Chapter 712: High Priestess. 2 'So much energy...' Even those who weren't sensitive to energy could feel the absurd amount of energy. "My beloved acolytes." Everyone felt a shiver down their spines when they heard the voice in their heads. It was a heavy voice, full of authority, but at the same time gentle, graceful, and beautiful. The rune circle on the ground began to spin and rise upwards. Everyone just watched in shock as a 'body' began to appear within the rune circle, starting at the feet, then moving to the knees, then the waist. Soon the being's entire body was exposed for all to see. Some of the acolytes rubbed their eyes, and they looked at the statue and the man standing in the middle of the magic circle. 'It's him!" Everyone thought at the same time. 'But why can't we see his face?' The man's face was covered in a kind of crimson darkness in which only his eyes were seen. When this collective question was asked, everyone heard the sound of breaking glass. The rune circle shattered into thousands of pieces, and an agonized groan of pain was heard by all. "Ugh." Roxanne fell to the floor and started coughing up blood. "Archbishop Roxanne!" The archbishops who were nearby quickly tried to approach Roxanne, but they stopped when they heard the voice in their heads. "Foolish girl, summoning me directly requires too much energy. Even with my gift, your body wouldn't take it... Let me help you." The man pointed his hand at Roxanne, and dense red energy shot out of his hand toward her. Everyone watched in a stupor as Roxanne's appearance visibly improved, and in less than a few seconds, she was perfectly healthy... In fact, she even looked better than before! Proof of this was the freckles on Roxanne's face disappearing, her hair turning deeper shades of crimson, and her body 'growing up' and becoming curvier. "G-God, this is." She stuttered. "A gift for all your efforts. One of my divinities is beauty as well as strength. So improving your beauty and strength is a simple thing." Listening to what God said to her, the women couldn't help but think of how kind he was, and their hearts were touched by this gesture. Looking at Roxanne again, they couldn't help but stare enviously at Roxanne; after all, what woman doesn't want to look prettier? "Envy is a good thing, my acolytes. It motivates you to seek something similar for yourselves, a basic desire for all beings..." The group of women looked at their God, and they completely lost their breath when they saw the darkness of his face disappearing completely, thus showing off his perfect features, the violet eyes with narrow pupils, and the long black hair like darkness, hair that seemed to be made with some kind of dense black smoke. More sensitive beings like werewolves, the dark elf, and youkai present here could identify that black smoke as pure and immaculate Miasma. "But don't get lost in that feeling. Everyone will have their chance in the future as long as they work hard, of course." He flashed a small smile. And that simple smile made an impact that made all the acolytes present here fall even more in love with devotion. Their god was really very handsome, and unearthly beauty was not uncommon in today's times. Some supernatural races, like vampires, angels, some gods, and elves, were naturally more 'beautiful' than humans. And that was something that caused a lot of envy among humans; after all, everyone wanted to be beautiful. But before their god, the meaning of 'beauty' seemed to be totally changed just for him. He was perfect. Even those beautiful supernatural beings didn't come close to his feet. Some acolytes were even crying as they looked at the God who was floating 5 CM above the ground. It was as if the ground was unworthy for him to walk on. Absolutely everyone in this place listened to his teachings and took those words to heart, and the envy they had for Roxanne before turned into motivation. If Roxanne, who was once 'ugly', could become so beautiful now because of her god's bounty, couldn't they have the same? As long as they worked hard, they would be rewarded! This thought was further carved into the being of all the women present here, and in the future, this same thought will be passed on to new recruits and so on until it becomes one of the basic tenets of the religion. Work hard, demonstrate results, and you will earn a reward. Do you want beauty? Strength? Money? With effort, you can earn it! They all understood that with Victor's 'casual' gesture. Out of the corner of his eye, Victor saw Roxanne pouting and mumbling something about the unfairness of charisma. He chuckled internally when he saw Roxanne like this. With a wave of his hand, the Staff that was in Roxanne's hand flew into Victor's hand. They all swallowed hard and wondered who he would choose. 'Probably Roxanne, right? After all, she helped him so much.' That thought crossed their minds. In fact, they thought it would be unnatural if it weren't Roxanne. After all, as far as they know, it was Roxanne who started the whole movement to create the foundations of the religion. "From the moment each of you decided to follow me. I've been watching you all." "..." "I heard everyone's prayers, and with the prayers, I saw their insecurities, I saw their despair, but also, I saw the desire to better themselves, not just themselves but everyone around them." Victor's gaze went to each woman in particular when he spoke the adjectives, and thanks to Roxanne's feedback from each of the members present here, he knew where to direct his words to achieve maximum effectiveness. "..." The women clenched their fists, as all of them seemed to have their hearts outside their bodies and exposed to the cold of nature, it was a complex sensation, but at the same time that they felt this discomfort, they felt a gentle warmth and comfort seeping into every part of their being. "And as much as I wanted to intervene and help my beloved acolytes, I know it wasn't necessary." "Improvement, self-improvement, can only be done by the individual themself." "It's no use trying to help someone if that person doesn't want to be helped." Victor looked at one human woman in particular. "..." The woman bit her lip and unconsciously held her wrists. Victor smiled gently, a smile that said, 'everything's fine', as he turned to look at other women who had severe cases of depression. "Each one here has their own inner demons to deal with, and those demons are something no one but yourself can deal with." "... But that doesn't mean you're going to be abandoned or that you have to deal with these problems alone." Victor closed his eyes and opened them again, this time looking at the entire group. His gaze went beyond the women and to the surrounding trees. "Beings call me the supreme evil, and maybe they are right. I did a lot of atrocities to get to where I am; after all, just like you, I was once mortal." "..." Roxanne was sweating profusely now: 'Hey, Hey, Victor! That wasn't in the Script! What are you doing!" She looked around, sensing the women's feelings, and was slightly shocked when she saw that they were all looking at him in a daze. She curled her lips when she saw this scene. 'Why did I worry? He has them all in the palm of his hand.' She sighed a little. "And thanks to the days when I was mortal, I understand the frustration of your god not hearing the prayers of the faithful. I understand the frustration of your cry for help not being heard." Soft green power concentrated in his hand. And that power made the dark elf open their eyes wide, their eyes quickly changing to pure fanaticism. Victor laughed internally in amusement. Even if he couldn't read minds, he could clearly understand what the Dark Elf was thinking. After all, Elves and all subspecies of Elves are like the fairies he has in Nightingale, beings who worship the world trees, beings that were born from a world tree. "That kind of situation doesn't happen here." "Believe me, believe our religion because this place is not just a place where we gather. It is our home, your home." Victor waved his hand, and soon the entire surrounding forest began to change. They all watched in disbelief as a literal city began to be created from scratch. 'The power to create a city with a hand gesture... Is that the power of a god?' Archbishop Rena thought in disbelief. "The ultimate shelter in case the world is collapsing like before." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 "We are a family, and a family takes care of each other." "..." Each word echoed deeply throughout the heart of every acolyte present. With just a few words, Victor brought them all together and erased any kind of seed of internal conflict, making them much more united than before. In fact, he went much further than that. He made everyone acquire a sense of home and the feeling of 'closeness' to their god since each house here that will one day be inhabited was built personally by the 'hands' of their god. And Roxanne, who noticed this, couldn't help but pout and grumble about the injustice of not having as great a 'charisma' as Victor's. "I am Victor Alucard, The God of Blood, War, Fear, Despair, Murder, Strength, and Destruction." "But that's not all... I am also the god of vampires, Vengeance, Martial Honor, Family, Home, Nature, and Beauty." "Through these authorities, I declare that the spokesman of my will shall be..." "Valeria Alekerth." A hush of disbelief fell around. After all, everyone thought that Roxanne would be the High Priestess, and even though everyone thought they had a chance, everyone knew that Roxanne would be chosen since it was because of her actions that the religion grew to the state it is now. Valeria herself couldn't believe what she was hearing. For a few seconds, she looked toward Roxanne and saw the redhead with a satisfied smile on her face; she even waved at her, indicating her support. 'Is she supporting me...? Why?" "Do you accept my will?" Hearing her god's voice, Valeria looked ahead and was startled to realize that she was closer to him than before. "When did I arrive here!?' It would be worth looking up and seeing the face of the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life. "I see doubts in your heart. Tell me what you think." She shuddered a little in shock, thinking she had somehow pissed him off for not responding, but then she relaxed when she saw his gentle face. "I just don't understand why I was chosen. Isn't Roxanne the best choice? Even the other archbishops are more qualified than I am." Victor's smile grew, "Are you questioning my decision?" "N-No, it's not that! I just-." Victor gently laughed with a melodious laugh that enchanted everyone around, then he spoke: "Humility." ".. Eh?" "That's one of the qualities I value most, out of all the gods I've encountered, only a few exceptions had that quality, the rest were all self-centered beings." "..." "I make it a point never to forget this quality because I fear becoming like the other self-centered gods." "And when I looked at you, I found that quality along with a devotion that is second to none here." "Tell me Valeria Alekerth, when I appointed you as High Priestess, what did you feel?" "... That there are better options than me." "Correct. You thought of the group as a whole first rather than yourself, you thought you weren't good enough for the job and that someone else should take over, an attitude that few present here could keep." "Most here wouldn't turn down such a privilege so easily." Victor looked around and saw several women averting their faces, including all the archbishops. "You have all the qualities I look for to be my spokesperson." "Now, tell me, Valeria Alekerth, do you accept my nomination?" "..." Valeria closed her eyes. She thought about everything she heard from her god, she digested every word he spoke and stored it deep in her heart. She took a deep breath and released the air from her chest, then she opened her eyes and looked at the golden handle of the Staff, then she raised her hand and held the Staff. "Yes." Victor's smile grew a little, and he added more words: "Do you swear eternal devotion to me and only me for all eternity?" "Yes." Suddenly, a red power covered Valeria's body, and several rune circles appeared on the ground, at the same time Valeria's appearance began to change. She visibly began to rejuvenate as her hair began to take on a golden hue, her body started to grow in height, and she began to gain more curves and become more voluptuous. Victor opened his mouth, and spoke in a strange language, a language lost since the age of genesis, a language that only he, Roxanne, and the ancient demons like the elder demons, and Lilith could understand: "According to old customs, I, Victor Alucard, King of Hell, make a two-way contract with the individual Valeria Alekerth." [Eh...? Huh? What are you doing, Victor!] Roxanne tried to stop Victor, but it was too late. "In exchange for her undying devotion to me, she will use my energy to keep herself forever young and will be able to summon hell demons who are my subordinates... The breach of contract will happen if she loses her devotion to me." Victor pointed his finger at Valeria's forehead, and a dark energy came out of his finger and entered Valeria's body. Soon, her eyes began to change to a crimson hue, then a blue-colored rune magic circle appeared in her eyes. The symbol of a successful contract with the King of Hell. [... V-V-VICTOR, you madman! You are off the plot! You giving her the ability to summon demons from hell wasn't in the script!] [My beautiful wife Roxanne, I didn't mean to follow the plot to begin with. I meant to improve it and make it grander! Hahahahaha!] [We weren't supposed to have given this woman so much power!!] [If she's going to serve me and use my name around as my representative, she has to be strong! I don't accept mediocrity!] [MOOO! I don't want to know anymore!] Roxanne threw her hands up in exasperation. ... Edited By: Davo 2138, IsUnavailable Like it? Add to library!! Don't forget to vote to support the book if you like it.