Astra considered the silent healer, watching the look in his eyes as he mentally reviewed her words, sending them to clash against his beliefs and education only for that education to come out on the losing side.

It might seem like a waste of time to have this conversation now, especially with everything going on outside. But with Phobus dead, the Nightmares would disappear with him. Leaving her forces on the advantage, even if Seth's puppets weren't operating at peak efficiency.

Alexandra would undoubtedly be able to handle her mysterious opponent, so over all victory was only a matter of time.

But this was also a war on more than the physical side. It was a holy war, a war of belief. Where Worship could literally be weaponised and controlled.

Her displayed of power had been a good start, planting those seeds of doubt in their cultish religion. Now it was time to water those seeds. A few well placed words in the right ears could very much be the difference in the end.

Or, at the very least, it would make transitioning them out of this cults mindset easier once this was all over.

She had to be careful, lest her pushing end up working against her when she pushed him too far or too fast. But the knife of disbelief had already sunk into his heart, all it needed was a little extra twist to made his belief crumble.

"So, If you're blessing is false, and simply the effect of a planet wide phenomena, and the increase to that blessing simply comes from the power you get from eating the new, monstrous beasts that have arrived as a result.

Then what has he actually done for you? How has the Lightbringer actually improved your life, or what has he actually done to earn your worship?"

The healer didn't answer her, only taking a sharp, quivering intake of breath before letting it out slowly. His eyes remained blank as he stared at the wall, contemplating his life over the last few months as the war inside his head was rapidly drawing to a foregone conclusion.

Eventually, he blinked softly and glanced at Astra before quickly looking away again. He raised a trembling hand, gesturing for her to move down the corridor before walking himself.

His legs were no longer shaking with fear, instead it was his hands that were trembling by his sides as he clenched them into fists.

He never spoke another word after that, staying completely silent and staring ahead of him blankly as he led her to the monument.

It was a freshly excavated room, undoubtedly achieved by some sort of earth based ability, that measured 5 metres across on either side. It was lit exclusively by glowing white crystals, bundled together in a net, and hung from earthen hooks formed from the walls.

In the middle of the room stood the Lightbringer.

Not the real version of him, but a perfect stone replica of him. The only part that was not stone was the eyes, which glowed pure white as they were seemingly crafted with the same luminous stones that hung around the room.

The statue was stood with his legs together, back slightly hunched and hands held downwards, as if he was offering something to those below him, yet his hands were completely empty. Just like all of his offerings.

Surrounding the statue were a group of black robed individuals, all of them crouched on the ground with their heads pressed against the floor, offering muttered prayers to the statue.

When she entered the room, Astra could feel the energy gathered within it. She wasn't entirely sure, but she had always long suspected that the Elemental stat that they could increase didn't in fact reflect any amount of resistence to it, not strength in wielding it. As her electricity manipulation never actually increased no matter how high she raised it.

But as she continued to raise it, she did notice one thing. It seemed to increase her ability to sense electricity in other sources and from further distances.

She was close to maxing it out at the moment, as it still remained the easiest stat for her to grind, and being in the room now finally confirmed her theory.

The elemental stat didn't increase their strength with elements, instead it opened them up to more of it. The phrase 'elements' was often thought to link to the basic four of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. But she was an outlier in that already.

Elements were in fact all of them. From those on the periodic table, to all of the unknown energies they hadn't yet discovered. Such as mana... and Worship.

The Elemental stat represented their ties to the universe itself, and helped them sense it to further manipulate that universe. Whether it be the small parts of it, such as simply fire, or the esoteric parts such as literal worship.

Perhaps the fact she had referred to herself as the Storm Goddess was assisting her, but she could actually feel the worship floating around in the room, swirling around the statue and sinking into it, like water falling down a plughole.

Ignoring the people in the room, Astra drew her sword from where it had been magnetised to her hip and, with a thought, turned the blade into a crackling whip of energy and metal. With a flick of her wrist, she wrapped the whip around the statue, the blades biting into its surface, before she retracted the whip.

It tightened on its own as the magnetic forces dragged the blade fragments back together, digging them into the stone as cracks spider-webbed throughout its surface. The worshippers in the room raised their heads at the noise, just in time to watch the idol of their false god explode into pebbles and dust as it was finally crushed.

***

"MOTHER FUCKER! I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BASTARD! I'M GOING TO RIP HIM LIMB FROM LIMB AND FEED HIM HIS OWN FUCKING FOLLOWERS!"

The great and powerful Lightbringer, the man so many looked up to and worshipped as a benevolent and wise God was currently throwing a tantrum that even a toddler would call childish.

Thankfully, his office was sound proofed for... multiple different reasons, as was his bedroom. So the only witnesses to his rage filled screams, table flipping and hair pulling shenanigans were the two individuals in the room with him at the time.

One of them was a young girl, roughly 14 years old, with dark hair that hung down to her shoulders. Her skin was sickly pale and she had dark circles around her eyes. Her arms, which she held tight to her chest as she shivered slightly, showed signs of needle marks around the forearm.

The other was a tall woman, who was dressed in a long, flowing pure white dress that draped down to the floor. However despite the fact that it would definitely trail along the ground as she walked, the dress was completely immaculate.

Her skin was also pale, but not in the same way that the girl was. While the girl was pale like a corpse, the woman was pale like the full moon in the sky. Enchanting and beautiful, a sight that drew the eye and brought comfort to all that saw it.

It was also a comparison that was more apt when you understand that her beautiful pale skin was slightly luminous, as it glowed with a soft pale white light that surrounded her entire being. It wasn't enough to hurt the eye, but simply added to her enchanting and ethereal nature.

Her blonde hair was tied into a long braid that draped half way down her back and, despite the fact that her hair was pulled out of her face, her features were difficult to pinpoint. It was mainly because it was difficult to look at her face, inspiring one to feel a sense of unworthiness and avert their eyes.

If one somehow overcame this feeling, or gazed upon her before it took hold, they would find the details of her face would be different from how someone else remembered it, as if she was always appearing as the most beautiful creature anyone could imagine no matter who was looking at her.

The most curious thing of all about this woman, was the small white feathers that gathered on the ground around her feet, despite the fact that there was no birds or even windows within.

The table exploded into a hail of wooden shards as the Lightbringer, in his most profound wisdom, decided to throw it across the room. How brilliant of him.

The young girl flinched at the sound of the table crashing, letting out a stifled whimper, while the enchanting woman simply let out a discontented sigh, like a disapproving mother.

"Are you quite finished?"

Her tone was cold and unamused, with a hint of irritation.

The Lightbringer whirled around at the voice, his face beet red with veins bulging in his neck and on his forehead threatened to pop at any moment from the overwhelming blood pressure. He looked ready to explode and yet the chilling tone of the enchanting beauty seemed to cool down his simmering rage.

He clenched his jaw, swallowing the scream he was about to let fly, before nodding softly.

"Good boy. Now that little tantrum is done with, it is time for you to finally make yourself useful for once."