Bestow
‘Once their commander was defeated, the subordinate stood out to lead their ruined army. They faced powerful enemies and obtained an unimaginable victory! Indeed, this is how a hero should be!’ Leylin nodded inside.
His thought process was completely based off some melodramatic models in his previous life, but it appeared to be popular in this world too. After placating the soldiers and ridding himself of Rafiniya, Leylin left the camp in the name of investigating the situation.
“Young master!” Tiff appeared from the shadows.
“Mm, you did well. What harvest did you reap?” Leylin asked calmly.
Leylin’s plan had two parts, one in the open and one in the shadows. In the open, he would attract all the attention onto himself, while in secret, Tiff had brought his men to the vicinity.
This is why he had allowed Lanshire to get in contact with the opponents and reveal the location of their camp, allowing for the attack. While the werecreatures turned out in full strength, Tiff would destroy their nest.
Meanwhile, with the perfect timing, they could also take care of the siege surrounding them. While Leylin alone could not match up to the joint attack of the high-ranked werebeasts, he would crush them in terms of intelligence.
“Their camp was very strictly guarded and they recovered very quickly. We only managed to break through a part of the surrounding camp and did not manage to get to the core campsite...” Tiff looked serious as he produced a scroll with powerful spell remnants. However, it had obviously been used once already.
“Based on the traces on the outside, their goal seems to be to slaughter dragons.”
“Slaughtering dragons?!” Leylin froze slightly. Dragons naturally still existed in this world, and they were extraordinary high-grade beings. They were also considered a legendary species, purebloods of which could naturally become Legends upon reaching adulthood. With skin that was basically immune to magic, they were effectively the children of the gods.
The group of high-grade werebeasts had conspired for a long time, and it was obviously not to kill a few mixed-bloods or subspecies. They would probably target an adult dragon, a Legend!
‘Why would they slaughter dragons?’ Leylin pondered over this. While the heroes of human legend gained benefits and divine items upon slaughtering dragons, he knew that things weren’t quite as simple. The dragon race was very powerful, and they had their own backers. If one were tainted with the vengeance of a dragon’s soul, they would be pursued with hatred by the entire dragon race.
Even historically, unless the heroes that slayed dragons had strong backing, few ended up well. On top of that, not every one of those dragons were wealthy enough to rival a country. Wanting to make a fortune off slaying dragons was just a fantasy.
Of course, many werebeasts were lunatics, and they could not be judged by normal standards.
‘Could it be a ceremony for the God of the Hunt? A legendary dragon would be enough for the god to show his grace...’ With a god acting, the dragons could do nothing even if they harboured a grudge.
“But... What they would lose from this would be far too much to bear. Unless there’s something else that’s attracting the higher ups of the werebeasts...” Leylin muttered to himself and asked Tiff, “Have you found their target?”
He first unrolled the scroll Tiff had gotten. There was a map of the northern lands here, with detailed markings of the various villages, mountain ranges, forests and rivers. Even the copy Leylin had made with the A.I. Chip’s records was only slightly better than this, and a map with this much detail would absolutely fetch a great price in the northern lands.
On one mountain range was a little blood-red mark of a beast tooth, looking formidable and evil.
Tiff pointed at the mark on the map. There was a label beside it— The Nether Mountains. “I used Memory Retrieval used on a few slaves, this should be their goal. The werebeasts have received intel of the existence of an adult red dragon there through various means. They aim to behead it!” he answered with certainty. While Memory Retrieval was thought to be a sinister spell, neither Leylin nor Tiff cared about it.
“Nether Mountains? The red dragon...” Leylin mumbled, the glint in his eyes brightening. All of a sudden, his eyes suddenly flashed as the Nether Mountains combined with an incomplete image of the map formed by the A.I. Chip.
‘A.I. Chip, show me the part of the northern lands where the inheritance of the Arcanists could be!’ he immediately commanded inside.
The A.I. Chip worked quickly, and a slightly blurred map appeared with a few tags. This map was something Leylin had copied from the notebook of the arcanist. Sadly, with the passing of generations, most of the map was lost even with the magical protection.
Leylin looked unperturbed as the A.I. Chip copied a version of the map from the scroll and overlapped them.
‘As expected...’ Seeing the location where the arcanist inheritance was and the beast tooth marking match up, Leylin’s eyes flashed with understanding. Tiff beside him obviously could not see changes in the A.I. Chip, but he knew that Leylin had discovered something. Still, he did not ask. This was smart of Tiff, and Leylin could not help but nod inside.
‘Red dragon... Werebeasts... The arcanist... What is the relation between the three? Did those werebeasts obtain clues of the arcanist inheritance? Or am I thinking too much, and they purely want to offer a sacrifice to Malar?’ Leylin’s eyes flashed with all sorts of emotions, but then went still.
‘Whatever it is, the werebeasts must be wiped out!’ Leylin made up his mind. He put a silver mask on his face, and his eyes turned a frightening red and white. Terrifying unstable strength burst forth from his body. In that moment, he changed into his identity of the divine devil.
“My lord!” Tiff changed his method of addressing Leylin, knowing that he wanted to hide his identity.
“Alright, let’s go see the underlings you recruited!” Leylin nodded, the glow of Fly coming forth from his body...
In a hidden valley, Leylin stood on high ground to look at the underlings Tiff had brought. Almost all of them were scattered around secretly, being of various races. The only commonality was the bloody and savage aura they possessed, making people fearful at the sight of them.
“Welcome, brothers of my sect!” Leylin now wore the robes of a high priest. His clothes that were lined with gold fluttered in the air, making him appear splendidly luxurious. Tiff stood behind him respectfully, emphasising Leylin’s status.
“The winged serpent god Kukulkan is a powerful and rewarding god!” Leylin scanned through these men who would be considered the trash of their races. They had no faith to speak of, and only believed in strength. This was how they were subdued by Tiff, “As long as you believe in our god, you will then be rewarded!”
Leylin saw the looks of disbelief in their eyes and pointed at a beastman wrapped in beast skin, “You, come here!”
“What is it?” The beastman had the head of a lion and a sturdy body filled with muscles and scars. There was a rebellious look on his face.
“You will receive the blessing of our god.” Leylin’s arms wrapped around himself as he moved in a modest and respectful way. When it came to acting as a medium, Leylin had nothing to learn.
Meanwhile, powerful energy undulations exploded from his body, filled with a dignified and heavy aura. Even the air was beginning to freeze.
“Hss...” A bundle of flames in the air turned into a strange giant snake with two wings. The giant snake’s pupils were trained on the lion-headed man, and a terror from his very soul got him to kneel, body quivering.
“My master, the mighty winged serpent god, Kukulkan. I finally meet you again...” Tiff who was at the side knelt down piously.
“My master is the only serpent of the world and possesses boundless strength. Your mighty divine force can swallow the heavens...” Leylin began to chant ceremonial verses, and a black ray of light descended from the snake’s mouth, falling on the lion-headed man.
*Boom!* The moment the black light descended, it turned into the most ferocious of flames for an instant as it wrapped him within itself. Miserable cries sounded out from within.
Such a terrifying scene left the audience silent in their fear. However, before they could even think that Leylin was reprimanding him, the figure of the winged serpent god and the black flames had dissipated, revealing the figure of the lion-headed man.
However, there was now a huge change to his body. His golden fur was now completely black, and there was even a black skull brand.
“Thi- this...” He touched his body after the transformation, looking to be in disbelief.
“My master has enlightened you with abilities in magic, transforming you into a sorcerer!” Leylin’s eyes were aimed at the ground as he spoke calmly.
“Sor–sorcerer?” The dark lion-headed being looked puzzled, and then lifted his right arm.
Demonic magic rays lit up on his body, and the black skull brand on his body flickered layer by layer. This was Summon Undead!
*Crash!* The ground split open, and numerous incomplete skeletons crawled up.
“It’s really magic!” “This is a sorcerer!” “How terrifying! He can actually bestow the gift of magic and sorcery!”
Amongst the stunned looks, the lion-headed man immediately knelt in his ecstasy, “My god, the winged serpent god! I believe in you...”
As a Professional who specialised in physical attacks, just a bit of magic would be a huge help to him. The lion-headed man sensed that he now possessed the power of a sorcerer of at least rank 5, and there even seemed to be a possibility of raising this strength. How could he not be delighted to the point of insanity?
When compared to the rewards, his faith was nothing.
“Winged serpent god... You are the serpent of the world and possess boundless strength...” The eyes of the others’ began to shine as they started to pray, voices filled with sincere piety.