Chapter 426 - 426: Plans

In a blink of an eye, a year passed by since the bloody, one-sided war and up till now, the royal family of the empire was yet to reach out to the kingdom of Kedus or ask for an explanation. The tension between the empire and the church of light had turned sour as rumors that the royal family of the empire had changed religion as well. As a godly being, Derik could practically hear the prayers of everyone who prayed to him. Should he focus he can even see them, where ever they are, and watch them pray to him and since then, Derik was very sure that no one had from the empire's royal family had prayed to him.

In fact, the news bothered him since this may mean the presence of a reincarnated godly being in the empire. At this point, the problem with the situation wasn't that the godly being maybe an old god which may cause conflict between them. The problem was expansion! If Derik should ever dream of entering the gold realm, without gaining his godly essence, he may actually need to increase the numbers of believers openly praying to him. But in a situation where two gods are involved, it will not only reduce the power of faith they receive but will stunt their growth speed.

At this point, the kingdom had over four thousand troops at their disposal and each one of them has been strongly enhanced by Derik. While they still retained their human side, they were paler than any normal human, stronger and faster as well. Apart from that, they had about two hundred supernatural beings ready to die for Derik as long as he requests for their lives. All this coupled with Derik's direct interference in battle, raised the kingdom's strength by leaps and bounds. Up to the level where no one dared to act rashly when dealing with Kedus since it's the home of the god of death.

"We need to expand… I need more believers! I need to recover my power soon!"  Derik rubbed his chin while he spoke. 

He was in his usual black and red sleeveless mage robe. His presence has gotten stronger but not yet as strong as Derik was hoping. Adverse effects of cultivating excessively with the pure death aura of the underworld were beginning to show because of his mortal body, so he chose to put it on hold right now. So for a year now he has only been depending on the prayers, offered to him and he couldn't help but get frustrated.

"what will you have us do?" King Jules asked while the other nobles watched him in silence.

Unknown to Derik who was still pacing around the room, the admiration these men have for him has risen by leaps and bounds after he wiped out three kingdoms in one day. As for Derik, he has long considered the possibilities of him conquering other kingdoms and through so many wars and death, he will acquire more power but the presence of the empire and other level one subsidiary kingdoms have been making him hesitate and now the possible presence of a new godly being has arrived suddenly, he couldn't afford to be too reckless or he may end up going against other gods in battle.

"As of now, I only possess access to my limiter path, granting me a brief boost in power which may raise my strength to that of a low-grade gold realm master but I'll rather not use that… back in the days, while I was still a recruit, using it crippled me for a long while and back then mana was abundant… if I do the same now that mana is scarce… I won't be surprised if it takes years for me to recover my strength" Derik muttered while pacing around the room.

He had many plans and one of them includes wiping out the church of light from the face of this world. If he is able to do that, he was a hundred percent sure that the world that once served the beyond will turn to him. But there are too many unknowns, coupled with his current level of strength. By the way, even if he decides to make such a move, he was pretty sure that the other reincarnated gods won't sit idle and watch him gain all the attention.

"F.u.c.k me sideways… this life won't be as easy as I thought" Derik complained, only to realize that the meaningful gazes of the king and all the nobles are on him.

They could only hear him talk but they could not understand what he was saying. All they knew was that Derik was trying to recover his power and they also understood that the more powerful Derik becomes, the more benefits they gain.

"The emperor and his royal family may be serving another god… new or old I can't tell from here… I need to get to the capital to know and that's probably why he is yet to try and destroy this kingdom…" Derik said causing many to gasp in shock.

"Is this reincarnated god someone we have to worry about?" Alfred asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Not really… back in my days only the god of life, my best friend could match my strength… as long as he's not the person involved, you have no reason to worry about anything… but if its him… hahahahaha, I don't wanna think about it" Derik laughed lightly.

His words left them stunned because no one could actually understand how someone would be able to match Derik's strength, especially since he controls the beasts of the underworld. To these people, Derik has become an unbeatable figure, the absolute and if Derik should ask them to go to war against the empire, they would do that without thinking twice. That's why they found it hard to believe there was someone who can match his power!

"Concerning the problem, I think we can help spread your fame during the military competitions!" King Jules suddenly said, catching Derik's attention.