Chapter 1986: Eliminating All Divine Factions

"I said, let me go...!!!" Mihos yelled. Paytowin, Jet, and Giant Steve were holding him.

A shockwave exploded from Mihos. The force almost blew the three away, but they held their ground. At their current level, they had no problem overpowering this brave champion.

"... Please... Let go of me..." Mihos fell weakly to his knees.

"There is nothing you can do even if you go. You will only throw your life away!" Jet scolded.

"You are the last surviving member of the Council of Virtus. Your faction will truly be gone if you die," Steve added.

"Be patient, Mihos," Paytowin persuaded. "I'm also angry, but we will make a mistake if we act following our emotions. Our enemy is a divine being. We can't just charge in without a plan."

"That's right," Jeanny came to them. "That is probably what Master is counting on. He is doing this to draw us out."

"What exactly is happening here?" Jack, who just arrived, approached Grace and asked.

"It's probably better if you take a look yourself." Grace pointed at the lakeside pavilion. Most others were still there watching the projection.

Jack went over and saw the image inside the projection. It showed a bird-eye view of an urban landscape. He saw a large messy park surrounded by buildings. At first, he was unsure what he was supposed to see, but it hit him then. He knew this place. It was his city, after all. It was Thereath. He didn't immediately recognize it because something was missing. There was supposed to be a building there instead of a park.

"What... What happened?" Jack asked again.

John answered him, "What happened was a prick with the power of a God abused his power."

"... This is Master's doing?" Jack asked.

"This is not his only victim," John said. He then asked Chris to switch the image.

The image changed to a different location but showed the same devastation. Jack recognized the place. This one was where the Joy's Recreational Hub should be. The one before was the Sanctuary for Courage.

"What about the occupants...?" Jack asked.

"They were wiped out," John answered.

"Grhh...!!" Jack gritted his teeth. Like Mihos, he also felt the urge to rush over to do something, but he knew that kind of impulsive act wouldn't yield any result. As Jeanny said, perhaps this was Master's way of trying to draw him out.

"Master is probably doing this to ensure he has no competition," Wilted said.

"What do you mean?" Four Winds asked.

"I said before that the Gods we incorporated into the system are an integral part of this world. They do not truly disappear. With time, their essences will grow under the nurture of their factions' prayers. By taking out the Council of Virtus and the Council of Charites, Master makes sure the God of Courage and the Goddess of Joy will not be reborn."

"... If that is his motive, Chris, do you mind switching to the base of the other divine factions?" John said to Chris.

Chris inputted some coordinates into his device. The projection changed to what looked like a tranquil settlement beside a huge lake.

"The Village of Peace... Nothing seems to be a problem," Grace remarked.

Chris continued changing the scene. The next image was a place nobody here recognized. It showed a beautiful village filled with nature. Gardens with colorful flowers surrounded the ornate houses that made up the village. Chris explained to them this was the base of the Devotee of Passion, where the followers of the Goddess of Love lived.

The image changed again to an underground settlement. The surrounding was filled with rivers of lava. The inhabitants here were mostly women dressed in red garments.

"This is where the members of the Cult of Lytta live," Red Death said about the shown image. She was here when she actively served the Goddess of Wrath, so she was familiar with the place.

"Those two places are also fine," Purple Mist said. "Perhaps Master is simply trying to rile and draw us out."

Chris switched the image again. This time, they became tense after seeing the scene. The image showed another underground settlement. It was bleak all over with dim lighting. The spectators watching the image didn't recognize the place, but they recognized the inhabitants. The inhabitants were gathering at the center of the settlement. Among these gathered inhabitants were Strah and Korku. Their leader was the hooded elf with the skeletal face, Vekja. Next to Vekja was the towering Primordial Hydra. This place was the hidden base of the Cult of Phobos.

They gathered because they were visited by a being that was now floating above their settlement. This being was Master.

Vekja seemed to be saying something to Master, but Master simply smiled without saying anything in return.

"No audio?" Jack asked.

Chris pressed something. They could now hear what Vekja was saying.

"... have our differences, but we no longer wish to involve ourselves in the conflict of the world. There is no need for you to worry about us. We won't give you trouble. Please, leave us

be."

Master remained silent with his smile. This caused the members of the Cult of Phobos to become more wary.

When Vekja was about to open his mouth again, Master finally said something.

"I do not worry. You won't give me any trouble even if you wish to."

The arrogance in Master's tone was unmistakable. Yet, the Cult of Phobos' members didn't

dare to show dissatisfaction.

"... What do you want from us?" vekja asked.

"Denounce your God. Destroy his altar. Leave this place and worship me instead," Master answered.

"... We can't do that," Vekja uttered.

"Does he... or she speak for everyone here?" Master asked.

Nobody answered, but it was clear from their expressions. They weren't willing to leave their God, even in the face of certain death.

Master's smiling face turned sour. He didn't care whether they surrendered or not. He planned to wipe them out all the same. He was only toying with them. Even if they agreed to worship him, he wouldn't know if they were sincere. They could worship Fear in secret. He was not willing to take the risk.

What made him lose his smile was an unexpected feeling of jealousy. To see this crowd, this so-called group of villains worshipping a bad God, chose death over giving their reverence to him, made him feel small and unworthy again. This was a feeling from the past world he swore to never feel anymore. He didn't expect this feeling to come back even after he was a

God.

He didn't care for their adoration, but he could never forgive them for making him experience this unwanted feeling. Without saying another word, he pointed his open palm at them. The members of the Cult of Phobos reacted when that happened, but all they could do was take one step. They then stopped. They couldn't move. This included the Primordial Hydra. Their skin slowly hardened. They were petrified and turned into statues.

Master clenched his palm into a fist. All the statues broke into pieces. An earthquake followed. The buildings inside this underground complex started crumbling. Not long after, the wall and ceiling of this cavern started falling. Before long, the entire place was buried. Everyone was silent as they watched what happened through Chris' projection. Mihos watched it, too. He had calmed down and no longer attempted to blindly rush out for vengeance. He had mixed feelings seeing the fate of the Cult of Phobos.

Those despicable villains were his enemies. They were the reason he lost his faction the first time. Seeing them getting wiped out like this should have made him happy. Yet, it didn't. No matter how despicable they were, no one deserved this kind of fate.

"I think it is safe to assume he is targeting all the divine factions now," Wilted said.

"We have to warn the others!" Grace exclaimed.

John shook his head. He said, "Master can be on his way to another divine faction right now. If we go to warn those factions and happen to chance onto him as he arrives, you might not be given the chance to be teleported out of there. We can't risk that."

"Then all of us go! We can fight him now, can we? Will is already level 90!" Grace exclaimed. "Er... If I knew we were going up against that thing, I wouldn't have rushed my exp farming as I did," Will remarked, which earned him a slap on the back of his head from Jack.

"I know you care about those factions, but we can't rush this," Four Winds told Grace. "Master with his God power is unlike any enemy we have faced. If we don't prepare enough,

he could take one of us out before we have the chance to strip his divinity. If that happens, all our efforts are in vain."

"Four Winds is right. Furthermore, the other divine factions are not in immediate danger,"

John said.

"What do you mean?" Jeanny asked.

"I've just received a message that Master has just returned to Thereath," John answered.

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"My mother told me," John replied.