The lizard-like creature stood before me, offering a deep bow.
“Your Lordship, I’ve obtained everything You ordered.” He straightened, producing two scrolls from the air. “We happened upon an unfinished art of magic that a deceased mage was developing. It borders on spatial manipulation, but my liege believed it would be of use to You.”
One scroll hovered toward my manifestation on the throne. I willed the hand of the puppet to move, accepting the parchment.
Guidance.
[The theory described in the scroll is unfinished and unproven. Completion requires manual comprehension.]
Normally, I might have felt a flash of disappointment or even annoyance, but I had learned to read between the lines of the System’s notifications. While it was unfortunate that I couldn’t use Guidance as a shortcut, it also confirmed the scroll's true value. Had the information been trivial, the notification window would have likely dismissed it as trash.
“I’m grateful,” I said, waiting for V to continue. He had yet to address the second scroll.
“We also collected every artifact that met your specific requirements,” V continued. “My liege ordered that we provide only items of the highest grade and efficiency, so the list is not as extensive as we would have liked. For that, I offer my apologies, but I assure you that…”
“How many?” I interrupted. I was a bit disappointed that they couldn’t gather many artifacts.
“Barely over two thousand,” V murmured, lowering his gaze. “But we assure your Lordship that all of them are of exceptional quality. Some may even be capable of withstanding the presence of divinity.”
After his apologetic introduction, I had expected a few dozen at best. Two thousand was far more than I had anticipated. The most intriguing part, however, was V’s claim that these items could go against divine energy = a necessity for the coming war against the Night God.
Even with my intentions masked, the God of Merchants was clearly smart enough to guess exactly why I was looking for such specific tools.
The second scroll drifted forward, coming to a rest before the God of the Velmoryn upon the throne. I scanned the list, but based on the names alone, I couldn’t tell which would be best suited for my needs. Between the steep prices and my limited resources, I couldn’t afford to purchase even a few dozen, let alone buy out the entire stock simply to test them and see if they would be of any help.
I was forced into a difficult decision.
When I first raised my Rank, I had limited my consciousness to a few threads of thought to avoid the mental overload that came with multitasking. It was the only way to remain functional. But now, my only hope of selecting the right items was to inspect them one by one, and I couldn't keep V waiting indefinitely while I took my sweet time. My only choice was letting my most overpowered and dangerous skill do its magic.
“I prefer to inspect the artifacts physically rather than choosing from a list.”
Guidance required a clear, tangible target; a name on a scroll wasn't enough.
“As your Lordship commands.” V snapped his fingers. With a surge of silver energy, hundreds of artifacts materialized within my dominion.
Some were shrouded in divine energy, others exuded mana, and a few looked entirely ordinary. They varied wildly in scale and shape - rings, bracelets, and crystals no larger than a fist sat alongside massive engineering masterpieces that were larger than a three-room house.
I’ll try ten threads. If it’s bearable, I’ll add more.
I made the manifestation of the God of the Velmoryn shift on the throne as though it was scanning the items. Then, focusing on the limitation I had placed on myself, I slowly eased it. The moment the new threads materialized, I felt the strain, but to my surprise, the pressure wasn't as severe as it had been before.
I turned my attention to the artifacts and activated Guidance.
[Cancels any humanoid summons.] [Cancels any undead-type summons.] [Area Restriction: One-meter radius. Beings tethered to external forces cannot enter.][Summons a dragon...]…
I kept going until I heard velmoryns.
Back when I first limited my multitasking, I hadn't possessed full Authority over the velmoryns. So I didn’t even know their thoughts could flow passively into my mind - not prayers, but mundane, everyday thoughts.
“It’s too hot today…”“Just a couple more months. Your father would have been so happy to see you. My little Roy…”“Clean this, clean that... and all he ever does is swing that sword!”…
My mind began to buzz. The velmoryns' thoughts were mixing into my own, and the distinction between self and external was blurring. I tried to wall them off, to construct a corridor that would channel the external noise away, but every time I made progress, a new wave of thoughts crashed against my mind and tore it down.
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This can’t continue!
Through a blurred vision, I noticed my realm was trembling. V might not have sensed it yet, but I could feel the mist surrounding my kingdom beginning to boil. My mental turmoil was physically manifesting in the environment.
I quickly re-applied the limitations. One by one, those new threads vanished, and I felt peaceful. The anxiety and chaos that had threatened to overwhelm me evaporated. Even with my Rank increased, this multitasking ability remained impossible to truly control.
But then, an idea dawned on me.
Just this once. I’ll remove all limitations for a few seconds.
I would unlimit myself and scan all the artifacts at the same time, or as many as I could in one go, before snapping the constraints back into place. It was a risky move, but an exciting one. Besides, I knew it wouldn't kill me; I had lasted much longer than a few seconds back when I first gained the multitasking ability.
I was excited to experiment, but before that, I had to handle V. If my realm reacted too drastically, he would notice, and I couldn't allow that.
I thickened the mist around my dominion and made the puppet on the throne move one of the items, forcing V’s focus onto a single point. Then, I let the limitations go entirely.
I felt free. It was like a sudden clarity that follows the relief from a pounding headache, or the first deep breath of oxygen after being starved of air. Everything around me sharpened. I felt a level of control over my powers and my realm that I hadn't known was possible. But that clarity only lasted until my mind stopped focusing on the changes I was feeling and began to drift toward a thousand different topics at once.
I forced my focus to the artifacts and activated Guidance.
The blue windows flooded my mind, but I ignored all of them. My primary focus was a single task - counting down fifteen seconds.
A task that should have been simple became a struggle. Each number was met with hundreds of distractions that I had to brush away. My mind acted like a sponge, absorbing a never-ending flood of information. I realized then that my consciousness had far exceeded two thousand threads; the number was growing at an uncontrollable speed. I was receiving information not only about V’s artifacts, but about potential strategies to stop the Night God and methods to probe V about Lilith without exposing my connection to the Goddess.
Finally, a stray thread snagged on a piece of information regarding the imprisoned velmoryn outside of my forest. He was about to be dragged from his cell, and one of the versions of myself - one of those threads - had decided I needed to intervene.
The detail was too specific, too unique to ignore. I stopped counting. The path my main self had been following vanished, and I fell into complete chaos.
The thoughts of my believers surged back into my mind, and I lost the ability to function. My vision blurred; the last thing I saw was my trembling realm.
I felt fear, hunger, anxiety, rage...
Some of these emotions were mine, but many belonged to my believers, bleeding into me until I couldn't tell the difference. I tried to find a way out, but every time I attempted to refocus, a new thread dragged me back into the chaos.
I didn't know how long I remained in that state - a minute? An hour? Then, a voice cut through the uncertainty.
“My King.” Aurelion’s crimson light cleared the haze clouding my mind. “Follow my voice, my Lord. Regain control of your powers. We need you. I need you…”
He kept talking. While the literal meaning of his words eluded me, the sound provided an anchor. His tone was soothing, and his connection to me was strong enough to drown out all other threads. He provided the momentary clarity I needed to gather the frayed ends of my mind, tying them into a single knot and sealing them away.
Peace. Silence.
The two things I needed the most.
When I opened my eyes, I found Aurelion shielding me. His body and spread wings surrounded me on all sides, a living barrier against the world.
“Thank you, Aurelion,” I said, still in a daze.
Only when he retreated did I notice the visible damage he had sustained. His body was hissing, smoke rising from shimmering scraps of skin and dark bruises.
“Father, do not mind my injuries. They will heal,” he said, reading my thoughts. Then he glanced to the side and muttered, “I am still too weak to contain your raging powers, even if it was only a sliver of your true strength…”
I had no idea what he was talking about, and for some reason, I didn’t want to ask.
“I’ll deal with the God of Merchants, and then I have a quest for you,” I told him. Aurelion brightened instantly.
I was worried V might have noticed my situation, but to my surprise, the dominion remained stable. Perhaps it was because this specific space functioned as a separate dimension from the rest of my realm - the only place where living creatures could enter without being harmed by my divinity - but I couldn't be certain. Nor did I have time to dwell on it.
I quickly willed the chosen items to move toward the manifestation of the God of the Velmoryn.
“I will take these,” I said. Maybe it was the lingering effect of mental daze, but my voice felt more powerful now.
“That would be 1,834 Divinity Points,” V responded almost immediately.
I already knew the cost. The primary reason I hadn’t selected more was the expense; everything on his list was quite expensive. Among my choices were three single-use artifacts capable of momentarily severing a connection with a deity in a one-hundred-meter radius - a window of time I was certain would be enough to cancel a summoning. I had also picked a book on summoning magic to study and potentially pass to my believers.
And lastly, I bought the scroll that could summon a dragon! I wasn't certain I would ever use it, but I decided a thousand divinity points was a fair price for such an item.
[You’ve paid 1,834 Divinity Points to the God of Merchants!]
After receiving the payment, V quickly retrieved the remaining items. He prepared to leave, but I stopped him.
“I wish to purchase information,” I said. I carefully considered how to broach the subject of Lilith without sounding suspicious. “I want to learn about gods who possess Authority over creatures that have deviated from other domains. Species that aren't born, but turned - werewolves, vampires...”
V’s eyes widened. He scratched a scale on his cheek with the sharp claw of his index finger.
“I can tell your Lordship that werewolves have no god. They are a nearly extinct race; their uncontrollable temperament makes it impossible for them to coexist with other species. Does Your Excellency plan to obtain another Authority?” he asked.
“I might.”
“I wouldn’t recommend werewolves. Such unintelligent and violent beings… There are a few others that might interest you more. Ghouls, for example. But they already have a deity,” V smirked. “I cannot reveal their identity, but… ah how much it would surprise your Lordship.”
He held the smile for a long moment before continuing, “The sanguines... the information regarding them is difficult to price.”
“Why?” I made the avatar lean forward to emphasize my interest.
V hesitated, but in the end, he spoke.
“The Sanguines have more than one deity.”