Chapter 1022: The God Emperor is always with us.
Some time ago, before Victor appeared in his Dragon Form to the entire solar system.
Floating island above the city of Velnorah, headquarters of the Blood God Religion.
Valeria Alekerth, the High Priestess of the Blood God Religion, Disciple of the God Emperor Victor Elderblood, also known as a cold and ruthless woman, was having a great day today.
The day was beautiful in her Master's World, and sinners were receiving the punishment they deserved.
"Hmm, everything seems fine here. Let's head to the other base." Valeria rose from her chair after organizing the documents and grabbed the Staff floating behind her.
The Staff was her symbol of power, an Artifact that her Master personally created for her. The moment she touched the Staff, Power surged through her entire body.
'No matter how many times I feel this, it's always addictive,' she thought internally but showed nothing externally, nor did she feel controlled by her Power.
Her Master was the perfect example of self-control. Even with infinite Power in his hands, he didn't go around changing the world to his liking; a process was necessary.
Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. That was inevitable, but it was up to you to have the mindset and control to use Power as a tool and not be controlled by it. This lesson was something she would never forget; she didn't want to shame her Master, after all.
Tapping lightly on the ground with the Staff's handle, a portal appeared in front of her that would take her to Earth. As the High Priestess of the Blood God Religion and Disciple of the Emperor, she was one of the few besides the Emperor's Family who had free passage to travel between the worlds governed by her Master, a privilege she made sure not to abuse.
Therefore, she only used it for official matters. Like now, when she needed to see how the Earth base was doing. Someone of her status wouldn't need to do this, but she was a meticulous woman, and she wouldn't forgive herself if corruption wormed its way into the upper echelons of the Blood God Religion, and she wasn't aware.
Even though she believed this wouldn't happen because of how fanatical her fellow Followers were, she didn't want to leave any loose ends. She passed through the Earth portal, entering her office at the Earth base.
She twirled the Staff again and became invisible... To be more specific, her whole body was covered in darkness, and she became a part of the darkness. In this form, she was like the assassins of the Blank Clan, silent, undetectable, and stealthy.
With this form, she began to 'patrol'.
Passing through all the rooms of the base, she checked on every member, from the newest ones who proved to be 'faithful' enough, to the oldest.
She didn't ignore anyone if she saw any hint of infidelity... She would take steps to cast these sinners into Hell.
Becoming an official member meant that you wanted to dedicate your existence to the Emperor. Once inside, you couldn't leave anymore. Every being here represented the honor of the Emperor, and rotten apples were not tolerable.
The Emperor gave everything to these faithful ones: education, a place to call home, and a Family. All he asked was that you dedicate your existence to him, a good deal, right? After all, nothing was free in this world.
Ruthless, cold, and fanatical; these were the qualities of Valeria Alekerth.
Finishing up with the upper part where the older members were, she thought, 'All clear, no signs of betrayal detected.'
Next, she headed towards the new recruits.
This was usually where she found the most rotten apples. Even though these recruits had been chosen from the most devoted faithful, they were still Human, and Humans would always choose the easier option that the other Pagan Gods offered. These poor lambs, despite being faithful, were always tempted by the Pagan Gods who wanted to understand how the Blood God Religion worked.
And as expected, she 'saw' something; a few of the new faithful, a man and a woman, had the scent of a Pagan God.
Currently, the two were in the shared dormitory, sitting at a large table and talking. Each faithful received a private room where they could store their belongings.
'Worms.' Valeria's eyes darkened. Because of Beings like these, she always ensured to patrol. Her subordinates, despite being efficient, were not her. They were not trained by The Emperor himself, and they could not 'see' the world as she did.
The Staff gave her a heightened vision of the world. She could see, smell, and feel the influence of Gods who were not her Emperor. Checking the faces of the two Beings, she tapped the ground twice, and the next moment, two eyes appeared in the shadows.
[Orders.] The two Shadow Demons spoke simultaneously.
[Capture these two and send them to prison. I will deal with them personally later.]
[Yes.]
The two Shadow Demons wasted no time as they walked through the area's shadows and immediately reached the two faithful. The next moment, the two 'faithful' were swallowed by the shadows.
"Haaaah!" Immediately, a wave of panic was caused by the disappearance of the two 'companions'.
"What happened!?"
"They fell into the shadows suddenly! They've been kidnapped!"
Before the panic could spread further, Valeria emerged from the shadows and tapped the ground with the Staff.
"Silence."
As a supernatural command, everyone was forced to shut their mouths.
Immediately, the new disciples turned their heads towards the woman who appeared suddenly.
Seeing the woman's attire and the Staff in her hand radiating Power, the faithful widened their eyes when they recognized her.
How could they not recognize her? There was a statue of the woman herself at the entrance of this base [To Valeria's dismay; she doesn't consider herself worthy of having a statue. Only the Emperor deserved that, but as ordered by Roxanne, she remained silent], not to mention her appearance was in all the historical books that talked about the Supernatural that they studied.
Ignoring everyone, Valeria walked towards the woman's personal belongings, stopping in front of the woman's wardrobe, opening the door, and then narrowing her eyes.
She pointed the Staff at the wardrobe and spoke in an unknown language to the listeners who followed her out of curiosity.
"Analysis. Opening." The present faithful may not know, but this was the Demonic Language taught to her by the Emperor himself. As someone with a direct contract with the Demon King, she could use Demonic Runes to a lesser extent.
The moment those words were spoken, a golden circle was displayed for everyone. Then, this golden circle was destroyed, and soon, an Artifact with the scent of Pagan Gods was seen.
Valeria's face contorted in disgust when she saw this item; the stench of Pagan Gods was unbearable.
"Get out of the way, clear the way!" A woman's voice was heard, causing the cluster of faithful to make way for her to pass, and soon the Elven Archbishop appeared.
Immediately, the Elf knelt at the door when she saw Valeria.
"Your Grace."
A few seconds passed, as Valeria took a deep breath to calm her anger and then looked at the Elf.
"We've found Pagans among us again."
"... How is that possible? We have reinforced our defenses since last time."
"One thing my Master always taught me is to never underestimate anyone. The Pagan Gods are quite ingenious when they want to be."
The Elf shook her head with stunned eyes. Hearing the teachings of the Emperor directly had a profound impact on them, as Victor's own Divinity resonated among these faithful.
Valeria turned around then walked towards the door, and everyone immediately made way for her. "Do your job."
"Y-Yes!" The Elf quickly got up and approached the item, pointing her hand at the item as a dark Miasma emanated from her hand and covered the Artifact. After all, extreme caution was necessary when dealing with Artifacts.
She donned protective gloves and immediately picked up the item.
When the Elf left the room with the item in hand, she heard from Valeria, "Burn the room and all belongings inside. The smell of Pagan Gods is infesting this place, and it's making me nauseous."
"Yes! I will immediately send someone to burn the room with the flames of the God Emperor." The Archbishop quickly began to give orders to the older faithful to burn the room and then immediately followed Valeria, who began to walk through the corridors.
Arriving at the room of the other faithful, Valeria narrowed her eyes but didn't 'see' anything.
Despite this, she said, "Burn this room too."
"Immediately!" The Elf began to give orders to the older faithful again.
In less than a few seconds, men and women appeared with a 'purification' Artifact; despite its sophisticated appearance resembling a Dragon, it was obvious that the item was a flamethrower.
"Burn." The Elf ordered.
"Yes!"
Violet flames spewed from the Dragon's mouth and burned the entire room. Due to the Fire being Dragon Fire, even though it was much weaker compared to the Dragon Fire from an actual Dragon, it still had the ability to reduce everything to ashes and leave nothing behind.
"I want both locations locked until 'they' ensure it's safe," Valeria spoke.
The younger faithful didn't know who 'they' were, but the older ones did. 'They' were the eyes and ears of the God Emperor; 'they' were the ones who acted in the shadows and ensured the Will of the God Emperor.
"Follow me, all of you... And you can speak now."
"Yes!" Only the Elf spoke as the younger faithful remained silent, too intimidated by Valeria's presence.
Arriving at the prayer square, where the faithful could pray to the Gods, everyone saw the image of the God Emperor. The gigantic statue didn't capture all of Victor's beauty, but it was the most ideal representation for those who hadn't seen him personally.
"Wait here."
All the faithful, including the Archbishops who appeared due to the commotion, stopped walking.
"Follow me," Valeria said to the Elf.
The Elf nodded and climbed seven steps of stairs along with Valeria as the two women stopped in front of the statue. Valeria released the Staff and immediately kneeled; following her example, the Archbishops and the faithful did the same.
Raising her wrist, Valeria cut her hand with a knife she always carried with her, and when her blood fell on the ground where there was a realistic drawing of a Dragon's face, she spoke.
"Blood for the Blood God."
A few seconds passed, and the Dragon's eyes began to glow intensely; soon, everyone felt an immense presence descend among them.
Everyone saw the projection of a woman over 5 meters tall wearing a long violet dress with black tones. She had white hair, white horns, violet eyes, and huge white wings.
The woman smiled slightly as she looked at the individuals present here. Each time her gaze fell on someone, everyone felt as if the weight of the world was falling on their shoulders.
"Dragon Goddess of Order, Empress, Lady Violet. I didn't expect you to heed my call... Usually, it's Lady Roxanne or Lady Kaguya who answers my call."
"Fufufu, I had some free time, so I answered your call. Is that inconvenient?"
"Of course not. It is an honor for me and everyone present to be graced with your appearance."
Violet rolled her eyes. "There's no need to be so formal, Valeria. You are my Husband's Disciple, so you are practically part of the Family. Your requests will always have priority."
"... I see..." Valeria spoke with a cold expression, but she barely kept a small smile from appearing on her face.
"So? What's the problem?"
"... Pagan Gods again," Valeria growled. All the feelings she had been experiencing vanished when she remembered why she called the Gods.
.....