Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

On the cold altar, Andrea, who was only twelve years old, closed her eyes.

Starting from the sudden change in the prayer words just now, she tried her best to reduce her awareness of the surrounding environment and block out the influence of the sound on herself through a meditation-like method.

Although her past knowledge of occultism told her that this incorrectly performed ritual would not actually attract the evil god's real power, Andrea was still a little scared.

God says that death is just another beginning, but some deaths can become the end directly.

"what--"

"..."

"Roar--"

"..."

With her eyes closed, Andrea seemed to hear a woman's angry roar that went straight to her soul, followed by a continuous low roar.

The warehouse in this remote city seemed to have turned into an abyss that could imprison gods, and the believers who were just talking turned into monsters, threatening to attack them.

"Goddess... I won't be afraid!"

Andrea spoke to herself silently in her heart and was ready to face death.

She didn't even notice that the divine chains that bound her had become ineffective due to the madness of their master. She just subconsciously curled up into a small ball and buried her face between her knees like an ostrich.

……boom!

……laugh……

Tear--!

Inside the warehouse, all the crazy people who blocked the way were dealt with one by one. This was what Ryan saw.

Under the dim candlelight, patterns for the sacrifice of living souls were laid out on the ground. On the central altar, a blond, childish figure shrank into a ball and shivered.

A lot of gold, silver and materials were piled up on the side, and the dead believers fell to the ground. They originally had a lot of tricky abilities, but after their souls transformed, none of them could be used. Even before Ryan had time to take action, they were already killing each other.

It's true cannibalism, they kill and eat at the same time, and they don't even notice when their stomachs are burst.

"His influence on the outside world has become even stronger. It seems that this trick can't be used casually... When the ritual is wrong, even though the power has not really descended, it can still achieve its goal in another way."

"A bloody feast is held, allowing these twisted lives to devour each other. The one that is left will undergo further physical deformation during the process of cannibalism. It will absorb a certain power that is overflowing in the world, and eventually become a being similar to an 'evil creature'."

With a slightly solemn expression, Ryan had to admit that in the entire Chaos world, the mother tree was truly an existence that was completely beyond his plan.

On the one hand, He has no so-called "mythical trajectory" to compare with, on the other hand, He possesses the most powerful force besides the world itself, and most importantly, Ryan cannot really understand His thinking.

Unlike those gods who were born powerful but were affected by their priesthood and essence, the Mother Tree was special. You know, even Ryan himself would gradually develop a divine side, but He probably wouldn't.

After all, madmen are naturally not afraid of mental deviation, and no one can tell whether He has become a little crazier. Fortunately, He has been blocked... Otherwise, this world would have long become a drama of many primitive gods fighting against foreign gods.

"Then it's your turn next."

After packing up the scattered items one by one, Ryan looked at the figure still huddled on the altar.

The little princess, who had closed her senses to the outside world, probably didn't know what was happening yet. She looked extremely fragile and beautiful. Then Ryan unceremoniously pulled away the other person's hands that were hugging her knees, and looked into the eyes of the girl who had opened her eyes in panic.

"This... little princess, right? Please introduce yourself. How did you get here? What's your name? What can you do? What are you going to do?"

"After all, you are my prisoner from now on. As a princess of a kingdom, you should have a deeper understanding of this world."

"No! I won't tell you anything! Ugh... don't think I'll surrender to you, you lackey of the evil god, just give up!"

The tears in the corners of her eyes had not yet dried, and her voice was trembling. Andrea tried to raise her head and spoke righteously to the stranger in front of her.

"Oh my god, did the ritual just now really summon the followers of the evil god? He even killed them all, but this is not mysticism... No, Andrea, you have to be strong. The goddess's chosen people will not bow to the evil followers, let alone the craziest one among the evil followers."

Andrea secretly encouraged herself, but she was very panicked.

There are almost no sects in this world that directly point to the Mother Tree of Flesh and Blood. Most of them believe in the ancient evil creatures that split from it or something else. Even the few exceptions were either quickly eliminated or gradually turned into evil creatures.

But as for prayers, experienced people can tell what kind of existence is being described just by listening to them... So knowing how terrifying the Outer Gods are, Andrea felt like she had just escaped from a wolf's mouth, only to fall into a tiger's den again.

"So you are 'non-violent non-cooperation'?"

"Yes - violence doesn't cooperate either!"

Obviously Andrea misunderstood this sentence. 'Non-violent non-cooperation' does not mean 'I will not cooperate unless you use violence', but it must be said that she still said it with great momentum - if you ignore her eyes that seemed like she was about to cry and her calves that kept kicking backwards.

Ryan was helpless in the face of this situation. He was in no mood to comfort the little girl, so he had to use the most direct method to make the little princess realize the "cruelness" of reality.

······

Two hours later, outside the city of Thuringia.

After pulling the last box of silver onto the carriage, Ryan looked up at the sky.

It was still a while before dawn, but we could set off. Although the dirt roads of this era were quite rubbish, at least within a certain distance of the city, the roads were still very smooth, and even if we only relied on torches for lighting, we would not fall into any big pits.

As for waiting until tomorrow morning, that was not an option. Whether it was the dead believers or the overthrown city gate guards, they would probably be discovered by day.

"We can set off now... Hey, come here, can you drive a carriage?"

Ryan waved his hand and pointed to the front of the luxurious carriage, then got in without any hesitation. In the direction he waved, Andrea, who was not tall, was standing next to the carriage, biting her lip.

She didn't look tall, her waist just reached the floor of the carriage.

"Head south, aiming for the Acropolis in Athens. Going home should be a very exciting thing, right? So don't just stand there, act quickly, and remember to call me if there is any accident on the way."

Sitting on the soft cashmere cushion, Ryan took out a box of tea from the secret compartment.

This luxurious carriage was originally an escape tool prepared by the cultists of the Resurrection Sect for themselves. After thousands of years of development and iteration, the current frame can fully combine the advantages of practicality and comfort. The only flaw is that alchemical methods were used in many places, so the cost may be a bit high.

But if it is used directly, then this disadvantage does not exist. Only those who pay will care about the price, and users will not care.

"But I can't!... Well, I know a little bit, I've seen other people drive it, but I've never driven it myself!"

Andrea spoke hesitantly, looking at the big horse that was half her height, she was a little dumbfounded.

Having just accepted the fact that she was rescued in the face of a 'cruel' reality, Andrea was in a state of emotional ups and downs, and all she wanted to do was take a good rest.

She believed that the city's administrator would do this, but she didn't expect that the guy who saved her rejected her suggestion, took her out of the city overnight, and asked her to drive the carriage.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with a princess driving a carriage, after all, Andrea's father had never lived the life of a prince in his early years. The current King of Athens, Theseus, was born as the illegitimate son of the previous king. Even until he came of age, he had never met his father and had never been to Athens.

Therefore, when it comes to educating his children, he has discarded a lot of useless things.

"I am the princess of Athens and a high-ranking priestess of the goddess. You just need to take me to the church in Thuringia and remove the blockade on me. I can take you back - no, they will escort us back to Athens. By then, my father will definitely be grateful to you for saving me..."

"But I don't really want to meet your father who is said to have killed more than one incarnation of God. After all, I am an evil cultist, am I not, 'unyielding' little princess."

Laying emphasis on the word 'unyielding', Ryan said calmly: "This is what cultists do. You are my prisoner now. In fact, if you were not used as a sacrifice, but simply killed by the other side, I would not have thought of saving you. After all, disputes between faiths are common."

"You! I-I'm not crying!"

Her face flushed instantly. The conversation between the two parties was completely on different channels. Andrea's attention was immediately focused on another thing.

"Of course I won't give in to the cultists. Every Athenian royal family won't give in to the cultists - and won't be scared to tears! Don't slander me!"

"...Yes, you didn't. So, little princess, hurry up and get this carriage moving. The journey from here to Athens is measured in months - it's a vast country, and it's not primitive at all."

"The most important thing is that there are actually dragons on this road. Dragons, dragons that don't snatch princesses always feel like something is missing. Or, are princesses that have never been snatched by dragons also a little undervalued?"

Ryan casually said something that confused Andrea, and looked back at the city under the night sky.

Half of the place was brightly lit, and the other half was dotted with stars, showing the disparity in class. It was much earlier than expected to leave, but there was nothing we could do about it. We couldn't stay here for long.

After all, no one had met her in person, so who would have thought that an Athenian princess who was not recorded in mythology would suddenly appear in such a remote place. The result of this was that whether Andrea died here or was rescued here, she would definitely attract the attention of the king of Athens and the gods.

Let the pursuing paladins and clergy think that this is another cannon fodder to cover up the princess's true whereabouts. That's what they thought anyway. After all, Ryan doesn't want to be noticed now, especially by the guy who can't beat him without deleting his account and starting over.

So he made a prompt decision and decided to run away, heading south, ready to experience Athens of that period and the existence of alchemy.

"Now, let's go, Andrea, and use your intelligence."

With a smile on his face, Ryan opened a book that he had found on a corpse in the carriage. Then he thought for a moment and handed out a package of food that had been packed in advance.

"I'm sure you'll be able to master driving quickly—and besides, this is your breakfast."

"I guess no one's going to feed the prisoners, so fill your bellies and get moving."

"..."

Andrea took it silently and tried to climb onto the driving seat of the carriage. Holding the warm food, she recalled the way she remembered driving, and then tried to get the carriage moving.

The dark clouds still blocked the moonlight, and even became thicker and thicker, and it looked like a heavy rain was about to fall. After the rain, all traces left here would be washed away by the water.

······

The other side of the endless void world.

The outskirts of the Hemenu world.

Coldness and deathly silence are still the main themes here, and perhaps it is a coincidence, perhaps it is destined, just before and after Ryan's human incarnation was completely born, in the darkness, a certain consciousness became agile from being rigid.

Since the power of the world was withdrawn and the gods left one after another, the world of Hemenu became quiet again, with only one god left. When the god lost most of his humanity, he no longer felt bored or lonely, and he would not care about the length of time.

Time flows like water, but He just exists here, just like the world itself, for thousands of years, until today, when He was awakened.

It was not because of the human incarnation on the other side of time and space. He just noticed that a strange wave came from the darkness in front of him. Something seemed to be about to be completed, and this long-awaited change also meant that he should take action.

"… Pallas… Moses… Faith…"

The whisper echoed in the void, and then that vast and boundless consciousness instantly condensed.

A trace of imperceptible but essential force of time and space suddenly emerged, and then without any warning, stabbed towards the darkness in front of it.

The void was still quiet, but unimaginable collisions took place thousands of times in an instant. However, the result was inevitable. Even though the power of the world had dropped again compared to before, He still successfully repelled the outsider who tried to invade His body.

However, the power was repelled, but some kind of information transmitted between spirits was not. It flowed in through the fleeting gap. Then, attracted by some kind of connection, it flowed towards a certain place in the world.

It landed on a mountain, and there were shepherds in the wilderness below the mountain. It was a manifestation of spirituality, so it was the initial manifestation of spirit in the elemental realm - it was a ball of fire, but it would not burn the body of a living being.

The shepherd named Moses, or Musa, was leading his flock and was the first to see this amazing sight from heaven, a sight he had never seen before.

"What's this?"

The old shepherd looked stunned and at a loss. But for some reason, a call from the soul emerged from his heart.