Cthulhu Gonfalon

The God of Aristocracy radiated a brilliant golden glow as they walked among the human gods in their God’s Kingdom, looking as though they were cloaked with a layer of golden rays.

This was not because they liked to show off. They were just promoted to a great Divine Power and were still unable to control their power very well.

Because of the deaths of so many followers, they were in a shaken state of mind and could even feel a dull ache in their chest. But not only were they far from feeling even a tad bit of sadness, but they were also trying very hard not to laugh heartily.

Followers and such—why would they need so many of them!

They had long known that in truth, the belief of mortals was unreliable. Even the most devout or fanatical followers were nothing more than what they were.

Back when they inherited the Church of the God of Royalty, they once rejoiced over the large amount of power of belief they could receive every day. But over time, they started to feel that it was not that good to have too many followers. Every day, there would be a multitude of distracting thoughts that came along with the prayers. This brought a large amount of power of beliefs, but it also brought along a great deal of impurities. Bit by bit, these impurities accumulated as deposits. Then they penetrated the God of Aristocracy’s body like toxins.

Not long ago, they were affected by these impurities and issued an Oracle to let their church seize the opportunity to bring down the Mystery God System. They also carried out a massive preaching mission in the Mifata Federation and even fought a major battle against the Church of the God of Knowledge.

After they regained consciousness, the God of Aristocracy knew that the situation had escalated to such severity that a change was duly required!

So they initiated a two-step plan right away. On one hand, they put up an application to request for the use of the magic pool. They would dispel all the impurities in their body with the help of the dissolving power of the magic water. On the other hand, they sent out their Oracles to try start a war on Earth. When a large number of followers died, the amount of impurities that they would receive would be greatly reduced.

The first half of their plan went well. Though it was a very painful affair to dispel one’s Divine Power, the results were remarkable. A great amount of impurities in their body was dispelled, and the process was so gradual that they were not really affected by it.

But the second half of their plan did not reap much success. It was not that the Oracles did not work hard, but rather, the plans were not as fast as the changes. Every plan they came up with would always meet with some unexpected changes that would eventually cause everything to fall through when they were on the verge of success.

The God of Aristocracy carefully considered the causes of the Oracles’ failure. From their point of view, the key problem lay in the fact that their followers loved the Oracles more than they loved them. What they were willing to give the gods was not unconditional.

This was nothing unexpected. Generally, what the gods could give their followers was nothing more than the chance to go to their God’s Kingdom after death. However, a majority of the followers were actually not qualified to go to the God’s Kingdom. And even if they were qualified, how could enjoying peace and tranquility in a God’s Kingdom be compared to enjoying power and status on Earth?

Devout followers, so devoted to the extent of being willing to die for the gods, were the minority after all.

There was nothing the God of Aristocracy could do about it. They were even secretly glad that they had not issued that Oracle to get their followers to wage war. Otherwise, they truly would not know how many impure thoughts they would have gathered!

Fortunately, there was always a way out, or rather there would be a turn of events when the worse became worse. After some discussion, the Legendary Masters of the Mifata Federation decided to launch a forceful attack on the Church of the God of Aristocracy. They would annihilate the entire Golden Tower City in one blow.

There were tens of thousands of followers of the God of Aristocracy living inside the Golden Tower City, most of which were pan-religious followers and shallow followers. Though they could provide much power to the God of Aristocracy, they could also bring them a great number of impurities—the most obvious characteristic of pan-religious followers and shallow followers was that their prayers were mostly to ask for the gods to bless them with protection, or to bless them with some benefits they wanted. They were not the kind to give something with unconditional dedication wholeheartedly.

The moment they were wiped out by the Legendary Masters, the number of impurities that the God of Aristocracy received from the prayers was reduced instantly. It was so greatly reduced that finally, it reached a point where their own purity was no longer affected by these impurities.

So the God of Aristocracy grasped hold of this opportunity immediately and achieved a breakthrough to become a great Divine Power.

They had a wealth of accumulation. It had long been more than adequate. Their main worry was mostly that the belief in their body was still not pure enough. This would in turn cause their Divine Power to not be pure enough. Since now, the belief had been purified, then of course, they had to make their move right away!

This choice was proven to be right. The large number of deaths of the followers, as well as the subsequent amount of impurities that was greatly reduced, presented a great opportunity to them. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they successfully stepped up to the level of a great Divine Power and avoided facing the greatest danger during the elevation of divinity—to be influenced and controlled by the power of belief.

In fact, many gods generally knew that the impurities contained in the power of beliefs were very dangerous. But when their divinity had undergone elevation, those impurities that they were originally wary of would solidify in their bodies and become a part of them. Once, twice… and several times thereafter, their thoughts would gradually change. They would become something that they would never have dreamt of becoming in the very first place, something that they would never want to become.

The former Goddess of the Ocean who died of despair a few years back was a tragic example.

Of course, the God of Aristocracy knew why the former Goddess of the Ocean would be reduced to such a situation. So they maintained due vigilance. They would rather forgo an elevation in divinity than allow those impurities to solidify within their body.

For this, the God of Aristocracy waited for a long time. Finally, the right opportunity found its way to them.

Now, they were brimming with energy and filled with confidence. They even felt as though their entire being was as light as gossamer, as though they could take flight at any moment while walking.

However, as the Master God’s temple of the Human God System gradually came into view, their blazing emotions gradually started to cool down instead.

In that temple, there was the greatest king of all the human gods. This was a god that was so powerful that he could render anyone desperate. He ruled the Human God System with an absolute dominance that was so powerful and unquestionable that no violations of his rulings were possible. His countless victories were testimonials to how he was absolutely right all the time.

He was Wuther Rang, once the God of Revenge and now, the God of Light.

Before His Majesty, the God of Aristocracy dared not even show the slightest trace of ambition. There was only infinite humility.

By the time the God of Aristocracy entered the temple and arrived before the throne of the God of Light, the sense of pride and glee in their heart had long disappeared without a trace. There was only deep awe and humility left in place. They felt as though there was a huge rock pressing down on them, and they were unable to stand steadily. Thus unconsciously, they fell to their knees.

The God of Light did not open his mouth to speak, nor did he express any intention of letting the God of Aristocracy get back on their feet.

In fact, he was usually not particular about rules. Whenever there were meetings among the gods, everyone would have a seat.

But today, he was the only one seated in the temple. Perhaps this was his way of emphasizing his air of majesty. The other gods stood on either side of his throne, looking like ministers and officials in the grand hall of a palace.

After a while, the God of Light nodded slightly and said, “You seem to be faring well upon promotion.”

“Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty!”

“This is no compliment to speak of. Your choice was vicious and resolute enough. This is something even I can’t help but admire,” said the God of Light. “But to tell the truth, I’m not very pleased with you either.”

Beads of perspiration immediately appeared on the forehead of the newly-promoted great Divine Power.

“As a god, you’re much too selfish. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with being selfish. But as human gods, our fundamental standpoint should be to protect the humans, boost the power of the human force and finally… allow them to dominate this vast world,” said the God of Light. “I’m not saying that you can’t sacrifice the people, but because of this purpose, you should not think of sacrificing them so easily.

“Go back and think about it carefully. Ten years later, gather a conclusion from the results of your thoughts and report back to me.”

In just a few words, the God of Light sentenced the God of Aristocracy, who had just been promoted to a great Divine Power, to 10 years’ imprisonment.