Ch.4343. The Enraged God

I was truly caught off guard by becoming an intermediate god in such an unexpected situation, but that feeling didn’t last long.

‘Hmm…’

Perhaps it was due to the transcendent cognitive abilities and intelligence unique to gods who possess divine status. It didn’t take me long to understand and accept this situation.

‘Well, it’s all good in the end.’

Becoming an intermediate god in such an unexpected way wasn’t a bad variable at all. In fact, in a situation like now where meeting conditions while in the game was difficult, it was actually a positive development.

So, armed with this invincible positive mindset, I was digesting the rampaging thoughts of Phobos within me when—

Suddenly, I recalled the past when I first planned this soul-stealing operation.

※ ※ ※

In truth, this soul-stealing operation was not part of some grand conspiracy I had been planning since I decided to mess with Phobos… it was actually full of improvisation and changes of heart, something I never predicted would happen.

From the beginning, our “Avatar of Avenge,” Emil Albieu, who first attacked Phobos’s temple, was someone I simply happened to notice, got angry about, and then transferred power to for revenge.

It was about time I promoted my antagonistic stance toward the pantheon throughout the entire cult, and to become an intermediate god, I needed to expand my religious influence broadly.

So while I was contemplating how to make a splendid debut, I secretly intervened when I accidentally discovered that disgusting and irritating situation.

First, I approached Emil’s daughter before she could be violated by the thugs who had taken her. I appeared before her in wolf form and, through a fair deal, retrieved her soul in advance.

Then, into the empty body left behind after the soul was gone, I inserted the soul of a serial rapist and murderer that I had obtained during the purge of the revenge cult, manipulated his memories, and let him be violated instead.

And after that.

I approached Emil, who had fallen into despair and failed even in his suicide attempt, and instilled confidence and knowledge in him. Later, I had Gracchus secretly instruct the cult to bury the dagger I had bestowed at a designated location.

The havoc he wreaked afterward has been mentioned before, so let’s skip over that for now.

Anyway, after Emil’s revenge drama concluded.

While wandering around briefly as an avatar in wolf form, I quite accidentally encountered a “furry” deity who didn’t even possess any divine status.

They were disgustingly clingy, so I disposed of them in a suitably secluded place, but that’s not the important part.

That deity mistook me, who was wearing the avatar of a wolf god, for the actual wolf god.

Come to think of it, it was quite understandable why they made that mistake.

Having the appearance of a wolf god, possessing the body of a wolf god, and being a god with the divine status of a wolf.

Unless someone was an extreme paranoid who doubted everything, wouldn’t they naturally suspect me in this state to be the wolf god?

Moreover, no one knows what happened to the current wolf god, a minor deity among minor deities who had entered from outside as a lower god and then was demoted to the lowest rank after losing followers.

No, who would even care about such a god with such narrow divine connections and virtually no influence, to the point where one might wonder if there was even a knowledgeable deity in the pantheon?

So this character would obviously have an air-like presence that wouldn’t matter whether they existed or not…

This was actually quite a favorable situation for me.

Since they were such an insignificant extra-level character, no one would notice if their behavior changed, and if I just stayed quiet, no one would realize they had been replaced.

I mean, realistically, what kind of insane being would suspect that someone else was wearing a human disguise and pretending to be that person?

Especially someone who, in modern terms, would be equivalent to a city council member?

So after becoming convinced that I could infiltrate the pantheon disguised as this wolf god, one day I received a summons to attend a pantheon trial addressed to the wolf god.

After seeing this and confirming that my disguise worked even with the pantheon’s automated system, I decided to participate in some trial as a test.

From the moment I witnessed the debate over Phobos’s responsibility there, I began to formulate a grand plan.

It was the beginning of the soul-stealing operation.

First, obviously, my aim was to guide Phobos toward receiving the soul-splitting punishment so that I could steal a soul fragment.

Since this was the typical punishment that higher gods received when they committed wrongdoings or were framed for responsibility, as repeatedly shown in the game, guiding him toward this wasn’t difficult.

All I needed to do was attack one of the Rom Empire’s cities that worshipped one of the Twelve Major Gods as its guardian deity, and make Phobos, who was already on trial, take responsibility for it.

However, attacking a city protected by one of the Twelve Major Gods would naturally consume an enormous amount of faith…

I didn’t want to create a situation where I would waste faith on a half-hearted invasion with nothing to gain.

After careful consideration, my chosen target was the industrial city where Vulcanus, the blacksmith god among the Twelve Major Gods, served as the guardian deity.

It was a golden goblin of a city that could yield various benefits if invaded.

It was a core base producing military supplies for the Rom Empire, which would eventually become my enemy, and home to numerous master craftsmen of high-grade equipment. Destroying it would provide various advantages in future wars.

The underground mines of the industrial city also yielded high-quality coal and iron ore, making it ideal for targeting the Rom Empire’s overall military power. The dwarf slaves in this city were also sufficient reason for invasion.

They were a race capable of mass-producing intermediate blacksmiths as if from a mold, so rescuing them would build goodwill with the Dwarf Kingdom, and it would be even better if they joined the cult.

But there was a core prize, namely the blacksmith Grumhil.

Currently intermediate-ranked, but later a hero-class named character who would escape during the original Bjorn’s fall of the Rom Empire and become a superior craftsman.

Later, he would be regarded as an avatar of one of their ancestral gods in dwarf history books, to the extent that the famous artifact-grade equipment series “Grumhil’s ■■■” exists in the game.

I happened to need a better armor for Bjorn, and I also coveted his talent.

Having decided on Vulcanus’s industrial city as my target, I moved according to an extremely meticulous plan.

The timing was set for dawn, when people are most drowsy, and I selected Lisa Raeldotir, who could move without any issues even at dawn.

As a high-ranking priestess and saint with combat power on the level of a strategic weapon, she followed my instructions and boldly invaded the city. After a brief commotion, she performed a ritual that allowed me—or more precisely, my image—to appear in the sky above the city.

While my image, serving as a catalyst for my power, affected the entire city, I activated the skill “Divine Punishment” and bestowed the blessing of revenge upon every being in the city.

Because my skill level was intermediate and I had set the range too wide, it was only strong enough that intermediate beings could resist it… but lower beings couldn’t resist at all.

The grudges of all mortals below intermediate rank were amplified to extremes, no matter how trivial, causing them to try to kill each other. And this blessing wasn’t only bestowed upon the living.

I deliberately revived and controlled masses of slaves who had died with grudges, which was another reason I invaded this city.

As a result, the industrial city was completely destroyed, the slaves were safely rescued, and I gained unexpected benefits in the form of the minotaur Ugo, as well as Vulcanus’s wrath.

Thus, with everything proceeding according to plan, I have now evolved into an intermediate god.

‘The concentration is definitely… different.’

Just as when evolving from the lowest-ranked god—a kind of tutorial stage—to a lower god who can at least be treated as a deity, the change from lower god to intermediate god is incomparable.

The very intensity of the soul feels different; if I were to quantify it, perhaps the unit would increase by more than two digits?

At least tens of times stronger—while briefly pondering what kind of being a higher god must be, given such a change from absorbing just a small soul fragment…

‘If I’ve gained it, I should test it out, right?’

Unable to resist the urge to test the new divine status of wrath I acquired during this promotion, I looked around with the god’s eye, which now perceived things completely differently after becoming intermediate rank…

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!”

‘Oh, jackpot.’

Having just moved my divine sight outside the Rom Empire and found someone perfectly suited for using this divine status, I approached them with a sinister smile.