DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this novel are purely fictional, and may or may not be the personal views of the author. They are not something shared by the members of OMA Translations.
Conquer
“Massacre domain? Truly powerful... “ Leylin muttered to himself, “You can strip the enemy of their life and soul energy during massacres and quickly recover yourself... Gods also have specific bonuses, and it might increase in power if I kill more powerful existences...”
The A.I. Chip’s prompts continued. [Beep! Host has killed a divine being. Massacre domain has been boosted, absorbing the opponent’s divinity.]
In that instant, Leylin had sensed that he’d absorbed the trace of divinity from the flaming bird, something formed by over a century of worship from the natives. A golden light spread across his body, and with the massacre domain in effect its power was transformed into a part of his own.
‘The profits this time alone have allowed my massacre divinity to grow greatly. It’s worth at least two to three years of worship...’ Leylin looked excited, ‘This trip to the outer seas definitely is worth it!’
Truth be told, the fastest way for a god to advance was to seize divinity, divine force, or even divine spark from battle. However, the native empire as it was now was not valued. The power of faith in these earth-bound spirits as well as their divine force had huge flaws, which was why the gods did not set their sights on them.
However, Leylin did not fear contamination from the Magi. On top of that, his Nightmare Absorbing Physique allowed him to naturally absorb the might of these native earth-bound spirits without issue.
‘After absorbing the divine force, I’ll be able to make use of this large bird’s divinity and soul to a great degree...’ Leylin tapped the crystal on top of the Red Dragon Staff.
*Chiu! Chiu!* Dazzling light figured as the red dragon imprisoned within disappeared. In its place was a terrifying large bird, burning with golden-red flames.
“Using a divine being’s soul to substitute a legendary dragon soul, that’s a pretty good deal...” Leylin observed the soul of the flaming bird. It was now firmly chained within the crystal, and it cried out in refusal.
‘Although I’ve taken the soul already, I still need to forge it into something usable. Until I do that, the Red Dragon Staff needs to be sealed...’ Leylin estimated that once he reforged it, the new Red Dragon Staff, although the name would have to be changed, would be more powerful than a legendary item...
As Leylin was killing the flaming bird, the flag above the tribe’s altar tore. Ferocious flames devoured the totem. The gathered natives cried out in alarm, and their high priest’s face warped and twitched before he fell into a dead faint while frothing at the mouth. The other priests and acolytes reacted in the same way.
The followers of gods possessed some totemic power, which was what allowed them to communicate with the god and do all sorts of otherwise unimaginable things. However, now that their totem spirit was dead they would meet a similar fate.
The extraction of power that had fused with the body was like the removal of organs from a human. It was no surprise for a few of them to just die. Had they been worshippers of a true god, things would have been even more serious.
While it could be worse, this situation left the natives horrified and panicked.
“Ah... the ancestral spirit.... It’s dead...”
“The evil god of the enemies, the fair-skinned devils killed our ancestral spirit...”
“Boohoo... our chief, high priest and ancestral spirit have died...”
The situation instantly caused the old, young, and ill to fall apart. They’d originally persisted with the belief that their ancestral spirit would protect them from the attack. The death of that guardian was a huge blow to them.
The fighting continued, and the spirit of the natives was swayed immediately.
“All who resist us will be killed, whether they are elderly or children!” The pirates and many devil worshippers that Leylin had subdued walked towards the tribe’s altar.
“My followers!” At this moment, all the pirates who followed the Winged Serpent God Kukulkan heard a low and solemn voice in their years.
“I give you my blessing. You shall obtain power through slaughter; the fresh blood of your enemies shall give you courage, and the moans of terrified souls will restore your vitality!” The words sounded like a divine order as a terrifying phantom Targaryen appeared in the sky.
“It’s our Lord! The Winged Serpent God has shown himself!” Unlike the regular worshippers, the acolytes Tiff had nurtured had a more profound reaction to this.
“Massacre domain, boost!” Leylin’s figure reached the skies above the battlefield. He willed a dark red light to move from his domain, having it appear by his followers.
“It’s the power of our god! The Winged Serpent God is protecting us!”
Robin Hood chopped off the head of a native with a wave of his hand. In this process, he could feel that the stamina he had lost was somehow restored. He took a look around and saw the pirates who should have lost their stamina seem full of life.
‘What kind of terrifying might will this ability grant us in battle?’ The effects of this domain were incomparable in battle. The little resistance that the natives had still posed crumbled completely, and the tribe descended into a bunch of cries and howls.
With Leylin showing up as a god and displaying his protection of his worshippers, the conviction of the natives completely died out. Many began to surrender, and dense black flames enveloped the skies above the native tribe...
Evening arrived, and the reflection of the setting sun on the sea was as red as blood. Leylin had moved into the chief’s palace, listening to his subordinates’ reports.
This place was made up of multiple smaller tribes, with a little more than ten thousand people. This ‘palace’ was just a slightly larger house with beautiful beast fur on the walls. It was still pretty good compared to the houses of the normal natives, though.
“This operation was a complete victory. We killed about a thousand native warriors, and have taken over ten thousand prisoners. Mere tens of our men were lost...” As Isabel spoke beside him, Robin Hood and Ronald began to flush with excitement.
“Also, the sea routes were blocked so not one of the natives’ canoes escaped. News of this will definitely not spread.”Tiff added. With him and the other elites in charge of stopping the natives, breaking out had been an impossible task.
“Good! Next is to organise the slaves and search the island...” Many natives had still fled in the chaos of war, especially with their lacking manpower. Leylin didn’t mind, though; this was an isolated island after all. Now that he had control of the sea routes, where could they go?
“The most important thing to do now is to subdue the natives of the tribe and spread my faith. I can establish a secondary army made up of natives after that...”
The stories of colonialism from his past life gave Leylin many examples to follow. The elite pirates were his core group, and they couldn’t easily be dispatched lest they suffer huge losses. Each operation with them had to be a huge success, and give the elites the image that they were all-powerful.
His next task was to manage these natives, dividing them up to form a secondary army and his guard. It would be necessary to assist the native nobles, provoking the tribes to attack each other and causing strife. It would be even better if he was helped by disease.
Due to differences in their worlds, the battles between gods were extremely important. If Leylin could eliminate the totems that the natives had faith in, everything would be much easier. Debanks Island was just a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.
But that was all in the future. Leylin focused his attention on organising the natives of the Chihuahua Islands for now...
Night fell, and chilly winds brought coldness into the tribe. Numerous tied up natives were grouped together, hoping to get some warmth from each other’s trembling bodies. In contrast, a huge bonfire was burning in the centre of the plaza, the altar from before long since destroyed and replaced by a brand new idol.
On top of the gigantic obsidian base was a sinister-looking serpent, huge and with fleshy wings. It had sharp claws and a single horn, and its scales seemed to gleam. Large demonic wings spread wide apart, and vertical eyes revealed a ruthless bloodthirst.
This was the statue Leylin had chosen for himself. He still feared the other gods, so he couldn’t show himself. The next best thing was the image of a Targaryen.
The natives were being sent to the statue batch by batch, ordered to swear allegiance to it. Before this, they even had to trample the flag of the flaming bird.
No matter how stupid they were, the natives knew this blasphemy meant subjugation. It caused waves of chaos, the influence of an ancestral spirit not fading so easily.
However, regardless of the disturbance, the hot-bloodedness of the natives died down in the face of the pirates’ blades. Facing them, one of the natives was cowed into service. The rest soon followed suit.
Leylin could sense the faith of the numerous natives, and the fear that accompanied it.
He looked around and sighed, “Is the reverence for gods by all lifeforms the source of faith? The essence of divine force is astuteness and dignity...”