Chapter 2636: Faith, Fanatics, & Cults

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Southern Capital, Guild Association Mall

"Emissary of Light is a bastard spawn of the devils," I yelled, loud enough to reach every nook and corner of Sky Blossom City, after mentally informing the Western princess and her group to use their intent sense to monitor the entire city.

The faces of the guard teams, who had appeared docile and well-behaved and even seemed to admire me, suddenly twisted into manic, fanatical rage. The transformation was grotesque and unsightly, laying bare just how deeply they hated the fact that I had dared to call their lord a bastard spawn of the devils. Before I could engage them in any meaningful conversation to extract information, they all lunged at me, shouting:

"Keep our lord’s name out of your mouth, you heathen."

"How dare you curse our lord, you infidel?"

"Damn you, heretic. I will have your head for this."

"You will burn for your insolence, apostate. Let me light the pyre myself."

"I will use your blood to wash away the insult you just spoke, heretic."

Seeing them rush at me without any regard for their own safety, fanatic light blazing in their eyes, I simply watched as they attacked, only to be stopped cold by my limitless barrier. Even after their initial attempt failed, they did not adjust their approach. Instead, they continued to assault me relentlessly, like mindless zombies.

Each of them was an elite demigod drawn from the Southern Watch, trained from a very young age to remain calm and confront problems with clear judgment and disciplined wit. Yet the demigods before me were so overwhelmed and distraught that they seemed to have forgotten thier centuries of training, continuing their futile assault despite repeated failure.

I wondered whether they were hoping their lord would lend them strength through his power, enough to shatter my limitless barrier. Otherwise, what could they possibly expect by repeatedly dashing themselves against an limitless chasm? If not that, then they were simply insane. After all, what else would one call those who do the same thing over and over while expecting a different result?

Finally, having witnessed the power of the Emissary of Light with my own eyes, I was convinced that he truly lived up to the terror shown in Clown Mask’s future vision. I shook my head and uttered, "Celestial Blood Fate Domain."

The surrounding world was soon dyed red as I followed with a single word, "Silence."

"Kneel!" At my commands, the demigod guard teams lost their access to soul energy and rule power, forcing them to cease their attacks and drop to their knees before me. However, to my surprise, I saw them resisting my authority through sheer will. No one had managed such a feat before, not even the powerful demigods trained by the Masters. Yet these guards were able to withstand the dominion of my Celestial Blood Fate Domain over their blood purely through willpower.

This was only possible because of the Emissary of Light’s origin card ability, which had turned them into his fanatical followers, beings willing to betray their land and people in order to worship him.

The only other person capable of flawlessly controlling multiple elite demigods without breaking a sweat, aside from Sansa and Gideon, was none other than the youngest of the three mischief, the Emissary of Light. In Clown Mask’s future vision, his prowess was second only to the Supreme Leader, who possessed both Soul pupils and the Myriad Devil Transformation. However, now, he stood as the strongest among the three.

All I had gathered about him from Clown Mask’s future vision and from Sansa’s account was that his origin card ability revolved around the faith of his believers. In the Dark Realms, faith was believed to be an extremely powerful and fearsome tool in capable hands, yet weak and nearly useless in foolish ones. I believed this to be true, because cults were a major force within the Dark Realm. They were the third-largest force, after the Devil Merchant Code and the Inter-Realm Thief Guild. Unlike others who traveled to foreign worlds to plunder resources and celestial will fragments, these cults instead aided the natives in prospering, cultivating those worlds as vast farms of faith.

These individuals were extremely powerful, despite what their realms might suggest. I had never crossed paths with such fanatics before, largely because they and the Devil Merchant Code did not mix. The ideologies they followed made them natural enemies.

The Dark Cults believed in domesticating native populations to farm their faith, often turning entire worlds into vast, world-level sweatshops. In contrast, the Devil Merchant Code believed in maximizing profit at all costs. To them, the most efficient approach was to mine a world of all its resources and then destroy it entirely to harvest its celestial will fragments.

The Dark Cults did not prioritize celestial will, as faith allowed them to achieve everything celestial will offered and more. Even so, the Devil Merchant Code enjoyed far greater popularity and support than the Dark Cults. This was because the practices of the Dark Cults ran counter to the fundamental principles upheld by the Dark Races. Above all, faith could not be traded. For that reason, most of the Dark Races, along with the Devil Merchant Code, actively discouraged the practices of the Dark Cults within the Dark Realm.

Something that could not be traded was something that could not be stolen or taken, something that could only be attained slowly and steadily through continued dedication and devotion. That fact alone was enough to drive many Dark Races away from the practices of the Dark Cults.

Returning to the matter at hand, what troubled me was why the Emissary of Light was targeting me when we had never even crossed paths. I could not help but wonder whether Sansa had something to do with it. After all, I had made it clear to her that I intended to target the Emissary of Light sooner or later. Had she decided to light the spark earlier rather than later?

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