Chapter 1023: The God Emperor is always with us. 2
Violet looked towards the Artifact, her eyes narrowing as she saw the traces of Energy. She made a hand gesture, and soon, the Artifact began to float in her direction. "Celts, huh... No, there's something more. It seems like several Gods were gathering... They really can't stay still, huh?" She spoke aloud, but no one here understood her, considering that she was speaking in Draconic, which was her 'native' Language.
But even if they didn't understand, everyone felt that her words carried immense Power; even the youngest recruits could feel it.
Violet looked at Valeria again. "You did well not to touch the Artifact, Valeria. It's contaminated with a Curse where anyone other than the bearer who touches it will suffer terrible consequences."
'It's standard protocol not to touch Pagan objects without protection. No one knows what kind of thing might be in the item, after all,' Valeria thought but didn't speak aloud and just nodded externally as she waited for the Empress's evaluation.
The Artifact flew towards Violet's hand, and she grasped it, sending it directly to Kaguya. She would know what to do with it.
"I will ask my sister Velnorah to reinforce the base on Earth with the same level of security as the main base. What do you think, Valeria?"
"...Whatever Lady Violet decides, I will find suitable—."
"I'm asking for your opinion, Valeria." Violet narrowed her eyes.
The faithful around them visibly trembled upon hearing Violet's tone. Although she hadn't threatened or done anything drastic, just the abrupt change was enough for them to feel danger. After all, they were dealing with a Goddess, and everyone knew that a God's mood was quite volatile.
The same didn't apply to Valeria. She understood very well the important figures who were the Wives of her Master. They were not like the other Gods, and they would not sadistically toy with anyone present here since that would go against the Will of their Master, and they would not do anything against the Will of their Master.
"...I think we should keep security as it is now. We should only reinforce security to the levels of 'prepared' Mortals, not to Divine Levels like in the main base. By doing this, we can attract spies of Pagan Gods and know who is moving against us."
"Hmm... Your argument is valid." Violet touched her chin as she thought for a few seconds and then snapped her fingers.
Two cubes appeared in front of Valeria, one violet with black tones and another red with black tones.
"This is a City Core, a Divine Artifact that my Sister created to keep an eye on an entire territory. It records everything that happens in a territory, from the thoughts of traitors, to even preventing the entry of 'unauthorized' Beings."
Everyone present, including Valeria, widened their eyes towards the cubes. As expected of a Divine Artifact, it was quite a broken item!
"The violet version is the one with all the functions, meaning it prevents the invasion of unauthorized or hostile Beings and is directly connected to an Artifact in my Sister's territory. This version is the one that consumes the most Energy."
"The red version is the downgraded version that only has the function of recording everything."
After explaining, Violet ordered, "Place the red City Core in this base and increase defenses to 'Mortal' levels. It's up to you to decide who will keep an eye on the Artifact."
"Yes, Lady Violet."
"Oh, don't worry about Energy. This item doesn't require much Energy and is powered by the bearer's Energy. The bracelet that comes with the red City Core is what consumes the bearer's Energy," Violet explained.
Valeria looked at the bracelet floating nearby and nodded, thoroughly understanding the instructions.
"Thank you very much for everything, Lady Violet."
"I've told you to stop with the formal tone," Violet sighed.
"Impossible, Lady Violet is the Empress. Respect is necessary."
"I know, but unlike the others, you don't need to address me formally. Do you really not understand the status that the Emperor's Disciple holds? You only rank lower in status compared to us, his Wives."
"..." Valeria fell silent. She didn't really 'completely' understand what Violet was talking about.
"Forget it, you'll understand eventually."
"Yes, Lady Violet."
Violet nodded, and before she left, she looked in a direction. "Oh?"
Violet smiled. "I have things to do. I'll be going now... Enjoy the sunset, children. Remember, we Gods are always watching."
The moment Violet's figure disappeared, everyone felt the weight of her existence vanish.
A collective sigh was heard among the ranks of the faithful.
"That was amazing..."
"That was oppressive... So that's the presence of a God."
"Idiot, The Goddess of Order isn't just any God. She's the Emperor's Wife, and she's above those Pagan Gods."
"I'm not comparing her to Pagan Gods. I've never seen a God before until now."
"... The Gods are always watching us... My faith will be rewarded..." Some younger faithful began to gain even more 'faith' due to Violet's appearance.
Taking the two Artifacts in hand, Valeria looked towards the horizon.
"What are you doing, Your Grace?" The Elf asked, and these words caught everyone's attention.
"The Gods never speak idle words."
Remembering Violet's final words, everyone looked in the direction Valeria was looking, and when the sunset fell, the figure of an immense Dragon was seen on the horizon.
The eyes of everyone present nearly popped out of their heads when they saw this splendid sight.
The faithful who were standing felt the strength in their legs fail, and they fell to their knees, stunned at that vision.
And then something clicked for them. From the perspective of that Being, how 'small' were they? How insignificant were they? And yet, it was here to look after them.
Even though, from its perspective, they were just atoms, it was here to guide them, to teach them, to make them a better version of themselves.
This realization led them to have an immense anger towards the 'Pagans' who wasted this opportunity and spat on the honor of such a Being.
Praised be Your Majesty, the God Emperor, Victor Elderblood.
These words didn't come out of their mouths, but everyone thought of them as they unconsciously knelt and began to pray.
...
Such thoughts were not shared by Beings around the world.
Despite the Religion of The Blood God having the largest number of faithful among Mortals, there were places where the religion had not yet penetrated due to direct intervention from other Pantheons.
Such places were the Domain of the Celts and the Hindu Pantheon. There were Beings who didn't care about Religion and only sought benefit for themselves, Beings who were lucky in some way and gained 'strength' in this new world of Supernatural Beings.
What these Beings felt upon seeing the immense Dragon on the horizon was a mixture of emotions like: Horror! Terror! Fear! And an incredible sense of helplessness...
Humans who had gained 'strength' and acted all 'mighty' had their psyche shattered as they fell to the ground and just laughed at how ridiculous they were.
"Hahahahaha." A powerless laugh bordering on insanity echoed from these Beings.
Power? What's that? Is it edible?
How could their Power be compared to THAT!?
That Dragon was so large that only its head could be seen. ONLY IT'S HEAD! How ridiculously huge was it?
Who was this Dragon? This question was asked by those who didn't understand immediately, a question that didn't even need an answer. The reason for this was the countless faithful of the Blood God's Religion kneeling in every inhabitable city and praying to that Dragon.
The God Emperor, Victor Elderblood. That was the identity of that Dragon.
The faithful prayed to their God on their knees; they were happy. In this uncertain world, their faith was rewarded, and they knew that if they trusted in the God Emperor, they would be fine; they felt invincible now.
The unbelievers who only cared for themselves in their relentless pursuit of Power had various reactions, from disbelief to significant damage to their psyche. Some even completely lost their motivation.
What was the point of moving forward? Their mediocre attempt to gain Power made no sense in the presence of Beings like that Dragon.
Mortals affiliated with other Gods and Supernatural Beings who had affiliations with other Pantheons simply went mad with fear and terror.
Their society was in chaos. They were desperately trying to contact their Gods. They wanted to understand what they were seeing. They just wanted answers!
But... Unfortunately, the Gods were unavailable. What was the reason for this? The same as theirs.
...
Hindu Pantheon.
"Do you understand now, Indra? Or do I need to draw it out for you? If necessary, I can take photos, make a video explaining it, or even put together a documentary for you." Shiva spoke with audible sarcasm in his voice.
"... Spare me your sarcasm, Shiva..." Indra spoke with audible weariness in his voice. It was as if he had just aged thousands of years.
As they say, fools only learned when the facts were thrown in their face in an expressive and detailed manner.
... And there was no more expressive and detailed way than a gigantic Dragon whose form was so large that they could only see its head.
"Oh? Have you finally understood? I thought I needed to make a video in every existing language on this damn planet for you to understand this simple fact." Shiva pointed to the damn Dragon on the horizon and spoke earnestly.
"YOU don't fight that. You adapt. Just as Mortals are forced to adapt to nature due to how powerless they are, the same applies to us. Victor is nature, and we are the Mortals." He explained twice, just to make a point, but he didn't stop there as he continued:
"Victor Elderblood, the God Emperor, is an absolute monster. He is the greatest genius ever born in this millennium, an individual who has risen from the Power level of a mere Mortal to the most powerful Being in this Sector. I doubt few Beings can be his match even in the Highest-Level Sectors."
"Tell me, Indra. If that damn Dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a Breath, a simple Breath towards the planet, what would you do?"
"... I..." Indra fell silent; he couldn't think of anything.
"Let me answer for you."
"Even I can't stop such a great Power. Perhaps with Kali's help, we could do something, but what's the use? He could just throw another Breath, and boom, we would be cosmic dust."
"Do you understand now? Or do I need to be even more specific for you?"
"... I..." Indra sighed. "I understand, Shiva. I understand."
"If you understand, then immediately stop this foolishness of trying to investigate the Dragon Nest with the other Gods, you fool."
Indra widened his eyes.
"What? You think I didn't know?" Shiva rolled his eyes. "Please, Indra. How long have we known each other? Do you really think you can do something behind the scenes, and I won't know?"
Indra fell silent.
Shiva's eyes narrowed as he spoke in a very serious tone. "Look, you shitty idiot. This sight has hit my boiling point, and I will no longer tolerate your nonsense. If you do anything that somehow antagonizes the Dragon Nest AGAIN, I will serve your head on a silver platter to those Dragons."
"Because only the Primordial Chaos knows if we are counting our days due to your actions or the plans of that damn Dragon." Shiva turned and walked towards his home.
"... What do you mean, Shiva?" Indra asked.
"Think for yourself, God-King. If you had the Power that Dragon has, would you be content with other God-Kings sharing the same space as you?"
'No, I wouldn't.' Indra instantly replied in his mind, and he widened his eyes when he understood what Shiva meant.
"It's precisely because of this possibility that I didn't do anything against you because only the Primordial Chaos knows that we will need all the help we can get in that eventual future."
Indra sighed as he looked at that Dragon again and thought, 'If only you didn't exist... Everything would be normal…'
Indra shook his head. There was no use crying over spilled milk. He needed to do something, and for the first time, he needed to do something right.
.....