Damian stood straight, all his friends beside him.

Before them was the enormous dorsal fin of a titanic shark. It reeked of untamed mana. That was the biggest mana beast, but the other creatures around it were not small in size either.

A couple of enormous white whales came up occasionally. A few massive, bright, glowing blue and white manta ray mana beasts passed from below them. Several serpentine sea creatures, staying deep underwater, raised just their giant heads above the surface.

One of the sea snakes staring at them with fire in his eyes was even a familiar figure. Thaddeus Seablaze.

None was below the emperor rank. The shark was the most ridiculous of them all—an unfathomable rank monster. Over nine other legendary rank. The rest were monstrously mana-dense emperors. A couple of which could even match the dragon he had fought, Sulthar.

'Terrifying indeed.'

Damian realized a simple fact that he had missed before. None knew where the Sun God, Chaos God, or Goddess of light was or what their real form was. But everyone knew where Sea God was and what he looked like.

'The sea is his domain. With this legion of his monstrous children, he is the undisputed king of this planet.'

The other gods would not come for him even when he was injured. The mainland was a chaotic battlefield for believers, but none would break the rules of the Sea God. If he were anything like the Chaos God, the world would have been doomed several times by now.

Even if the entire mainland fought together, this legion of sea could not be beaten.

And then there was him.

Damian noticed the entire horizon of the ocean in his view experience a great upheaval, the sky darkened, lightning and rain launched together as if someone had flipped the switch. No spells, it was just that guy's natural presence.

Damian could not sense him. But he could see a gigantic blue illumination deep underwater, moving ever so slowly. Any faster than that and the creature would create enormous waves of his own. Or maybe the great distance and size just made its movement appear slower to his eyes.

A monstrous proportion of a beast indeed.

The arc of his one coil was kilometers away from the solid structure he was standing on, and yet that was the only blue shape Damian could see. The Divine energy was leaking from the Sea God's body like a layer of radioactive blue liquid.

For the eyes of others, it was simply a gigantic shadow underwater—well, only Landbreaker's eyes were capable enough to penetrate such distance and depth.

What reason could there possibly be for his eyes to see this divine energy?

The World Shaper Hands and his special eye skills were related to mana for a pathfinder or a mana beast that had mana veins inside its flesh. These gods were something entirely else. Even the weakest Steelweaver had a spark of silver in his eyes.

Divine.

Before he met one, Damian just assumed the fifth rankers to be yet another upgrade in strength. However, the complete integration with one's astral plane.. added with reincarnations... Could there be..

'No, that's a stupid thought. I am no Beast god, that guy's situation is unique.'

Ability to perceive divine mana.. Special eyes.. Ability to possess a person's dead body.. His strange status, which considered him more a beast than a human..

Would he really know if he truly was one?

'Do not think yourself too great an individual. You are just a random oddity in the world full of unknowns and mysteries. Nothing more.' Damian reminded himself.

He set aside all distracting thoughts and focused on the seven humanoid beings, hovering above the surface, talking with each other while glancing his way. Seven Legendary rank mana beasts in the form of a human. One of which was Thaddeus Seablaze. The others had a noticeable resemblance to the man.

Four males and three females. All clad in armor. Carrying either sword or spear. They might be chatting, but each was ready to launch an attack at a moment's notice.

Once the Sea God arrived, their exchange ended. One of the men flew closer to Damian and his group. With a pair of serpentine yellow eyes, added with dark, curvy, long hair and a gold spear, Damian felt like he had seen the guy in those Greek mythology books once.

"Do it now, or we shall do it for you. Either way, no dwarf will leave this place alive."

The younger version of Thaddeus Seablaze said.

Damian turned towards the blue arc in the distant ocean.

"As you wish,"

He turned towards the God of Metal Golems. Steelweaver nodded slightly. Dying was fine for the old god; with the three ancient monsters ever present, there was no place for him on this planet.

"The choice is yours," Damian said as he summoned his dark spear and stood ready.

"Does not matter, just make it quick," Steelweaver whispered.

Damian pulled out two silver chalices and the finest bottle of alcohol he had on him. Then smiled,

"How about a drink?"

Steelweaver accepted the chalice with a weary smile.

"Never been poisoned before. It was always something sharp or fiery."

Damian poured the man the prized empire alcohol. Then poured a drink for himself in another chalice and then passed the bottle to Landbreaker. With a gesture of his hand, some of the steel broke off from the sealed cube they were standing on and transformed into beautiful steel goblets. One for each, even Jacob.

Excluding the younger Seablaze.

With a drink in all hands, Damian pulled out a dark purple colored glass vial and handed it to Steelweaver. He broke it and mixed it in his chalice.

Raising his hand, Damian spoke,

"To the god whose sparks taught steel to dream."

The first hand that followed was of Jacob himself. There was no instruction Damian had given. Steelweaver smiled with watery eyes.

"To Steelweaver," Sam followed.

Then Landbreaker, "To Steelweaver,"

"To the God of Metal Golems," Vidalia said with utmost respect.

Encircled by more than two dozen monstrous threats, the six of them lowered the glass to their lips and drank it all.

Steelweaver breathed in heavily once and then closed his eyes. Damian held the corpse of the old dwarf as it was about to fall and lowered it slowly from the edge of the cube to the cold, blue embrace of the sea.

They remained silent for a while; only the sound of the humanoid creatures diving in to check on the dead body and the constant, heavy rain was heard. Only when they returned to the surface and gestured did the younger Seablaze sibling declare it done.

"Let's go," Damian said.

Sam was about to activate the waygate from his sacrium bracelet when the snake-eyed creature called out,

"You are not given.. the permission to leave, child."

Damian narrowed his eyes.

"Want me to kill more gods for you?"

The black haired snake did not mind his remark and continued in his oily voice,

"The bringer of life, master of the ocean, has declared your victory over my dear sibling invalid. You are to give back all that you took from him and ask for forgiveness. Which, of course, you shall not be given. Unless you take a blood oath of eternal gratefulness for sparing the lives of your friends and yours."

Theirs was the power, so theirs shall be the demands. Before whom would one scream for justice?

Blood oath was an ancient name for a mana contract. The oath of eternal gratitude meant he could never take any action that would go against a person, his organization, and sometimes even his religion. There had been some instances, even in their short history, in the name of religion that one would not wish upon their worst enemies.

And why wouldn't? Blood oath meant a permanent follower.

Suddenly, the faces of Sam and Vidalia contorted as they shook their heads a little, as if they were the ones who had tasted the poison.

"What is it?" Landbreaker asked.

"Voice in my head," Sam said with anger burning in his eyes. The intensity was not alone, though; fear crept beneath those eyes as well.

"You can not do this!"

The break in Vidalia's voice made even Damian feel a heaviness in his chest. It was the voice of centuries of devotion shattering into pieces. Their strength was not just their own, nor was the right to object or the privacy of thought.

Damian feared this would happen. Now, suspicion will never leave everyone's heart, no matter the place or situation they were in. Unsure of their own self and others around them. Damian gritted his teeth.

'These bastards just take and take..'

"What are they saying?" Damian asked, more than the interest in the whispers, it was an attempt to divert their minds even slightly.

"Sun God offers the help of his scion and the Empire to protect Sanctuary, if you become his follower right now." Sam spat out.

"She offers the same. Eldoris support, if you become her follower right now." Vidalia said with disgust.

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