Chapter 495
Chapter 495
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 495
Chapter Title: Believers (1)
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Hubert Merchant Company, Tarlak main branch.
"Diana, come talk with me for a bit."
"Yes, Guild Master. I'll prepare some tea right away."
"Good, thanks."
As the day's work was wrapping up, Guild Master Hubert called Diana aside for a private chat.
To discuss the divine power that had begun manifesting within her.
'Come to think of it, it's been well over four years since I first met this girl.'
He watched her bring out warm tea and cookies with a gaze renewed by fond memories.
Diana, whom he'd met in Azantu—a remote city on the outskirts of the tiny kingdom of Talia, at the far western edge of the Ion continent—was his first true connection after arriving in Outerica.
'Back then, I never imagined our bond would last this long.'
A grubby little girl, scrawny and malnourished, barely scraping by day-to-day while trying to support her young brother.
Now, seeing her all grown up into a poised career woman clad in a fine suit, he couldn't help but feel a swell of emotion.
'Of course, she's still just a kid age-wise.'
Seventeen now, if he recalled correctly.
But perhaps determined not to be dismissed as childish, her mature makeup made her look every bit the adult at a glance.
Proper nutrition over the past few years had spurred a growth spurt, too.
"No troubles on your end? Aaron doing alright?"
"Yes, thanks to your care, Guild Master. We're living fulfilling days, one after another. Aaron's attending school properly, too. Lately, he's been training to become a knight on the side, so he comes home covered in dirt every day."
Hubert observed Diana closely as they exchanged updates.
Her demeanor was much the same as always.
But she couldn't fully evade his 「Analysis」.
'She already suspects as much.'
Of course. She'd awakened her divine power through her own efforts—who else could it be directed toward?
She was simply waiting patiently for him to bring it up himself.
With things at this point, there was no need to keep hiding it.
"...So it really was."
He gave a rough explanation of divine power, and she nodded knowingly, her eyes sparkling just as he'd expected.
Those eyes held nothing but pure longing, faith, and admiration.
No objections or doubts.
'Trust level 98%, huh. It's almost scary seeing it like this.'
Honestly, at this rate, she'd follow him without hesitation even if he told her to end her own life—assuming there was some profound reason behind it.
Being as sharp as she was, she'd question whether it was truly his intent, but the days of blanket denial or revulsion were long past.
"I always thought you were extraordinary from the moment we met, but a deity... And the Vampire King of Talia was... no, one of your incarnations, right, Guild Master? Same with that dwarf artisan holed up in the workshop."
That, in turn, caught Hubert off guard.
She knew that much?
Dwarf Howard hadn't even met her face-to-face.
Maybe she'd figured it out far earlier and simply played along by pretending ignorance.
"But it's strange. I prayed to you every day for the guild master's sake, yet I never once thought of you as a god. And somehow, I ended up with divine power."
"...Now that you mention it, that's true too."
"Mm."
Indeed, setting aside the depth of her belief, its form was far from genuine faith, however charitably one viewed it.
And it wasn't just Diana—his friend Kang Taesan was the same.
From the perspective of someone who'd already nurtured Holy Knight Heinrich into a saint, this was undeniably anomalous.
'In other words, unlike other deities, I can derive benefits from pure belief alone, unbound by form.'
He didn't know why.
Perhaps due to his incomplete ascension to true godhood, or the system's influence, or the diverse divinities stemming from his many avatars.
Either way, lax conditions on belief weren't a bad thing for him.
"...If we play this right, we could balloon the number of believers overnight."
"Oh? Really?"
"Yes! And I've got just the idea!"
For someone accumulating divinity, more believers were never a bad thing.
Like any church, even non-cleric followers with faint belief could coalesce into substantial power.
"The only potential issue... is the Church of the Main God. Even without a religious veneer, if they catch wind, it could be seen as a direct challenge."
"Hm, true. A horde of heresy inquisitors showing up would be a nightmare."
Outerica was firmly claimed territory.
The Creator God Main God, the World Tree, and the race gods besides.
No way the resident deities would welcome an outsider like him dipping his toes in.
'Still, Heinrich—one of my avatars—is the Main God's angel. Practically a sub-deity. Maybe they'll cut me some slack? I might need explicit permission...'
Then, abruptly.
A certain intuition flashed through his mind.
I permit it. Words from the Main God, relayed just before the Church of the Main God's Pope passed away.
A permission originating from the distant past had finally reached him in the present.
"Ha."
An involuntary breath escaped him at this exchange transcending time.
As expected of a Main God-tier deity, closest to omniscience and omnipotence.
'When I first heard it, I had no clue what it meant.'
Had He foreseen this moment from back then?
Whatever the case, approval granted. What a relief.
It could've put Saint Heinrich and High Elf Harris in an awkward spot otherwise.
Diana, lost in serious contemplation, lit up and clapped when he shared the news.
"That's great! I was pondering which logistics routes to cut first for maximum chokehold on the Church of the Main God. Guess we won't need to go that far."
"...You were seriously planning to start a war?"
"Huh? Of course? If there's even a risk of you facing a heresy trial, we'd have to try something. Can't just sit idly by."
The girl tilted her head innocently as she countered.
Sure enough, her mind had already mapped out detailed contingency plans.
Basic moves like blocking church supply lines and hiring massive mercenary forces for military buildup.
Shaking nations under their commercial thumb to shun the church, assassinations via hybrid vampires, and even allying with the undead legions.
No mercy whatsoever, despite their consistently amicable relations from day one.
'Ah, no wonder that gaze felt familiar.'
Wide, sparkling eyes full of childlike innocence.
But deep within burned a subtle, fanatic flame no different from the Church of the Main God's zealots.
True enough—only a fanatic could stand against another.
'Diana, what a scary girl.'
Such schemes would've been fatal blows to the church, fully mobilized against the Immortal King.
Humanity plunging into massive chaos would've been a given.
And she'd conceived and nearly executed them without batting an eye.
'All the more reason to trust her.'
Keen judgment to seek the optimal path amid any crisis, bold decisiveness unhesitant before duty, and peerless, blind loyalty.
With qualities like these, she could be fully entrusted.
With oversight of Outerica's believers.
"Then we can proceed without issue!"
"...Yeah. I'm delegating full authority to you. Go all out."
"Yes, sir! Just leave it to me. I'll secure a believer count rivaling the Church of the Main God!"
Hubert chuckled at Diana's spirited, resolute reply.
The Church of the Main God was Outerica's undisputed largest religion.
No one—not even non-believers—doubted the Main God's existence or authority.
Not even black mages at faith's antithesis.
'Even a tenth... no, a hundredth of that would smash expectations.'
With that, Hubert encouraged the wide-eyed Diana and took his leave.
He didn't expect results right away, of course.
But just days later.
He realized Diana's bold claims had been utterly sincere.
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...Not just Tarlak.
The western kingdom alliance housing the Tulke Kingdom on the Ion continent, the central Azerion Empire, the eastern Zephia Republic, the southern Kolkos tribal league, the southeastern island nation of Wijet mage kingdom.
Even the demon realms linked by 「Dimensional Merchant」 and the Enamel continent where other races were just opening branches.
Leveraging the full might of the continent's premier merchant guild, an all-out marketing blitz commenced.
Ultimately, baptism applications disguised as 'memberships' blanketed all of Outerica.
"Ha, haha..."
A hollow laugh escaped Hubert as he skimmed the application.
No overtly religious phrasing whatsoever.
It slyly emphasized trust and faith in Guild Master Hubert alone.
'Even Church of the Main God believers would sign without resistance.'
No issues there.
Their 'faith' would remain directed at the Main God.
Same for other races and demons.
A method viable precisely because his needed belief wasn't confined to religious form.
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A measure to cultivate elite believers with stronger faith amid the masses.
"I see. Lesson learned."
Hubert closed his eyes, savoring the exponentially swelling faint 'beliefs'.
That day, he grasped a profound truth.
Enough money could even buy faith.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A wasteland brimming solely with death.
[Ahh...! O great king...!]
[Your faithful servant, Shin Karam, pledges loyalty to the Immortal King!]
[Ooooooh—!]
At its heart, pitch-black energy churned violently.
A pure force of death, leagues beyond mere black mana—like a raging typhoon.
Seated upon the towering obsidian throne at its core, Immortal King Hans impassively gazed down upon his 'believers'.
'So this is how the divinity of death manifests.'
He flicked a finger wreathed in dark energy and gave a small nod.
A negative divine power, divergent from common knowledge.
In truth, less 'holy' and more an intensification of the 'death' he'd wielded before.
Its purity now incomparably denser.
'A shame. Low-tier undead barely aid divinity growth.'
Fundamentally, undead were concentrations of mortal grudges, warped and festering.
True self-awareness was limited to higher undead; the teeming hordes of lesser ones were mere instinct-driven monsters.
'But there were unexpected gains.'
The fear and hatred steadily accrued for karma sustenance.
They'd substantially bolstered his divinity.
'Never saw that coming. Well, good's good.'
Thus, he could bestow upon his key lieutenants a death aura transcending prior limits.
An ultimate death energy that even overcame undead frailty to holy power, defying natural order.
The undead losing their minds in awe was only natural.
[Praise the new God of Death!]
[Revere the eternal Immortal Sovereign...]
[Despair upon all realms—! Agony—! Endless death—!]
Hans was steadily treading the path of a thorough evil god.