Badge in Azure

The God of Purgatory did not need faith, only slaughter. Yet Saleen, a mage, had countermeasures against all of the powers wielded by the God of Purgatory.

Baudelaire continued, “The God of Purgatory is not a God of the Underworld. The plane he is from was created by the Lord of Glory. Well, the Lord of Glory was actually incapable of creating such a huge plane. He destroyed an entire main plane. He slaughtered every single living creature there and created hell.”

“Hell?”

“Yes. Anything that was not conquered by him and refused to submit to him was banished to hell. That plane is one made for punishment.”

“How did the God of Purgatory come to be?”

“The God of Purgatory had once been one of the most devout believers in the Lord of Glory. The Son of God, if you will. But the God of Purgatory eventually had delusions about taking on the Lord of Glory out of pride, intending to replace him.”

“So he fell then?”

“Not exactly. The God of Purgatory actually swayed 170 million angels to his side, betraying the Lord of Glory at the same time.”

Saleen had only begun to straighten himself up then and paid close attention to Baudelaire’s elaborations. The God of Purgatory is truly something. What are angels? The most devout believers in their gods, humanoid weapons of war, and the army for propagating the faiths of their gods.

The God of Purgatory actually managed to sway 170 million of angels to betray the Lord of Glory at the same time. This guy must have some charisma.

“There were no angels at beginning levels who followed the God of Purgatory; all those who followed him were level-11 and above. The 170 million angels were equal to half of the Lord of Glory’s original main power. He had actually only managed to defeat the God of Purgatory after sacrificing 12 divine kingdoms that he had taken over and all of the living beings in them.”

The people at Saleen’s side listened, intrigued. The tale of the God of Purgatory was truly legendary. Saleen was wondering what would happen if he was in the God of Purgatory’s shoes. Would he have been able to sway that many angels to betray their god?

Well, when the Goddess of Nature resurrects in the future, I’ll probably need to do something similar, no?

He wanted the people he conned into embracing faith to live. However, to do that, they would have to betray the goddess.

Such an act would be a lot easier if he possessed the God of Purgatory’s ability.

“The God of Purgatory was defeated and escaped to a purgatory plane. His divine fire was lit and he took away 170 million soldiers of the Lord of Glory’s grand army.”

“You’re saying that he was defeated, yet he lost none of the angels that he swayed?”

“No. About 100 million perished in the great war. The God of Purgatory killed that plane’s God of the Underworld and robbed him of his divine persona. He used it to revive the angels that followed him.”

“What was the level of the God of Underworld that he killed?”

“Level-15.”

“Well then, carry on.” Saleen had a solid idea of things. The God of Purgatory had been able to go beyond his level and kill a level-15 god, which meant that he had super powerful equipment at his disposal. If Saleen were to fight such a god, there was no way he would be able to survive.

“The God of Purgatory succeeded in resurrecting over 90 million angels. All of them were still willing to follow him, even if doing so meant falling. They had no regrets. The war raged on, but the God of Purgatory knew that there was no way for him to continue reviving those angels indefinitely. If the grand army of the Lord of the Army caught up to them, fallen angels would be permanently killed sooner or later. As such, the God of Purgatory went to hell, a place that the Lord of Glory could never reach.”

“What do you mean ‘could never reach’?” Saleen asked.

“While hell was created by the Lord of Glory, the rules born from the hell plane totally went against the Lord of Glory’s divinity. Even if a double of the Lord of Glory were to advent on that plane, it would be erased completely by that plane. That has nothing to do with levels, the rules that have to do with attributes.”

“So you’re saying that’s when that the God of Purgatory took over hell?”

“More or less. Since then, the Lord of Glory lost all control over hell. Dark angels that he sent were killed by the God of Purgatory. The Lord of Glory had to create new Divine Punishment spells, throwing those that were killed by the spell into interdimensional spaces where they continue to endure pain and suffering.”

Saleen recalled his own experiences. It was different from how it was written in the Holy See’s codex, but fit Baudelaire’s descriptions. He and Lex had both been hit by Divine Punishment and, instead of hell, were sent to an interdimensional space under the God’s Ring’s protection.

“This God of Purgatory is interesting indeed. I could understand why you’d choose to take up faith. But tell me then, what do any of these secrets have to do with me?” Saleen asked, trying to find the key point of it all.

It was a question that Baudelaire’s life was hinged on. If Baudelaire was unable to give a convincing answer, Saleen would not even want to keep him around as his slave.

After all, it was a clone that the God of Purgatory had prepared for himself, and Saleen felt that it was too dangerous to keep around. While the God of Purgatory’s level was not as high as that of the Lord of Glory, he sounded difficult to deal with nonetheless.

“The God of Purgatory would not settle to live in hell for all eternity. If he left hell, the Lord of Glory would be the first to know. As such, he created clones. I was a spare.”

“How many clones are on Myers Mainland?”

“Two. The other one is not on the mainland, but in the Eastern Sea.”

“Oh?”

“That clone is already carrying out mass slaughters. The nations of the Eastern Sea never stopped warring against each other. The deaths of those humans are his mission. By the time everyone on the Eastern Sea is dead, it will be time for him to evolve into a true clone.”

“What happens then?”

“He would fight me then. The one who survives shall rule this plane and eventually run to hell and meet up with the God of Purgatory.”

“This is how the God of Purgatory enhances his powers?”

“Indeed, quite simple.”

“It is simple, but he shouldn’t have sent people to Myers Mainland. I’ll one day fight my way to hell and make that guy my slave.”

“Slavery is bad, Master,” Nailisi joked all of a sudden.

“Yeah, I know. But having gods like that as slaves sounds fun to me.” Saleen had little qualms about killing. Mages and common folk were two different kinds of beings.

However, Saleen definitely would not have committed slaughter just to increase his powers. Regardless of how powerful a mage was, they had evolved from humanity.

Humanity was the root of all mages.

The God of Purgatory wanted to kill every single human on Myers Mainland.

“Saleen, if you kill me, then please extract a piece of my treasured memories. The piece contains information regarding the other clone of the God of Purgatory,” Baudelaire continued. He did not ask to be spared, but Saleen was no longer in the mood to kill him.

“Baudelaire, if I let you live, would you continue killing?”

“I would. But the only ones I want to kill are the believers in the Lord of Glory!”

“Can’t you do it in some other way? Like… enticing them to fall?” Saleen said, steering the conversation.

Baudelaire laughed. His smile appeared on the face of the figure, looking very eerie.

“Master Saleen, I’ve dedicated my life to the God of Purgatory in exchange for the extermination of all believers in the Lord of Glory. I’ll lose power if I don’t kill.”

“Baudelaire, I could supply you with power, so long as you betray the God of Purgatory.” Saleen’s smile was a sincere one. If he had not seen Saleen’s methods firsthand, Baudelaire would have almost knelt in front of Saleen.

“My soul would not be my own. Kill me, mage.”

“No. I could protect your soul from harm for good,” Saleen said as he took out a piece of Eternal Control Shard. “You’d only need to enter here, and you’d be free forever from the threat of any god. If you trust me, that is.”

That Eternal Control Shard was something that he and his teacher had created together. He’d tried to craft an Eternal Control Shard after coming to possess the Six Elements’ Heavy Water and Genesis Stock Solution.

While that piece of Eternal Control Shard paled in comparison to those of the Three Kings, there was no longer a significant difference between them.

“What would you need me to do, mage?”

“Revive the Goddess of Myers and kill her,” Saleen answered.

“Your request is even more peculiar than that of the God of Purgatory!” Baudelaire continued, “It’s an enticing offer. I do have a knack for running into weird people and things.”

“So you’re willing to do it?”

“No. I want to know, what do you see in me? If I fall short of the requirements, I’ll suffer a fate worse than death.”

“I have two souls in my hands which I could kill and not subjugate. I’ll run into more things like that in the future, and I hope you’ll take care of them for me. As for Theisio, I’ll need to kill him and I’d need some skills of yours to be imparted to my holy master,” Saleen said as he pointed to Nicholas.

Baudelaire nodded solemnly and said, “I could do all of that. So, am I your slave then?”

“Hmph. Saleen is my master. Don’t even think about it,” Nailisi quipped, interrupting Baudelaire.

However, Baudelaire kept his eyes on Saleen, awaiting his answer.

“Slave? No. You’d be my number one holy master. The Nature Faith will need you to become its pope!”

“Pope?” Baudelaire gritted his teeth as he said the word.

“Wouldn’t you like that? As a pope, you’d be occupied with thinking how to kill the god you’re serving at all times,” Saleen said, continuing to entice Baudelaire.

Baudelaire sighed and said, “I’m unable to resist. A mage like you resembles the God of Purgatory very much.”

“Well then, my pope, please get your soul inside that thing. You shall have my protection unless I end up dead. The God of Purgatory will no longer be able to control your soul,” Saleen said, chucking the shard into the figure’s head.

Nailisi laughed and said, “Nicholas, your position of pope is gone! Are you angry?”

Nicholas’ eyes were wide open. He said nothing. He’d never wanted to become pope and he did not like the Nature Faith. He was feeling rather comfortable as a fallen holy master.

“Alright, Nailisi, quit messing around. I have the temple knights and now I have a pope. We’ll need a Tribunal after this. Hell, this feels rather amusing,” Saleen said as he looked at Theisio in the distance.

Theisio looked at Saleen as well. He was unable to see Saleen, but he found that Baudelaire had completely disappeared all of a sudden. None of his skills, not even the three godly items, could sense his presence anymore.

Did Saleen really kill him?