Magic, Evil Gods, and the Fourth Calamity

Chapter 76

"Holy Father, that city is where I was born and raised, Trias!"

Raphael pointed to the city nestled against the mountains in the distance, his tone devout yet tinged with sadness.

He was the "old man" who had taken the initiative to communicate with Ai. After receiving the blessing of the [Gluttonous Dragon], he not only gained the power of a high-ranking silver-level being, but also regained his original appearance.

At twenty-seven, he was in his prime, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a handsome face.

The city not far away is where he was born and raised.

But for him, that place wasn't a place with any fond memories.

Even though he was sent to the mines by the orcs when he was twelve years old.

Fifteen years passed in the process of digging.

He thought he would die in that mine, but he never expected that fate would be so unpredictable.

Raphael returned to the city once again, this time as a follower of the evil god.

"Okay, stay close to me and be careful..."

Ai handed the baby in her arms to Raphael, who accepted the baby with utmost respect and care.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly take good care of the Holy Maiden!"

"..."

Ai didn't know what had gotten into these guys, insisting on giving themselves and the child these titles.

But Ai was too lazy to argue, because he had tried to argue but ultimately failed.

Ai found that these guys were incredibly stubborn; to use an old saying, not even ten oxen could pull them back—they were more absurd than stones in a latrine.

Carrying the Grip of Greed, Ai walked slowly toward the city not far away.

The group followed silently behind Ai Yi. Although they didn't say a word, each of them subconsciously released their aura. These auras intertwined and merged, vaguely outlining a black, illusory dragon above their heads.

Greedy and enormous, it seemed to devour everything, slowly approaching the orc city.

In the orc city, the orc soldiers on duty on the city walls and watchtowers immediately noticed the phantom dragon and the hundreds of humans slowly approaching the city gate beneath it.

"Damn it, what is that thing?!"

With just one glance, the greed and terror that seemed to devour the entire world caused the orc soldier to tremble from the depths of his soul.

"An evil god! An evil god has descended!"

The orc soldier frantically rang the alarm bell on the watchtower. The clear, loud, and extremely urgent sound instantly put the entire city on alert. The orc soldier panicked but quickly closed the city gates and activated the city defenses.

Everyone noticed the giant black dragon in the sky not far away and felt an incredibly terrifying power emanating from it.

A dark red divine energy surged forth from the city center, transforming into a massive dark red barrier that enveloped the entire city.

Faced with this barrier that could withstand a divine attack, Ai did not force his way through. Instead, he controlled Alpha to come to the bottom of the barrier and thrust the Grip of Greed into it.

A terrifying suction force erupted from the Grip of Greed, brutally drawing power from the barrier.

With Alpha's strength, he naturally couldn't devour the entire divine magic barrier, but creating a momentary gap in it was easy for him.

With just a moment's noticeable opening, Ai could easily maneuver Alpha into it.

But once we can get inside the divine barrier, everything will be alright.

In an unnamed height, in the highest temple.

The council of gods had been convened in an emergency countless times, but this time all the gods looked solemn.

In the present world, the aura originating from the Gluttonous Dragon is so conspicuous that even the gods can clearly perceive it without deliberately paying attention.

"What's wrong with those humans? Are they followers of the Gluttonous Dragon?"

"What is the Gluttonous Dragon planning this time?"

"It seems they intend to attack the orc city... Humans who worship the Gluttonous Dragon are preparing to attack a city that originally belonged to humans but has been occupied by orcs... Heh, interesting..."

The powerful divine force [Wealth Balance], whose presence had never been very strong, suddenly spoke. Although its face, with its brown goatee, was facing [War Hall], its gaze kept glancing at the God of Light, Ai.

When Ai noticed that the gaze was directed at the [Balance of Wealth], [Hall of War] slammed his fist heavily on the round table in front of him and roared angrily at the [Balance of Wealth].

"You shorty, what the hell are you trying to say?!"

"It's nothing, just stating the facts!"

[Wealth Balance] shrugged and prepared to turn around and make a big fuss about it in the Book of Hatred.

"Alright, stop fighting amongst ourselves. The most important thing now is to figure out how to deal with those guys!"

【Wisdom and Mystery】speaks slowly, attempting to steer the meeting back on track.

Upon hearing this, Ai smiled and suggested, looking at the Hall of War with a slightly provocative gaze: "How about a powerful deity unleashing divine punishment, with other gods jointly bearing the brunt of the world's will, just like when they dealt with the resurgence of the Gluttonous Dragon?"

[War Hall] abruptly stood up, roaring as he questioned Ai, "Bastard! That's a city of my Orcish Empire! There are still my Orcish Empire's citizens in that city! Do you intend to kill them all along?"

Ai shrugged at this: "That city was built by us humans a thousand years ago, and our descendants still live there today!"

But so what? It's merely a necessary sacrifice to combat chaos and maintain order!

"Damn it, that wasn't your sacrifice! Those people weren't your followers either, so of course you can bear such a sacrifice!"

The Hall of War roared, devoid of any dignity befitting its former mighty divine power.

However, this usually irritable orc brother doesn't have much dignity as a powerful god, after all, he is only of medium divine power at present.

"Don't you dare touch this! I can handle this! I'm warning you, none of you are allowed to interfere!"

The War Hall roared as it departed from the Supreme Temple, much to Ai's satisfaction.

Otherwise, he estimated that it would take a lot of effort to protect Raphael and his party.

The other powerful deities, watching the departing [Hall of War], couldn't help but shake their heads.

The meeting ended without a conclusion, and the gods could only pray that the War Hall could truly handle the matter well.

Otherwise, the gods would have no choice but to send their followers into the orcish empire to help the orcs eliminate the threat of chaos.

Although the statement made by [Dark Veil] at the last meeting has greatly reduced the threat of [Gluttonous Dragon] in the eyes of the gods.

But that is on the premise that the gods can manage their own sphere of faith and effectively curb the growth of the Gluttonous Dragon.

Now, the gods do not have high hopes for the Hall of War.

In reality, the War Hall itself wasn't very optimistic about itself, and it didn't understand why it had fallen to this state.