Deification!!!
This was the yearning and lifelong pursuit of every being in the
And Leilin now stood at the very threshold of deification!
For him, the significance of ascending to true godhood was even greater! Only with the power of a deity could he pry open the Crystal Sphere from within, paving the way for his
Frankly speaking, once he succeeded in his ascension, the Final Battle wouldn't be far off.
This was precisely why Leilin approached deification with such caution.
Moreover, meeting the internal conditions didn't guarantee a smooth ascension. Throughout the history of the World of Gods, there were countless examples of those who perished during their ascension, or who had their strongholds ransacked by enemies the moment they ascended. Leilin had no intention of joining the ranks of those wretched deities.
"As for deification, in terms of divine portfolio conflicts, both
Leilin stroked his chin, his expression growing somewhat grave.
"Then there's… Mystra, Goddess of the
Right now, Leilin relied on his main body, which was still only a demigod. After the last ambush, he'd holed up on Bankenz Island, leaving the other gods unable to do anything but glare helplessly.
With the true bodies of gods unable to descend into the Material Plane, any avatars or clones they sent would simply be feeding him. What's more, Leilin had the protection of both a church and an empire — even swarming tactics had lost their effectiveness.
It was for this reason that he'd been able to remain free until now, rather than being miserably hunted down.
But once he ascended, everything would change.
The Material Plane would also reject his main body, casting him out into the outer realms. Now that would be interesting.
Beyond the Material Plane, Mystra and the rest of his enemies would be burning with jealousy, ready for revenge at any moment.
What was even more terrifying was that, outside the Material Plane, they would no longer be bound by its restrictions and could wield the full power of a Greater Deity!
A Greater Deity, converted to the equivalent, was a peak-level Wizard — and he might even face their true bodies in combat. The mere thought made Leilin's scalp tingle.
With a divine realm he hadn't even begun to construct yet, he'd have no way to block these unwelcome guests. His main body could very well be destroyed!
Perishing the very moment of ascension! Leilin felt he'd probably become the biggest joke in the entire World of Gods!
"Then there's… the Hells. That's another major headache…"
Leilin sighed.
Although he had successfully seized Belial's authority and become the lord of the second layer of Hell — the
But who was
As for those devils, Leilin had never had any interest in cooperating with them.
After all, while devils did keep their word, they wouldn't hesitate for a second when it came to screwing someone over.
He could become the master of devils, but he would never accept an olive branch from any devil.
It was precisely for this reason that Leilin had developed the Devil Hunter — an advanced class exclusive to the
Enhancing his subordinates' strength was one aspect. The other was to strike at devil worship across the entire Material Plane, paving the way for himself.
Obviously, the devils loyal to Leilin could often pass undetected through divine detection spells with zero cost. The ones who suffered were always the devils from other layers of Hell — and that spoke volumes.
But also because of this, the lords of each Hell layer were growing increasingly dissatisfied with Leilin. He could well imagine that some Archdevils and gods were already secretly conspiring, waiting for the right moment to overthrow him.
And Asmodeus's shadowy hand was also constantly reaching toward the Dis Plane.
He apparently wasn't satisfied with having used his daughter to replace the original hag countess and seize complete authority over the sixth layer of Hell — Malbolge. Instead, he wanted more, ultimately seeking to unify all of
And who would be a better target than Leilin, the upstart?
Leilin had no doubt that given the chance, Asmodeus would gladly use any means to devour him and claim the full authority of the Dis Plane.
"Heh heh… Bring on your schemes, all of you! I just hope you don't end up breaking your own teeth…"
Leilin chuckled coldly to himself.
He wasn't without his own trump cards. At the very least, the Shade Enclave was currently moored in his demiplane, its menacing turrets seemingly eager to drink the blood of gods.
An Archmage working in concert with a Flying City had been enough to make gods tremble in the ancient age!
And a true Rule Wizard was also gathering beyond the Crystal Sphere, hungrily eyeing the World of Gods.
He could be certain that those gods planning to scheme against Leilin would ultimately discover, to their horror, that what they were dealing with wasn't some white rabbit, but a terrifying prehistoric dragon!
Beyond that, Leilin checked the Chip's records.
"Chip! Pull up the modification data for the twelfth-level Arcane Spell — Karsus's Avatar!"
Ding! Karsus's Avatar template modification in progress. Estimated completion time: 677 hours, 2 minutes, 37 seconds!
The Chip responded faithfully.
This was another of Leilin's trump cards — a terrifying ace capable of instantly destroying the Goddess of the Weave, or even unleashing the wills of numerous ancient entities!
Through field testing in the Shadow World, Leilin had already confirmed the power of this arcane template. Of course, the backlash was terrifyingly severe as well.
Therefore, using the data obtained from the Chip and field testing to modify the template was an urgent matter.
Leilin was certain that no matter what other arrangements the Shadow of
But now that he was pulling the rug out from under them — modifying the arcane template itself — there was nothing the other side could do but watch helplessly.
"Counting it up like this, it seems I still have quite a few cards to play…"
Leilin stroked his chin. "But… I still need a few pawns to test the waters!"
At that moment, a pair of master and servant separated by vast oceans suddenly shuddered violently. They chalked it up to the sea breeze and retreated into the ship's cabin, utterly unaware of the fate that awaited them.
"That idiot Scorpion — being killed is the normal outcome. Not being killed would be the strange one…"
Thinking of that divine scion, Leilin naturally thought of the Toxic Scorpion Church's true master — that demigod.
The other party had also had certain dealings with the Giant Serpent Church — this was perfectly normal.
On the continent, the class hierarchy was rigid. Everyone had their place, and Leilin was neither a true god nor a high-ranking Legendary. He was a demigod! Naturally, he wouldn't mix with those of other tiers.
The only ones he could truly communicate with were probably the same crop of false gods and demigods.
Therefore, it was perfectly natural for beings like them to form a secret alliance.
Facing the suppression of true gods, every demigod and false god without powerful backing had to learn to huddle together for warmth.
Leilin had secretly made the acquaintance of several such beings and sworn mutual defense pacts with them.
Even if they weren't useful now, after his ascension, they could at least buy him some breathing room under the pressure of other divine pantheons.
There were quite a few demigods who shared Leilin's thinking, so his diplomatic outreach had gone reasonably well.
The Scorpion Lord of the Toxic Scorpion Church was one such demigod Leilin knew. Unfortunately, the power of divinity and divine fire seemed to have twisted the other's sanity, leaving them in a state of madness for half of every day.
It had to be said that this kind of demigod managing to sustain a church until now before being eliminated was already far beyond Leilin's expectations.
"The rule the other party comprehended is Slaughter. The only thing worthy of my attention is that alone…"
Leilin stroked his chin.
The other's divinity was so close to his own Divinity of Slaughter that it gave rise to a vague, nascent plan.
It was for this reason that he had ordered his subordinates to take the other in and bring the Scorpion Lord's last bloodline descendant to Bankenz Island.
"A single Scorpion isn't enough… I need more… more targets!"
In an instant, the images of various demigods flashed through Leilin's mind.
Deification was no small matter! And a newly ascended god would attract far too much attention. Leilin's approach was simple: form a mutual defense alliance, ideally having several other demigods ascend alongside him to split the incoming fire.
Of course, if they were willing to ascend before him, that would be even better — he could absorb more experience from their attempts.
"Before I officially ascend, I still need to witness another demigod's ascension…"
Leilin had always preferred to be prepared for all contingencies, and if another deity could provide him with experience, that would be ideal.
Although he had already subjugated
"True godhood…"
A low sigh echoed throughout the entire palace…
…
"Young Master, we've arrived!"
More than ten days passed in a flash. At the dock of Bankenz Island, the old butler helped the young man disembark.
"Wow… is this the land of the natives? I almost thought we'd returned to one of the great ports on the continent!"
The young man leaped off the gangplank and let out an exclamation upon seeing the harbor — grander and more bustling than Dawnstar Port.
"This is His Highness's domain. Please watch your words!"
The old butler carefully reminded him from the side.