True God

A huge monster made of sludge roared out over the spacious grasslands, a small godfire emerging to meet the pale-white lightning in the sky. Bolts of lightning crashed down like raindrops, the power of annihilation they carried destroying the surrounding landscape.

*Ooo!* The silhouette of the river of death appeared once more, and vengeful spirits reached out towards the monster with their bloody hands, climbing on top of its body to pull it down into the underworld.

“No!” The monster released a loud roar, and its godfire burst forth. However, its divine spark was eventually extinguished. Losing its divinity, the monster’s body was dragged down into the Styx, and it completely disappeared…

The southern swamp.

“Lord Ukekelu!” “Ukekelu!”

With the pious prayers of numerous worshippers, the lion-bodied demigod Ukekelu managed to survive the thunderstorm and the resentment of the vengeful spirits. Twisted runes of law gradually formed within his godfire, about to propel his breakthrough.

“You sinner! How dare you commit such heresy on my law of savagery?” A huge figure emerged in the sky just then, carrying the imposing aura of a true god. Scarlet lightning crashed into Ukekelu’s godfire, causing it to tremble. Space rippled at the edges of the divine spark, and power of law collided with the runes to form such chaos that it eventually just exploded.

“Damn that true god!” Ukekelu looked up into the skies, snarling and roaring as the radiance in his eyes gradually dimmed.

“My Lord… NOOO!” The priests on the ground bellowed, soon finding the divine power in their bodies ebbing like a tide. The suffering that came with such a thing was more painful than if all their bones had been pulled out.

“Pu!” All the members of the clergy spat out blood and fainted under the horrifying attack, while some of the old and weak met their deaths directly.

……

In the skies above Debanks Island, the Goddess of the Weave and the God of Justice were standing side by side.

“Two of those false gods have been defeated by Gruumsh,” Mystra said with conviction as she looked towards the horizon.

“In comparison the serpent’s accumulation is terrifying. To directly overcome the vengeful spirits and the origin force… It looks like his comprehension of his law is extremely deep as well, and it won’t be a problem for him to enter his divine domain…” Tyr looked at Leylin surrounded by origin force, the evil energy making him furrow his brows. How had they not noticed this huge tumour that had been hidden in the prime material plane before?

“He’s currently protected by origin force, as a matter of law we cannot interfere…” However, Mystra faintly added another word to this statement, “Unless…”

“Unless it’s by a god in an identical domain, who can devour the power of law.” Tyr looked at the primate that appeared in the sky.

Malar’s avatar bellowed with rage, its huge claws pulling back as the law of massacre descended upon the World of Gods. It caused Leylin’s divine domain to grow unstable, and scarlet lightning struck his divine spark.

“This damned monkey. I’ll kill it one day!” Isabel suddenly gnashed her teeth in rage.

“We’re not strong enough yet to deal with the avatar of a true god…” Tiff held Isabel back, “However, it’s not a problem to deal with the rest.”

He hinted for Isabel to look down, and she saw some sneaky silhouettes lurking towards the holy mountain.

“Those damned things!” Isabel snarled as two huge draconic wings burst out of her back. Her transformation only took an instant before a legendary Dragon Warlock pounced towards the silhouettes. The land was bathed in a sea of blood.

……

Leylin had sensed the lightning strike down on him from the sky.

“Malar,” he laughed coldly, “How could I forget you?” He’d seen the beast god use this move on Chester Potter but a short while ago, how could he not be prepared?

“It’s time to use you. Go!” Leylin’s hands suddenly opened up, and surging divine force mixed with the power of faith isolated the scarlet lightning for a moment. Leylin fished out a crystal ball with a huge amounts of blurry spirits inside it, directly transforming them into soul force that was absorbed by the godfire.

These spirits had been stored by Akaban, the emperor of the former Sakartes Empire. A small number of them had been used for tests in Baator, but now Leylin had cast most of them out. His godfire rumbled as it absorbed so many spirits, its power skyrocketing as a sparkling translucent crystal emerged, the depiction of his divine domain.

This crystal was flawless, a hint of blood to its colour indicating that it belonged exclusively to a God of Massacre.

“Such a pity. Malar is only a lesser god in the end. If Cyric was here, this demigod could only fall…” Mystra’s face was full of doubt, “Why exactly is Cyric sitting back and watching others take over his domain?”

“There’s no use guessing right now!” Tyr shouted from beside her, his huge sword in hand. “All we can do now is wait. The power of laws and the prime material plane will stop protecting him once he ascends, and he’ll be thrown out. A lesser god has nowhere to run facing my true body…” As a greater god, Tyr was confident in himself.

“That’s the only way,” Mystra sighed. Her heart was filled with anxiety, but she had no other choices.

……

Leylin currently wasn’t in the mood to care about the outside world. Once the crystal appeared in his godfire, it commanded the entirety of his focus.

*Buzz!* The crystal radiated the power of laws, trembling as it fused together with the godfire back into Leylin’s divine body. It seemed tailor-made for him, no longer able to be split apart.

At the same time, Leylin saw a vision. A powerful god was screaming from within dark shadows, holding his head as a force instantly tore a crack into his throne of massacre.

The image faded quickly, replaced by the AI Chip’s prompt:

[Beep! Host has obtained the divine domain of massacres. Comprehension of the law of massacres has reached 100%.]

[All conditions have been met, host is now ascending…]

[Beep! Host has automatically been classified as a legendary priest. All spells unlocked.]

All of Leylin’s followers seemed to sense something at this moment, their eyes brimming with tears of excitement as they started praying.

“Kukulkan, my Lord, you are the lord of our souls. You shall shelter us in your kingdom after death, for you are the ruler of all!”

“Kukulkan, my Lord, you wield the power of massacres. The death of your enemies shall bring you power, and you are the end of everything!”

“Kukulkan, my Lord, your will shall shape the earth. We wish for your throne to join the stars in the skies!”

Devout prayer spread across the prime material plane, followed by Baator, the Abyss, the heavens, and even the entire astral plane. Those of legendary might, devils, demons; they all shifted their attention to this location. A true god had been born, recognised by the world to stand at its peak!

If someone were to ascend to godhood, even if they fell the very next moment they would leave an indelible mark on the history of the World of Gods, one that would be hard to forget. Numerous existences saw this moment as an opportunity, making their moves while Leylin was experiencing drastic changes to his body.

The terror of the law of massacre was enough to support a powerful god. Furthermore, Leylin hadn’t comprehended the law step by step, instead having it all thrust upon him through faith and the power of the World Origin Force. It caused him to feel bloated in an instant as the terrifying energy mixed with faith was spreading around his body. If not for the divine body he already possessed, Leylin would have exploded due to the enormous force.

With such terrifying energy, his godfire and divine force seemed to fuse with his divine domain, ultimately forming a true god’s body. In that split second, Leylin Faulen had entered the realms of rank 7 and become a true god!

*Buzz!* The whole world started to roar, and the space around Leylin began to shatter. The world was beginning to suppress him, the prime material plane unable to accommodate the body of a true god. It was urging him on, to move into the endless void and establish his divine kingdom.

‘Establish a divine kingdom? I’m not that stupid!’ With his ascension, Leylin had an understanding of the process of establishing his divine kingdom that was almost second nature. It was so much so that, with the favour of the origin force, the construction of his divine kingdom would far surpass normal domains and save a great amount of divine force.

However, two greater gods were waiting to ambush him the moment he left the protection of the prime material plane. Only a fool would choose to do so.

“Haha… Mystra, Tyr, I’m sorry to disappoint…” Leylin laughed wildly. This was only the tip of the iceberg.

“A divine kingdom? My choice is— here!” Leylin floated up into the sky, suddenly pointing towards Debanks Island. Golden divine force whizzed out, instantly surrounding the entire island and changing the laws of space and time within.

The sea origin force attracted during his advancement had yet to disperse, giving Leylin a large reserve of energy that allowed him to cause drastic changes to the large island.

*Rumble!* Earthquakes and tsunamis rocked Debanks Island, but all of Leylin’s worshippers were sheltered by golden divine force. Large traces of divine power caused many natives to start kowtowing in a frenzy.