The Elders dispersed, energized by the news of their God’s supremacy. Gorak marched out to scream at his smiths. Old-Shell lumbered away to reinforce the walls. Razar-Fin went to tell the lizardmen that they were protected by the King of gods.

Only Krug and Iron-Scale remained.

The High Priest turned back to the brazier. He picked up a shovel and fed a scoop of coal into the Violet Flame.

Iron-Scale watched him for a long moment.

“You are quiet, Old Friend,” Iron-Scale said softly.

Krug watched the sparks fly up toward the smoke vent.

“You saw Him,” Krug stated.

“I did,” Iron-Scale walked closer. “He wore the night like a cloak. He spoke with a voice that shook the stars.”

Iron-Scale hesitated. He felt a pang of something rare for him—guilt.

“Do you not wish…” Iron-Scale started, then corrected himself. “Does it not burn you? That He took me? You are the First. You found the Tablet. You carry the fire. Why did He summon the Knife and not the Hearth?”

Krug stopped shoveling.

He stood up, his massive frame casting a long shadow against the temple wall. He looked at Iron-Scale.

“The Knife must go out,” Krug rumbled, his voice like the earth shifting. “The Knife must see the enemy. The Knife must see the target.”

He placed a heavy, calloused hand on his own chest.

“I am the Root. The Root does not need to see the Sun to know it is there. The Root stays in the dark. It holds the tree.”

Krug smiled. It was a gentle, terrifyingly peaceful smile.

“If I go to the sky… who feeds the fire? Who holds the fear at bay? Who reminds the hatchlings of the Spiral?”

He looked back at the flames.

“You saw Him with your eyes, Iron-Scale. That is good. You need eyes to fight.”

Krug closed his eyes and inhaled the smoke.

“I feel Him in the heat. I feel Him in the hunger. I feel Him in the silence. That is enough for me.”

Iron-Scale stared at the High Priest. He realized then that while he was the Blade of the Spiral, Krug was the Soul.

“You are stubborn,” Iron-Scale whispered, bowing his head in genuine reverence.

“And you are a loud one,” Krug grunted, handing him a shovel. “Help me feed the fire. The God is watching.”

High in the Void, Red watched the scene.

He looked at the UI floating next to Krug’s avatar.

[ FOLLOWER: KRUG (HIGH PRIEST) ]

[ FAITH LEVEL: 100% (FANATIC) ]

[ TRAIT: UNSHAKEABLE ]

[ SPECIAL: THE ANCHOR (Cannot be converted, terrified, or bribed) ]

Red felt a lump in his throat.

“He didn’t need a statue,” Red whispered. “He didn’t need a suit.”

Most gods played for DP. The Druid played for Fear. Aurelius played for Ego.

But looking at the Krug tending the fire in the dark cave, Red realized something terrifying and humbling.

“I have a believer,” Red murmured. “A real one.”

He looked at the map, towards the West where the Sun Spire lay.

“For Krug,” Red vowed, clenching his spectral fist. “I will bury that Golden King so deep he’ll never see the sky again.”

—

–

.

The City of Solara was a blinding testament to vanity. Every street was paved with white marble. Every roof was plated in gold leaf. There were no shadows here, for magical mirrors were positioned on every corner to reflect the sun into the deepest alleys. It was a paradise of perpetual noon.

And in the center of it all sat Aurelius, The Golden King

He didn’t float in the Void like the other gods. He didn’t watch through a screen. He sat physically on his throne of solid light, his boots resting on a dais of platinum.

[ ABILITY: ABSOLUTE DESCENT (LEGENDARY) ]

– Origin: Rank 5 Gacha Roll (0.0001% Chance).

– Effect: Allows the Deity to manifest a physical avatar with 100% of their Divine Power within their territory. No time limit. No mana drain.

Most gods were ghosts in the machine. Aurelius was flesh and blood. He ate the grapes his priests peeled for him. He felt the silk of his robes. He heard the prayers with his own ears.

He had been the luckiest player in the sector. At Rank 1, he rolled [ DIVINE SHARE ]. It allowed him to grant a fraction of his power to his most loyal followers, turning them into “Demigods.”

It cost a fortune in Faith to maintain, but it worked. He didn’t need to micromanage. He just franchised his divinity. His Paladins were walking nukes. His Priests could level mountains.

In five years, he had gathered 5,000 Loyal Followers. A number that made him a titan compared to the swamp-rats with their three-digit tribes.

But today, the Titan was trembling.

Aurelius stared out of the massive archway of his throne room. Usually, this view brought him joy. He could see his perfect plaza, his perfect fountains, and his perfect subjects bowing in the streets.

But today, the view was ruined.

In the center of the Plaza of the Sun, a monstrosity stood.

A fifty-foot-tall statue of Red. It was made of black obsidian that seemed to drink the sunlight. The figure was wearing that ridiculous suit, looking down at the Golden City with an expression of utter boredom, flipping a coin eternally.

[ SYSTEM MONUMENT: INDESTRUCTIBLE ]

“I hit it with a Solar Lance,” Aurelius whispered, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. “I hit it with a Tier 8 Purge. I even tried to move the earth beneath it.”

Nothing worked. The statue was anchored to the code of the world. It was a permanent reminder that a Rank 3 nobody had beaten him in a measuring contest.

Aurelius gripped the arms of his throne. The gold twisted under his fingers.

“They whispered,” Aurelius hissed.

He remembered the first hour after the statue appeared. His citizens—his perfect, brainwashed sheep—had gathered around it. “Who is that?” “Is he a new god?” “He looks… cool.” “Is the King afraid of him?”

Curiosity.

The one thing Faith cannot survive.

Aurelius stood up. His cape of liquid light flowed behind him as he walked to the balcony.

Below, the plaza was empty. The citizens were hiding in their homes, terrified.

The statue of Red was no longer black. It was red. And brown.

Aurelius had ordered the execution of every citizen caught looking at the statue for more than five seconds. Fifty men and women. Beheaded right at the statue’s feet. Their blood had been painted onto the obsidian legs.

“If they want to look at him,” Aurelius sneered, “let them look at death.”

But blood wasn’t enough. It dried too quickly. So Aurelius had ordered the Night-Soil Guild—the sewage cleaners—to empty the city’s cesspits over the monument.

Now, the ‘Cool Suit God’ was covered in layers of mud, excrement, and rotting trash. The smell wafted up to the balcony, tainting the perfumed air of the palace.

“Better,” Aurelius muttered, covering his nose with a scented handkerchief. “He looks like he belongs in the swamp now.”

He stared at the filth-covered face of Red. Even under the muck, those violet eyes seemed to mock him. The coin kept flipping.

Clink~ Clink!

“You think you won?” Aurelius spoke to the statue, his voice projecting across the silent city.

“You think because you have a ‘System Achievement’ that you are my equal?”

Aurelius raised his hand. A ball of concentrated sunlight formed in his palm, hot enough to melt steel.

“I am Rank 9. I have fifty thousand souls fueling my engine. I have Paladins who can run faster than your lizards can think.”

He crushed the sun-ball, letting the sparks rain down.

“Enjoy your statue, Rubedo. Because when I am done with you… this piece of rock will be the only thing left of your existence.”

He turned back to his throne room.

“General!” Aurelius barked.

A massive man in gold-plated armor stepped out from the shadows. He glowed with a faint inner light—a beneficiary of the [ DIVINE SHARE ]. This was Sir Valerius, the High Paladin.

“My King,” Valerius bowed.

“Prepare the Solar Legion,” Aurelius ordered, sitting back on his throne. “Gather the False DemiGods. We march East.”

“To the border, sire?”

“No,” Aurelius grinned, a cruel, blinding expression. “Into the fog. I want that Swamp turned into a parking lot. And we will also take over and destroy every god and their territory that comes in our way.”

“And the statue?” Valerius asked.

“Leave it,” Aurelius hissed. “When I return with his head… I’m going to mount it on top of his own monument.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep