Chapter 42

As I returned to the Grand Temple on Rudolf’s back, the priests approached to attend to us.

Together with him, I stepped down from Rudolf and onto the ground.

A light sense of relaxation.

It was the reaction of unfolding the Celestial Ladder.

When I thought about how the Lightness Technique was originally meant to make the body’s movements comfortable and swift, the level of that technique was so inefficient it couldn’t even be compared to an ant’s eyelash.

Records show that it was used in the history of the Central Plains by fewer than a hundred people, merely a technique to boast “I can do this too.”

Knowledge and enlightenment are necessary, but fundamentally, the Celestial Ladder was terribly inefficient, requiring an excessive amount of internal power.

‘It did seem impressive as a display, though.’

The moment during the martial arts tournament when the celestial ladder was unfolded to congratulate the winners drew the largest attention from the crowd.

‘Hmm… Well, it didn’t feel too bad, I suppose.’

The sensation of thousands of eyes not leaving me…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I coughed lightly, causing the female priests who had been tidying my hair and clothes to look surprised, as if they thought they had done something wrong.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Excluding the winners of the martial arts tournament, as Pohelrn’s influence expanded, more people began to flock to the faith of the Dual God Religion due to the miracles I performed in front of humans.

Are not warriors skilled in destruction rather than production?

The disciples I had taken on were filtered from the tournament, so they didn’t particularly help with the maintenance of this magnificent Grand Temple.

Because the Grand Temple was still not completed, workers would come regularly, but having only bullies among them was troublesome.

Thus, I selected those who had been thoroughly vetted by Alia, priests who didn’t learn martial arts but engaged in various tasks like the female priest in front of me.

—

*Huh…*

I let out a silent sigh in my heart.

Intentionally or not, my current situation resembled that of a cult leader, which wasn’t entirely incorrect.

I was essentially using the martial arts I had trained in to enchant the common people.

It was no different from a quack peddler in the market or a fake shaman selling charmed water.

It was now nearly eight years since I had set out from the forest with a mission and great expectations, and here I was, the leader of the largest religion in the human realm.

—

‘The path of a hero is frozen to death…’

Since the promise I made with Priegoss seven years ago, a massive Grand Temple began to be constructed at the center of Pohelrn two years later.

Though I had yet to see its completion, aside from the yearly religious proclamations, I hardly stepped out of this grand construction.

After adjusting my attire, I led the priests who were undertaking their duties into the depths of the Grand Temple.

The excessive remnants of fabric due to my large clothing kept getting lifted by the female priests behind me, preventing the fabric from dragging on the ground.

And we arrived at an enormous space.

Although many parts of the Grand Temple were still unrefined, this particular space was an exception.

At the end of the space stood a large date palm tree and beneath it, a single throne.

The existence of a throne was permitted only in two places in Pohelrn.

The audience chamber of Priegoss’s palace.

And this throne in the Grand Temple, commonly referred to as the Room of Worlds.

I sat in the throne, leaning back slightly.

While sitting in the throne, I looked around.

Beneath the throne was a space that could accommodate over a thousand people so that those residing in the Grand Temple could regularly perform masses.

And numerous carvings were engraved on the walls and ceilings.

Sculptures representing the religious beliefs and cosmology of the Dual God Religion.

The great World Tree, the Sky God.

And the 65 demons served by that god.

Soon, there would be an addition of 7 more demons, bringing the total to 72.

The existence of those demons represented the 7 Loas that fell to Priegoss and myself over the past 7 years, along with 72 Loas I had hunted with Alia’s help beforehand.

This expedition was expected to add the sculptures of the 7 fallen Loas to this place.

Moreover, apart from myself, Priegoss, Alia, and a few succubi, only a small number of people knew this fact.

This Grand Temple served as the battleground protecting Pohelrn.

The date palm tree behind my throne symbolized the Dual God Religion and was the incarnation created from a root of El Prigion, the mother World Tree, extending from the forest now known as the Elven Road, home to the elves.

And the intricately sculpted Sky God above.

In the eastern continent, the God of Night and Death, Ul Kanadiel, had left his physical form inside that statue.

The higher beings of this world had their relics akin to the remains of saints or magical entities.

Additionally, the carcasses of Loas had been processed by Alia as a stone left by Ul Kanadiel, with all statues depicting demons of other faiths having small gemstones embedded within their foreheads.

Loas who ruled over human villages near Pohelrn became part of human history as they were conquered by Priegoss, the earthly representative of the Dual God.

An incomplete battleground created by the combined powers of 2 Elder Loas and 72 Loas.

This battleground, devised by Alia and myself, was still barely controllable thanks to the aid of the mother World Tree.

However, once completed, at least the humans of Pohelrn would be able to withstand attacks even from beings of Elder Loa caliber.

—

‘While Alia and I hold the authority, with the mother’s avatar in the barrier, it won’t turn hostile towards the elves either.’

As I recalled the shattered barrier upon entering Pohelrn, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

‘Though only seven years have passed, so much has changed.’

I looked at the priests and disciples who began to pray while gazing up at me on the throne, remembering the pact I had made with Priegoss seven years ago in that secret room.

What I hoped for from Priegoss and humanity were threefold.

The first was that humans would not oppose the elves.

In the eastern continent, humans were eventually destroyed by the subservients of the Elder Loas.

But I knew the history of the Central Plains.

As Alia had felt with her keen insight, if given time and opportunity, humans would acquire extraordinary civilization and power.

There would be those who would violate this at some point, but if it were to exist as civil law, there would certainly be those who would hesitate to disregard it.

Of course, Priegoss also agreed to this.

Having seen my power firsthand, the existence of elves must have seemed something they could not resist as of yet.

—

The second was to establish the current religion.

I wanted to reshape the thoughts of humanity by forcefully completing the early thoughts they were starting to realize regarding martial arts, to restrict their possibilities.

If that were accomplished, it might not cause issues for about a thousand years.

Even if humans lived short lives, they would likely think that the pinnacle of achievement was the level spoken of in the Central Plains.

In contrast, elves, as seen only through the examples of the eastern continent’s subservients, could easily live for hundreds of years.

If elves began to appear, refining their bodies with a long-awaited martial art like that of Solum under my teachings, the few humans who considered themselves the elite would hardly pose a threat.

Even if they encroached upon the woods, humans would never defeat elves there.

However, just as great masters can emerge from the most primitive ancient techniques like the Great Master Daruma or Zhang Sanfeng, the future is difficult to predict.

Thus, the thought of creating a religion came to mind.

The faith that blooms in a person’s heart is not easily cut, even by a noble emperor’s decree.

I proposed to intertwine the mother World Tree with the human faith.

If the World Tree became an object of faith and if that religion spread widely, when humans someday forget morality and attack elves, those faithful ones would surely revolt from within humanity.

Priegoss pondered.

He might have thought that the World Tree could become the second Anakthus.

Above all, he wished for humanity to live on their own strength rather than through the powers of transcendent beings.

The solution to this concern came from Alia’s wisdom.

She created the Dual God Theory, including the already deceased Ul Kanadiel.

While the dead Ul Kanadiel lacked power, this direction also aimed to reduce the World Tree’s influence within religious beliefs.

Originally a god of night, Ul Kanadiel also possessed heavenly attributes, creating a harmonious balance between the earth and sky, as well as the divine and the subservient.

From my perspective, it felt wrong to marry off my mother who was living well to another, effectively making her a widow. Later, when I sent a letter to the Elven forest inquiring about it, Demis’s response revealed that the mother World Tree smiled broadly and gave her approval.

I could argue that having found a new partner for mother was filial piety… but given that the object was a deceased existence, was this not disrespect?

Thanks to this, Alia, in terms of religion, essentially became my step-sibling, and I gained a stepfather… who then disappeared again.

The primary reason Priegoss accepted the founding of the religion was simple.

Something was needed to unite the humans through a conquest war.

The existence of a king was, after all, merely a legend in the eastern continent, and since such leadership had yet to exist among humans, it was not a well-accepted notion.

In contrast, faith was more straightforward.

The worship of deities represented by the sky or the sun and moon, as well as clan faiths venerating land gods like Loas.

Alia’s proposal aimed to weave all humans within the Pohelrn region of the western continent into their cosmology and worldview through the established religion.

The statues of the Loas now present in this Grand Temple were also the result aimed at integrating towns and cities that had once been under the Loas into a single community in the worldview.

Priegoss, having grasped the usefulness of religion through Alia’s explanation, accepted the second condition as well.

However, I had intended to make one of my sisters the leader of the religion, but both Priegoss and Demis rejected that, leaving the role to me instead.

Thanks to that, I ended up entertaining with the martial arts I had accumulated each year during the martial arts tournament.

Nonetheless, the Dual God Religion, despite its establishment being less than five years ago, was rapidly expanding in influence.

While it was true that I still didn’t even have a name, and was still referring to it as the Sky God and Earth God, we had a long way to go.

—

The third was to make the martial arts I taught serve as a vision.

To show a friendly attitude toward Priegoss, I aimed to teach him proper martial arts for the powers directly under Priegoss.

Especially for soldiers, I wanted to impart what was necessary not just as ordinary warriors, but as soldiers and combatants.

For example, specialized martial arts like the Eighteen Techniques developed for chaotic and large-scale battles.

The issue was that there was still a lack of records, and education was scarce, causing the educational level to drop. Even if one explained it simply, it remained a concept too advanced for current humanity.

Consequently, I hoped that what I transmitted to Priegoss would evolve into ‘true martial arts.’

Alia also agreed on this front.

The monopolization and control of power worried Priegoss not only due to the potential rise of his legitimacy but also because it could lead to the unrestrained and uncontrollable situations that existed in the eastern continent.

With these three pacts, my relationship with Priegoss and the elves managed to commence our first history on friendly terms.

Of course, very few knew this truth, and aside from the satisfaction of being a High Elf manipulated as a religious leader, I felt quite fulfilled.

And I thought the wise Alia had sensed my ulterior motives, knowing that I had additional reasons for empowering humanity.

That was the existence of the eastern continent.

The beings described by her were akin to locusts.

They devoured and laid waste to every land that had passed through.

They stood directly opposed to the terrestrial command of the elves.

Generally, it would be sensible to expect that by consuming all of nature, the ultimate outcome would be the collapse of nature and starvation leading to death…

—

‘So those beings are of the Elder Loas’ subservients…’

The elves may have been overly efficient, but even the giants had to eat to survive.

If nothing special occurred, those beings would live recklessly, rushing toward destruction, yet if they gained the ability to discover and invade the western continent before the eastern continent’s destruction, what then?

The land of flourishing humans would serve as a buffer for war.

—

‘With calculations like these in everything, a life akin to that of a hero would be impossible for me.’

As I inwardly lamented, the female priests walked into the Room of Worlds.

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