure that appeared behind Roselia nodded lightly and agreed to Louie's proposal.
Louie lightly sighed and a crown appeared on his head. Then, between the both of them, a portal appeared.
This was the Divine King's Crown that Noella had given him. This portal was connected to the small realm inside the divine equipment.
The Goddess of Morning did not hesitate. She controlled Roselia's body and stepped into the portal.
"Goddess of Morning, Lorentia!"
Louie whispered the true name of the goddess.
Chapter 256
After the Goddess of Morning entered the portal, Louie turned to look at Noella and said, "Come with me."
"I'm going as well? No, no, no, I'm not going in."
Noella jumped with fright at Louie's words and shook her head frantically.
'Please, that is a god, moreover, it's the Goddess of Morning!'
Noella understood what the Goddess of Morning represented.
A thousand years ago, the only reason she could destroy two principalities and kill a large number of humans was that the gods weren't present at that time. If it was in the era of gods, doing such a thing would be impossible as she would soon be hunted by the strongest members of powerful religions, and even the gods themselves might come to kill her.
This thousand-year-old dragon of calamity was also quite timid at heart. After knowing that the gods were returning, she decided to be careful. Her goal was to survive the chaotic era that would soon descend upon this world. Only by living would she be able to have a future to speak of. If she died then there would be nothing left. Moreover, Noella had lost a large portion of her power, so how could she dare to jump around and wreak havoc.
As a result, she was absolutely no good when face to face with the Goddess of Morning.
Louie looked at her. Although it brought tremendous pressure on her, she still shook her head firmly.
"Why do you need to fear her? That's just a part of her consciousness and divinity. It's not even an incarnation and doesn't even have a spec of a god's might."
"Then I don't want to see her either. If a god chanted for my death every day, then I wouldn't be able to sleep well or eat well."
Noella continued to shake her head like a rattle. She knew what kind of dragon she was a thousand years ago. She had committed a great evil. In the eyes of the Goddess of Morning, she was definitely a target to be judged. Perhaps the Goddess of Morning might not be able to do anything about Louie, but if she was the one being targeted, she would no doubt die.
"You're truly a cowardly dragon."
"And that's why I've survived until now!"
"You should be living a better life, but you lost your power because of greed."
Louie mocked.
"You can go back, I won't force you."
Louie said so and took a step into the portal. In the blink of an eye, the scenery changed from Dragon City to the small plane.
This place had beautiful natural scenery. It was close to the natural wilderness. Other than having no life inside, the plane could be described as having extremely wonderful scenery.
The paladin Roselia stood at the end of a mountain range. Behind her was an extremely bright shining figure like the sun that rose from the east.
Louie stepped out of the portal and came face to face with the Goddess of Morning.
The Goddess of morning that appeared here was not her incarnation, but just her will and divinity, so Louie could not see her face. Only the light that symbolizes her could be seen.
"Greetings, honored Lady of Morning."
Facing this ancient and powerful god, Louie gave a considerable face. He slightly bowed to express his respect. The anger that was previously on his expression disappeared leaving only a bright smile.
Compared to Shae, Louie had a better feeling about the Goddess of Morning. Before becoming a dragon, Louie was a human who grew up receiving modern education. He believed that humans were born good in nature, thus he knew all too well how difficult it was to maintain goodness and resist the temptation of evil. This Goddess could be said as the representative of goodness among the gods.
She received Selune's previous divine authority of light and sun, which greatly complemented her power. In reality, the Goddess of Morning should be named the Goddess of Justice because her dominant and complete divine authority was justice.
Facing such a good god who could be reasoned with as long as he wasn't outright evil, he did not feel intimidated.
Louie also considered himself closer to neutrality than evil.
The Goddess of Morning also nodded slightly, "Greetings, newcomer walking the path of the gods."
In front of gods like the Goddess of Morning, Louie was indeed a newcomer. If not for the current times, new gods like Louie would not even gain these gods' attention. In this era, the Goddess of Morning also gave enough respect to Louie.
Previously, the two seemed to be enemies, but they were now chatting amicably. Unless there was an absolute conflict in their divine authorities, it would be difficult for gods to become life and death enemies.
Louie would inwardly treat the Goddess of Morning as an enemy because of her relationship with the Silver Moon Goddess, but in fact, without the Silver Moon Goddess, they would not mind each other's business. His divine authority also had no conflicts with the Goddess and he wasn't an evil god.
"I borrowed Roselia's eyes to observe your teachings. You should be a good god more than anything else."
The Goddess of Morning spoke softly and carried herself with a divine temper. It was as if all evil would disappear and die in front of her. Under the light, no darkness was allowed to exist.
She was simply the natural enemy of the Goddess of Night. She was almost the same as how the Silver Moon Goddess was when she was the Goddess of Light.
The Goddess of Morning seemed to be persuading Louie to join her camp.
Louie only shook his head without saying anything.
As a person who used to live on Earth, Louie would not allow his followers to perform cruel and fratricidal things that could be called evil. Although his doctrine did not thoroughly exhort goodness, it did teach his believers to help each other and bestow goodness on their neighbors. This was also a kind of goodness.
But Louie's three views that he had developed on Earth made him believe that pure goodness was a foolish act. He was convinced of the saying – nice people are bullied and the docile horses are ridden. Therefore it was impossible for him to act like a good god. He preferred to pour out his disease and do as he wished.
The paradox of making his followers do good, but do what they wanted was what kept Louie close to neutrality. He was neither extremely good nor extremely evil.
"Your offer has moved me a little, but unfortunately, I have already made my choice and cannot respond to your invitation."
Louie refused her offer directly.
Speaking truthfully, the strongest gods at the moment were the Goddess of Morning, the Goddess of Silver Moon, and the God of War. Because of her failure in the past, the Goddess of Silver Moon was behind the other two to some extent. They would have been great allies, but things were first come first served. If Louie had not met the Silver Moon Goddess and had a child with her, then he would not have rejected the Goddess' invitation.
"What a pity. Your Highness… I thought that the camp of goodness would have an additional excellent and powerful god."
The Goddess of Morning sighed with her pleasant voice.
'Camp of goodness? Forget it. I am the Dragon God. It's impossible for me to make all dragons submit to goodness. Compared to good or evil, dragons followed the rules of survival of the fittest more.
Chapter 257
Louie saw that the Goddess of Morning did not have any intentions of fighting him, so he was enjoying this moment. Naturally, the most important reason was that the Goddess of Morning was just consciousness and a bit of divinity. For dealing with mortals, this was enough, but confronting a demigod like Louie would be like hitting a stone with an egg.
Perhaps it was because she knew that Lorentia would rather use words to communicate with Louie, unlike the Goddess of Night, Shae, who chose to fight immediately.
Naturally, Lorentia's anger was probably due to what Louie's followers did to her chosen one. As a result, she tried to use her ability to subdue his followers.
From her actions, Louie was able to understand the behavior of good gods. It was different from the teachings of '?if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also'. Although she acted well in a reasonable way, it was closer to the teachings of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'.
"Your Highness Lorentia, gods to gods and mortals to mortals. Although I understand a paladin's dogma, your paladin is a bit too arrogant. If I was truly an evil god, I would have already killed her for her recklessness. If I wasn't an evil god, she would still have to pay the price. Gods are not beings that mortals can blaspheme."
Louie's eyes contained calm aggression. Even in the face of a powerful ancient god like the Goddess of Morning, he did not show any fear. After all, every god was without any home at the moment. Even if the other side had more experience, Louie did not have to please her.
A god who easily bowed to another god would face the ridicule of all the gods.
"Ha…"
The Goddess of Morning sighed. She was a reasonable god. If Louie was an evil god or her enemy, then Lorentia would still shelter her believer even if she offended Louie.
But in her understanding, Louie's doctrines leaned towards the good camp. As a god who acted with order and goodness, even if the division of camps was not yet fixed, it had long become her instinct and habit that wasn't easy to change.
Moreover, Louie's alliance with the Silver Moon Goddess was not yet exposed to the world. Thus, Louie did not stand in opposition to the Goddess of Moring's point of view. All of his words were logical.
If it wasn't because she hadn't regained her power, she would not pay any attention to Louie, but she wasn't any stronger than Louie at the moment. In this citation, she could only lower her posture and say, "Your Highness Louie, Roselia is my valued chosen one. ' I don't want her death to come."
Although the words seemed threatening, Louie knew that this was the Goddess of Morning's surrender.
Roselia suddenly fell to her knees. She was in tears yet full of excitement. She was like Louie's fervent believers or even more.
"O Goddess, this is a sin that I have committed. I am willing to accept punishment from God Louie. I do not want to see you speak superfluous words for the sake of the small and humble me."
She was surprised that her own god would speak well of another god for her sake. Moreover, the Goddess of Morning was a powerful god to which Roselia was devoted to. Now, even if she had to die, she would be willing. Even if the Goddess of Morning told her to fight with all her might, she could not hesitate to do so.
She was ready to perform martyrdom.
"My child, this is a path that every paladin has to walk on. You have to learn that 'order and goodness' are not fixed. They are like the laws of a country that also change from time to time. What you need to do is to see through the essence of 'order and goodness' and guard it at different eras."
"Do not use a mortal's thoughts to speculate on a god's thought. You have to understand that in the face of overpowering evil, temporary resignation is recognized as 'order and goodness'. The goodness that you must protect is in your heart, not the words of others."
"Know that what has not happened cannot be attributed to evil. If you judge what has not happened as evil, then you will become corrupted by power and become an accomplice of evil."
"Only then will you be recognized by 'order and goodness' and be transcendent and holy."
"…"
The words of the god penetrated through her heart. Divine teachings like this were rare, and the Goddess of Morning was burning her divinity just to pour these words into Roselia's soul, to let this paladin experience sudden enlightenment.
'This paladin is not her illegitimate child, right?'
Louie secretly pondered, but he knew that Roselia was not something like the Goddess' illegitimate child. She was definitely just a mortal paladin.
But her talent and character were truly outstanding. If this was in the era of the gods, such paladins wouldn't be too many, but not too few. Even the Goddess would not pay this much attention to them. But in the current era, her believers have been sharply reduced which could not support her divine power, so the Goddess was more willing to pay a bit more to teach them.
If nothing calamitous happened to Roselia, she could live for hundreds of years. A paladin who could live this long would naturally be favored by the Goddess of Morning, especially in this era where she begins from nothing.
She was like Clooney, who Louie favored. Louie had seen through his talent and if something happened to him, then Louie would shelter him.
This was a God. Whether good or evil, they were extremely selfish beings. Their first priority was themselves before others. That's why the god who sacrificed himself to save the world was respected by the gods.
Roselia prostrated on the ground and bowed while reciting the goddess' doctrine.
When Louie saw this, he opened his mouth and said, "Since she seems to be your believer, I will not take her life for your sake, but living to suffer is worse than dying. Her blasphemy is still something that she must pay for."
"That is your right, Your Highness," the Goddess of Morning said so.
Naturally, these were just superfluous words. If he had asked for more, she would also refuse.
Louie pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, this paladin should work for me for a hundred years and serve the city. I will not give any orders that are contrary to her teachings, nor will I make her hostile to your church. But when Dragon City is threatened, she will give her all to protect it.
It was impossible to convert a paladin. If Roselia truly converted, then she would lose her power and would become of little use to Louie.
The beginning of the era of chaos was coming. Religions were already being re-established by the gods. Having a paladin serve him for a hundred years would be a big help. It would make it easier to pass the moment.
Things could not always be handled by gods. If one day Louie ascended to heaven and became god, then all mortal matters would be left to mortals.
Paladins should never be underestimated. Although they were small in numbers, they possessed unimaginable abilities.
And Louie was trying to make Roselia work to pay for her blasphemy, to let her become the Dragon's holy maiden.
Chapter 258
Lorentia contemplated Louie's request carefully.
His request was reasonable, but the Goddess of Morning was not stupid. How could she not know that now was the best time to rebuild churches and reestablish their religion. For new churches, whoever possessed the most talented people and strong people would be able to occupy the first opportunity.
Compared to other gods, the Goddess of Morning had a huge advantage. A large portion of the faith from the Theocracy was almost all hers. Because of its existence, she did not need to exert much effort to reestablish her religion. She only needed a bit of effort to cause the present-day Theocracy to become the Church of Morning.
But she also had her own worries. In order to take the lead after waking up, she and several other gods had worked together to create the Theocracy. And just as she had expected, mortals were creatures that pursued goodness, allowing her to dominate against Shae and her believers.
However, Lorentia did not expect that her ally the God of War became a tail that she could not cut off. Right now, they were both competing for power and believers, resulting in a chaotic mixture of believers in the Theocracy. For the moment, they were still coexisting peacefully, but the conflict would soon break out and the Theocracy would be split up.
The Goddess of Morning would surely lose some of her followers.
Seeing the goddess' hesitation, Louie used the momentum and said, "If you are willing, I can return back the 'holy sword' to you."
The holy iris sword was a lesser divine equipment, but it was useless to Louie. It was a weapon that belonged to the camp of the Goddess of Morning and could deal huge damage to evil creatures. Other than being a collector's item, Louie would not be able to use it. Since that was the case, it was better to return this weapon in exchange for a strong person who could remain loyal for a hundred years.
Louie knew that those far-seeing gods would not just consider the moment, but also consider things that would happen thousands of years into the future. For gods, time passes by in the blink of an eye.
However, Louie was just starting his first decade yet he could quickly accumulate power and reach those powerful gods.
As for whether anything would happen to his church or fall back to becoming a mid-tier god, nothing mattered. Louie's power as a Dragon God was only his surface power. His true power originated from Earth. He wouldn't be shackled by faith like the gods of old.
Louie deduced that this 'foreign god' godhood had high-tier divine power, so he had nothing to fear.
"I still have to go back to Earth and continue to play as different good and evil gods to gain faith. I have to make use of this loophole and make the Crystal Wall System provide me with more energy.
Louie's heart was certain and he gradually made his plans. He needed to grasp power on both Earth and San Soliel. He would let the Dragon God pantheon quickly grow in power even if it was unstable. Louie only needed to use godhood. The 'foreign god' godhood, which was conceived by him, would be his true power. In other words, the Dragon God was only an escort of the Foreign God.
Louie could gradually feel the malice that the Terran Civilization's Intelligent Brain held towards him. This was something his senses as a god could feel after reaching the level of a god.
The Dragon God's godhood was also something given to him by the Intelligent Brain. Who would know what kind of secrets it was keeping? The Terran Civilization had thoroughly experimented on the godhood, so he could only use the godhood, but not rely on it.
Only the hole in the world could become his trump card. This was his strongest means of resistance to the Terran Civilization's AI observer.
Even now, Louie did not want to actively search for energy sources. It wasn't urgent to evolve his body. Since he was already a god, he could already protect himself. The faster he evolved, the higher the likelihood that he would become a weapon of the Terran Civilization.
'In the end, there is no one who can save me. The only one that could do so is the homeland where I was born and raised, the planet called Earth!'
Louie sighed inwardly and felt like a wanderer who missed his hometown.
Louie was walking on a thin sheet of ice between the Terran Civilization and the gods. He wanted to gain power, but he had to control the speed at which he evolved. This balance was hard to grasp.
If he was not careful, he would perish in a fight with the gods or be reduced to a tool against the gods by the Terran Civilization.
Just as Louie had guessed, as a far-seeing god, the Goddess of Morning did not dwell too long and did not mind only a hundred years of time. On the other hand, what was most important was what happens in the future hundreds to thousands of years later. Roselia was still an uncertainty with many possibilities.
Moreover, offending a potential new god just for a believer was not a smart move, especially when the believer had done wrong.
"Roselia, what do you think of His Highness Louie's request?"
Although she was asking, she had already decided on what to do with Roselia.
Roselia was not stupid either. She respectfully kneeled on the ground and said, "O Lady, everything is at your discretion!"
"Then, Roselia, swear by my name that you will serve His Highness Louie for the next hundred years. As long as His Highness does not force you to go against the dogma of the paladins or attack the Theocracy, you shall not disobey his orders."
The Goddess of Morning also wanted to save face. After Roselia sore on the Goddess' name, Louie would not have to make a move if she broke the oath. The Goddess herself would send down the flames of justice to burn her to the ground.
'Very good. I now have a paladin for my use. She had already received an insight from the Goddess of Morning and was on the edge of breaking through. Within ten years, she will probably reach the legendary rank. A legendary rank paladin is unparalleled unless she directly collides with legendary spells.'
'But she is also the chosen of the Goddess and will go to her side in the future. Lorentia can also sense things through her and understand the surrounding world. I cannot just leave confidential matters to her and only give her orders.'
Louie watched on as Roselia took the oath without any objections.
With a paladin to rely on, Louie felt like he could play against demons and devils. This paladin would definitely have a huge interest in eliminating demons and devils as well. She would take the initiative to do it even if he didn't command her.
Chapter 259
In the magnificent hall inside the palace, Louie was once again in his dragon body and lying on a huge mountain of gold. After Roselia had made an oath, the Goddess of Morning who used her body as a medium returned. As for where she had gone, Louie did not know.
The Silver Moon Goddess, in order to survive, had chosen a much more dangerous path than the other gods. As a result, she did not know the current situation of the other gods. She did not know where their true bodies were. The only thing she could ascertain was that their true bodies were not in their divine kingdoms because those had already fallen to ruin.
After the Goddess of Morning left, Louie brought Roselia back to Dragon City and let her report to his church. With Clooney's wisdom, he should understand how to make full use of this paladin's strength and help the church.
On the other hand, Louie returned to his palace and pondered on a few things.
'These are the things that I need to do once I return to Earth. The most important thing is the people's faith in me. As for the energy sources that I was once worried about, there is already no need to rush to them. I even need to slow down and maybe find fakes.'
Louie inwardly muttered to himself. He only dared to think about these things and did not dare say it out loud, because he was still in one body with the Intelligent Brain. It would definitely hear his words.
On the other hand, a god's mental barriers were very powerful. Louie believed that even the Terran Civilization could not peer into the mind of the gods, or else the intelligent brain would never let him go after knowing his secrets. It would definitely make a move to eliminate him.
Since it did not respond, this meant that it couldn't read his mind. Naturally, it was also possible that the intelligent brain could read his mind, but did not have any malice towards him and was truly in service to him. If that was the case, then it would be a happy ending.
"These gods of the world of San Soliel are truly problematic. It's no wonder that the Terran Civilization found dealing with them tricky."
Louie thought with a headache. Just like what happened just now, only the will of the Goddess of Morning appeared. Even if he dealt with her in that state, there would be no point. And even if the Goddess of Morning descended on the mortal world, it would just be her incarnation. Killing the incarnation would not affect the main body at all.
Although gods could fall, killing them was too difficult. Louie had no interest in fighting against the Goddess of Morning to death. Her divine authority was also incompatible with his, so there were no benefits in doing so. He was not willing to become the God of Justice, so it would be better to use that strength to deal with the Goddess of Magic.
"Speaking about the Goddess of Magic, I…"
Louie shook his head and quickly rid himself of the thought. His gold-colored dragon pupils flashed and once again activated his authority over Dragon City to observe its interiors.
With his divine authority over the territory, Louie could grasp its every corner. Thus, Louie had already locked on to the powerhouses that were in his city, for example, the legendary mage named Eden.
Louie had already known that Eden was a believer of the Goddess of Magic. Moreover, he knew from Marches that he was a member of the famous group of mages – the Secret Council of Magic. Louie did not want to alarm him. Since he was related to the Goddess of Magic, he might be able to make use of him to find the Goddess' secrets.
As a god, Louie was already on a different plane of existence compared to these mortals. Although Louie was indeed very young, he was already the senior in front of mortals. Gods required a face, they loved it even. God's bullying of mortals was too shameful. It would lead to people's dislike as well as aversion from the believers.
Generally speaking, unless a person completely angered a god, gods disdained directly making a move on them. Gods would only let the people of their church and their believers solve things.
A mortal would eventually die of old age. This was only a blip in time for the gods. In addition, some grumpy gods would not pay attention to mortals.
"Well, this mage named Eden is very smart. After investigating the information he needed, he did not kill anyone."
Louie easily retraced the events of the past with the power of his divine authority. Louie was able to see and review everything that Eden did inside the territory.
Louie had long known that knowledge that he possessed the 'foundational magic potion' in large amounts would soon spread. The fact that he had trained a large number of low-ranked mages could never be hidden as they appeared in Dragon City every day, so he did not hide anything and revealed it boldly.
"The mage actually left just like that?"
At the end of the scene, the legendary mage left Dragon City in a hurry which made Louie feel a bit of regret.
Louie was tempted to ask someone to follow him, but as he thought about it, no one would be able to do so, not even Lysfer.
As for Sisna, Louie was afraid that she would have a problem tracking the target. Louie already knew of Sisna's true identity. She was a creation of the Silver Moon Goddess and their unborn child's sister. Moreover, she was the trump card of the Silver Moon Goddess to resurrect herself. Louie felt a bit awkward if he let her face danger.
In the end, Louie was still a new god. He did not have any strong powerhouses under him. As for doing it himself, he felt that it was a bit shameful.
"But other gods have many strong people that they could use…"
Louie comforted himself.
"Just wait until my daughter is born. She will be born a demigod. In this current era, demigods are absolute powerhouses, and then us father and daughter can charge into the battlefield together."
Louie now began to think about his own daughter. If her future daughter knew about this, it was certain that she would be depressed to have such a father.
"It's a pity. If only I had enough divinity to squander, I would continue having children with Her Highness Selune. I might even be able to form a soccer team.
Louie regretted it in his heart.
…
Fifty kilometers away from Dragon City, Eden came out of a portal. He did not leave Dragon City after obtaining information just as Louie had thought. He took out a pile of spellcasting materials from his pocket space and prepared to release a legendary rank spell.
Chapter 260
As a member of the Secret Council of Magic, a legendary mage, and a devout believer in the Goddess of Magic, Eden was an extremely intelligent person.
'Given the scale of the San Soliel Mountain range, even dragons could vanish into it like drops in the sea, to talk less of humans like him.
Standing on a mountain summit 50 kilometers away from Dragon City, Eden first released a few spells to warm himself at the high altitude.
He looked at Dragon City clearly.
"This should be enough."
He murmured and opened a portal to the deep valley at the bottom of the mountain. He carefully took out the divine emblem of the Goddess of Magic from his sleeves. Then he used magic to create an altar and placed the divine emblem on top of it.
Eden was not a priest nor was he a clergyman, so he could only pray according to the religious knowledge that he understood.
He knelt on the ground and called the name of the Goddess. Soon, the emblem began to glow with a faint divine light. This was a resonance with divine power, displaying the endless mysteries of magic.
Eden reported his plans to the Goddess. For a while, there were no reactions until she finally responded.
After obtaining her response, Eden was relieved. Now that he had agreed to help the Goddess re-establish the church, he had begun his activities in various duchies and empires. He even sought out his acquaintances, hoping that all the existing mages would be included in the arms of the Goddess.
But this was a very difficult job.
Even during the era of gods, most mages were only pseudo-believers of the Goddess and not true believers. In this era without the magic network, the Goddess' presence was minuscule. Although the Goddess of Magic was a neutral deity, she advocated for the love of magic and did not abuse it. She encouraged her followers to be humble and prudent and improve their wisdom.
However, it was hard to get ordinary people who couldn't use magic to believe in the Goddess, because they could use magic even if they didn't believe in her.
Eden felt that he had a long way to go. In this era, mages used spells independent of the magic network, as a result, the Goddess of Magic wasn't that much revered. If it was in the era of the gods when these mages utilized the magic network, they naturally would fear the Goddess of Magic. They had to be in her good graces to even use it.
"So, the Goddess was trying to obtain the mighty dragon's foundational magic potion as a replacement material. If she could create a large number of low-ranking mages with it, her believers would definitely increase.
Eden recalled the pleasure he felt when reporting to the Goddess of Magic. The happiness of the deity made him feel as if he was soaking in a comfortable hot spring. He wanted to do more for the Goddess.
It was just that things were difficult.
Eden frowned and took out bright green vegetation from his sleeves. It was called 'Louie's Essence' by those low-ranking mages from Dragon City. As a legendary mage, Eden could naturally see the magic origin element inside the plant, but he also used some spells to test it and found that the plant was incredibly difficult to grow, just like the original raw material.
"Where in the world did that dragon find such a large amount of materials?"
Eden was a bit puzzled and asked the Goddess of Magic, but even she did not know the answer.
"I heard that the dragon stole a part of the divine authority of magic and now holds such important materials. This is simply just pinching the Goddess' lifeblood. No, I mean, the Goddess still has lifeblood. Ahh Goddess above, I really did not mean to."
The more Eden spoke, the more tangled his words became. In the end, he simply shut his mouth, afraid that his words would be treated as blasphemy. He knew that the Goddess was now always watching him, which is for believers a kind of glory, but also a lack of privacy.
Now that the magic network was gone, Louie's raw materials could save the Goddess. Plants that had a magic origin element inside of them were simply treated as precious by mages, no matter the era. As long as the Goddess of Magic had a group of believers, she could spread her name and encourage more ordinary people to believe in her.
Once she gained enough believers, she could regain her strength and once again recreate the magic network. When the magic network is completed, the number of mages would once again increase. This formed a perfect feedback loop for her.
Normally, her best method was to form an alliance with Louie. With the two of them, they could create large quantities of mages that would allow her to quickly regain her strength. Louie could also gain a powerful god as an ally.
However, Louie had taken advantage of the Goddess' slumber and stole a part of her divine authority. This greatly angered her.
Eden immediately knew that no matter what the future relationship between these two gods would be very rocky. As a believer of the Goddess of Magic, the only thing he could do was to support her.
"Sigh… My life is really hard."
Eden's face became bitter at the thought that the Goddess could only support him remotely. He also needed to be able to face the demigod that was close to being a true god. If this was not misery then what was?
Although he was depressed, he was still a devout believer. He took out materials he needed from his pocket storage and prepared to release a legendary spell.
The best way to cast a legendary spell was to gather a large number of mages and split the material costs and magic needed, but now, no one could help Eden. As a legendary mage, he could only release it by himself.
He pulled out a large number of gold coins, emerald gems, and even rare magic materials. After thinking about it, in order to increase the success rate of the spell, he pulled out a magic recording stone. What was recorded in it was the image of Dragon City. He was hoping to use this image to get a response from the creature that he was about to summon.
"There should be no more problems…"
Recalling the rituals, gestures, and words he needed for this spell, Eden finally set up the ritual with the spell casting materials. After making sure that everything was fine, he stood at the center of the spell formation and began to cast it.
"This spell will take days to succeed. Although legendary rank spells are strong, they are quite troublesome to use."
Eden looked at the materials with pain in his eyes. Even if he was a legendary rank mage, he still needed money. This time, he really hemorrhaged his resources for his deity.
Chapter 261
Within the palace at the peak of Dragon City rested an immense dragon. Its immense frame lay on a heap of gold as it contemplated its affairs.
By now Louie was no longer worried about being exposed as a fake primordial dragon. As he was getting ready to ascend, he was on the cusp of obtaining an even nobler identity, and once he truly attained deification, no one would care about what kind of dragon he initially was.
At Louie's feet, the senior members of Dragon City prostrated themselves. There was the creator of the Dragon God Church and the future pope, Clooney. There was the dragon known as the Crimson Calamity who brought havoc to the continent thousands of years ago, Noella. There was the beastman who traveled a long distance to find a safe haven, Lysfer. There was the Ranger General from the Silver Mon Kingdom, Sisna. There was the person Louie assigned to train mages, Marches. There was also the one who recently made an oath to serve Dragon City for a hundred years, Roselia.
Other than Roselia and Sisna, the others were all Louie's believers.
Clooney's faith was the most sincere out of everyone'S. He was in the process of building a church and gaining a more profound understanding of Louie's teachings. After understanding Louie's thoughts and intent toward him, his faith had become so firm that he had become one of those fanatical believers.
Marches was originally in a master-slave contract with Louie. Louie was his master, and when his master became a true god, he would also rise with the tide, which naturally solidified his faith.
As a beastman, Lysfer originally believed in the gods of the beastmen race, but as she brought her people to Dragon City, her faith was gradually transformed and also turned into the Dragon God's faith.
Sisna remained a believer of the Silver Moon Goddess, but even if that was so, Louie's relationship with the Silver Moon Goddess allowed him to naturally command this legendary elven ranger. Even if he asked her to dedicate her body to him, the Silver Moon Goddess would not say anything. After all, Gods had the power to take anything they wanted.
Roselia was a believer of the Goddess of Morning and a paladin. It was impossible for Louie to make her change her faith. As long as the secrets of Dragon City were not divulged to her, then there would be no problem for her to fight on the territory's behalf.
If other people believed in the gods for various reasons, then Noella did it because she was extremely smart. She clearly knew that an era of chaos was soon coming. The gods would gradually have a deeper and deeper impact on the world, resulting in every creature in the world having faith.
Even if she was a dragon, she still needed God's backing, and hence she needed to believe in one of them. Since she and Louie were relatively close, and Louie had the original godhood of the Dragon God, Noella knew who she had to believe.
Louie gazed at Noella's faith. At most, she could be considered a pseudo-believer, but as long as she believed in him and proclaimed to be his believer, then she would also become a true believer with time.
In the era of gods, mortals needed to have faith. It did not matter which god they believed in, but having no faith was a complete aberration.
People who believe in gods would have their souls return to their kingdom upon death. This meant that mortals did not truly die. They could continue to enjoy life after death until their souls were completely merged with the divine kingdom and reincarnated. After many reincarnations, their souls would also become a part of the god.
The stronger their faith, the better the treatment they receive after death, and the closer they were to their god.
But because the divine kingdoms no longer existed, Gods could currently not build their power bases this way.
When the age of gods returned, those who did not believe would suffer in the underworld after death, while those who believed would continue to their deity's kingdom. A happy life after death would certainly make the faith of mortals explode in numbers and let them believe more firmly in the gods.
This was not the same as karma in Buddhist practices. Those Buddhist scriptures of having a better life in the next life could not be proven, but the fact that people could ascend to the divine kingdom could be proven.
'This is truly a good era. If this was the era of the gods, new gods wouldn't be able to compete with the old gods whose roots have spread far and wide. There was no chance at all for a new god to spread their roots.'
Louie thought so and felt thankful. He even felt a little bit grateful to the Terran Civilization. If it were not for the Terran Civilization that crippled the gods, then he would not have gained such a good opportunity to become a powerful god.
In the era before the Terran invasion, the Gods who had lived for eons had definitely accumulated many believers in their divine kingdoms. The few powerhouses who could not create their own divine kingdoms were not in fact inferior to new gods. Moreover, the main continent's faith was divided up, preventing new gods from finding new sources of faith.
It was difficult to become a god in times of peace. Only during periods of great change could one obtain an opportunity. The relationship between deities and believers was complex and difficult to describe.
Louie pondered upon these rules. These were also rules that he had to follow until he fully developed the foreign god's godhood. Following these rules was also the best way for a god to develop as they accumulate experience.
If he and the Silver Moon Goddess weren't together, then he would not have known any of this information and would be walking blindly.
Afterward, he looked at Noella with interest.
This paladin was wrapped in an aura of divine justice. She held a slim silver longsword that carried the aura of a god. This was Louie's old trophy, the 'Holy Iris Sword'.
What Roselia was currently experiencing was the critical moment of transformation from mortal to legendary.
'I thought that it would take several years before she could become a legendary paladin, but I didn't expect her to reach the legendary rank in just a few days after giving her the Holy Iris Sword.'
Roselia was a famous paladin of the Theocracy. She was also the new commander of the Holy Iris Order. Her fame was known all over the continent, and she was originally a ninth rank powerhouse who was infinitely close to the legendary rank.
'This time, she came to Dragon City with the will of the paladin and braced herself for the worst. However, she not only made the Goddess of Morning descend but also received the Holy Iris Sword. This could be considered to be a glorious moment for a paladin. She was not only favored by the Goddess of Morning, but she also gained the Dragon God's approval.'
'Her story should have spread throughout Dragon City and to the world, causing her to become widely known on the continent. This gave her the chance to break through the legendary rank in one fell swoop.'
Her ascension was of great interest to Louie. After all, the benefits accompanying it wouldn't be insignificant.
Chapter 262
Louie took careful note of Roselia's transformation.
With his divine sight, he observed as her body was reborn and reshaped from the most elementary level. During the process, every speck of her being was baptized with mysterious energy from the world. Eventually, she reformed.
Her body was still that of a human without any changes in her appearance. However, her life essence seemed to have greatly increased. Her life expectancy, physical strength, energy, spirit, bones, muscles, nerves, and many other parts of her body underwent a qualitative change. She had already exceeded the scope of mortals.
If Roselia was placed on Earth, she would be equivalent to a living superman. General kinetic energy weapons would not be able to harm her. Only large-scale anti-personnel weapons would be able to do so.
'This kind of energy that changed Roselia's basic structure should be the so-called legendary degree. Because of the fame she gained, the power of fame had become an actual power like the power of faith. As a result, she completely broke past her mortal shell and became a legendary rank powerhouse.'
'This point is similar to how karma is tied to qi in certain novels, but its effects were not this exaggerated.'
'With fame and faith turning into power, this magical fantasy world is truly difficult to explain with technology. It can only be said that this world's rules are very strange.'
'However, the legendary level is ultimately not such a big deal. This kind of power can be attained with genetic modification and technology. It's just like my body that's been transformed by the Terran Civilization. So, the legendary rank was no different from an ordinary person in front of the Terran Civilization.'
Louie recalled the power of legendary rank powerhouses in this world. It was strong in the eyes of mortals, but in the eyes of gods, they were nothing special at all.
Lysfer's smile was as wild as ever, but when looking at Roselia who had reached the legendary rank, she felt envious and depressed. As someone who had lost, her legendary degree had been drastically reduced. Normally, she could not reach the legendary rank unless she could meet and participate in some special event that would grant her fame.
"Thank you for giving me the Holy Iris Sword, milord Dragon God!"
Roselia's face displayed a soothing look. She felt joy at the changes that happened to her body as she reached the legendary rank. However, her will as a paladin quickly suppressed this relief. She opened her turquoise eyes that let out an aura of holiness. She respectfully knelt on one knee and saluted Louie.
'After reaching the legendary rank, this paladin isn't as stubborn as in the past. This was perhaps thanks to the teachings of paladins of maintaining order and goodness. She also learned how to change, but this change was not a simple compromise. These two points were extremely difficult to grasp.
Louie was able to grasp the requirements of a paladin to rank up from Roselia's words. This was the way gods viewed the world.
Paladins were rare. In addition to having high moral requirements, the biggest reason why there weren't many of them was the question of 'how to adapt'. They might normally preach good but accidentally provoked evil, leading to them being extinguished by evil.
An example of this was Roselia's previous behavior, which was tantamount to provoking Louie, an existence that she could not face. If a ninth rank paladin could make this mistake, then other paladins would also be the same.
If it wasn't for the Goddess of Morning herself, Roselia would have been wiped out by Louie without even leaving a corpse behind. From this, it could be seen that Roselia was favored by the gods, and to a certain extent could be called a novel's protagonist.
"This is the reward you deserve for serving Dragon City for a hundred years."
Louie opened his mouth and spoke.
Louie's voice suddenly paused and looked towards the east.
The others were puzzled, but it didn't take long for Sisna, Roselia, and Noella to become aware of an aura.
"Humph, what an idiot to come and offend Dragon City. Roselia, Sisna, Noella, you three go and take it down. Don't let it touch a single grass of Dragon City. Also, don't kill it. I want it alive!"
"Yes, milord!"
Fifty kilometers east of Dragon City, in an unoccupied valley in San Soliel Mountain Range, Eden finally finished casting his spell and used the legendary spell [Dragon Knight]!
With the appearance of a huge portal, the loud booming roar of a dragon echoed. Eden was shocked. When he looked into the portal, he could see a huge red dragon on the opposite side.
"It's a prime red dragon!"
Seeing the size of the dragon, Eden looked happy.
There were three types of dragons that could be summoned by the legendary spell [Dragon Knight]: an adult dragon, a prime dragon, and an elder dragon. The color and type of the dragon were randomized and would depend on if a dragon chose to accept the summons.
TLN: Yes, dragon knight does not mean a knight who rides a dragon, but a dragon that acts as a knight. I was speechless when I translated this.
If he had summoned an adult dragon, it would be a failure of a result for a legendary rank spell. But the majority of dragons summoned by this spell were adult dragons.
Naturally, the best result would be to summon an elder dragon. The strength of an elder dragon was not something legendary rank powerhouse could deal with. Unless a demigod personally makes a move multiple legendary rank powerhouses come to attack, it would be impossible to kill an elder dragon.
However, the elder dragons were normally asleep. If they were not waiting for death, then they were trying to break through to become ancient dragons. It was rare for them to respond to the call of this spell.
'However, a prime dragon is enough. Moreover, it is a red dragon!'
Prime Dragons were already creatures that normal legendary rank powerhouses could not win against. Only a powerful legendary rank powerhouse could face them in a one-to-one battle, this was because dragons were unique creatures that had a huge physical advantage over ordinary creatures.
Even a legendary rank mage like Eden would not dare face a prime dragon unless he was forced to. The danger was simply too high.
Dragons came in many colors. Relatively speaking, they don't differ much, but the difference in colors describes what they were good at. For example, the red dragon was the most powerful type in terms of physical abilities and was even a class above other dragons.
'That recording stone is indeed useful.'
As Eden was thinking, the red dragon stepped out of the portal. It spread its wings and exhaled hot air, seemingly dissatisfied at the cold temperature of the San Soliel Mountain range. It shook its head and looked down at the tiny creature at its feet.
"Is it you who summoned this great Antetokounmpo, mage?"
As the dragon released his might, the surrounding air became denser. Although Eden was a legendary rank mage who could fight against it, it was a prime dragon. Prime dragons were extremely proud creatures. They held little respect or fear for others.
"Yes, great lord Antetokounmpo. It is I who summoned you."
Eden knew to play to its arrogance. Because younger dragons were weak, they understood fear. On the other hand, older dragons were gentle because of their rich experience. But adult dragons and prime dragons were not afraid of anything. They felt that they were invincible and looked down on all other races.
And so despite its arrogance rubbing him the wrong way, he could only grin and bear it.
Chapter 263
"Mage, I watched your recording stone. That bitch who gave up the glory of dragons… Where is she!"
The red dragon named Antetokounmpo let out a heaven-shattering roar that echoed in the snow-covered world, shaking the snowy mountains and causing avalanches.
Eden was inwardly happy, but he remained calm on the surface. As expected, that recording stone was indeed the key to summoning this dragon.
Dragons were sinister and cunning, but they were also extremely concerned with the glory of their race. Individuals like Noella who gave up on her true body and became a shadow dragon were extremely disgraceful to them. She was simply a stain on their glory, and every dragon would do their best to remove it.
After the red dragon finished speaking, it looked at the materials that Eden had prepared. Its talons raked in gems, gold, and jewels towards itself and scoffed, "You really are a poor mage to try summoning me with this amount of wealth. If I wasn't in a good mood I wouldn't even have bothered to answer."
The corner of Eden's mouth twitched as he sighed, "If you don't like them, then why did you have to take them all."
However, Eden knew what the dragon was truly thinking. He suppressed his inner disgust and continued to smile, Lord Antetokounmpo, there is a city fifty kilometers away called Dragon City, and inside is a dragon who calls himself the Dragon God. He took over the city and renamed it Dragon City and plundered countless treasures."
"Dragon God? No, us mighty dragons don't need a god, even more so, a Dragon God. Even if a true god appears in front of a dragon, we will tear it apart and eat its flesh and blood."
Hearing Eden's words, the red dragon was furious. It carefully collected its 'offerings' and unfurled its wings without saying anything more. It shot towards the direction Eden pointed out without even confirming the information or whether there were any traps.
Watching the red dragon fly away, Eden was flabbergasted. He had prepared a lot more to incite it to attack Dragon City, but he did not expect that the dragon would be furious with just a few words.
"Dragons are really a group of fools. No, to be more accurate, adult dragons and prime dragons are all fools who are obsessed with their own power and have no brain."
"The lord of Dragon City is truly different from other dragons. Even if it was a primordial dragon, its intelligence is incredible. Even the gods are vigilant of him."
"This prime dragon should have been asleep before, so it doesn't know the current events on the continent. It probably still thinks that nothing has changed on the continent."
Eden muttered and mocked. As a legendary rank mage, he understood the general characteristics of the dragon race and knew that they would sleep for many years. This amount of time already caused many changes to the human race, let alone other races. Thus, many dragons would wake up without knowing about the situation in the world.
This red dragon was a typical member of its race, otherwise, if it knew that the Dragon God in Dragon City was the real deal, no matter how arrogant it was or stupid it was, it wouldn't go over and seek death.
"Because of the advantages of their race, dragons had forgotten the greatness of the gods. If they do not change their minds, they will receive a heavy wake-up call once the next era arrives. They might even go extinct, but I could indeed make use of this situation."
Because the gods were absent, dragons had remained on top of the food chain for thirty thousand years. They had gotten used to their current life and had no enemies thanks to their physical advantages. As they grew increasingly arrogant, they gained increasing disdain for the gods.
If they continued to hold such ideas, once the churches of various gods stabilized in the main continent, they would become the target of their hunts. Although dragons were strong, that was only compared to mortal races, in front of gods, dragons were only prey that could strengthen their pantheon's influence.
"The situation here should be revealed by a few of my dragon acquaintances. This will cause the dragons to resist the gods' rule. Since the goddess wants to target the demigod and prevent him from developing too fast, then tampering with its divine authority is the best way."
Although targeting a demigod who was about to become a true god gave Eden a vague sense of unease, this was the Goddess' order, so he had to comply with it.
After giving one last deep look at the red dragon flying towards Dragon City, Eden quickly left the place. He knew that it was impossible for the red dragon to cause any significant damage to the city, but the red dragon was a bait that could be used to test the Dragon God's church. If it died there, then it would benefit Eden's next move.
…
Although fifty kilometers away was still within Louie's divine authority, it was at the very edge of it, causing his awareness of the area to be blurry, but after Eden used a legendary spell, Louie was able to accurately determine his location and monitor it.
Louie did not care much about the red dragon and even sent three legendary powerhouses toward it. Just Noella alone would be enough to deal with the red dragon. Even if she had lost a large portion of her power, she was still a legendary rank powerhouse that was capable of beating a simple prime dragon. With the newly ranked up paladin and veteran ranger to help her, the results were imaginable.
Seeing Eden leave, Louie thought for a bit and decided not to make him stay.
"Go, take all this information to the dragons. Let the dragons know that there is a city in the southern part of San Soliel Mountain Range called Dragon City, that there is a dragon inside that calls himself the Dragon God."
Louie lay on top of the mountain of gold and let out a malicious smile.
The information networks of the dragons had always lagged behind others because of their natural indolence and long life spans.
Dragons would sleep in their lairs for long periods of time and the majority of them did not go out much. When they finally gained information, the events would have long passed.
Louie's main divine authority was that of a dragon. Thus, he needed dragons to believe in him. Before this, Louie had already planned on a journey to find dragons, but he did not expect that someone would help him like this.
"Instead of letting me find you one by one, having someone inform all of you to make you find me is better."
Louie was not a natural resident of San Soliel, so he did not know where the powerful dragons were. With the main continent too large, finding those powerful dragons would be very troublesome. It was better to let the dragons come with hate directly to Louie's doors.
This legendary mage had lived for at least a few hundred years, so he definitely knew the location of powerful dragons.
Louie did not need all dragons to believe in him, but he needed at least half of them to become his believers. That way, the divine authority of dragons would live up to its name and allow him to display its power.
Chapter 264
Antetokounmpo soared into the skies. As a red dragon in his prime, he was not afraid of any other existence on the main continent. Even if he encountered a legendary rank powerhouse or even a group of them, he was confident he could flee easily.
Unless there was a deep hatred, fighting a red dragon at its prime would generally incur heavy losses, even if the red dragon was killed. For powerful individuals at the legendary rank, there was little need to take the risk of doing so.
The weak were killed without mercy, while the strong were unwilling to provoke dragons. This made the dragon race live prosperous lives.
'As long as I don't meet a demigod, there's no need for me to panic. The mage said that the dragon calls itself the Dragon God, but I don't know of any demigod dragons. Since they've taken over the city which isn't something an elder dragon or ancient dragon would do, this means that they are at most a prime dragon that's the same as me.'
Though he had boldly charged towards the city, his confidence was not unfounded.
"It's good as long as the dragon here is not related to the Obsidian King."
Thinking back to that legendary figure, Antetokounmpo could only shiver. That was one of the cruelest evilest dragons around that brought fear to everyone and often tried to ravage the main continent with the aid of its followers. If not for the Mithril Dragon, the main continent would long have sunk into conflict.
"However, the Mythril Dragon's philosophy is also quite laughable. It wanted dragons and other races to be at peace and fight against evil. Maybe she's actually a paladin, hahaha."
Antetokounmpo thought with jest. It appeared that he liked neither the Obsidian King nor the Mythril King. He had the same opinion as most of the dragons; namely that things were fine so long as no one tried forcing them into any arrangements or plans. So long as he could sleep long and deeply, and eventually become an elder dragon, what more could he wish for?
In an instant, the dragon covered a distance of fifty kilometers and the majestic city of ivory appeared within his reptilian eyes.
"What a beautiful city. There must be endless treasures inside…"
Thinking so, Antetokounmpo's eyes shone with greed.
As a prime dragon, it had discerning eyes. The city before him felt comparable to the Subila Empire's capital.
'Can a dragon really build such a beautiful city?'
Although Antetokounmpo was proud of being a dragon, he knew that members of his race often lacked managerial talents.
At this moment a strange dragon might spread. It was different from the common dragon's might as it carried the power of shadows.
After seeing this shadowy figure, Antetokounmpo's inner rage burst out from within him and let out a loud roar.
That roar blew out to the skies. The soldiers guarding the territory and the residents and adventurers walking towards the city felt the loud roar and stopped moving. They raised their heads to take a look.
"Dragon. It's a dragon."
"To the East. Look to the east. There is a red dragon."
"…"
Everyone began to chatter. Although seeing a dragon in Dragon City was not something surprising, seeing an unknown dragon roar still brought fear into their hearts. Dragons were, after all, still fearsome creatures.
This fear especially affected the original residents of Dragon City. The city of the red dragon made them remember the first time Louie landed in the city.
"You ugly monster who has given up the glory of the dragon, how dare you to appear in front of this Lord Antetokounmpo. If I was you, I would have already killed myself in shame. Your present form is a desecration of our race. You are a disgrace to us red dragons!"
At a glance, it saw through the color of Noella's body.
For dragons, their bodies were their proudest feature. A shadow dragon that had given up on its body was undoubtedly one that had given up its glory. This was absolutely inexcusable to dragons.
At the same time, Antetokounmpo was also a bit alarmed. The shadow dragon looked like it was 40 meters long from far away, which meant that it was definitely an old dragon or even an ancient dragon!
'Luckily, it has given up on its body, but why does it look so familiar?' he thought.
Antetokounmpo gradually felt relieved, but still had some doubts. The dragon before him felt extremely familiar for some reason, yet he couldn't place their identity.
Being called an ugly monster was a sinful word for any female that loved beauty. When Noella heard Antetokounmpo's words, anger rose from her bile. The first thing she wanted to do was to fire a seven-ring spell [Finger of Death] with her claws.
"You really are a bold little dragon. I will catch you and let you know the consequences of angering the Queen of Calamity."
Noella let out a furious laugh. The shadows surrounding her body rolled about. Magical power surged and a powerful spell fired out from her finger.
Seeing the spell, Antetokounmpo was startled and quickly dodge. Although the spell could not instantly kill a prime dragon, it was still not something they could take head-on.
This was not draconic magic, but a pure magic spell.
Seeing the dragon being able to use a seven-ring spell and hearing the words of the opposite party, Antetokounmpo was startled and shouted, "… You are… No, are you Noella Nys Gein!?"
Noella was a red dragon who had destroyed counties and made powerful enemies all over the continent a thousand years ago. Everyone suspected that she had died after she disappeared from sight.
Her legend and deeds once resounded all over the entire continent. This was in part because Noella was one of the few dragons who raised their profession and reached the legendary rank. She relied on herself and not her draconic abilities.
A thousand years ago, Antetokounmpo was just a juvenile dragon. At that time, the Queen of Calamity's name had shocked the world. Antetokounmpo even vaguely worshiped her.
However…
"Why, why would you appear on this continent after a thousand years in this form? You have tarnished the dragon race, tarnished the community of red dragons."
Antetokounmpo boomed. His fury was akin to that of die-hard idol fans who discovered that their idols were actually in relationships with other men, and had even released sex tapes.
"Woooooo"
Suddenly, Antetokounmpo howled in pain. An arrow shot like a meteor from underneath it. Although this injury was nothing for dragons, its scales were still penetrated. This startled Antetokounmpo.
It moved its eyes and saw a legendary rank ranger and a legendary rank paladin.
It felt that something was wrong.
'Wasn't there a dragon that called itself the Dragon God? Why haven't I seen it, but encountered such famous legendary powerhouses instead?!'
Antetokounmpo finally came to his senses and began to retreat.
"Want to run? You no longer have the chance."
Noella laughed. She could never forget how this dragon cursed at her. She was one to keep her grudges
In the palace of Dragon City, Louie watched the scene with interest. This battle was indeed quite exciting. If under the situation of 3vs1 and the red dragon still won, then Noella and the others could really just kill themselves.
"This red dragon appeared just in time. I can make use of it to strengthen Dragon City."
Louie thought pleasantly.
Chapter 265
"Noella, you vile and shameless dragon! You disgrace among dragons! You disgusting female dragon! If you have the ability, come fight me alone. Don't call for so many people to help you."
Antetokounmpo shouted in anger, but his voice was slightly hoarse and did not have the same vigor as it previously had.
One of its wings was already broken, revealing bones. Two of his claws were bent in awkward directions, and even his scales had been shattered to his skin. Several of his teeth were broken and his jaw wasn't quite as aligned as when he first came. His left e
And indeed, Antetokounmpo had just been ganged up on without being able to put up a fight.
Under Noella, Roselia, and Sisna's joint attack he had been beaten without even being able to retaliate. After a bitter struggle, he was finally captured alive.
Although his face was miserable, his injuries were not enough to kill him. Just sleeping for a few years would be enough to recover, but he did not have the opportunity to do so at the moment.
The red dragon's other wing was run through with magical chains created by Noella and also wrapped around its neck. She pulled on it like a dog and dragged it back to Dragon City as he left a trail of blood and scales on the ground.
Marches brought a group of apprentices to collect the blood and scales that the prime dragon was dropping. There were good materials for spellcasting after all.
Noella was in a happy mood. She finally knew why Louie used to like dragging her for a walk back and forth in the palace. However, Louie at that time would suddenly bite the back of her neck and play dragon taming with her when she couldn't resist.
Although she was reduced to a tool for Louie at that time which made her angry, she understood that male dragons were creatures that did not know how to flirt and directly used force as their fastest method.
Noella could understand, but she could not accept it. Unfortunately, she was the weaker one, so she could only tolerate Louie playing with her body.
Soon, Noella brought the red dragon in front of Louie and stepped on its head to make it kneel on the ground.
Faint divine might pervade the entire hall. Antetokounmpo who had been cursing suddenly felt fear deep down its soul and shut up. It raised its head and looked at the mighty golden dragon.
"You…No, you are…"
Antetokounmpo's eyes widened as he stared at Louie, mouth agape. The dragon in front of it was extremely frightening to the point that it could not believe it. It felt as powerless as a newborn baby facing an adult.
This was a feeling that Antetokounmpo had never felt before in his entire life. Even a demigod it once met could not bring such pressure, after all, he was a red dragon in his prime.
'That dragon is much more terrifying than the Mythril King and Obsidian King. Where did it come from?'
'That mage bastard lied to me! Damn it, if I live, I, Antetokounmpo, swear to tear him into pieces.'
Antetokounmpo cursed fiercely, but its body unconsciously crouched down and let out an expression of submission.
This was the pressure created by the divine authority of dragons, but it was still very weak at the moment and could not display its full power. Once Louie had enough believers, he could display its full might. As long as Louie stood in front of them, all dragons would be subservient to him even if they did not believe in him. This was the power of a racial divine authority.
Louie looked at the red dragon in front of him and said in a majestic voice, "A very strong dragon that could be used as a tool for giving birth."
'A tool for giving birth? Could it be that this unknown great dragon wants to be a breeding dragon?'
Antetokounmpo was astonished. This kind of thing was not unprecedented. There were dragons that had been captured by beastmen before and forced to have intercourse with different kinds of female creatures. The dragon beasts that were given birth were then turned into expendable weapons.
'Wait a minute, let me be a breeding dragon? The more powerful the female creature, the stronger the dragon beast that is born. Could this mean…'
Antetokounmpo suddenly perked up a little. His remaining unswollen eyes looked at the exceptionally beautiful elven maids around Louie. It also thought about the beautiful female unicorns he had seen at the gate as well as Noella and Roselia who had captured it. If it was to have intercourse with these females, it was a hundred times willing to.
The red dragon that had been beaten up began to fantasize, and its mouth that was missing a few teeth began to drip with saliva.
Louie frowned at the red dragon and felt that it was thinking of something bad.
'Dragon City now has ten thousand soldiers of all races and two thousand warriors belonging to the church. Noella, have this dragon lay a thousand dragon eggs first."
"A thousand? I apologize, Lord Dragon God. If there is only one dragon, it would be difficult to lay a thousand eggs."
"Then how many can it lay?"
"Three hundred is the limit, and it will take a long time."
"Well then, let's set a small goal of three hundred first. After that, let's find some other dragons who dare to offend me to take over its work."
Louie and Noella's words made Antetokounmpo faintly feel uneasy. It boldly spoke with slurred words, "Ummm, I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I want to make it clear that I'm a male dragon. I can't lay eggs!"
"No, a strong male dragon like you would soon be laying eggs."
Louie flashed an extremely evil smile at Antetokounmpo.
His goal was to boost the fighting power of Dragon City. In the future, he would let his unborn daughter inherit it. As a father, Louie did not want to have his daughter live a hard life full of difficulty.
Therefore, he had to work hard to leave enough property for his daughter!
Antetokounmpo suddenly remembered the legend. It was said that a thousand years ago the Queen of Calamity, Noella Nys Gein, had created a spell with her remarkable wisdom. It was a spell that could make male dragons pregnant and give birth to dragon beasts. These dragon beasts were the strongest kind.
'Could it be that the legend is true!
Thinking of this Antetokounmpo suddenly became afraid. It stared at Noella with its dragon eyes, hoping that Noella would tell him everything was just a joke.
Unfortunately, Noella pulled the chain in her hands and dragged Antetokounmpo to an open space in the hall where an extremely complex magic formation had been set up in advance.
"Kill me! Let me die! I am unwilling to accept such an insult!"
Antetokounmpo shouted in terror and tightly gripped the floor, but it could not resist Noella as its powers had been temporarily sealed.
Louie watched coldly as the dragon was pulled into the formation and watched as Noella activated the spell. He watched as the dragon struggled but to no avail. Its belly began to visibly swell.
'What an evil spell.'
Louie vainly averted his eyes and touched his own stomach.
'Making a proud dragon pregnant is definitely more painful than killing him!
Fortunately, he now had a divine body, so the spell was unlikely to affect him.
Louie thought thankfully.
Chapter 266
In the main hall of the Dragon God Church, a pure golden figure walked leisurely through.
The night was not a time of prayers for the Dragon God Church. Louie's dogma required people to pray in the morning, thus the important people of the church could move unhindered at night.
After much effort and an investment of significant resources, the first church of the Dragon God was built. In the future, it would become a sanctuary for the faithful. Louie was currently walking inside the halls and admiring the place.
The church's structure was close to baroque style. Compared to the messy beauty of the human churches, there were many details that were different. His church was built based on grandeur so that people could feel at peace even if a dragon were to attack. The tall dome created a solemn silence that made the believers feel reverence and devotion from the depths of their hearts.
"This place will become great in the future."
The god whispered softly as if he was making a prophecy."
"Yes, Lord Dragon God. Your sanctuary will become powerful and revered in the future. Truly admirable."
Beside Louie came a soft, lively, and joyful female voice. By just listening to her voice, anybody could tell that she was a stunning beauty.
However, anyone who came and took a look would be surprised that the beautiful and cheery sound did not come from a humanoid creature, but from a pure white unicorn.
It was a legendary creature that could only be found written in books for the past thousands of years. It had flawless white fur that could not be stained by any other color, not even gray of dust and dirt. Its pure white fur shone and glimmered like a freshwater pearl.
The unicorn was a white horse with a spiral horn on its forehead that symbolized its nobility and purity. In the world of San Soliel, unicorns had another meaning. They represented hope and joy. It even appears to assist the poor, the unfortunate, and the outcasts.
Legend had it that as long as a person saw a unicorn, they would feel happiness emanating from their hearts and dissolve their sorrows.
Louie's inverted pupils looked at the creature. In the eyes of humanoid creatures, the unicorn was an inhuman creature and they could only feel purity and nobility from it, but in the eyes of a dragon, the unicorn in front was a beautiful female that carried elegance.
If Roselia gave people a sense of righteous holiness, then this unicorn gave people a sense of nobility and happiness.
"Miss Lara, how was your stay in Dragon City?"
Louie gently asked the creature with respect.
This was because the unicorn in front of him was not an ordinary unicorn, but the queen of unicorns – a demigod that had lived for millennia.
Yes, this was a demigod unicorn who had been helping the Silver Moon Goddess for the past thousands of years.
The Goddess did not permit anyone to become a demigod because she could not trust anyone, but she trusted this unicorn as it was one of the non-elven creatures that belonged to the gods of nature.
"Lord Dragon God, to be honest, I prefer the quietness of the Forest of the Moon and the serenity of the Silver Moon Kingdom."
This unicorn was very lively and talkative. She had no intentions of flattering Louie and spoke the truth, "But Selune thought that I shouldn't just stay in the Forest of the Moon as that would be bad for me. She told me to go and see the world. That's what brought me to your Dragon City."
Unicorns were a group of distrustful creatures. They would always roam outside of the influence of people and were always wary of everything, but unicorns would show a faithful friendship as long as they recognized a person and trusted them. As long as the other party did not betray, they would never betray their friends.
Thanks to the Silver Moon Goddess, Lara also trusted Louie. Thus, she permitted Louie to approach her and talk with him like a sincere young girl.
"Do you know why you're called Lara?"
Louie looked at the beautiful white hair of the Unicorn Queen in front of him and could not resist reaching out and caressing her back.
In the eyes of human-like creatures, a human caressing a horse was a common thing, but in the eyes of a dragon, Louie's behavior was the same as touching a girl's body with his hands.
Lara's four hooves chopped uneasily a few times. Her head tilted to the side as if to convey her nervousness and shyness.
"Her Highness Selune told me that Lara was the name of the previous Unicorn God."
This Unicorn Queen was one of the few creatures who knew of the Silver Moon Goddess' true identity. After a short pause, she used her joyful and shy voice to say, "Lord Dragon God, Do you want to ride on me and go for a stroll? I have only ever let her Highness Selune ride on me, but if it were you, I would be willing to do the same."
Lara rubbed her face against Louie affectionately and let out a pleasant laugh.
"Of course, I'm willing to 'ride' on your body."
Louie chuckled. He deliberately emphasized the word ride. Regardless of whether the pure and beautiful Unicron Queen understood what he meant, Louie continued, "Her Highness Selune gave you this name, hoping that you could become the new Unicorn God. As a friend, you can call me by my first name."
"Yes, Your Highness Louie. Friends should call each other by their first names to be more affectionate. I thought that dragons are hateful creatures. I have seen many green dragons inside the Forest of the Moon and they always carried malicious intent. Of course, I'm not talking about you. You are a wise and likable dragon."
The Unicorn Queen spoke in a light and lively tone. Although she had lived for thousands of years, she had the mind of a teenage girl. Perhaps this was the true nature of unicorns. They did not know sadness and only joy and happiness.
A powerful existence would always be born within races with small populations and no deity presiding over them. This existence would be able to easily become the race's racial god. And this unicorn in front was one of them.
Compared to other powerhouses becoming a god, Lara would be able to easily become the Unicorn God.
However, this kind of scarce race was not strong. Even if Lara became a god, she would at most be a weak god. However, unicorns belonged to the gods of nature, so she could not join other gods and she could only become the subordinate god of the Silver Moon Goddess. For a god who was part of a system, having more subordinate gods who did not influence their faith was better. Even if it was a weak god, it was still a god.
Because unicorns were a solitary group, Lara would not need to fight with the Silver Moon Goddess for believers.
The Unicorn Queen happily bent her neck, indicating Louie to ride her back.
Louie did not do as he was told and shook his head, "Please wait a moment, Lara. I have a guest that I must meet."
"Should I go back?"
"No, you can stay by my side."
Chapter 267
"A unicorn!"
The soft female voice continued, "There are actually unicorns here. Supposedly one can only find them in the Forest of the Moon."
A herd of unicorns strolled around the front of the palace while keeping a wary eye on the visitors. Upon making eye contact with them, their figures quickly vanished. The young lady sighed in disappointment.
"Corvin, this is it. I'll have to go on my own from here on."
Princess Andrea softly commanded. She was wearing a chiffon gown with a belt around her waist that outlined her delicate waist and looked at her escort with gentle eyes.
"But Your Highness, I am your guard…"
Corvin subconsciously retorted. He gripped the hilt of his long sword and felt inwardly apprehensive.
"No, Corvin, having an escort is meaningless in the Dragon God's palace. Although saying this may make you sad, you do not have the qualifications to face his highness."
Her Highness Andrea shook her head, but her words had indeed hurt Corvin's heart.
Corvin did not dare look at Princess Andrea's beautiful face, afraid that he might do something a guard should not do. He took a deep breath, "Lord Derek, that Dragon God… Is he really a god?"
Corvin did not dare believe that the lord of Dragon City was a true god. In the world of San Soliel, gods had not appeared for the past 30,000 years. If there were true gods, how could the Theocracy only stand in one corner of the world?
Derek heavily nodded his head, "Although the feeling that the lord of Dragon City gave off is only at the level of a demigod, it was different from an ordinary demigod. It's an existence that we cannot understand… Corvin, you should know about the ancient religions and cults that have been popping up in the Empire, right? I'm afraid that the gods have woken up. Someone becoming a god at this time is not unimaginable."
"The gods…"
Corvin muttered. This distance was not something a warrior like him who wasn't even a legendary rank warrior could imagine. It was only something he could wish for and envy. He not only had no qualifications to accompany the princess, but he did not even dare to display any signs of anger at that kind of mighty existence.
"Corvin, you should go back to the hotel first. Derek and I will return after an audience inside the Dragon God's palace.
Princess Andrea gave a direct order. Corvin did not dare refute anymore and saluted before heading back.
However, Corvin did not return to the hotel like the princess ordered and stayed on the street directly outside the Dragon God's palace. He could not stop his wild imagination from formulating all sorts of scenarios that might play out once his liege met the supposed God. Would the Dragon God be interested in the princess? Dragons were extremely lascivious existences after all. Moreover, it was a god among dragons. Its lust might be particularly extreme.
'No, I shouldn't think like this. That thing is a god, so it should be different from mortals. The Dragon God definitely wouldn't take interest in mortals… but… but with the princess' beauty, I'm afraid that even the gods would be moved.'
Corvin's mind was a mess. He could only resent his powerlessness, his own incompetence, and his own insignificance in the grand scheme of things. He couldn't even approach and protect the princess that he admired.
Princess Andrea and Derek stepped into the Dragon God's palace.
The princess asked with concern, "Lord Derek, His Highness Dragon God took so long to meet us, do you think he will agree to the Empire's request?"
This was the first time Derek saw the princess express her worry. He wanted to comfort her and tell her that they would succeed, but in the end, he could only sigh, "Mortals cannot guess the thoughts of gods, Your Highness."
That was right. They were about to face a god. It was natural that the princess would be worried. Even if he was a legendary rank warrior, he also felt his stomach churn.
Derek felt a bit sad. He felt that he was born in the worst era and could not help but worry.
"Let's keep quiet, Your Highness. We have arrived at the sanctuary."
Derek whispered. The princess smoothed his wrinkled brows and let out a soft smile and a gentle expression while taking small steps.
At the entrance of the Dragon God's sanctuary was a huge statue of a dragon. The doorway was made of bronze which opened into a long path. The floor was inlaid with a soft gold carpet. On two sides of the path were guardian statues wearing heavy armor and holding lances, watching the place. These silent chiseled guardians looked incredibly majestic.
When Derek stepped into the Dragon God's Sanctuary, he felt a tremor in his body. It was a fearful acknowledgment that he was no longer in charge of his own life and death.
Louie, who was only waiting for the rules of the world to be more conducive towards the final stage of his apotheosis, had already grasped how to use some of his powers. Walking within his sanctuary was the same as entering his divine kingdom. In this place, all enemies would be weakened and he would be stronger. Within their sanctuary, a God was almost unbeatable.
Derek and Princess Andrea dared not speak. Candles at the side of the path lit up as they walked down the hallway. Something seemed to be hidden somewhere watching them, but their eyes couldn't make out anything strange. In the wide path they walked through, the echo of the footsteps would unsettle them. In this special structure and atmosphere, anyone would subconsciously begin to fear the divine.
They walked through the path and crossed one foot after another until they reached the last door which was ten meters high and forty meters wide. It was a huge door that could accommodate even dragons.
At the top of the door was the divine emblem of the Dragon God. A golden disc with nine dragon heads that were intricately and magnificently carved. With a burst of divine power, this emblem made up of many magical materials lit up, and the doors opened, fully showcasing the heart of the sanctuary.
The endless expanse and sublimity were like entering the void of the Astral Realm. The first thing anyone would see upon stepping into this palace would be a stone statue that was tens of meters high. It was a huge dragon statue with a magnificent dragon body. The dragon's head seemed to be a blur. As though bathed with that incomprehensible divine radiance, it seemed to have five, nine, and uncountable heads all at once.
Gods would only show people their ideal forms and would not let people carve out their real appearances.
Under the stone statue was a human wearing golden robes with their backs turned towards Andrea and Derek, only paying attention to the statue in front. Toward the figure's right was a pure white unicorn. This unicorn was different from the ones outside the sanctuary. It was even more superior and noble. Seeing her was like seeing happiness.
"…That unicorn is actually a… demigod!"
Derek was shocked and could not help but let out a low cry.
He immediately felt fear when he saw the unicorn. The golden figure reached out and gently stroked her beautiful white back as if to say that even a demigod unicorn was just a creature that brought happiness.
"Greetings venerable and mighty Lord Dragon God Louie Galakrond!"
The princess of the empire or a legendary rank warrior quickly collected themselves and set aside their pride as they performed the highest form of salute towards that figure.
Chapter 268
Lara gazed at the two visitors with slight apprehension.
Unicorns were highly vigilant of other living creatures. Although they did not only let people of high moral character ride them as the rumors said, they were creatures that weren't tainted with mortal filth. They would always live in deep forests or mountains where few others resided.
Although Lara was a demigod, she had never gone outside of the Forest of the Moon before. She had stayed in the Forest of the Moon for thousands of years and had only become a demigod thanks to the guidance of the Silver Moon Goddess.
As the Queen of the Unicorns and their protector, she had received the faith of the unicorns. Unlike Louie, she not only had to gather her own believers, but she also had to figure out her divine authority by herself.
This was the real path to godhood and took millennia to succeed. Prospective Gods would need to cultivate their own divinity, condense their divine authority, and create their godhood. Each step was very difficult and the slightest mistake would burn them to ashes.
For Louie who had been given a powerful godhood and divine authorities, he only needed enough divinity and faith to become a god. He did not have to do anything else as he went through the easy path.
Louie patted Lara's snow-white back, soothing her anxiety. At the same time, he used his ability to telepathically tell her, "Lady Lara, you have to overcome the nature and weakness of your race. Learn to come into contact more with mortals and other creatures. As long as you can do that, you should be able to condense your godhood in the future."
Louie's tone was relaxed and calm as if he was an elder teaching a unicorn that had lived for thousands of years.
"Your Highness Dragon God, thank you for your reminder. I will try my best to restrain this weakness of mine."
Lara also used divine power to silently communicate with Louie.
Although gathering divinity was a slow process, it wasn't difficult. One only needed an ample amount of time. For the unicorn that had lived thousands of years, she had already gathered enough.
As for condensing a divine authority, one had to do something related to the divine authority to be able to feel its true meaning. For example, to be able to gain the divine authority of justice, one had to exercise justice. What a God did need to be consistent with was their divine authority.
There was also no problem with this point. She had been the Queen of the Unicorns for thousands of years. This already met the requirements to become the God of Unicorns.
The last and most difficult thing was to use divine authority to create a godhood. This was the foundation of godhood. This process needed something akin to enlightenment. It was to supplement one's own defects.
Unicorns were overly vigilant by nature. This was why the Silver Moon Goddess made her leave the Forest of the Moon to make her come into contact with more people and races. This would eliminate possible future dangers. For a long time now, the Silver Moon Goddess could not oversee the entire Forest of the Moon and guarantee its safety, as a result, she had stayed in the forest, protecting it.
With Dragon City's establishment, Louie now stood like a wall that helped protect the forest. This was also why the Silver Moon Goddess was able to send Lara to him reassuringly and help her pass the last hurdle to become a god.
'The Silver Moon Goddess is too careful. It would be hard for a demigod to face any kind of danger. However, this unicorn is indeed a bit too pure and naive. It would be too easy to fool her,' Louie thought.
Derek and Andrea had remained kneeling respectfully. Louie did not pay attention to them, so they did not dare speak out first.
After reassuring Lara, Louie looked at the two of them and spoke with interest, "A princess and a legendary rank warrior. You have both traveled a long way to my Dragon City from the Subila Empire. I guess that there must be something you want to tell me?"
Derek and Andrea were shocked. Since the god had directly brought this up, Derek signaled to the princess with his eyes. Princess Andrea beamed a pure and clean smile, "God Louie, this is a letter that my father, Abel, asked me to hand over to you."
Louie extended a finger and the letter flew from the princess' grasp to his palm. He looked at the wax seal on the letter to verify its origins. Sure enough, it was the Subilan Royal Family's imperial seal. There were even magic fluctuations coming from it. If it was not opened with the right method, the letter would self-destruct. This was equivalent to a magic lock.
"Lord Dragon God, about lifting the spell…"
Before Andrea could finish her words, Louie waved his hands, "No need for the trouble."
With a wipe of his thumb, the spell on the letter was removed.
Derek and Andrea were once again shocked. This spell had been used for thousands of years and even demigods could not break it. It had been the favorite spell of the royalty and nobility when sending letters, but the spell was actually wiped off by the Dragon God.
'Could this be the difference between gods and demigods?!'
The two were anxious, but they did not dare voice it loudly.
Louie did not open the letter yet and looked at Andrea with his inverted golden pupils and said with a gentle smile, "I heard that your highness was ambushed by an assassin in the Subila Empire. Other than having this letter delivered, the emperor had sent you here for protection. He knows that even your brother cannot send someone to assassinate you in Dragon City."
Louie continued, "You really are favored by the Emperor. Even a legendary rank warrior is accompanying you."
"It's my honor for father to dote on me so much."
The princess of the Subila Empire let out a shallow smile and curtsied. Her smile was sweet and pure as she blushed.
"That's right, the Subila Empire's emperor is really a great man. Even the 'murderous and deceitful' emperor could turn a blind eye to things. This kind of boldness is quite rare in this world. It's a pity that I could not meet him.
Louie said with a deep smile in his eyes.
"W-what are you talking about, Lord Dragon God. Andrea cannot understand."
Princess Andrea was confused. Her eyes were clear and pure. Her long eyelashes swayed as she blinked and coked her head as if she could not understand Louie's words.
Seeing such a princess, Derek relaxed.
He first thought that Louie was suggesting that something was wrong with the princess, but after hearing her heartbeat smoothly and her facial expression remain unchanged, Derek could not find anything wrong with the princess at all.
If a legendary rank could not detect it, then a demigod wouldn't be able to find the root cause as well, but Louie who was close to becoming a true god could see the princess' soul tremble with his words.
'Her soul is not an ordinary soul, but a holy soul! However, there is no divinity or divine power coming from her weak human body. How interesting! This princess seems to be hiding an interesting secret."
Chapter 269
Although Louie was a bit curious, he did not pursue the root of the matter. As long as it was not something that would harm him or anything related to him, he was not in a hurry. He especially had a hunch that the princess' secret would eventually have something to do with him.
This was a god's premonition.
Louie raised his head and looked around the sanctuary. As a new god, he had not yet stayed in this world long enough to inscribe his entire history on its walls. Therefore there was a relatively small amount of content carved into the walls of the palace, which didn't help the sense of mystery.
Still, even this small amount made up a lot of content. The most important record was that of his establishment of Dragon City. It described how its people lived in hardship and suffering before the arrival of the dragon. It also showed their happy lives after his policies.
This was one of Louie's great achievements.
Seeing that the Dragon God did not probe too much into her own secrets, Princess Andrea seemed to sigh and hold back her expression. With innate gifts and experiences, no one but a god would be able to deduce her attitudes and emotions from her behavior.
Princess Andrea's light chiffon dress trailed on the ground. Her blue eyes lit up with wonder as she looked at the surrounding walls, "Lord Dragon God, what are these murals? Why have I not seen them before?"
As a knowledgeable princess, Andrea noticed that other than Louie's most publicized achievements, there were other stories that she had never heard of.
"This is the life of the previous Dragon God."
Louie smiled with a deep meaning.
The Five-Colored Dragon God had completely fallen. Its soul had dissipated from its flesh, and it was impossible for it to resurrect, hence he didn't worry about telling this story
Compared to the Terran Civilization's Intelligent Brain, Louie was much more grateful to the Dragon God. Most of Louie's power was inherited from it and not the Terrans. It could even be said that he and that Dragon God were both victims of that highly advanced race.
The only difference was that the Dragon God fell after resisting, while Louie wasn't even able to resist and was turned into a dragon.
'Since I inherited your power, your divine name, your godhood, and will soon inherit the community of dragons that you created, I will avenge you.'
As Louie thought of this, he opened the envelope in his hands and took a brief glance.
There was a lot of flattery in the emperor's letter, so Louie quickly filtered it out. He finally reached the main topic which was a proposal for a non-aggression pact between Dragon City and the Subila Empire. There was also hidden, between the lines, a proposal to work together against the Theocracy.
Unlike the modern concept of nation-states which existed on Earth, political organization in San Soliel was often centered around individuals like kings or lords. The only power large enough to be considered an empire was the Subila Empire.
'Unfortunately, though it is powerful, it does not have the patronage of any God. Once the gods wake up, it is only a matter of time before the empire is divided.'
'Gods will never allow a mortal to stand at their level.'
Louie flicked his finger and burned the letter in his hand. He looked at the princess thoughtfully and smiled, "It seems that the empire's current situation isn't too optimistic. There are many internal and external dangers."
"Although the empire has some problems, it is currently flourishing. It's too much to call its situation precarious," Andrea replied.
Louis smiled indifferently. Even if other people could not see it, as someone who was close to being a god, how could he not see the reality of what was happening to the empire?
In the eyes of ordinary people, the empire might be an unbeatable beast that occupied most of the western continent. It had a well-developed economy and claimed to have millions of soldiers and many powerful people.
Although the Subila Empire fought with the Theocracy, the Theocracy could not do anything about the empire. It knew that the Empire still held the advantage and the current emperor was a talented person. Moreover, he had two gifted sons that could succeed the empire once he was gone. He was a king who knew how to look to and understand the future economy of the empire and manage national wealth.
But only people at Louie's level knew that the Gods were waking up. The entire empire was already being infected with believers. This was not a place like Earth where Gods were fictitious beings.
The deities might still be very weak at the moment, but they were still able to give their believers power. And with time they would return to their thrones. As the country with the largest population, the empire had already become the main battleground for the Gods to spread their gospel.
The gods, whether good or evil, were there for the benefit. Thus, whatever the final results of this secret battle of the god were, it was impossible for mortals to remain supreme.
'The church will also be split as the God of War and Goddess of Morning fights. The Empire will also fall apart as the gods secretly fight for believers. With this pattern, the Western Continent's superpowers will collapse and shift in the coming years.
This was the result that Louie's eyes saw.
"However, since the emperor is so reasonable, and Dragon City has just been built, I am willing to sign a peace treaty with the empire."
Given the thread of the conversation so far, Andrea was shocked at his prompt agreement.
'That Emperor seems like he won't concede.'
Louie thought this way. The emperor of the Subila Empire seemed like he did not want his rule to be shattered. That's why he wanted to fight to the death against the different religions. In order to utilize his entire force on internal problems, he would want Louie, an external power, to not take advantage of their internal problems to attack.
Little did he know that Louie had no intentions of joining the Gods' competition in seeking believers from the empire. For a God, it wasn't the case of having the more the better. The number of believers had to still be within a reasonable range. For example, a god with high-tier divine power would need 500,000 true believers. Even if that god had 5,000,000 believers, it did not mean that the god would become stronger. The number of believers determined the lower limit of the gods rather than the upper limit.
With the internal situation of the Empire becoming this complicated, Louie did not know if he could come out victorious in the chaos. Moreover, Dragon City was still quite a distance away from the Empire. Even if he gathered believers there, it would not help Dragon City that much.
Compared to the Empire that was being competed over by the gods, Louie was more interested in the Seven Kingdom Alliance towards the east as well as the southern seas. There were many indigenous people there. Although their civilization was not as rich as the core countries of the continent, gods did not care whether their believers were civilized as long as they had poured their faith into them.
The southern seas were at the corner between Dragon City and the Silver Moon Kingdom. Louie could easily deal with hostile powers in the area. This was much less difficult than joining the fray in the Empire. At this time, those religions were probably still fighting to the death. On the other hand, Louie's believers were at peace and could already start farming.
Although Louie was not prepared to step into the muddy waters of the empire, since the Emperor took the initiative to make this request, Louie thought that this was the best time to extort the empire. If he didn't then he was not a dragon anymore.
"But there is a condition to this treaty. If the emperor can agree to my request, I will not only sign a peace treaty, but I can't even protect the path towards it. I can prevent the elves, the beastmen, and even the humans from the Seven Kingdom Alliance from crossing Dragon City to exert pressure on the Empire."
Louie's tone was awe-inspiring and carried an unmatched arrogance.
In truth, Louie was just trying to bluff his way. With his relationship between the elves and their racial characteristic, they would not go and invade the Empire. The Gods of the beastmen had also awakened, and now there was a lot of internal chaos there as well, so they did not have the wherewithal to cross the mountains and attack the Empire. As for the Seven Kingdom Alliance, there was a possibility that they might do so, but Louie was now preparing to deal with them. He planned to gather believers from there. Even if the other party did not provoke him, he would still go find them.
Louie was trying to gain advantages with nothing in exchange, but for Princess Andrea and Derek, his words were a blessing in the snow. Although the Princess refuted the Dragon God, that was only a negotiation tactic. In truth, they were the most knowledgeable about the internal and external crisis that the Empire was facing.
Princess Andrea's tone became more and more respectful. She raised her skirt which revealed her high-heeled shoes inlaid with precious stones and her short stockings that did nothing to hide her snow-white thighs.
She sounded cheerful and quickly said, "Please tell us your requests, Lord Dragon God. Andrea will report it to father with the fastest speed."
"First of all, for my first request."
Louie stood under his statue and stretched out a finger to the princess in front of him and revealed a playful smile, "I want you, the jewel of the Subila Empire, Andrea Abel Subila."
Chapter 270
"Me?"
Princess Andrea looked at Louie in shock. Her eyes widened as though she had heard wrong.
Derek, who was beside her, secretly sighed. If Corvin, who loved the princess, was the one standing here, he might just become agitated and face off with the god. Love was something that could make anyone lose reason.
But Derek, who was a legendary rank warrior, remained loyal to the Empire. Although he felt regretful that the jewel of the Empire, Princess Andrea, would just become an object, he did not have many other thoughts.
Women of royalty were political goods from the very beginning. Those born into royalty had long known about this.
"Your Highness Dragon God, I am happy that you think of me that way, but I am a mere mortal and you are a God who stands high above everyone. How can I suit your eyes?"
Quickly recollecting herself, Andrea smiled and responded. Her words seemed to imply her refusal, but her sweet tone masked that well. Instead, there was some innocent ambiguity contained within as she used logical words to persuade Louie.
Louie was pleased to see that she was so smart.
"I am a dragon."
Louie calmly blurted out these irrefutable words.
Princess Andrea lightly bit her lower lip. Her beautiful face expressed a smear of aggression and grief, but what was strange was that her turquoise blue eyes did not show much emotion, as if she did not mind becoming a political bargaining chip, or even the dragon's plaything.
It was well known that dragons were very lascivious. Male dragons, whether in heat or not, were interested in all beautiful female creatures. They could appreciate the aesthetics of every creature they saw. As a Dragon God of the Dragon God faith, it was within reason for Louie to be interested in beautiful female creatures.
Andrea was not proud of this, but she knew that her appearance was top-notch not only among humans but even elves. In addition to her pure and gentle temperament and her noble identity, she was attractive enough to become an object that everyone coveted.
In fact, although Louie liked the sense of vanity that the princess' appearance and noble identity brought him, he had already gone out with a goddess and got her pregnant. As a result, his possessiveness over Andrea was not particularly strong, but he was very interested in the secrets that she was hiding. If she stayed by his side, then perhaps he might be able to see more interesting things.
Princess Andrea sighed as if she was compromising and said, "I will report your request to father. If father agrees, Andrea is naturally willing to become a bridge between the Empire and you."
She spoke with a slightly listless and mechanical tone, as though she was treating herself as a pure bargaining chip for her country. For a brief moment, her radiance seemed to dim.
"Good. If the Emperor agrees to my request, then we can continue our discussion," Louie said.
"Your Highness Dragon God, if you still have any other requests, why not let this Andrea convey all of them to the Emperor."
She once again returned to her noble posture. Without a hint of shyness, she awaited Louie's next words.
After taking a deep look at the princess, Louie continued, "I heard that the Subila Empire has beastmen slaves."
"I do not know the exact number, but the empire has had many conflicts with the beastmen over the decades. There have also been slave traders who have traveled to the beastmen country to capture beastmen and bring them back alive to the empire."
Andrea's mind turned and immediately understood what Louie was pointing to.
Louie made some calculations and slowly spoke, "I need 50,000 beastmen slaves and 50,000 human slaves. Of course, Dragon City will compensate you for them."
Nowadays, the population of Dragon City is a bit unbalanced. It wasn't that there were too many humans, but rather the balance between elves and beastmen was too skewed. There were more than 50,000 elves in the city but only a few thousand beastmen. This was not conducive to the racial diversity that Louie desired.
He was the god of all dragons, but the number of dragons under him did not meet his needs. As a result, he needed human, elf, and beastmen believers. This was the only way he could consolidate his power.
Now that the gods of the beastmen were beginning to return, it would be difficult for him to capture beastmen slaves in the future. While the gods had not yet taken full control, Louie had to make up for the lack of beastmen population in his city.
With their high fertility, he would not have to worry as long as there were enough of them as a base.
'With this batch of human and beastmen slaves, Dragon City's citizen population should reach 300,000. After that, I need to gather faith from the southern seas and the Seven Kingdom Alliance.'
When Princess Andrea heard Louie's request, her brows knitted slightly. It was not that Louie's request was difficult, but it was too simple.
One hundred thousand slaves in exchange for friendship was not a loss of the empire. With Louie being willing to pay for the slaves, it could be said that the Empire made a profit.
The Dragon God making such a simple request was outside of Andrea's expectations.
As if seeing through Andrea's doubts, Louie just laughed, "Compared to the others, the princess is the most important part of my request."
Faced with the praise of a god, even if she was treated as an object, Andrea was still inwardly happy. Her beauty being able to move even the gods was definitely something for her to be proud of.
Although Louie said it like this, in truth, he was inwardly snickering. If he compared the princess to the 100,000 slaves, he would definitely choose the slaves, because these slaves would be his future believers.
If not for Dragon City being close to full, Louie would have asked for more, but 100,000 was the limit he could afford. With the gods fighting for believers in the Empire, if Louie took a lot of people out directly from the Empire, then he would make a good amount of them upset.
100,000 people should still be within the acceptable range. It would not turn him into a target. And he would rather not butt heads at this stage.
'I just need to ensure that the number of believers is enough. If the gods want to fight over there, then let them fight.'
Since the number of believers did not affect a god's power, a million and ten million were not much different. As long as he had a safe number of believers, he should be able to gradually gain more divine power.
The empire had a population of tens of millions of people. Louie wondered how many gods it would breed.
"Princess Andrea, if you have heard my request, please tell it to the emperor."
Louie sent her off politely.
Andrea and Derek respectfully bade farewell and left the palace.
After the two of them left, Louie looked at the Unicorn Queen beside him.
"Would you be willing to let me ride you and go on a tour of Dragon City?"
Chapter 271
Lara slightly bent her waist like a spirited horse waiting for her owner to ride her. Louie gently smiled, pressed his hand on her back, and climbed her spotless white back.
Louie had never ridden a horse before. On Earth, this was a hobby only the rich could afford, and he definitely did not qualify as a wealthy individual. In this life, he had become a dragon so there was no reason for him to ride a horse when he could just fly in the sky. Even if Louie tried to ride one, like a beast on top of the food chain, the horse would likely panic when confronted with his aura.
However, Lara was different. She was a unicorn that only appeared in legends and she was even the queen.
After getting on Lara's back, Louie felt strangely comfortable. Her back was so soft enough to feel boneless. It was as though he was sitting on the world's softest pillow, and he almost moaned in pleasure.
As his palm caressed her fur, he could feel that it was cold, soft, and smooth like precious jade. It was a double pleasure reminiscent of touching a small animal's fur and a young girl's skin at the same time.
Unicorns were rare and rarer still were the people who they recognized as riders. Probably just as few people rode on the backs of dragons.
It wasn't like this was Lara's first time having someone on her back. She had carried the Silver Moon Goddess before and toured the Silver Moon Kingdom. However, being ridden by Louie and being ridden by the Silver Moon Goddess gave her different feelings.
When she was carrying the Silver Moon Goddess, she felt more of a master-servant relationship than one of friends. When Louie got on her back, her limbs felt slightly numb, and could feel heat bubbling inside her.
'Could this be the feeling of a unicorn letting someone of the opposite sex ride them?'
Lara's heart stirred a little, but as a demigod who had lived for thousands of years and a unicorn at that, she did not have the shy emotions of a human girl. Instead, what she felt more were curiosity and delight.
Unicorns had a high requirement for their riders. Male unicorns were only willing to let females ride them, while female unicorns were only willing to let males ride them. Moreover, the relationship between the rider and the unicorn was more complicated. This was because unicorns were not horses. They had their own will and feelings that were different from normal animals. As a result, the relationship between the two was closer to that of a couple.
Lara as the Unicorn Queen and a demigod did not let any mortal ride her, As the guardian of the unicorns, male unicorns only felt gratitude and reference towards her. Unicorns were relatively pure at heart and would not have those kinds of lustful thoughts. They only liked passionate and sincere feelings.
Lara did not dare reject Louie's request, because she knew that he was a true god and had an intimate relationship with the Silver Moon Goddess. On the other hand, she was only the Goddess's subordinate. Perhaps she would also need the Dragon God's shelter in the future. For this reason, she could not refuse, not to mention that she had no instinctive aversion to Louie riding her.
Different species had different thoughts. For humans, riding a king was a great insult, but for a unicorn, being ridden by people was natural. They were only very demanding.
Louie was not aware of the complex thoughts passing through Lara's head. He only felt that she was truly beautiful. Her snow-white-fur, her hot and cheerful character, her robust limbs, and her mysterious horn were all in Louie's line of sight. This was enough to make any dragon excited and want to capture her and taste her beauty.
Her hooves pushed off the earth with no difficulty. Be it rock, dirt, mud, or any other terrain, she could easily move through them. No matter how complex the road was, she could maneuver through it.
The light of the Silver Moon in the sky reflected off of Lara's fur, making her glitter and shine. These lights weren't normal lights, but lights filled with divine power. Louie could tell that this was deeply connected to the SIlver Moon Goddess' power. It seemed that the Silver Moon Goddess thought very highly of Lara and had actually been using divine power to shelter her.
"A subordinate god and a pet.'
Louie had this thought.
Races that had a low population were naturally strong. Although they could not compare to dragons, unicorns would grow up to become as powerful as high-rank professions. So long as she remained Selune's subordinate, then if the unicorns ever encountered danger, Selune would mobilize the entirety of the elven race to assist them. And naturally, the unicorns would reciprocate if the need ever arose.
This was the system of the nature gods. They belonged to nature, grew with nature, and died with nature, so it was natural for them to help each other.
'It's no wonder that Her Highness Selune would leave such a big bargaining chip with me.'
It finally dawned on him. As the Dragon God, the Silver Moon Goddess also hoped that the dragons would have a better relationship with the elves, such as the green dragons that were common in the Forest of the Moon, or the black dragons that could be seen from time to time. Although the two dragons were cruel, under the order of a god, they would definitely side with the elves.
In the past, the Dragon God had completely operated from closed doors, and dragons had formed their own society. Other races did not intervene in their matters, but Louie was different. As the new Dragon God, his followers were diverse, resulting in dragons having a deeper communication with other races.
"Although the bluegrass and flowers that could be found in the Silver Moon Kingdom are absent in this place, this place has its own kind of beauty."
With Lara's speed, she was like a white train. Louie could even tell that if he were to run on the ground, he might even lose to her speed. In the blink of an eye, she had brought Louie to the peak of a mountain where the silver moon poured down. The snowy peak acted as a background for this pure white unicorn, creating extremely pure scenery.
Louie's outer coat that looked like gold caused this pure white to look a bit vulgar.
At the feet of the mountain was the scenery of Dragon City at night. The brightest and most lively street was the famous Tulip Street of Dragon City. Many large brothels, gambling houses, and lively taverns were located in the area.
The next brightest place was the residences of families. In the wider world of San Soliel, the residents of Dragon City could be called rich as every household could light up candles at night. This made the city shine like starlight, which was a unique scene in the main continent.
In contrast to the city's bright lights, Louie's chamber and his sanctuary were the only lights at the peak of the city. Louie was not a god who went as far as to promote the pleasures of life, so his sanctuary was solemn and majestic. If it was too bright, it would seem blasphemous.
"This is the light of order. Although less complicated than the beauty of the elves, it is clean and simple. This is the beauty that I seek."
Louie did not need to be as decadent as the elves with each building giving off a sense of art. What he needed was absolute law and cleanliness. He especially loved the square lines of his previous life.
Thus, every area of the city was clearly divided into zones. The military zone stayed only as the military zone. The business zone stayed only as the business zone. This way, things won't be too confusing.
"If one day I truly become a god like Her Highness Selune, I want to travel around the world and see the sights.|
The Unicorn Queen who had lived inside the Forest of the Moon for thousands of years suddenly found that the outside world was not as dirty as she imagined, even if this place was more complicated than the Forest of the Moon.
"You should be able to walk on this world, from south to north, from east to west. You are a unicorn and bring people happiness and blessing and take away their misfortune and anger. You are the helper of the poor, the unfortunate, and the abandoned. Show them the beauty of life, and I shall shelter you."
Louie's words were like a divine promise.
Lara suddenly came to an understanding and things became clear in her mind.
She was only a demigod and did not know what a god was. She was only a unicorn and was not as knowledgeable as the humans, beastmen, and elves. For Lara, it was difficult to become the God of the Unicorns, because unicorns did not form churches and follow rules and regulations. They also did not have religious geniuses like Clooney.
At this time, Louie pointed out the main characteristics of her race, allowing her to understand how the doctrine of the Unicorn Goddess should appear. How she should exalt her throne and create a church.
How could she not understand the good intentions and help Louie was giving her in his words?
Lara was in a joyful mood. Her tails swayed back and forth over Louie's body. The light fragrance and ticklish feeling of the tail made Louie reach out and grab it.
The Unicorn Queen instantly became like a frightened puppy as her tail stiffened for a moment, but soon she relaxed again and let Louie continue playing with her tail.
She was joyfully surprised. She felt a bit of trepidation and also felt happy. The dragon, riding behind her, was not as scary as she thought.
Chapter 272
Louie rode on Lara's back to his palace. As the city was developed, he made sure to pour some resources into expanding the grounds as well. With the power of magic, the vast gardens were in bloom throughout the year. Louie's appreciation for such delicate aesthetics marked him as significantly different from other dragons.
This was possibly one of the reasons why Selune was pleased with him.
Lara landed in the garden with a boom, waking up the maids in the palace. The elven servants formed a line as they saw the Unicorn Queen and their lord, Louie, standing in the garden.
Paying no attention to them, Lara bent down her neck and drank the pure water from a creek by her feet. Its cold but sweet waters flowed directly from the mountain itself.
Louie stood next to her as she drank, carefully caressing her mane. Eventually, his fingers wandered to her horn. Lara initially trembled at this action, but she reined in her instincts and let him rub it.
As though understanding her thoughts, Louie asked, "Is the root of the unicorn's horn a private place?"
Lara nodded gently. Her words were still lively, but they contained a trace of embarrassment, "It's how unicorns confess their love. If a male unicorn touches the horn of a female unicorn and the female unicorn has no objections, then they will be considered a couple."
Louie nodded his head in understanding. There were many different types of courtships in the world, especially among animals. Although unicorns were intelligent creatures, they were still closer to animals in behavior.
In fact, even dragons had similar customs. If a male dragon wanted to mate with a female dragon, he would first bite her neck. For dragons, the neck was considered the most sensitive area. And if the female did not resist, then it meant that she was allowing the male dragon to do as he pleased.
This was some of the knowledge that came from Louie's dragon instincts. He also tried it on Noella, but she was very resistant to such instincts. All the same, however, she was still a dragon. After Louie defeated her and bit at her neck, even if she was unwilling, she could only comply with his demands.
Despite learning of her horn's importance, Louie did not cease his actions but caressed it even more thoroughly. Lara became more visibly agitated at this point.
As the protector of unicorns, no other unicorn would dare touch the queen's horn. With how alert unicorns were towards other races, she wouldn't let other creatures touch it. The Silver Moon Goddess, who had been the only person who could touch it, wouldn't really have a reason to do so. As a result, Louie's behavior was quite unexpected.
"Lady Lara, can you turn into a human form?"
Louie used his finger to carefully rub her beautiful horn and felt the magical runes on it. Just like how his scales had magical runes carved on everyone, the unicorn's horn was also covered in magical runes. This was also the source of their powers.
Lara shook her head. Her eyes watered. She could not help open her mouth and lightly bit on Louie's hand as he caressed her.
The strength of the bite was light, like a young girl's desire to return the favor.
"I can't," she said.
Louis sighed but did not feel sorry. The ability to change one's form was something only the Gods, with the exception of some races, possessed. Even demigods could not easily achieve it.
Louie was already close to a true god, but because of the rules of the world, he could not use his divine powers to their full might. But since he was a dragon, and his racial gifts allowed for transformation, it was a simple matter for him.
Afterward, Louie's body shimmered with faint light. His human appearance became distorted. When the layer of light disappeared, what appeared in front of Lara was not a humanoid nor a dragon, but a unicorn that was the same as her.
After seeing what Louie had done, the distant elven maids whispered softly to each other. The shy ones turned their backs while the bold ones were excitedly looking at the two unicorns by the river. Some elves even tugged on their dresses, waiting to see if the Unicorn Queen could handle the lord's offense. If not, they would go and substitute.
After living with Louie for so long, the elven maids already knew his habits. In the daily life of the dragon, even the elves would be drowned in lust.
After seeing Louie turn into a unicorn, Lara was a bit surprised. Then Louie strode over to her side and used his horn to touch Lara's.
Although unicorns were intelligent creatures, their morals were different from humans and elves. Their instincts remained closer to animals. Facing the courtship of someone of 'the same race' as her, she could naturally reject it, but thinking that the unicorn in front of her had the qualifications of a god and the God of Dragons at that, she did not have much aversion to the thought and her heartbeat quickened.
The Unicorn Queen also intimately rubbed Louie's horn. This might have looked like a simple act, but there were a lot of patterns and hidden gestures that only unicorns could recognize. When Louie felt that things were getting interesting, Lara's limbs finally went soft. She kneeled down at the edge of the river.
How could Louie not know what to do at this time? In the distance, the elven maids watched as the two pure and beautiful white unicorns were stacked together.
If he was to have sex with the gods, Louie could fight for three days and three nights as he did with the Silver Moon Goddess, but unfortunately, demigods could not compare to true deities. Half a day later, Lara was unable to bear it and collapsed in the pool of water.
Louie did not have any complaints about this. He thought about the moment once the Unicorn Queen becomes a god. With her weak divine power, she would naturally need shelter. He could even turn her into his own mount and do all kinds of things if he so wished.
The elven maids came to the pool and cleaned up Louie and Lara, but Louie felt that this was superfluous. Even the most ordinary unicorn remained magically clean no matter what, let alone a demigod unicorn.
However, Lara still lets the elves rinse her body and enjoy their services.
It was not the first time she had been served by the elves. With her relationship with the Silver Moon Goddess, there were even elves specialized in serving her back in the Silver Moon Kingdom, after all, the unicorns' physiognomy made grooming another difficult.
Lara only took a short break, after all, demigods could recover very fast. Soon, Lara once again stood up and rubbed her head against Louie who had already turned back into human form. She felt a faint sense of attachment to him.
"Your Highness, although unicorns pursue happiness and pleasure but not desire, as a community we should help one another. No matter which race unicorns choose to be with, we will always be together. Your Highness, you are now Lara's only rider."
Lara's voice was cheerful and gentle. This was no human vow of devotion, but the queen of unicorns.
Chapter 273
The jovial melodies of song and dance resounded from within Louie's palace.
The beautiful elven maidens, dressed in beautiful clothes, danced in their traditional forms within the hall. They twirled with elegant pirouettes, leaped into the air with clean motions, and ultimately frolicked in a coordinated manner that filled all who were lucky enough to see them with joy and vibrance.
At this time the human maids were shuffling around the hall, dishes in hand. These had been prepared by the finest cooks of the halfling race with the finest of ingredients that Louie had at his disposal.
In this banquet hall, various senior officials of Dragon City were gathered. Marches, Lysfer, Sisna, and the others were obviously present. There were even officials who Louie only knew by name but rarely saw.
With the expansion of Dragon City's population and construction works, there was a need to expand the city's administrative capacities as well. Louie had ensured that there were no shortfalls in the requirements of his burgeoning civil service.
And these officials were considered as new nobles of Dragon City.
Louie was not particularly against the idea of forming an aristocracy, especially since it was the norm in this world. So long as the church remained preeminent and the people's livelihoods were guaranteed, he really didn't care much.
The banquet this time was a farewell banquet held for Her Highness, Princess Andrea of the Subila Empire. However, as guests were being sent off, Andrea and her escorts did not seem happy. She struggled to keep a polite smile on her face, but from time to time anxiety and fear crept into her expression.
As pretty as the elves were, no one dared to ogle them in the presence of their master, who was seated ao the sole throne in the hall.
At the very top was a man wearing golden garments. His facial features were hidden away by a mysterious blur. He sat languidly but he carried an awe-inspiring aura. Beside him were two elven maids kneeling on the ground and serving him wine and food.
Their clothing was practically non-existent, revealing their snow-white skin. As though ignorant of the authority and attention he commanded, he simply relished the delicious meals the servants fed him and fondled them without restraint.
His behavior perfectly reflected the scant regard that Gods had for mortals.
Beside him sat a pure white unicorn being fed fruits by another set of elven maidens. Its presence alone was sufficient to command their attention. After all, it was a true blue demigod.
"Princess Andrea. I hope you can bring me some good news on your return to the Empire."
Louie drank a mouthful of wine that the elves fed him and watched the emotionally conflicted princess avoid eye contact. The young guard to her left also seemed to react emotionally, arousing Louie's amusement.
Noella's dragon body lay in the corner of the hall as she slept without care for her surroundings. On the other hand, Lucifer had already drunk a bottle of high purity wine that Louie called 'white wine'. Her cheeks were scarlet as she stared at Princess Andrea with wild eyes.
She knew about the negotiations between Louie and the Princess. If the Subila Emperor agreed to Louie's demand, then Dragon City would have 50,000 more beastmen. Although they would only be slaves at first, they would eventually come under Lysfer's command.
Because of the thousands of elves in Dragon City, Sisna not only had a high position in the Silver Moon Kingdom, but she also had a high position in Dragon City. Marches was smart and did not seek power, moreover, he was diligently working hard to get stronger while managing the city's mages and living in luxury. As for Clooney who once had the lowest status, he had now become a founder of the Dragon God Church, thus enjoying great authority.
Noella and Roselia were not interested in power. With their natural strength, they had a stable status.
The only one who was different was Lysfer. There were only around 2000 beastmen in the city and she was only at the ninth rank. Having seen that she could not reach the legendary rank in a short time and being obliged to improve her followers' living standards, Lysfer felt that her position had weakened. The main reason was that the population of beastmen in the city was too small to form any major influence.
Thus, Lucifer was someone who wanted the treaty to succeed. As long as the number of beastmen increased, her position would only rise in importance.
"Yes, Your Highness Dragon God. I will inform my father of your request word for word. He shall make the final decision.
Andrea's smile was bright and cheerful once more as if her sorrow and pain had been forgotten, but only she knew how sad she truly felt.
Andrea was not sad that she might become a political sacrifice, nor was she sad about what would happen to her body or reputation. What she was worried about was being kept in captivity by Louie. If that happens, then her great plan would die, because, under Louie's watch, she wouldn't be able to do anything.
'Is this the most my life would amount to?'
Andrea felt resentment in her heart, but she simply could not resist Louie nor the will of the Empire.
The eyes of the god seemed to have sensed Andrea's inner emotions. Louie laughed lightly and spoke calmly, "I will go into a deep sleep after this. If the emperor rejects my proposal, you don't have to tell me. If he agrees, then I will leave the exchange to Clooney and Lysfer. There is no need to bother me."
Louie was preparing to return to Earth. He had already thought of plans to increase his believers and was preparing to put them into action.
As a god, Louie felt that he would soon not be able to personally handle the political affairs of the city. Dragon City would soon need a new lord. Although the people gathered here were mostly trustworthy, they weren't Louie's heirs. He couldn't feel comfortable leaving the city in their hands.
'Fortunately, my child will be born in a few months. I will personally teach her how to become a qualified lord and turn her into a qualified queen. My daughter, once you are born, the Forest of the Moon will whisper your name and I will become a star and raise my throne. At that time, you will be crowned queen.'
Louie was calm. The sooner his daughter was born the sooner he could properly ascend.
The people of Dragon City were already familiar with Louie going into a deep sleep from time to time because this was the nature of dragons.
After a pause, Louie continued, "Princess Andrea, If this matter is concluded, perhaps I can help you achieve your wish."
Louie did not know what Andrea had in mind, but he knew that she wanted to ask for something and that was enough. Louie was already familiar with these kinds of things. As Andrea heard Louie's words, her heart trembled.
She raised her gaze to lock with Louie's. After a few seconds of trying to meet his eyes, she smiled sweetly and bowed her head, "If that is so, I shall thank Your Highness Dragon God."
Andrea had been planning to nullify the treaty in some way as she did not want to become Louie's possession, but Louie's promise gave her a change of heart. What she wanted to do was very difficult, but if there was a god willing to help her, then perhaps she could succeed.
In an instant, Princess Andrea changed her mind and decided to make an effort for the success of this treaty.
A god's promise was something worth the risk.
What's more, Andrea instinctively did not want to disobey Louie. She felt that doing so was an extremely terrifying risk.
Chapter 274
Princess Andrea and her attendants left Dragon City and returned to the Subila Empire.
In Louie's opinion, his proposal would be accepted. The emperor of the Subila Empire, Abel II, was a brilliant man. In addition to the efforts of past emperors, his rule and hard work for the past ten years had also helped the empire reach unprecedented levels of prosperity.
And the more shrewd the emperor was, the more likely he would choose the right decision to solve his problems. If the Subila Empire's emperor was just an ignorant king, he might not have agreed to his proposal. But Abel was no fool. He would definitely endure humiliation for the continuation of the empire.
"Unfortunately, your enemies this time are gods, and it isn't just one god, but several gods. Even if you have the ability to rule a country, the final conclusion will leave you depressed."
Louis sat on top of the mountain of gold in the hall that was created from many strange and exotic treasures. Of course, this throne was only big enough for his human form.
He dismissed all the guests, causing the entire hall to become quiet. This was the order Louie would give whenever he goes to sleep. The officials of Dragon City and the palace maids were already used to this.
Louie sat on the throne with one hand propped on his cheek as he began to think.
If the gods all regained their power and churches, then the Subila Empire would not last long before it completely fell apart into several smaller countries. Each territory would have a different king and a different god that they believed in. Moreover, the kings wouldn't actually have any real power.
However, because the gods were still weak at the moment and their churches were just forming, the emperor was still able to resist, but it was just a matter of time. In the long run, everything was futile and hopeless.
"These are the shackles of being mortal. Without having seen the power of gods, he thought that he could reach out to them. He even thought to use his kingly powers to actually defeat them, but unfortunately, this is a pipe dream… But this is also good. If you truly surrendered to the gods, that would be bad for me. The more successful you are at staving off their advance, the more time I have to improve my situation."
Louie tapped the throne's armrest with his other hand. He had given Princess Andrea a secret letter before she left. The secret letter did not only contain Louie's request but also contained his willingness to assist the Empire to a certain extent.
As the lord of Dragon City, Louie did not want to see the Gods recover quickly, especially the human gods. Although it was impossible to completely stop them, he would rather cause small problems with his limited support. This way, not only would the emperor agree to his request, but the emperor would also gain a bit more confidence in his endeavor.
Even if the emperor knew that Louie had ulterior motives, this was a completely open proposal. Even if he understood Louie's plans, he was still bound to choose this path.
Using dirty tactics was the way of evil, but using open plans was the righteous and kingly path. This was like the wheel of history forcing its way through. No matter how much you understood it, you could not resist it.
"Intelligent Brain, do you have any way of putting an alarm on the portal?"
Louie's tone was calm as he opened his mouth to ask.
With his many experiences till today, he had already grown out of his apprehension and teenage mind from when he had just turned into a dragon. He had already completely grown up. His words did not carry any teasing or joking tone anymore and only bore a majesty and coldness that would cause mortals to tremble.
Even if he lost all his powers at this moment, he still had the ability to reach a high position in the world of mortals. He was no longer the muddle-headed young man of the past.
A person's environment could change their temper, and the way they were raised could change their constitution. Louie already did not meddle in affairs that were not part of his position. He had already seen himself as a god and lost his mortal way of thinking. Exercising the way of the gods with the smallness of mortals was simply putting the cart before the horse. His final goal was to become a god and become a wave in history.
Those who were called gods yet still had mortal thoughts were just powerful mortals. Without the power to match the mind and will, the individual was still 'human' and not a 'god'.
Gods were loyal to desire and high above all. Although they could be kind, they had to be able to make decisions when the time comes. Gods should live like gods and not live like humans in divine bodies.
Desire was not just greed, lust, and these kinds of things. Even doing good deeds and fulfilling justice was also a desire. God's desire was everything to them.
[Host, because you have found sufficient energy sources, I have regained some of my functions. I will set up an alarm around the wormhole with the power of the Terran Civilization. It will not be discovered by any living being in the world of San Soliel. If this place is invaded, I will notify you to return to San Soliel so that you can immediately cross through space-time.]
[I hope that the host quickly finds more energy sources. I can even move the wormhole to anywhere the host desires.]
The Intelligent Brain's words echoed in Louie's mind. Louie remained emotionless but he inwardly sneered.
The words of the intelligent brain might sound normal, but it was trying to urge him to quickly find the energy sources by telling him that it could move the wormhole if he found more of it and prevent him from having more worries.
Now that the gods had woken up, Louie did not dare become careless, especially when the Goddess of Night was surprisingly well acquainted with the Terran Civilization. He was afraid that she might destroy the portal or even cross over to the other world. Both of these results were unimaginable disasters for Louie.
'In the past, I thought that it was fine if it was destroyed and could accept it even if I stayed in San Soliel or Earth forever, but now, I need both sides to develop my powers as a 'foreign god'. I definitely cannot let anything happen to this portal!
'It seems that because I have done well in this world, the Intelligent Brain is becoming more and more attentive to me. It even took the initiative to reveal its capabilities to protect the portal. With the Terran Civilization's technology, I can even be at ease and make preparations for when the other gods come here.
Louie sat on his throne for a full day. After calculating that there was nothing else to be wary about, he raised his eyes and flicked the dust of his fingers. His body disappeared from the throne and appeared in front of the portal.
Then he did not hesitate and took a step into the portal.
He wanted to collect more faith from Earth before becoming a god as well as experiment with a few more of his ideas.
….
Earth would once again descend into chaos.
Chapter 275
On Earth, in a deep mountain in China, a doorway suddenly popped into existence. The moment a foot appeared from it, the surrounding few kilometers had turned silent.
The birds that stood on branches did not dare chirp. The insects that made various noises froze. The fauna kneeled on the ground and shivered as time seemed to freeze.
This was the power of Louie's draconic might. As his body had reached adulthood, his natural pressure had become increasingly potent.
He appeared in a concealed state. The moment he placed both feet on Earth's soil, he expanded his perception in order to understand his surroundings.
He understood that it was safe and that there were no humans around. This was also the place from which he teleported back to San Soliel the last time he visited Earth.
Today's Louie was much bolder compared to the past. He was now infinitely close to becoming a god and had abundant divine power. If any country dared to bombard him with nuclear missiles, he didn't have anything to fear. As long as he used some divine power and his divine domain, then he could offset their power.
This was the difference between the two civilizations. Earth's weapons were fully capable of wiping out any powerhouse in San Soliel, but once the gods of San Soliel came into the picture, then the strength between the two civilizations would flip. After all, even the technology of the Terran Civilization ultimately failed to subdue them.
However, Louie had nothing to fear on Earth. He was not prepared to be reckless, because his main purpose was to develop believers and absorb faith. If he exposed too much of himself, it would have a detrimental effect on the faith that he gathered.
"In fact, the easiest way to do this would be to eliminate the spread of science, so that Earth's human civilization would once again return to the age of ignorance. That way, I would be able to make the entire human race believe in me, but that project will be too large. It will take several generations to make mankind abandon the scientific creed and that is too long for me."
"Moreover, the loss of science would decrease Earth's population and reduce the planet's efficiency at extracting resources. It's really not worth it."
At this moment, he could understand the cruelty of the gods of San Soliel. For gods, believers were the sheep and they were the shepherds. What every god was doing was herding mortals for their own benefits.
Louie pondered how to expand his faith. This would require him to involve every aspect of himself.
"Although I had appeared as a Torch Dragon before and obtained a certain amount of faith, what is popular at the moment isn't eastern culture but western culture."
Louie slightly sighed. The Torch Dragon was something that East Asian people would know, but a foreigner and the vast majority of people on Earth would probably shake their heads. If you spoke about angels and demons, almost every civilized person would know about them.
This was the same as Han-era clothing which wasn't known well in the western world. On the other hand, western clothing was the world's understanding of formal wear. This was a historical legacy that even a God could not change in a short span of time.
"In order to maintain the diversity of mystery, mysteries from the east, from the north, west, and from the south should also appear. This would make the mysteries seem more real. However, the fastest way to collect faith is undoubtedly using the Christian religion."
Since he needed to collect faith in a quick and reliable way, this is what he decided on.
The last time he used eastern mythology was a small gift Louie gave to his once home. It was also just an experiment that he did without putting too much of himself.
However, things were now different. Louie needed a fast and simple method to convince the world. If he suddenly used the eastern myth that Pangu created the world, it would not be able to beat the creation mythology written in the bible.
Because even the people of China, other than those who love reading novels, knew more about the Christian god as compared to Pangu. This was the saddest part about the cultural spread.
However, Louie had no intentions of playing Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, and other such characters. This was because it would be too fake.
These kinds of mythological characters were more suited to background characters. Moreover, they could not have any humanity. If those gods were human in nature, it would be contradictory.
Especially for an existence like Yahweh. Yahweh was known as the only god and is omniscient and omnipotent. If an omniscient and omnipotent god suddenly appears in front of humans, Earth would not be able to accommodate such a huge being.
Gods should remain as gods and simply be everyone's spiritual support.
Moreover, Louie could not perform the omniscient part. Even if the gods of San Soliel worked together with so many divine authorities overlapping, not even they could become omniscient and omnipotent. If they could, then the Terran Civilization wouldn't have been able to invade it and exterminate the majority of its population.
"The sole god system is different from San Soliel's system. Moreover, if I played as the sole god, it would create a paradox. The world of San Soleil might not accept me because the sole god doesn't exist in it."
In the world of San Soliel, if a god's doctrine dictated that they were the only god, then they would be targeted by other gods. There was also no possibility of there being only a single god due to the many contradictory and incompatible divine authorities. There was order and chaos, good and evil. If a god dared to put them all in a single body, they would surely go mad and perish, causing the divine authorities to scatter once more.
"If any god dares to do it, then it might only be those of the Cthulhu mythos."
"I cannot pretend to be the sole god. Nor can I act it out. It would create a big loophole that could expose me, but if I use it solely to gather faith, it's not an impossible thing."
"Because of the freedom of modern literature, people's thoughts are more liberal. They do not pursue ancient religions as thoroughly, especially the young generation. They may be more interested in angels and demons."
"So, the best and fastest method would be to have all sources of faith come face to face against each other. Whether it was good or evil, it would all come from me."
"Others might not be able to do it, but I can do it because I am the only god on Earth."
Louis smiled.
"In order to make a better play, I need some supporting actors. What I need now is an evil soul that's in the process of falling. That's the best way to portray demons."
"Since it's too much trouble to look for one, I should make one!"
Louie took a step forward and his figure vanished.
Chapter 276
Shanghai University —
"Ye Feng, I don't really like you. Can you please stop pestering me? My boyfriend is coming over in a moment."
"No, I'm not pestering you. It's just that I like you, no, I love you. I know that you like me too, Zhou Qian."
The teenager named Ye Feng spoke in a tense voice. His reddened face showed how much courage he had mustered in order to confess.
Although Zhou Qian was annoyed, she was well-educated. Seeing that there were people watching the scene, she suppressed her annoyance and said, "I already have a boyfriend."
"I, I don't mind being your second."
TLN: WTF?
Ye Feng also did not know why he said such stupid words. He hated his big fat mouth and blamed it on his nervousness which caused him to blurt out wrong words.
Sure enough, the girl named Zhou Qian scowled. After giving him a fierce glare, she turned around and left.
Ye Feng's heart chilled. He wanted to quickly catch up with her and apologize, but before he could do so, a man ran over to the girl. Seeing the man, the anger in Zhou Qian's expression disappeared as they both held each other in their arms. Then Zhou Qian whispered something into his ears.
The man frowned at Ye Feng and knew that his girlfriend had just been confessed to, but no one could really stop him from confessing. He wanted to warn Ye Feng, but he was held back by Zhou Qian. After the two exchanged a few words, the man let go of his anger and glared at Ye Feng before leaving with Zhou Qian in his arms.
The surrounding people who were watching the liveliness laughed and joked as they left, but Ye Feng felt the painful sting of their mockery.
'It's not that I said it insincerely. I just said the wrong thing at the spur of the moment.'
'That man isn't even more handsome than me, so why does Zhou Qing like him?'
'Heh, he must be rich. Zhou Qian is probably looking at his family's assets.'
'Isn't he just a man being played around with a gold digger? Why should I waste my time on such a woman.'
In his flustered state, Ye Feng tried to rationalize his rejection, but he couldn't shake off the shame of the encounter.
Ye Feng's parents died in an accident when he was young and he was treated as a pest by his remaining relatives. Only his grandmother took care of him diligently, but two years ago she died. With his own efforts, he got into a nationally renowned university, but he did not expect that he, who thought himself a genius, would see even brighter individuals and fade into mediocrity. Thus his self-esteem hit the rocks.
Zhou Qing was their class president. Her family conditions were great and she was a beautiful person with a helpful and gentle personality. After knowing Ye Feng's situation, she had helped him apply for a grant and taken care of him quite a lot. As a result, Ye Feng gained the illusion that the other party liked him, so he took the courage to confess.
He never imagined that things would become like this and that he would even offend her.
'Hai, what a blind woman.'
Ye Feng arrived at a lake and hatefully kicked on the stones under his feet, but he did not expect that the riverside would be slippery. After not paying attention, he slipped to the side of the lake and fell into the water.
"Someone jumped into the lake."
"Does anyone know how to swim? Someone save him!"
"Wasn't that the guy who confessed just now? Is he trying to kill himself because his confession failed?"
"What a fragile man. Moreover, from his words, he was willing to be a fling. It's better to stay away from these kinds of people."
"Stop talking nonsense. We have to do something!"
Those were the voices Ye Feng heard before he passed out.
He was filled with resentment and his heart roared with rage.
'Who jumped into the river to kill themselves? I just accidentally fell into the water. Someone come save me! God, have I ever done anything to offend you?!'
When Ye Feng opened his eyes, everything was pure white. When he smelled the antiseptic in the air, he knew that he was in the hospital.
He stared blankly at the unrecognizable ceiling in dead silence as if he had lost his soul.
This was because a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Sensing the host's strong resentment. The strongest demon system has been activated.]
Host: Ye Feng
Age: 19
Sin points: 3
Strength: 6
Reaction: 5
Vitality: 4
Magic: 0
Overall Combat Power: 5
Evaluation: Weak mortal
Ye Feng looked at the data reflected in the corner of his eyes. Seeing that the walking nurses did not notice this screen-like object, he felt ecstatic. He had read countless web novels and wasn't afraid of what was happening.
Recently, dragons, Cthulhu, and many other monsters had appeared on Earth. Counter to monsters, cultivators, and onmyouji had also appeared. All signs indicated that Earth was not so simple and that mysterious existence had always been present.
Many young people were excited and hoped to encounter miracles that would turn them into novel protagonists. They hoped to obtain treasures and secrets that could help them ascend.
When he fell into the lake and woke up, this system suddenly appeared before his eyes. Was this not the description of what a novel protagonist was supposed to be?
In an instant, Ye Feng's excitement rose and his aggression had disappeared.
'There should be no problem with this system right? Could it be detrimental to me?'
'No, what am I thinking? I am just an ordinary person. There must have been an extremely powerful existence that created this system, but how did I arouse their interest?'
'Moreover, I am just a normal person. Without the system's help, how could I rise up to great heights?'
Affirming this, he asked inwardly.
[What's the use of the system?]
[This is the strongest demon system. Its goal is to create the strongest demon. After making the previous owner the strongest demon, the system has wandered in the void for millions of years before arriving at the current candidate.]
[Previous host? Who was the previous host?]
[The previous host's true name is beyond mortal understanding, but based on the host's memories, he should be the entity known as Lucifer. ]
'Lucifer? What the fuck, it's Lucifer! Could it be that I would become a mythical figure with invincible powers in the future?'
Ye Feng was excited after hearing the system's answer. In his mind, he was already fantasizing about angels, fallen angels, and other such creatures kneeling before him.
He barely suppressed his excitement and continued to ask.
[How do I use you?]
[Host only needs to complete the tasks issued by the system and do bad things to accumulate sin points. Then you can exchange sin with various skills, bloodlines, and other things. The system is voluntary. If the host does not want to complete the task, the host can refuse without penalty.]
'Sin? Bad things? Sound about right since it's called the strongest demon system. Being able to refuse tasks sounds quite sweet.'
Ye Feng only hesitated for a moment but desire quickly burned in his eyes.
'What's wrong with doing bad things to become stronger!'
'Life has its ups and downs; don't look down on a poor young man.'
'Today, my love ignored me, tomorrow, you can't afford to reach me.'
'I am the master of my own destiny.'
Ye Feng's mind suddenly flashed with all kinds of lines from novels that he had read.
[The system shall quickly create a task.]
[In view that this is the host's first time, the task will begin with the simplest thing to do.]
[Task content: Steal a lollipop from a kindergartener. Let the child howl and cry.]
Seeing the task, the corners of Ye Feng's mouth twitched as he comforted himself.
'This is very reasonable. First, start from the smallest evil things and slowly cultivate my power. If I was suddenly asked to kill and set fire to things, I may not be able to do it.'
As he thought so, Ye Feng calmed down.
Chapter 277
"I-I did it."
Ye Feng trembled as he looked at the 'Want Want Senbei' in his hand. He pulled down his face mask and said with a crying voice.
Robbing a kindergartener's snack was quite difficult. As an adult, Ye Feng also had his own pride. If he was found stealing from a child, he really did not know if he could still live, but in the face of the system's temptation, he suppressed these thoughts. After buying a suit and a face mask and struggling with his inner conscience for half a day, he took a plunge and snatched a 'Want Want Senbei' from a 4-5-year-old girl's hand.
He had to settle for this snack because he simply couldn't find any kindergartner eating a lollipop.
"Waaaaaah. Waaaaaaah!"
Ye Feng was quick on his feet as he left the area. His mild guilt was soon washed away by the joy of the system responding to his action.
[Ding! Host has completed the task. Sin points will be rewarded and can be used to increase attributes.]
'As expected, this also worked. The most important aspect of the challenge should be stealing from a child. My guess was right.'
'A point into my attributes. This is indeed system-like!'
[System. Increase my strength.]
Ye Feng suppressed his excitement and said to the system inwardly. He didn't know if the system was real or not and decided to test it by increasing his strength.
Ye Feng felt warmth rise from his body. He did not yet flex, but he instinctively knew that he was a bit stronger.
'This system is real. It's not in vain that I ruined her day.'
Ye Feng was overjoyed and he danced.
At this time, someone pressed down on his shoulder and startled him. When he turned around, he saw a police officer standing behind him.
"Student, I saw what you just did. Come with me and apologize to the little girl over there and her parents."
The policeman looked at the college student in front of him with a contemptuous look, clearly disappointed with his behavior.
'Crap! This wasn't part of the plan. Should I kill him to silence him? No, I am still very weak. It's better to hold back for now.'
Thinking about the protagonists of all the novels he read, Ye Feng decided to play patient even if he was disgraced.
'Once I become more powerful with the system, just wait and see.'
He thought fiercely in his heart, but in reality, he helplessly followed the police and met the little girl and her parents. Under the crowd's words of scorn and her crying face, he began to apologize.
—-
Shanghai -Dragon Group Office-
"Gui Bin, take a look at this report.
The leader of the division handed over a report as he finished his smoke.
Both he and Gui Bin had dark circles under their eyes and tired expressions.
Since mysterious powers had been confirmed to exist, the whole world had become chaotic… This was especially so after the incident of the Torch Dragon manifesting the sun. More than anything else, most people were afraid of these mysterious powers.
Every single country had begun to pour more human and material resources into the search for supernatural forces as they feared being unable to adapt to the future. As a result, departments investigating mysterious forces naturally became a top priority for all countries. These departments became the envy of other departments due to the good treatment and material support that they received.
As the seniors of the departments, these two had also received a huge increase in salary. Because Gui Bin had come in contact with the mysterious old man from the Ming Dynasty and received items that contained mysterious powers within, his status was not the same as before. He even gained some military powers.
The 'Dragon Group' wasn't really called that. There was a different official name in the national records, but in private, everyone jokingly called their organization the Dragon Group, especially since the United States of America had 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' as theirs.
"Chief, have you tried those pills yet?"
Gui Bin received the documents handed over to him by the leader. He did not rush to open them and asked.
"It was that old man who gave you some pills, so I naturally passed it on to the government. The state has also conducted experiments with them, so I was about to talk to you about them."
"When it comes to those pills, the higher-ups have been ecstatic. Medical scientists have studied them and concluded that they were manufactured using only ordinary Chinese medicine. However, when they were used on humans, the results were astounding."
"At first, the country used them on some death row inmates. These individuals had poor health and the results were just as the old man had said – they died violent deaths."
"Afterward, the special forces soldiers volunteered to participate in the experiment. After these battle-hardened soldiers took the pill, they did not die. On the contrary, their physical qualities increased and they broke through human limits. Even those hidden injuries that modern medicine could not treat were healed up. This is simply incredible."
The leader clicked his tongue in amazement.
"This is simply human strengthening. Because of this, the country had created a group of a hundred reinforced humans. It is said that this group has high combat power and could be one of our nation's trump cards. Why do you think the two of us would be promoted so quickly? I have to thank you for this. The things you passed on are helpful to the country, but I just don't know if we can decode how exactly these pills are produced."
Although the role of human forces had become infinitely small as technology developed, these soldiers were still superior in small-scale battles. In the jungle and other places with complex terrain, these people could display extraordinary prowess. With Earth dominated by an era of peace, small-scale battles were more frequent and required human resources. Countries would not walk on the big stage and start fights, as a result, having this group of soldiers participate in small-scale battles would allow them to dominate the battlefield.
Gui Bin was also happy to hear this. He was inwardly grateful to the old man. He even began praying to the Torch Dragon, but just in a casual way.
Since the old man said that he wanted to promote faith in the Torch Dragon, the state turned a blind eye after receiving benefits. They neither prevented nor supported the belief as long as it wasn't as problematic as the belief in Cthulhu. The state decided to take a stance on freedom of faith.
In any case, with regards to the mysterious pills, the country would require a long time to study them.
Gui Bin opened the file in a good mood. His expression became serious as he read the contents.
Other than papers and photos, there were even memory cards with videos inside. When Gui Bin opened his computer and looked at the videos, he saw a teenager jump three meters high and even used the power of his mind to make a stone float.
"This isn't just another fake, right?"
Gui Bin asked.
Right now, the country is looking for extraordinary people. Naturally, many religions also popped up, but after an investigation, they all turned out to be liars and scammers. None of them were real. As a result, Gui Bin also suspected that this video was also altered.
"This is taken from one of our security cameras in Shanghai. With multiple angles taken, we have determined that it might be real."
The leader's words made Gui Bin pick up the papers and read them.
"Ye Feng, a sophomore in the literature department of Shanghai University. His parents died early and his family's social situation is unremarkable. According to our investigation, there were no abnormalities found in the past. The first abnormality began when he snatched some kindergartener's Want Want Senbei. After which he began fighting people, stealing, and acting arrogantly. It's very different from his past attitude. This was also taken while he was running in the suburbs. His running speed has broken the Guinness World Record.
"The special abilities he has demonstrated were also being strengthened. Recent videos have found that he possesses 'psychokinesis'. We have already sent a number of senior officers to follow and closely monitor him. His current actions aren't too harmful yet, but if his power and behavior are deemed as a threat to national security, we may recommend immediate arrest and research."
Gui Bin read the report and frowned.
With modern human technology, as long as it wasn't something incomprehensible like Superman or the Torch Dragon, the so-called people with supernormal capabilities were not so scary. Hot weapons had the ability to kill people like Ye Feng reliably. Although he tried to be careful, it was only a matter of time before he was exposed to modern technology."
"This person is named Ye Feng. His parents are dead. He was always bullied in the past. After suddenly obtaining mysterious powers, his behavior changed. He simply looks like he's doing missions and his power is gradually getting stronger. This is what novel protagonists are like."
Gui Bin, who had read countless novels, closed the investigation report, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Chapter 278
Ye Feng's eyes were bloodshot. As he gazed at the seductive form of the lady before him, he felt a lust he had never felt before. It eroded his conscience, his reasoning, and even his awareness of anything else but its burning desire. More than anything else, Ye Feng wanted to rip apart her clothes and ravish her.
The woman in front of him was wearing a nightgown. Her facial features were so ornate that Ye Feng felt he was looking at the most beautiful woman in the world.
Although Ye Feng had been studying at Shanghai University for more than a year, he knew the identity of the women in front of him very well. She was Qin Taxi, a member of a famously wealthy family in Shanghai, and one of the wealthiest families in China. In many ways, she was even more famous than some movie stars.
Ye Feng suddenly felt ashamed of his past self. The Zhou Qian who had rejected him in the past was a far cry from Qin Xi's beauty. He wondered why he was so fascinated by that girl.
'With the system, this kind of woman should become a member of my harem. I can even gain the support of her family.'
Ye Feng's heart was uplifted. His mind thought about his magnificent future, and his reddened eyes emitted more and more madness.
After working hard on committing various criminal acts, Ye Feng felt that his current strength had completely surpassed that of ordinary people. His physical capabilities could even exceed those of well-trained army soldiers. In addition, the system had taught him spells and skills, causing his confidence to swell into arrogance.
Not long ago, the system gave him a mission of forcing down the lady of the Qin family. The thought that he could not only push down such beauty but also obtain sin points to strengthen himself made Ye Feng love this system so much.
The strongest demon system started from small crimes and strengthened its host as its host grew. Ye Feng could not find any problems in it at all. Time and time again, he completed tasks and grew stronger, but his inner moral values also gradually disappeared in front of that power.
'When I obtain this woman, I will use hypnosis to make her love me.'
Ye Feng looked at the fear in Qin Xi's eyes and became more and more excited. He used green claws to tear apart her nightgown while pinning her down with her other hand.
Closer, closer, closer…
"Ahhhh!"
Suddenly, a miserable scream broke the night. It wasn't the young girl's scream, but Ye Feng's own cry of pain.
Just when he was about to touch Qin Xi's nightgown, a light suddenly flashed from her body causing Ye Feng's right hand to crumble. Blood splashed everywhere, revealing the white bones under his skin.
The pain was so severe that tears ran down Ye Feng's face. There was a sharp whistle and he realized that something was amiss. Without a moment's hesitation, he tapped into his magic power and vanished from the room.
'Miss, are you okay?"
A female bodyguard barged into Qin Xi's bedroom, pistol in hand.
The lady of the Qin family just shook her head. Although she was inwardly frightened, she remained calm on the outside.
She carefully touched the necklace on her neck which had the symbol of the Torch Dragon.
Before the mysterious old man left, he thanked her for taking care of him and gave this necklace to her. He told her that it would eliminate and prevent disasters.
Qin Taxi had been wearing this necklace but did not expect that it would save her today.
She held the emblem hanging on her neck with her hands and closed her eyes. She was inwardly grateful to the mysterious old man while praying to the Torch Dragon.
"Ow ow ow ow ow. It hurts so damn much."
Ye Feng had escaped to the wilderness with great difficulty. His right hand only had bones left with bits of tendon connecting them together. He howled, cried, and shouted. He was, after all, not too different from an ordinary person. And he had never experienced this level of agony before.
"What do I do? What should I do? My hand is gone… my hand is gone!"
"System, fix my hand!"
[Host doesn't have enough sin points to fix it.]
"Then issue me a task. Issue me a task that would give me a lot of sin points."
His mind flashed back to the woman he wasn't able to obtain, then he looked at his right hand which was only left with bones. Anger surged in his heart and his expression was crazed.
"That woman must be laughing at me now. She is definitely laughing at me! She actually dared look down on me, Ye Feng! When I obtain a stronger power, I will show you! I will destroy your Qin family and watch you kneel down and beg for mercy in front of me. I will make you use your body to serve me! That's right, I'm just too weak right now. I need more power! System, tell me how to gain more power!"
Ye Feng howled into the air like a madman.
The system seemed silent for a while and continued in a calm and monotone voice.
[Host has requested a large task]
[Request has passed]
[Task: poison the city's water supply. One point for every person who dies.]
Ye Feng felt something move in his pocket. He used his left hand to pull out a small bottle of light green liquid.
The liquid within shimmered with a faint light, and Ye Feng knew it was something modern humans could not create.
"I can gain one point for every person I kill!. If I kill hundreds of thousands to several million, then I would become invincible."
Ye Feng's face twisted as he completely lost what it means to be human.
…
"Leader, Ye Feng made a move against the lady of the Qin daily. Fortunately, the miss possesses an amulet left by the mysterious old man. Nothing big happened."
"What? Quickly, go arrest Ye Feng. Do not continue to observe!"
The leader heard Gui Bin's hurried report and was instantly shocked. It was common knowledge that the mysterious old man was now connected to the Qin family. If something happened to them when they were being specially protected by the government, then a lot of people might just lose their jobs.
…
"This is the place, right?"
Standing in front of the water filtration plant, Ye Feng whispered excitedly.
This water filtration plant naturally could not supply water to the entire city, but Ye Feng had already investigated multiple water filtration plants. He just needed to go to each of them one by one and poison the outgoing water. This should be able to kill hundreds of thousands of people.
The thought of obtaining hundreds of thousands of sin points made Ye Feng feel ecstatic. He quickly entered the filtration plant with the thought of being able to obtain stronger power.
"Pop—pop—pop"
When he opened the doors and walked in, countless strong lights suddenly shone on Ye Feng, stabbing at his retinas. As he fought back tears he could clearly hear the sirens close by. A man holding a megaphone shouted, "Ye Feng, put down the object in your hand and immediately kneel down. Then put your hand behind your head and do not resist. I repeat, Ye Feng…."
When Ye Feng had adapted to the bright light, he found himself surrounded on all sides by a hundred special police. Countless laser red dots were pointed at him, sending shivers down his spine.
'How could it be like this? Just one more step and I would have succeeded.'
'Wasn't I the protagonist?'
'If I am caught, I'll be finished. I would probably be brought away to some research institute and be experimented on.'
Just as Ye Feng was scared to the point that peed his pants and collapsed on the ground, the system's words caused him even more despair.
[Host has failed. The system is about to leave. Best of wishes to host]
"No, you can't do this, system. You have to help me."
Ye Feng suddenly lost all reason and began shouting in a frightened manner.
The armed police officer leading the group frowned and raised his hand to signal not to attack first. Instead, he listened to the words that the man named Ye Feng was shouting while he was out of control.
[The strongest demon system has an advanced function. Does the host want to activate it?]
"Activate it. Activate it!"
Ye Feng had lost his sanity and only felt fear. He even forgot to talk to the system in his mind.
[The strongest demon system's advanced functions are about to be activated. Please sign an agreement to give up the host's soul after death. The system will empower the host to escape from here. After that, the system will continue to serve the host. Does the host agree?]
Upon hearing the system's words, Ye Feng's sanity returned for a moment. An evil chill rose up from his heart, but when he saw the armed police around him, he thought that his life was about to end. Thinking of being rejected by Zhou Qian, and thinking about the lady of the Qin family, his sanity was instantly buried by his lust once more.
'Isn't it just my soul after death? Without the system, I would just be an ordinary person living an ordinary life that's even worse than a dog. It's thanks to the system that I could become a human being. I'll think about this matter afterward. For now, I have to get away from immediate problems first.'
"I agree, I agree! Quick, quickly! Give me power!"
[Contract established]
Ye Feng suddenly felt it at that moment. The system seemed to be alive and carried a human tone.
Chapter 279
"Power. Power is pouring into my body!"
Ye Feng was surprised to feel boundless strength creeping into his bones. With a punch, he could tear anything asunder, and with a kick, he could send dozens of soldiers flying. He shivered at his newfound potential.
"Ahhhhhhh."
The influx of power made him scream into the sky, setting off a powerful shockwave that flung the distant soldiers off their feet and even tore off the steel ceiling of the water filtration plant.
Gui Bin and his leader were flung to the ground as well and cried out in pain. The two looked at each other with panic in their eyes. Ye Feng's new abilities were in a completely different league than what the reports implied.
Gui Bin, who had read countless novels, understood what was happening to Ye Feng. From the way Ye Feng was speaking, there was no doubt that there was some kind of living creature within his body. At the moment, however, he needed to focus on how to contain the new threat.
"Is… Is this my power?"
Ye Feng looked at his hand incredulously and looked at the torn-off steel ceiling in ecstasy.
"Fire!"
The armed forces at the scene scrambled off their feet and pulled their triggers at their superior's order.
Ratatatata
Bang Bang
Bullets tore through the air and converged on Ye Feng, but none could pierce through his skin. Rather, they shattered on impact.
Ye Feng's ears picked up the burst of sniper rifles from several locations. His powerful vision could trace their trajectories in slow-motion. And with inhuman agility, he twisted in the air and avoided each one neatly.
Upon landing, he realized he was holding something hard and cylindrical in his left palm. Opening it, he saw it was one of the bullets.
"Hahahahaha! This is the power that I want. This is the power that I need. I will KILL ALL OF YOU!"
Ye Feng's eyes reddened as he prepared to go on a killing spree, but the system's words were like a splash of cold water, in his maddened state.
[The host's current power has a time limit. The strongest demon system recommends that you immediately escape.]
'This system is able to leave me to choose the next host.'
'I can't live without the system!'
'Life is more important.'
'Where there is life, there is hope.'
…
In an instant, Ye Feng made a decision and looked around viciously. Then he jumped tens of meters high to the ceiling and threw the bottle in his hand toward one of the pools of the water filtration plant.
'Can't forget my task. As long as I succeed, I may be able to keep my current power.'
No matter how you look at it, Ye Feng was already evil. Even at this moment, he still thought about his task, or rather, he has completely become a slave to lust.
"Quick, chase after him."
"…"
The officers and soldiers scrambled and entered their vehicles to pursue Ye Feng. There was even a helicopter in the sky that followed him.
"Leader, the water has been contaminated!"
Gui bin watched Ye Feng throw a bottle of water at the water source and screamed in terror.
"Calm down. After learning that Ye Feng came to this water filtration plant, the entire facility was shut down. We can also investigate what he actually threw in."
Gui Bin and the leader both came to the water source after making sure that there was no danger, accompanied by officers and soldiers who stayed behind.
As they looked at the stagnant water, dark green bubbles emerged. The two looked at each other fearfully. Fortunately, they found out in advance that Ye Feng was not right in the head and decisively chose to arrest him. Otherwise, the strange thing that was thrown in would definitely bring about enormous casualties in Shanghai.
"We have to eliminate Ye Feng at all cost, and as soon as possible! It will only become harder and harder to catch him in the future!"
—
"Huff… I finally shook them all off. From now on, I have to be more careful in what I do. I can't just swagger around in public. I underestimated the strength of the country and never imagined that I was already under its observation."
For a person who was able to get into Shanghai University, he was not a complete fool. Ye Feng was just lost because of the power he obtained. Now that he had suffered a loss, he also became more cautious.
Suddenly, the sudden burst of power he obtained had faded. He sat down on the ground as if his body and soul had been disconnected. As he felt the emptiness of losing that much power, greed once again appeared in Ye Feng's eyes.
After possessing the power to grasp other people's fates, even if it was just for a short amount of time, Ye Feng could not forget about it and was even obsessed with it.
"I have to be careful with this system. I have sold my soul to it through a contract. Fortunately, it will only take it after my death. I have to see later if I can get rid of this contract with sin points."
He knew that any deals related to the soul were not good for him, but as he was sufficiently far from death, he didn't worry about it too much.
At this moment…
[Contract has ended. The demon system has helped the host escape from danger. Host now needs to pay with his soul.]
"Wait a moment, doesn't the contract say that I will give you my soul after I die?" Ye Feng grew alarmed.
[Contract condition 1. Temporarily provide the host with the power to escape. Condition reached.]
The system continued to talk without paying attention to Ye Feng's retort.
[Contract condition 2. The host dedicates his soul after death.]
As these words fell, Ye Feng suddenly felt an unbearable pain from the depths of his soul. It spread to every muscle fiber, every nerve, every pore, and every cell of his body.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His face began to distort. His skin cracked and blood flowed down. It was as if he had fallen to the depth of hell and had to face punishments over and over again.
Ye Feng was fully conscious as this happened. His brain had lost the ability to faint and his soul was eternally burning in the fiery pits of hell.
"Ahhhhh. Let me go. Please let me go…"
"I don't want anything anymore. You cowardly demon. You scammed me!"
"Go fuck your system!"
At this moment, Ye Feng finally realized that this thing was not the 'strongest demon system' but an actual demon. It fooled him to sign a contract to sell his soul. Everything it said was just word games. The contract conditions did indeed state that he would dedicate his soul after death, but without the words 'natural death', the demon simply took it upon itself to kill him!
[Condition 2 Reached!]
With the final words of the system, a golden figure appeared in front of Ye Feng. The god-like cold existence gouged out his sinful soul and held it in his palm.
"I have finally obtained a freshly fallen soul. This is the favorite soul of demons from the Abyss and devils from Hell."
The figure laughed twice and then disappeared again without leaving a single trace.
…
The only thing that remained was a corpse that looked intact but bore an extremely distorted expression.
"Wear protective suits and bring the body to the base. Tell the higher-ups to send someone to perform an autopsy."
"Yes!"
Thus the supernatural incident that the citizens knew nothing about ended silently.
Chapter 280
In a secret underground research facility in China, Ye Feng's corpse was being studied by many researchers wearing white protective suits.
"What are the research results?"
A middle-aged man in a military uniform asked the director of the research institution. The head of the institute was an elderly man.
"The subject's body has been strengthened by some unknown force. In terms of muscle density and strength, he had already exceeded ordinary people, but stronger muscles alone would not have allowed him to blow away the steel ceiling of the water filtration plant, so we suspect that his roar should be related to some supernatural ability."
The old man's voice was naturally loud despite his age. His eyes were filled with excitement and frenzy as if he finally found the direction of research he was passionate about.
The emergence of supernatural powers invigorated the discussions in the scientific community. Naturally, some people also went crazy once their view of the world collapsed.
"Can this kind of strengthening be researched and used on living creatures?"
Hearing the army man's question, the old man shook his head, "We have only obtained a body that has been physically strengthened, but we can't study how it was done. A mysterious power might have been involved in it rather than modern science, but having a corpse to research is also good. His body structure is so perfect that it could provide us with the next step in bio-engineering. However, I'm afraid that it would take a long time for this research to bear fruit."
The military official wasn't disappointed at these words. Science and technology were not things that could be rushed, but as long as there was a correct direction and monetary support, it was possible to succeed. Naturally, creating a superhuman of this degree was impossible with the level of modern science. At most, they could succeed in improving some physical qualities of a person.
。
Earth's civilization, when compared to the Terrans, was simply a primitive man being compared to the modern man.
"This corpse looks so distorted as if it had been subjected to many waves of abuse, but we found that this was not the cause of his death. Rather, it seemed as if he suddenly died without any external force."
"It was as if his soul was taken away!"
At the director's words, the officer could not help but scowl. After a moment of silence, he spoke, "This is not the first time that this has happened. Not long ago, there was a delusional madman in Italy who attempted to destroy a city. The madman's strength was beyond normal, but before he was killed, he had been shouting the word 'demon'. According to how Ye Feng shouted when he went crazy, we suspect that there really is a demon leading the fall of mankind."
"Sigh. Is it really demons from Catholicism? Or is it still those monsters from Cthulhu mythology? There might also be some relationship with the Demon King of Thanksgiving that appeared, but no matter what, 'demons' aren't good things to associate with."
The head of the research institute said so. He noticed that those scientists who studied the occult couldn't really play much of a role.
"The soul is something we can neither prove nor disprove, but from the perspective of these recent supernatural events, I'm afraid that it really exists. Forget it. You guys should just continue studying Ye Feng's corpse. Also, did you study the bottle he threw into the water?"
"That bottle does not look like it was artificially created. It's more like it was grown out of nature. I suspect that it is also made from the same mysterious power. The liquid inside is poison. After experimenting on animals, the poison is quite strong and lethal, but it's different from any kind of poison we know. It's not a chemical but something closer to the realm of the unknown. For the time being, we don't know how to study it."
"Sigh. I really can't understand this world anymore. Luckily, we found out about this in time. If Ye Feng succeeded, who knows how big the casualties would have been."
The official and the researcher felt headaches as they felt worried about the messy world.
…
Deep within the mountains, Louie's figure emerged. His hand held onto two illusory crystal figures that were different from each other. One of them was exactly in Ye Feng's appearance, while the other looked of European descent. The only common thing between the two was their expression of constant suffering.
Louie's method of lifting people up and pushing them down was one of the favorite methods of devils from the Nine Hells of Baator. They used various desires to pollute people's souls.
The reason why Louie did this was that this kind of soul was beloved by the demons of the Endless Abyss and the devils of the Nine Hells of Baator. They loved it when it was especially fresh. For souls that had decayed, they would accept them, but they were not as prized.
This was why devils loved to lead people to their downfall and did not pay much attention to souls that have already fallen for a long time.
Ye Feng was not the first person that Louie tempted. Before this, Louie had initially tempted two people, and their actions at the start were the same as Ye Feng. They were also not averse to the thought of obtaining the power of evil as it was in line with the human desire for anything free. However, when Louie issued tasks that required them to kill tens of thousands of people, the first two 'hosts' had given up.
For a devil, this would be considered a failure and targets to be abandoned. This was also the case for the next two people that Louie tempted. At this point, Louie began to doubt if humans might have a high level of humanity and morality.
It was not until he tempted a man in Italy that he was convinced that his plans were not wrong. The Italian man was easily motivated to destroy a small city. In the end, human beings were still human beings in the end. Some people just couldn't be tempted and persisted to be good.
"You can only blame yourselves. I gave you a fair choice. You can choose to accept and refuse the task, but you lost your humanity in order to obtain power which resulted in your demise. This was your choice and had nothing to do with the will of others."
Louie never forced anyone to do anything because if he did, that kind of deprivation was not genuine. As a result, Louie gave them a fair chance to choose. The first two people were not guided enough, resulting in their refusal to kill tens of thousands of people in exchange for power. On the other hand, these two people could not withstand the temptation and completely gave in to their desires.
"What filthy and dirty souls, but this is also the favorite of demons and devils."
Louie gazed at the two twisted souls in his hand and sneered.
"With this, I can now use your souls to confirm my guesses."
With a thought, a pale blue doorway appeared in front of Louie. As he stepped into it, he was instantly teleported from Earth to San Soliel. Then, he did not bother anyone and created a teleportation formation with his divine power. In an instant, he teleported to the Bottomless Abyss in the lower plane.
Chapter 281
The Bottomless Abyss was a place of endless destruction – void of ethics and morals. The region was filled with never-ending killing and was one of the most horrible places in the world of San Soliel.
The Bottomless Abyss was also a place that could be called the embodiment of chaos and evil.
The most powerful being in the Bottomless Abyss was known as the Abyssal Will. It was similar to the will of a planet and an extension of the egoless Abyss. From Louie's point of view, the Abyssal Will was actually an extremely powerful god that completely followed its instincts. In terms of divine authority, the Abyssal Will possessed the divine authority of the 'Abyss'. All demons living inside the Abyss were its followers and tried to please it.
In the era of disaster, the Bottomless Abyss was also devastated by the Terran Civilization. The demons were put down like wild dogs. The Abyssal Will was severely traumatized just like the Crystal Wall System. In that era, less than ten percent of demons survived.
The distance between the Bottomless Abyss and the main continent was extremely great. Other than a small number of powerhouses, no one could cross over to the Bottomless Abyss. At the same time, the number of demons that could crossover was also low. Now that the gods were waking up, the distance between realms was also closing.
There were not many locations in the Abyss. Humans would never be willing to enter a place that had eternal destruction and killing as its theme. Generally speaking, people who enter the Abyss would land on the Endless Abyssal Plains, but for a god like Louie, he could go straight into the innermost parts of the Abyss.
When Louie teleported to the five hundred and sixty-fourth layer, he could feel endless chaos and evil within it, causing him to frown.
Louie did not like this kind of extreme environment. Whether it was the chaotic evil of the Bottomless Abyss or the orderly goodness of the Heavenly Mountains, they were both too much for people like him. Louie would rather choose somewhere closer to orderly neutrality with a slight evil. Someone like him would never take a liking to this kind of extreme environment.
The Abyss was filled with absolute negative energy. This was the main part of the Abyss. Each layer was also different from the other. For example, the layer Louie was in now had a combination of negative energy and air. The entire layer was composed of gasses and formed very little solid material.
In the world of San Soliel, it did not matter whether a creature was good or evil, whether the souls were sublime or sinful. They all had their own gods. The good souls had their place and the evil souls had theirs. It was a perfect balance.
"This is the five hundred and sixty-fourth layer. I should be close to the five hundred and seventieth layer…"
Louie frowned. He once again opened a portal but did not continue to the next layer and instead returned back to the upper layer.
The five hundred seventieth layer was the territory of the succubi. The Queen of the Succubi, Malcanthet, was one of the evils that survived the Era of Disaster.
According to the Silver Moon Goddess, because succubi were not known for their power among the demons, the Queen of Succubi was tamer compared to other crazed demon lords, and thus she was able to stay alive in that terrifying era while most of the other demons lords died.
A demon lord was considered a master of the Abyss. Each of them possessed a layer in the Abyss which was their territory. These demons were given the title of 'lord' by the Abyssal Will. In their own territory, they possessed false godhood that made them equivalent to a god in their own territories.
With the awakening of the gods, the Abyssal Will was also waking up. The Succubi Queen should also have already awakened and regained control over her territory. With Louie's current state, he could not win against the Succubi Queen in her territory. If he was careless and entered it, the Succubi Queen would catch him due to his looks before turning him into her slave.
If there was anyone who was going to be a slave, it would be better if the Succubi Queen became his, not the other way around.
Naturally, demons were gods only in their own territories. If they were outside of it, there was nothing to fear. Their godhoods were fake, thus they did not possess the ability to create incarnations let alone the ability to project their incarnations to the main continent.
A powerful god was able to create a mid-rank incarnation with their divine power. With this ability, they did not even need to take the demon lords seriously. They were simply unable to leave their territories. In the eyes of gods, the demon lords were nothing more than captive animals. The world ultimately belongs to gods and not demons.
When passing by succubi territory, Louie also thought about bringing back a succubus to play with, but he quickly gave up on this idea. Succubi were synonymous with sex and lust. The lower ranks of the succubus were more obscene and Louie did not have any interest in playing with them. The succubus who was the mascot of Flower Street was one such succubus.
Louie quickly shuttled through the Abyss. Now that the Abyssal Will had just woken up and a lot of demon lords had died during the Era of Disaster, there were only a few demon lords around. Louie was not interested in fighting them so he opened up a path with his divine power to quickly pass through the Abyss and reach the first layer.
Compared to other parts of the Abyss, the Plain of Infinite Portals was much more lively. In addition to demons, there were many other races here. There, evil existences who could not mix with the creatures of the main continent came here to fight. There were also some dimensional merchants who came to do trade.
Louie did not pay attention to the plains and directly found the River Styx, then continued forwards and reached Hell.
Because the God of Death had fallen asleep, Hell was now filled with countless undead creatures. Louie did not stop moving and continued following the River Styx towards the source.
The River Styx was the main artery of the lower realms. Its status was equivalent to the Yangtze River and the Yellow Rivers of China. This river was very important no matter which creature. The essence of every creature was the soul after all.
At the very source of River Styx was the place where souls moved around, it was also the birthplace of the souls!
Compared to the decaying waters of the River Styx closer to the Abyss, the source water was much clearer. There was no negative or positive energy at all, and it could be called extremely pure.
"Next, let's see if I can realize my idea."
Louie took a look at the evil soul in his hand and cast it into the River Styx.
At the place where souls were born, even the gods could be cleaned of their divinity if they fell into it. This was also the origin of the River Styx oath. Any evil soul that falls into it would be washed and cleaned by the river and turned into a pure soul. All traces of the past of this soul would be washed clean and it would return back to its base form.
"Success. The River Styx can accept the soul of another world!"
Louie's face was filled with joy. His prediction was right. Whether it was Earth or San Soliel, the soul was the same. The soul might be from Earth, but after submerging it into the River Styx, it was not only imprinted with traces of San Soliel but also regained its purest form.
"So, I can collect the dead souls of those who believed in me on Earth and bring them to this world. Then I can use the waters of River Styx to wash away their pasts, leaving only their faith in me. That way, I can turn them into my believers."
Louie whispered with joy.
Earth was a desert of mysteries. When Louie's followers on Earth died, they could not travel to his kingdom at all. As this was a difference in the rules of different worlds, Louie did not have to be responsible for them, but personally, he felt he had to pay back their contributions of faith. Louie had to give them a life after death as an outer god.
Although the faith that a believer provided isn't much, having more believers was better. When they died and came to his kingdom, they could continue worshiping him, allowing him to gain more divine power. Those believers could also live a satisfying life after death in his divine kingdom. This would allow Louie's divine kingdom to become more extensive.
Since the believers were a god's basic requirement, This was the long-lasting 'divine way' that Louie envisioned for himself. This would allow him to surpass other gods.
Chapter 282
Louie began to contemplate the implications of his new discovery.
First of all, Earth was a big place. Louie's followers on Earth were not as united as those in Dragon City. They were, after all, scattered all over the globe and since Earth had no mysteries, the souls of Louie's believers there would not be able to find him after they died. If Louie wanted to gather souls, he would need to set up some magic formations on Earth.
This magic formation would be used to absorb the souls of believers. It would only need to herd the souls of believers towards the 'gods' they believed in, and so it needn't be too complex. Starting up the formation would also not take a lot of magic power. The only troublesome thing was that the magic formations he was aware of did not cover a wide area. If he wanted to cover the entire planet, he would require countless magic formations. This would probably tire Louie to death.
"Perhaps I can use the help of the governments," he considered.
"I cannot rush this. First I must become a god and fully possess the abilities of one. For now, I better collect more faith first."
Thinking like this, Louie took out another soul. He took a look at the twisted soul and drew a magic formation in midair.
By using the evil soul as a lure and his divinity as bait, he activated a nine-ring spell in Hell – [Advanced Otherworldly Summoning]!
This spell was targeted at the Abyss. Compared to the cunning devils of Hell, the demons of the Abyss were dumber and more easily deceived.
As this summoning spell spun faster and faster, Louie could hear the sound of dispute on the other side. And indeed, the demons were fighting for the delicious soul and his divinity.
Louie's summoning spell did not summon a specific demon, but a broad group. That way, he could select from the best of the best.
Sure enough, the glow of the spell reached its peak and a balor walked out from the portal.
A balor was the strongest form that ordinary demons could evolve into. They had huge bodies, a hideous demon head, bat-like wings, and cracked skins that boiled like burning magma. When this demon appeared, its surroundings would be plunged into chaos as its aura of depravity and madness filled the place.
"Look at that. It's balor, just what I needed. It meets both the appearance and the power requirements."
Louie looked at the demon and sized it up with satisfaction.
This demon did not pay any attention to Louie at all. It was much more attracted to the fallen soul. It did not even think and charged at the soul, grabbed it, and threw it in its mouth while showing enjoyment.
After eating the soul greedily, the balor greedily looked at the divinity floating in front of it and let out a demonic roar, "Make your request, mage! For the sake of that delicious soul, I will fulfill your request. And if you give me the divinity, I will help you crush your enemies, no matter who they are."
This balor didn't even look at Louie. This summoning spell was only a nine-ringed spell. Normally, it couldn't summon such a powerful demon. Unless the mage used divinity and a delicious soul as bait, it wouldn't have responded to the summoning.
Thus, the balor demon was quite arrogant, thinking that the mage that summoned it had a request for him. If it could obtain the divinity, it wouldn't mind helping this mage do something.
It must be known that the balor demon was no different from a legendary rank powerhouse. Moreover, demons fought in a crazed yet brave manner. If these demons weren't restricted to the Abyss and could only temporarily stay in the main continent after being summoned, then with their numbers, the main continent would have already been consumed by the Abyss.
"Very well, demon! Fulfill my request. Tell me your true name."
Louie looked at this muscle head and felt that it was a funny demon. It did not even bother to look at him and continued to stare at the divinity.
These disorderly monsters of chaos were all psychopaths and comedians. Their thinking simply could not be understood by normal people.
"Bastard, how dare you force a demon to reveal their true name!"
This balor was instantly enraged. It opened its mouth and spat out the flames of the Abyss as it looked at Louie.
A demon's true name was not something that they could just tell anyone, because knowing the true name of the demon would allow people to enslave it. Generally, demons only revealed their true names to the demon lords to whom they swore allegiance.
For the 'mage' to force it to tell its true name was the same as asking to be torn to pieces.
But, then this balor looked at Louie, and it froze for a moment before rubbing its eyes in disbelief.
Louie had been suppressing his divine power to prevent the demon from sensing it, but when it looked at Louie it could not sense Louie's true nature.
"No! I don't want anything else. I want to go back to the Abyss."
Although demons had problems with their thinking, they greatly feared death. After seeing that Louie was actually a God, it jumped in terror and tried to run back toward the summoning spell.
"Little demon, I am lacking an actor and am currently recruiting. I think you are very qualified. Just your appearance alone would make people think that you are a demon."
Louie showed a much more demonic smile, "Don't worry. You are the protagonists and not the cannon fodder. In addition to meals and wages, this divinity will be your reward.
Louie waved his hand, and two chains appeared from thin air to tie up the demon. Then, the divinity burrowed itself into the demon's body as it stared in horror.
"You insidious and cunning god who is more demonic than a demon, I don't want it. I don't want it!"
Divinity was something that all creatures sought after. If a balor demon could obtain divinity and become a divine creature, it would definitely be able to become stronger. The prospect of improving their strength was extremely attractive to all demons, but that was contingent on the divinity not belonging to a living God.
The balor demon did not have a godhood, so it could not cleanse the will of the divinity like how Louie cleansed the Goddess of Night. A divinity with the will of a god simply poisonous to the demons!
"Ahhhhh. AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The demon screamed miserably as it was transformed by Louie's divinity. Then Louie touched the crown on his head and opened the small dimension of the Divine King's Crown and pushed the demon inside.
"The actors have been assembled. Let's have a wonderful play!"
Louie didn't care that he was surrounded by only unconscious creatures when he spoke. He bent his waist like an actor bowing on stage with one hand behind his back and one hand in front. Then Louie returned back to Dragon City and entered the portal to return back to Earth.
Chapter 283
The Republic of Kenya…
The Eastern part of Africa is home to the cradle of humanity. The Republic of Kenya, a nation forged in the 20th century had unfortunately not yet managed to remove the trappings of underdevelopment. Rampant corruption and economic mismanagement left the people with very little trust in the government, and this was compounded by the perception of the government as an agent of oppression rather than support.
Because Kenya was not as rich in oil resources as the Middle East and didn't occupy a major geopolitical position, it did not have as much support as certain other countries.
For Kenya, this was both a curse and a boon. If it was like the Middle East, rebel forces could be easily cultivated with the support of major powers. This could have flung the country into a protracted conflict. On the other hand, however, the lack of a solid resistance meant that the government had no major opposition, and officials were rarely dissuaded from lining their own pockets and abusing their powers. After all, what little resistance there was could not shake their positions. Still, a few pockets of secession had sprung up in recent years and put up as much of a fight as their means could allow.
But after months of confrontation with the government forces, the resistance had finally come to a dead end.
The rebels were hiding in the last village, waiting for their desperate fate to come.
"Sister Mirda, Sister Mirda, please pull yourself together!"
The last vestiges of the resistance took shelter inside dilapidated tents in an abandoned village filled with ruins of brick and stone houses. Many people let out heartbreaking cries.
An eighty-year-old woman with a face full of wrinkles laid down on a soft coverlet. She was dressed in a nun's garb, and her eyes looked gently upon the crying person next to her. She tried to open her mouth to comfort them, but her body was already at its limit.
Beside the old woman were many other nuns kneeling on the ground from different ethnicities. Some held crosses and prayed, and some wiped tears from their eyes, but whatever they were doing, they all hoped that the old woman could sit up once again and preach for them.
Outside the tent were a few thin people who seemed to have not eaten for a long period of time. These were the last few of the resistance's fighters. You could see them everywhere in the village sitting on the ground with their guns. With their ragged appearance, they look closer to refugees than soldiers.
The only thing the same at the moment was their bloodshot eyes as they cried and prayed, hoping for a miracle.
For a moment the town was silent and full of mourning.
Mirda, a Swedish Nobel Prize laureate, joined a Catholic children's charity at the age of twelve. From then on, she took the profession of helping the poor and the needy.
She never married and undertook missionary training at fifteen. At nineteen, she joined a religious order and began studying medicine. She then became a teacher in the order and a nun for life when she was twenty-seven.
From the time of her baptism until today, she had done countless charitable works in various countries, whether they were at war or in peace, whether they were poor or rich. Whenever she saw someone suffering, she would give them love and help. She spent a good time of her life doing good deeds in the name of Christ and saving others.
Mirda received donations from believers all over the world and spent every cent of these donations on those who needed them. In doing so, she spread the goodness of the lord and traveled the world personally. She joined the first line of charitable workers for decades and has never let up. She was practically a living saint.
In the decades of charity, many people had been touched by her kindness and joined her. Today, Mirda has a congregation of 4,000 sisters and more than 100,000 volunteers working with her in all corners of the world, carrying out charity work.
When she learned of the suffering of certain ethnicities in Kenya, she came here despite her poor health and continued her charity work. But because the people she helped were branded as rebels by the Kenyan government, she was also marked as a target for arrest. Even the volunteers who came with her here were also arrested.
Sister Mirda did not want to implicate the volunteers, so she repatriated most of them. Only a few members of the sisters continued to stay and struggle in this dangerous environment.
But Mirda eventually grew too old for her body to support her. After a high fever and pneumonia, the 'holy woman' finally collapsed in a remote village where she couldn't get access to quality healthcare.
The light slowly returned to her eyes. Finding the last dregs of strength within, she opened her mouth, "Child, do not weep for me. I am old and the Lord is calling me. After I have gone to meet him, you must continue the work until the end. You must love each other as sisters."
The sisters around her suppressed their sobs and nodded in assent.
With the extraordinary events that had occurred in recent times, their faith in God had only grown stronger.
As the old woman closed her eyes with a peaceful expression, the whole camp fell into more mourning.
Not far outside the tent, several workers from foreign countries were hired by the Kenyan government to carry out infrastructure work. They were also tasked with establishing a signal tower. Compared to the Kenyans, these people were relatively calm, because they knew that even if the government troops came here, they would not hurt them and even treat them as guests.
"That nun passed away. Although I don't believe in Christ, no one can help but admire her."
One of the men sighed with a hint of sorrow.
"Yeah. Many people called her a saintess, and anyone who knew about her life would think that it was true.
These people signed at length and also gave their prayers to the nun.
…
Two days later, a simple funeral was held in this small Kenyan village where Sister Mirda would be cremated. Her ashes would then be taken to Loreta Cathedral where she chose to become a nun and a missionary. Her canonization process had already begun.
In contrast to Sister Mirda's holy name, her funeral was so simple that apart from a few nuns she raised and brought up, there were only some foreigners and Kenyan soldiers.
These people prayed with their eyes closed and their hands clasped on a cross.
Flames flared as the wood burned. The nun lay in the flames as the crowd surrounded it and prayed. They were the only witnesses to the sister's final journey on Earth.
Suddenly–
"Who are you?"
A soldier who had been on guard raised his gun nervously and pointed at the visitor.
A young man dressed in a tunic and a cloak was slowly approaching with his barefoot.
Chapter 284
Commotion immediately erupted at the sight of the stranger. At once the militia members present trained their sights on him, unwilling to let him take another step forward.
Sister Mirda, with her charismatic personality and strong faith, created a firm temple in the hearts of this group of people who were born and lived in oppression. At the expense of even their lives, they would do their utmost to preserve the sanctity of their saint.
This movement also drew other people's attention. Many nuns, villagers, and foreigners were videoing the last journey of Sister Mirda's life.
The man who appeared at the entrance of the village looked about thirty years old. He was wearing a tunic without any other accessories on his body. He walked barefoot yet the soles of his feet weren't stained by the earth. He had curly, flaxen long hair and a face with a thick beard.
The man looked quite ordinary. He was neither handsome nor ugly, and indeed his attractiveness seemed to be the mean of the entire human race. His long hair cascaded and danced with the wind, but not in a messy manner. Rather it gave off a feeling of freedom and refreshment.
He smiled. His smile wasn't full of compassion and kindness like Sister Mirda's but it bore its own kind of warmth. It was like the light, and he was the sun, bringing light to the world.
However, the man's appearance surprised everyone. The villagers had long known that this place was surrounded by government forces. The reason why no attack had occurred was because of the world-renowned nun as well as the foreign workers. The Kenyan government did not want to become internationally targeted by Christians and the countries that the foreigners came from. As a result, they decided to perform a battle of attrition instead of a direct one.
In any case, there were no supplies left in the village. As time went on, the people in the village would surely starve to death.
"Are you from the government army?"
A black boy of slightly more than ten years old asked. His body was so thin and frail that anyone could see his ribs.
This child raised his gun. He was dressed similarly to the man who appeared, with no shoes, no socks, and only a ragged cloth that barely covered his body. But the difference between the two was that the boy looked very dirty and the only ornament on his body was a bent metal cross tied around his neck.
The resistance was silent. They knew that this was already the end of the road. The last thing that would greet them would either be prison or death. However, they were originally poor people who had been driven to the edge by greedy politicians. They were already satisfied with being able to live a few more days, not to mention that they had met a great nun and become her followers. Even if they were to die today, they would die carrying their faith.
"I am not sent by the government forces. I was sent by the Lord."
The man spoke in a calm and quiet tone. His voice seemed to carry a delightful warmth and the words he uttered were clearly Hebrew, but the people in the place, regardless of their native language, could understand them.
The hearts of all who were present were moved at this declaration. Naturally, they were aware of the recent global supernatural events.
'No, it can't be? Isn't this too much of a fantasy?' was what they all thought.
However, they couldn't help but hope. Just thinking about the monsters that appeared in Tokyo long ago and the Torch Dragon that opened its eyes to bring forth daylight, they thought that maybe, just maybe, what was happening now was real.
The foreigners roared inside as they shuddered in contemplation.
The nuns were in tears. Some had fallen to their knees in devotion and some were standing with shocked and dumbfounded faces.
"Who the hell are you? Don't come any closer. Take one more step forward and we'll shoot."
The soldiers still shouted. Since they hadn't gone to school, they had little knowledge. Although he had learned under Sister Mirda's teaching, they couldn't associate the visitor with Christ.
Facing these people with hostile intent, the man did not get angry. His face remained gentle and smiled, "I am the Messiah. Your light, your savior. Child, the tribulation is about to pass," he paused at this and beamed even more, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light of all mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
The man used a warm and soft voice as he sermoned. Although he seemed like one person, the words that came out of his mouth seemed to stem from countless Christians reciting their most exalted scriptures. All the hostility that everyone felt seemed to vanish, and in its place, guilt burgeoned. The native soldiers stared dumbfounded. As the man approached, the guns in their hands seemed to drop to the ground with clacks.
The stranger walked up to the teenage soldier. He took out a piece of bread from his arms and put it in the hands of the boy. He smiled warmly and said, "Share it with the people."
Entranced, the boy reached for the bread without much thought, but the moment he touched it, his body was bathed in light. Old scars and present wounds all faded under its brilliance, and even his body seemed cleaner. Although he was still skinny, a new vitality seemed to surge within his eyes.
At that moment, everyone kneeled and the ground. The teenager raised the bread with his hands, closed his eyes, and chanted the name of the Lord.
The man expressed neither happiness nor sadness. Under the tears and devotion of the nuns, he walked before the blazing flame where the sister was being cremated.
No single person in the crowd doubted the man's identity anymore.
In front of the man, the blazing flame gradually shrunk and turned into a small fire, as though bending to the man's will.
"Child, you should have ascended to heaven to meet the Lord, but He still has work for you. I want you to spread the gospel with me to bring back light unto the world," he paused then spoke further, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself."
With these words, a miracle descended.
The believers knelt in solemn prayer. Under their shock and disbelief, the nun who had lost her life lying in the fire gradually breathed once more. Her skin which was covered in folds due to old age once again became smooth. Her teeth which had all fallen off once again regrew. Her old face had become young, and her white hair was also tinged with golden light. All of her sicknesses and pains disappeared.
The nun, who was already more than 80 years old, once again regained her youth back to her twenties in the blink of an eye. Even her life and soul had returned to her body.
Then under the cries of many nuns, this 'Saintess of Christ' once again opened her eyes at the new life she was given.
"This is what you deserve for your faith in the lord. May you have eternal life."
So said the savior.
Chapter 285
Sister Mirda opened her dazed eyes. When she sat up, she saw the extinguished burning straws and felt a surfing life force in her body.
Raising her palms she noticed that the old and withered hands she was so familiar with had been remade anew with the tautness and strength of her youth. What were once withering branches had become sprightly saplings.
Miranda was entranced. Her decades of life flashed before her eyes as though it was all a dream.
But when she saw the nuns weeping with joy at her feet and the soldiers on their knees, she knew that she was in reality. It was a miracle that happened in this godless modern age.
Then Sister Mirda looked at the man standing in front of her. When she looked at his pupils that seemed to contain the universe, Mirda realized everything.
She no longer needed any help and quickly turned her body and knelt in front of the man. With an excited and devout face, she kissed his feet and uttered in a happy murmur, "You are Christ. You are the Messiah. You are our savior!"
Mirda was an extremely devout believer, and it was with her immense faith that she was able to carry out her charitable work for decades. Never tiring. Never yielding. This kind of passion was one of mankind's greatest powers.
"I am Christ. I am the Messiah. I am your Savior, but I am not the Christ of the past. Rather, I am the Christ of the present."
The man's words carried some Buddhist wit, but the believers understood them instantly.
Christ was the Greek word that meant 'the anointed one' in Greek. And its Hebrew equivalent was 'Messiah'. Both of them referred to a person chosen by God who was given special powers. It was a title within Christianity, and only Jesus was ever called Christ the Messiah.
And now this Christ meant that the Christ of the past was Jesus, and the Christ of the present was him who was not Jesus, but the both of them were Christ.
When Mirda realized this, she cried out.
The Messiah nodded her head, rejoicing that the believers understood his words.
"Jesus is the Son of God, but he is not the only child of God. God loves everyone and has bestowed his other child to everyone."
"God our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all people."
"Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed in the world, and was taken up in glory."
Following the Messiah's words, the air filled with the scent of manna. As the believers continued to pray, they were suddenly surprised to see angels descending in the sky, holy and exalted as they sang the Lord's hymn. Their bodies were covered by the light and all of their wounds healed. The savior in front of them was the genuine thing. They could see the 'goodness' and 'righteousness' in this man.
The words of the Messiah would sound like blasphemy to others. In the Bible, Jesus was the only child of God, claiming to be another child was the same as blasphemy.
His statements were very similar to the worship of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong Xiuquan, a Chinese revolutionary who was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ. However, Louie was different from him as he could demonstrate godly powers!
The premise of 'blasphemy' was deception and exploiting, but when the Messiah appeared and showed them miracles, made angels descend, and even revived the dead, how could they not believe it?
Naturally, as the Bible was written by humans, it was normal to have errors. Perhaps normal people might not easily recognize his identity, but when he performed miracles, how could they not acknowledge him?
"Know that the Son of God has come and has given you wisdom and blessing and that when you know the truth, you will also be in that truth. For God is within Christ. I and the Father are one, and if you believe in me, you believe in the Lord!"
After these words, Louie, who was playing the role of the Messiah, finally stated the most fundamental doctrine of Christianity: the Trinity.
This was the most suitable way for Louie to preach because God was accepted to be omniscient and omnipotent, there was a certain difficulty in playing his role. Moreover, he did not know the rules for being accepted as his believer was when it came to Earth, so Louie did not want to take the risk.
But in Christianity, there was a doctrine of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As a result, Louie took the form of a contemporary Christ. He put himself in the position of the 'Son', thus he was able to make the believers believe in him. In this way, even if he was not omniscient and omnipotent, he would not be questioned, for he was only the 'Son' and not the whole Trinity.
For these believers, faith in a savior that walked in the world was more acceptable. Since faith in the Savior was equivalent to faith in God, this was all in accordance with the precepts of Christianity. Louie perfectly uses the 'Trinity' to absorb Christian faith.
Thanks to the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, the Nicene Creed distinguished Christianity from Judaism by the doctrine of the Trinity which gave Louie the chance to take advantage of it.
Louie also had a deeper idea. He was going to use Buddhist doctrine to proclaim that different Christs existed. The present Christ which was him, the past Christ which was Jesus, and a future Christ on the day of the Last Judgment. This would expand the meaning of the 'Trinity' and allow him to transform Christianity into his own meaning.
Unlike the magi who preached by fooling the people, Louie was a true god, allowing him to preach in a simpler manner!
Many believers extolled the name of Christ and praised the light of the Messiah. This small village in Kenya had been transformed into a sanctuary, shining with the light of goodness.
The foreign engineers looked at each other and stood awkwardly. They were not believers of Christ, and now that everyone was kneeling down but they were still standing there, they stood out like sore thumbs.
One of the Chinese engineers subconsciously took out a charm that looked like a Torch Dragon.
The Messiah slightly tilted his head. His pair of calm eyes that contained a love for the world looked at the charm on the engineer's hand.
'I'm done for.'
The Chinese engineer let out a face full of terror. Wasn't pulling out the symbol of a different god in front of Christ simply blasphemy?
At that moment, the Chinese engineer thought of the inquisition as well as the darkness of Christianity in the Middle Ages.
Christ seemed to not care much and said, "Although you are a pagan, if you do good, then I will rejoice."
"You shall not believe in me if you believe in other gods, and you shall not believe in other gods if you believe in me."
Everyone was frozen. It was as if they could not believe the words of Christ. Christianity had a famous history of persecuting pagans who believed in other gods.
But soon, everyone felt that his words were the truth.
In the past, Christian persecution of pagans was the work of men. The word of God was recorded on paper by prophets and perhaps at that time, man misunderstood God's will due to their own defects. Now that Christ had once again returned, then they could finally hear the will of God with their own ears.
Wouldn't persecuting pagans make God look petty and cowardly? Christ's words were the true feeling of God's thoughts.
What's more, there were many gods in today's world. The theory of Christianity that there was only one God had never been broken ever since, but now, things seemed like they needed to be modified.
Chapter 286
During the Age of the Gods, resurrections from the dead were not incredible miracles. The gods who were in charge of the divine authorities of life, death, nature, and other similar divine authorities were powerful, and their churches could be bestowed with powerful blessings as well.
But the 'resurrection' also had high requirements. First of all, the deceased could not have been dead for more than three days, and the body also needed to be relatively intact. The most important thing was that the soul could not be missing. If the soul was devoured by demons or devils, then this miraculous art could not be performed.
This also required divine power of the gods to perform, so during the era of the gods, only a few archbishops could perform this magic. Moreover, they had to pray to their god each time they performed this secret art to borrow their power.
Louie, as a god with the divine authority of life, naturally had the power to bring beings back to life. As Sister Mirda met the necessary requirements he could effectively create the miracle.
As for rejuvenating her, it was an even easier deed for a god.
The Messiah sat on the dusty earth without a single stain on his clothes or person. Without putting on any airs or pretensions, he placed himself within the inhabitants and smiled.
"Lord, here is your food."
Sister Mirda led her nuns and carefully and respectfully came to his presence. As reverently as Abel had sacrificed sheep and cattle to God, she raised the plate of food in her hands.
In this village where food was scarce, the people of the village still offered their last bit of food to the savior.
The Messiah shook his head and with what appeared to be love for the world in his eyes, he gently said, "Share the food with the people. Only when you have eaten your fill can you set out on the divine path."
"This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me"
Not far away, the hungry people were eating the bread handed to them when he had arrived. The bread did not look like much and would at most fill one person. But when they broke off a small piece of bread and ate it, they were immediately full and no longer hungry.
The people shouted the name of Christ with devotion and fervor. They believed in his words and that these miraculous loaves were his flesh and the bright red wine was his blood.
Christ gave the people his flesh and blood. Man was born with the original sin and Christ allowed himself to carry all the sins, showing goodness and righteousness.
The people kneeled down and took small bites of the bread and small sips of wine. Tears soaked their eyes as divine light shone down onto them.
Naturally, these bread were modern cookies, except Louie had used a spell to compress them, so it was much more magical than modern technology. In fact, the bread was not created from divine power but was compressed ready-made bread from the shopping store.
To waste divine power for the sake of food was a bad idea unless it was for the sake of obtaining more believers!
"You are a righteous person. You should have gone to heaven to see the lord, but I let you remain on Earth. Do you have any complaints?"
Christ sat on the ground and looked benevolently at the nun before him.
"I have no complaints. To see you is destiny. You letting me stay on Earth is part of God's will. I will spread your righteousness on Earth."
The nun was excited. She was not excited about her resurrection from the dead. She was not excited by her return to youth. She was more excited to see the body of the Lord and hear his voice. Devotees did not have much ego. They rejoiced solely because of God.
The nun thought of the 'Holy Maiden of Orleans' six hundred years ago. She must have also listened to the voice of the Lord so that she could face everything with such openness. She was even able to call on the name of the Lord in the midst of flames and come under the Lord.
She also thought of the famous French nun of the 19th century, the Blessed Mother Teresa. They must have been like herself who lived a righteous life. Only she was more fortunate than they were, for those saints saw the Lord in heaven, while she saw him on Earth.
Sister Mirda was moved to tears by this thought. Christ finally came to the world in remembrance of the suffering of the world and brought peace to all believers.
"Lord. please tell me, how should I walk in the divine direction?"
"Follow me, you who believe in me. Lay down your arms and confess in your hearts that I am the Lord. For it is with your heart that you believe and is justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For there is no difference between races—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Christ responded to the believer's question.
"Our Lord, our Christ, let us walk behind you in your footprints. Let us be your disciples and listen to your righteousness and holiness. I hope you will grant your mercy, so that we may all be saved."
The nuns knelt down and prayed with all their spirits. Those villagers also followed suit after eating their fill. The poorer the people, the easier it was for them to believe in God.
And in the midst of this desperate situation, the appearance of Christ was their true savior. Moreover, they were already believers in Christ before this. It was just that their beliefs were on shaky ground.
"Good!"
Christ smiled and rose from the ground. Barefoot, he walked toward the entrance of the village, "If you believe in me, follow me and lay aside your hatred and anger. Lay down your weapon and I will lead you out of misery and into the holy land."
"I am the way, the truth, the life, the earth, your dreams, your secrets, and the eternal time. No one doth come unto the Father, if not through me."
No one had any objections. The order of nuns followed behind Christ. The Kenyan soldiers also threw down their guns and followed. No one had any objection and went forward to the holy land in their hearts with full determination.
The foreigners watched in amazement. All the people of the village just got up and walked away, following Christ.
One of the engineers put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it up, and said with a trembling voice, "Guess what I'm thinking of. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the wilderness of the land of Canaan, and to the land, Yahweh promised them. This is simply a modern-day Exodus. It could be called the Exodus from Kenya…"
"Oh no!"
Suddenly, another engineer let out an alarmed cry, startling everyone.
"What's wrong? What happened? Did you see an angel?"
"Or maybe a demon?"
"….."
These engineers talked over each other as if they were not in a good mood, but anyone who saw the presence of God in modern times would naturally not be able to feel calm, even if they do not believe in Christ.
"My country released a public email address. If anyone photographs any supernatural events, they can send it over. If it is identified to be true, there is a reward."
Hearing the engineer's words, the others also nodded their heads. It was also the same for other countries. Since supernatural events were already known to the public, the state did not bother hiding anymore, but instead directly solicited information from the public. This way, it could be the first to learn about supernatural events."
"You… Did you just send the video back to your country?"
Someone asked in a stupefied voice.
The engineer he was talking to was the one who had previously filmed Sister Mirda's final journey with a camera. He had thought of turning it into a documentary, but he never imagined that it would turn into such a fantastical film!
"Yes, I just sent back the video to my country… but… but I -I do not know why, My head suddenly blanked out and somehow passed this video onto various video sites."
The engineer was full of bewilderment. Just now, he seemed to have lost control of himself and did something he would not normally do. This was simply exposing the coming of Christ to the world.
What would the Catholic Church think?
What would the other denominations of Christianity think?
What would other religions think?
What would other people think?
What would the powers in each country think?
Things seemed like they would become messy.
Chapter 287
Shanghai Office —
"Leader, not good, not good!"
With a 'bang', Gui Bin crashed through the door and stumbled inside the office while panting and gasping for air.
"Calm down, calm down. Little Gui, you are now an official so you can't stammer all the time. If you do things impatiently, how would other people under us see you? Sigh, I also know that you are young, making you understand the twists and turns of the system would be a bit difficult."
The team leader said slowly and methodically. He lit up a cigarette and showed a look of enjoyment, "This special cigarette is quite pleasant. Say it, what happened? What made you so anxious?"
"Chr-Christ…"
Gui Bin picked up the mineral water on the table and took a long sip to calm himself.
"Christ? What happened to Christ?"
The leader frowned and did not respond immediately.
"Leader, you can take a look at the internet yourself. The Son of God has come down, though he isn't Jesus, he really came down!"
Gui Bin quickly added, "Do you know Sister Mirda who won the Nobel Peace Prize? That nun is now in Kenya, but because of her age and serious illness, she passed away there, but the nun was not only revived but was also rejuvenated. All of this was filmed by a Chinese infrastructure engineer."
The team leader quickly extinguished his cigarette, quickly opened his laptop, and complained, "Why didn't you tell me about such an important matter earlier!"
Since the internet side of things was Gui Bin's responsibility, the head of the division was half a beat slower to know the news.
He quickly entered some terms in the search bar of his browser and found that microblogs and major websites were reporting on this matter frantically. Then he quickly opened various video sites and confirmed Gui Bin's words.
After poring over each frame of the videos, the team leader asked, "Do you think this is real? Perhaps it's a good hoax."
"I contacted the engineer before coming to inform you. There were several engineers present at the scene and their experiences corroborated the events here. The resurrection and rejuvenation of Miranda, the contemporary Saintess of Christ, is not something that could be faked. Through our understanding, the descended Christ is currently leading his disciples, embarking on the road to the 'Holy Land'."
Gui Bin spoke extremely fast and reported all he knew to the leader.
"The Book of Exodus?"
The leader had enough religious knowledge to know where things were going. He immediately thought of this famous biblical event, "Israel, which is the present-day Canaan, was the 'Holy Land' recorded in the Bible, but where is the 'Holy Land' that this Christ is speaking of? And why did those engineers post such an important video on the internet?"
"How would I know where the Holy Land that Christ spoke of is? As for that engineer, he has already committed to doing it. Let's not fight about this matter."
"Right, right. Little Gui, your words are correct, but now I am more confused than ever."
The leader held onto his head. Christ descending on Earth was much bigger even than some deep ones appearing in Tokyo. Christianity had more than two billion believers on Earth. This matter was simply a test of humanity. He worried that if people failed, the four horsemen of the apocalypse might just descend and the Last Judgment would be upon everyone.
"What's the situation of Christians in our country?"
The leader calmed down and asked. Compared to the chaos outside, stability within the country was more important.
"Our Christian population is relatively restrained. There's been little worrisome movement from them."
Hearing Gui Bin's words, the leader shivered as he imagined that kind of terrifying world.
"The Vatican side also hasn't made a single peep."
The leader quickly looked up information on Google. He found that the three major Christian denominations, namely Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Protestantism had not yet made any announcements. This was especially so for the Vatican City which was the center of Christianity. It was very strange that they had not said anything about such a big event as the descent of Christ.
However, because the influence of Christ's descent was too big, a variety of information had begun to emerge. Each time the web page was refreshed, more information would appear. Soon, the leader found information about Vatican City's actions.
"As expected of a group of veterans. The Pope has directly called the cardinals. Their reactions are also quite fast. After a short meeting, they all took a plane to Kenya to go have an audience with Christ."
The leader clicked his tongue and took a deep breath.
"Did the Vatican admit that this Christ is the one who came down to Earth? It should be clear that the words of Christ in the video are not in line with the bible. I thought that it might have been Hong Qiu Quan's resurrection when I first saw it. The Vatican also did not deny anything."
Gui Bin said as he raised his eyebrows.
"If it was before, the Vatican would have rebuked this as blasphemy, but with recent events, things are not the same. This was especially so after the Torch Dragon appeared and brought forth the day by opening its eyes. With such an incredible miracle and various supernatural happenings in the world, it would be hard for the Vatican to just casually deny that this Christ is fake. They did not dare smash their own feet with a stone as they might be burned at the stake even if they are the pope and cardinals."
"Moreover, the Bible is the anchor of Christian doctrine, a record of the Word of God, which is something similar to the constitution of our country. Although it's a supreme law, it can be interpreted in different ways. Maybe more new gospels will emerge with the descent of Christ. The Vatican has gone to verify this Christ's identity, or to be exact, they are eager to meet this real Christ. This would increase Christianity's influence. God's will would soon penetrate society and might even bring back the glory of the Middle Ages!"
"The age of mortals may be coming to an end."
The leader leaned back on his chair and stroked his hand over his chest, "I hope that Christ is really like what was written in the Bible. That he is only going to preach and not join in mortal power struggles. Otherwise, how are we going to fight against the gods."
"L-leader, if that Christ is real, then the Western countries would be heavily influenced. W-what should we do?"
Gui Bin was suddenly terrified.
It must be known that there were many Christian believers around the world. There were even some in China when people had entered to perform missionary work. If Christ was truly a god, then the Eastern countries would suffer a lot.
"No need to fear. You still haven't noticed it? Let's not mention others, don't we have the old man from the Qin Dynasty. Moreover, a Torch Dragon had also appeared. This proves that the 'one God' of Christianity isn't real. Didn't that Japanese onmyouji also say that he could borrow the power of Amaterasu? With this much evidence, the 'one God' of Christianity is only their boasting. If they have Christ, we also have our own faith."
"In whom do we believe?"
"Believe in Fuxi, in Nuwa, in the three sovereigns and five emperors, believe in our ancestors, and believe in the Jade Emperor."
…
The Vatican's plant carried the Pope and the cardinals to Kenya. At the same time, major countries had sent their own journalists to Kenya immediately. Many devout believers also went to Kenya at their own expense. While the whole world was talking about the descent of Christ, many countries also had emergency meetings.
The East African country which rarely entered the spotlight suddenly found itself making headlines.
Because there, the Son of God of the largest religion was walking on earth.
Chapter 288
Four mud-covered Frenchmen walked through the Kenyan forests. So far they had braved muddy roads, rapid rivers, and the inconveniences of being away from civilized society. They carried compact video equipment in their hands and hid inside thick foliage.
"We're almost there. Almost there. Try to hold on a bit longer, everyone."
The Frenchman in the lead looked to be in his thirties. He wiped a smudge of mud from his face and panted.
Behind him were his three comrades. Two of them were men and the final member was a woman.
They were all employees of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) and engaged in one of the world's most dangerous professions – war correspondence!
These war correspondents walked through the rains of bullets to bring back information from the frontlines of war to the rest of the world. It could be said that these people were incredibly brave, and they had done countless services for human awareness. Naturally, there were also many reporters who had died on the frontlines!
Kenya ranked 128th out of 180 countries in the corruption perceptions index, and recent scandals had galvanized civic opposition to the country's government. Conflicts had broken out in many areas as groups rose in opposition to their oppressors. In this kind of scenario, war correspondents had a role to play.
These four brave men and women were frontline war correspondents sent by the ?AFP to cover the frontline situation in Kenya.
This battlefield was a doomed and futile struggle for the belligerents. Because their Kenyan forces had no money, no food, and since they weren't backed by any foreign power, their assault was gradually dying.
Even big countries like the United States and Russia who loved to intervene abroad had turned a blind eye to the corruption and cruelty of the Kenyan leadership. And China had adhered to its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
These frontline war correspondents were very brave but were also quite human. They had sympathy for the poor people of Kenya, but they were also powerless to do anything about it. All they could contribute were broadcasts of the frontline situations to the rest of the world. Hopefully, this would draw in global interest and save lives.
"We cannot advance any further. Those at the front are the Kenyan government forces."
The only woman in the group shouted to the leader. In front of them was the Kenyan military which had surrounded the rebels' last holdout. The barricade had been up for months now, and they had carefully cordoned the region off from receiving support.
The Kenyan forces were quite loose and not too vigilant. As a result, these war correspondents were able to get closer.
The Frenchman in the lead nodded, and they moved a little further away to find a good filming spot.
"Sir, what's that sound?"
One of the young Frenchman perked up his ears and signaled for silence. Then the men looked toward the Kenyan government garrison. It didn't take long to discover the source of the raucous.
In a square of the garrison, thousands of thin people wearing ragged clothing were kneeling on the ground. Surrounding them were hundreds of soldiers who were whipping at them fiercely. The young, old, male, and female alike were all subjected to inhumane oppression.
Their bodies were thin and malnourished. There was a crying child trying to suck on its mother's deflated breasts. The mother cried and endured the beating while shielding the baby.
The people were on their knees, praying as they endured the abuse and laughter from the government troops who seemed to be happy at the cruelty that was occurring at their hands. Not far away, many bodies had also been piled up.
There were also soldiers in the government army who couldn't stand to do such a thing, but they couldn't do anything under the orders of the higher-ups. They could only raise the whip numbly and mechanically did what they were told.
"What era are we living in to still have such things happen! This is simply a concentration camp!"
Seeing this cruelty, the French woman did not dare look as grief filled her eyes. The leader even stood up and wanted to rush out, but he was stopped by his colleagues.
"Leader, don't be too impulsive. It's useless even if you rush out. No matter what country we are from, those guys would not care about it. If we are found, they could just set us up as spies and execute us. The best we can do is take pictures of the citation here and show it to the world, hoping that public opinion could help those poor people."
"Yeah, sir, do not get agitated. We can't do anything— these bastards are simply fascists. Those people being abused are simply civilians, simply poor people. These bastards are having fun with abuse!"
"So many of those abused are Christians. Sigh…"
"I heard that Sister Mirda has been working to help these poor people. It's normal for them to be baptized as Christians under Sister Mirda's benevolence."
Saying so, three people looked at their leader, for their leader was a devout Christian.
Sure enough, this man in his thirties with a dirty face was holding onto a cross tightly at this moment. He prayed for those poor suffering people, and after a long time, he said, "When we get back, we have to send what we filmed to headquarters. They should be able to use the fastest speed to pose these videos. If the headquarters does not do it, then I will post them myself!"
"But you might get fired from the agency for posting without consent." someone whispered.
"Look at those people's appearance. This is simply slaughter – an atrocity!. If the agency does not dare share this because of political reasons, then I would rather not stay. What's the point of my future? Is it not our duty to report the cruelty and the injustice being done by war? Aren't we doing this so that more people could be saved!"
The Frenchman shouted in a low voice. His righteous attitude made the three of them not dare look at him.
This world was simply not short of brave and kind people with a sense of justice.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Suddenly, not far from this camp, the sound of chanting echoes. The voice was distinct and loud. It even carried an air of holiness.
The French war correspondents looked in the direction of the other side of the camp and were surprised. For a while, they felt as if they were in a trance as if they were in Vatican Cathedral being healed by the holiness as their physical fatigue was reduced to nothing by the sound of the holy song.
The Kenyan government troops in the camp also stopped what they were doing. They looked towards the entrance of the camp with astonishment.
Then, everyone saw a barefooted man wearing a linen robe walking slowly. Each step he took left a deep footprint. The man looked ordinary but full of grief and benevolence which was extremely contradictory. He walked slowly with each step as if he was bearing the sins of the world. However, each step he took seemed as if he had walked several meters.
Behind the man were a dozen nuns who walked reverently following the man's footprint. As if by doing so, they would be able to understand goodness and righteousness, as if they would be able to feel the Lord in Christ.
Behind the nuns were hundreds of thousands of ragged people. They looked thin but their bodies were clean and without any scars. They lowered their heads and prayed while following the man as if they were not facing the cruel Kenyan government troops, but instead a sacred path.
Everyone who witnessed it was shocked and felt the holiness of the scene.
Chapter 289
"Who are you? Don't move!"
Although the Kenyan government troops were somewhat lax, they still swaggered over with guns in their hands when the 'enemies' approached.
A group of soldiers in full uniform ran out. They took the guns in their hand and aimed at the strange man in front as well as the believers behind him who were whispering prayers.
"What's happening? What's happening?"
An SUV drove over and a middle-aged man smoking a cigar jumped out. He wore a beret and had many medallions on his chest, clearly indicating his seniority.
"Sir, these people suddenly appeared in front of the barracks. We were just about to interrogate them as to their identities."
"Hmmm?"
The officer took a puff of his cigar while looking at the group carefully. He relaxed after seeing that they did not have any weapons and smiled, "Isn't this the resistance? Did you come here to surrender?"
"Go, escort them all to the square. Anyone who resists will be killed."
He thought that the rebels had finally given into the pangs of hunger and thirst.
As for the strange man at the head of the group, he did not care at all.
These soldiers had been stationed here for a long time and didn't have much communication with the outside world. Additionally, although Louie just performed a miracle not long ago, these soldiers did not know what happened in the village.
The military men followed their commander and walked forward with their guns. Behind them were armored vehicles that had their mounted guns pointed at the group. Although their models were significantly dated, their lethality remained potent enough to mow through crowds in minutes.
The crowd behind "Christ" stirred, instinctively cowering at this display. Only a few of them whose faith lay firmer than bedrock did not bother to even glance at the soldiers. Their fortitude quickly spread to their fellow believers, however, and soon all of them stood firmly on their feet
The commanding officer's instincts informed him that there was something slightly amiss with the situation. The belligerents' behavior was quite unexpected in his experience.
Suddenly, their leader spoke up in a calm tone. His voice was not loud, but everyone could feel as if he was talking right next to them.
"Worship me as your Lord."
At this, the soldiers froze in place. Those simple words which weren't even particularly loud seemed to boom within their souls. The bloodthirst they had cultivated through lifetimes of murder quickly began to dissolve like salt in water.
The commanding officer began to panic. Taking two steps back, he wondered why the fellow in front of him gave such a sense of foreboding. He collected his thoughts and with a shivering voice replied, "Ha…Ha… What are you saying? What Lord are you talking about? Aren't you just a psychopath?"
Despite his response, a terrible possibility began to creep into his thoughts. Recalling all the mystical events that had taken the world by storm in recent months, he shuddered at the idea that he was at the center of a supernatural event.
"AHHHHH!"
Just then, a scream came from the camp. A poor civilian was likely being abused in some way.
"Those are your brothers and sisters."
'Christ" once again spoke out. His face was calm as he spoke, "Who do you think I am?"
As his words fell, the disciples behind him spoke with blessing in their hearts, "You are Christ, the living God!"
The voices of hundreds of people were deafening. As the words fell, the sound of screams and people moving came from the midst of the barracks.
"What's happening? What's happening!?"
The officer shouted in horror, wondering what was taking place behind him.
Then he saw many soldiers near him burst into tears and threw down the guns in their hands. They acted like the believers and kneeled down and prayed, but some of them remained stubborn and held their guns indifferently.
Louie had turned on [Evil Detection], allowing him to see that the barracks were covered in a deep red light. Nonetheless, some points were only slightly red, signifying that not all of the members of the army were willingly partaking in atrocities.
Louie's words carried the spell [Suggestion] and even divine power. He did this in order to bring out the goodness and kindness in people. The sound of guns being fired previously was done by the good soldiers as they suddenly ambushed the abusers.
'At this rate, wouldn't my camp become part of the orderly camp? Maybe I should go hug the Goddess of Morning's thighs.'
Louie, who was acting as Christ, was calm on the surface, but he was inwardly muttering.
Although he had performed a miracle before this, that simple miracle was not enough to convince people that he was Christ, so Louie had no choice but to go on a long journey of preaching just like Jesus did. This was more in line with Christian doctrine. To create a new gospel, he had to act more like Christ. How else were people going to believe that he was the savior?
It was not enough with just power and miracles, because the devil could also do the same thing. Louie wanted to play Christ and learned as much as he could about what Christ did. Otherwise, other people might just treat him as a liar with mysterious powers.
At this moment, Louie's finger moved without a trace. He released the legendary transformation spell that he had prepared long ago – [Area Hex]
"You shall not learn from Cain, who has done evil and killed his brother. He died because he was evil! Brothers should treat each other with kindness!"
With Louie's words, in the eyes of the believers, the cameras of the war correspondents, and the monitoring satellite overhead had all recorded that all the evil soldiers inside the barracks had been turned into frogs!
In the Bible, it's said that Adam and Eve's eldest son, Cain, had killed his younger brother, Abel. As a result, God had cursed Cain to never see the light and bear the eternal sin. Cain was the ancestor of all evil people, and thus became the ancestor of vampires.
TLN: This is fiction, and I'm not sure what reference the author is making. LOL
Although vampires were popular figures in contemporary culture, even the most sanitized representations of them often portrayed them as parasitic existences. Louie also knew spells that could turn people into vampires, but he felt that such a punishment would be too harsh for them. Thus, he simply turned them into frogs.
"Croak, croak…"
A cascade of ribbits poured out from the ground. Where hundreds of soldiers once stood were now frogs running amok.
"Oh, God…"
A French journalist gulped. When he tried to find their leader, who was a devout Christian, he saw that he had somehow run away and joined the walking disciples.
"Christ" did not care how many disciples walked behind him and continued to walk on. When he walked past those who were suffering, the smell of his fragrance healed their wounds and vigor filled their bodies. The weeping children also stopped crying and quietly observed.
"You shall not suffer any longer, for I am here. Your Lord has come. Your suffering will be borne by me."
The captives inside the barracks as well as the soldiers that still had kindness in their hearts kneeled and cried. The soldiers threw down their weapons and joined Christ's disciples, causing the group to grow instantly.
All this was filmed by a French journalist, but his colleague noticed something wrong and tapped his shoulder, "You, when did you start streaming."
The French journalist shivered and looked at his hand. He noticed that he had been live on youtube and his views had reached a shocking ten million. He looked at the frogs running around and said, "I'm spreading the gospel of the Lord! Look at the millions of people who have already joined the Lord!"
"…"
The French journalists looked at each other. At this moment, they weren't sure what to do as their leader was now following behind Christ.
The live chat was moving so fast with various comments.
"Lord, I wish to repent."
"Hurry, wifey. Come out and see God. it's the real God!"
"It really is Christ, the Christ who walks on Earth."
"My God, I can't believe I saw Christ in the twenty-first century. Is Judgement Day going to come?"
"The Bible is actually a real book of miracles. I used to think it was made up."
"Christ turned people into frogs. I want to write a poem…"
"Miss Angel, where is Miss Angel. If there is Christ, doesn't that mean there are angels!"
TLN: Imagine meeting a biblically accurate angel.
"You disgusting man, angels are genderless. There may even be a separate genus."
"It's fine if you say it. If you truly dare do this in front of the real Christ, then I can only pray for you."
"Christ will not condemn you for these verbal words. God loves the world and Christ will carry all sins for us."
…
Police stations in many Christian-dominated countries were extremely busy. The police were shocked to find countless fugitives and criminals coming to the police station to confess. They cried and asked the police to send them to prison. These people were afraid that their sins while alive would send them to hell and suffer for eternity.
There were both good and bad effects of the presence of God. The impact of Christ's descent was still expanding. The most immediate impact was a plummet in crime.
Chapter 290
Chakk-chackk-chak-chak
The forest was awash with the sound of helicopter blades chopping through the air.
The three French journalists hadn't left after the initial shooting. Instead, they used their camera lenses to signal to the incoming aircraft.
The leader of their group seemed to want to expose the videos to the public, but at this moment, they all seemed to have forgotten that they had just broadcasted the crazy events without permission from headquarters.
They thought that the AFP would not dare say anything against them. They could, they thought, argue that it was an expression of religious freedom. Or that Christ himself inspired them to do so. Naturally, if they dared say this during the Middle Ages, the inquisition would have visited them.
"Who are those people?"
One of the reporters asked.
"That one has the flag of the United States, that one from Russia, that one from China, there's also our French ones, oh and Englishmen too."
For thousands of years, France and England had been rivals. As a result, this Frenchman spoke with displeasure. Moreover, they had just met Christ. This reminded him of the French Holy Maiden, Joan of Arc, who the English killed.
However, these Frenchmen also knew that they could only be victorious under the leadership of women and foreigners.
Not long after, these helicopters descended. The journalists blocked the buffeting wind with their hands while looking at the various people coming down from these helicopters. Among them were clerks, armed forces, and officials of different embassies in Kenya. Because they knew what was happening, they rushed to the scene immediately.
The only thing that confused the three was that everyone was holding nets!
"Are they here to catch butterflies?"
A French journalist cussed. But they quickly understood why they were carrying net bags. They were not here to catch butterflies, but frogs.
"Quick. There's a frog there. Catch it!"
A Kenyan soldier who had been turned into a frog stood dumbfounded and was caught in a net before they could react.
"Take a look at this. This frog isn't afraid of humans and is even charging at me."
"No, these frogs look like they have a will. They seem to be talking to me, but I don't speak like a frog."
"Idiots. They're not people. They're people who had their souls put into frogs."
"…"
This immediately stirred up the crowd, causing them to panic. At first, these people were instructed by their countries to catch frogs. Although they had seen how Christ turned these people into frogs, they thought that these frogs had lost their human will, but now, it seemed that these frogs could think like humans. It's just that they lost their human bodies!
Dark Magic… Witchcraft…
When seeing this, the first thought that came into everyone's mind was the story of the frog prince, but they knew that this wasn't any evil magic or witchcraft, but a punishment from God. They did not dare say that the power of Christ was evil as that was akin to blasphemy.
"The Exodus, second of the ten plagues."
There were people who knew the Bible extremely well and whispered things like this. This was the first thing that came to their minds. When the prophet Moses tried to bring the people of God out of Egypt but was prevented from doing so, God sent ten plagues to Egypt.
Just from the wording, one would think that it was a disaster where countless frogs destroyed crops, but now, it might seem like it was a disaster that turned people into frogs.
This was also horrible, but it was definitely a punishment from God.
"How in the world did this happen? Each of these people weighed more than a hundred pounds, but their bodies turned into frogs. Where did all that extra mass go? How could they have a frog's physiology yet maintain human consciousness? What the hell is a soul?"
One of the scholars shouted as his head hurt from thinking. He felt annoyed that everything he had learned in the past had all gone down the drain.
"Forget about that for now. Just catch them first."
The embassy personnel of various countries quickly reacted and started a frenzy of catching frogs. It was better to have research institutes study them. All they had to do was to catch more experimental materials than other countries.
Those frogs that used to be Kenyan soldiers that were smart enough had already run away long ago. They knew that the various countries didn't have the ability to turn them back to humans. If they were really caught and sent to a research institute, then they were finished.
"Hey, you three, stop standing still and help us catch frogs!"
Seeing the three French journalists in a daze, the French embassy official angrily shouted. They quickly responded and joined in the frenzy, but they didn't realize that everything happening was still being broadcasted. The sight of various suited officials jostling against one another in a bid to catch frogs cut a comedic figure.
…
Washington, United States of America
"Your Excellency, this is the research report on those frogs. Their bodies are the same as ordinary frogs with not a single difference, but the bizarre thing is that traces of human thought could be found in some of them. It is irrefutable that they were human beings. Although they lost their bodies, they still retained their memories and knowledge. The researchers were even able to communicate with them using words."
"One of the frogs was dissected and its brain was no different from the average frog. We cannot find out how a frog's brain could carry human consciousness. Maybe it has something to do with the soul. The researchers are now preparing to get female frogs for a mating experiment, to see if there is any difference in the tadpoles that are born."
The staff spoke with a plain expression, but everyone looking at him almost wanted to curse.
Those scientists were simply not human. They knew that the frogs had a human consciousness, yet they wanted to make them mate with other frogs. The image was simply too horrific to imagine.
"Christ… Where is Christ at the moment?"
The President of the United States of America trembled with both hands. He considered himself a Christian even if his faith wasn't firm, but this supernatural event was simply different from all others that happened before it. This was an event that would have a huge impact on the entire Western society. No one could be sure what Christ's descent would actually bring.
"From the direction Christ is advancing and our predictions, Christ is planning to leave Kenya and heading to neighboring Somalia!"
"Is he just like Moses leading the suffering people of God out of Kenya to the new land of Canaan?"
No one could answer the President's question. Neither his staff nor major theological and religious scholars could answer him. They dared not for fear of committing the sin of blasphemy.
Moreover, they knew from the words of this Christ, that he was not Jesus, so they could not speculate on the trajectory of his life and what he would do next.
"Is our only option to recognize him as Christ?"
The President carefully asked once more, but no one still answered his words.
The President was a little disappointed. Other than the Vatican, Christian nations were not all too willing to recognize the identity of Christ. The leader of these great nations had great power in the world of men, but in the world of God, they were nothing but ordinary believers!
This was bad for the hegemony that the United States of America held, but no one dared resist. Christianity might look moderate nowadays, but in the past, especially in the Middle Ages, the Christian Church was synonymous with darkness. If he dared claim to be against Christ, then tomorrow, tens of thousands of devotees would come to the White House and force him out of his office. Moreover, this number was only because other Christians were far away.
"What about the Jews?
Hearing the President's words, the spirits of the people in the office shook. That's right. They did not dare openly and blatantly go against Christ, but it did not mean they could not do anything. They did not dare, but they could encourage others to, especially the Jews and even Satanists!
Chapter 291
Judaism and Christianity were different. Although both denominations seemed to believe in the one God 'Yahweh', the two of them had different interpretations of the Messiah.
The teachings of Christianity, like Buddhism, expanded rapidly to meet the needs of the ruling class. It could be said to have metamorphosed from Judaism.
In Jewish doctrine, Jesus was not a God, but just a prophet like Moses and others. In Christianity, however, Jesus was elevated to an infinitely higher status through the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus was made equal to God. To a certain extent, it could be said that Judaism believed in a singular God while Christianity worshiped a tripartite one.
As for God's chosen people, they were the people of Israel.
Now that Christ had come into the world and claimed to be the son of God, and that believing in him was the same as believing in God, this became the undeniable truth that Christianity was correct and Judaism was an incomplete religion. The old and new testaments were thus canonical.
If Judaism was proven to be untrue, then Jewish societies would suffer a heavy blow and have their foundations shaken. This was similar to how Eastern countries had mostly let go of Confucianism.
This was naturally unacceptable to the Jews.
The Jews were a relatively prosperous minority when compared with other demographics. On average they were more economically prosperous than even the Christian white majorities of North America and Europe, and this tended to attract discrimination and maltreatment over history.
Fortunately, they had managed to survive the atrocities of early 20th century Europe and maintained a generally high standard of living worldwide.
Nowadays, the United States' political scene was a battleground between the GOP and the Democrats, but behind the scenes, it was only a struggle of interest between the capitalist plutocrats, among whom some Jews occupied a pivotal position.
Under the veneer of overt democracy was a robust but hidden framework of norms, ethics, and processes that were guided to meet the interests of the ruling class. Even if the president wished to radically reform the country, he was ultimately shackled by the wealthy elites from doing so in any way inimical to their interests.
In the past, he might have had no way to deal with them, but now, he might have a chance. Even if Jews were powerful, could they ever claim to be more powerful than Christ? Could they claim that they were more powerful than the two billion followers of Christ? Once the present Christ was acknowledged by the world, a single sentence from him could change any part of the Bib;e. This was the so-called identity of God's chosen people that could be overruled by a single word from Christ.
A single word from God could have a huge impact on the world, and this was the greatness of God.
"Those Jewish plutocrats would never sit idly. Their national pride is very strong, especially after what happened in World War II. It could be said that all Jews were soldiers that were very sensitive to hostility afterward. If Christ is proven to be real, the Jews would be devastated."
The President dismissed the crowd and only had a few staff members stay to discuss the next policy.
He was a capable president. Even if he was not politically correct, he had the nation's business interests as his main concern, so he can't be without ambition.
"So, do you think this Christ is real or not?"
The President looked worried. If he was real, the President did not want to be his enemy if he could.
He was never prepared to be Christ's enemy from the beginning. But as a person in power and as a human being, he had no choice but to try and borrow the power of God to make the nation great again.
"Just from the miracles and deeds Christ has shown, he should be the real deal. Sir, we should forcefully recognize this Christ in the name of the nation."
"If he is recognized as Christ, wouldn't that make the Vatican stronger? What I'm most worried about is the European side."
"You don't have to worry about that. We are not in the Middle Ages anymore. The people have been opened to wisdom and knowledge and science is deeply rooted in many people's hearts. The church would not be able to have the same authority as in the Middle Ages unless Christ is willing to lend the church the power of God. If God wanted to rule over humans, then there is no point in this discussion. Besides, I don't think Christ would do that. He should be someone who persuades people to do good and not evil. If he did promote evil, then he is without a doubt a 'fake'."
"Perhaps for Christ, everything he does is right, but for us mortals, Christ should be limited to his title of 'Christ', the anointed one. He should not be able to do anything beyond the scope of 'Christ'."
Many of the staff exchanged opinions. As the leaders of the nation, although they did not have the thinking and ability of the gods, they could still guess why Christ acted the way he did.
Although the words were roundabout, the President also understood their meaning. It roughly meant that 'Christ' must do good and must not be interested in the mortal world because that was how it was recorded in the New Testament. If he went against it, then he was the devil.
After some discussion, the President came to a decision. He and his staff looked at each other in slight embarrassment. Then they all bowed their heads and began to confess and repent, hoping that Christ would forgive them.
In truth, even the President of the United States of America was afraid. After all, he was just another mortal afraid of going to hell after his death. Since he was still alive, he could only do things that suited him.
At that moment, he even thought of resigning from the presidency. His position may have been a symbol of power in the past, but now, it was simply a hot potato!
"Oh, god. I just remembered. I have to get my baby girl to change her beliefs back!"
The President suddenly exclaimed.
The bureaucrats looked at each other. Only then did it occur to them that the president's famous daughter was married to a Jew and even converted from Christianity to Judaism to do so. In the past, it did not mean much, but now that Christ had come to Earth, this was a political nightmare!
'I guess the first daughter's marriage is going to be a problem.'
One of the bureaucrats thought maliciously. Faith was not a trivial matter the moment God is proven to exist.
…
At the Kenyan airport, a plane landed and several elderly men, dressed in elaborate and sacred religious garments, hurried across the bridge.
They were none other than the 266th Pope, Pope Francis I, with members of his College of Cardinals.
If these people traveled together in the past, it would be on the headlines of every newspaper, but today, they were just pilgrims.
"Where is the Lord?"
Walking down the aisle of the plane, the pope and the cardinals performed the sign of the cross and asked the clergy who came to meet them.
"The Lord is leading his disciples away from Kenya to Somalia."
"Quickly. Quickly prepare the transportation. I am going to see the Lord."
The Pope hastily ordered.
After arriving at the airport hall, the appearance of the Pope and the Cardinals caused a sensation. Many even cried and kneeled in prayer. When Francis I took a closer look, he found that most people in the airport were believers of Christ, old and young, men and women, able-bodied and disabled. The Pope guessed that they were also devout believers. Knowing the news of Christ's descent, they all came at the first opportunity.
"My brothers and sisters, in the presence of the Lord, I am one of his humble sheep, as are you. We have come here to hear the will of the Lord, so we ask you to come with me to meet Christ, our Savior. May the Lord bless you!"
"May the Lord be with you!"
"…"
There were many prayers from the airport. There were even believers singing hymns. Anyone who walked in would not think that this was an airport, but St. Peter's Basilica.
Seeing so many devotees here, the Pope was too embarrassed to leave alone. He immediately instructed the clergy of the diocese to prepare enough transportation. If it was not enough, they could borrow from the embassies of other countries. In this situation, those embassies would not refuse.
After Francis I had given his orders, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. After looking at his papal robes, he hurriedly said, "Prepare us some clothes. We need to change them."
As he recalled Christ preaching in simple robes, he looked at his own religious costume. If they were to go over to have an audience in such tawdry religious costumes, Christ would probably not mind, but the faithful would certainly be displeased with them.
Before Christ, he was just an ordinary believer.
Chapter 292
On the border between Kenya and Somalia, a procession of tens of thousands of people was marching along a beaten path. The leader at the head of the procession had a calm expression. His eyes bore an intrinsically benevolent intent as he simultaneously walked and sermoned.
"Lord, the Pope had arrived."
"Lord, what do we do next?"
"…"
There was a sudden commotion on the path ahead. It was the Pope and his own College of Cardinals as well as the devotees they had met at the Kenyan airport who arrived. They had caught up with Christ on vehicles provided by the embassies of major countries.
The Pope and the Cardinals, who had changed into coarse linen, stood not far from the huge procession, but they hesitated to come over.
"Lord, is that Christ or the Antichrist?"
A cardinal stood beside Francis I and asked carefully. He tried to do it quietly as if he was afraid of being heard by Christ and by others.
The so-called Antichrist, as recorded in the Book of John, denies that Jesus is the Son of God. That was a necessary condition.
So in fact, Louie's act of playing as Christ was written in the bible and contradicted Christian dogma.
The Bible was extremely comprehensive and anticipated many kinds of situations so that no one could easily exploit it. It had even prepared responses for the individuals who would eventually claim to be the Son of God. In its own terms, all who claimed to be the Son of God other than Jesus were blaspheming heretics. And following its messages to the letter, Louie was just that.
However, the situation now was slightly different.
Whether it was the Pope or any devout believers who took the Bible as the holy word, they were simply mortals. Therefore, when confronted with the miracles he had shown, they had no choice but to hesitate. Even if they subconsciously denied that calling him Christ was un-Christian, they were careful in case it was only an error in the Bible.
This was why Louie proved himself to be Christ by doing the same as what Christ once did. He did things in a way that did not go against the teaching of the Bible, just slightly modified.
This was also consistent with how the system worked in San Soliel, where the God of Justice must perform justice. If the God of Justice was not upholding justice, then that was the day the God would collapse.
"I also don't know, but I believe that the Lord will tell me the answer. My heart is telling me that it should be Christ."
Pope Francis I also whispered back. The other Cardinals remained silent when they heard the words.
Of course, their hearts also recognized him as Christ. This was because it would be in their best interest to do so. Anyone living in human society had to live by the rules of human society. Their Catholic family was large and needed money. They needed political means to keep the Church running. If it only depended on the consciousness of the faithful, the Catholic Church would have gone bankrupt and closed down. Faith could cleanse the spirit, but it could never feed people!
"We will follow and see," so said the Pope.
The other cardinals agreed. If Christ's actions were really consistent with the Scriptures, they would recognize him as Christ. Even if he was false, God would forgive them, for they were only deceived.
Since the appearance of the Torch Dragon, the concept of the supernatural and God was recentered in daily life. It also caused a huge debate on the truth and falsity of God. In case there were demons pretending to be God and they believed in it, then they would suffer God's punishment.
Other than Louie, no other person on Earth knew that everything supernatural was done by a single being. All other supernatural beings were just Louie pretending to be them. From the perspectives of Earthlings, since there was a god in this world, there were bound to be demons. If one believed in a God, they had no choice but to question the authenticity of the god that they believe in, and whether they would be punished by the real God for believing in a false God.
Louie had also long been prepared for this. This was why he went back to capture a demon. In order to make the world believe that he was the real Christ, he did not need the recognition of the Earthlings, but a demon.
If a demon calls you Christ, then you are Christ. Human opinions didn't matter.
The voice of the Vatican congregation was small, but how could Louie not hear it? He secretly sighed at how humans were always suspicious, but then again his act was not completely in line with Jesus from the Bible, so he understood.
He recalled the power of the paladin, Roselia, and the holiness of the Goddess of Morning, and said in a warm voice, "If you believe me then listen to me. If you do not believe me, I do not blame you."
The Pope and cardinals were inwardly shocked. They did not think that their mutterings were heard by Christ. They looked up with a start and met the gentle eyes of Christ. At that moment, shame and remorse filled their hearts. They shamed themselves for thinking such irrelevant thoughts about the Lord. They, too, hastened to walk slowly into the line of disciples under the guidance of that divine light.
And long before the Pope and the others joined the line, there were devotees who took one step and knelt down, leaving tears of joy before joining the line. Christ smiled faintly and continued to march forward and preach.
With Christ's words, the Pope and Cardinals were surprised to find that their old bodies seemed to be flooded with infinite strength. Even while walking on foot, they did not feel tired.
"My, my legs!"
A devotee in a wheelchair stood up in astonishment. The people saw that his originally muscular atrophied legs were filled with a strong vitality and stood on the earth again.
"Lord, thank you for your mercy."
This believer was so excited that he fell to his knees and deeply kissed Christ's footprints with tears streaming down his face.
"My eyes, my eyes can see."
"I can breathe well. I can breathe well. I was told by my doctor that my lung cancer is terminal."
Many devotees wept.
Those who were blind found themselves gradually seeing color. Those who had malignant diseases found themselves healed. These were things that modern medicine could not yet accomplish. This was a miracle that only Christ could show.
In an instant, these devotees wept as their faith became more firm. The believers who had joined the group were smiling. They rejoiced over these people. For Christ had said, "You are brothers and sisters. You should rejoice for the joy of your siblings."
Compared to the excited believers, the reporters who had been following the procession were even more stirred up. As the miracle took place, they first thought of their family members with incurable diseases. They hastily took out their cellphones to make phone calls, urgently asking their families to hurry over.
For those rich and powerful who were watching from their homes, they were also shaken. They couldn't wait to rush over in their private jets and become disciples of Christ and give a big donation to the church to promote the development of Christianity.
"Blessed is he who believes in me…"
Christ was still reciting the Scriptures. Those who heard his words were enlightened. These people were the first batch of people who were able to receive blessings. Because they believed that he was Christ, they were blessed.
In an instant, many of those who were believers but doubted everything felt regret.
But Louie, who was playing the role of Christ, now had a hard time saying that he expected that he would have countless believers and disciples joining him in his sermon. To begin with, this was why he chose a relatively remote place like Kenya, but he had underestimated the fervor of the believers. He did not expect that in just a few days, a group of fewer than 3,000 people would swell by more than ten times.
He knew that the satellites in the sky were tracking his every move, and he knew that there were many reporters around him who stood far away without following the line.
With those news anchors coming here and streaming the procession live, the people gathered there and followed him had almost reached 100,000 in size.
Having so many people following him, Louie also felt a bit of pressure. On the entire road, he released a divine aura. When he saw poor people on the way, he lent them a helping hand and displayed miracles.
However, this consumed divine power. At this rate, he would not be able to eat.
'I originally planned to take a longer route, but it seems like I have to stop in Somalia. If I continue advancing, my divine power would be cleanly exhausted. If that happens, my plans would be ruined and it would be easy to have my flaws be revealed.
Louie kept his calm and soft look while muttering in his heart.
Louie did not care if his divine power was wasted here. This was an investment. He had to pay enough divine power to show miracles and wait until people believed that he was Christ. That way, once the faith crossed the Crystal Wall System, he could gain a huge amount of faith and use them.
The Gods of San Soliel might have had more experience than Louie, but they were Gods who could not change their alignment.
'In order to provide a good reason for Christ's descent and for my divine kingdom, I have to start the next plan.'
With this in mind, Louie looked sideways towards the United Kingdom.
At the same time, he activated the second identity that he had long-prepared – Celtic Mythology.
Chapter 293
Wales was one of the major regions forming the United Kingdom, along with England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. It was bordered by St. George's Channel to the west and England to the east.
The history of Wales was even older and more ancient than that of England, with Wales having its own history and culture before the emergence of the entity of what people presently understand to be Anglo-Saxon Today. However, at that time, the people ruling the nation were the Celtic people who dominantly had a Druidic culture and followed Celtic mythology.
But with the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons and the introduction of Christianity, Celtic mythology was submerged in history. Although the Welsh were now considered to be descendants of ancient Celts, they were all Christian. Even the Celtic language had been forgotten and replaced by English.
At the Wales Coast Path, the sky was washed with blue, and the ocean reflected it like a bright mirror. A small yacht was sailing on the sea with a group of college students from the University of Wales.
As one of the most famous universities in the United Kingdom, many students come from all over the world. This group of students was a group of new students led by local students who rented a yacht and came to enjoy the scenery of Wales.
An Englishman came to the deck of the yacht and saw an Oriental man leaning against the reeling of the yacht and playing with his cellphone. He patted him on the shoulder and excitedly said, "Hey, Chang! Aren't you going to go in and eat with everyone? It's one of the fish that I caught and Kayla is the one cooking it, you know."
The two of them were students of the history program and even lived in the same dormitory. Naturally, their relationship was quite good.
"Not too hard, man. You'll break my bones!"
The Oriental man named Chang bared his teeth and spoke in a good-natured way.
"That's because you're too thin! You should be working out with me instead of playing with your phone here."
Jason grinned and chuckled. He bent his arms and revealed his bulky biceps. It was clear that he was extremely athletic.
"Sports aren't my thing"
"Even if that's the case, you can spend time eating. Kayla's made a lot of seafood dishes, you know?"
"We're so busy with school that I can't even find time to play games. With such a good opportunity in front of me, how could I not take this chance to finish my daily mission… Also, I don't know if I really want to taste English food"
"Hah! If Kayla hears you, she'll get mad."
Jason slapped Chang's shoulder even harder, making the teenager grimace.
"Easy, man. I know you like Kayla. You are actually just trying to pull in another victim to accompany you. Honestly, you should just confess to her. Aren't you a westerner? How come you are more subtle than us. I thought that Westerners were more passionate and spontaneous than this. If you don't make an effort, Kayla is probably going to be snatched away by Marco."
Hearing Chang's words, Jason's face reddened, and said in a panic, "I am a gentleman, not like those French and Italian! Marco is an Italian playboy, Kayle would never be fooled by him!"
"Aren't your ancestors Celts? If they see you now, they would see you as a disgrace. If you have enough gut, go confess now. Can't you see this beautiful scenery, a clear blue sky that is reflected on the seas? Isn't this the best place to confess?"
Chang said with a deep voice.
Jason sighed. He did not want his best friend to look down on him and wanted to charge into the cabin and confess, but after holding back for a long time, he still felt discouraged and quickly changed the topic.
"I don't think it's the right time. Instead of that, let's talk about the game you're playing. What are you playing that makes you so addicted?"
Seeing that his friend was afraid to confess, Chang sighed. He did not say anything else as he himself did not dare confess to the girl he had a crush on and only egg others to do it.
He showed the phone screen to Jason and asked, "FGO, have you heard of this game?"
"Oh, I know this game. I just want to say it's impossible for King Arthur to be female."
As soon as he heard Chang mention the name of the game, Jason said with conviction.
Wales was an inclusive country. They even had their own parliament that England could not interfere with. In terms of Celtic mythology, everyone knows of the famous King Arthur. Jason was even proud of his culture.
Although people would think of England when mentioning King Arthur, he was in fact from Wales. Celtic mythology had nothing to do with modern English people. If there was a relationship, then it would be that King Arthur represented the Celts that were conquered, while modern Englishmen were the conquerors.
"I dare not agree with that. Although King Arthur is said to only be a legendary figure in stories, those are only thoughts of the people of the past. Now that the world is not what it seems to be, nothing is certain. Christ has appeared so even King Arthur could be real. Us history students are only riding the boom due to the recent supernatural events, but mythology and history were all written by the past generations. Unless we see it with our own eyes, we should not be certain of King Arthur's gender. That's right, he is Schrodinger's King Arthur!"
Chang disagreed with Jason and retorted.
"But King Arthur would definitely not have an Oriental face."
"I agree. King Arthus must absolutely not have an Oriental face."
Chang sighed and revealed a wistful look and said, "Don't you think that it would be great if these mythological and legendary characters look like these images. Nowadays, all kinds of supernatural powers and gods have appeared. The myths may as well be true. Maybe one day, they will appear in our world."
"Chang, you have to distinguish between 3D and 2D. Moreover, those historical figures are long dead. They do not have any mysterious power. From the supernatural events that happened on present-day Earth, it's already confirmed that history has become irrelevant and only related to unidentifiable myths and legends."
Jason said compassionately.
"I know, I know. You don't have to tell me, Jason. I was just imagining it. Characters from the game have a far different appearance from actual mythical characters."
Chang waved his hand then lowered his head and sunk back into the game.
Seeing Chang playing games again, Jason also held the railings in boredom and looked at the scenery that he had seen countless times.
Suddenly a fog appeared in this blue sea. It gradually got thicker and thicker, and the visibility also got lower and lower. Waves had also inexplicably appeared in the calm sea.
"Jason, Chang, what's happening?"
The sudden change also attracted the attention of the people in the cabin. Dozens of students ran out and stood on the crowded deck. Some even panicked and asked what was happening.
Jason and Chang also looked at each other in bewilderment. Both could see the shock in each other's eyes and they also did not know what happened as it all came too sudden.
"Look, there's an island up ahead!"
Someone exclaimed and pointed at an island that emerged on the other side of the fog.
"Was there an island there? I remember that there should be no island at all."
"I know this place very well. I can guarantee that there should be no such island within a hundred nautical miles."
"Oh God, are we involved in some supernatural event?"
A group of teenage girls panicked.
"Look, someone seems to be coming towards us."
Looking at the thickest part of the fog, a figure seemed to be moving on water.
Chapter 294
Many college students stood on the deck of the ship with dumbfounded expressions. They watched the figure coming from the distant shore and getting clearer and clearer.
As the figure approached, the dense fog began to thin. The island in the distance seemed to sharpen in resolution.
Not long after, the fog completely dissipated. The blue sea and blue sky appeared once more in the eyes of the crowd, but it wasn't completely the same. A human figure stood above the sea.
It was a tall, muscular man. His exposed skin was covered in ancient tattoos and wore antiquated clothing. While his attire wasn't completely analogous to animal skins worn by barbarians, it didn't look modern at all.
At this moment, the people found that the man was not actually treading the waves, but below his feet was a huge shark. That's right, the man was riding the shark forward.
When the man saw the yacht, his eyes flickered, and he laughed loudly, "Thank you for giving me a ride."
Then, the man gently leaped off the shark, jumping several meters high with an unbelievable speed and arc, and landed on the bow of the boat.
The crowd on the boat shrieked and screamed as the man landed. His landing caused the boat to shake three times causing the crowd to fall backward and forward.
"Sigh. What a bunch of weaklings. If this was in the middle of a war, your heads would probably be chopped off."
The man said with dissatisfaction and then asked loudly, "Who is your leader?"
The crowd collectively paled in fright. Its members looked at each other without knowing how to answer.
This was because they couldn't understand the man's words at all. Only a few who studied history could tell that this was an ancient Celtic language, but no one spoke the Celtic language anymore in this era.
The man also noticed that these people could not understand his words. He slightly corrected himself and angrily said, "What did those damned birds and their god do to make the people not understand my words anymore?"
This time, the people on the boat understood the man because he had switched to English, but his voice contained a strong Irish accent that slurred his speech.
The students on board went silent because of the oppressive aura that the man gave off. He just stood there like a beast preparing to eat its prey. Let alone staring at the man, the students couldn't even maintain eye contact with the man.
As time passed, the students were able to barely recover their spirits and carefully looked at the appearance of the man.
The man was two meters tall and packed full of muscles. He exuded an aura of bravery and savagery. He had a spear behind him made from unknown materials. The spear appeared roughly made, but there were many patterns on it that seemed to contain incredible power.
"A Celtic cross, a Claddagh ring, a spiral knot, and a Celtic wheel of life."
A student who was deeply knowledgeable about Celtic culture whispered. He saw the symbols on the spear and was able to recognize them. These symbols had rich meanings in Celtic culture and Druidism. It also made the spear look beautiful.
However, compared to the existence of the man and his spear, the unknown life form on the man's shoulder attracted people's attention more.
It was a fairy-like creature that was only 20 meters tall. It had the appearance of a human being with a pair of translucent butterfly wings on its back. It was even wearing a beautiful dress of intricate colors.
The delicate and beautiful appearance of the fairy made people imagine how beautiful she would look if she had a human-sized body.
"Fairy?"
A student let out a questioning whisper.
However, another more knowledgeable student, seeing the man's dress and tone as well as the island, spoke in wonder, "Avalon? Lady of the Lake?"
"Eh? It looks like someone has some insight. He even knows that you are the Demoness of the Lake."
The man's last words were addressed to the fairy sitting on his shoulder.
"It's lady, not demoness, you barbarian."
The fairy said discontentedly. The language she used was classical English, and her voice held an incredible charm.
"Barbarian? Don't tell me those birds influenced you?"
The man was furious, "Moronoe, you have already left Avalon and become so small. You can't even function as a woman, why did I even bring you here. In this world, you must listen to me and not contradict me."
TLN: In case people don't know, there are apparently many people who were called Lady of the Lake, so having another one doesn't make a difference ?
The man's words made those college students sweat. They thought that this wild man was very 'straight'. And he didn't seem to shy from speaking crassly to the fairy. Moreover, from his words, they could tell that this 20-centimeter fairy originally had a bigger body.
Chang and Jason looked at each other at this time and saw the surprise in each other's eyes, "Moronoe? Isn't that one of the nine rulers of Avalon?"
While the two were shocked by this name, the beautiful and elegant fairy angrily and arrogantly said "Connacht Rhys, although you are a Tuatha Dé Danann, a descendant of the supreme goddess Danu, Avalon is a realm of bliss and not under the control of Danu. If you are not convinced, then let us go back to Avalon and fight. Let's see if I can drain you first or you can make me beg for mercy."
The air of elegance around her disappeared, replaced by an extremely demonic air. At that moment, everyone understood why the man called her a demoness.
This was very Celtic and very bold!
As senior students of the University of Wales and people who had stayed on Celtic land for a period of time, they could glean a lot of shocking information from the conversation between the two.
They were shocked, but they were also envious.
The males on the boat's minds began to wander. The fairy was like a hundred flowers, and just being able to do it with her once even if they would live a short life would be worth it.
In Celtic mythology, men and women did not seem to be very concerned about the relationship between the sexes. It's even said that Druids allowed same-sex relationships and were very open about it. Ordinary people could only imagine this openness because women in Celtic mythology loved men who were brave warriors. In modern times, only a few people could compare to ancient Celtic warriors.
Suddenly, the man known to be a Tuatha Dé Danann looked to the south and let out a bloodthirsty laugh, "HAHAHAHA! Moronoe, I can feel the god of those bird people. If it is on the other side, then only the goddess could face him, but in this world, the human god could definitely be killed by me!"
The Celtic man's eyes became frenzied. His body was full of spirit as if he would dare throw his spear at the face of a god.
Moronoe was shocked and hurriedly stopped him, "Connacht Rhys, you cannot do that. We had a hard time coming to this world for our mission. Even if he is reduced to the 'Son of God', you are still not his opponent. Also, what use is it to kill him when it's just one part of the whole?
"We, Tuatha Dé Danann, do not fear death!"
"But what you are doing is suicide! We are defeated. We were only able to gain this chance to come to this side thanks to the returning mysteries and the permission of the Eastern Gods. You cannot just waste this opportunity on a whim. The reason why I'm here in this body is to keep you in check!"
Celtic people were the kind to never care about others, as a result, the man and the fairy argued.
The ignored college students looked at each other and thought that the Celts had some strange common sense, but this was also a great fortune for them as they were able to know many things.
The people from Celtic mythology, if classified by camps, would be in the chaos camp!
Chapter 295
British Isles, London, Military Intelligence Section 13, MI13
Just like other countries all over the world, Great Britain had naturally established its own supernatural investigations agency. Prior to the boom in supernatural interest, there were already several intelligence agencies in the country. The thirteenth division had been a small department devoted to understanding obscure phenomena.
However, now, many supernatural events have occurred. Gods and magic had also been confirmed to exist. This jinxed number 'thirteen' had risen to the spotlight. After the transfer of professional elites from various departments and civil servants, division 'thirteen' had become the most important of the intelligence divisions.
In the underground base of the 13th division, a certain individual codenamed 'Mr. A' was seated. He was the director of the 13th division, and at the moment he was casually browsing through a dossier containing intelligence reports.
Since the Tokyo Torch Dragon incident, other mysterious incidents had popped up all around the world, and one of the jobs of MI13 was to review these events and determine if superhumans were involved.
However, just like the rest of the world, all the intelligence collected outside by the 13th division was fake and caused by groups of con artists. Only two demonic incidents that happened in Italy and China were confirmed to be true. Other than that, no information on supernatural beings could be called real.
After reading through the materials submitted by his men, Mr. A refocused his attention on the sighting of 'Christ' in Kenya. His supposed descent was of great concern for Britain.
Suddenly, a call on his computer rang. His subordinate had sent him urgent information and he quickly scanned it. The contents of the information contained a video.
This was a mysterious incident that happened not far from the coast of Wales. As a result of the current supernatural events, many people would habitually turn on their cameras when they went out in hopes of capturing any supernatural events. There happened to be students who were filming the event, so important information was collated.
After watching the video, Mr. A's face became more and more stern. He immediately reached out to the officer responsible for the information by phone. After grilling the agent and verifying the event's authenticity, he walked out of his office and put on his jacket. Turning to his adjutant he spoke sharply, "Inform the Prime Minister and Her Majesty of the events in Wales."
…
London, Buckingham Palace
Cars drove in after being inspected by the palace guards. They all parked in front of the palace. Throngs of people stepped out of their vehicles and walked into the conference room of Buckingham Palace without saying a word. These people knew each other, and so no one said anything more.
It didn't take long for the conference room of Buckingham Palace to be filled with people wearing suits, social elites, academics in plain clothes, soldiers in military uniforms, and old men in religious robes.
Among these people were the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the top brass of the army, experts of occult history, mythology, and archaeology from all tertiary and civil schools of England, and protestant members of the denomination.
Unlike the Catholic Church, which had the Roman Pope, and the Orthodox Church which with its Patriarch, Protestantism did not have a nominal head. Within Protestantism, there were several denominations such as Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican. These various denominations had sent representatives to participate in this meeting. As for the elders of major denominations, they had long since run to Kenya for an audience with Christ.
"Her Majesty the Queen has arrived."
With the ceremonial officer singing, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain walked into the conference room followed closely by her attendants. The Queen was dressed in a simple white tunic, but her movements were nonetheless graceful and befitting a monarch
"Your Majesty," the crowd rose and bowed in respect.
Great Britain was a constitutional monarchy. The Queen, of course, had no real power, but the longest-reigning Queen of Great Britain held great prestige in the country. Any citizen of the country would pay their respects when they saw her.
For the British, the Prime Minister was akin to flowing water, and the Queen was akin to solid iron.
Elizabeth II nodded gently to the people present and walked towards her throne. The crowd parted around her and she strode forward with powerful, healthy steps.
At the Queen's side was her son, Prince Charles, who was nearly seventy years old. He followed his mother with a complicated expression.
It should have been hard to find a seventy-year-old prince in the world, yet Great Britain really had one.
On occasion, he even wondered if he would ever get to sit on the throne. In all likelihood, it would pass over to his son, William, Duke of Cambridge.
When everyone was seated, the conference room doors closed shut.
The Prime Minister of Britain glanced at Mr. A, indicating that he could start at any time.
"Your Majesty, I am the Director of Division 13 of Britain's Military Intelligence Department. I will explain to you and everyone the reason for this urgent summon. This is related to intelligence obtained by our intelligence officers on the coast of Wales. Please watch."
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Mr. A played the video for everyone in the room. The video was not edited at all to keep it original, but the content was quite long. As the crowd watched, their expression gradually became serious. It could be said that they were amazed.
When the video finally finished, the conference room was dead silent, but soon after, it was in turmoil. Everyone muttered to themselves and whispered to each other, displaying their surprise and incredulity.
"What is the Tuatha Dé Danann?"
"It's a god of Celtic mythology."
"Is that the Lady of the Lake written in myths?"
"That strange island at the center of it all is the legendary Avalon? The place said to be where King Arthur rests?"
"My Lord, this is incredible. Please show us the miraculous island again."
"…"
"Order, order!"
The Prime Minister of Britain rapped the table to signal for everyone to be quiet. The people here were elites and they were able to immediately calm down. Everyone looked at the woman in the highest position.
The Queen nodded and gestured to the Prime Minister, "It is better for you to preside over the meeting."
The Queen was too old for such mental and physical work. And secondly, although she was the monarch, she was not fit to discuss anything related to politics as she had to maintain a neutral stance.
The Prime Minister nodded his head and looked at the scholars, "The fairy-like thing called the man Connacht Rhys. Does the name appear in any records?"
A professor in mythology from the University of Cambridge shook his head and said, "I am specialized in Celtic mythology, but there is no record of a man named Connacht Rhys in any canonical texts, but…"
He paused for a moment, raising everyone's curiosity. Only then did he continue in a deep voice, "But, the gods that the ancient Celts believed in were generally tribal protector gods. The gods were named with the location of the tribe and the name of the tribe. So, Connacht Rhys is of the 'Rhys' tribe in Connacht. If he really is a Tuatha De Dannan, then he is a god of Connacht."
"Connacht is the name of a province in Ireland, and it covers the counties of Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Galway, and Roscommon. Of course, I can't tell you if the Connacht now is the same place as the Connacht in mythology. In Celtic Mythology, Connacht is the name of an ancient kingdom. The most famous figure is the legendary Queen Maeve of Connacht."
TLN: Fellow FGO players, Meave is Medb
Sorry for not putting out chapters for two days, I got food poisoning and I partially blame my friend for it (we're still friends). I will make up the two missed chapters at a later date.
I was also surprised by how the site looks now. You get sick for two days and so many things have changed. What are your opinions on these changes, everyone?
Hi friends, thank you for reading this novel.
If you'd like to support this novel, please leave us a rating and a review on
Chapter 296
The individuals present were all social elites. Even if they did not specialize in the study of history and mythology, they nevertheless knew some elements of Celtic mythology.
At this time, the study of natural sciences did not prove useful. Rather, the humanities and the occult flourished in popularity and interest.
A number of experts muttered and argued with each other. The rest of the people quietly watched as they argued. In the end, only the Cambridge University professor's words stood out.
The old man looked excited. For scholars who studied history and mythology, nothing would make them happier than seeing their legends come to life.
"Your Majesty, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I would like to make a statement first. Celtic mythology has not been too widespread due to a lack of records. I can only roughly divide the records into five parts. The first is the Mythological Cycle which tells of five invasions of Ireland that were paramount in the forming of the country. The second is the battle between the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians, the giants of the deep seas. The third is the Ulster Cycle of Cu Chulainn and other heroes. The fourth is the Fenian Cycle that focuses on the story of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Fianna. And the fifth is the legend of King Arthur."
"The Tuatha De Danann called themselves the defeated. It is possible that this has some relation to Judaism and early Christianity. There is a record of battles in the Bible after the Great Flood happened. Some interpretations hold that the participants of the battle were Noah's sons and that the grounds of some of these battles were in Celtic territories."
The Cambridge professor was clearly clustered with excitement as he spoke.
Another member of the academia followed up, "Your interpretation is sound, professor. Legend has it that the Lord, Jesus Christ, came to the island of Avalon with Joseph of Arimathea and built the first Christian Church of England on that island. Avalon should be a very important place in Celtic mythology, right? To have a church built on such an important place would mean that the Celtic gods were losing their battle with the Lord."
This speaker, who was Christian, sounded pious and proud as a believer of Christ. After all, it was a drama of Christ's victory against those 'foreign gods'.
"Indeed. Avalon in Celtic mythology is the realm of bliss similar to the Garden of Eden written in the Bible. From the superhumans that appeared in Japan, we have learned that these mythological figures are in another world. Recently, for some reason, they were able to come to this world, our planet. In Celtic mythology, it's also said that the gods live on the 'Reverse Side of the World'. This 'Reverse Side of the World' should be what the Celtic gods call the side of the world where Avalon and the gods are in."
Everyone in the room listened carefully to the elites talking about spirits and gods.
"What I want to know more is if this Connacht Rhys is a real god or not? What are his goals? As well as what effect it will have on Great Britain?"
The Prime Minister spoke out at the right time, interrupting the professor from continuing his obsession. He directly voiced his concern for the temporal implications of the matter.
"As for whether he is a real god or not, we would have to discuss it in detail. Remember about the event that happened in Tokyo. The old man who is said to have lived six hundred years ago showed strength that would have been called god-like in ancient times."
The Cambridge professor added.
The Prime Minister and other officials looked at each other. They nodded their heads and said, "If it was in ancient times where a lot of people are ignorant, then he would definitely be called a god."
"Yes. That is the meaning that I want to convey. In our opinion, that old man is no different from a god, but he only claims to be an alchemist and respects the gods. It is to the point that he invoked a god called the Torch Dragon and showed us a miracle."
"Previously, I have already discussed with the experts here, and from the information, we have concluded that Christ, Danu, or beings like Fuxi and Nuwa of Eastern mythology could be called gods. This Connacht Rhys should only be considered a descendant of Danu. To make it easier to understand, he can be considered as an angel of god."
A few words from the professor made it clear for everyone in the room. Perhaps there were only a few real gods and these very powerful people who had supernatural powers who served Gods and had statuses as angels.
But even if he was just an angel, would mortal technology be able to go against him? After all, the sight of the old Chinese man blasting through a thermobaric explosion was still fresh in their minds.
"So if this Connaught Ryhs causes trouble, can we fight him?"
A senior officer of the military couldn't help but ask.
"Sorry, sir. I can't give you an answer unless we try it without tanks, but I have to remind you that there are many depictions of Celts that present them as bloodthirsty, crazy, drunk, and promiscuous with women."
"A bunch of barbarians. They should be punished by our Lord so that they know what civilization is."
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Hearing the professor's words, a religious man cursed.
The crowd listened and nodded secretly. Leaving aside the Darkness of the Church during the Medieval Age as that was ultimately caused by humans, the victory of Christ over the Celtic gods was close to a victory of civilization over barbarism. In the world of San Soliel, it was a victory of order over chaos.
"What is that fairy?" the Queen asked.
"Your Majesty, if this creature really is Moronoe, then she should not be called a fairy or a demoness, but the fairy queen. I think we all know the story of Vivian and Merlin. In truth, Vivian was only the ruler of the fairies of the lake on Avalon Island, and the true rulers of Avalon are the nine sorceresses. Moronoe was one of the nine fairy queens, and the leader of them was Morgan."
The professor was getting more and more excited as he chatted away, "Celtic mythology has mostly been erased because of Christianity, and as a result, only a few records remain. The records are also incoherent. In the ancient country of Connaught, the Queen Meave started a war in order to steal Ulster's prize stud bull, Donn Cúailnge, whilst Cu Chulainn stood against her army single-handedly in the famous Táin Bó Cúailnge ("Cattle Raid of Cooley")."
"Druids were the bridge between the Celtic people and the gods. According to current parlance, they can be called witches. It is said that the gods had informed the druids and the druids informed the queen. At this point, it might seem that the god is this god, Connacht Rhys."
"Cu Chulainn is the illegitimate son of the Irish God of Light, Lugh. He is also the last generation of the Tuatha De Dannan and equivalent to Zeus in Greek mythology. Maeve was a mortal who dared to go against the illegitimate son of the god-King, but she also had the support of Tuatha De Danann. So, her behavior and character could be explained. It is also possible that she is the lover of this god."
"It seems that the Tuatha De Danann is against each other, otherwise how could a god want to kill the illegitimate son of the god-king!"
The professor entered his own world and began brainstorming about Tuatha De Dannan's internal politics. He wished he could just grab a pen and paper to list down the entire Celtic mythology that he knew to its complete capacity.
"I'd like to have a good chat with this Celtic god."
The Cambridge professor closed with these words.
But the others in the meeting could not understand his feelings. For these political and military circles, they didn't care about the gods or about Celtic mythology. What they were pondering about was what these Celtic gods would bring to them, as well as the consequences of coming into contact with them.
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Chapter 297
The conference room of Buckingham palace once again descended into chaos. The elites of Great Britain once again argued intensely, but after a day of discussion, it was found that they had nothing to argue about.
"Sigh… What a headache. How great would it be if that man was King Arthur instead? Won't he say that England needs him and return once more? If it was King Arthur, we wouldn't have this kind of problem, right?"
Someone said casually.
A scholar at the side raised his glasses and said, "No, it would be more troublesome if it was King Arthur. Everyone present, except for people from Wales would be treated as invaders by King Arthur. I'm also afraid that the first thing he would do once he returns is to take back Ireland and Wales, then he could counterattack on London."
The crowd was dumbfounded because even without King Arthur, Ireland and other regions had been in conflict of interest with the British government and wanted to back out from the United Kingdom due to Brexit. If King Arthur truly appeared, then the other countries would have greater confidence. At that time, Britain would be a mess and would soon fall into civil war.
"Let's wait and see what happens. This time, Christ descended on Africa and a Celtic god appeared in Wales. I don't believe that these two matters aren't related. If only we had more information! We cannot draw any conclusions now. It's better if we treat the Tuatha De Danann as a god of Connacht for now."
The British Prime Minister finally ended the meeting with helpless words. If they did not witness the event in Tokyo, they would have taken the initiative a bit more and might even use force to coerce the other side.
However, the events that transpired in Tokyo showed them the power of the mysterious. With the missile that the United States launched at these supernatural beings, every country was clear that these supernatural beings were not soft. Now, Great Britain was not as powerful as it was before WWII.
In the end, they could only passively wait and even secretly pray that Christ would come to Britain to deal with these Celtic gods.
…
"Director, we have found that the Celtic God is in the city of London!"
In the underground base of MI13, Mr. A had just returned after the meeting in Buckingham Palace. Although many elites were in discussion, their final decision was to wait and see what happens, but it did not mean that they would not make any preparations.
Military Intelligence 13 would perform long-distance surveillance of this Celtic God to estimate his power, while Britain also carried out military mobilization to prepare for war. If things truly turn for the worse, then these troops would be the first on the battlefield.
"Continue monitoring."
"Yes!"
Having modern technology was truly a fortunate thing. Monitoring a 'god' or an 'angel' was extremely dangerous for normal people, thus they used the latest in monitoring technology. They could even eavesdrop on the words of the Celtic God from a hundred meters away. The Celtic god was the one who determined what they would do next.
In the underground base, experts were ready. The Celtic god's behavior and words were projected at any time for these mythological and historical experts to interpret at any time. There were even Celtic language experts just in case so that they could translate and communicate at critical moments.
"Director, the other side has entered a restaurant and ordered a large amount of pork."
An intelligence officer made a report.
A scholar heard this and immediately said, "In Celtic records, the Celtic people are extremely fond of pork. It seems that this record is correct."
"Director, in the vicinity of the Celtic god, we found a large number of intelligence officers from other countries, what should we do?"
Mr.A cursed as he heard this report, "Those damned bastards. This is our Great Britain. Takedown all of the other party's intelligence officers. Do not let them move. If the other side wants to touch and provoke the Celtic god, you are permitted to use force to resolve this matter. This is of utmost importance to Britain's territorial security. I do not care even if other countries protest. That's something for the Foreign Affairs Department to deal with!"
"YES, SIR!"
Mr.A's heartbeat accelerated. Although Britain had also sent intelligence officers to various countries in order to gather information about supernatural beings, when it happens to Britain, he would still be biased towards his country.
Fortunately, foreign intelligence officers weren't stupid. They did not go into contact with the Celtic god and only remotely eavesdropped.
…
In a restaurant in London, Louie who played as an unrecorded god of the ancient country of Connacht ordered a large amount of pork. He knew that there were countless people following and spying on him. Everything he did was for those people to see.
He tried to emulate the way of life of the Celtic gods. Of course, he might miss some small detail, but there wasn't any need to pay too much attention to it, because human imagination was on his side. If his acts did not match the records, then the human scholars would treat the canonical records as wrong, and not that he was wrong.
That said, small details could be wrong, but the general behavior must still be in line with Celtic culture. That was to make a performance of being a bloodthirsty warrior.
This body was a puppet he created with divine power. It wasn't even an incarnation, so it was not as powerful as his natural body. If it truly fought with the country's army, they would have to pay a certain price to get rid of this puppet. However, Louie was not worried, because he had already displayed a demigod level of power in Tokyo. He was certain that Britain would be careful not to step on the tiger's tail. With the fact that this place was London, the government should not want to fight here.
As for the fairy that was floating on the puppet's shoulder, it was just a flower spirit from the Silver Moon Kingdom. There were numerous flower spirits and tree spirits in the Silver Moon Kingdom. They had no combat power at all, so Louie was able to catch two of them and brainwashed them to pretend to be fairies from Avalon.
So, whether it was Christ, the Celtic God, or this fairy, everything was played by Louie alone. If he weren't close to becoming a true God, he would have sooner or later become schizophrenic.
In the middle of the restaurant, the Celtic god ate a big mouthful of pork and shouted at the fairy beside him, "I have already asked these invaders where their leader is living. It should be in Buckingham Palace. We don't have to think too much and just go into Buckingham Palace and take their king's head. If anyone disobeys, we should just kill them all. This is the glory of Celtic warriors."
The Englishmen who were watching were horrified by this statement.
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Chapter 298
'Go to Buckingham Palace and cut off the king's head? Who was the monarch of Britain? Isn't that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth!"
The conversation between the Celtic God and the Fairy Queen of Avalon made every intelligence officer pale.
Mr. A took advantage of the quiet to ask a nearby professor about Celtic mythology. He understood that their gods were described as typical barbarians. He also understood that it wasn't that they had no wisdom, but that they would rather use force to solve things if they could.
The entire Celtic culture could be described in two words, warriors and druids.
The Celtic people were extremely warlike and brought murder and savagery to the other nations around them. On the other hand, the druids were the natural communion between their society and their gods. It was also one of the religions that had few to no qualms about homosexuality. European culture of the so-called witches, sorcerers, etc. all came from druids.
"Quickly head to Buckingham Palace and inform the Queen that the Celts are going to come over."
Mr. A's face was full of anxiety. Leaving aside whether the Celtic god was going to attack their head of state, preparing contingencies was never a bad thing. Moreover, his new understanding of Celtic behavior made him seriously consider the threat posed by the man in the videos.
But now, the Prime Minister should be the head of the nation and the Celtic god should have gone to him instead of the Queen.
Mr. A cursed at the thought of explaining the intricacies of a constitutional democracy to ancient peoples. Moreover, the more he thought about his country's leader, the more he associated him with the TV show, Black Mirror. If the Celts loved to eat pork so much, they might as well have him.
Unfortunately, his concerns were hardly shared by the experts present. They seemed more occupied with the anthropological, cultural, and historical implications of the so-called 'Fairy Queen of Avalon'.
"The golden apples remind me of the apples of immortality in Greek mythology."
"It's said that Avalon means apple, and this legendary island is famous for its abundance of apples."
"In major myths, the golden apple represents extreme happiness. Being able to find golden apples in Avalon could mean that the Celtic gods had intercourse with the Greek gods. Or could it be that the golden apple is simply common in the gardens of the gods?"
The experts discussed happily and wrote down their observations. Beside them were stacks of thick ancient books. As they recorded their observations, they flipped through them gleefully happily. A few had already begun putting together these!
Mr. A cursed at their lack of a sense of urgency. He muttered under his breath, "The heart of our government might be in danger and all you can think of is writing academic articles? No wonder scholars were useless in the Dark Ages!" At this moment his subordinate walked up to him.
"Sir, the Royal Dragoon Guards, and the London Infantry Division have rushed to Buckingham Palace. The Queen and other members of the royal family have evacuated Buckingham Palace with the excuse of being on vacation. However, how are we going to explain the army's encampment within the palace to the public?"
"Let the military handle it. How is that Division 13's problem? If they can't then say that Buckingham Palace's sewer pipe exploded, so the army is repairing it."
Mr. A scolded his junior angrily, and the poor man dared not respond in kind.
"This is London for Christ's sake! Just have the military evacuate the nearby civilians near Buckingham Palace. It's too dangerous there. Where is the Prime Minister? What is he doing? Have you informed the Prime Minister of this information?"
"Sir, the Prime Minister quickly made an urgent visit to France after receiving the information, saying that Christ has descended. Since our two countries are Christian nations, he wishes to cement diplomatic ties between our countries."
"That coward!"
Mr. A cursed once more, but he knew that even if the Prime Minister was left in London, he wouldn't be able to contribute anything to the situation. When faced with a being that lay beyond the confines of common sense, he couldn't automatically expect to remain safe. In that sense, it wasn't a bad idea for him to leave.
Soon, Mr. A received more information. Many of London's upper echelons, the wealthy, and important officials had already fled in panic. Even the military airports were requisitioned for the private planes of the rich and powerful to take off. These people were afraid that London would become the next Tokyo. Under similar circumstances, money and political power were useless.
"Those bastards. They have abandoned London! Abandoned the residents of London!"
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Mr. A swore with greater irritation. Fortunately, not all of the upper class had fled. Great Britain, for all its flaws, still had many patriotic denizens.
Faced with a Celtic god, an unenlightened lunatic, no one could guarantee that any measure of resources would be able to change their mind.
"Let's just hope that Her Majesty stays safe and that this 'god' takes his time playing around London before heading to Buckingham Palace."
Mr. A sighed decadently. He recalled the past history of the British Empire. How his ancestors had taken out the invincible Spanish fleet and started the colonial era. Britain had been named the empire on which the sun never sets due to its vast territories. That was how the world had treated it in the past.
But now, there was no longer this past glory. The country was now scared shitless by a single person. The Queen, the Prime Minister, various officials, and wealthy people had mostly escaped. The will of Prime Minister Churchill when they fought against Germany was a distant memory now.
"No, we are not scared of a man, we are scared of a god!"
Mr. A reassured himself. Then he looked at the experts discussing far away and couldn't help but ask, "Professors, can I ask you to give a rough estimate of how powerful this Celtic God is? How does he compare to the Chinese man who appeared in Tokyo? No, since he's a god, he should be stronger than that Chinese man, no?"
The professors fell silent and they looked at each other. A professor who knew a lot about the history of Eastern mythology answered as a representative, "First of all, I want to correct you on one thing, sir. The Eastern mythological system is different from the West."
"The West is based on gods such as the Tuatha De Danann, the Olympus gods, and even the Norse gods. These gods exist in plural. Even the God of the Abrahamic God's system is for disciples to feel righteousness and the presence of God on Earth. Only then can they ascend to heaven after death."
"But Eastern mythology is different. They are man-centered. Although there is a trace of the divine, Eastern mythology is mainly based on people. Their 'immortals' are also cultivated by human beings. So that Chinese man who appeared in Tokyo might look human, but in my opinion, he should be called an 'immortal'. To make you understand easier, that Chinese man could be equivalent to an 'angel' of the East."
"Moreover, from the available information that we have, only a handful of gods could come to our world. Since the old man was able to come to this world, it means that he is a representative. At the very least, he shouldn't be weak."
"So, we think that this Celtic God is not necessarily stronger than that 'immortal', but… their differences in lethality are likely minuscule"
The professor's explanation did not reassure Mr. A. Instead, he began to sweat.
'Two and a half pounds? Did that mean that this Celtic God could also face a thermobaric bomb head-on?
Moreover, the Chinese man had summoned an incredible existence at the end. If this Celtic god could also summon the Goddess Danu, then what else could they do?
This was truly something that humans were most reluctant to face: a supernatural force!
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Chapter 299
'Morone' was shocked when she heard Connacht's words.
"You can't do that! If you even try it, we'll be heavily punished once we return!"
Connacht frowned, "But if I came all the way here and returned without doing anything, how would I hold up my head in the future?"
He picked up a bottle of whiskey, chugged it all down, and sighed with pleasure, "The wine nowadays is much better than in the past, but not quite at the level of the Tuatha De Danann."
The fairy's face contorted in displeasure.
The table at which the two sat held a large stack of pork bones that had been picked clean. The people who dined near this restaurant at first thought that someone was just cosplaying and that the fairy was just an illusion. But that was only until the two people talked loudly without caring about the surroundings. The people around them immediately understood that this might not be cosplay but a real supernatural event, this was especially obvious when the fairy opened its mouth to speak.
Someone even secretly took pictures, mainly of the fairy. People were always attracted to beautiful things. Although the height of the fairy was only 20cm, her exquisite appearance was enough to make countless figure collectors drool.
However, most people went pale at this enlightenment. They quickly finished eating and left the restaurant. The vast majority of ordinary people weren't willing to be involved in these supernatural events where they could die at any time. Only some young people had the courage to have encounters with the unknown.
"Women nowadays are really strong. They're all becoming like Maeve."
Connaught Rhys looked at the women around him and tsked. His eyes seemed to be able to see through the lives of mortals, knowing clearly what the people around here did in the past.
"But even Maeve is inferior to the woman in the Land of Shadows. Although I can finally bed her when I defeat her, that's going to take a long while."
The Celtic god sighed, revealing a touch of sorrowful despondency. His misery at the fact that there were women he could not bed was a true downer.
'Becoming like the Queen Maeve?'
MI13 had been eavesdropping at the conversion. The experts and scholars who were watching were excited. It was not often that they could observe a Celtic god and a Queen of Avalon. The papers that they were writing now would probably cause a sensation throughout the world.
"Queen Maeve was just born in the wrong era. If she was born in modern times, then her actions would be seen as normal. Perhaps she might even become a pioneer of women's rights with her money, power, and capabilities. She could even find boys to sleep with her. Women would probably express envy and jealousy at her lifestyle.
"What you said isn't wrong. Especially when the Celts are open, so her behavior can't be completely described as lewd and amiable."
"Yeah. From the words of this Celtic god, our previous guess is correct. He should be the god of the ancient country of Connacht. With his status as the Tuatha De Danann, he shouldn't just be her stalker, but her lover."
Then, how can Maeve be smashed to death by cheese? This is too strange."
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Celtic mythology is not as well documented. There is likely an internal problem that we do not know of. After Cu Chulainn died, the God of Light, Lugh, could not remain indifferent. Moreover, Lugh was the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, who was the enemy of Tuatha De Danann. There may have been conflicts between them. As for whether Maeve truly died or not, who could tell? Maybe she lived through the events with the support of a god.
The experts whispered and filled the gaps in the mythos with speculations and deductions from their observations.
Moreover, if there was an error, then it was definitely a human error, and humans were the ones who recorded it wrong.
"The Land of Shadows is also an extremely secretive place in Celtic mythology. Is the woman mentioned by this Celtic God Scáthach or her sister, Aífe?"
"It should be Scáthach. She is an important figure in Celtic mythology and is also Cu Chulainn's teacher."
Many professors and scholars continued to discuss without a sense of urgency. On the other hand, Mr. A was on tenterhooks. When the Celtic god stood up, he immediately said, "He's finished eating!"
In the London restaurant, Connacht Rhys finished his food and called for the owner of the restaurant.
The owner of the restaurant was a slightly fat middle-aged man, and he was also the chef of the restaurant. He knew from the chat between Connachg=t Rhys and the strange creature that they were obviously not human. So he walked carefully and nervously to their table, afraid that they would say that his cooking was too difficult to eat and that they were angry at him.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled cautiously, but his eyes could not help but fall on the fairy. It was such a beautiful creature that would always be the center of attention everywhere it went.
Connacht Rhys spoke loud and clear as he asked, "Are you the owner of this place? Then tell me, where is Buckingham Palace."
"Buckingham Palace?"
The fat owner didn't expect the man to ask this question. Under the observation of the intelligence officers, he said without much thought, "Buckingham Palace is in Westminster."
Connacht Rhys frowned. He obviously did not know where Westminster was and said, "Get me a map. Tell me where this place is on the map, and then tell me where Buckingham Palace is."
As the Celtic people treated war like water, they cared a lot about things like maps, because they were vital strategic implements.
The boss did not dare argue against the man and hastily took out his phone to mark two points on Google Maps.
"Hahahaha! Very good. Since you told me the location of Buckingham Palace and let me eat pork and drink wine, I owe you one. But I don't have the money that you people use."
"No, no, no. It's an honor to have you eat at my small restaurant. I don't want your money."
The fat boss was able to open a prosperous store in London, so he was definitely not a fool. He dared not ask money from this buff man who was not a mortal. Besides, it was just a few pounds of pork and a bottle of whiskey, so it didn't amount to much.
"We, Tuatha De Dannan, do not like to owe people things. Since I don't have your kind of money, take this instead!"
Connacht Rhys moved his hand towards the fairy, and the fairy could only helplessly produce a golden apple for him.
"This is the golden apple of Avalon. The apple trees there are always cared for by the fairies of Avalon. Take this apple as payment for this meal."
After saying so, he placed the golden apple on the table. He did not care about its value to mortals and just left the restaurant."
"Connacht Rhys, are you really going to Buckingham Palace?"
Moronoe, who was following him, couldn't help but ask again.
"If I say go, then I must go. If you don't want to go, you can go back to Avalon yourself. I will not moth you."
"You… fine. I'll go with you."
The fairy angrily circled the air twice, but in the end, she had no choice but to compromise and sit on Connacht Rhys' shoulder again.
Connacht Rhys came to the streets of London, then under the surprised gazes of the people, he put strength onto his foot and shot forward like a missile, leaving only a sonic boom behind.
At this time, the owner of the restaurant did not have the energy to continue looking at the pair. He just stared straight at the golden apple on the table and breathed raggedly.
"Avalon? This is the golden apple of Avalon? I also recall that there are golden apples in Greek mythology."
His limited knowledge only told him that golden apples were something that appeared in Greek mythology.
But now, he felt as if he lost his mind, and all his attention was drawn to this apple.
It was not only him. Those nearby who saw this golden apple, even the intelligence officers were staring at it. After seeing this golden apple, they felt attracted to it. The thought of wanting to possess it took over their minds.
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Chapter 300
An inconspicuous restaurant in London currently played host to several intelligence officers of different nationalities. Centered within their vision was a golden apple sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Each sat tensely and eyed the object with a mixture of curiosity, fear, and greed.
These officials all represented different governments and intelligence agencies. And all had the common desire to snatch the apple so that their government could study it. As sensible individuals, however, they knew they would never succeed. At least, not when they were in the heart of the UK and on such short notice.
But even this rational understanding, while initially enough to make them stay their hands, wasn't enough to check their desires. In the end, a brawl erupted as each vied for possession of the apple
At MI13's underground base Mr. A, using the nation's satellite cameras, witnessed the Celtic god leap up and speed towards Buckingham Palace. He anxiously dialed his phone and ordered the Queen's guards to double down on their defenses before turning back to the wall of surveillance monitors.
At the moment all he could do was pray that the situation did not devolve further. After all, Christ was currently walking the Earth, right? But from the corner of his eye, he noticed something strange unfold on one of the screens.
One of the screens displayed the interior of what looked like a restaurant. And in it, multiple intelligence operatives were fighting tooth and nail for a golden apple. Even his own country's officers were involved in the tussle, and he could only sigh at the disgrace of the situation.
"What are those people doing?!" he shouted
"W-we don't know what happened, sir. After seeing the apple, everyone went crazy."
A scholar who had been observing the monitor wiped his sweat as he responded. He hesitated for a moment and continued, "There are no records of golden apples in Celtic mythology, but they are famous in Greek mythology. Although there was no exact description of its usage, it prompted the Trojan War."
"This apple, perhaps, has the effect of increasing people's greed."
Hearing the scholar's explanation, Mr. A sucked in cold air. He could not help but say, "Why would the god give such a valuable thing to the restaurant owner as meal money? Could there be some kind of conspiracy?"
"No, I don't think this is any… The Fairy Queen had constantly been eating them to no detriment. Perhaps for mortals, it might be different, but for those two, golden apples might as well be snacks."
Another scholar couldn't help but mutter. This conclusion shocked everyone, but they had complex expressions.
Just a random fruit eaten by the gods could cause an uproar among mortals and even cause a war. The difference between gods and mortals seemed clear.
"We absolutely cannot let this golden apple be taken away by other countries. That thing belongs to Britain. This is the land of Great Britain and we are its owners. Quick, send some people to retrieve it. Right, make sure they don't use firearms. Only batons."
With such a mysterious item to research, they could not let it land in the hands of other countries.
Mr. A was also quite sensible. After seeing the elite intelligence officers lose their minds, he ordered the backup to not bring any guns. If they suddenly went crazy and fired guns, a small-scale war would probably erupt in the heart of London.
A golden apple had caused the Trojan War in Greece, luring countless heroes and gods to fight against each other. Although not as magnificent as the mythological account, dozens of national intelligence officers around the world fighting each other was still a rare occurrence.
"And be sure to arrest all those intelligence officers."
It just so happens that all of these countries' intelligence agents jumped out on their own. This helped MI5 and MI6 a lot. Mr. A was suddenly a little exuberant. Being able to clear out foreign spy networks in one swoop was a blessing in disguise.
But when he thought of Buckingham Palace, he frowned again.
….
…
In Westminster, the symbol of Britain's royal family stood the Buckingham Palace. The military had all surrounded the palace and placed it under martial law. Many soldiers busied themselves with patrols. The royal family and housekeepers living in Buckingham Palace also carried out large bags.
The Queen, the Prince, the Crown Princess, the little princes and princesses of Britain were gathered here. In this chaotic scene, the older members of the royal family were at least knowledgeable and calm, while the younger princes and princesses were pale with horror.
Not all the royals lived in Buckingham Palace, but the Queen had been afraid that the Celtic god would direct his anger on her offspring, so she called back all family members in London and neighboring cities to take refuge in the palace.
Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was just five years old and was crying. The heavy and irritable atmosphere of the surroundings stressed her out and filled her with fear. Even if she was a princess, she was still a five-year-old girl. In this frightening atmosphere, she could only bawl out.
Prince William and his consort worked together to comfort their daughter. At this time, no one paid them any mind. Everyone was already busy enough and her crying made the tense atmosphere even worse, causing them to want to scold her.
"Hide that painting properly. It's a real painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. It's one of humanity's treasures."
As one of the strongest empires of the previous era, Britain had amassed countless famous paintings and antiques all over the world. Although many of them were displayed in the British Museum, a part of them belonged to the royal family and was displayed in Buckingham Palace.
The royal family feared that this collection would be destroyed with the arrival of the god, so it wanted to preserve as many of them as possible.
"Buckingham Palace is likely to be finished…"
The aged Queen sighed at the thought of the incoming events. Perhaps this was a test from God?
"Mother, it just so happens that Buckingham Palace needs to be renovated inside out. If it's ruined, it's ruined."
The eldest son of the Queen approached and consoled her.
"Renovated?"
The Queen shook her head and smiled. As the longest-reigning monarch of Britain, she quickly calmed down and joked, "The royal family had long been unable to afford to renovate Buckingham Palace. When it rains, the ceiling even leaks. If it's all destroyed, the royal family would not have the money to build it up again. Even if the government decides to fund it, Buckingham Palace would have nothing to do with us anymore.
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Crown Prince Charles went silent. For the Japanese royal family, the government would help fund the repairs to the royal residence, but for the British royal family, they had to use their own money to repair the palace. This was the reason why parts of Buckingham Palace were open to visitors. The profits helped them accumulate money for repairs.
If the government pays for the renovation and reconstruction, it would be equivalent to using taxpayers' money. Then, Buckingham Palace would then belong to the government and not the royal family. Leaving them with no qualifications to live there.
"You and your father live wastefully. I already told you, we should work together to overcome difficulties…"
The Queen chatted on and Crown Prince Charles could not help but laugh.
At this moment, a butler quickly came to the Queen's side and whispered a few words. She turned to the rest of her family and said, "All right. Let's get going." The Celt had arrived and so they needed to move faster.
She took one final look at the palace grounds and began to make for the exit
However, the royal family's movements were a step too slow. A loud boom echoed from the entrance of the palace as a person fell from the sky and landed there.
"What's happening?"
"Did the Celt attack?"
"Guards, guards!"
"…"
Buckingham Palace immediately descended into chaos. These princes and princesses who lived in an era of peace creed wailed as they saw the soldiers running forward.
"Quiet. All of you keep quiet. You are all part of the royal family of Britain. Do not lose the face of the royal family!"
The Queen was truly someone who had experienced World War II. At this time, she wouldn't allow the family's prestige to diminish.
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