"Do not despair, my daughter..."
The middle-aged man in the mirror also showed a hint of ruthlessness on his face: "The Prime Material World is so vast—there must be other paths open to us... And besides, it isn't only the orcs and Silvermoon City that hold power here..."
"I've already made contact with certain clandestine channels. The specifics will have to wait until we meet in person—the Mirror Image won't last much longer. Your sole task... is to hold things together on your end. This is a matter of life and death for both our guild and our family..."
By the end, the image within the mirror had grown increasingly distorted, and even the voice had become intermittent.
Just this brief communication had already consumed one formation array and several invaluable high-energy crystals, leaving
"Other paths... could Father be planning to defect to another faction? But who would take us in at a time like this—devils or demons?"
Anya's face was filled with a bitter smile. "Never mind... as long as we survive, even aligning with Hell or the Abyss is a last resort we'll have to accept..."
What the Nien Commerce Guild was secretly orchestrating was hidden to the utmost degree, and the consequences of a leak were something even Anya dared not contemplate.
She wiped her face once more, regained her usual resolute expression, and then lifted her hem and walked out.
At the same time, she prayed silently in her heart: "Any god at all—please, protect me and my family through this crisis. I am willing to offer all my faith, my life, even my soul..."
......
"The Nien Commerce Guild? They're begging for our help?"
Tifa pushed up the glasses on his nose, lending him an even more scholarly air. "Moyena, what do you make of it?"
"The Nien Commerce Guild is a medium-sized guild from the North, primarily dealing in leather and medicinal herbs. The current head is Fix of the Bane family... Once we received the inquiry, I looked into this family thoroughly. According to our intelligence, they're far more complicated than they appear on the surface—their connections in the North are extensive, and it seems they also have ties to the Orc Empire..."
A female priest in senior cleric's robes said from beside him.
"Is that so..."
Tifa suddenly smiled. "In other words—they're in extreme danger right now. Especially if one of their secrets gets exposed... they'd face annihilation from both the Church of the God of Justice and the Church of the Goddess of the
"If we can earn their gratitude, it would go a long way toward establishing our foothold in the North..."
A glint of contemplation flashed through Tifa's eyes. "I need more—detailed intelligence!"
Even now, Tifa was still not captivated by what lay before him — he needed more information before he could properly weigh the pros and cons and make the right choice. This was precisely why
"Moyena. You're dismissed!"
Tifa waved his hand to send the priestess away, then stepped outside.
At that moment, the entire temple was filled with a festive atmosphere. Countless clergymen bustled about, laying out copious amounts of food and drink.
"The preparations for the God's Birthday — everyone needs to keep working hard!" several temple officials urged, so busy that sweat had already beaded on their foreheads.
Tifa watched the scene with a complicated sense of emotion.
"The gods mark the day they ascended to true divinity as their birthday — a severance from the past. Has it already been a full year since our Lord raised his divine throne? If we were to present the Nien Trading Company as a gift… our Lord would surely be even more pleased…"
In the 37,945th year of the Divine Calendar, the Church of the Great Serpent held its first God's Birthday celebration.
Leylin, even counting his original mortal years, was barely three hundred years old at this point. He was considered remarkably young.
But for gods, none of that held any significance.
Still, out of consideration for the faith of his followers, he manifested directly at the celebration and performed a divine miracle, leaving his devout followers weeping with gratitude.
Once these surface-level duties were concluded, Leylin received Tifa's report.
Within the divine kingdom, atop a holy mountain built of white jade, a massive temple radiated brilliant light that illuminated the entire former Third Layer of Hell, dispelling suffering and evil, bringing hope and beauty.
At the heart of the temple, behind layers of guards and protective wards, Leylin's true body sat enthroned upon the divine seat, his entire form radiating an eternal golden glow — ageless and imperishable.
Prayers flowed in through the connections in the void — from the petitioners of his divine kingdom, from the Material Plane, and even from the devils of the lower planes of Hell.
Millions, even tens of millions, of prayers and messages were absorbed in their entirety by Leylin, who responded to each according to its importance.
Even a true god's cognitive abilities could feel strained under such an enormous workload, which was why many true gods would elevate several demigods or lesser deities to serve as their subservient gods, assisting them in handling these heavy duties.
For Leylin, however, his divine kingdom was still newly established, and he had yet to find enough capable and trustworthy subordinates.
Fortunately, he had the Chip's assistance, which shouldered a large portion of these varied tasks.
In terms of mechanically processing such affairs, the Chip — upgraded several times over and fused with Leylin's very soul — actually surpassed Leylin himself.
[Ding! Detected a prayer from Pontiff Tiffa — forwarding!]
At that moment, the Chip relayed a prayer directly to him. Tiffa's faith was extremely devout, and as the Pontiff, his thread of faith was thick and radiant — his standing within the Chip's processing hierarchy was very high, granting him the privilege of being heard directly by Leylin.
In the span of an instant, a torrent of images and information streamed through Leylin's mind — the Nien Trading Company, Felix, Anya… In barely a heartbeat, he had absorbed every detail of Tiffa's prayer.
"The Nien Trading Company in the North…"
Leylin stroked his chin. The intelligence channels at his disposal far surpassed Tiffa's in both breadth and granularity. With a single thought, even more information flowed back to him.
"They're not just conducting arms deals with the Orc Empire — their main trading partner is the Black Blood Tribe of the Forest of Darkness?"
"And this time, a particularly critical shipment on the verge of being exchanged has been intercepted in New Silvermoon City. If it's discovered, charges of treason and heresy would be enough to annihilate the entire Nien Trading Company and the Bane family…"
"The Black Blood Tribe…
Leylin chuckled.
The Hunting Lord had once trailed behind the Orc pantheon, but after the incident where his avatar was besieged, he had behaved himself for quite some time — likely having been thoroughly disciplined by
Unfortunately, his fundamental nature hadn't changed one bit. Now it seemed Malar was entangled with the orcs once again.
The Material Plane.
Outside the church, a jubilant sea of celebration had erupted. Vast quantities of food and beverages flowed freely — for many of the faithful, this was a crucial means of winning their trust and goodwill.
A church that could provide material sustenance at no cost and channeled positive energy to bring comfort would always be more popular than those dark deities.
It was precisely for this reason that even as the genuine God of Slaughter, Leylin chose to align himself with the worship of strength, and would never stoop to
Deep within the temple's inner sanctum, Tiffa knelt in prayer before Leylin's divine statue.
He was reporting on matters concerning the Nien Trading Company, but before he had even finished his supplication, Leylin had already grasped every detail of the situation — and with far more thoroughness than the information Tiffa had gathered himself.
"Tiffa…"
A layer of golden radiance descended, and from the statue came Leylin's commanding voice.
"My Lord!" Tiffa showed not the slightest surprise. As the Pontiff, his prayers enjoyed the highest priority, and at this early stage of the church's development, it was perfectly normal for the deity to manifest a response when important matters arose — let alone simply project a thought.
Of course, even a mere thought represented the True God, and even Tiffa did not dare to be careless. She performed the rites with meticulous precision as dictated by the holy texts.
"My God, you are the stars of the Heavens, the bearer of the authority of slaughter, the ruler of devils…"
"Your development in the Prime Material World, and the preparations for the Nativity Celebration, are both excellent…"
A vast thought transmitted downwards, carrying the majesty unique to a deity.
"Glory belongs to me, while the authority over the land belongs to you…"
A thought fragment surfaced, carrying an oracle, causing Tiffa's eyes to involuntarily gleam with a sharp light. She did not permit herself the slightest lapse in attention…
For ordinary believers of the Slaughter God
And they only knew how to enjoy the god's protection and glory, completely unaware that a team composed entirely of elite devil hunters had already secretly departed headquarters and was heading for the Northern Territory.
They bore an important mission, not merely to support a trade association and a clan, but also carried an extremely confidential task upon their shoulders.
……
Neigh~ In the Northern Territory, accompanied by the neighing of many horses, a caravan consisting entirely of covered wagons slowly departed from New Silvermoon City.
"Finally leaving…"
Only after traveling for a long while on the road, until the faint outline of New Silvermoon City was no longer visible, did the caravan's chief steward, Miss Aniya, finally let out a secret sigh of relief.
At the same time, in her heart, there was a stifling frustration almost enough to make her cough up blood.
To obtain the travel permit, she had not only surrendered all the trade association's original profits but had also been forced to engage in hypocritical pleasantries with those granite-headed paladins, enduring a period of trembling fear for good measure.
"But… as long as these things can be kept safe, everything is worth it!"
Aniya glanced at the convoy behind her and nodded to a steward.
The understanding steward immediately shouted aloud: "Everyone, put your backs into it! If we can reach Donny Town before nightfall, the young miss will give generous rewards! And we've already prepared fragrant roasted meat and bread over there, along with warm beds and hot water…"