1043 Intense Poison Part 1 (1/2)

Countless crawling creatures disappeared following the death of the oracle of the Dark God of Destruction inside the split passages within the cave.

Theisio felt rather dumbfounded. He had been aware of the incoming danger before the oracle of the Dark God of Destruction cast their ultimate skill. Instead of telling them of the looming danger, he escaped the place.

He had never thought himself to be one to abandon an oracle of the gods. He felt as if he was acting under some kind of spell. Or rather, that was probably a choice taken based on what he thought deep down inside.

”How long can a spell last? Fireball can stay around for about 20 seconds if it did not manage to ignite its target. Some grade-9 spells are known to last for hours, and then there are some magic spells capable of lasting up to three days.”

Darkness Disintegration was a powerful divine spell and one that could hold for about 10 minutes, relatively short compared to some grade-9 magic spells. The spell was simply too potent. Nothing capable of withstanding engulfment for more than a minute was found on the Myers Mainland.

It was a divine spell at grade-13 strength. The grade-12 Lord of Glory was only capable of using powers at grade-11 and would have ended up dead inside the cave within 10 seconds.

Theisio stood right outside the cave and felt very conflicted inside. The life signs of the oracle were completely wiped out. Darkness Disintegration was an offensive divine spell instead of one meant to control. Theisio was able to sense what happened within the cave using the power of his Bramble Crown.

The spell seems like it would still hold for quite a while. ”Should I leave, or…”

Theisio felt an urge of some kind within his mind and he struggled to suppress it. Everything within the cave would have disappeared by then; everything but divine persona shards. If he were to get his hands on said shards, he might advance to become a pseudogod in the future.

Theisio felt his entire body burn as soon as the thought came to mind. He was burning with a fire called desire.

He was completely caught off-guard by that thought. ”If I were to become a pseudogod, wouldn't I be betraying the Lord of Glory? The Lord of Glory himself said it—there is to be no other god but I.”

Pseudogods were still gods, beings possessing divine fire and divine persona. They were still capable of creating a kingdom of their own. ”If I were to become a pseudogod myself, wouldn't I be betraying the faith I've held for almost a century?”

Another voice was heard deep within Theisio.

”What is the worth of a century-old faith before the infinite lifespan of a pseudogod? You know well which one would prove more important! How should one choose between a century and infinity?”

The joints of Theisio's hand holding the God Grace Staff were seen protruding and his veins were popping. An hour passed just like that. Theisio stood where he was. He stared into the empty cave. The oracle did not survive; the only thing standing was the huge, black rock.

Theisio walked into the cave and took to the air, finding shiny pieces of divine persona shards on top of the huge, black rock.

There was nothing to stop him then. Theisio headed for the rock, picking up the shards on top of it and storing them inside his spatial equipment as if nothing happened.

”I can't leave the shards here. If someone else were to pick these up, that someone would turn completely into a believer of the Lord of Glory. How should I go about explaining what happened to the other two oracles?” Theisio stayed and went into deep thought. ”I lost the fake Seal of Divine Power and the oracles are gone. There is no way I could have lied about any of that. Should I just hand over the shards to them just like that? Would the other two think about betraying their god, just like the one who ended up dead? No. There is no way I can hand the shards over.”

Theisio began mumbling to himself and had even forgotten that the ones fighting at Guderian City's frontlines were waiting desperately for his arrival. ”The Seed of Divine Fire. There should be a Seed of Divine Fire here.”

Theisio had read many books on theology, far surpassing anyone within the Holy See. A fallen god might have their divine fire snuffed out, but never the seed. Even a seed at the size of an elemental particle would eventually burn again, shining light onto the entire holy kingdom.

Theisio was reluctant to leave the site, wracking his brains to think of a way to solve his current predicament. The army preparing to launch an assault right outside Guderian City was in shambles. Theisio's orders were for them to await his signal before launching an attack. Enemy reinforcements seemed to be arriving at any minute.

At the Kingdom of Metatrin, there were more than five armies heading for the border. Within Qin territory, a rather huge army was also marching for Guderian City. Said army amounted to little more than 1,000 men. They went about wiping out just about all Holy See forces encountered.

That army was the personal guard of Arbola. They were led by Saleen.

The force amounted to 1,200 and fought more than 100 skirmishes along the way. It came to a point where the Holy See armies came attacking it on their own. Even so, casualties suffered by the force when they reached Guderian City amounted to less than 100.

The army itself was not some impossibly strong band of monstrous beings. Their victories were due mostly to Jalin and the mages tagging along. They packed an enormous number of scrolls and went about spamming spells like they cost nothing.