There were two things that myseriously felt like a part of me even though they weren't.
First - was the system. Looking at the system was like I was thinking about some idea in my head. It felt completely naturally a part of me.
Second - were my undead minions. They felt like my shadows. And as we know, the shadow is something that doesn't leave you, ever.
So, even if they weren't around me, I could still easily track them down and reunite with them.
I did so with the dark fox. As it climbed on the dark wolf I was riding, the fox gave me the scrolls I had tasked it to steal and run.
Thankfully, it had been able to take all of them and keep them unharmed. They were bound to come in very handy later on.
I didn't stop to read them back then though. As soon as I got those scrolls and the fox back with me, I started heading towards the place I could sense the goblins and dark wolves that I had to reunite with to be in.
***************
It was one humiliation after another. Valerie just could not understand how those things could be happening to her.
First - she was caught prostrating and lustfully threatening Emoliv (or his statue at least) and that too by a dark fox.
Second - a 5-year-old had made a mockery of her ambitions.
Third - she had been beaten down by a couple of stupid goblins.
Fourth - she was saved by that child, using those very goblins.
Fifth - she was manhandled by those goblins like she was a sack of potatoes.
Sixth - there was no sixth yet. But she knew that if she stayed anywhere near that boy, the sixth, seventh, and the seventeenth won't be very far away.
So, while the entire city was busy panicking, the High Priestess was busy thinking of a way to get away from that child as soon as possible.
Asking to be transferred to another city's church was the obvious thing.
'Yes, that's what I should do.' She thought to herself.
At that moment, she was on a wooden chair, right in the middle of a forest. But, she was still safe as all the monsters seemed to have run far away after sensing the demonic monster who had attacked the city.
So, as ironic as it might have been, the forest that had the terrifying bloodbath incident happen just a few days prior - was the safest place for one to be in.
When that boy, Vilome, had told these goblins to take her to the outskirts of the city, he must have known that this would be the case.
'As much as I hate him, I have to give him some credit. That child is smart, too smart for his age actually.' She thought to herself. 'And not only smart either, he can control these undead monsters like he's their god or something.'
As a High Priestess, she was obviously very knowledgable about the various arts, even the ones that had become history. So, she could tell that what that boy was using was the long-forgotten art of Necromancy, a part of Dark Arts.
That is why, on some level, Valerie couldn't help but be intrigued by him.
After all, the God of Darkness had been killed a long time ago. And so, all the Dark Arts that existed should have become unusable. That's how it always is.
Arts only exist because of a God representing and holding dominion over them. If that God dies, that Art dies with them.
So, how could he be using Dark Arts? Did that mean the God of Darkness had returned? She questioned herself.
But her thoughts were interrupted by the crying of a child.
A couple of dark wolves with the same undead aura as the goblins had brought that 2-year-old child there a little while ago. Since the time they had brought her, they had laid her out on the ground and sat around as if they are the parents/guardians of her.
While initially alarmed by the arrival of those dark wolves, Valerie had soon realized that the undead aura meant they too were Vilome's minions.
She was left to wonder though who that child was?
Then, she heard a loud roar somewhere in the distance. It was most definitely the monster who had attacked the city.
She had not gotten a good look at him but she knew he was powerful. After all, the priests and priestesses of the Church were pretty much useless against him. Even 'Decree of Light' had failed in accomplishing the task of defeating that monster. Though, it might have been a different matter if she was the one using that move instead of her second-in-command. But still,
'How can Vilome possibly hope to defeat that monster?' She wondered to herself.
No matter how smart a person is, there is a point where brute strength outmatches everything. Was that not the point he had reached against that monster?
"What a bizzare sight!"
'I know, right?'
...
'Wait!' It had taken her a moment to realize it. 'Whose voice was that?'
It had come from her behind and she wasn't in any position to turn her neck to that extent, so she could only wonder who that voice belonged to.
"Oh? Why do I sense your anxiety rising?" The voice asked. It was an oddly cheerful, high-pitched voice but it sounded like the owner of that voice was a boy.
The reason?
"Cheer up, my dear! Anxiety does not suit such a beauty as yourself!" The reason was the amount of lust that she could sense coming from behind, coming from him.
'W-who the heck is that guy!?'
Being in the state she was, anyone except maybe that 2-year-old child in front of her was stronger than her. She couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Ah, I guess you must be wondering who I am. Where are my manners?" He said and a sound of someone tapping themselves on their head came. "I am Rakshasa Yahan, the assassin of Zywar."
Her blood froze.
Zywar, because he was the God of Demons, had many powerful Demons serving him. However, even among them, there were two Rakshasas who were the most infamous.
Gahan, the destroyer of Zywar, was a Rakshasa with incredible strength. He was foolish, but very powerful.
On the other hand, his blood brother Yahan, the assassin of Zywar, was a conniving little asshole whose skills in assassination were unmatched. However, what he was really infamous for was his overly-possessive nature over anything he took a liking towards.
And many a times, the 'things' that he took a liking towards happened to be women. Beautiful women, in fact.
Yes, he was infamous for being a lustful degenerate with major ego problems. And since he was standing behind her, she couldn't help but tremble in fright.
"My brother went on a rampage in the town nearby. Or is it a city? Well, doesn't matter." He continued on as if he was talking to himself. "I came to see what he was doing. And, my-oh-my, through the blessings of my god Zywar, I found you."
Valerie looked at the undead goblins as well as dark wolves but they had no intention of doing anything.
She knew that these creatures were really stupid and so if Vilome didn't instruct them to do something, they wouldn't do it. And she clearly remembered, Vilome hadn't instructed them to protect her from any potential rapists, had he?
"Well, I don't care about what Gahan is up to now. I only care about you." He said, starting to walk towards her. "What do you say, beauty? Be my wife!"
To the best of her ability, she tried to get away. And - she couldn't even budge the chair an inch.
Yahan casually stepped in front of her and asked, "Oh, what is it? Are you so heated after hearing my voice that you can't help but dance like that?"
'I'd kill you, you fucking asshole!' She shouted, insider her mind. The only sound that could escape from her mouth was the 'I' part at the beginning.
Yahan pretended to not notice, or not care, as he continued,
"Well then, since you are so much in heat, I think we should get to it already, shouldn't we?"
He had a thin, human-like appearance, with an ugly face and a tall build. Though, to be honest, his tall build was mostly because of his long arms and legs.
As he stood there in front of her, she could clearly notice a bulge below his waist.
It terrified her ten times more, as if she only then realized that she was really going to be raped.
Yahan's long, skinny arms reached out for her breasts, and she closed her eyes, praying to Emoliv to save her. But then,
"Bitch!" A rock flew right in her face, making her, along with the chair she was on, fall down to the ground.
'What the!' She turned her gaze back to where it had come from and saw Vilome, sitting on an undead dark wolf.
"Don't you dare pray to Emoliv when I am around! It's toxic to me!" He yelled at her with a disgusted expression.
"And who might you be?" Yahan asked, frustrated enough to be repeatedly clicking his tongue.
"I am the guy your brother ran away from, and you better do as well!" He said, without hesitation. "Refuse, and Zywar would be here in a moment to take you home himself."
"What!" Yahan looked at him with confusion, confusion over many things.
The fact that a child was talking like that, all condescening. The fact that he was threatening him by taking Zywar's name so casually. The fact that he was taking Zywar's name without any respect at all.
Yahan didn't knew whether he should be more frustrated or more surprised.
And, fortunately and unfortunately for him, he didn't have to choose, as he was given something more important to focus his brain on.
'I don't think there's any point in giving him a way out, Vilome.' The voice of the God Zywar could be heard in the heads of Yahan, Valerie, as well as Vilome.
"G-god Zywar?!"
'Yes Yahan, and you should return to my palace right now! We have to talk!'
Hearing that threatening voice, Yahan's shoulders jumped up and he immediately ran away, cursing Vilome and shouting promises at Valerie saying they will make love some other time.
When he was gone, Valerie sighed in relief.
"Good to see that all my plans worked out!" Vilome said.
He noticed Valerie's curious gaze on him. He could easily guess what she wanted to ask.
"You want to know who exactly I am, don't you?"
She blinked - saying 'yes', as the goblins picked her and the chair back up on Vilome's command.
"Now this is going to make you think of yourself as an idiot for not noticing it, which I would love to see. So, my name - Vilome - spell it backwards."
With no idea as to what that would accomplish, she did as he told. And then -
V-I-L-O-M-E
Backwards, it would be E-M-O-L-I-V.
As she realized that, the dots connected, but the conclusion was too hard to believe.
'This is just a coincidence, isn't it? It couldn't actually be true, could it?'
The conclusion it had led to was that the boy in front of her, just like his name, was the exact opposite of Emoliv.
And well, who is the exact opposite of the God of Light?
"It seems like you figured it out but are trying to deny it. So, let me spell it out for you once and for all - I am the God of Darkness, Vilome."
Himdere had said that the reason that Vilome was the only one in the family whose name didn't start with an 'h' was because of his aura.
Damn right it was!
It was his aura that induced into her brain the name that genuinely belonged to him, the name that belonged to the forgotten God of Darkness.
"Well, that's strange. Maybe things have been too rough for her lately?"
Vilome nodded to his own suggestion as soon as he voiced it.
To be fair though, it had been a pretty rough time for her.
Aside from the humilations she had already went through, she had also just been two steps away from being raped and was saved by a rock thrown at her.
Then, it had been revealed to her that the kid she was hating all this time was the God of Darkness himself.
Seeing all that, while it isn't something that would have happened to Vilome, he could understand why the woman would lose consciousness.
"Hah!" He casually sighed.
***************
[Name: Vilome]
[Race: God]
[Age: Irrelevant]
[Specialization: Dark Arts]
[Realm: Base]
[Progress Towards Next Realm: 2.5%]
[Quests Completed: 2]
[Authorities Acquired: None]
[Weapons Mastered: None]
There was progress. On both parts - power and planning.
After all, my plan had succeeded.
Valerie and Hena.
One weapon and one with an amazing potential to become a weapon.
They had both become my possessions.
I was able to get away from Gahan. And I was able to acquire the scrolls.
Also, the quest that was giving me a dilemna had been completed, also teaching me an important lesson of 'not overthinking stuff'.
And since I had been 'labelled' as missing during that incident, I also had a perfect opportunity to get away from my family. I knew that living in a peaceful family like that would have limited my potential. I couldn't let that happen. So, I was planning on getting away from them somehow.
I had no idea the opportunity would present itself to me.
But it had. And I wasn't about to let it go to waste.
What Zywar had said about all the gods hating me - I was convinced about that even before and so after he said it, there was no possible way to deny it.
Hence, one thing was sure - things were about to get more interesting.