"The four great gods are above, following the will of the Holy King."
Under the gaze of the "god's" four pairs of eyes, someone stood up unsteadily. Half in fear and half in devotion, he bowed toward the "god."
Where there was one, there was a second, then a third. Before long, all the defenders on the city wall began performing kneeling rites in a bizarre manner toward the twisted, eerie, four-faced "god."
At this moment, it was as if their sanity had been snapped by some mysterious power. The fear on their faces gradually faded, replaced by expressions of piety and fanaticism.
"The four great gods are above..."
"Yes, just like that!"
Caspond turned his head with a wild laugh and said triumphantly to the Satyr, "How about it? I didn't lie to you. With just one Holy King and one god, I can make the vast majority of the Holy Kingdom's people obey submissively!"
"This couldn't be better..." The Satyr kept his eyes fixed on the "god" and finally, unable to contain his curiosity, asked, "What exactly is this god?"
When he first heard that the "god" had chosen Caspond, he had been dismissive.
How could there be gods in this world? Even that Lord was merely a demon he could understand through logic.
Feeling the eerie ripples emanating from the "god," the Satyr suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of fear and devotion in his heart, just like the people on the city wall.
His body could not stop trembling, and his horizontal, slit-like pupils drifted over the "god."
This was definitely not a normal living creature.
Hmph, filthy demi-human. Once you witness the power of the god, you will understand what true power is.
The fear and incomprehension on the Satyr's face gave Caspond immense pleasure. He continued arrogantly, "I used to think that the nobles bestowed royal authority, so I did my best to please them..."
As he spoke, several nobles scrambled to the feet of Caspond's horse, wearing flattering smiles. "Supreme Holy King, it is only right that we serve you..."
"Since a few days ago, when the god manifested in the mortal world and chose me to be the God-King, I finally understood the meaning of 'Divine Right of Kings.'"
Caspond pressed his palms together and bowed with utmost devotion toward the "god."
As if in response to Caspond, the "god" leaned forward slightly. On its massive head, the four faces forced out stiff smiles together, and eight eyeballs turned rigidly forward.
"Whew..." With the "god" so close, the Satyr felt as if a giant boulder were pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
Something was wrong.
This so-called "god" seemed to be starting to have thoughts of its own.
"You just said you were collecting wealth in the name of the god?" Caspond pointed his sword at the fat noble who had been flattering the Satyr moments ago and said coldly, "From now on, I am the only person in this world qualified to act in the name of the god. Do you understand?"
"S-spare me..." The fat noble's flesh trembled all over, and his oily face instantly turned pale as he hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, begging for mercy.
Puchi!
Caspond thrust his sword into the fat noble's body, twisted it several times at random, and then released the hilt indifferently.
All the nobles fell silent, unable to bear watching the fat noble struggle on the ground.
Collecting wealth in the name of the god was something they had all done.
"Rest assured, I will still need to rely on all of you to govern the Holy Kingdom together in the future," Caspond said eerily.
Just as he finished speaking, before the group of nobles could even breathe a sigh of relief, they saw the "god" before them suddenly move.
Its four pairs of eyes stared at the fat noble, who was on the verge of death, revealing a look of joy.
"Is that... the look of seeing food?!"
Almost everyone could see what it was thinking at this moment.
It wanted to eat.
But eat what?
With such thoughts, everyone held their breath.
The "god's" long, thin hands reached toward the fat noble's body. With a gentle flick of its fingers, an illusory figure was pulled out.
The Satyr's eyesight was very sharp, so sharp that he could identify the faint outlines of the facial features on the illusory figure one by one.
"That's that man's soul!"
"Help, I don't want to die!"
The fat noble's soul struggled incessantly in the "god's" hand. The wails coming from the soul were heard clearly by everyone present.
Under Caspond's devout gaze, and amid the fear of the Satyr, the nobles, and all the private noble armies present, the "god" placed the soul into its mouth. As if chewing a delicious delicacy, its cheeks bulged as it began to crunch and chew, ka-cha ka-cha.
The god was devouring a soul.
The faces of some nobles turned deathly pale. Leaning against their carriages, they barely managed to remain standing. "Your Majesty the Holy King, this, this is..."
The sanity in the nobles' hearts began to waver.
When the so-called god had descended a few days ago, they had always thought it was merely some mysterious magic from the royal family, a tool Caspond used to make his succession to the throne of Holy King more legitimate.
So at that time, everyone had tacitly chosen to play along with him. After all, maintaining Caspond's interests was equivalent to maintaining the interests of the nobility.
Regarding the nobles' words, Caspond acted as if it were only natural. "Obviously, even a god gets hungry."
So, the god eats people.
"All right, it's time to open the city gates. There are edible believers inside."
As soon as he spoke, the bodies of the defenders who were bowing devoutly on the wall stiffened simultaneously. They stood up like lost souls, preparing to open the city gates.
"Wake the hell up!"
At that very moment, Remedios stood on the city wall with her eyes wide in fury. Her angry roar echoed throughout the entirety of Diborne City.
The ringing in their ears gradually restored many people's sanity. They looked at Remedios blankly and said in confusion, "Commander, I saw God."
"Look carefully. Is that a god?!" Remedios grabbed a defender in fury, pointing her sword forward as she shouted exasperatedly, "You almost let the enemy in!"
With that, she shoved the defender aside and cursed down toward the base of the wall, "Caspond, I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. You actually used a monster to pose as a fake god to crown yourself Holy King!"
"I'm telling you, the only ruler recognized by the entire Holy Kingdom is Her Highness Calca!"
"As for a useless piece of trash like you, I suggest you and that monster commit suicide as soon as possible!"
Remedios's face was flushed, her heart burning with rage.
While I was fighting to the death on the front lines, this idiot Caspond was staging a coup in the rear, rebelling against his own sister, to the point that the southern part of the Holy Kingdom is now completely in ruins, and Her Highness Calca has to come here personally to take charge.
She truly could not understand what benefit there was for him in bringing the Holy Kingdom to the brink of collapse.
He's so stupid it's as if someone deliberately arranged it this way.
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