"Of course, according to this world's terminology, Beelzebub had most of his divinity and divine power stripped away by my true body. Even his divine soul suffered severe damage, plunging him into a deep slumber where he can no longer respond to his believers' prayers…"
As a demon lord, he had always been exquisitely sensitive to sacrificial rites and prayers in the material world. Through Leilin's repeated probing, it was now certain that this great demon lord had sunk into an extremely deep sleep, completely unresponsive to any external stimuli.
This immediately threw the many demon worshippers of the Lord of Gluttony in the material world into chaos. If Beelzebub hadn't hidden his true body so well, Leilin might already have heard news of his fall.
"Once a deity or demon lord loses the ability to respond to prayers and bestow spells, they aren't far from falling…"
Leilin sighed. Throughout history, there had been gods who perished not because of external forces, but due to the steady erosion of their divine faith — a truly tragic affair.
"Gods exist through faith. Although they gather the power of countless beings and wield extraordinary abilities, they are also shackled by the very faith that sustains them. Unless they are those who have completely merged with the world's primal forces and comprehended true divine authority…"
Leilin sighed again. "But such beings would at minimum be eighth-rank Wizards who have found their own path — and even across the entire world of gods, there likely aren't more than a handful."
Pulling his thoughts back from their wandering, Leilin shifted his gaze once more to the statue.
"Since Beelzebub has fallen into slumber, there's no need to be so cautious about many things…"
To put it bluntly, having absorbed most of the other's memories, Leilin was now essentially a true great demon lord in his own right. It was even entirely possible to gradually siphon away the being's faith and ultimately usurp his position.
But that would require tremendous power. Leilin's current clone was merely a sixth-rank mage, to say nothing of the ability to bestow spells upon believers.
Even to usurp a divine throne, one would at the very least need to possess divinity!
"The rules of Gluttony and Devouring are quite potent, but in the world of gods they've already been branded as demonic. If I were to wield such power…"
Leilin shook his head with a hint of regret. If he still intended to operate in the material world, he naturally couldn't base himself on that kind of divinity. Moreover, when he had reincarnated into this other world, he hadn't brought any of that power along — or rather, even if he had, it would simply have been washed away by the world's origin force, utterly useless.
"The path must be walked step by step. Fortunately, even the collapse of faith takes time. The Lord of Gluttony's believers won't dissipate that quickly…"
"And even if they did, it would only mean the loss of one convenient channel and source of income for me. There's no need to take such risks. Better to stick with the original plan and advance steadily…"
A sharp gleam flickered in Leilin's eyes as his hands suddenly clenched.
Crack! Crack! The demon lord's statue immediately crumbled to dust in his hands, scattering across the floor.
"Still, even I have to admit — a great many things about demons are genuinely useful!"
Leilin reached his hand into the basin of blood on the table and quickly fished out a bloodstained dagger.
The dagger had an elegant curve and wasn't very long, appearing quite petite — like an exquisite work of art. At the end of its hilt sat a grotesque demon's head, its numerous compound eyes seemingly radiating a vicious glow. A pair of demon wings formed the crossguard, and countless patterns resembling veins ran along the entire body of the blade. Most strikingly, the whole dagger emitted a hazy crimson luminescence, and with blood still dripping from its tip, it appeared all the more sinister…
"It's finished? The Demon Blood Dagger!!!"
A flash of delight crossed Leilin's eyes. At that moment, the Chip's voice chimed in, along with the dagger's detailed specifications.
【Demon Blood Dagger — Weight: 9,182 grams. Length: 9 inches. Materials: Skeleton of a Keluo Bird, Blood Alloy, Weeping Wraith. Effect: Possesses exclusive demon powers; can absorb the flesh and blood of hostile targets to enhance the user's abilities. Description: An extraordinarily evil dagger, saturated with an aura forbidden by the gods, heralding death and misfortune. Crafter: Leilin Farell】
"Not bad at all!" Leilin toyed with the dagger in his hand, letting it flash with a dark, cold gleam between his fingers.
In Beelzebub's memories, there were countless items like this. In truth, it was precisely through such conveniently obtained power that the demon lord had lured the faithful of the material world's gods into corruption.
And this 【Demon Blood Dagger】 was considered a genuinely fine item even by Beelzebub's standards. If it were to be bestowed upon a believer, the only way to earn it would be to sacrifice a fifteenth-rank or higher priest of a rival god, or to slaughter an entire small city — otherwise, don't even dream of it.
"When it comes to power that can be obtained in the shortest possible time, demons and devil lords are absolutely the top choice — fair and honest to a fault. It's just that the price is often far more terrifying…"
Leilin sighed.
His cousin, Isabelle, had clearly been tempted by a demon lord in her moment of desperation and ultimately fell into complete corruption, still entangled in a heap of trouble to this day.
But compared to her, who had merely been collecting sacrifices on behalf of a demon lord, Leilin's own actions were far more sinister — for he was now essentially half a great demon lord himself. Every shred of flesh and blood devoured by the Demon Blood Dagger would be put to use on his own body!