Within the sealed chamber of the
Leilin, having drawn upon a thread of his Nightmare physique's bloodline power, showed no change in his outward form — but a massive array of dream runes and vertical eyes surfaced across his body.
In this state, he could not only sense the prayers of his believers with crystal clarity, but could also continuously pull vast quantities of emotional energy from the void. The bloodline power absorbed it all, ceaselessly bolstering his fundamental strength.
The grueling progress that came after reaching the Legendary realm — for anyone else — was, for him, a wide-open road.
Even as he savored the thrill of his ever-growing power, Leilin was already planning ahead for his apotheosis.
"Relocating believers is far too costly, and how to spread the faith is its own headache. Even though their faith quality is high, there are only so many... On the other hand, converting Devil worshippers and civilizing the natives of the
Leilin closed both eyes, leaving only the blood-red vertical slit on his forehead slightly open. Dark crimson lines spread across his entire body as his mind turned in slow, deliberate thought.
For a deity, believers were the most critical resource. Not only could they provide a steady stream of faith power while alive, but after death they could become divine petitioners within the Divine Kingdom, sustaining the god's power in the same way. Some might even give rise to Heroic Spirits and Holy Spirits — beings approaching the strength of fifth- and sixth-tier Wizards!
For this reason, every deity, without exception, paid close attention to their believers. The proselytizing of heretical false gods was ruthlessly suppressed.
There was even a deity dedicated specifically to this task — Helm. His church was charged with verifying the credentials of True
In such an environment, even worshippers of Demons and Devils had to operate in the shadows. For a freshly elevated novice like Leilin, who had only just reached Legendary, this went without saying.
Although in the Primary Material World Leilin was now a figure of considerable standing and had a measure of power to protect himself, if the gods were truly pushed to desperation — if several churches mobilized their high-tier Legendary powerhouses to hunt him down, or even sent avatar descendents — his fall would be a matter of minutes.
"I'll have to do everything in secret, and be even more careful — I can't attract the slightest bit of attention... My best course is to quietly accumulate strength, then ascend to True God in one decisive move! Once that happens, I'll have nothing to fear..."
Deep in thought, Leilin completed today's meditation and emotional energy extraction. His appearance reverted to that of a young man.
"Master! Holy Lance Jefferis has arrived and has been waiting outside for half an hour!"
The Tower Spirit, appearing in the form of a young girl, materialized before him and relayed the latest news. "Additionally... the envoy from the Dambresque Kingdom and the emissary from the Church of the God of Justice have both requested a private audience!"
"The God of Justice?"
Leilin's brow furrowed. Anyone leaning toward the Evil alignment would feel nothing but ill will upon hearing that name.
"I don't seem to have any history with them. Could they have found out about that paladin I killed before? No... that was a minor matter. Never mind — whatever their business, I'll find out soon enough once we meet."
Now I have a little power to protect myself, Leilin was no longer as cautious as he had been in the past. After all, as long as he didn't conspire with devils and demons, plot to overthrow the continental order, or spread his own faith with the intention of ascending to godhood — that sort of suicidal behavior — there was basically no major power that wanted to offend him.
However, out of courtesy and consideration for their respective standing, Leilin still went to see
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I was in meditation earlier — my sincerest apologies!" A hint of an apologetic smile appeared on Leilin's face.
"Heh heh… not at all, not at all. Only a mage as dedicated and meticulous as you, Lord Leilin, could have achieved such astounding accomplishments…"
A sincere smile spread across Jeffries's face.
In truth, he genuinely admired Leilin's diligence. He had seen plenty of talented geniuses in his time, but he had never encountered anyone with Leilin's level of self-discipline.
After the golem servants brought flower tea and snacks and they had exchanged a few more pleasantries, Leilin finally asked with some curiosity, "I wonder what brings you here this time…"
"Oh! Right, right…" Jeffries slapped his forehead, a look of sudden realization on his face.
"As [Legendary]-class powerhouses, our strength has reached the pinnacle of the mortal world. And because of that, we need to follow certain established conventions… Since I was the first Legendary to meet you, Lord Leilin, it's my duty to explain these to you…"
"Oh, this!" Leilin nodded. In any world with transcendent beings, there had to be something akin to a nuclear non-proliferation treaty — otherwise, with constant large-scale battles, even the biggest world would be driven to destruction. "I certainly won't refuse. Do I need to sign some kind of contract?"
"No need! No need! They're just customary conventions… just listen and that'll be fine…"
Jeffries waved both hands dismissively, the smile on his face growing ever warmer. "In truth, the restrictions on us aren't all that many. We simply can't wage battles in densely populated areas, conspire with devils and demons, or privately spread worship of ourselves… Additionally, as [Legendary Mages], we cannot casually cast Legendary-tier spells, nor carry out pollution experiments that would devastate the environment across large regions…"
He began to go through the rules one by one while Leilin listened attentively.
Overall, the restrictions were not particularly strict. What surprised him more was that no magical contract needed to be signed at all.
"That makes sense… these are all prohibitions, and no Legendary would actually want to bear the stigma of breaking them — unless they were a masochist. Besides… those Legendary Mages researching arcane secrets in private is practically an open secret…"
Leilin's understanding deepened even further.
"Ahem…" Seeing this, Jeffries wore a knowing smile — the kind that said "I'm glad you understand" — and said in a perfectly straight face: "Very well! Then welcome, Lord Leilin, to the Continental Legendary Accord. Furthermore… every year we hold a number of gatherings and salons, and we welcome newly added members. The location is…"
"If time permits, I'll attend…"
Since he still planned to go after the floating city, Leilin didn't commit himself too firmly. But even so, Jeffries departed quite satisfied, having obtained what he came for, and presented a generous gift list on behalf of the Church of the Lady of Wealth.
After Jeffries left, Leilin received yet another visitor — an envoy from the Kingdom of Danbres, supposedly the court's chief mage.
However, the other party's High Mage rank was completely beneath Leilin's notice. Fortunately, the man understood this perfectly well and put on no airs whatsoever, behaving with exceptional politeness instead.
As for the court mage's purpose, Leilin already knew — first and foremost was the conferral of noble titles.
His father, Baron Jonas, had now been elevated to Marquis. His Majesty the King had waved his hand and annexed a string of barren islands near Faolan Island into the fief's territory. Although these islands were in fact already within Faolan Island's sphere of influence and virtually indistinguishable from part of the domain, the crown had merely confirmed it in name once more. Still, Leilin was quite pleased.
Even though the combined area of these islands was exceedingly small, the maritime waters they covered stretched far beyond the boundaries of a marquis's domain — nearly half the size of the entire kingdom.
In truth, the king had essentially granted him dominion over half the outer sea.
For a Legendary, this was only fitting!
As for Leilin himself, his honorary title had been upgraded as well. He was now an honorary duke, complete with appointments such as Kingdom-Special-Appointed Chief Mage.
Though he found such trappings tiresome, he still had to acknowledge the other party's goodwill.
He accepted the bestowals with an amiable smile and exchanged a few words with the court mage — in fact offering a few words of guidance — after which the court mage departed looking thoroughly satisfied and not entirely willing to leave. An opportunity to receive instruction from a Legendary Mage was not something one encountered just anywhere!
"Tower Spirit… summon the envoy from the Church of the God of Justice…"
Since ascending to Legendary, Leilin had devoted most of his time — aside from consolidation and cultivation — to receiving envoys from every faction, which he found increasingly tedious. But for the sake of future development, he had to see the work through.
Watching the Tower Spirit's projection fade into motes of light, Leilin stroked his chin again. "Hmm… Also, upgrading the mage tower needs to be put on the schedule too. There's so much to do…"
……
Leilin had never had a favorable impression of the Church of the God of Justice — the order of these audiences made that abundantly clear.
But upon meeting the other party's envoy, Leilin was caught slightly off guard.
"It's been so long! Wizard Leilin!"
The young knightess executed a flawless salute. "On behalf of the Church of the God of Justice, I extend our most sincere congratulations to Lord Leilin on his ascension to Legendary, and we hope to walk side by side with you along the path of upholding justice on the continent!"
"…I'll accept your blessings with pleasure, then."
Leilin gazed at the long-legged knightess before him, a smile of reminiscence crossing his face. "It really has been a long time, Laphinia…"
"Come to think of it, I never asked what happened to you after you left. When did you join the Church of the God of Justice?"
Leilin invited Laphinia to sit down, his face wearing the warm smile of a hospitable host, and ordered a puppet to bring over a platter of tropical fruits.
"Come! Try some of our southern specialties — they're rarely seen up in the north…"
"Thank you…"
Laphinia's expression was conflicted as her right hand picked up a purple fruit that resembled a longan.
Although she had imagined many scenes of their reunion, she had never anticipated this one. For some reason, seeing Leilin's nonchalant expression stirred a flame in the depths of her heart once more.