The tribespeople fought hard, but their stone weapons, and bone tools were mostly ineffective to the creatures that Millus summoned as they were equipped with weapons that were not supposedly invented yet, the tribespeople fought desperately.
Gabo, who was barely fighting back the monsters, saw his father, "i-impossible, f-father lost?" He was horrified at the scene happening in the distance.
Bak-am also saw this and lost most of his morale, as they retreated to their remaining tribesmen, "this is lost" he said.
Magbo was unable to accept the outcome and he shouted through his lungs, he forced his remaining Aura that was stored from his heart, "Ancestor! This lowly one has request this being to die! Help your bloodline overcome this trial." He shouted and attacked his last ditch effort.
"Raaghh! Die!!" As he shot straight to Millus burning using his life force to summon the last of his strength, the obsidian knife was placed on the tip of the aura spear which glowed sharply.
"Hahaha excellent, you'll be a fine agent of mine, you will be one of the first born!" Millus shouted in Glee, he was completely exhilarated by the battle, it was as if he was not in his right mind.
Acolyte class technique, Jade serpent combat art, combat stance nirvana palm strike, both of their attacks collided with each other that produced an explosion mixed with dust and aura from Magbo, but the difference is that only one of them lived.
Millus watched as Magbo's body transformed before his very eyes, his body shrank and reformed as it adapted to its new form. The once-proud chieftain of the Bear Wolf Tribe, who was feared for his might, was now something else not like the, he was now something reborn under Millus's will. His dark aura swirled around his body like tendrils, finalizing the conversion of the body and mind.
The remaining onlookers stood frozen, they were paralyzed by fear and disbelief. Gabo had fallen to his knees, his face became pale as he muttered, "T-this… this isn't possible… F-father?" His voice was shaky, as his confidence and arrogance was shattered.
Bak-am, stood among the remaining warriors, clenched his fists. "What… in the name of the ancestors… are you?" he asked, his voice was a mix of awe and terror.
Millus tilted his head, his crimson eyes gleaming. "You ask as if you deserve an answer from me," he spoke with an air of amusement. "But if you must know, I am the one who will reshape this land in the future when the time is ripe. Your chieftain?… your 'beast of the forest?... now kneels before me."
At that moment, Magbo's eyes opened. He was no longer filled with the wisdom of a seasoned warrior, they now glowed a haunting crimson light. His body moved unnaturally at first staggering about, as if adjusting to its reformed body. Then, slowly, he turned to face his former people.
A hush silence fell over the place of what was supposedly a smooth sacrifice now turned into a nightmare.
Then Magbo spoke, his voice layered with an eerie undertone. "Who… am I?"
Millus smirked. "You are what I have made you. You have no past, only a future. And that future is mine to shape."
The tribe's horror deepened.
Gabo's hands trembled as he gripped his weapon, sweat dripping from his brow. "T-this is sorcery! This is the evil that fell from the sky! The work of a demon! You turned my father into a–"
"Silence."
The single word from Millus carried weight beyond mortal command. Gabo's voice caught in his throat, and his entire body was suddenly locked up, as if he was bound by an unseen force. His breath quickened as he struggled to move, but his limbs refused to obey.
Millus walked toward him slowly, his boots made soft imprints in the bloodied soil. "Don't compare to such, you speak of demons, yet you were willing to sacrifice an innocent girl without question. Tell me, what makes you any different from a monster?"
Gabo gritted his teeth, his body trembled from both anger and terror.
Millus's gaze scanned the remaining tribespeople. "You all should be grateful," he continued. "I have given your chieftain a new life, and soon, I will offer the same to all of you as a sign of mercy." he said and gestured towards Magbo. "Would you not wish to be strong like him? To rise above your primitive limitations?"
The tribespeople recoiled from his offer, whispering among themselves, their terror outweighing their comprehension.
Bak-am, however, narrowed his eyes. "You expect us to bow to you? To forsake our ancestors? Our forest? and become… something like him?" the grip on his weapon tightened. "We are hunters, warriors of the forest! We would rather–"
"Die?" Millus interjected him with a smirk. "How… predictable."
At that moment, the failed creations from earlier, the twisted remnants of the shamans who could not withstand the transformation, slowly lurched toward the remaining warriors, their distorted figures hungry for blood.
Screams of the tribespeople filled the air, once again, and the chaos continued.
Millus simply stood there, watching the carnage unfold, with dark amusement in his eyes.
"You can run, fight, or submit," he said softly, as if savoring the moment. "But either way, the Bear Wolf Tribe will never be the same again, now… let us begin."
After a while, the tribespeople that submitted to Millus were spared, while those who attempted to flee were mercilessly hunted down and killed, it was the same with those who resisted to the bitter end that were slaughtered.
And among the survivors was Gabo, he desperately tried to blend in with the crowd, as well as Bak-am and a handful of warriors who, though barely clinging to life, had proven their capability.
'I'll make use of the strong ones,' Millus thought, his gaze cold and calculating. 'As for the weak… their memories will be erased. I have no use for those who might betray me later.'
His eyes landed on Gabo, who shrank under his scrutiny. A slow, cruel smile curled at the corner of Millus's lips. 'I have a special place for you, you worthless dog.'
"Now then," he said, his voice carrying across. "Let us begin."
With a mere thought, the process commenced. The remaining tribespeople, those who had come expecting a sacrificial ritual, were now the ones being transformed. A dark energy pulsed through them, forcing their bodies to undergo a brutal metamorphosis. One by one, they became lesser vampires, their mortal body was strengthened as they were reborn under his dominion.
A series of notifications echoed in his mind.
§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§
Quest completed!
Conversion completed!
Warriors: +2 points
Bak-am: +3 points
Normal Tribesmen: +1 point each
Magbo: +6 points
Total accumulated points: +77
§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§
The initial group had numbered over 130, but now, after the slaughter and failed conversions, less than half remained.
Gabo, standing among the newly transformed, watched in awe as his former tribesmen, those who had just moments ago been weak, became something far greater.
Their bodies pulsed with newfound strength, their eyes were glowing with dark energy.
'This… this is stronger than the tribal markings!' Gabo thought, a greedy hunger gleaming in his eyes. 'I need this power too…'
But before he could fully relish the transformation, Millus approached him.
"You seem to have mistaken," Millus said with a calm tone yet dripping with menace. "You have a debt to pay first."
Gabo's face twisted with fear.
He immediately dropped to his knees, bowing so low his forehead touched the bloodstained ground.
"P-please, have mercy, O Great One!" he begged.
Millus merely looked down at him, he was unimpressed.
With a flick of his wrist, Gabo's body was engulfed in shadows. His pleas were cut off short as he collapsed into an unconscious heap, bound by magic.
Millus turned away, addressing the rest of his new followers. "Now then, take your positions."
The vampires moved with eerie efficiency, preparing for what was to come.
Millus glanced toward the entrance of the cave, where the so-called "forest deity" slumbered.
'it's time to draw out the beast,' he mused. 'A false sacrifice should do the trick. Then, I'll extract its Divinitum to unlock the shop.'
Before Millus opens the barrier covering the cave's entrance, he erases all traces of the previous battle, bloodstains, corpses, and destruction left behind by Magbo, leaving only behind the illusion of an undisturbed sacred ground.
He approached the altar where he had once been restrained and called upon one of the newly turned tribesmen. Understanding his master's intent, the vampire silently stepped forward and knelt in the center of the sacrificial stone.
Millus placed one of his hands on the vampire's head, channeling energy into him. The vampire groaned in pain but showed no resentment, only gratitude for being chosen.
'That strange energy Magbo used before…' Millus thought, as he recalled the tribal chief's desperate final attack. He examined his own hand before clenching it into a fist.
Then, with precision, he replicated the energy signature, an imitation of Lina's mana and a fraction of the divine power Magbo once wielded. Though it was incomplete, it would serve its purpose by luring out their deity.
"Everything is set," he muttered, he stepped back. "Now… let's see what kind of deity they've been worshiping."
He Vanished into the shadows, concealing himself in the darkest recesses of the cave's ceiling, merging seamlessly with the void. The trap was laid. Now, all that remained was to wait.
Hours passed and Millus sensed movement deep within the cave.
It was a massive figure that emerged from the darkness.
It was a monstrous bear-like creature, its fur were embedded with glowing crystal formations, it's claws elongated into razor-sharp shards of condensed mana. Its presence was overwhelming, it was an ancient primal power.
'There it is,' Millus thought, he narrowed his crimson eyes on the beast. He moved carefully, following it along the ceiling, analyzing its every motion.
The so-called Forest Deity finally reached the cave's entrance. It stood before the gathered tribespeople, its deep, resonant voice rumbling through the cavern.
"Where is my descendant?" it demanded. "Where is Magbo?"
His question was answered with silence, the beast narrowed its glowing eyes, scanning the crowd. He felt something was off. There were no prayers, no bowed heads in reverence, only eerie stillness.
The Deity's expression darkened as he judged that it was not it's people.
"What is the meaning of this?" it growled. "Answer me!"
Its voice vibrated through the cave, shaking the very ground.
Millus smirked. 'Perfect timing.'
He emerged from the shadows above the beast.
"Haha! Surprise, false god!" he laughed as he plummeted toward the creature.
Jade Serpent Combat Art: Lethality Strike.
Millus's attack struck with devastating force, a precise and lethal blow aimed directly at the beast's exposed back.
The impact sent shockwaves through the cave, splintering the ground and nearly collapsing the ceiling.
Outside, the transformed tribespeople scattered around, retreating from the entrance.
The moment Millus's Lethality Strike connected, which produced a deafening shockwave that erupted, it sent cracks through the cave walls. Dust and debris rained from the ceiling, and the ground beneath them trembled under the force of impact.
The massive bear-like deity roared in pain, its deep, guttural voice reverberating through the cavern like a tremor. Its mana-infused fur absorbed much of the attack, but Millus's blow had torn through its back, leaving a deep wound.
Millus landed gracefully a few meters away, standing tall amid the swirling dust. His crimson eyes gleamed as he smirked.
"Not as invincible as you thought now are you?"
The tribal deity snarled, turning to face him fully. Its eyes burned with fury, and its jagged mana-claws flexed, crackling with energy.
"Insolent wretch! You dare defile my sacred ground? And turn my people against me?"
Millus tilted his head. "Sacred? You mean the cave you've been squatting in for centuries, leeching off these fools worship?"
The tribe's deity's rage grew palpable, causing the cave walls to shudder. The remaining underlings retreated even further, they watched in awe as their new master faced the being they once worshipped.
Suddenly, the deity's aura expanded, an overwhelming pressure washing over Millus. His muscles tensed as the weight of the creature's divine presence bore down on him.
"You are no mere mortal," the tribal deity rumbled, narrowing its gaze. "Your existence is an anomaly. What are you?"
Millus chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Before the tribal deity could respond, a voice chimed in Millus's mind.
'Millus, analysis complete. This entity is not a full-fledged divine being, it is a remnant spirit that has accumulated worship-based Divinitum over centuries. However, its power is fragmented and unstable.'
'So, it's a fraud then?' Millus smirked.
'Not entirely. While its Divinitum is incomplete miniscule, it is still dangerous. Its physical strength alone surpasses that of a normal Aura user. However, its large form is inefficient in battle. Expect a transformation similar to Kaela.'
Millus's grin widened. 'I see. That's fine, he won't live long enough for it to matter anyway.'
With a roar, the forest deity lunged at Millus with terrifying speed, swinging one of its massive claws.
Millus sidestepped at the last moment, barely dodging the devastating strike that shattered the stone floor and cleaved past where he once stood.
'Veda, let's test out Aura. Guide me.'
'Acknowledged. Activating optimized combat output.'
A faint, dark red glow radiated from Millus's body, his aura, manifesting for the first time in battle. Unlike Magbo's golden and fierce aura, his was cold, dense, and refined, flowing around him like liquid shadow.
He dashed forward, closing the gap between them in an instant.
Jade Serpent Combat Art: Phantom Fang. Millus's arm blurred as he struck out, his palm vibrating with condensed Aura. The attack connected with the deity's side, sending a pulse of destructive force rippling through its body.
The bear stumbled, roaring in pain.
"Tch! Your size is a disadvantage, old animal," Millus taunted him and it was effective.
The forest deity's expression darkened. Then, its entire form began to shimmer, its body condensing as its fur receded. The towering beast rapidly shrank and morphed until, standing in its place, was a monstrous humanoid, a man towering at nearly eight feet tall, rippling with muscle, his features resembling a distorted version of Magbo.
Millus raised an eyebrow. "I called it!."
The deity cracked its knuckles. "Size means nothing if I can crush you with strength and precision!."
Millus smirked at him, tightening his stance. "Good. That'll just make you easier to kill."
The tribal deity flexed its newly condensed form, rolling its massive shoulders as arcs of golden energy coursed through its veins. Its humanoid figure was carved with divine markings, glowing like molten gold beneath its flesh.
Millus's smirk widened. "So, this is your true form? A poor imitation of the one you granted your blessings to?"
The deity's face twisted into a sneer. "Magbo was my finest warrior, but he was only mortal. I am something more."
Without warning, the deity lunged. This time, its speed was on par with Millus's own. A fist wreathed in divine aura shot toward Millus's face, the sheer force splitting the ground beneath them.
Jade Serpent Combat Art: Flowing Mirage.
Millus twisted his body at an impossible angle, barely evading the punch. The air screamed as the deity's fist tore through it, missing him by mere inches.
Millus countered immediately, his palm shot forward, aiming for the deity's ribs.
Jade Serpent Combat Art: Phantom Fang.
His aura-infused strike connected, sending a concussive shockwave through the deity's torso. The beast-man staggered, but then, with unnatural flexibility, it twisted mid-air and brought its knee crashing into Millus's side.
CRACK!
Millus was sent hurtling across the cave, slamming into the rock wall with enough force to send fractures through the stone.
Veda's voice rang in his mind.
'Millus, the entity's combat prowess is rapidly adapting to your movements. It is utilizing combat instincts inherited through generations of worshippers.'
'So, it's learning, huh?' Millus smirked, wiping a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth.
The deity didn't give him time to recover. In a flash, it closed the distance, its arms coiling with divine energy as it prepared to unleash a devastating strike.
Partial divine Combat Art: Heaven's Wrath.
A golden spear of pure Divinitum formed in its grasp, crackling with celestial power. It thrust the spear toward Millus's chest, aiming to impale him on divine essence.
"Dodge at this range, and you'll be wide open," the deity sneered.
But Millus didn't move. Instead, he smirked.
"Who said anything about dodging?"
Dark crimson energy burst from his form, an overwhelming tide of malevolence colliding against the deity's golden aura.
Unholy Martial Art: Abyssal Devourer.
Millus's aura spiraled outward, forming a vortex of shadow that absorbed the incoming divine spear, breaking it apart as though it had never existed.
The deity's eyes widened in horror.
"Impossible!" Millus blurred forward.
Jade Serpent Combat Art: Heart Piercer.
A single, precise strike. His palm crashed against the deity's chest, but this time, his fingers sank through the flesh, grasping something beyond the physical.
Its core. Its Divinitum. It's essence.
The deity let out a strangled cry as golden veins of light cracked across its body. "NO! My divinity–"
Millus clenched his hand and ripped it free.
The deity's body convulsed violently. As its golden markings dimmed, the essence of its worship, the core of its divine power, was torn from its soul.
The monstrous figure collapsed to its knees, clutching at the gaping hole in its chest where the divinity had once been.
"You... you wretch..." it gasped.
Millus loomed over it, whilst twirling the pulsating Divinitum Core between his fingers.
"For all your arrogance, you were nothing but a parasite, thriving on the blind faith of lesser beings. I'll put this to better use."
He crushed the Divinitum Core in his hand, absorbing the raw celestial energy into himself.
A surge of unimaginable power flooded through him.
Ping!
§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§
SYSTEM UPDATE!
Quest Complete: Divinitum Extraction
Veda's System Shop Unlocked
Divinity Acquired: First Step to Godhood
Current System Points: 94 +19
§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§§~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~§
Millus's mind expanded. New concepts were introduced and unfolded before him, insights into the nature of divinity, the potential of faith-based power, and the birth of an afterlife.
Veda's voice was calm yet brimming with something akin to pride. "Congratulations, Millus. You have taken your first step toward godhood.
By absorbing the Divinitum, you now have the ability to craft a realm beyond mortal comprehension, a divine afterlife for your future followers."
Millus closed his eyes for a moment. Images flashed through his mind. A dark yet beautiful realm, a sanctuary where his chosen could dwell after death, and be sustained by his power.
'An afterlife huh… how ironic, I'm immortal and there's a concept of afterlife,' he mused.
He opened his eyes, exhaling slowly as the rush of knowledge settled. The cave was now silent. The forest deity's body disintegrated into dust, leaving nothing behind.
Millus turned toward the entrance, where his new followers awaited, "Time to use them hehe"
End of chapter