"Also, you can halt the large-scale blood sacrifice you've been preparing. Until you receive my latest orders, you are not to make any conspicuous moves — especially anything that would draw the Church's attention!"
As he was leaving, Lin Lei issued this solemn injunction.
"By your command, Chosen of Our Lord!"
The devil priest agreed immediately. In truth, he had little power to refuse.
Moreover, the whole reason they had been preparing such an elaborate spectacle was to attract the Lord of Gluttony's attention. Now that he had already dispatched his Chosen to them, there was obviously no further need for it.
"Great Agent, please bestow upon us your name!"
Only at the very end did the aged devil priest seem to summon the courage to ask.
"Name?!" Behind the silver mask, a hint of a smile touched the corner of Lin Lei's lips. "My name... is Kukulkan!!!"
The power of faith was, in essence, nothing more than spiritual or soul-based energy — fear and obedience, reverence and adoration — and a divine name served as its coordinate.
A concrete name, combined with formidable power and the false identity of Belzebub's Chosen, was more than sufficient to earn the awe of these devil worshippers below.
It might even allow him to gradually siphon off Belzebub's faith, and ultimately usurp it entirely!
However, this organization was about the only thing mature enough for Lin Lei to find somewhat useful. When it came time to actually establish a church, these people still could not be relied upon — he would need to cultivate an entirely new generation of priests. After all, Lin Lei had no intention of turning his church into a gathering place for devil worshippers.
Going further still, certain blood sacrifices and wicked rituals that violated fundamental tenets would have to be abolished as well. This was the boundary of a good god, and a necessary step for any deity seeking widespread acceptance in the material world.
"Lord Kukulkan, we shall obey your commands without fail and prepare for Our Lord's revival!"
These thoughts flickered through his mind in an instant. Then, Lin Lei watched as the gathered devil worshippers raised their voices, chanting his name.
Amid the frenzied atmosphere, a peculiar energy — something akin to Spiritual Power yet imbued with the qualities of the soul — began to coalesce around his body.
The counterfeit Devouring Divinity could barely restrain itself, wanting to devour these energies and take true form, but Lin Lei suppressed it once more.
"The power of diffuse faith, is it?"
Lin Lei sighed inwardly, and then his figure vanished from the chamber.
"You've all heard the master's orders, haven't you?" The devil priest looked at the surrounding believers, especially a few nobles among them, and couldn't help but straighten his back.
The arrival of a divine being had given him — whose status had plummeted after losing the quasi-magical abilities bestowed by the devils — a renewed sense of confidence: "Deploy everything immediately! Prepare to receive those Paladins of the gods of justice!"
When it came to hatred, there was absolutely no room for reconciliation between the devil cultists and the Paladins. Once they met, it would be a battle to the death without exception.
While these devil cultists gathered together wouldn't be enough for a single Paladin to cut through, if they fully mobilized their forces and hid behind the scenes, they could still cause enormous trouble for the enemy.
"Of course!" Several nobles grinned savagely, their silhouettes cast against the walls like terrifying devils.
……
"Playing the role of gods and ghosts twice a day, this is really…"
Lin Lei had already left the city by now.
He surveyed the surrounding landscape, his eyes sharp with vigilance. The powerful divine being outside was merely a disguise — in truth, his true self was still a tenth-level wizard.
If those devil cultists had collectively resisted just now, he really wouldn't have been certain he could suppress them. Although, with the aura advantage of a high-ranking devil, he certainly wouldn't have come out worse for wear.
But the disguise of a divine being, along with the ritual bestowal of the Devil's Blood Dagger, had been more than enough to scare those devil cultists witless. They had worshipped devils, and their souls had long been bound by shackles. If they didn't want their souls to suffer torment after death, they had no choice but to follow Lin Lei's instructions!
"Compared to those low-ranking devil cultists, this one will actually require more careful handling…"
With a sigh in his heart, Lin Lei steeled himself. A wisp of flame flickered to life on his fingertip, taking the shape of a fire-winged serpent.
A point of firelight emerged in the dark forest, carrying an aura of sinister malevolence.
"It's coming!" Lin Lei's expression shifted as he looked in a certain direction.
There, a dark afterimage hurtled toward him at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
[Greater Spell Deflection!] [Greater Protective Detection!] [Greater Concealment!]
Several powerful magical barriers rose up, completely isolating this area from the outside world.
"A high-level professional? No! Far stronger than Ogden and Borujer — almost at the threshold of the Legendary realm…"
Lin Lei assessed silently.
At that moment, the visitor appeared before Lin Lei.