One After Another
When their souls had first battled for control of the body, Leylin had managed to help Tiff out, bestowing formidable powers on him. It was intended to be an experiment; not only would a surviving Tiff be of huge aid to him, but it would also give him some rare results.
How could he not have left himself a counter against the powers he had originally bestowed? Furthermore, who could compare to the ancient Magi with regards to the control over the soul force.
‘My soul force wasn’t originally accustomed to the laws of the World of Gods, and couldn’t help but diminish continually. But Tiff was a native. Hence, there was still a possibility that he could be sustained by absorbing the powers that I left him. In view of that, his stats would…’ Something flashed in Leylin’s eyes.
It made sense for soul force from other worlds to be unable to survive in the World of Gods. But the strength that Leylin left for Tiff was like a seed, and it changed him completely. Furthermore, as long as the foundation was there, no matter how far Tiff advanced in the future, he would not be able to resist the influence Leylin held over him.
If Leylin exploited him correctly, Tiff would be an advantageous pawn for him.
‘I was staying overseas back then, and did not care much about the mainland. Thus, I also didn’t ask about Tiff, but it’s an entirely different matter now. The time is ripe,’ Leylin decided.
“Greetings, copper-ranked mercenary, sir! Can I help you?” The maid behind the counter asked in a professional but mechanical tone after she saw the identify proof Leylin handed over. It was all she’d do for a copper-ranked mercenary.
“Show me the details of the top 3 missions!” Leylin wasn’t bothered at all about it.
“The missions of those devil worshippers?” The girl raised her head, and scanned at Leylin with a look of derision. “Superior missions could only be accepted by a mercenary ranked gold and above, so please work on raising your grade!”
“I was not thinking of taking it, I just wanted to catch a glimpse of the report. I remember all mercenaries have the authority to do this, am I not right?” Leylin furrowed his brows.
“That- That’s right…” The maid unwillingly replied. It was probably her first time encountering someone like Leylin, “But details are only free for those at the silver grade and above, you have to pay 10 coppers!”
“That’s no problem at all!” Under her contemptuous gaze, Leylin threw 10 coppers on the table and grabbed the documents from her hands, before heading towards the corner seat to look into them. Being able to obtain information for such a price was already a profit for him.
But after reading the first few sentences, Leylin’s expression darkened. Surprise, astonishment and all sorts of other expressions flashed across his face before it landed on a sinister smile, “Old friend…”
He dropped his eyes to one of the sentences,
“…the victim’s carcass was badly damaged and parts of the flesh were missing…”
“…when the Baron was found, he was kneeling on the ground in a bizarre manner, pouring blood. His tongue was severed and forced down his throat…”
“…the soldiers launched surprise attacks on a few dangerous locations but gained nothing in return. The thieves found pentagrams used to commune with other dimensions in the flooring of the house, and determined it to be the coordinates to the ninth level of hell…”
‘A sacred emblem with the image of a twisted fang… Only devotees of Beelzebub would adopt such a method of murder…’ Leylin smiled as he read on. If he had to choose a devil to face, he’d definitely choose this one whom he’d fooled previously.
‘The fellow should still be asleep. The region of hell that he was occupying will soon be overturned. Furthermore, he is unable to receive prayers nor provide spells for his followers, their faith might be challenged…’ Leylin’s eyes shone, he’s found the perfect prey.
‘If you piece all these reports together, it’s the prelude to a big bloody sacrificial ceremony, and the target is that Beelzebub…’ Leylin’s rich experiences along with Beelzebub’s memories allowed him to see everything clearly within seconds.
‘I’m afraid this is those worshippers’ last resort, given that they haven’t been able to communicate with him for a long time.’ Leylin’s expression wasn’t looking too great. Big, bloody sacrificial ceremonies would affect the whole city, and the death toll would number greater than a thousand.
But of course, all this was useless. No matter how much they sacrificed, Beelzebub would not regain consciousness. Instead, this would attract hostility from the gods. Most importantly, Leylin would be dragged into this whole mess!
‘Well, I guess I’ll gladly receive Beelzebub’s followers.’ This empty church had lost the protection of its god, and was also compatible with the law of devouring he had grasped. To Leylin, this hollow shell was a big present.
Though most of the members were the cruelest dregs of society, or even unusual beings and demonic creatures, its sheer size was enough to make Leylin jealous. He had to accumulate all of this himself to become a god in the future.
As for Beelzebub, he was long out of Leylin’s consideration. He walked out happily with his gains, and turned into a dark alley…
Once he made sure nobody was around, Leylin’s aura transformed into that of a god. “My follower, Tiff!” he made a solemn call, and a strange energy dispersed.
Moments later, Leylin opened his eyes, his expression looking weird, ‘With such a short distance, is he in the Dambrath Kingdom?’
A dark shadow was moving at great speeds through the broad plains. It stopped all of a sudden, revealing a pale, aged face.
He looked emotional, and was even tearing up. He immediately knelt on the ground as he managed to choke out his next words, “My great lord, Kukulkan! Have you finally heard me?”
This man looked a lot like Tiff, but it wasn’t the boy from back then anymore. A large amount of energy circulated around his body.
“My God…” Tiff looked staunch after his prayer. Ever since Eldath’s church had destroyed everything he had, he’d set himself on the path of rebellion. This was why he was a wanted criminal throughout the World of Gods.
Thankfully, the power Leylin left him back then helped him through the toughest period of his life. As a result, the bogus about Kukulkan that Leylin had once made up had warped into his absolute faith.
“I can’t believe I felt the power of you as I went out to keep an eye on the devil worshippers, my Lord…” Tiff’s body compressed into a stream of shadows, and sped towards Gloomwood Castle. He was even faster than a rank 15 Professional.
……
At the same time, in the campsite of the ogres.
*Roar! Roar!* The ogre warriors waved the large warhammers in their hands in they fought, using magic as an aid every now and then. It was a pity that all of their efforts were nothing but a joke to the paladins.
‘Smite Evil!’ ‘Divine Punishment!’ Piercing holy light shot out from Lorent’s sword, and broke an ogre’s warhammer in a split second with its immense strength before slicing his head off. On the other hand, the clerics who had mastered divine spells from the God of Justice were also killing off the ogre shamans with no issues.
“How dare you see humans as food! The sins of this ogre tribe are unforgivable!” Lorent wiped his sword on the skin of one of the ogres beside him, and flashed a face of disgust. Flesh started showing.
“The vile ogres only deserve death!” The ogres in the campsite fell into chaos, merely ants to the high-ranked paladins and priests.
A ear-piercing growl sounded from the other side before low gasps and silence ensued. It was unsettling.
“Managed to get anything out of them?” Lorent looked at their team’s interrogation officer as he walked out, hands still freshly dyed in the ogres’ blood.
“They don’t have the biggest brains, and what they do have is reserved for fighting and eating. Even if I tried my best, the only information I got was that their leader was killed by a human wizard who then escaped…” The officer looked mildly disappointed, “If only we could use A memory extracting spell… But that would be trespassing into the domain of evil…”
Lorent was discontented with the officer’s attitude and mindset, but he did not want to create any conflicts at this point in time. “That is enough… At the very least, the possibility of the wizard being Leylin is high…
“It was probably this ogre tribe that attacked them first, forcing them to retaliate…” he said as he nodded.
“Then what are we waiting for now, let’s chase after them! My tools are getting impatient…” The officer licked his lip, his disgusting and sinister expression making Lorent look away. He wondered how someone like this managed to sneak into the investigative team.
The team continued their journey after sweeping the ogre site clean and headed towards Gloomwood castle.
……
“I’m afraid I can’t stay for long…”
Leylin was changing his disguise at the moment. Things that could expose his identity, like the Ring of Wizardry, could absolutely not be worn. He even had to alter his hair colour and change his face’s shape.
‘But, judging by the God of Justice’s hatred for devils, if his followers find out that there are devil worshippers within this castle, would he still put in so much effort and look for me?’ Leylin smiled sinisterly.
