Chapter 45 - The Immortal Athanasia (5)
-You, whose power is composed solely of worshippers, are weak.
Other gods said that.
That it wasn't true immortality.
'I...'
Other gods could also gain greater power according to the number of their worshippers.
However, they didn't derive all their power from worshippers like she did.
In that sense, she couldn't help but doubt herself if she was truly immortal.
And just now, she had directly felt that fear.
'Am I, dead?'
A feeling of consciousness sinking.
She thrashed in an abyss where nothing could be seen.
'Like this?'
To experience defeat like this again, it was unbelievable.
But even more unbelievable was the Demon King's cleverness and cruelty.
How did he confirm that her entire power was composed solely of worshippers?
The knight from Holy Kratia had said that others wouldn't know about her.
Yet, he knew everything.
He even knew she would be the first to arrive and had made all preparations.
As if he knew the same information that Holy Kratia held.
-At best, the reason you are called immortal is probably because your soul alone can be preserved.
What good would that do now?
She sighed, certain that only her soul remained.
'I really wanted to get revenge.'
On the one who trampled all the ancient gods, and even on the ancient gods who ignored her.
She thought she could do it because she woke up first, but she had acted too carelessly.
'I only caused my worshippers to die a dog's death.'
Even though they were those without steadfast faith, they were still her worshippers.
It was her own weakness that prevented her from protecting that faith.
She quietly closed her eyes.
All she could do now was to reconstruct her body over a long period of time through the worshippers who might be hiding somewhere.
She didn't know how long that would take, but...
"...Athanasia."
A voice calling her name was heard from somewhere.
'Is it the guide of souls?'
A god located at the gateway to the underworld.
To her, who would reconstruct her body even if it took a long time, it was merely an annoying presence.
"Wake up."
But the voice she heard clearly carried life.
Something that couldn't possibly belong to a god guarding the underworld's gateway.
Stir.
Only then did she realize that she could move her 'body'.
Light had somehow settled into her vision, which had seemed to be wandering in the abyss.
She slowly lifted her eyelids.
At first, her vision was blurry.
All she could immediately discern was that she was lying in a dark room.
"Hmm..."
Someone was sitting in front of her.
Athanasia, who had been groaning from the intense pain wracking her entire body, soon confirmed who was in front of her.
"You...!"
As her eyes cleared, she saw none other than the Demon King.
She immediately tried to get up but let out a scream.
"Gah?!"
Her body hadn't completely recovered.
Realizing that her worshippers had even abandoned their faith in her, she let out a shrill voice towards the Demon King.
"Y-You bastard. To try to mock me in this state..."
"It's Clay."
"What?"
"My name."
Athanasia looked blankly at the Demon King, Clay, who was suddenly introducing himself.
"What are you suddenly...?"
"You wouldn't use honorifics anyway, so I just told you my name."
Clay ignored her reaction and asked.
"Is your body feeling a bit better?"
"My body?"
"The vital spots were avoided."
At his words, Athanasia looked down at her body.
It was bandaged up as if treated.
"Ha!"
Athanasia let out a sigh.
"What is this nonsense?"
"I didn't want to end it that way."
"Are you pitying me?"
"Athanasia."
Clay spoke with his usual impassive face.
"Can you accept being used by humans without even knowing who I am?"
"You're the Demon King! The king of demons who commit atrocities!"
"Yes, and before that, I was the Hero who fought for humans."
JOLT.
Athanasia's body flinched.
"You know what a Hero is, don't you? Since powerful humans who oppose evil often appeared in your generation too."
"What are you talking about...?"
"I was the Hero."
Clay told Athanasia what had happened to him.
"I was accused of colluding with the previous Demon King and executed."
The humans' faith in him had crumbled in vain.
"Do you understand now why I turned my back on humans?"
Athanasia, having heard everything, was frozen in place, eyes wide.
'He was the Hero?'
A Hero was someone only the most noble among humans could become.
The source of power differed from generation to generation, but that fact alone never changed.
For anyone to become a Hero, to become a vessel capable of holding a god's power, they had to possess something akin to a god in some aspect.
And the only qualification humans, who were born with weaker bodies than gods or other races, could possess, was practically their mindset alone.
"Can you prove it?"
Therefore, she asked, unable to believe it based on words alone.
"What you said, can you prove it?"
"You can find out for yourself."
Clay spoke as if it were simple.
"Or you can know from this."
He took off his upper garment, revealing numerous brands etched into his torso.
"Before my execution, my body couldn't properly use Holy Power, but now I can use it in a different way."
By converting Holy Power into magi.
"You should be able to see through it with your eyes."
Clay drew upon his power.
The Holy Power gathered in his body instantly transformed into magi, cycling repeatedly.
"!"
She saw it.
Athanasia gasped, seeing the flow of power transform into a grotesque structure.
"Impossible. What kind of twisted body is that?"
"Even I find it difficult to explain perfectly, but I believe it has been proven."
That he was a body qualified to be akin to a god.
"...Even so, you killed my worshippers."
Athanasia glared fiercely at Clay.
"Even if you didn't destroy my body completely, you killed my worshippers."
"If I didn't, you would have killed us all."
Clay replied calmly.
"Isn't that right?"
It was a battle.
A battle where they each tried to kill the other.
Clay told her that it was a strategic choice, not based on personal feelings.
"The remaining ones."
She had nothing to say and managed to ask.
"What will you do with the remaining ones?"
"Don't worry."
Clay uttered words she hadn't expected.
"They are my worshippers now."
♧
Athanasia's worshippers were special.
They were just like other humans, but they were optimized for serving someone.
Having habitually acquired the mindset of serving and revering a god through transmitted methods, they could immediately send 'faith' to the one they newly chose as their god.
Their nature was different from other people for whom fear did not immediately transform into faith.
"You mean you transformed their fear of you into faith in you?"
Athanasia's face filled with astonishment.
"That kind of thing is possible?"
"As I said, it's a method that only works on your worshippers. Faith in other gods is closer to brainwashing, but faith in you was merely methodological."
In other words, rather than truly believing in her, they were merely engrossed in the form of worship.
The reason for this was,
"You probably know why that is, too."
Because she had told them not to regard her as a god.
"Because you told other gods that you weren't a perfect god."
"How do you know that..."
"And because you yourself accepted that, it created this fatal situation for you, who already relied on worshippers for most of your power."
Clay extended his hand to Athanasia.
"Wh-What is it?"
"Athanasia. Unlike other gods, you are essentially a being who draws upon and uses the faith of others, which makes you not so different from me."
Because a Hero is also close to being born a vessel.
"I want to form an alliance with you."
"What?"
Athanasia's face twisted.
"You killed my worshippers, stole them, and then what?"
"This is not a proposal."
Clay met her gaze directly with both eyes.
"Don't make me test even the immortality of your soul."
GULP.
Athanasia swallowed dryly without realizing it.
♧
"So, it went according to plan?"
Kardine asked Beatrice, looking at the platform where Athanasia and Clay stood together from afar.
"Yes."
She said, watching the scene with a body not yet fully recovered.
"Athanasia completely fell for it, didn't she?"
Athanasia was saying something even while looking at her captured worshippers.
The gist of it was that she acknowledged her defeat to the Demon King, the god of the demon race, and wished to be accepted into his group.
"Those worshippers have only lost their complete faith in Athanasia; they haven't fully revered Clay as their new god yet."
However, Clay deceived them on that point.
In a situation where the outcome was already decided, and Athanasia had only just been released from her seal and had little information, Clay's method, which held the advantage in every aspect, worked.
"Now those worshippers will also properly build faith in Clay. By twisting fear."
That would take time.
Athanasia, overwhelmed by the imposing presence Clay showed, likely believed him implicitly.
"Truly, amazing."
Kardine let out a deep breath.
"I knew he had a plan, but I didn't know he had thought of everything to that extent."
"Well, I heard about it late too."
Beatrice smiled.
"To complete the plan, he probably just explained our roles first. I'm already looking forward to seeing what kind of monstrous Demon King he'll become."
Kardine swallowed dryly, watching Beatrice gaze at Clay with an enraptured expression.
'I too cannot imagine how far he will go.'
Actions based on thorough planning, unlike the previous Demon King.
He was extremely emotional, yet ironically, he was taming everyone in a very emotionally restrained manner.
'I sincerely hope he will revitalize our demon race.'
Kardine earnestly prayed in his heart for Clay to fulfill the wishes of all demons.
And at that time, as everyone in Barungenia underwent a period of transformation, a rumor started circulatin in the areas where the scattered demons had gathered.
"They say a new Demon King has appeared in Barungenia."
"What, is that true?"
"Don't be stupid."
The demons, steeped in defeat, scowled, criticizing those who spread rumors.
"If a new Demon King appeared, would it be this quiet?"
"Yeah, the Demon King doesn't stay still like this!"
That was right.
A Demon King, as soon as born, walked the path of tyranny, so he wouldn't move so cautiously that he would only be heard of as a rumor.
"Hey."
Among those talking, a single gigantic demon appeared.
"A new Demon King appeared in Barungenia?"
It was Geshkafo, one of the reserve Heavenly Kings.