Chapter 404 - 404: Chloe

"I can assure you, there is nothing wrong with Lucia… His near-death experience is truly the reason for his sudden change… You don't have to worry about him" Father Khalid quickly said to hide his uncertainty. He couldn't afford to show weakness and let his reputation fall because of it.

Listening to the priest's reply, Derik couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Even though he necessarily couldn't remember most of his time as a true god realm expert, the pride of having fought against the creator of all beings, the beyond, always made him look down on all those around him. In his opinion, mere mortals trying to detect any form of evil spirit within his host body with trivial techniques like this is something he found extremely funny. If these people knew he was the great evil preached about in their church services, they would probably beg for their lives right now.

"In the end, all this would have been truly hilarious if I still had my godly powers" Derik muttered as he calmly pushed his hair back while taking a seat once again.

His actions completely showed his disregard for all those around him but no one dared to speak up to him. The current Lucia sitting right in front of them right now is completely different from the person they once knew. The air around Lucia was mostly heavy now and there is an oppressive filling one gets when they are around him. A feeling making them want to submit to him entirely.

While Derik was disappointed by the fact that these so called priests were not as powerful as he expected, he wasn't entirely annoyed. Thanks to this minor event, Derik finally understood what happened after his death.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#%!d(string=14507836505582505)/chapter-404-chloe_%!d(string=51371853461123376)">#%!d(string=14507836505582505)/chapter-404-chloe_%!d(string=51371853461123376)</a> for visiting.

After he and Cyrus were betrayed by humanity, they fought against the beyond in a battle that almost split the god vein in two. After a long and intense battle which resulted in the beyond been grievously injured, Derik and Cyrus were murdered brutally. They were only able to harm the beyond because of the efforts which the other gods, both the new and old had taken a toll on it, so it wasn't necessarily at full strength when Derik and Cyrus faced off against it.

In the end, the beyond felt threatened by the existence of all those who possess powers and he chose to strip away the ability to cultivate from humanity thereby forcing them to only rely on one source, the beyond.

The more faith people have, the more power it grants them. From what Derik could see, these priests and deacons are just normal men until they call on the beyond and he grants them power. This method of exchange guarantees more people will want to receive its power and devote their lives to it, granting it the power of faith to help strengthen it.

"Faith" Derik muttered while rubbing his forehead with his delicate slightly pale hands.

As a godly being even he understood how the power of faith works. Lesser beings praying to the gods grant them more power, that was why he and Cyrus ran back to the empire when chased by the beyond. They were hoping to borrow the strength of everyone they could through faith and get enough strength to defeat the beyond.

The fact that a being as powerful as the beyond is using this method means that it incurred more damage in their last battle than Derik and Cyrus expected. It was practically leeching off these people to regain its true strength.

"But then, how much power can mere mortals grant us? We are gods, our upper limit is boundless… I don't think I have been gone for too long so I am pretty sure the beyond is yet to acc.u.mulate enough power… meaning I still have time on my side… as long as I can find my god essence and regain my godly strength alongside other new gods, we should be able to eradicate the beyond before it regains its full strength" Derik muttered to himself still ignoring all those around him.

Because of the sudden change in his demeanor, everyone was careful around him and they all tried to keep their distance! Only Lucia's father, Alfred was unaffected by this change. Instead, he was overjoyed by it.

Derik considered his options now and finally came to the conclusion that there are only two ways forward in this world.

He can either find a way to make people believe in the 'great evil' preached about in the church of light and have them pray to it. That way he would be able to gather the power of faith and slowly recover his power, just like the beyond.

Or

He can just keep searching for his essence in this world. As long as he can meet other new gods who reincarnated in this world, Derik was sure they can safely recover their godly essence and eradicate the beyond, alongside the old gods.

"Or I can just do both" Derik said nonchalantly.

His words drew the attention of the priests and every other person in the room. All this while, he has been muttering to himself and now he finally spoke up, people couldn't help but look at him.

Bam!

Alfred was about to speak when the doors of the great hall were yanked open violently and a man dressed in a knight's armor which was almost perfectly hidden with a red cloak walked in. He was over six feet tall and each and every one of his steps was heavy, making the hall tremble.

He had a thick beard just like Alfred but his black hair was slightly longer and it was tied back to form a ponytail. His gaze was fierce and terrifying and right across his left eye was a scare acquired through battle. Behind him was a slightly shorter man dressed in regular military attire, carrying a massive sheathed broadsword with great effort.

"Chloe," Derik said with furrowed eyebrows. His memories of this man were a bit cloudy so he didn't know exactly what to expect until now!