In front of the girl stood a wooden sculpture with horns on its head and wings on its back, resembling a demon.
No matter how he looked at it, it bore a faint resemblance to what he might look like after transforming into a demon.
Strangely, the demon's face also shared features with his human form.
What was going on?
Vlad, in the form of a bat and secretly observing everything in the room, was puzzled.
Then he quickly realized—it must have been the fierce battle between him and the forest giant that had been discovered and spread.
At that moment, the whisper in his mind grew clearer as the girl continued to pray.
"God of blood and fire, please bless my family with safety. I am willing to pray to you day and night, and serve you for life, just to protect my family from being harassed by monsters."
Her muttering was identical to the voice echoing in Vlad's mind.
He now understood—she was worshipping him as a god.
But the problem was, he knew he was no god. The thought alone made him tremble.
If he wasn't a god, how could he hear her prayer?
Realizing this, Vlad quickly turned his focus inward, examining his consciousness space.
When he found that the faint prayer in his mind came from the diamond crystal of the Hellfire Demon King, he was stunned.
"Could this be… an actual Godhead!?"
But this Godhead wasn't his—so why was it connected to him?
Of course, Vlad had never been a god before, so he didn't know the full story.
He could only guess that he had somehow stolen control over the Godhead by accident.
In truth, all of this was the result of the Hellfire Demon King's arrogance.
Back then, the Demon King had used the Godhead to merge with Vlad's body.
By using it to reshape him, it became much easier for Vlad to gain control of it after the Demon King's disappearance.
In a way, the Hellfire Demon King had unintentionally handed Vlad an incredible gift.
However, Vlad was far from being able to fully wield or develop the Godhead's power.
Although the energy and faith it had once stored were long ago absorbed by the mysterious light sphere, the core essence—the Hellfire Law—still remained.
The Hellfire Law, one of the higher fire laws, could attack both body and spirit, with its nature being decomposition and devouring.
This was why the Hellfire Demon King could linger for so long even after death.
When Vlad's consciousness actively merged into the Godhead, an overwhelming sense of grandeur filled his heart—
As if he were the supreme master above all living beings.
Of course, it was only an illusion, because he couldn't actually wield the vast law-power within it.
The momentary feeling of expansion faded, and he sobered up.
Compared to the power inside, he was like a small pony trying to pull an enormous carriage—it was simply impossible.
Realizing he owned the treasure but not the key to open it, Vlad shifted his attention to the source of the prayer.
Suddenly, hundreds of faint, almost invisible white threads appeared before his consciousness.
"This…" Vlad's eyes widened in surprise.
When he subconsciously touched one of the threads, a series of soft prayers rang out:
"God of blood and fire, please hear my prayer."
"God born of blood and fire, bring divine punishment and strike down those damned monsters."
"Great God of Blood and Fire, I am Cinderella. Please guide this lost lamb—after my father died, my wicked stepmother and stepsister have kept bullying me."
"Respected God of Blood and Fire, please listen to me."
Wait… that last one sounded oddly familiar.
Still in bat form, Vlad blinked in confusion and focused on the previous voice.
"They… wuwu… always bully me, make me wash clothes, mop the floor, scrub dishes, clean the house… and they won't even give me food…"
Hold on—that was familiar. Cinderella? Hiss… wasn't that the name Cinderella!?
"I didn't expect one of my believers to be the Cinderella," Vlad thought, his bat mouth opening in surprise, revealing two gleaming fangs.
Curious, he completely forgot about the tall girl still praying devoutly before him.
Following the thread of faith, he saw a small, rundown attic.
There, a charming golden-haired girl with a white cotton hair tie was praying to a statue of Vlad, her face full of grievance.
She was only about sixteen or seventeen. Even though her little face was dirty, it couldn't hide her beauty.
Her worn blue dress contrasted with her pale, delicate chest, making it seem even fuller.
Beside her, a few little mice—completely unafraid—were nibbling at sweets she had given them.
From this scene, Vlad had no doubt—this was Cinderella.
When she finished her silent prayer and raised her head, shock filled her face.
"Fa—! It's glowing! The sculpture is glowing!"
Hearing her exclamation, Vlad activated his divine perspective, separating a thread of his spiritual will from the faith-thread bound to the sculpture.
When he saw the sculpture emitting a faint red glow, he immediately understood—it was a natural reaction to his arrival.
Thinking quickly, Vlad spoke:
"Girl, I am the God of Blood and Fire. Are you praying to me?"
A solemn voice came from the wooden statue.
Cinderella was so stunned she couldn't speak. Her head spun, her heart pounded—
The statue had spoken!
When that majestic voice sounded again, she finally came to her senses, blurting out with excitement:
"You—you are really the great God of Blood and Fire! I'm so happy! So what that man said was true—there really is a god in this world."
Watching her expression change from disbelief to fear to joy, Vlad replied:
"Girl, you need not doubt my existence. I am the god you believe in. Serve me wholeheartedly and spread my faith, and I will grant you everything you desire."
"When your faith becomes pure enough, I will respond to you again—Cinderella, correct?"
Within moments, Vlad realized the faint faith-thread could no longer support his presence.
So he ended the conversation in a grand, mysterious tone.
"Oh my god, you even know my name!" the girl exclaimed, covering her mouth in awe.
When the statue's light began to fade, she realized the god had departed.
Unable to contain her joy, Cinderella began to twirl and dance.
From that day on, a fervent and devoted believer of Vlad was born.