Chapter 602.1: You’re Worthy? (1)
Chapter 602.1: You’re Worthy? (1)
Gods had become nothing more than a concept to most in the present Sia Continent, but Roel, having experienced the ancient era through the Witness State, knew just what kind of existence the gods were.
Putting aside the second and subsequent generations of small-fry gods, who diluted the weight of the term, gods were beings who possessed absolute power in the Sia Continent. They could be Race Sovereigns or transcendents who had uncovered the root of a domain.
They were not existences mortals could make light of.
Today, without the blessing of the Witness State or the Six Calamities’ help, Roel was forced to confront the terrors of a god with his own strength as a mere Origin Level 2 transcendent.
He looked at the gigantic egg floating in the sky, followed by the unharmed Deviant Sovereign standing right next to it. The tables had been turned now. Unlike before, it put a huge strain on him to even just look at Banjol.
So much mana was concentrated in the sky that it felt almost solid.
Banjol gazed down upon the others as if he was the ruler of the world. Every being, from the central battlefield to the outer perimeter of the desert, felt intimidated by his divine presence. Even the unintelligent demonic beasts instinctively submitted to him.
Wilhelmina, despite having reached Origin Level 1, also felt a piercing pain in her eyes when she looked at the figure floating in the sky.
Things were worse for Roel, who was shouldering the bulk of the pressure. He felt excruciating pain in both his eyes and his body as if someone was scraping layers of flesh away from him. Yet, he found himself completely helpless to resist.
He wasn’t just overpowered here; he was outclassed.
“…So, this is a god?”
Roel gritted his teeth as he glared at Banjol with his golden eyes, obstinately refusing to lower his head.
The sounds of clashing swords and exploding spells on the battlefield had also come to a halt. Both humans and deviants found their movements restricted. The high transcendents were still able to remain on their feet by channeling their mana, but the weaker ones were forced to kneel on a single knee.
The entire battlefield abruptly stalled to a halt as if a god had passed down a divine edict.
The Deviant Sovereign gazed upon this sight with a placid face. The only one he paid any attention to was a skeleton giant emanating a crimson light, at the sight of which many emotions flickered across his eyes.
“Is this the power of the Kingmaker Clan? I never expected to meet with a familiar face in this era,” a hoarse voice directly echoed in Roel’s mind, disrupting his train of thought.
Roel raised his head to look at Grandar, only to see the latter’s eyes glowing with a sharp glint.
“…It has been a long time, Banjol. I would have never thought that we would reunite on a battlefield even after so much time has passed.”
“Indeed… but it looks like we’re serving different masters now,” Banjol said as his sight moved from the skeleton giant down to Roel.
Roel’s body creaked as the pressure on him further intensified, but even so, he remained unfazed. Instead, his golden eyes further narrowed.
At least Grandar’s presence got him talking, Roel thought. 𝓫𝓮𝒹𝓷ℴ𝓿ℯ𝓵.𝓬ℴ𝓶
His body was still growing accustomed to the pressure, so he figured he needed to stall for time. Thus, he quickly gathered his thoughts and calmly asked, “Beastman Sovereign, is the master you speak of the Savior?”
“…Yes, the Savior is the god I serve,” the Deviant Sovereign replied.
Roel’s expression turned severe as he said, “I see. You’re one of the Fallens who seeks to bring Him back. I have a question I’d like to ask you—what’s your reason for doing this?”
“Pardon me?”
“I met the Savior in the Witness State. Regardless of how He was back then, He has been afflicted by depravity and madness. Bringing Him back would only lead to more tragedies. If so, why do you still choose to tread on this path?” Roel asked grimly.
As much as this was a strategy to stall for time, this question was also something he had been wondering about ever since he met the Deviant Sovereign.
The Savior whom Roel met in the Witness State hadn’t fallen to depravity yet. Despite being antagonistic to each other—Roel had put everything on the line to take down the Savior—from the perspective of a ruler, he had a high opinion of the Savior.
The Savior was smart, cunning, far-sighted, judicious, and well-respected, but he didn’t deem it beneath him to resort to despicable means either. By no means could the Savior be considered a kind individual, but his personality made him suited to be a ruler.
In contrast, the Mother Goddess was naive. Her selfless love only bred indecision, hindering her from making optimal decisions for the betterment of the world. She had never been interested in authority, and She was content with maintaining the status quo, despite its underlying problems.
But now that the Savior had descended to depravity, there should be no reason for his subjects to follow him anymore. The Savior’s worshipers sought to bring Him back because they desired power unobtainable through normal means, but that held no meaning to Banjol.
As a Race Sovereign who had ascended to godhood, Banjol had already reached the greatest height any being could achieve, just a step short of Sia Herself. Not even the Savior could bring Banjol to a greater height. Furthermore, Banjol should harbor some hostility toward the Savior for having led his people into depravity.
Roel had been wondering about this for a long time, which was why he was raising it now.
Banjol’s expression turned serious upon learning that Roel had met the Savior in the Witness State, which might have been the reason he didn’t choose to ignore the question.
“We are not after the Savior’s revival but His true resurgence.”
“His true resurgence?”
“Yes, the Savior fell into depravity under the Black Moon’s influence, but far before the final battle, the Savior had already prophesied His own destruction and rebirth.”
“!”
Roel widened his eyes in shock. Grandar also raised his head.
“Yes, everything that has happened thus far, including the awakening of the ancient ones in this era, is within the Savior’s calculation. The key to crushing the Mother Goddess’ remnants and bringing this world back to its right path starts from me and this ‘Egg of the Beast God’,” Banjol said with a smile as he turned to the humongous egg floating next to him.
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“…Egg of the Beast God?!” Grandar exclaimed as he stared at the egg in agitation.
Banjol nodded his head and replied, “Yes, this is the weapon we created to curb the Calamities back in the ancient era, and this land is its incubator.”
“Incubator? Doesn’t that mean that…”
“Yes, this land has been under my Divine Domain since tens of thousands of years ago.”
“!” Grandar trembled in disbelief.
“How is that possible…” Roel murmured with widened eyes.
The two of them finally understood why they were unable to hinder Banjol from activating his Divine Domain earlier, or why he was able to activate it in the first place.
If what Banjol had said was true, it would mean that Tark Prairie had been under his Divine Domain’s jurisdiction all this while, just that the area had been too wide for anyone to sense it. What he had done earlier was not to activate his Divine Domain but merely to contract its area of effect.
Needless to say, a Divine Domain that had been active all this while didn’t have to be activated a second time, so it was impossible to stop its activation in the first place. And Banjol was able to pull off this feat, Roel deduced, because of the Egg of the Beast God.
…