The realm lord spread his arms. "This is an exhibition show to display to you that my Authority is real and to prove what else it can do."
The world god chuckled again. He understood what the realm lord is getting at. "So you want me to join your project."
"Yes. The project is going to be massive. It needs an equally massive investment and a lot of participants."
Hancock interjected. "Daddy no. Kill him for me. He disrespected me and took my stuff. You have to kill him."
The world balled his hand into a fist and covered Hancock with it so that he won't disturb their conversation. Hancock's whining was shut off.
"Why shouldn't I just kill you right now and take the continent for myself? I'm sure I can get a thing or two out of it for myself about how your Authority works."
The realm shook his head. "You're very wrong about that. You will get nothing. I won't tell you about all the mechanisms I put in place to prevent that. But I will tell you that it can self-destruct even under the influence of your will."
The world god didn't believe him. It said, "Show me."
Then it made its will manifest. An intangible force of intent snaked its way from the world god to the continent. The force then froze the continent in its entirety. It couldn't move towards the realm lord anymore or shrink because the will of the world god has frozen it. He wished for it to freeze so it froze. The continent should not be able to do anything anymore.
This is how world gods capture Origin gods. They will freeze them and prevent them from even killing themselves by self-destruction. The continent can remain like this for almost all of eternity unless another world god with a stronger Will breaks it or the original Will is removed voluntarily.
But then the continent flashed a golden light and a golden orb appeared above it. The golden orb separated itself from the continent and then exploded under the influence of the will of the world god.
The realm lord clapped. "Wonderful performance. Between you and me, I haven't tested it before but it worked. I expected it to work because it is my Authority and you don't have any power over it."
Authority is elusive and mysterious. It is one of the foundations of power in the void universe and yet little is known about it. What is known is that it represents power and a right. It is like a privilege granted by the universe. The realm lord has managed to crack it to unlock its many secrets. He has become the highest Authority in the field of Authority so his confidence is not baseless.
The world god considered the situation before agreeing even though he was unwilling to. "It seems I won't be able to get its secrets by killing you."
The power of will is the basic and strongest power of a world god. If it can't preserve the Authority then almost nothing can. Besides, he is dealing with the mad elf of the high heaven realm. Surely, the elf must have contingencies put in place to protect its secrets considering the scale of the project.
The realm lord replied smugly, "That's what I said but you can still try for yourself."
"Stop being smug and make your proposition." The world god urged.
The elf began to explain his proposal. "Here are your options. You let me go, you pay for the destroyed authority that we used in the testing, and you contribute to my project. I will give you the opportunity to try and gain Authority on your own. Or you kill me and try to get my secrets."
This is the major reason why he targeted Hancock's continent. He knows that the spoiled realm lord will call for his world god father. He wants more world gods to be involved in his project for their resources and manpower but world gods aren't easy to meet. They are like deep-sea whales that don't come up for air at all.
"Wait a moment. Did you just say that you will allow me to try and gain Authority? You're not going to give me Authority?" The world god asked incredulously.
"Yes, just the opportunity. Getting it will be up to you. It is the best I can offer you. As I have proven, you won't even get that if you kill me."
That's what he has offered all his world god investors and they all accepted it. Authority is very important to them and he knows that. There's a lot a world god can do with Authority. Just this simple display is enough for a world god to know that they can start to annex the universe even before it gets to the brink of destruction and becomes vulnerable.
There are a lot of nice and powerful things in the universe that world gods have had their eyes on for quite a while. A chance to try and acquire those things is worth it. So Hancock's father agreed despite the flimsy offer. They hatched out their agreement and the payment method. Then they made an Oath and the realm lord left. He bonded the continent to himself again before he left.
The world god called after him. "Our deal will not affect your offense. You stole from my son and I'll kill you any chance I get."
He has to make his son's case or he would never bear the end of it.
"I'm sure you will. You're not the first-world god that I have offended. That's why my main body stays in my realm tree." The realm lord said.
"Your period of safety will end when you become a world god. The era of conquest will not be pleasant for you. You have offended a lot of people."
"Don't you worry old pal. I am more than prepared for the era of conquest."