Chapter 775 The Cult

"Gisle... What are you going to do in Lands of the Gods...?" Zero asked with a confused look, "Aurora has been leading us on, but this place still seems strange to me."

"Find Wain first. I'm sure he'll find a way to get himself into unique trouble even in such a dangerous place where it's worth being damn careful." Gisle said with a serious expression as he stared at Aurora.

"Don't worry. We'll figure it out." Aurora shrugged in a careless manner, "He's the heir of the Nameless King, even if he is attacked by someone from the Fifth Chronicle, he can fight back for a long time."

"Heir... right?" Maria muttered with a complicated look, "Wain is a damn strange man, why is all this happening to him?"

"Hah, this coming from someone who is endowed with the energy of the world? It's a true miracle that you received the energy of powerful space. Without that energy, you would never have reached the Fifth Chronicle." Aurora grinned as she glanced at Maria.

Maria nodded slightly, swung her crayon and a multitude of particles of light appeared beside her that exuded a pleasant aura that seemed capable of inspiring any fighter to go all the way.

"Gisle... Why did you decide to help me? I mean... You intended to make me the God of the Last Light from the beginning, didn't you?" Maria asked with a slightly confused look as she couldn't figure out what Gisle was up to.

"Well... Not really. I wasn't able to find out about the fact that faith and cults can be turned into powers until after I met Aurora, but after that day I came up with this plan right away." Gisle grinned, stood up, and walked to the window.

"Except for me, you're probably the most popular person in Last Light. You're strong, you're kind, and you've completed a huge number of missions, thereby helping thousands of people. So... I decided that with your unique energy, you could reach the Fifth Chronicle faster than anyone else and take the path of God Stage." Gisle said in a calm voice with his arms folded behind his back.

"Why didn't you choose yourself?" Zero asked as a stream of darkness erupted from her body, "You have an enormous amount of resources, if you had taken advantage of that, you probably would have reached the stage of Demigod by now."

"By the way... she's right..." Aurora muttered as her eyes went wide, "You are damn strong, especially for the Fourth Chronicle, and the more followers you have the faster you will progress."

Gisle was silent for a while, then sighed and said while shaking his head, "Perhaps it's Wain's detrimental influence, but I don't want to take Maria's role at all, in fact, she is the most suitable candidate, not me."

"I am the ruler. Everyone agrees with that, no one questions my will and decisions since I have shown that I know what I do and can be trusted, but that does not mean I am loved or believed as a person." Gisle turned to Maria, pointed at her, and with an ice-cold look said, "You're different."

Even though Maria was stronger than Gisle now, she shuddered at his gaze. A strange aura emanated from him, for Maria understood that part of her merit, and thus of her strength, belonged to Gisle.

"People love you, you're a symbol. All I needed was a little aggressive propaganda, elevating your merits to the limit and other such stuff that dictators usually use for themselves." Gisle said in such a way as if it were a simple matter.

Maria's gaze darkened. She knew how much Gisle had done to get a whole army of followers who believed in her as quickly as possible. At first, she didn't think it was anything bad, she didn't mind the attention, but then she learned that there were dark spots in every story, especially the one Gisle was involved in.

Maria had a much better reputation than Gisle, but it still wasn't perfect, so... after Gisle set about executing his plan some were not happy with Maria's candidacy.

'Damn... I'm grateful to him... but wasn't there any other way to enhance my reputation...? Fuck... the most dissatisfied ones he just killed and explained it with deaths during dangerous missions... He even used their deaths to improve my reputation, saying that if I had more powers I would save them...' Maria muttered internally as she clenched her hands into a fist and bit her lip until it bled.

It had been a long time since she had been a simple naive girl. Over hundreds of missions, she had learned that what Gisle did was sometimes just necessary, but she still couldn't accept all of his methods.

Aurora glanced at Maria as she knew almost everything Gisle did. She was helping him to create a successful cult because she was more experienced at it.

'This girl has been given great power, though she doesn't seem to like it at all, but... the cult has one big problem...' Aurora muttered inwardly as she looked at Gisle.

"Hey, you created a whole cult for her and at this rate, she will definitely reach the God Stage, but you must know for sure what happens if she fails, right?" Aurora asked with a serious look as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Gisle nodded, "Of course. The faith of her followers gives her great power, but if her followers see her fail then her power will begin to wane, it's natural."

"Hmm... You say that so calmly as if you had a backup plan." Aurora frowned.

"Hah, of course, I have one. Maria is very strong, but Zero is only slightly inferior. Even if the cult is the way to the God Stage it doesn't mean it's the only option. Faith is a useful thing, but at a critical moment, pure power decides everything." Gisle grinned as he looked away, "Moreover, don't forget about Wain."