Chapter 144

Level Up Heresy Judge – Chapter 144 (144/227)

Chapter 144: The Turbulent Continent (5)

[“Heresy has been punished!”]

[“The effect of penalty execution doubles your stat bonus!”]

WHOOSH!

The corpse of the monster tied to the stake, burning fiercely, was completely reduced to ashes.

Even after the arrival of the three deities, Eil continued his hunting spree.

Regardless of the appearance of the divine ranks, the need for steady growth remained unchanged.

However, things had changed since their arrival.

[“‘Ruler of the Volcano’ rejoices in the fiery baptism of passion!”]

Ruler of the Volcano, Lajagal.

He was the god of passion, fire, and destruction.

He was also the master of the ‘Church of Fire,’ which had the second-largest number of believers among the Warode churches.

Although the Light Church had recently shown a brilliant growth trend, swelling in size, it still ranked third in terms of the number of believers and couldn’t surpass them yet.

The favor granted to Lajagal’s believers specialized in ‘attack power,’ something that didn’t divide opinions.

“Though the favor given to the believers of the Light Church is better overall, with simpler divinity comes no major penalties…”

While Lu’s faith boosted all combat stats evenly, the reason it was avoided by users was due to the crazy tendencies of the goddess.

On the other hand, Lajagal’s demands were simple, fitting his third alias of destruction, so there was no burden.

All one had to do was kill a certain number of living beings or destroy items of a certain value within a set period.

Just by hunting monsters or causing chaos in dungeons, the numbers would be counted, making it far less penalizing compared to other churches.

[“‘Secret Seeker’ takes interest in your skills.”]

Next, the deity who sent a message was Secret Seeker, Renox.

The god of knowledge, sky, and void.

The deity of the ‘Celestial Church,’ mostly composed of mage users.

As befitting a deity named for exploration, he had strengths in mana and magic consumption, attracting mainly mage users.

I’ve even seen his symbol at a forbidden magic facility used by a determined sect.

“To date, including Lu, four deities have revealed themselves to me. The other three haven’t appeared yet, but it’s safe to assume they’ve awakened by now.”

Eil was confident that all seven deities of Warode had awakened.

Their competition, which had been dormant until now, was about to begin in earnest.

It might be much later than the originally planned timing during development, but after Lu’s unexpected appearance due to a glitch, the situation flipped.

“Probably the system is manipulating things…”

Warode’s system, designed to manage itself without external interference, wasn’t exactly loose.

Theoretically perfect, it was a game where errors shouldn’t occur, but even if they did, the system ensured balance wouldn’t break completely.

Lu had been hiding so as not to draw too much attention, but her efforts alone had limits.

Various chain reactions were happening in response to the early activity of the deities.

“But why are they all freaking out here?”

Eil looked somewhat bewildered at the messages.

Deities who had noticed his existence kept sending him messages, watching him like spectators bored out of their minds.

They’d applaud or show positive reactions when he performed impressive hunts, but sneer when he made mistakes.

“They should focus on their own followers instead…”

Unbeknownst to Eil, from the perspective of the deities, there were almost no restrictions on observing “Apostles.”

They could watch the world clearly without any cost.

In contrast, if they observed the world through other means, they either had to expend influence or endure blurry vision.

Naturally, even deities of other churches preferred to direct their gaze towards Eil, who provided entertaining spectacles and exerted greater influence on the world.

[“‘Judge of Light, Lu’ encourages you!”]

[She wishes you won’t falter upon the appearance of other gods.]

This time, Lu sent a message.

Normally, even devout followers of a particular god rarely receive any attention, but Eil monopolized the interest of all the gods.

This was because he was the “First Apostle” in Warode.

As an Apostle naturally gathered immense divine influence, he was both fascinating entertainment and a subject of caution.

Lu hoped he wouldn’t shrink back due to the emergence of other gods.

Of course, Eil, who had been trained under Lu’s concept throughout this time, wouldn’t do such a thing.

[“‘Mother of Life’ makes a proposal to you.”]

[She wishes you to become the Apostle of Earth. She promises tremendous support and rewards unmatched by other gods.]

“What is this…?”

The first overt approach came from Freya.

Her faction, the ‘Earth Church,’ boasted the largest number of followers and was the wealthiest among the seven churches, thanks to the specialized favor effects for production-class users.

All she required from her believers was periodic offerings.

It was the least burdensome church to join, as long as one possessed a certain level of economic power.

Thanks to the vast scale of the largest church, Freya garnered the most influence and was practically the leading faith among the seven churches.

Her claim of offering unparalleled support and rewards wasn’t mere empty talk aimed at ensnaring Eil.

[“‘Judge of Light, Lu’ expresses extreme displeasure!”]

Before he could respond, Lu sent another message, revealing hostility towards Freya.

Creating an Apostle required a massive investment of influence.

However, converting an already established Apostle required significantly less influence.

It was natural for her to strongly express displeasure at Freya’s proposal.

But Freya paid no heed to Lu’s reaction.

[“‘Mother of Life’ awaits your affirmative response.”]

“Such confidence. With the backing of the largest faction and the promise of divine support, she probably thinks I’ll definitely come over. But…”

Eil understood the current stance of each deity perfectly.

Originally, the “Apostle” system was supposed to appear only after users reached level 500, as late-game content.

However, the deities had awakened much earlier than expected, leaving them in a situation where they hadn’t secured enough influence to start activities properly.

It meant they were in a tough position to create new Apostles.

Even Lu had used almost all her influence at the time to grant Apostle status to Eil.

Had Eil failed to perform as expected, it would’ve been a significant loss for her.

Though things turned out well for Lu, other deities wouldn’t likely take such gambles without proven talent.

“Besides, the competition between deities has started now.”

The first-awakened Lu could make big investments foreseeing the future before other deities moved.

But the recently awakened ones were different.

If they recklessly created Apostles now, they wouldn’t be able to respond to other deities’ active moves, like world events, due to depleted influence.

They’d prefer to entice Eil, who already wielded the power of an Apostle, or work in other ways to grow their influence.

But.

“I decline the offer.”

Eil shook his head.

[“‘Judge of Light, Lu’ is relieved by your choice.”]

[“‘Ruler of the Volcano’ mocks her gleefully!”]

[“‘Mother of Life’ becomes greatly enraged!”]

[“You have rejected a deity’s earnest proposal! A death goddess harboring resentment will target your life!”]

“Expected, of course…”

Eil had anticipated the attitude of the prideful Freya.

And despite knowing how things would turn out, he rejected her offer.

Now that he had already become an Apostle serving the Light Church and Lu, switching faiths midstream wasn’t a good choice.

For ordinary players, maybe not, but the exclusive stats and skills Eil had accumulated weren’t average.

Even if Freya promised full support, considering his established position within the Light Church, the losses would outweigh the gains.

But.

He didn’t outright reject her offer.

“However, I may need some time to think about it.”

[“‘Mother of Life’ hesitates at your words.”]

[The rage covering the earth momentarily subsides.]

[“‘Secret Seeker’ finds your choice surprising.”]

[“‘Ruler of the Volcano’ scratches his head awkwardly.”]

Unexpected responses caused messages from the deities to pop up one after another.

But curiously, no message from Lu appeared, despite her being expected to react strongly.

Of course, it was only for a moment.

TSUUUUUSSS!

Surrounding noise filled the air.

With a fierce flash of light, the Goddess of Light appeared.

SWOOSH!

When Lu waved her hand, the surrounding space warped once, cutting off all other deity messages.

A space completely isolated from the outside.

Lu’s intense gaze pierced through Eil.

“You, some explanation seems necessary, doesn’t it?”

“Haha…”

* * *

After the problematic statement, Lu personally sought out Eil, and it took quite a while to dispel her deep misunderstanding.

“So, you just intended to use the other deities?”

“Yes, there’s no need to fight so soon.”

Eil replied simply.

Though everyone was technically competitors, there was no need to get into hostile relations with other deities prematurely.

Just like how he had operated independently of any guild until now, he could trade and utilize the deities interested in him.

“Hmph…”

Lu cleared her throat.

The restlessness she had shown finally settled somewhat.

It felt like roles had been briefly reversed, reminding her of the importance of having rivals.

“Surely… You don’t intend to betray me after saying all this?”

“Do you not trust me?”

“N-no, of course I trust you. However…”

“You don’t need to worry. I have no intention of choosing another church at this point.”

“In that case… thank you.”

Relieved, Lu smiled.

“Except, Lady Goddess, you shouldn’t abandon me later when you recruit other apostles, right?”

Currently, Lu’s only Apostle was Eil, but that wouldn’t last forever.

As it was endgame content open to everyone, the number of Warode Apostles would gradually increase over time.

Of course, it would take a very long time for that to happen.

“Wh-whatever do you mean? How could I possibly…”

“Can I really trust you?”

“Well! There’s no way there could be an Apostle as capable as you!”

Caught off guard by Eil’s questioning, Lu clutched her head in frustration.

“This is ridiculous… I’m going now!”

SWOOSH!

With a burst of white light, Lu disappeared.

The distorted space returned to normal.