The duchess did not linger after that.

After she was done with her tea, she chose to take her leave rather quickly with an excuse that she had a lot she needed to get done.

I breathed a sigh of relief once she was gone. For some reason, her presence had spooked me this time.

"The duchess should come here less often. She freaks me out."

Fenrir said quietly, his tail flicking once as he watched the door.

"I am grateful that she trusts me…for now at least. And I intend to keep it that way."

I replied, rubbing my temples. Her support was very important for me and my end goal.

The days that followed passed in an almost surreal blur.

The plague retreated as suddenly as it had appeared. However, there was a name for people to take when they talked about the plague. I had become a saviour for these people.

And as a result, with every passing hour, my phone buzzed.

[Ding! You have a new notification]

The system informed me, as faith points kept pouring in. Between me saving people from the plague and getting my name out to the claw machine's massive following, I was swimming in faith points.

They evolved quickly, from 30k to 50k to 90k until I finally hit my goal of 100k points.

[You have gained 100k points. You have earned the right to evolve the system. Would you like to use it?]

[Warning, if you ascend the system now, you will ascend to godhood. Please read the following manual carefully before you make a decision.]

"…A god? That sounds like a tone of responsibility.

I murmured, the word tasting foreign in my mouth.

The system did not hurry me. It simply explained, calmly and without judgment, what that evolution would entail.

Authority over this territory. Influence strong enough to repel the foreign god encroaching upon it. The ability to guide, control, and protect the faith that had already taken root here.

It was all standard stuff that I did not care about. I would not have even paid attention to it had the last part not caught my attention.

It mentioned the Gate of Genesis.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

This was what I needed and the sole reason why I had worked so hard to become a god in the first place. This was my ticket back home.

"I don't want this, but I do want to go home."

I whispered to the empty shop.

My desire to head back home made me act on my instincts and I quickly pressed the button that would cause the system to update.

The system went quiet before it turned itself off. The timer on top showed that it would take a whole day to update. But the main problem was that all features of the system went offline.

And that included the security that I had come to rely on so much.

The door burst open moments later.

Leo stepped inside, eyes sharp, posture coiled with tension as he scanned the shop in a single glance.

"The protection is fading around here. Did something happen, shopkeeper?"

He said immediately. "

"It's temporary. I needed to take care of something, so I took down the protection. It will be back in about 24-hours."

I replied, forcing steadiness into my voice as I straightened.

His jaw tightened.

"Isn't that…gangerous? Anyone can take this chance to invade us."

"Yes, it does. But it is also something that could not be avoided."

I agreed quietly.

There was silence after my admission and Leo exhaled slowly, then nodded once.

"I see. If this is what you want, shopkeeper, then I have no choice but to go with the flow for now. I will protect you and this shop to the best of my abilities.

A faint smile tugged at my lips despite everything.

"I am sure you will, Leo. I trust you and the others to help me out whenever you can."

Leo did not say much but I felt pride coming off him in waves. At least he was not willing to cause trouble for me. That was as good things were going to get…for now.

The night quickly came and with that came the dangers. I felt the other presences around the town creeping closer to the shop.

Fenrir remained close, his presence steady at my side, though even he seemed more alert than usual. I had asked him to keep an eye out in case we were to get attacked and Fenrir had taken his job quite seriously.

"Still nothing,."

He murmured.

"Give it time."

I replied, though I didn't know whether I was reassuring him or myself.

It didn't take long.

The shop had become a prime target for monsters to attack and I felt their presence outside.

"They're here."

I said.

Fenrir growled low in his throat.

There was no moment for a whole minute where nothing happened. And then, the door rattled, almost as if someone was trying to break it down from the other side.

I stepped forward, pulse steady despite the tension coiling tight in my chest.

"Leo."

I called quietly.

He emerged from the back room almost instantly, already armed, his expression grim. Nyx and Erebus followed, silent as shadows, Luna close behind them with her jaw set tight.

"So this is when they move."

Leo muttered.

The door slammed inward before I could answer and a few humanoid shapes tried to jump me immediately.

I recognized that pressure. It belonged to the foreign god that was trying to take my place and these lands for itself. It had finally gotten a chance to act.

Not the god itself, but its hands.

"Protect the shelves. Do not let them breach the back. But most important- make sure you keep yourself safe at all costs."

I said sharply, instincts kicking in.

Leo moved without hesitation, intercepting the first attacker with a brutal strike that sent them crashing into a table. Nyx vanished, reappearing behind another intruder as Erebus's magic flared, sharp and controlled despite the chaos.

I stayed where I was, my primary concern was to keep myself alive.

Without the system, I was fragile in a way I hadn't been for a long time. I did not even have my weapon to keep myself safe at the moment.

A blade of warped energy sliced through the air toward my throat.

Fenrir lunged, killing the shadow before it could harm me. I pretended to be alright, but in reality, I felt shaken.

"Shopkeeper, are you alright? You are not hurt, right?"

Lunas asked from the other side of the room where she threw the monster off her. She tried to quickly make her way to me, but was intercepted.

Same was happening with the others as well. I did not want them to be too concerned with me and lose their chances at coming out of this alive.

"I am fine. We just need to hold on for one day. Just focus on your own opponent."

I reminded them all and there were frustrated noises. But they all continued to go back to their own opponent after that.

Someone else lunged at me but this time, I was ready.

The fighting got worse and the noise would soon attract our neighbours and other people. And it was also about time that the allies I had asked for help showed up.

"Shopkeeper, we are here."

Officer Henry was the first person inside. His huge body immediately blocked me from attack as he stood in front of me. I could see his second-in-command and others as well.

The police force was here and they were not happy to see the disturbance in the town.

"Tsk, what the heck are these things? Where did they come from? I will have you give me a full report once we are done here, shopkeeper."

Lina Bergs hissed as she pushed a monster back. Her eyes told me that I had no way to avoid her questions. So i just gave her a nod and told her that I was willing to cooperate.

"I will give you any answers you want, miss…once we are done here…althought, I doubt you would want any answers once we are done."

The female did not look happy to hear what I had to say to her. But she took a deep breath to calm herself down before she gave me a look.

"Tsk, that is for me to decide, not you. Just…don't try to run away and we won't have a problem."

She told me and I nodded.

Outside, I could feel the familiar presences of Emma Jones and Reeze Spencer as well. They had come to help me out as well.

The fight had suddenly turned from one that was against me to one that was to end in my favor. The monsters must have realized that as well because they hesitated to launch a full attack and decided to retreat at the first chance they got.

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