novelEvil Gods and Devils
| ← Ch.576 | Ch.578 → |
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
From the very start, I had already noticed a lizardman priest praying to his Snake God Voka. He had been constantly summoning Divine Arts. However, the lizardman priest simply wasn't important enough to worry about.
That was because the Chaos Evil Gods were foundationally different from the Order Gods. The Chaos Gods were more primitive, relying more on themselves to obtain their divinity. They didn't believe as much in using the power of belief to power themselves up. The Chaos Gods also lacked any sense of responsibility towards their believers.
Indeed, a sense of responsibility. Although it might sound strange, Gods and their believers would typically have a mysterious connection or contract between them. The relationship between the Order Gods and their believers would be like that of a properly registered company. The benefits and treatment would be listed quite clearly. The company's policies, way of thinking (the God's church's rules), and everything else would be perfectly clear. There would also be ways for believers to slowly level themselves up.
If a God's shamans or priests had excellent achievements, these would be counted as achievements for the "company", and the company (the God)'s power level would be increased even further. The believers and priests would also receive divine favor and actual power in return. And if the company collapsed (the God died), all of the "employees" would naturally lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Evil Gods were completely different as they weren't bound by Order or any rules. The relationship between the Chaos Gods and their believers was like the relationship between a mafia organization and its members. There would be no rules as whatever the boss said counted as rules. The company's only goal was to make the boss richer and more powerful. All the employees were nothing more than tools that had zero guarantees for themselves.
This was the foundational difference between the Chaos Evil Gods and the Order Gods. The Order Gods were just like proper companies that competed with each other on the market. Other than an extremely few exceptions, they would all have to compete while following the law to see who had better marketing and business methods.
As for the Chaos Evil Gods that functioned more like mafia-run illegal businesses? They far preferred to directly rob, fight, or kill for the sake of a Divine Concept or position. Devouring a single Low God would increase a Chaos God's power by an amount that would take an Order God thousands of years to accumulate.
That was why the Chaos Evil Gods were far more aggressive than the Order Gods. Most Evil Gods typically viewed their own believers as nothing more than useful tools or even slaves. As long as the Evil God could achieve their own goals, why would they care if the tool was broken in the process?
As an example, just look at Lorci from before she perished. Not a single Order God would ever allow their believers to fight with and kill each other as that would decrease the Order God's total amount of belief. Yet, Lorci actively encouraged this as she only wanted the strongest to survive. She would give the most vicious and powerful survivors her divine favor, while she would punish those who were weak and those who were kind. She also viewed all the Elf Gods as mortal enemies and prey.
So, if you worshiped an Evil God, it was quite possible to suddenly power up within a single day. As long as the boss "liked" you and "admired" your talents, that is. But, the same boss might suddenly make you into a chess piece in their plans without you realizing it, and in the end, you wouldn't even know how you died.
According to my knowledge, ninety-nine percent of those who suddenly powered up within a single day were those who had gotten involved in the Evil God's plans. Such people would no longer be able to extract themselves. The sly and villainous Evil Gods would never help someone else for no reason. The Evil Gods' internal conflicts were quite fierce as they were all competitors as well as predators and prey for each other.
Perhaps the most pitiful Evil God followers were those who signed soul contracts. This meant that even after you died, your soul would go directly to the Evil God. Depending on your power and accomplishments, the Evil God would then decide on whether to turn you into a Divine Envoy, devil, demon, and so on. Or, if you were deemed worthless, you would simply be turned into soul coins, food, or base resources.
Foundationally, Order Gods and Chaos Evil Gods were actually the same. They only cared about their own personal benefits. None of them actually cared about the lives of mortals. This was just like how both the dark side of society and proper companies all worked for personal benefits. It was just that proper companies would appear much better as companies would provide long-term goods and services. Meanwhile, the illegal companies had absolutely no restrictions or morals. They would dare to do anything. The personal benefits involved would be much greater and could be obtained much faster, but it would also be far more dangerous and very easy to die.
Since we were traveling in the Chaos Abyss, we naturally needed to be prepared for interacting with Chaos Evil Gods.
Information on Snake God Voka's was no secret. Voka was the Guardian God of snake demons, snakemen, and lizardmen. He was also a God of Poison. His original form was a gigantic venomous snake from the Immemorial Generation. Records of his past battles weren't particularly outstanding. His attack power among the Evil Gods could be considered weak. However, the very fact that he had a long life already was the best evidence of his solid foundation as the Chaos Abyss was no kind and peaceful place.
I had no intention of antagonizing such an ancient existence. Who knew what trump cards a Chaos Evil God would have up their sleeve? However, I was quite reassured by how cautious Voka's personality was.
As for Voka's believers that kept praying for his power? I had already killed so many lizardmen in the Chaos Abyss that I could fill countless warehouses. Lizardmen had yet to be able to use even a single bit of Chaos Evil God Voka's power.
Indeed, it was possible for an Evil God's believers to pray for extra power when fighting against a powerful enemy that the believer couldn't handle. But, the Evil God would completely ignore you and not even care unless the Evil God had some sort of personal benefit involved.
This level of the Chaos Abyss was completely filled with snake demons and lizardmen. Voka had countless believers, which actually meant that he would care very little about some individual ones being killed off. If this was the mortal plane instead, losing a single high-level priest would be a great loss, and also make him lose a great amount of face. That was why it was far more common for Evil Gods to respond to their dark cultist believers in the mortal plane.
This place was far closer to Voka's body than the mortal plane, meaning that this place was more dangerous to antagonize him in. Still, lizardmen would die every day down here. Although the lizardmen would have an easier time reaching him, the chances of him actually responding were far lower—low to the point of being completely ignorable.
Perhaps this was why the Chinese Embassy cared so much about the treatment of Chinese citizens overseas—this was about China's face... Cough, cough, I should probably stop here as censorship is tight these days. I should stop being so suicidal.
Anyways, when I saw the giant cyan snake in the sky, my first reaction was that it was an illusion. My second reaction was that my luck stat was indeed so far down and negative that it hadn't improved by a single stat point in the past several hundred years.
"Damn, I couldn't possibly be this unlucky?"
"It's dangerous, we need to leave!"
"We need to take the valuables first..."
Many years of tacit cooperation caused myself, Harloys, and Little Red to instantly agree upon what to do. I tossed out a sword of Holy Light and impaled the lizardman shaman who was holding the heartstone. This time, I didn't intentionally miss.
Little Red, who had still been on the ground and pretending to be howling in pain a moment ago, instantly jumped over to that dead lizardman's side.
She then grabbed the heartstone and swallowed it. After that, she spread her wings, intending to run away. But, I had already unhesitatingly started running first. I could sense that the large snake had already locked onto me!
Challenging an Evil God's true body in his personal dimensional level would be the same as challenging an Order True God in his Divine Kingdom. I wasn't so foolishly suicidal to such an extent.
However, I was suddenly blocked by a female figure.
She was a female devil general who was more than three meters tall. Her black armor was covered in dents, and the chain sword she held in her right hand was covered in blood.
She glared at me so viciously that it seemed as if I'd killed her father or something.
If it wasn't for the scars on her face, she definitely would have been considered outstandingly beautiful. But right now, the vicious rage and naked hatred in her eyes made me rather confused.
"Um... ? Do we know each other? I don't recall ever making you angry? What's your name?"
"Hmph, it's probably another relationship debt that you owe. Can you even remember how many women you've pissed off in your life?"
Harloys' comment made me feel rather guilty, but when I tried to think of who this female devil could be, I really didn't have a clue...
"Kar... wen... z..."
The hatred in her voice was strong as she slowly pronounced each syllable. Her blood-red eyes were filled with pain and regret.
Oh, so it was all Karwenz's fault! Damn it all! How could I be unlucky to such a degree that I was taking the blame for him!
"Um, wait a moment, although we really look alike, take a closer look. I'm human, and Karwenz is a devil—"
But before I could finish speaking, countless red chains covered the sky as this female devil general unhesitatingly attacked me with her chain sword!
"Damn it all, even this can get me involved!"
Since she was already attacking me, what else could I do? Of course I would fight back!
I suddenly whipped out my ice sword, blocking her invisible chain sword. She was greatly pressuring me. This was no opponent that I would be able to easily deal with.
From the corner of my eye, however, I noticed that the Snake God Voka seemed to have no intentions of interfering in our fight. Meanwhile, Little Red had also been obstructed by a deformed devil general. That devil had an easily recognizable appearance—he was obviously the devil general Salor the Berserk Slaughterer from the first level of the Chaos Abyss.
In that case, when looking at my opponent's weapon that was filled with blood and curses, and how many countless souls were on this weapon that were howling in pain, I now knew just who my opponent was.
"Lasnina, the Lord of Curses!"
The next moment, I illuminated the entire sky with Holy Light. This time, it was no mere light show. It would be the utmost foolishness not to go all out against a Devil Lord.
My wings of Holy Light explosively expanded as I switched my ice sword out for my God Equipment battle hammer. Holy Light torrentially poured out from my weapon as if it was the sun itself!
"Holy Light, this enemy is worthy of a fight!"
No reasons or excuses were needed, since we were enemies to begin with!
Since a Devil Lord had come to me, and she wanted to fight, I would accompany her! Who would be afraid!?
| ← Ch. 576 | Ch. 578 → |