Elfido still wore the white, gold-edged crown of the Pope. His face carried the same gentle, warm smile as always, though compared to the past decade, he looked far more worn. His dry fingers tapped lightly on the table as he lowered his head, the deep sockets of his eyes hiding his thoughts.
He understood perfectly well what the other party wanted. The request itself was simple and stemmed from the recent disturbances, beginning with the widely discussed Saintess Selection. The trades and secrets behind it had existed for a very long time.
During this period, several nearby teaching regions would gather large numbers of people, along with many pilgrims. These believers were far more devout than ordinary folk, and thus of better quality. If slaughtered as sacrifices, their sweet faith could be seized through certain rituals, making them excellent offerings.
Such tender lambs naturally attracted hungry wolves. With so many people, there were never enough lambs to go around, so Elfido had always handled it in a simple way. It was difficult to manage, so the solution was to raise the price.
Whether they listened or not was another matter. His position as Pope and spokesperson was not for show, and when he cut off contact without warning, the various sects were forced to accept certain unspoken rules. Each group had its own hunting grounds, though small frictions were tolerated, like taking a few lambs while passing by or ambushing another group's prey.
Every Saintess Selection and Church of Holy Light festival was a hunting feast. Recently, however, something new had happened. More than ten regions of the Church of Holy Light had suddenly been wiped out completely, from top to bottom, leaving nothing behind, and those territories were left empty.
Naturally, the remaining wolves fixed their eyes on these unmanaged hunting grounds. As for the cause of death, there were many explanations, from a god's mood shifting, to a sect deciding on mass sacrifice, to being framed by another group, or even being dragged out by Elfido himself under the name of purging heresy. To the Abyss Church, all of this was reasonable, as such changes had happened many times over centuries.
Still, so many deaths at once was rare even in history, yet it did not stop eager hands from moving quickly. The one before him had rushed over overnight to buy the territories outright. In the past, Elfido would not have cared, as long as things did not go too far, but now the situation was different.
The hall fell into silence, broken only by distant hymns and the soft tapping of fingers on the table. As the envoy of the gods and the Pope of the largest faith on The Continent, Church of Holy Light, Elfido was not someone even the usually reckless Abyss Cultists dared to provoke. The black-robed man could not help wondering why such a profitable arrangement was being delayed, and whether someone else had already reached an agreement first.
In truth, there was no such complication. Elfido felt as if his thoughts were tangled into a mess of thread, leaving him unable to sort them out. In simple terms, he felt numb.
The title of envoy of the gods was no exaggeration. Since he had chosen betrayal and pushed open a Rift just a crack, he had seen dozens of great existences and formed ties with them. What he saw was beyond what ordinary life could bear, leaving his heart largely calm.
Even though his emotions had been more unstable in recent years, it had never been like this. The whispers from the Abyss and the Evil God were nothing new to him, but something truly serious had happened. Three beings had cut off contact entirely without warning, and several more followed soon after.
Each severed link coincided with the complete death of the corresponding Abyss Church, at a time critical to both himself and his greatest the Lord. It was impossible not to think deeply about it.
"Those regions will be handled by me in the future. If any lambs are lucky enough to escape, you may take them."
"More than one like-minded friend has expressed the same wish, and I should respect their intentions. Of course, you should also take time to think carefully."
After this roundabout response, the other party showed clear frustration and muttered curses, regretting not arriving sooner. What he did not know was that Elfido had sent away all previous visitors in the same manner, as he himself had no idea what the the Lord intended for those regions.
When the hall was empty, only the old man remained. Elfido recalled why he had chosen betrayal in the first place, and the answer was simple. It was not forced, nor born of bitterness, but because he had been selfish.
He slowly stood, holding the Scepter, and walked through the hall, passing the three divine statues. Long ago, when he had still been a priest, he had wondered how gods ascended. Later, within a Rift in the Abyss, he learned the secret, that the world was incomplete, its light taken by one alone, making true ascension impossible.
"What should be done, then?" he had asked.
The answer was simple. If one could not ascend, then seize the throne of an existing god. He accepted the contract offered, and from the moment he tore open the Rift and betrayed the Chosen Hero, he prepared for this day.
Over thousands of years, he suppressed remaining faith in the God of Light, corrupted offerings, distorted the judgment of the Holy Sword, and delayed the arrival of the Chosen Hero. He waited for a true chance to ascend, though he never fully trusted the gods' words.
To test it, he corrupted Edward, turning him into an experiment and a pathfinder. It proved ascension was possible, but not in the puppet-like state he desired. He had to keep control of the the Lord himself, or Edward would be his fate.
"Light…"
He reached the hall's entrance and looked back at the statues, his gaze passing from the woman to the sun, then resting on the old man of dusk. This was his last chance, and he had to succeed.
Thinking of the recent investors, his eyes narrowed. Then memories of the past decades surfaced, fear flickering beneath his expression. Everything had gone smoothly until he kept failing against the same individual.
That should not be possible.
"The dragon's aura has been gone for a long time. I do not know where it went, but this ascension is the final moment."
"I must become a god before that dragon returns."
Fire burned in his eyes as he stepped out, and when the light fell on his face, his gentle smile returned.
"Ah, so I do not need to attend today?"
She had just finished changing clothes and put on the mask provided by Lynna when Alba heard the message, followed by a cheer that sounded like a holiday announcement. In response, Elvin looked helpless but still explained to her carefully.
"That is true, but the reason is not as simple as you think." "Recent intelligence suggests that at least three more Abyss Church may have entered this area, and continuing the remaining activities would be too dangerous." "We have gained a lot of fame, but to those people, that just makes you a jackpot target, so for safety, you should pause activities for now, and it would be best not to go out casually."
"A Saintess who can casually purify corruption is far too eye-catching, so you really need to be careful."
After saying that, she hurried off to deal with other matters. Watching her leave, Alba quietly went to the side and opened a cabinet that only Raina could unlock.
She took out snacks, pastries, and the latest volumes of her treasured comics and novels. In short, it was a pile of things that clearly should not exist in Otherworld.
She sat on the sofa, stuffed a long-lasting snack into her mouth, and casually opened light novels and comics that were said to be local specialties of Otherworld. To be honest, the moment Alba saw these things, her head started buzzing.
There were not only comics, light novels, and Figurine, but also various snacks like sweet fizzy drinks. There was even a game console, and her first reaction on seeing all this was wondering whether the truck had sent her to some very strange place.
She soon learned that these things were not slowly developed over ancient times. Instead, within just the last ten years, or even only a few years, they had flooded in from the southern Paraten Empire region.
In fact, it was not just entertainment goods that spread here, but many other functional items that felt extremely familiar to Alba. At that point, she did not even need proof, because there was definitely someone like her in the south.
"Sigh, that is the normal Otherworld farming novel development path. I have Simulator, and my route is so chaotic I can barely see it."
She muttered this while chewing vaguely, fully realizing that she might really just be unlucky. Other transmigrators were already deep into development, while she was not only stuck here but also being watched by two big shots.
Back in Starter Village, she had already witnessed the arrival of a Evil God. She was still weak at the time, and surviving felt unbelievable.