After the basic cleanup was finished, a statue of the Feathered Serpent God was erected in the temple. Under the guidance of Holy Maiden
Amid the chorus of prayers, the statue of the Feathered Serpent God gradually began to emanate a glow, giving these believers a sense of comfort and peace.
"Our Lord has responded! The divine statue has been successfully consecrated!"
Barbara's face lit up with joy, and she raised her prayers even louder. Wave after wave of faith gathered into a surging tide.
Within that tide of faith, the Feathered Serpent God's statue seemed to come alive, its eyes blazing with a vivid light. Blazing divine power expanded outward in all directions, spreading through the temple, the city, and the skies beyond, as though scouring something clean. A domain of gold tinged with dark crimson was expelled from the area.
"This is a war of faith!"
From the perspective of a deity, Leilin saw all of this with far greater clarity.
At this moment, a vast region centered on Dule City had completely broken free from Akband's control, thoroughly saturated by his power.
This meant the enemy's domain of faith had shrunk. From now on, the surroundings of Dule City were no longer Akband's home ground—they had become Leilin's territory. If the enemy dared to come here, within this domain his strength would be halved, and Leilin could slaughter him like a chicken.
Looking at the map, Akband's faith had been cornered to the brink. Only a small area near the royal capital remained under his influence; everywhere else had been steadily encircled and devoured by Leilin.
Once the royal capital fell, it would be the end of Akband!
Such was the tragedy of land-bound spirits and territorial deities. They could not abandon their believers and their lands, for to do so meant self-destruction. That was precisely why Leilin had never worried about Akband attempting to flee.
"In comparison, those 'True
Leilin mused idly, then his eyes twitched.
"Hmm? This fellow actually dares to come here?"
His body vanished in an instant, and he stepped out from a temple at the border.
"Ssssss!!!"
Hovering in midair above it was an enormous golden scorpion the size of a millstone, already waiting.
"It doesn't seem to be here to fight!"
Upon seeing Leilin arrive, the golden scorpion immediately moved aside, retracting its tail stinger and massive pincers into a posture of submission. A stream of information was transmitted directly into Leilin's mind.
"So even with only beast instincts, it knows to follow the stronger power?"
This golden scorpion demigod had clearly come to pledge allegiance. After witnessing the death of the Golden Two-Headed Lion and Akband's continual decline, this was only to be natural.
"Then… prove your worth to me!"
A divine glow flickered in Leilin's eyes as he transmitted a message of his own.
In truth, he had already decided internally to accept the other party.
After all, this was a native deity of the land, with an irreplaceable role to play. When Leilin later expanded his influence and even established a divine pantheon, demigods and subservient gods would be indispensable.
Akband would not do, because he represented the indigenous people and naturally held the right to inherit dominion over this territory. Leilin would annihilate him outright. But this golden scorpion was different—it was the perfect standard to set.
"You should be the totem spirit of a major tribe among the natives—the Gale Wind Tribe, correct?"
Leilin fixed the creature with his gaze. "Mobilize all of your strength and participate in my siege of the Sacacticas Empire's capital. That is how you will prove your loyalty! And when the final divine war comes, I expect to see you on the battlefield as well!"
This condition clearly fell well within the scorpion's capabilities. Without hesitation, it sent back an affirmative thought.
"An alliance without binding covenant—how fragile it appears before disaster strikes…"
Leilin watched the spot where the golden scorpion had departed, a hint of lament on his face.
Watching a once-mighty native empire and its accompanying pantheon decline like this filled him with vigilance. When he established his own pantheon in the future, he would certainly think things through far more thoroughly—not only binding contracts, but also equal opportunity and basic justice. No matter how powerful a chief god might be, without those things, he would inevitably end up abandoned by all.
"The final battle is about to begin!"
Leilin gazed toward the Sacacticas Empire and uttered his prophecy.
…
In Dule City, Barbara—preparing to press onward and seize the now-defenseless capital in one decisive stroke—received orders from the Church as well.
"I am to hold position here? Both the Pope and Lady Isabelle will be coming in person?"
Barbara drew a deep breath and looked at the messenger before her. "Of course I will obey the Pope's decree!"
No matter how reluctant she felt inside, Barbara would never dare defy Tifa and the others.
In terms of status, she was still a native, while Tifa and the rest were the earliest followers of the Feathered Serpent God. Although the doctrine repeatedly emphasized equality and freedom, this kind of inherent gap was not so easily bridged.
Moreover, she was merely a believer herself, and naturally subject to the Church's authority.
Barbara understood all too well the influence that Pope Tifa wielded within the Great Serpent Church. She was nothing more than a believer who had been blessed with divine grace and given the title of Holy Maiden.
As long as she was not a "Chosen" of the deity, she had no power to stand against Tifa.
"What must I do to earn more of my Lord's favor?" Barbara rested her chin on her hand and sank into deep thought…
Leilin paid little heed to the petty scheming of his believers. Regardless of their motives, anyone who wished to live well on Bankenz Island had to rally behind him.
And this was a war of national extermination. A new nation would rise from the corpse of the Sacacticas Empire. Such a venture—one that brought both glory and power—could clearly not be entrusted to a Holy Maiden.
In truth, even Tifa was somewhat insufficient for the task.
Only one kind of person could rule this land with both moral legitimacy and legal authority: a god-child who carried Leilin's bloodline.
Therefore, after Tifa and Isabelle arrived with Hope Fortress's elite force of fifty thousand soldiers, Leilin quietly made his way to the military camp.
The presence of a deity in person boosted morale to a staggering level.
By contrast, the response within the capital was utterly dismal.
Large numbers of nobles had already abandoned Akband and his descendants, who had once ruled them, and secretly pledged allegiance to Leilin.
When the Gale Wind Tribe—devotees of the Scorpion Demigod—arrived with over ten thousand elite warriors and merged with the Hope Fortress forces, completing the encirclement of the imperial capital, even the most die-hard royalists had lost nearly all hope.
Towering walls could not stop the spread of plague, and they certainly could not halt the collapse of hearts and minds.
In just three short days, the capital of the Sacacticas Empire fell to an inside-outside coordinated assault. The native emperor immolated himself in the palace, the flames soaring into the sky, deterring even the troops who had attempted to fight the fire. They could only watch as the royal bloodline and the magnificent palace were reduced to ashes together.
On that very same day, Leilin intercepted the fleeing Akband and, with the golden scorpion's assistance, slew him on the spot. The Sacacticas Empire, which had ruled Bankenz Island for over five hundred years, was declared dissolved.
With the capital fallen, the emperor dead, and most terrifying of all, the patron deity destroyed, the shockwave felt by the chieftains and nobles in outlying regions was immense.
With their object of fealty gone, those willing to fight to the bitter end against Hope Fortress—holder of the holy water that cured the plague—were ultimately in the minority. Before long, many chose to submit.
Meanwhile, in the newly renamed capital of Faolan, a brand-new empire washed away every trace of filth in the fires of war and was born into the world.
As a theocratic state, Leilin naturally assumed the position of the first emperor. And from that point on, this nation would necessarily be ruled by god-children who inherited the divine bloodline, for all eternity.
The new empire quickly secured the allegiance of surrounding tribes. After absorbing everything that had belonged to the Sacacticas Empire and expanding its influence across the entirety of Bankenz Island, an intense campaign of plague suppression and land cultivation began in earnest.
Under the dual effects of the "Holy Water" (miracle cure) and the "Divine Baptine" (artificial vaccine), the
Because the war had concluded so swiftly, and because a vast number of tribes had been absorbed, the initial census produced a staggering figure of nine hundred and twenty thousand.
Compared to the original population of over two million, this plague had claimed more than half the natives' lives. But those who remained represented an enormous pool of wealth.
After all, the total amount of resources was always fixed. The more people there were, the less each individual received—this was the root of the endless tribal warfare.
But now, the amount of uncultivated farmland far exceeded the population's needs, and the previously fierce social tensions were suddenly alleviated.
After organizing land reclamation, re-surveying the farmland, and declaring the emancipation of a portion of slaves along with the granting of land, the empire won an immediate flood of praise and goodwill.
And the faith provided by these commoners was continuously drawn upon by Leilin, becoming a steady source of strength on his path to apotheosis.