“The faith of 12,604 believers has reached its maximum value.”
“You have acquired +25,208 divine points.”
“Current number of believers in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) - 48,599”
By revealing himself in person and displaying dazzling skills along with divinity, not only had their faith reached its peak, but he had also been able to draw most of those present into becoming believers.
The reason he had caused such a commotion, activating Heaven, Illusion, and even Shout for the first time in a while.
On top of that, he had even gained a fairly reliable apostle, so he had reaped quite a lot from a brief show.
“Apostle - ‘Yun Seul-a’ is beginning to establish a basic order.”
“She intends to set the ranks of believers in the order of ‘Lower Demon’ - ‘Middle Demon’ - ‘Upper Demon’ - ‘Unit Leader’ - ‘Guardian’ - ‘Vice Cult Leader’ - ‘Cult Leader.’”
“Do you approve?”
“……What is this?”
Was she really trying to push the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with an actual demonic cult concept?
At times like this, he had to make his intentions clear.
It had only ended up being called the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult by chance; it had nothing to do with that.
“Rejected.”
“Rejected.”
“Rejected.”
Since he had expressed his refusal three times in a row, she must have understood properly.
And sure enough, as if she had expected it to be rejected, the real ranks appeared immediately afterward.
“Apostle - ‘Yun Seul-a’ intends to set the ranks of believers.”
“She intends to set the ranks of believers in the order of ‘Second-Class Priest’ - ‘First-Class Priest’ - ‘Senior Priest’ - ‘Bishop’ - ‘Archbishop’ - ‘Cardinal’ - ‘Cult Leader.’”
“Do you approve?”
It seemed she wanted to keep the title of Cult Leader until the end.
Perhaps because the image of a “Pope” was already firmly established on Earth, she wanted to attempt a change.
“Approved.”
As expected, it had been a good decision to designate Yun Seul-a as an apostle.
How long had it even been since she became an apostle, yet she had already grasped the situation and was setting up the most basic ranks first.
In that case, he had to give her solid power.
“Consumes 80,000 divine points to purchase the authority - ‘Punishment.’”
“Authority - ‘Punishment’”
“You may inflict punishment upon believers of a lower rank within the Divine Cult.”
“You may use pain above a certain level and physical restraint above a certain level.”
“Please be cautious. Excessive authority makes humans arrogant.”
“Grants Apostle - ‘Yun Seul-a’ the authority - ‘Punishment.’”
Despite the message’s warning, he granted Yun Seul-a the authority.
For now, thanks to the dazzling performance, their loyalty toward the apostle must have reached an extreme, but that could not possibly last forever.
Even as new believers increased and time passed, the apostle’s authority and power had to be maintained.
Now that punishment had been set, it was time to give rewards.
“Automatic divine distribution has been set.”
“The value has been set to 10%.”
“10% of acquired divine points will be consumed to automatically grant divine power.”
“The rank has been set to ‘Senior Priest or above.’”
“Divine power will be granted differentially from the rank of ‘Senior Priest’ and above.”
To put it simply, if he gained 10 divine points from one faithful priest, he would receive only 9 points, while 1 point would be converted into divine power and distributed.
In other words.
“That means divine power will spread through this world as well.”
A god had been born in a world without gods.
The divine power was still far too lacking to cover the world, but nevertheless, countless people would gather in pursuit of the light.
And by gathering strength one by one, gathering light, they would be able to stand against the abyss.
Hope was blossoming.
“A god, huh…….”
When he opened his status window, a new title sat proudly beside his name.
God of Patience and Magic.
That was the conclusion derived through analyzing the authority he had received from the goddess Lifue.
Patience and magic.
That was Hio’s essence.
“Is this how it’s supposed to be……? Tsk.”
The word god still did not roll easily off his tongue.
His soul’s rank might have risen, but it was not as if being called a god or whatever felt real right away.
If one were a god, well.
Shouldn’t one be more mystical and more omnipotent?
Shouldn’t it feel like knowing the future and manipulating dimensions at will…… something like that?
“Maybe I’ll become like that if I gather more authorities.”
It seemed authority was the key, but for now, he had only one: “Patience of Splendor.”
“Patience of Splendor, huh.”
“Divine Authority - Patience of Splendor.”
“Stores momentary splendor.”
“Accumulates destined splendor.”
“Remembers past splendor.”
“Unleashes the splendor of storage, accumulation, and memory.”
“Distorts reality.”
This was the description of the divine authority - “Patience of Splendor.”
Since it was his own authority, he had a sense of how to use it.
But he was not certain.
To be certain, the right answer was to use it himself.
“Let’s go.”
If he wandered around a little more while using the authority, the name of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be able to spread across the world.
In the meantime, with Yun Seul-a at the forefront, the system would also be firmly established.
It meant that the time to return to the continent of Bentaiel was not far off.
“Transcendent Skill - ‘Dimensional Shift (次元轉移)’ has been activated.”
* * *
Patience of Splendor had a feeling similar to Hio’s hidden trait.
Just as Hio endured all sorts of emotions and pain, ultimately releasing them as dazzling skills.
Perhaps splendor, too, could be endured in that way and produce an effect.
Well, that was roughly the sense he had of it.
However, since it was not certain, he had shifted dimensions to a place he had not yet visited in order to confirm it.
A large city, but one without a First Awakened.
Fortunately, it was a city that was barely holding on because it was far from the area where this gate had collapsed.
A violet solid line cut across the sky above such a city.
A pair of black wings spread wide, and black eyes looked down upon the ground.
At the same time, heavenly light fell over the earth.
“Skill - ‘Heaven (天上)’ has been activated.”
As expected, the city’s situation was not good.
Even if it was far from the region where this gate had collapsed, there had already been five failed raids before this.
Because of that, numerous Abyss monsters remained scattered everywhere, and to them, a city of this scale was more than enough of a place to provoke rage.
The Abyss monsters did not attack in one unified mass, but they streamed into the city endlessly.
Tanks confronting them fired their cannons, explosions erupted, and Awakened skills poured forth.
The monsters on the opposing side endured the explosions, tore apart tanks, and thrust their fangs toward the Awakened.
Originally, he would have had to wipe them out in an instant with Heaven, Azure Flame, and Thunder Emperor, but this time was different.
He would unfold his authority.
“Divine Authority - ‘Patience of Splendor’ has been activated.”
Heat surged up around his body in an instant.
It was none other than heat rising from Hio’s body.
Magic power boiled, and divinity surged.
His body and soul burned to the limit.
This was the result of simply casting it.
Enough that Hio’s limbs, having gained divine status, trembled faintly.
Something powerful enough to heat the surrounding air and shake the soul chaotically was trying to burst out.
If the rank of his body and soul had not risen greatly along with his authority, he would not even have been able to cast it.
Then what kind of powerful ability would this authority, activated with that much power, show him?
Anticipation arose on its own.
At the same time, an enormous power burst forth.
Authority.
“Divine Authority - ‘Patience of Splendor’ will be applied for 5 minutes.”
───
Silence settled over the world.
A world with no screams, no shouts, no vibrations—only stillness.
───
All radiance vanished.
The radiance from muzzles spewing fire, tanks, explosions, skills, and the like disappeared.
───
All manner of effects also vanished without a trace.
An explosion occurred, but there was no explosive roar.
A tank fired a shell, an explosion occurred, and the impact from it certainly existed, but its effect did not exist.
An Awakened fired a skill, and the skill activated normally, but it lacked splendor.
───
The same was true for Hio’s skills.
The pouring light of Heaven was also drawn in.
The skill was activating perfectly, and divinity was certainly driving away the abyss, but there was no splendor within it.
Momentary splendor was being stored.
Destined splendor was being accumulated.
All of it was taking place amid an eerie silence.
Even if one shouted, no sound could be heard.
An explosion occurred, yet no explosion occurred.
Flames engulfed a monster, yet the flames could not be seen.
Faced with a reality that strayed far beyond common sense, the battle slowly came to a halt.
The dynamism disappeared, and where everyone’s gaze ultimately turned was the sky above.
“I understand.”
Having gained certainty by using it, Hio smiled faintly and activated his skills.
“Skill - ‘Thunder Emperor (雷帝)’ has been activated.”
“Skill - ‘Azure Flame (靑炎)’ has been activated.”
Lightning struck down.
Flames engulfed all.
Of course, neither could be seen nor heard.
Even so, they had activated, and the monsters were annihilated in an instant.
Along with Heaven, the abyss also vanished.
“So this is how it works.”
It stored splendor.
It accumulated splendor.
That was what it meant.
It meant he stole away all splendor as an authority.
And the stored power had taken its place clearly within him.
If he unleashed the splendor accumulated like this at the necessary moment, what phenomenon would occur?
“……I can’t use this twice in one day.”
Lightly shaking off his spinning head, Hio mounted the Phantom Steed.
The Phantom Steed began to increase its speed, and after a little time had passed.
“The application time of Divine Authority - ‘Patience of Splendor’ has ended.”
Sound returned to the city from which Hio had disappeared.
Explosions bloomed, flames rose, and smoke billowed from their ends.
Reality had returned to normal.
“…….”
Even so, no one could move recklessly.
They simply could not accept what had happened.
It was several more hours later that stories of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and videos of the god they worshiped, began to spread among the residents of that city.
* * *
The authority could be used twice a day at most, even if he forced himself.
An authority that twisted reality and stored all splendor within him.
A power he could unleash at a necessary moment to distort reality.
Therefore, he traveled to as many places as possible, using the authority to store splendor whenever he had leeway.
And when he could not use the authority, he cleared cities as spectacularly as possible.
As for why he deliberately made things so spectacular, it was, as expected.
“Current number of believers in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) - 1,687,133”
Because of faith.
The more believers there were, the greater the amount of divine points he obtained.
Now, it had reached the point where it was difficult to check each appearing message with his eyes one by one.
“Apostle - ‘Yun Seul-a’ has promoted believer ‘Cheon Mu-hwi’ to the rank of Bishop……”
“Apostle - ‘Yun Seul-a’ has promoted believer ‘Nam Tae-min’ to the rank of Cardinal……”
“The Busan branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has been established……”
“1,000 Pt has been distributed through automatic divine distribution……”
“1,200 Pt has been distributed through automatic divine distribution……”
“900 Pt has been distributed through automatic divine distribution……”
……
He could not approve and reject every single thing one by one.
Because he had gone around causing such spectacular incidents, the number of related videos alone was enormous, and in any city where the internet was functioning normally, it was an environment where the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had no choice but to spread.
As befitting a cutting-edge religion, it was spreading through the internet.
“Anyway, now that it seems to have settled in well enough, I’ll set aside the troublesome stuff……”
He turned off all the messages, pretending not to see them.
He had worked hard enough on missionary activity, so Yun Seul-a would take care of the rest.
Was that not why he had gone to the trouble of choosing an apostle?
At this level, it seemed he would not have to worry about divine points for the time being.
There were countless video records remaining, so even if he stayed still, they would keep piling up steadily.
The divine points accumulated like that would once again be converted into divine power and return to new priests, and they would oppose the abyss with that power.
One could say that a system to stand against the abyss had been established to some degree.
So.
“Let’s return.”
Now was the time to go back.
It was time to announce his return to the continent.