"Also, the large-scale blood sacrifice you've been preparing can be stopped. Until you receive my latest orders, no conspicuous actions are to be taken — especially anything that might draw the Church's attention!"
Before leaving, Leilin gave these solemn instructions once more.
"As you command, Chosen of Our Lord!"
The devil priest agreed immediately. In truth, he had little power to refuse.
Moreover, the reason they had been preparing such an elaborate operation was to attract the attention of the Lord of
"Great Deputy, please bestow upon us Your name!"
At the very end, the elderly devil priest seemed to summon his courage and asked.
"My name?!" Beneath the silver mask, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Leilin's lips. "My name… is
Faith power was essentially spiritual or soul energy born of fear and obedience, reverence and admiration — and the divine name served as a coordinate.
A specific name, combined with powerful strength and the false identity of Belzebub's Chosen One, was more than enough to earn the reverence of these devil worshippers below.
He could even slowly divert Belzebub's faith, and ultimately usurp it entirely!
However, the only thing Leilin found marginally useful about them was this well-established organization. When it truly came time to build a church, these people would not be dependable — he would need to cultivate a new generation of clerics. After all, Leilin had no intention of turning his church into a gathering of devil worshippers.
Going further, certain blood sacrifices and evil rituals that violated fundamental principles would have to be abolished — this was the boundary of a good deity, and a necessary step for any god to gain widespread acceptance in the material world.
"Lord Kukulkan, we shall surely obey your commands! We shall prepare for Our Lord's revival!"
The thoughts in his mind flickered past in an instant, and then Leilin saw these devil worshippers chanting his divine name.
Amidst the fanatical atmosphere, a peculiar energy — similar to spiritual power yet carrying the characteristics of the soul — had already gathered around his body.
The false Devouring Divinity nearly could not contain itself and was about to swallow this energy directly to truly take shape, but Leilin suppressed it.
"The power of diffuse faith…"
Leilin sighed inwardly, and then his figure vanished from the secret chamber.
"You all heard the Lord's commands, did you not?" The devil priest looked at the surrounding worshippers, particularly a few nobles among them, and straightened his back.
The descent of a divine being had given him — whose status had plummeted after losing the quasi-spell abilities granted by the devil — a measure of confidence once more. "Prepare the defenses immediately! Be ready to receive those Paladins of the God of Justice!"
In terms of enmity, there was absolutely no room for reconciliation between devil worshippers and paladins — once they met, it was a fight to the death.
Though these devil worshippers, gathered together, might not even be enough for a single paladin to cut through, if they fully mobilized their forces and hid themselves behind the scenes, they could still cause enormous trouble for their enemies.
"Of course!" A few nobles grinned savagely, their silhouettes reflected on the walls like terrifying devils.
…
"Pretending to be a divine being twice a day… truly exhausting."
Leilin was now outside the city.
He surveyed his surroundings, eyes alert. The powerful divine being out here was merely a disguise — in truth, his true body was only a tenth-level mage.
If those devil worshippers had collectively resisted just now, he would not necessarily have been confident in suppressing them. Although, with the advantage of a high-ranking devil's aura, he certainly would not have come out at a loss.
But the disguise of a divine being, combined with the sacrificial blessing of the Devil's Blood Dagger, had been more than enough to terrify those devil worshippers into submission. They had worshipped the devil for so long that their souls were already bound by constraints — if they did not wish to suffer torment after death, they had no choice but to follow Leilin's instructions!
"Compared to those low-ranking devil worshippers, this one is far more troublesome to deal with…"
Sighing inwardly, Leilin gathered himself. A wisp of flame flickered to life on his fingertip, forming the shape of a fiery winged serpent.
A point of fire bloomed in the dark forest, carrying an eerie sensation.
"He's here!" Leilin's expression shifted as he looked toward one direction.
From that direction, a dark afterimage hurtled toward him at a speed barely perceptible to the naked eye.
[Advanced Spell Barrier!][Advanced Detection Ward!][Advanced Concealment!]
Several powerful magical barriers rose up, completely isolating this area from the outside world.
"A high-tier professional? No — far stronger than Ogerd and Borujie… almost at the threshold of [Legendary]…"
Leilin evaluated silently.
And at that moment, the visitor appeared before Leilin.
"Tifa?!" The powerful divine aura wreathed him, making Leilin appear like a god. His voice was low as he called out Tifa's name.
At the same time, he released a trace of his true body's aura.
"You are not my God! Yet you possess my God's power!!!" The one who appeared before Leilin was none other than the young boy Tifa from before — except that he looked nothing like he once had. Even the edges of his ears now bore traces of white hair, and a pair of eyes filled with suspicion and wariness were fixed unblinkingly on Leilin's position.
In a single instant, Leilin detected the fluctuations of several different divination spells. Had he not been in his true body, with the Chip helping him conceal his presence, he would have found it extremely difficult to get through.
The radiance of divinity rose and fell in Leilin's hand. He looked into Tifa's eyes. "Do you still have doubts?"
"I would not dare! Favored One of My Lord!"
Tifa pressed his right hand to his chest and performed a bow, acknowledging Leilin's identity.
A powerhouse at this near-Legendary level was indeed not so easy to subjugate. In truth, if Tifa were to turn on him now, he would discover that Leilin's so-called "divine being" was nothing but a facade — as fragile as a soap bubble, ready to burst at the slightest prick.
"I wonder what orders the Deputy has for summoning me here?"
Tifa's eyes held a trace of confusion.
"Our Lord has defeated the Devil Duke Belzebub. I have come under His command to claim everything Belzebub possessed in the material plane!"
In truth, Tifa was the most trusted among his followers. Though he still seemed somewhat distrustful, Leilin was not the least bit worried.
With the hidden power and safeguards he had left behind, even if Tifa had truly betrayed him, Leilin was confident he could trigger a backlash.
"However… to have used the energy I left behind as a foundation and acquired quasi-spell abilities, becoming something like a bloodline awakener — no, or rather 'semi-Chosen' would be more fitting — this Tifa truly has some potential…"
Leilin's gaze seemed to penetrate right through Tifa.
"Defeated the Devil Duke — the Lord of Gluttony?" Tifa murmured in shock. He had certainly heard rumors of this great event.
Once the believers lost the quasi-spell abilities granted by the devil, their loyalty had already begun to waver, causing some information to leak.
In truth, had Leilin waited a few more decades, Belzebub's church might have had very few followers left.
Devil worshippers in the Prime Material Plane were simply that pragmatic! Fortunately, it was not too late yet.
"Mm. I need your assistance. How much influence do you have in the Kingdom of Danbres?"
Leilin asked directly. A near-Legendary powerhouse, whether independent or affiliated with some faction, should be able to obtain considerable authority — even if his origins were problematic.
"I established an organization that worships Our Lord in the Kingdom of Danbres. We currently have fewer than three hundred followers, the highest-ranking among them being a count…"
Tifa gritted his teeth, but that familiar soul pressure and the divine power emanating from the other party could not be faked. So he spoke directly.
"You actually established a church?"
Leilin was genuinely somewhat surprised.
"To be able to maintain a small faith community without the support of a true god's divine magic — he really does have the potential to become a pontiff…"
In the World of the
Devils and demons, due to the powerful planar barriers, could at most grant their followers quasi-spell abilities up to roughly fifth level. Anything higher required blood sacrifices or other restrictive conditions. This kind of false god worship was uniformly struck down by true gods.
Demigods were the same — they lacked the ability to grant followers high-tier divine spells and could not proselytize on a wide scale.
But the Feathered Serpent God — Kukulkan — whom Leilin had fabricated earlier, was a demigod from another world! And one who had fallen into slumber, unable to grant even first-level divine spells.
Under these circumstances, Tifa had still managed to maintain a faith community and even recruit a count — Leilin could not help but view him in a new light.
Even if Tifa had used other means along the way, it was still an extraordinary achievement.
"But this situation cannot last long… I must give them hope as soon as possible!"
Leilin made his decision.
A god who could not answer prayers or grant divine spells — just like Belzebub — would sooner or later be abandoned by the faithful.
"My true body is still in slumber, recovering from injuries. Even after it recovers, having him grant divine spells would be far too suspicious!"
Leilin's half-seventh-level
"The only way is for me to advance to [Legendary] as quickly as possible, and condense divinity — only then will I have the most basic ability to respond to my followers…"
Leilin gritted his teeth.
"My Lord's devout follower, Tifa! I have a task for you… We shall rendezvous in the capital of Danbres…"