After quickly explaining the mercenary plan I had come up with to collect more Divinity Points to Amon, I shifted my focus back to my divine realm.
If Amon ever needed my help, or rather needed to channel my divinity, he would have no choice but to use my crimson power. And since Athena and Noah had already sensed it, I could not take that risk. They would recognize my divinity immediately, and if that happened, Amon’s connection to the God of Velmoryn would be exposed.
Which, in turn, would ruin all my plans.
I needed to use my golden divinity for this. Whenever Amon was involved, that new energy had to be the one I relied on.
Making the decision, I closed my eyes and focused on my divine realm, searching for the tiny wisp of golden energy I had sensed before.
I found it quickly.
It glowed near the dominion of the God of Many Faces, close to the corner of the hall, as though trying to hide.
Finding it was the easy part, but what was I supposed to do next? Waiting for Amon to convert humans in my name would take far too long. Besides, I did not even want many human followers. Not until my position became stable enough that I no longer feared confrontation with other deities. Only then would I set my original plan into motion and target the lower classes of humanity, those desperate enough to seek a new beginning.
Before that, I would create an order of holy warriors. Men and women shackled by my rules, swinging their blades only against sinners and spawns of evil.
Yes, that would inspire loyalty. And would also shape a perception of the God of Many Faces. People would begin to rely on my blessed warriors, asking them to hunt monsters they feared. They would become reliant on me, while I would be farming Divinity Points.
But to create such warriors, I needed to bless them. And blessings required divinity.
Even after spending hours thinking about it, I could not come up with a single way to obtain golden divinity. By then, Amon had already reached the settlement he had chosen to make his home.
Out of all the keeps near Eriavel, this one was the closest, but also the smallest and poorest-looking.
Amon had decided to target that settlement first. He argued that no great and powerful deity would rule over a place so ruined. Hence, it was the ideal place for me to lay the foundation.
As I flew toward the Window, I passed by the pile of items Amon had dragged into my realm. Food, clothes, various gems and metals. He had even taken several gold ingots from Eriavel. Since the velmoryns valued neither gold nor silver, convincing them had been easy.
Actually, there had been no convincing at all. He simply told them he needed those resources to complete the quest I had given him, and the velmoryns handed over everything he requested, along with more besides.
Why the hell did he even need this sword and shield?
I could not help but feel amused by Amon’s greed. Whether he needed something or not, if it was free, he would still try to take it.
Amon passed beneath the large arch made from packed earth and small stones. At first, I had been fascinated, assuming they had used some kind of cement to hold the stones together, but then I realized it was something closer to rammed earth.
The walls looked dry and damaged, and the guards did not even stop him. He simply walked into the settlement, sighing in relief that he would not have to test the language barrier against them.
He still did not know whether he could communicate with the humans of this world. Even if Athena’s believer spoke English, that did not mean this particular group did as well.
The streets were filled with beggars, their skin cracked and dry as they leaned against the walls, groaning and begging for coin. The locals ignored them completely.
So did Amon.
I was curious to see if he would show compassion toward humans because of his human half, but apparently, he could not have cared less.
He ignored the people entirely, only sparing them brief glances to study their physiques.
“Verde, they look different from Eralon or Elisabeth. These people have darker complexions and lighter hair,” he whispered in my mind, as if making a mental note.
I had considered conversing with him directly while he explored the keep, but decided against it. This was the perfect opportunity to see how Amon handled unfamiliar situations and whether I could rely on him without closely monitoring everything he did.
He continued through the streets until he finally reached the center of the keep, where a large crowd had gathered around a raised platform. A man stood atop it, dressed simply but cleanly, which immediately set him apart from the people below, many of whom wore little more than rags.
“Baron Leon commands you all,” the man shouted, theatrically waving an open scroll through the air. “You are to join the Baron’s army and set out to…”
“Nay, we’re not dying for this!”“We are not warriors! Pay sellsword if you want men for slaughter!”“Have you no brain? How many children must die for this?” …
The crowd roared, drowning out the rest of his words. Guards surrounding the platform lowered their spears and raised their shields as stones, rotten fruit, and spoiled vegetables flew toward them.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Most of it bounced harmlessly off the shields, but the man on the platform failed to avoid a few loose stones and one ripe tomato that burst against his head.
“Verde, do you feel it?” Amon whispered.
“Feel what?”
“You don’t?” He paused, watching as one of the guards swung a massive shield into an old woman standing near the front.
The poor woman collapsed, and only the quick reaction of those nearby saved her. They dragged her away just before the guard slammed the shield into the ground where she had been lying moments earlier. The blow would have likely killed her.
“Verde, I think something good is about to happen. I think I’m destined…”
His thoughts stopped midway as the man on the platform suddenly pointed at him.
“Hey, you!” he shouted, staring directly at Amon.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Come here!”
The crowd, which had been shouting and cursing only moments earlier, suddenly quieted and parted, opening a path for Amon.
Yeah, right. Something good happened…
I had no idea what he meant. I had not sensed anything unusual at all. But that no longer mattered. Right now, the only important thing was getting him out of this situation.
“If you wish to speak with me, it is only polite that you come to me,” Amon said calmly, without moving an inch.
“Guards!” the man shouted, wiping tomato juice from his face. That particular projectile had clearly angered him, and he was probably planning to use Amon as a scapegoat to make an example of someone. He must have realized that Amon was an outsider, which meant killing him would likely not anger the crowd.
But he miscalculated.
“I warn you,” Amon said, his voice perfectly calm. “Although my Lord forbids His children from harming innocents, He encourages them to protect themselves.”
The guards slowed.
From their perspective, Amon’s calmness must have seemed suspicious. It was one thing to be brave, but continuing to stand your ground while armed soldiers pointed spears at you was something else entirely.
But I doubted that was the main reason for their hesitation. In a world where everyone knew gods existed, words like those carried far more weight than they would have back on Earth.
What if they angered this strange man, only to later discover he truly was blessed by a deity?
Well done. Now try to talk your way out of this situation.
“Ah, what have you done to this poor woman…” Amon sighed, dramatically clasping his hands together.
Then he walked into the crowd, passing between the guards who now looked completely confused. So did their leader, who no longer seemed eager to drag Amon onto the platform.
Mana surged from Amon as he approached the old woman, who stared at him in shock. The crowd stepped back, making way for him.
They were intimidated by the power he displayed. A Platinum Ranked mage had to be a rare sight. If even elves had to put an effort to reach such a level, then it should have been very rare among humans.
But it was not just mana. He was using my divinity, transforming it into magical energy before allowing it to flow outward. The result was mana far purer and more overwhelming than what any mortal body should have been capable of producing.
“Why are you wasting my divinity?”
“I can’t use Thread of Fate with just my mana. It is impossible to alter someone’s fate using only mana… well, at least with my current understanding of your magic.”
My magic…
It was ironic, really. I had indeed created Thread of Fate, yet my understanding of it remained extremely limited. Perhaps that was why I had failed to sense the destiny thing Amon mentioned earlier.
I dismissed the thoughts and focused on what mattered most.
Why didn’t I think of this before?!
What Amon was doing now, transforming my divinity into mana, was something I had already done before. I already knew divinity could change form. I had even absorbed the divine energy of other gods and transformed it into my own. Athena’s. Pintre’s. Even Bahenna’s.
So what if I tried to consume my own divinity? Or rather, what if the God of Many Faces consumed the God of Velmoryn’s divine energy?
Excitement overwhelmed me immediately.
Without wasting another moment, I formed a sphere of condensed crimson divinity and moved it toward the dominion to my right. In theory, I should have been able to control either Authority while inside my divine realm, but I still did not understand how to separate the God of Many Faces and the God of Velmoryn without splitting my consciousness.
And I was worried that if I tried to divide myself while granting one part control over an entire Authority, it could create unforeseen problems.
So instead, I moved the sphere into the dominion tied to the Authority I had created myself. The one I still did not fully understand.
I guided the scarlet sphere toward the figure seated on the throne and willed it to accept it.
The God of Many Faces reacted immediately. One of its four hands extended forward, the one holding a needle with a golden thread floating above it, and grasped the crimson energy.
[Warning: Passing the Divinity consumed 500 Divinity Points!][Warning: You’ve gained 300 Divinity Points!]
Sixty percent… I lost forty percent of my divinity.
The conversion rate made the process incredibly wasteful. But just this once, I could accept the loss.
In the mortal world, Amon stood before the old woman, staring down at her with his cold eyes, which had somehow become surprisingly gentle.
“Do you wish to be healed? Do you wish to be cleansed of all sins?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
He extended a hand toward her.
The woman hesitated, fear in her eyes. The crowd around her stood frozen, their heavy breathing the only thing breaking the silence. Even the guards and the man on the platform seemed captivated by what was about to happen.
And finally, as Amon’s surging mana settled, the woman accepted his hand.
[Warning: Amon has activated Granting Wishes!]
Finally.
I was excited as well. I would properly observe how this skill worked.
But that excitement lasted only a moment.
Amon’s mana vanished abruptly, and I felt a heavy pull from him.
Every trace of divinity inside his body was dragged toward me, crimson replaced by the golden energy I had just created.
“Verde, what is this?” his panicked thoughts reached me.
He was in pain. Pain mixed with overwhelming euphoria as the new divinity flooded through him, something he had never experienced before.
Then golden light exploded outward.
A brilliant flash blinded everyone in the center of the keep. A wave of gold swept through the square, suppressing even the harsh sunlight overhead.
And when the light finally dimmed, when people’s sight recovered, the old woman stood firmly on her feet, her body no longer frail.
And beside her, Amon no longer looked mortal.