CHAPTER 80: WHEN IT COMES TO GODS, WON’T HURT TO BELIEVE IN MORE

Wayne curled his fingers, mimicking the action of drawing a sword. Thick death energy spread outward, and grey mist swept away the waves of white foam surging toward him from all directions. Death had an elemental advantage over life, so death magic was able to erase the foam created by life magic with remarkable efficiency.

(一`´一)

What’s going on? I haven’t even drawn my sword yet!

Have I gotten this good?

A man wearing a greasy white robe emerged from the void. Planck held a pendant of death in his hand, the grey mist swirling around his body and condensing into a pale skull above his head.

Gods were not tools; mixing faiths came with a price. The hand holding the pendant had turned to bones, and his face was shrouded in death energy.

Wayne had to wonder if Planck was doing it on purpose, interrupting his transformation twice. He was lucky that Planck had arrived just in time, though. Otherwise, Wayne would’ve drawn Shadow Nightmare and blown his Death Knight cover—now that would have been a headache.

“I told you, as long as I’m here, no one will hurt you.” Planck grinned at Wayne, never missing a chance to earn brownie points. He turned to Sidney with an icy gaze, looking at the man who had become possessed by the Lord of the Void. He shook his head with guilt. “I’m sorry for being late, Sidney, but don’t worry. You have a long life ahead of you yet. I’ll cure you no matter what.”

“Damn bastard!!” the Lord of the Void cursed, raging at Sidney’s incompetence and Planck’s meddling. He was one second from having Wayne.

“Marshall, leave. I’ve destroyed half of your consciousness. You can’t possibly be my match. Return to the Astral Plane. That’s your resting place.”

Magical items orbited around Planck. His one hand had turned skeletal, while his other hand was shrouded in holy light. He wielded the two opposing faiths with perfect ease, suppressing the humanoid tentacle monster until it collapsed into a pile of rotten flesh.

“I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving today, no matter what!” the Lord of the Void shrieked, white foam cascading in rolling waves like a waterfall, crashing against the death mist in a suicidal assault to drown it.

Shocked, Planck conjured a life forcefield and shielded Wayne.

“He’s gone completely mad, bringing his entire consciousness to the Chosen Land?” Planck murmured to himself, looking at Wayne’s innocent expression with surprise. He had tried to imagine what value the young man had, but apparently he’d still underestimated it. “Why does the Lord of the Void keep chasing you? Even going to such lengths?”

“Um...” Wayne scratched his head. “Maybe it’s because I helped wipe out the Geocentrism Sect, and he’s determined to kill me for payback? If not that... Maybe it’s because of sunk cost. He’s invested too much upfront that he gambled everything to secure a return?”

Wayne rattled off various possible explanations, essentially saying that Planck was asking the wrong person. He was just a mage apprentice; how would he know what was going on in an evil god’s head?

Fair point. Planck put aside his doubts. This wasn’t the time for such thinking. The Lord of the Void had descended fully. While not as rational and wise as Marshall in his prime, his accumulated study of the void over the years had ensured that his mad mind remained incredibly powerful.

Planck weighed his options. Today, either the Lord of the Void would die, or the Lord of the Void would... well, be killed.

To protect the city of Londan above, he fully deployed his life field, dragging the Lord of the Void into the endless darkness. In case the enemy had another contingency plan, he left a Blacklight Ring behind to protect Wayne. The ring hovered in the air and cast down a dark veil that isolated Wayne from the outside world.

The Blacklight Ring represented the belief in the Goddess of Darkness. When used for defense, it could silence and nullify most magic. It had many uses, its specific applications dependent on the wielder’s thoughts.

Just like Shadow Nightmare, it was an invaluable magical item. Given Planck’s status as a legendary mage, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to call the ring a legendary item.

But the ring capped at Legendary, while Shadow Nightmare’s limits were unclear.

Under the ring’s protection, Wayne sulked about his failed transformation. Disguises were never going to become the truth, terribly inconvenient when he needed them the most. He was curious how Planck had acquired so many faith-based items, and each of them was incredibly powerful.

“Could he have a cheat, too?” Wayne muttered, looking up at the ring and feeling the urge to put it on his finger. Just like the four elements he coveted, though, he didn’t put the urge into action.

Besides, compared to the Blacklight Ring itself, he was more envious that Planck was able to juggle between various faiths. His success was like the light of dawn breaking through darkness, opening a door right before Wayne’s eyes.

To speak plainly, Wayne wanted to walk the same path—he wanted the support of every goddess.

After about half an hour, two figures appeared in the sewer. Planck sat cross-legged on the ground, panting like a dog, his beard stained with blood. Across from him was the tentacle monster. The Lord of the Void tried to reshape his form, but every attempt failed due to his damaged mind.

Wayne interpreted that as Planck having drained the Lord of the Void’s hitpoints to single digits while putting himself in a critical condition. All in all, it was a win.

Clatter! Clang!

Ordinary-looking trinkets were scattered on the ground. Cross-legged, Planck looked like a street vendor with a haphazard array of items before him. The Blacklight Ring above Wayne’s head also fell.

Planck breathed heavily, grabbing Wayne’s pant leg. “Quick, tell me which god you worship! I’ll give you the casting tool, and you finish off the Lord of the Void.”

He smiled bitterly. He hadn’t expected the Lord of the Void to be insane enough to aim for mutual destruction. Thank goodness he had enough gods backing him up, or he would’ve become a death portrait on someone’s wall by now.

What the hell? Didn’t you say you’d protect me?

Wayne’s eyes widened. Seeing that the Lord of the Void was beginning to take form, he quickly said, “Goddess of Nature. My master’s a disciple of Nature, so presumably, I am, too.”

“Goddess of Nature, Goddess of Nature...”

Planck rummaged through the items on the ground, picking three of them out, including, in addition to the bracelet of Nature, a medal for Sun and a figurine for Moonlight.

The three goddesses had formed the Alliance of Life, allowing their disciples to learn the magic of the other two faiths. Simply put, a disciple of Nature could learn Sun and Moonlight magic, too.

In Planck’s eyes, it was a classic case of wanting to have one’s cake and eat it too. Faith was clearly not exclusive. The Alliance of Life was no different from the Free Mage Alliance, only it was a smaller circle limited to three faiths.

In any case, Wayne would be able to use the Solar Medal and Moonlight Figurine in addition to the Nature Bracelet.

Since he was only a mage apprentice with limited strength in thought and mana, preventing him from using the full power of the Nature Bracelet, Planck had him take all three items. If one doesn’t work, use several. When it comes to gods, it won’t hurt to believe in more.

Wayne had no idea about Planck’s outrageous reasoning. The legendary mage had to have his reasons with his wealth of experience. Wayne tucked the three items to his chest and linked his mind to them, triggering the magic of all three faiths with his full mana.

Boom!

Torrential mana rose from the ground, expanding like a tornado into a wall of raging storm. Before Planck could react, the current swept over him and hurled him off his feet. He crashed into the ground headfirst, smashing a patch of concrete.

Ignoring the items scattered everywhere, he stared wide-eyed at Wayne, disbelief written on his face. A mind like that and such an amount of mana—it surpassed most Silver-rank mages! And he was supposed to be a mage apprentice?!

What surprised him wasn’t just Wayne’s mind and mana, but how perfectly he controlled the three different divine forces: Nature’s vitality, Sun’s radiance, and Moonlight’s tranquility. His body remained unaffected by the divine power, preserving his sense of self.

“Is it because the three faiths achieved perfect balance in him?”

“No, even I can’t do that. He couldn’t have done it...”

“Even god’s chosen...”

“I see. It’s his inherent constitution, or perhaps his bloodline...”

Planck muttered to himself, his eyes lighting up. Wayne was likely a rare special case or even a unique case, but he proved that the Free Mage Alliance hadn’t taken the wrong path. Their theories were correct.

Boom!

With the three magical items enhancing him, Wayne felt cold in one moment and suddenly hot in the next. Thankfully, the strange energy was immediately swallowed by the Book of Greed, making him feel instantly lighter.

The book offset the negative effects of the divine power, allowing him to freely cast three different types of magic. However, unlike Planck, he couldn’t wield the different attributes at the same time—he needed the book to switch modes for him.

Good enough!

Wayne clenched his fist and made a drawing motion, conjuring a golden sword condensed from pure light. Slashing attacks wouldn’t be that effective against the tentacle monster, so instead, he waved his hand and used his mana to manipulate reality, creating a downpour of countless golden swords.

The blades rained on the Lord of the Void, each sword a concentration of scorching fire. The Lord of the Void screamed in agony, his already diminished mind evaporated further under the intense heat.

Being OP feels great!

One’s misery was another’s joy. The Lord of the Void’s screams bolstered Wayne. He switched to Nature’s power and scattered spores with a wave of his hand, which parasitized the Lord of the Void and grew red mushrooms all over his body. They drained his vitality to reproduce nonstop.

As his mana receded like a tide, Wayne felt a faint exhaustion. He prepared to use Moonlight, and upon the switch, his weary mind fell into the embrace of tranquility. It instantly restored his spirit and replenished much of his mana.

Switch when exhausted. Attack when fully restored.

Not that he needed not worry about running out of mana, Wayne experimented with various ways of bombardment, getting more excited with each blast. Planck’s expression grew concerned. He hurriedly intervened, “Easy! Don’t collapse the sewer! Magic comes in many forms. Don’t just rely on brute force.”

Well, but if brute force works so well, why should I bother thinking?

Wayne had found his way in magic: when in doubt, just blow everything up! But he had to admit that Planck was right. He shouldn’t do whatever he wanted with no consideration for the sewer’s feelings.

He stopped his relentless bombardment and wore down the Lord of the Void’s mind gradually with the parasitic spores. It was far less efficient than the sunlight swords. He turned to Planck for advice from the legendary mage.

Without thinking, Planck tossed the Death Pendant to Wayne. “Marshall’s mastered life magic, making his consciousness and vitality abnormally resilient. You could try Death’s power.”

Wayne nodded. Before Planck could say anything else, he caught the pendant and switched modes, immediately mass-producing holy death swords.

It was incredibly effective. The Lord of the Void screamed with even more agony.

(눈灬눈)

Are you a one-trick pony or what?

Planck refrained from commenting on Wayne’s lack of imagination. Whatever worked, worked. Nothing else mattered.

He was going to advise Wayne not to use the Death Pendant together with the three goddesses’ items. Their mutual hostility was well-known. As a legendary mage, he could barely suppress the backlash, but if Wayne used them like him...

Oh, wait, the goddesses have stopped fighting because of you.

Wayne demonstrated his extraordinary nature once again, wielding Death’s and Sun’s faith magic at the same time without ill effects. Genius wasn’t enough to describe him—he was a born freak.

In Planck’s eyes, Wayne was a disciple the gods had tailor-made for him, destined to carry the banner of the Free Mage Alliance.

“He said his master’s a disciple of the Church of Nature. That’s a bit troublesome. Stealing someone’s student will damage my reputation...”

“Well, my reputation is terrible, so whatever.”

Ten minutes later.

Having recovered somewhat, Planck went up to Wayne with various items, occasionally handing him different ones to torment the Lord of the Void differently. Wayne accepted everything happily. At this point, killing the Lord of the Void was no longer the focus. The Book of Greed was having a feast of its life.

Although each item was a delicate dish with a portion smaller than a saucer, making them more appetizers than anything, there was such an incredible variety that the Book of Greed cheered with joy. Tonight’s banquet was even better than entering the Gate of Truth, and when it was happy, Wayne was, too.

Twenty minutes later.

The Lord of the Void’s mind was completely evaporated by the energy of the Sun, and his white, foamy flesh was corroded by Death. In his last moment, he roared furiously at Wayne, unleashing over a dozen vicious curses.

Wayne responded by flipping him off. Then he turned to Planck. All the items belonged to Planck, so he should bear at least ninety-nine percent of the curses.

Unconcerned, Planck checked whether Sidney could still be saved before saying, “I get cursed by patients over a thousand times every year, and I'm still alive. If curses actually work, even the gods would’ve fallen long ago, much less me.”

Right, but is it really okay for you to have no reverence for gods at all? Wayne wondered.

The Lord of the Void’s dead, Planck thought. Why are you keeping my items? Young man, is it really okay for you to play dumb?

Five minutes later, Planck grumbled as he found his last item in Wayne’s sock.

“How shameless! Hiding the bracelet in your sock? And you call yourself a follower of the Goddess of Nature? Where’s your devotion and your unwavering reverence?” Planck scoffed, putting on an authoritative look like a typical old white-bearded mage. After roaring like a blower fan for quite some time, he said, “Give up. You’re not a qualified believer. Not now, not ever. Join us instead. The Free Mage Alliance needs a talent like you.”

So you’re with the Free Mage Alliance. No wonder you dabble in everything.

Surprised, Wayne remembered the Nelson Family Manual and blurted out, “Other people’s wives are better?”

“Huh, how did you know the code phrase?”