MoP: Ch. 177

---Third POV---

After he finished speaking, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from NeverShowOff's shoulders. Even his departing back looked noticeably lighter.

Viktor shook his head, turned around, and pushed open the tightly shut doors of the church.

If one were to name the place most affected by the coup, it would undoubtedly be the temporarily closed Temple of Spring.

With Lux acting from both inside and out, this had been the first fortress in Nary Town to fall, and later became the temporary storage site for important post-war supplies and the wounded.

Following NeverShowOff's directions, Viktor found the back courtyard where the spoils were stored. There he found Edgar handling affairs, along with David. As soon as he entered, both of them looked up simultaneously.

David was the first to close his book and smile.

"Long time no see. But you're late. Claire came by this morning and already left."

"You're exactly the people I'm looking for."

Viktor folded his arms across his chest and looked at Edgar.

"For the players to raid Nary Town, you must've played no small part in it, right?"

At the very least, dispatching large numbers of players to guard the wasteland, securing all escape routes to the outside world, and never once openly promoting the existence of The Watchers. That wasn't the behavior of players who loved showing off. Given their usual style, the fact that they didn't spam pre-siege announcements everywhere could already be called low-key.

Edgar replied calmly, "The siege was their own idea. I only offered a few suggestions. And weren't you the one who said we should believe in their strength?"

Viktor choked.

Some kind of "belief."

Sometimes he really suspected that this guy had been trained in orthodox knightly education since childhood. How could someone be so upright he looped back around to deranged? His methods were crazier than those of Viktor, a necromancer.

David chimed in on the side.

"What's there to be afraid of? Even if Claire hadn't come to help, I still made it to Nary Town. Nothing too disastrous would've happened."

As he spoke, he even clicked his tongue with amusement.

"Earlier, Edgar wrote to me that the great necromancer, Viktor von Vinesse, had been hiding in the forest, playing at being a lord of the manor, possibly having given up on life. So I immediately mounted my stallion, ready to claim the top-ranked bounty notice the Radiant Church has had hanging for six hundred years and make a fortune. I didn't expect you were actually serious."

Recalling the players he'd seen along the journey, his eyes flashed with a brief moment of contemplation.

Then he smirked again.

"Despite their childish and reckless behavior, once they have a clear goal, they're incredibly efficient. More learned than the noble heirs of the three great kingdoms, even. Where did you find so many interesting kids?"

"I'll tell you once you join The Watchers," Viktor answered.

The interest in David's eyes vanished instantly. "Forget it. A merchant never picks sides."

Viktor had expected that antiquated response. He picked up a booklet on the table.

"What are you two doing?"

"Counting the spoils and getting Nary Town's halted administrative system running again."

David tossed over the unfinished ledger.

"Your new members only care about fighting. Once things are over, they vanish without a trace. They don't even glance at the tedious internal affairs. This was supposed to be your job. I only got dragged here as free labor by the knight. Now I'm returning it to its rightful owner."

Seeing the densely packed text, Viktor immediately felt a headache coming on. He tossed the booklet back.

"Follow the previous mayor's procedures for now. I'll go write up a new set of laws, and you can adjust things after that."

"Until then, hold on a little longer."

Before David could refuse, Viktor's tone carried a hint of threat.

"Don't think I don't know how much of a kickback you skimmed off the top when I asked you to courier that shipment last time."

David shut his mouth.

"A treasury that's been sitting for centuries is bound to depreciate. That's normal. Nothing to do with us."

"It better not," Viktor replied.

He lowered his gaze to the piles of equipment and materials glittering in the corner. Any single piece was already a rare-grade item or higher. More importantly, every one of them had terrifying destructive potential.

"These are?"

"Good stuff we confiscated off nobles and mages. Every piece packs frightening power."

Edgar continued, "To prevent too much chaos, David and I gathered all of it here."

Viktor picked up a single-use fireball-launching magic device and weighed it in his hand.

"During the confiscation, none of them thought to use these?"

That didn't match his impression of those stingy vultures.

David spread his hands helplessly. "This place is too backward. Guards and bodyguards who can operate high-tier magic gear are rare. They wouldn't hand out weapons with such high lethality."

Viktor understood. Those nobles were still clinging to the hope that The Watchers wouldn't strip them clean, dreaming of paying ransom and walking out intact. Ransom culture wasn't without its perks.

At that moment, Luminaris rubbed its sleepy eyes and sat up from Viktor's shoulder.

"Where are we now?"

David raised an eyebrow, only now noticing the "decorative ornament" perched on Viktor's shoulder.

"You're keeping a pet?"

"It's more useful than a pet."

With small talk finished, Viktor's expression grew serious.

"Put down whatever you're holding. You're both coming with me."

He brought the two of them into the church hall. The massive statue of the Spring Goddess watched benevolently ahead.

After sending the players away, he lifted a hand. Magic swept across the statue, shaving off powder-like fragments. A few breaths later, the statue's expression changed completely, now identical to the one in the Honeyvale Town church.

Luminaris' eyes went wide. "U-undead..."

Viktor plucked it off his shoulder.

"As punishment for covering for the players, you're sleeping up there for the next month. Otherwise, your allowance gets cut in half."

"Half?!"

Thinking of its pathetic monthly allowance of 200 divine power, Luminaris froze. Having learned its lesson, it didn't argue. With its freshly regrown wings, it zipped to the top of the statue and began building a nest.

Viktor turned to the other two. "Well?"

To ordinary people, it looked like a platinum-colored little light orb fussing around with yarn. But to David, it was something incomprehensible.

"Amazing..."

He stared unblinking at the statue.

The green divine power covering the statue was rapidly being overridden by gold, white, and blue divine power.

"Faith assimilation, divine power reshaping. That's an ability only a god should possess..."

He snapped his head upward, eyes locked on the little nest-building orb.

"Don't tell me it's..."

"A divine essence that's developed self-awareness," Viktor finished for him.

"It's developed its own consciousness?"

David's expression changed instantly. He re-examined the two of them, his tone no longer flippant.

"Such an important piece of information, and you didn't tell me in advance."

Viktor replied, "Letters aren't secure enough. Knowing now makes no difference."

He tapped the base of the statue.

"The point is, I went to Mount Wolcen recently and discovered a new use for it."

Viktor briefly recounted the matter of the God of Snow.

After fusing the divine essences of two high-tier deities, the abilities he gained were far more than just an extra two thousand divine avatars. Additional authorities, expanded divine power, and one more thing, a connection to the world's laws.

"Combined with the Savior prophecy I heard from the God of Snow, the path we should take now is collecting divine essences in order to find the world laws."

Thinking about the current number of deities, he corrected himself.

"At the very least, we need to acquire the divine essences of the thirteen naturally-born ancient gods."

David frowned. "What are the world laws?"

Edgar explained, "The forbidden texts of the Radiant Church describe them: formless, intangible, everywhere. They're the source of divine authority and the origin of the world's birth. They hold the power of all gods, and can even reverse time and start everything over again. If one could control them, the world-ending crisis in a few centuries really wouldn't be a problem."

David rubbed his forehead.

"More god-exclusive nonsense? If that's the case, finding this thing would be a miracle."

"How would you know if we don't try?" Viktor countered.

He looked up at Luminaris on the statue.

"Before today, I never imagined the divine essences of two ancient gods could fuse."

Divine essence fusion might be the only way to break the divine property of 'I think, therefore I am.'

Edgar also looked up.

"I agree. Its existence is a miracle in itself."

Then he dropped another bombshell.

"Also, because of it, my strength has already recovered sixty percent."

David snapped his head toward him.

"Why didn't you say that earlier?!"

Edgar looked at him as if he were an idiot. "I was waiting until you formally joined The Watchers."

He lowered his head and curled his fingers. White light flared in his hand.

"In the underground city, I happened to come across a cross pendant blessed by a high-ranking Radiant Church cleric. As an apostate, I should've been treated as a dark creature and been hurt by the backlash. But after touching it, I found my stagnant mana loosening."

Viktor pondered. "You didn't need to retrain. You think it was because of Luminaris?"

"Very likely."

Edgar confirmed.

"At the very least, the more authority you assimilate, the less divine punishment I suffer."

He still had to retreat for several weeks afterward to achieve his current state, but it was a very important discovery nonetheless. Among The Watchers, he wasn't the only one restricted by faith-based systems due to apostasy.

David leaned back against the stone wall indifferently.

"Sounds like we have to collect the divine essences, but why tell me? I'm not doing anything where the risks outweigh the gains."

"Because we want the divine essences you stored with the Ship-Carriage Guild," Viktor said it openly.

In the six hundred years since the fall of the gods, intentionally or not, The Watchers had collected quite a few divine essence fragments through special means. To avoid accidents, each member kept some of them separately.

Since the Ship-Carriage Guild was regarded as a trusted affiliate, it stored not only some members' private funds but also several divine essence fragments.

David raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.

"I did bring a divine essence this time, but it's Gaia's. You sure you want it?"

Gaia Kelnia, also known as the Mother of Earth, was one of the Thirteen Ancient Gods and governed one of the four fundamental magical elements. More importantly, before she was influenced by the power of faith, she had been the only deity who openly sided with mortals.

Viktor froze for a moment.

"Gaia?"

Edgar stared at him probingly.

"The Earth Mother's divine essence is the most important one we deposited with the Guild. Why on earth are you carrying it around?"

David wore an expression that said you're making a fuss over nothing.

"Everyone knows the Butcher and the Earth Mother had a deep connection. After the War of Divine Fall, he was never again seen using earth-type magic. No one knows that the Earth Mother's divine essence is in the hands of The Watchers. Carrying it won't cause any trouble, and it might even save us at a critical moment."

He curled his right hand like a claw and drove it hard into his own chest.

Squelch!

Blood soaked through his white shirt. It poured out in streams from his chest, yet the wound healed at an astonishing speed.

David's face paled rapidly, but his expression remained utterly calm. He shook the brown-yellow divine essence dripping with blood, then handed it over.

"See? It came in handy."

Viktor stared at him silently for a while before finally reaching out to take it. Inside the perfectly shaped twelve-sided crystal, faint streams of light seemed to ripple.

"Thanks. Next time, pick a safer delivery method."

David tugged at his blood-stuck clothing and complained bitterly, "A divine essence isn't some random trinket. Just getting it here at all is a blessing. Anyway, I can't afford to listen to any more of your dangerous secrets. I'm heading back to contact the caravans. I'll try to bring you what you want before winter hits."

He grimaced, and with what looked like a slow step, vanished from their sight within seconds.

The request Viktor hadn't spoken aloud was swallowed back, and he couldn't help finding the situation funny.

"He is as sharp as ever."

But David wouldn't be leaving Nary Town anytime soon. Viktor was certain he'd find a chance to wring some benefits out of him.

Suddenly, a sheet of paper appeared before his eyes. He took it and glanced through it. It contained information on dozens of players, including their strengths, weaknesses, and potential directions for development.

"This is?"

"What I've observed these past days. You might already have a copy."

Edgar gazed into the empty air.

"Your players are truly promising. For example, the one called Child has an exceptional affinity for formations and spatial magic. And then there's NeverShowOff. This morning, when Abel tried to counterattack the players' camp and nearly wiped out the respawn point, he was the one who saw it coming. He set up a fake camp and tricked everyone. The girl who likes pretending to be a Radiant Church nun isn't bad either..."

Viktor finished reading carefully and smiled. "Are you speaking on their behalf?"

"No. I'm telling you not to keep treating them like children." Edgar said calmly. "If you truly want to gather the divine essences of all thirteen ancient gods, they'll be your greatest support."

Viktor folded the paper in his hand and stared at the glowing orb atop the statue, lost in thought.

"True. I've been worrying about them too much."

Their clean victory in taking Nary Town had already proven their ability. Players had fully integrated into life on the continent of Aeltia.

Players are birds, not kites. Most of the time, they don't need a guiding string to fly.