---Viktor's POV---

  The appearance of deities stemmed from the beliefs of their followers. Even for the same deity and within the same church, the statues dedicated to them could vary.

  Especially now, 600 years after the death of the God of Light.

  Followers' interpretations of his appearance relied entirely on boundless imagination.

  This had eveo the bizarre phenomenohe God of Light, Aureal—a male deity—was honored by his followers with a statue of a goddess.

  "Seeing your old boss again, how does it feel?" I asked mischievously.

  "Not great," Edgar replied coldly. "Tear it down."

  "Though I don't know where you'll find the manpower for that, sihis is now our territory, there's no reason for a church or statue to remain here," he added.

  "And give up our shelter? I may be undead, but even I appreciate a roof," I refused his suggestion. "It's the only structure here that shield us from the elements."

  I circled the statue twice, my joints creaking with every step. Any further movement, and I might fall apart.

  "You're in worse shape than usual," Edgar observed.

  "What gave it away? The fact that I'm literally falling apart?" I chuckled dryly. "Hiss... This time, the injuries are a bit severe."

  You know you're having a bad day when your bones sound like a rusty door hinge orchestra.

  I stopped in my tracks, g to my battered state. I estimated that I'd only walked a few hundred meters, but my stamina had already reached its limit. The backsh this time was truly harsh. But, vely, it gave me an excuse to sck off.

  Rubbing my , I muttered, "This goddess statue isn't half bad. Let's repurpose it as a mascot. It just needs some modifications."

  "Since when did you develop an i in interior decoration?" Edgar raised an eyebrow.

  "Seven hundred years is a long time. I've picked up a few hobbies."

  Faith, as a source of power, was broad and diverse. Even the simple affe pyers had fame or its characters could be verted into faith energy. While suergy was faint and impure, it was still usable.

  "With the right tweaks, this statue could gather faith from airely different crowd."

  Edgar turned his head to scrutinize me, surprised. "You're pnning to work fod for free?"

  I could uand his fusion. After all, this was a statue of the God of Light. The faith energy it attracted could only be absorbed by the God of Light. He probably thought I should know that by now.

  "Of course not," I shot him a look as if to say, 'What are you thinking?'

  "Haven't you noticed how weird I've been ag these past two days? Aren't you curious who my 'helper' is?"

  Edgar's expression erplexed. "Besides the usual etricities?"

  I almost ughed. When haven't I acted weird? As a 700-year-old undead, I was always spouting strange phrases that a 200-year-old "youngster" like Edgar couldn't prehend—probably what he sidered trendy sng from the Age of the Gods.

  "Does that really need asking?" I tered. "Then what if I told you I've obtaihe God of Creativity's divine essehat I ow bee a god myself and absorb the faith energy from this statue? Would you believe me?"

  Edgar's expression instantly darkened, his hand moving to his sword. "If this is your idea of a joke..."

  "When have I ever joked about being what we've fought against for turies?"

  "Exactly why this is ing. Are you suicidal?"

  I kly what he was thinking. This wasn't just about their Watcher leader betraying the anization by being a god after vowing to fight the gods to the end—it ersonal.

  He knew my circumstances like the back of his hand. Long ago, during the Age of the Gods, the deities had marked me as a vessel for their rebirth. My body was covered in their seals.

  If I obtained divine essend asded, the authority over world ws granted by the essence would belong to the god associated with it. Once asded, my sciousness would be repced—by that god's!

  For others, assio eternal life. For me, it meah.

  "Really? Seveuries of friendship, and you think I'd throw it away fodhood?"

  Edgar's grip on his sword tightened, his expression grim. "If you really have this idea, you shouldn't have asked me to save you. I 't defeat a god if he wakes up in your body."

  If I were still human, I would have twitched at the er of my mouth.

  "Do I seem like the kind of person who, on the brink of death, would make trouble for the living?"

  Edgar nodded firmly.

  I stood there speechless. It was ohing to have a bad reputation outside, but even within the anization?

  "Some diviifact this turned out to be. 't even manage a det light show." I pulled out a pale golden orb from my body, tossing it casually. This was my test discovery—Aeceus' divine essence, a physical entity that could be separated from my body.

  "You seriously believed me when I said I'd obtained Aeceus' divine essence? Well, close enough—I've got a fragment of it. And it's se."

  The orb sat in my hand, radiating a defeated aura. Ever since I got my hands on it, I'd beeing it like a toy, tossing it around without a shred of dignity befitting a diviifact.

  By now, it had grown numb.

  "A se divine essence?"

  The moment Edgar id eyes on it, I could see him notiething unusual about the orb, his pupils diting slightly.

  "How divine essence gaiience?!"

  I uood his fusion.

  Divine essence is merely a vessel for holding the power of w. Even gods only wield the power tained within it. If divine essence developed sciousness, then who would be the real god? If the essence rejected the god, could ordinary people then wield its power?

  "Think of it as divine unemployment. The esse fired from its job as Aeceus' power source."

  "This is serious."

  "I am being serious. Dead serious, you might say."

  The very idea was absurd. The ws of the world would never allow su entity to exist. But the orb undeniably taihe pure power of a god. As a former padin, Edgar was utterly baffled.

  "Turns out, the impossible happened," I spread my hands. "Maybe the world's will actally fell asleep?"

  After Edgar recovered from his initial shock, I expined my pn. Now that the divine essence had gained sentie could no longer accept faith energy from the God of Creativity's inal followers—not that it had many to begin with.

  Despite having the same rank as the God of Light in aimes, the God of Creativity remained a niche deity, nearly fotten by most.

  "This is exactly why the God of Light's statue is perfect," I said, tapping the orb thoughtfully. "The essence might be from a minod, but divine power follows simir principles. Think of it like redireg a river—it doesn't care what you , it'll still flow. With some modifications to this statue, we tap into the massive faith work the God of Light left behind."

  For instance, by pg the orb in the goddess's hands—it would be rebranded as the divine essence's statue and start abs faith energy. Why build a new faith work when you could repurpose aing one?

  After listening, Edgar fell silent.

  The muted orb, uo speak, looked at him with tearful eyes. I could tell it was excited about gaining new divine power. For the first time, leaving the Divine Realm didn't seem like such a bad decision for it.

  Even though its life now rested entirely in my hands, it seemed to think I was a det person. I was even building it a statue!

  After a long pause, Edgar finally spoke. "The pn is highly feasible, but... are we really going to tread the same path as the gods?"

  "We're not being them, we're beating them at their own game."

  "There's a fine line—"

  "Betweeand rept? The line's only fine if you're not paying attention."

  I uood his . The Watchers were fouo safeguard the future of our own species a the gods' interferenoere essentially nurturing a god-like divine essence ourselves... This went against everything Edgar believed in when he joihe Watchers.

  Veins popped on my forehead. "ime, before you speak, make sure you're not wearing that 'if you agree, I'll quit the Watchers immediately' expression."

  "I haven't fottechers' inal mission."

  "Reform isn't something that happens ht. When necessary, we absolutely use the gods' power. There's o avoid it entirely."

  I gnced down at the muted orb in my hand. Take this, for example. It was an excellent tool, almost as if it had been tailor-made for me.

  "Heroes who sy dragoually bee dragons themselves," Edgar reminded me.

  And sometimes, I thought as I watched the orb's faint glow, that might not be such a bad thing.

  I knew what he meant.

  At first, we might only see the orb as a tool. But in the end... who could say whether I might grow addicted to divine power? And whether the Watcher members feeding it faith energy might eventually transform into the very zealots we once despised?

  "Don't worry about this," I said, the crimson fmes in my eye sockets burning intensely despite my skeletal face showing no other emotion.

  "No one knows the tricks of the divine esseter than I do. If I were going to be tempted, I would've given up six hundred years ago!"

  Edgar shifted unfortably. "Experience doesn't make you immuo temptation."

  "No, but it makes me excellent at spotting it ing." And eveer at dealing with it.

  I knew what I was talking about. During my first hundred years after being transported to Aeltia, I had experienced firsthand the overwhelming power of the divine essence. I hadn't given in then, and I wasn't about to now.

  "I'm her a hero nor a vilinous dragon," I tinued. "As for you and our new recruits, you have eveo worry about. The fact that you grew up in enviros steeped in religioill reized the risks posed by the divine essend chose to joihat alone is a form of sing. And as for the helpers who are about to arrive... they're the same."

  "Think about it—who joins an anization hunted by the entire world?" I spread my bony arms wide.

  "The desperate. The vengeful," Edgar replied quietly.

  "The ones who see through religious manipution. The ones who think for themselves."

  Edgar fell silent for a moment.

  I could tell he rocessing my words. Given that The Watchers were hunted and ned by the entire world, anyone who'd stuck with the anization this long was uo be brainwashed into being a fanatic.

  He also knew my personality quite well—my earlier ent had been deliberately aimed at the ining reinforts.

  "How you guarahat these new helpers will be reliable?" he asked. After all, The Watchers had dealt with traitors in the past. None had escaped the test of time, but the scars still lingered.

  I couldn't help but grin. "They're absolutely reliable. Because they e from the same pce as me."

  The soon-to-arrive pyers from Earth. I trusted them more than 80% of the grim, dark, and brutal popution of Aeltia.

  Edgar looked astonished. "And where is that?"

  "Some memories are better left buried. Like my fashion choices from seveuries ago." I tried to keep my tone light, but something must have slipped through.

  It was the first time I'd mentioned my homend to him. I knew he'd been curious about the try that had produced an undead with suventional and rebellious views. But I'd always kept my lips sealed.

  He probably assumed my homend had beeroyed turies ago.

  I chuckled, feeling a warmth I rarely experienced anymore. "It's a pce Aeltia couldn't even imagine—a nd where atheism dominates. In that pce, people don't pin all their hopes on gods who treat humanity like ants. They emphasize personal effort and tangible as."

  "Sounds like chaos," Edgar muttered.

  "Beautiful, productive chaos. Progress doesn't e from divine handouts. When divine essence fails to help them, they abandon it without hesitation, instead of endlessly sacrifig themselves in vain. It's a civilization that belongs purely to humanity!"

  Edgar listened quietly, carving a piearble from the doorframe into a makeshift stool with careful precision.

  I sat down unceremoniously. "Thanks!"

  "I've never seen you like this," Edgar said softly.

  "Like what? Nostalgic? Seal? Don't worry, it'll pass."

  "No, genuinely happy. I tell you really love your homend," Edgar said.

  I knew I was always quick to ugh, but my usual smiles never reached my eyes. Past experiences weighed on me like a heavy stohered to my emotions. If not for the metaphorical thread holding that stone in pce, I might have lost my sanity long ago.

  I fell silent for a moment before speaking with my usual nonce. "People are like that. Only after losing something do they know to cherish it. Luckily, I've lost so much that I don't even have time to cherish everything. And the upside of losing everything? You learn to travel light."

  Suddenly, a blue orb of light in my inner sanctum trembled.

  "Oh, shoot! I almost fot—the beta test registration is about to close!"

  I immediately turned my attention away from Edgar, opening the icles of Aeltia website I had built myself. The registration t dispyed a solid 3.

  "What the heck? Three people actually signed up!" I excimed in surprise. "Three pyers! Three beautiful, possibly desperate, definitely questioaste-having pyers!"

  "Is that... good?" Edgar asked cautiously.

  "It's more than I expected with my web design skills."

  Since my programming skills were still rusty, the website's homepage looked like a post-apocalyptic wastend. On the first day, no one had signed up, and I had been prepared to take it slow and rebrand the game to ride the rend.

  But now, three fools—no, three dising visionaries—had discovered my game.

  What was I waiting for?

  I immediately set the beta test date for two days ter oh, or four days ter iia. Then I fixed my gaze on Edgar.

  "Our reinforts are ing!"

  Edgar was stunned. "Already?"

  I could see the fusion on his face—he hadn't seen me tayone, so how had news of reinforts arrived so suddenly?

  I closed the website and said gravely, "The situation is urgent. They'll arrive in four days, and we must be fully prepared by then!"

  Edgar frowned. "'t they e a bit ter? Four days is too tight."

  "Time waits for no undead! Besides, I've procrastinated enough already. So, hurry up a moving. First, we o modify the statue in front of us—carve a glowing orb into it." I poio the lifeless orb in my hand.

  "Then, clear out the church so I set up the forbidden magic that will summon them. I'd help with the ing, but I'm allergianual bor."

  Edgar raised an eyebrow. "You're undead. You don't have allergies."

  "I developed them specifically for this occasion."

  The church was a mess—though its doors were intact, many of its upper windows were broken, leaving the interior littered with debris, damage, and the filth of flying monsters. Apart from the entrahere wasn't a single spot fit for standing. The whole peeded a thh ing before we could proceed with any of our pns.

  "Finally, drive away all Tier-3 her monsters in the viity of Honeyvale Town. The pyers 't hahem yet. I'm injured, so I'll sit out the fighting."

  "Oh, and I'll give you a lore manual ter. When speaking to them, stick strictly to the descriptions in the manual."

  I g the orb in my palm. "You'll get a copy too."

  The orb, which had resigself to being my passive accessory, suddenly jumped up, both shocked and delighted.

  "I have a role too?" it asked.

  "gratutions! You've been promoted from divine paperweight to game mascot."

  "You're enjoying this too much," Edgar muttered.

  "Seven hundred years of waiting for this moment. Let me have this."

  As the deity of the starter vilge in icles of Aeltia and the game's mascot, the orb was an indispensable asset. Without it, Edgar and I alone wouldn't stand a ce against the chaos of the ining pyers.

  Seeing Edgar still frowning, clearly uneasy about the four-day deadline, I immediately stood up and painted a vision of the future, my tone filled with ear vi.

  "Trust me. If we work hard for these four days, ohey arrive—you'll see that my vision of the future isy talk. Humanity doesn't need divine esseo thrive."

  Edgar's expression softened. I could tell he had fallen for this sort of pitch before—otherwise, he wouldn't have joihe Watchers.

  "What kind of warriors are these reinforts?" he asked curiously.

  I knew he wao gather some intel in advance. After all, showing respect to far-off allies would help with future cooperation. By his expression, I could tell he was imagining them as valiant warriors, unwavering in their fight against the divine essence for the future of humanity.

  "I've been waiting two days for you to ask that!"

  I could see the ominous sense of foreboding on Edgar's face, but it was too te. I rubbed my hands together gleefully, grinning like ah salesman who just found their arget.

  "Friend, have you ever heard of the Nerds?"