1207 Birth of an Epic Part 1 (1/2)
The core of Nature City was surrounded by the artificial river. Twenty-four temples were spread out.
Over 300,000 believers surrounded the temple, and the most devout ones entered the hall at the center, heading towards the Goddess of Myers' statue and offering prayers.
Outside the main temple, magic veins dangled from the top of the temple, swaying in the wind. Five-meter-tall demons clad in Heaven Knight Armor stood quietly between the pillars of the temples, holding a weapon most often seen held by the goddess' warriors—halberds.
The Heaven Knight Armors were inscribed with tight holy prose. The words had a golden sheen to them and divine power flowed through them, as if they were soft liquids and clouds at the same time.
The tall steps spread out for several hundred meters. The height of the main temple hall far exceeded the surrounding ones. Even believers from far away would be able to see the middle of the temple and the tall statue of the Goddess of Myers.
The 24 most devout holy masters stood beneath the statue. The holy masters had advanced immediately after looking at the statue, making Saleen understand that they were the ones chosen by the goddess. That made them the Hallowed Ones in a conventional sense.
The holy masters stood in a line before the statue, leading thousands of believers in the hall in prayer. The chants were heard throughout the entire city. The believers in the temple chanted together. The temples were shrouded in pale green light.
Vibrant, raging power of faith emerged from the prayers of over 300,000 believers, all directed into the statue. Time passed and the statue of the goddess burst in green light, showering the believers beneath it.
The green light was unable to be contained and spread outwards, expanding several miles. Wherever the holy light passed, the magic seeds that were created by Eleanor and planted sprouted. The ones that had already sprouted before grew at an astonishing rate.
”A divine miracle!” Saleen was unable to help but voice his thoughts. He did not join the prayers. The demons who were guarding the temples did not join either. Faith was something that no one would be able to put down once they did it for the first time.
”Master, if there are miracles, it's thanks to you,” Nailisi looked the excited faces of the believers and praised Saleen.
”Divine miracles are nothing. Hehe, I have a plan. Select a few hundred demons who are versed in both ancient Myers tongue and demon tongue for me. I'm going to write an epic foretelling the resurrection of the goddess. I'll build a tall divine tablet here and carve the epic onto it. All who come will know that it was I, Saleen Metatrin, who prophesized the resurrection of the goddess and cast out the Lord of Glory.”
Don shivered. Saleen was becoming increasingly meticulous with his methods. With that, even if the goddess was resurrected, she would be overshadowed by Saleen.
”I predicted a lot of things, including wars between planes. This time, we shall decide the course of history and humanity shall once again regain their former glory!”
”Teacher, why won't you write it yourself?”
”Because the light of the goddess was able to shine across the Myers Mainland plane. The demons are outsiders and I'm the master of the demon plane who happens to be an outsider as well. Only by doing so will I be able to keep myself out of any trouble.”
”Master?”
”Right, Nailisi, I'm going to unify the demon plane. The epic shall be written in demon tongue, then translated in ancient Myers tongue. I'm a human king and the king of demons. That should be considered perfect enough.”
”But too many years have passed, and I don't know if the demon plane...”
”Nailisi, I calculated the change in powers of the demons you've summoned. The rise of power in the demon plane is not as quick as the one happening in Myers Mainland. By the time I reach level 12 and am about to break into level 13, the demon plane will probably be at about the same level as Myers Mainland right now.”
Nailisi looked calm on the outside, but she might as well have been shooting fireworks deep down.
She was an imp and yearned to return to the demon plane very badly. Furthermore, a part of her bloodline had been activated, enough for her to throw her weight around when she returned. Saleen definitely had no intentions of actually becoming a king of the demon plane. The title would be given to her eventually.
Green divine light swept through the ones who talked. There was not even a tinge of divine aura on Saleen and his people. The nature holy light of the goddess did not even seep into Saleen's Ring of Gifts, showering only the believers who were praying.
”Master, since you're planning to conquer the demon plane, why not be a devil?”
”A devil?”
”Prayers of demons are very devout and there are huge amounts of living beings in the demon plane. It'd be very easy for you to obtain such powers. Once you've reached level 12, it would be very easy for you to spark a divine fire.”
”Nailisi, why would I want to become a god? It's a pain in the a**. Gods need to fight wars and pillage continuously to maintain their kingdoms. Being a mage is good enough. If I don't have a country getting in my way, I don't need much to stay alive. There were many level 18 professionals back on the mainland in ancient times, but there was only one level 18 god.”
Nailisi was just saying that out of nowhere. She felt that not putting the many living beings in demon plane to use was quite a waste, but Saleen had decided to walk the path of a mage, and had no interest in becoming a god of any sort.
The Goddess of Myers had been a level 18 mage. If she had not become a god, she might not have perished on the mainland.