Chapter 393 - The Lord Of The Peaks
Chapter 393 The Lord Of The Peaks
Although the wager between Xi Wei and the Lord of the Peaks ended in rather sloppy and even humorous fashion, the final outcome of Xi Wei’s victory was not affected.
“Your believers had done quite well.” Aslan, the Great Lion soon arrived at Xi Wei’s divine kingdom to offer his congratulations. “I had even assumed that they might be kept on the back foot for some time, but eventually gain victory through that curious reviving ability of theirs.”
If the Great Lion who was somewhat aware of the Players’ strengths thought that, the other gods were certainly surprised by that outcome.
On paper, the Church of Games really had too few believers, numbering less than three thousand even if they included shallow believers who did not even awaken Systems.
On the other hand, the believers of the Lord of the Peaks had three sizeable hill-folk tribes near Valla alone, and the number of warriors in their weakest tribe was already equal in number to the entire Church of Games.
And yet, the Players won with such a clear victory that not even Xi Wei expected that.
He had expected some extent of Player casualty since there really were a lot of hill-folk, and a zerg-rush would be enough to overwhelm most of them.
Somehow, Terry and Jom who were on another bounty quest had managed to swindle a Scepter of the Temple of Glory so that the other church interfered and vaporized the strongest of those three hill-folk tribes.
To some extent, the decisive battle that the gathered Players had waged against the last tribe felt rather dull…
Nonetheless, winning is winning.
As Xi Wei was reluctant to reveal the location of his divine kingdom, Aslan had therefore found him an abandoned ruin of a divine kingdom as a place for their deal.
Unlike the ruined divine kingdom where the Invisible Pantheon previously met, this ruin was falling apart—which made sense, since it would discourage any god from claiming it even after it was found.
It was worth mentioning here that Xi Wei found crossing divine realms easier now that he had the experience of joining the Invisible Pantheon’s gathering and himself having ascended as an Intermediate God.
They quickly arrived at the ruin thanks to the Great Lion’s directions.
Soon, the Lord of the Peaks arrived as well.
While he resembled Magni Bronzebeard of World of Warcraft in appearance, he also stood over three meters tall and his skin did not look organic. Instead, he appeared to have concrete painted over himself and then rolled around a mine.
He had no eyes either, while his face was composed out of rock and moss, and he spoke like booming thunder.
“This isn’t fair!” He complained loudly.
“The believers of Kratos (the God of War) had taken part in this battle! I wouldn’t be defeated if Lord Earthweaver decreed that his believers aided me! But I didn’t do that because it is unjust! On the other hand, a weirdly shaped ball like you had done just that! That is why I refuse to acknowledge the outcome of this wager!” Xi Wei, inwardly retorting that ‘A rock-headed person like you shouldn’t be complaining about me looking weird then spoke to argue his own case, “I did not ask the God of War to help. The outcome came entirely from my believers’ choices.”
While he did not expect the Lord of the Peaks to renege, Xi Wei more or less expected the Lord of the Peaks to use the Temple of Glory as leverage and as such had an excuse prepared. “I wouldn’t have said a word if your believers could direct the Earth Sect’s believers into taking action as well.”
At that, a crescent-moon slit appeared over Xi Wei’s spherical face as if to mock the Lord of the Peaks. At the same time, his tentacles slapped on his own body as he exclaimed as if in understanding, “Oh, that reminds me. Your believers—the hill-folk are just a bunch of vile bandits. The Earth Sect’s followers had long since set boundaries against them, so why would they ever help you!?”
“Damn it, your lord must have neglected to educate you! You should show gods who outrank you with respect!” The Lord of the Peaks embarrassment turned into rage while divine power surged over his body.
As one of the older Intermediate Gods and a sub-deity of Earthweaver, one of the Seven Divine Fathers, the Lord of the Peaks clearly had much stronger backing compared to a newbie Intermediate God like Xi Wei.
But he did not come alone-indeed, he would not deal with the Lord of the Peaks face-to face if he had to come alone.
“Stop it, rock head!” Aslan, the Great Lion of Justice roared then, his mane dancing despite the lack of win. His majestic yet menacing presence gave the Lord of the Peaks pause right then, preventing him from any reckless move.
“Keep protecting it, Aslan! Just like a kitty and his favorite fur ball!” The Lord of the Peaks retorted, but that was the only thing he could do-he had hesitated for half a day, and ultimately did not have the gall to challenge the strongest intermediate god.
“Whatever. Hand over your divine power as agreed!” Aslan bellowed again.
“I refuse! Do whatever you want, I won’t resist!” The Lord of the Peaks yelled back, unwilling to yield. “But remember, you would be harming the sub-deity of a Divine Father!”
Aslan was clearly cautious about the Earthweaver, and so both sides arrived at a stalemate right then.
Just as Xi Wei tried to swindle some information or get some divine relic out of the Lord of the Peaks instead, a presence that left the heart palpating with fear and was without match suddenly arose within Xi Wei’s heart.
He felt just like a tiny wooden raft amidst rolling waves or an ant in the middle of a forest fire. The horror around him was so profound and unfathomable that even his divinity was shaking.
Soon, a divine power that was the very incarnation of fear arose beyond the fallen divine kingdom. The faint traces of that power which were spilling inside alone was nothing Xi Wei could hope to match, be it in quantity or quality!
At the same time, the already-ruined divine kingdom began to fall apart upon that divine power’s appearance-even though he was not deliberately exerting any pressure!
Though Xi Wei could not see the face of its owner, he had already realized something.
After all, the Lord of the Peaks was laughing wildly in his face!
In fact, the three-meter tall rock dwarf was raising what appeared to be his hands high above, towards the rupturing skies of the ruined divine kingdom.
“Lord Earthweaver!” He shouted on top of his lungs. “I did not expect you to come! In the name of Peaks, I beseech your favor to unleash your divine retribution upon these two gods who failed to appreciate kindness to protect the dignity of all earthen gods!”