Chapter 16
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Chapter 16: Is It Too Late to Switch Faiths Now?
“Ah—!”
“Help!”
“Hurry! Dig me out! Cough, cough…”
Though the Giant God achieved a glorious victory, few of his followers were celebrating.
His colossal form tore through wild torrents, shredding the “Inverted Abyss” unleashed by Meier Shoude. Yet the raging currents also swept across the seabed, scattering his “followers” and churning up muddy sand.
While Solar Knights braced themselves with swords plunged into the ocean floor, some unlucky souls got blown away for standing too close.
Most who avoided being blown away ended up buried under silt and rubble stirred up by the “God’s War.” Even the towering mobile city lay half-submerged.
As for the Technicians and followers of the Source Doctrine…
Nearly all were blown away!
Thankfully, civilians remained inside the city this time.
Those fighting outside were either skilled Warriors or piloting mechs—otherwise, casualties would’ve been catastrophic.
More fortunately, Knight Sulya proved both a formidable warrior and capable leader.
The moment the divine battle ended, he directed personnel and machines to dig people out from thick muddy sand. Simultaneously, he dispatched teams to investigate and retrieve the “things” the gods used to smash the Giant Apes.
What they found shocked them.
The Giant God had crushed his enemies with “divine-grade material” brimming with “sacred energy”!
Each piece, when cut, became prime material for crafting artifacts!
Fully utilized, it could outfit every Solar Knight with “divine-blessed gear” with plenty to spare!
But their digging soon uncovered “something else.”
“You?”
Seeing the man dragged before him by subordinates, Sulya’s brows knitted into a fierce glare.
This was the Source Doctrine leader—the very man who’d tried converting Sulya earlier.
“Perfect, you’re alive!”
“Men! Drag him off!”
“Off with his head! Blood sacrifice for the Giant God!”
Sulya waved a hand, and his men moved to obey.
The big man instantly panicked.
“Hey! Hold on!”
“Since when are you this brutal?!”
“Ah—!”
His words died in another scream.
Sulya had already slammed his greatsword into the ground—its blade resting against the man’s nose.
“Just a joke.”
Sulya flashed a “friendly” smile.
“Actually, we only sacrifice Chaos followers, demons, and spawn of Outer Gods.”
“But since your god knows the ‘forbidden spells’ of Chaos Gods and Outer Gods, he’s either a twisted Outer God or a Chaos God who enjoys destruction.”
“Now I realize, roughly speaking, you’re a Chaos follower too!”
“Guards! Drag him out and behead him! Blood sacrifice for the Giant God! Offerings to the divine throne!”
Seeing Sulya still intended to execute him after this roundabout talk, the big man hastily raised a hand.
“No, no… wait…”
“Let people finish speaking first.”
“What I meant…”
“I wish to convert! To pledge loyalty to the Giant God!?”
Here, he offered an almost ingratiating smile.
“So… is it too late?”
Sulya studied him playfully, swaying her plump long legs tightly sheathed in stockings as she paced before the former leader of the Source Doctrine.
“Your name?”
The big man instantly bowed his head, adopting an utterly loyal tone. “I am Dekhaka, former chief priest of the Source Doctrine.”
“Now, merely a devout ordinary follower of the great Giant God.”
Sulya nodded.
Yet she gave no definite answer.
“Mr. Dekhaka, regarding that question…”
“Ask the Giant God yourself!”
With that, Sulya swung her arm!
“Fall back!”
Immediately, she and her Solar Knights activated their underwater magic engines and swiftly swam away.
“What’s happening? Why’d they suddenly leave?”
Bewildered, Dekhaka looked up.
Then came a stunned “Wow!”
Above him, an enormous shadow blotted out the entire ocean view—the Giant God who’d recently slain Shoude Meier!
Having visited the City of Dimensions, He’d now returned!
And His return seemed aimed at “testing” the suddenly converted Mr. Dekhaka!
“This… this…”
Though Dekhaka considered himself brave, before the Giant God, every shred of courage abandoned him.
However, alongside fear came awe.
Humans only grasp their own insignificance when confronted with the vast and boundless.
Dekhaka felt like a mere grain of sand before a leviathan whale in the presence of the Giant God—utterly minuscule and inconsequential…
"If I could perish this way, it might just be worth it."
He watched as the Giant God parted its abyssal maw, awaiting death.
Others might shut their eyes and embrace their end, but Dekhaka widened his. He resolved to witness this terrifying grandeur before dying!
—-
"I relish squid most!"
Trilobite hauled the deceased Mantis Shrimp into the Cave.
His jaws worked relentlessly, biting and grinding repeatedly at the Mantis Shrimp’s head.
As an ex-museum staffer, he knew cephalopods lacked fully centralized nervous systems, instead possessing a somewhat "distributed" structure where each tentacle could react autonomously.
There were tales of dolphins choking to death on octopus tentacles whose nerves remained active—an embarrassing demise.
To avoid that dolphin’s fate, Trilobite opted for caution.
He’d feast only after this "primordial squid" was thoroughly dead.
"Hmm…"
"Just holding it like this grows dull."
"Perhaps…"
"Whoosh—!"
Trilobite darted from the Cave once more.
"Oh!?"
A surprise soon greeted him.
Switching to system vision, Trilobite spotted something new:
Beneath him swarmed masses of "Blue Dots."
"Earlier, red dots granted Chaos Energy. What might blue ones offer?"
He nearly summoned the long-silent System Lady to inquire.
But now, he chose to experiment himself!
With utmost care, Trilobite sucked up the largest Blue Dot among them.
"Such precision work proves tricky."
"Thankfully, my jaw came with an agile tongue!"
"Nearby Blue Dots retreated practically."
"Perfect!"
However, when Trilobite sucked the Blue Dot into his mouth, he quickly felt it didn’t feel good at all.
【Identity: Spawn】
【Chaos Energy: -5】
“Darn!”
“Phew!”
Trilobite quickly spat out the Blue Dot he had just taken in.
As the Blue Dot came out, Trilobite saw his Chaos Energy go back up.
“Hmm…”
“Spawn.”
“Maybe these were creatures that had some kind of ‘mutual symbiotic’ bond with me?”
“My words weren’t too professional.”
“But that was okay! Good thing I was a pro, so I got it!”
“And it seemed to match in practice too.”
Trilobite turned and looked at the heap of skin flakes and Bone Fragments he had tossed away earlier.
Now, those were covered in “little blue dots”; the small ones were tiny, and Trilobite thought they were plankton, while the bigger ones were seen as small crustaceans.
“It looked like these creatures lived off my waste; they helped keep me clean and tidy, which was good for both.”
“Eating my symbiotic creatures… it was a bit like eating my own mitochondria, not a smart move!”
“No wonder my Chaos Energy dipped.”
“Hmm, I figured that Mantis Shrimp would take a bit to die fully; in that time, I’d go do other stuff!”
“Perfect timing…”
Trilobite swung his primitive Caudal fin and floated up slowly, watching the whole sea floor from above!
“Isn’t sucking on giant squid seen as lazy?”
“Then I’ll go do something bigger!”
—-
“Clap, clap, clap…”
A round of applause broke out.
“Congratulations, Mr. Dekhaka… No, I should say Brother Dekhaka now.”
“You not only passed the god’s trial, but you got divine grace too!”
Dekhaka nodded and half-knelt before Sulya.
He felt both amazed and happy!
After touching “Mouth of God,” he was wrapped in a holy force!
The “sacred water” from the holy body warmed and washed him, cleaning out the junk inside; he even felt his source quality got tougher and stronger from this “cleansing”!
This god deserves our faith!
"I pledge my loyalty to the Giant God!"
"Teach me the Solar Holy Light system!"
"I’ll make my surviving brothers switch sides too and embrace the true faith!"
The human resistance gained more strength.
But Sulya’s smile vanished within minutes, her face clouding over.
A Solar Knight’s report caused this shift.
"I see…"
"Some brothers got blown eastward by being too close."
"Send search parties immediately."
"If they remain isolated too long…"
Sulya rubbed her temples anxiously.
Though the Giant God had led them from the desolate sea basin, this vast deep sea still teemed with dangers.
Countless demons infested nearby strongholds.
Even Solar Knights could get overwhelmed by scattered chaotic demons when alone.
"Sigh…"
"Rescue as many as possible."
"The rest…"
"May our god bless their souls!"
Sulya knew individual believers mattered little to gods, but sacrificing them to kill the Chaos God seemed worthwhile.
At least the Giant God surpassed most Order Gods.
Typical Order Gods might sacrifice all followers when necessary.
Dying for one’s god counted as an honor.
"At least the Giant God’s stronger than other deities, never acting without cause…"
Just as Sulya thought this—
"Boom—whoosh—whoosh—!"
Another thunderous roar echoed as the colossal deity, now fully fish-shaped, moved again!
It swam eastward—precisely where Sulya’s comrades had been swept!
