At Jibril's sigh, the Flügel lolis didn't feel humiliated. On the contrary, their eyes lit up.
Azriel even dropped her weapon and eagerly scurried over to Su Mo.
"Lord Su Mo, do you mean… you're willing to resurrect Lord Artosh?"
The other Flügel immediately looked at him with anticipation. From what they knew of Su Mo, he didn't have a habit of completely eradicating his enemies. And while it was a bit demeaning to their own creator, Artosh was more of an obstacle than a hated foe to Su Mo.
If he could resurrect the Forge God Ocain, then resurrecting Artosh should be no problem, right?
Faced with these pleading gazes, Su Mo glanced at Jibril. She immediately understood and let out a soft huff.
"With Master's magnanimity, of course he wouldn't mind resurrecting Lord Artosh."
At these words, all the Flügel grew excited. For a created being, their creator was often the greatest meaning of their existence.
But before Azriel could cheer, Jibril crossed her arms and her tone shifted.
"However, Azriel, Master was very displeased with your performance just now."
Hearing this, Azriel froze. "Me?"
"That's right!" Jibril nodded, her aura fierce. "Master and Lord Artosh agreed to a duel of their own volition, and the final defeat was the result of a fair and square battle. Yet you were still dissatisfied. Not only did you ignore Lord Artosh's final command by refusing to submit to Lord Su Mo, but you also raised your weapons against him. Do you realize that your actions both violated Lord Artosh's command and betrayed Lord Su Mo's goodwill?"
As she spoke, she took a step forward and concluded, "Azriel, you are disloyal!"
"Huh? My actions… count as disloyal, meow?"
The already not-so-bright Azriel was immediately intimidated. Not only did she lose her previously imposing demeanor, but she also reverted to her usual ditzy self.
"I feel like something's wrong, but I can't seem to refute it, meow!"
Seeing her confused expression, Jibril smiled faintly. "That's right. It's because of your mistakes, Azriel, and all of yours, that Lord Su Mo doesn't want to resurrect Lord Artosh now!"
"So, you all must remember: it wasn't Lord Su Mo who killed Lord Artosh, it was you who prevented his resurrection!"
Though it was pure sophistry and blame-shifting, when spoken with Jibril's utterly righteous tone, it completely stunned the entire Flügel race.
"Lord Artosh's death… is my responsibility, meow?"
Like a startled bunny, Azriel pondered for a few seconds, then her eyes welled up with tears.
"Jii-chan, what should we do, meow? Is there a way to make Lord Su Mo change his mind and resurrect Lord Artosh, meow?"
She finally understood that whether or not their Master God was resurrected depended entirely on Su Mo's whim.
Hearing this question, the corners of Jibril's mouth curled up. These idiots were so easy to hook.
"If you want to resurrect Lord Artosh, how about showing some sincerity first?" Jibril flashed a wicked smile. "Why don't we start… with licking Lord Su Mo's feet?"
She asked this not only to deliberately bully Azriel, but also to test the limits of their obedience.
To her slight surprise, hearing this condition, Azriel didn't hesitate or even think for a fraction of a second. She took two quick steps, ran right up to Su Mo, and her small body dropped to its knees on the spot.
Like a pet, she wagged an imaginary tail and looked up at Su Mo with a determined gaze.
"If it works, I'll do anything! Not just your feet, all of you, anywhere!"
At her words, the other Flügel lolis snapped to attention and all rushed over, completely surrounding Su Mo.
"If this will get Lord Su Mo to grant our wish, we'll do it too!"
And these Flügel lolis weren't just all talk; they immediately took action.
Faced with this spectacle, Jibril, who had been squeezed out, was dumbfounded.
"W-Wait! I haven't even had a taste of Master yet, how can you go first?! Stop that, all of you!"
If these thousand Flügel really went to work, even if each of them just got one lick, wouldn't they practically swallow Master whole? How could such a great reward be left to these idiots?
Just as Jibril was considering whether to use her Authority to seize the best position, Su Mo finally acted.
The result of leaving everything to Jibril had been getting swarmed by lolis. For someone with a special fetish, this might be a feast, but for Su Mo, it was a bit too much.
Although Jibril had done a good job of subduing the Flügel, her tendency to go off-script was a problem.
If not for the fact that his clothes were protected by his Authority, they would have probably been licked clean off by now.
"Hold it!"
Pressing down on the small heads of Azriel and the other Flügel, Su Mo separated them and had them line up obediently before him.
"Resurrecting Artosh is not a problem. But before that, you need to show me your value. And no, I'm not talking about the value of licking me."
As he spoke, he shot a glance at Jibril. She immediately lowered her head, clasping her hands together in a gesture of apology.
Seeing this, Su Mo continued, "As long as you establish sufficient merit, I don't mind resurrecting Artosh and allowing you to repay the grace of your creator."
This was the classic tactic of dangling a carrot on a stick. [T/N: The original idiom is "drawing a big pancake," meaning to make a grand, often empty, promise to motivate someone.]
When they would establish merit, and what level of merit would be considered "sufficient," were all things for Su Mo to decide.
As for when he would resurrect Artosh, that was an even more nebulous question. If he wanted, he could postpone it for a hundred thousand, or even a million years, and it wouldn't violate his promise.
"Really, meow? Thank you for your benevolence, Lord Su Mo… We… we are willing to submit to you, Master! Please use our bodies as your swords! We are willing to give our all for you, just to establish merit!"
After a few moments of excited chatter, the group quickly reached a consensus.
With Azriel as their representative, all the Flügel knelt down, assuming a posture of complete submission and accepting Su Mo's terms.
They weren't ignorant of the possibility that Su Mo might be stalling, but they still didn't hesitate. First, they had no choice.
The fact that the One God was willing to give them a glimmer of hope was already a luxury; they had no right to ask for more.
Second, for the immortal Flügel, time was not an issue.
Let alone a million years, even ten million years—as long as there was hope, they were willing to wait.
In reality, it was less that Su Mo was giving them a condition to resurrect Artosh, and more that he was giving them a reason to live. It just looked a bit like a daughter selling herself to bury her father… no, selling herself to resurrect her father.
Seeing these Flügel, who had previously been filled with a desire for self-destruction, completely submit, Jibril also breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless, it was great that her Master was willing to make use of these idiots.
Just then, she felt a familiar, large hand grab the scruff of her neck and lift her up.
"Master?" The perfectly well-behaved Jibril tilted her head, wondering what Su Mo was about to do.
"The Flügel have chosen to submit, but they still lack a manager." Su Mo looked at Jibril and transferred a certain power he had just acquired into his retainer. "So, I have decided. You will be the War God!"
Hearing this, Jibril froze for a moment, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Master? Is this… Lord Artosh's divine essence?!" She quickly identified the power Su Mo had injected into her.
Although Su Mo had a history of bestowing divine essences upon their corresponding retainers, she never imagined he would give away even the War God's divine essence so casually.
This was a divine essence capable of shattering the stars of the night sky, one that surpassed all other gods. Its preciousness was absolutely beyond comparison.
"Th-Th-This… aren't you being a little too generous?" Feeling the power swelling within her, Jibril was completely stunned.
If she wasn't dreaming, she had now surpassed March 7th, with whom she had been on par, and had become a Tier 5, Star-Busting existence.
She was just a humble Flügel, a relative latecomer among his retainers. How could she be worthy of such a blessing?
"I believe you have the potential to unleash this divine essence to its limit, to a level not inferior to Artosh."
Faced with Jibril's astonishment, Su Mo's reply was perfectly calm.
Unlike the divine-tier geniuses Synk and Roni, Jibril had no special talent for creating new techniques. Her greatest strength was simply combat. However, in the realm of combat, she was an individual in no way inferior to a divine-tier genius.
In the domain of breaking through one's own limits and defeating enemies beyond imagination, her qualities might even surpass Artosh's.
Hearing Su Mo's reply, and meeting her master's gaze for several seconds, Jibril reached out and hugged Su Mo, resting her small head on his arm.
"Although I should be thanking you for your gift right now, to be honest, I suddenly feel a lot of pressure." If she couldn't live up to this gift, she would be betraying her Master's trust.
"Then bear the pressure and keep up. There will be more situations like this in the future." Su Mo patted Jibril's head, his tone calm but with a hint of anticipation.
There weren't many beings who could keep up with his pace. He hoped that, at the very least, his retainers wouldn't fall behind.
"Mm, I will!" Jibril nodded, her eyes firm, before immediately reverting to her usual playful demeanor.
"By the way, Master, what do you want to do next? Now that you've unified the world, should we call the newcomer over and make things irreversible? I feel like with her intelligence, Master could get her to willingly give birth to ten…"
Watching the two of them, Azriel at the side couldn't help but feel a little envious. At that moment, she suddenly understood why Jibril had chosen this Master—it was a certain quality unrelated to power.
Hearing Jibril's nonsense, Su Mo wordlessly tapped her on the head. "Don't bully the newcomer!"
As he spoke, he remembered the tasks he had assigned before the war.
"Speaking of which, Ocain reported earlier that there have been results in the research on Imaginary Energy. Since March 7th is here, we can go and see the results."
"Understood! I'll go and notify them to gather right away!" Jibril immediately accepted the order.
Even after obtaining a power that surpassed all gods, she was still perfectly accustomed to running errands.