"Damn!" Derik yanked his eyes open lazily. His eyelids felt heavy and he also felt considerably weak as well. The limitations of his mortal body were seriously getting to him and he found it extremely annoying.
{It was just another dream} Derik thought.
It has been a month and a few weeks since he arrived at this world and took hold of this weak human body. Ever since that day, a good part of his memories was missing and each time he shut his eyes to rest, his mind is always assaulted with parts of his lost memories as a godly being and even though this could be considered good, he always felt exhausted each time he woke up.
These visions kept him on edge and always left him restless.
"It seems I almost surpassed the realm of mere true gods… I almost became a peak existence that can rival the beyond in strength… interesting…" Derik muttered as he gazed out the window with an uninterested look on his face.
From what he could remember he was close to reaching the realm of the beyond but he was stopped at a critical stage and this almost crippled his cultivation. The last thing he could remember was he and the beyond locked in a heated battle of the eyes, preparing to rip each other apart at any second. Even without a clear detail of what later happened in the final battle, Derik was sure he lost badly. Based on the dream he had, he could tell he was greatly weakened and he was only facing the beyond simply because he was angry. Cyrus's death got to him so bad that he wanted to avenge his fallen friend and because of that, he didn't bother trying to run again.
"I almost became the peak existence in this world… Doesn't that mean if I gather all my godly essence, I will most likely surpass all the new gods and old gods out there… this means that the beyond is the only person I have to worry about." Derik said as he gazed at the old buildings from the window of the carriage he was one.
After his short fight with Chloe, Derik had become a very famous person in the kingdom. The injured eye of his elder brother was proof of his strength. To be able to beat someone like Chloe who has proven his strength repeatedly in battle, no one could deny Derik's strength even though he was yet to show it in public.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Derik refused to join the military, instead, he offered his services as a mercenary that the country can hire. He refused to be bound by the laws of the world neither did he agree to be under someone's commands. The path of a mercenary may not be as graceful as that of a fulfilled soldier but it had its perks. For one, Derik had no obligations and can choose jobs to take part in. This way he had a lot of free time in his hands which allowed him to deal with other issues, just like the one he is trying to check out now.
Over the days, he suddenly realized that the rate at which his mana replenishes has increased quite a bit and recently he has been hearing voices in his head all from the slums of the kingdom. Derik was confused as well but soon he realized that these were not just mere words, they were prayers offered to him by believers.
This new discovery came as a shock since he never expected that someone would ignore the beyond, the so-called lord of light, and pray to the god of death and destruction. For this reason, he couldn't suppress his curiosity so he decided to check it out.
The kingdom was practically divided into two parts, the residential area or the slums and the commercial area which belonged to the noble and wealthy families. From the little information he could gather before coming over, Derik was made to understand that the gap between the rich and the poor was so high that a low tier noble family is even capable of sharing his wealth amongst ten poor families and still be rich! The rich kept getting richer while the poor kept getting poorer.
There were numerous occasions where riots and revolutions occurred but they were instantly destroyed by the military leading to the deaths of hundreds of people. Based on the little he knew, he could guess that the royal family of this kingdom didn't care at all and the church of light only concerned themselves with the wealthy who can provide more benefits for them.
"Is this the world you chose to create? You murdered me and Cyrus who planned to create a perfect world and yet you still turn a blind eye to all this injustice? Just wait a bit, the god of death will return and this time, you will not survive this encounter!" Derik said while gazing at the skies.
He was speaking to the beyond!
Peeping out the window, Derik gazed at the living environment of those in the slums and he couldn't help but feel bad for those who live in such a place. He finally understood why people would dare pray to the god of destruction since the god of light has abandoned them.
Bam!
The carriage suddenly stopped and he heard loud noises outside. His eyes flared up with mana as he saw numerous soul signatures surrounding their carriage.
"Bandits…" Derik said with a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice as he rubbed his chin lightly.
Even though there were several people around, he didn't look scared or worried. Instead, an idea popped up in his mind as a vicious grin popped up in his mind. These people occasionally prayed to the god of death and destruction but he could still sense hints of doubts in them. He was sure it was because the god of death and destruction is yet to give them a sign.
"Well then, let me give them the sign they desire!" Derik said with a sinister smile on his face.