In an instant, the dozen-odd trolls were completely wiped out, leaving not even a single trace behind, as if they had never existed in this world.
Tears filled Lilith's eyes, her lips trembling softly.
West stood frozen in a daze, which quickly gave way to sheer shock.
Is this... the power of a true god?
The inviolably holy and beautiful figure of the angel slowly turned. With a wave of Her hand, countless white particles of light cascaded down from the sky once more.
The light was pure and gentle.
Then, as if answering a command, they surged rapidly into the bodies of Lilith, West, and Selby.
So... warm.
Feeling the nourishment of the holy light, tears of emotion rolled down Lilith's cheeks.
West was equally overcome with emotion.
In the corner, the severely injured Selby slowly woke up.
“This is...?”
Struggling to his feet, he scanned his surroundings, but the trolls were nowhere to be seen. In his view was only a sacred, legendary figure of a beautiful angel radiating divine light.
He immediately realized what had happened.
Selby looked up at the angelic figure floating in midair, his eyes filled with profound awe.
Did Lady Goddess... truly answer our prayers?
He felt the injuries inside his body rapidly mending under the embrace of that warm, gentle power.
Just as the three stood dazed, a grand, sacred, and ethereal voice echoed in their minds:
“My name is—Iluvia Devilitafil.”
The three of them shuddered.
It’s Lady Mother Goddess!
It really is Her!
Our Mother Goddess has returned!
Tears streamed down Lilith's face.
She slowly fell to her knees, clasping her hands together in prayer against her chest as her tears dripped onto the floor.
“Lady Mother Goddess, You’ve finally returned...”
Lilith's voice choked with trembling sobs, yet it carried a joy she could no longer suppress.
Beside himself with excitement, West also fell to his knees, looking up at the sacred figure as his choked voice broke:
“G-Goddess... Your Grace! Thank You for saving us!”
He turned to look at Lilith and Selby, his eyes shining with the light of rebirth.
Lady Goddess saved Lilith at the crucial moment! She saved Uncle Selby and me!
If Lady Goddess hadn't appeared, he didn't dare imagine what would have happened next.
I'm too weak. I have to get stronger!
I must protect Lilith!
Selby knelt as well. His vast life experience allowed him, far more than Lilith and West, to understand what the return of Lady Goddess meant for the human race.
Pressing his right fist against his chest, tears welled in his eyes:
“A thousand years... You've finally returned, Lady Goddess! Humanity finally has hope!”
...
Hundreds of meters underground, within the Divine Kingdom.
Looking at the believer section of the status panel in Her mind, Iluvia couldn't help but click Her tongue.
The faith levels listed under the believer section had already undergone a change.
The numbers following Holy Believer and Zealot, which were originally zero, had changed to one and two, respectively.
Hmm... the results are quite good.
She had actually hesitated at first about whether to step in and save them. Ever since those Bloodrace vampires fled so abruptly last night, She had been on guard.
Iluvia was certain She hadn't exposed even the slimmest trace of Her aura, and She was equally sure that the Bloodrace vampire named Ricks lacked the strength to perceive Her presence on his own. He must have relied on an external item.
Furthermore, that item was of high rank—at least a Demigod artifact, or perhaps a pseudo-divine artifact.
However, since She didn't know the exact function of that artifact, and given that the enemy was a believer of a true god, She hadn't dared to rashly force them to stay last night.
Generally speaking, believers who received blessings or items from a true god were elite standouts favored by that god.
If that artifact had the power to restrict or seal a true god, it would be disastrous. Thus, for safety's sake, Iluvia had held Her hand back even more.
Even so, this had left a hidden hazard for Her.
Yet Iluvia was utterly certain of one thing: the enemy did not know Her true identity, even if they could sense Her presence.
One could say Iluvia had taken a gamble, but clearly, Her gamble paid off.
Had the enemy truly discovered Her identity as the God of Light, what came for Her wouldn't have been merely a troupe of trolls, but legions of God-Favored champions and Petitioners sent by the gods.
Still, She couldn't rule out the possibility that this was a probe by the enemy. Regardless, as long as She wasn't fully exposed and targeted by hostile true gods, She remained safe for now.
Realizing this, the tension that had gripped Iluvia's body since last night finally relaxed upon seeing that the intruders were merely a pack of trolls.
Although Iluvia had indeed hesitated about saving Lilith's group, that hesitation lasted for a mere 0.01 seconds before She resolutely chose to save them.
After all, Lilith was not only Her sole devout believer but also Her primary foundation in this world. No matter how She looked at it, She had no reason not to save them.
Though, well, timing was everything, and judging by the current results, it had turned out quite well.
Furthermore, Iluvia had discovered that those trolls were not devout believers of another true god; they were merely shallow believers. Such believers wouldn't even have the chance to enter a true god's Divine Kingdom after death.
Even if She wiped them out, it wouldn't expose Her presence, giving Her even less reason to refrain from saving the trio.
However, She wouldn't have been afraid even if they had been devout believers, as ordinary devout believers didn't retain their memories after death.
More precisely, when a believer's soul crossed the crystal wall surrounding the outer layer of a Divine Kingdom, it suffered irreversible degradation, resulting in memory loss.
Only Zealots, saints, and God-Favored who held the personal attention of a true god would have their souls protected by divine power when passing through the crystal wall, as their deaths often carried critical information.
True gods wouldn't waste effort giving such special treatment to every single believer. After all, they possessed countless followers in the world. While protecting a single soul cost little, doing so for vast numbers would incur a colossal and unnecessary drain.
As for shallow believers, true gods looked down on them entirely—a fact made obvious by not even allowing their souls entry after death.
After all, true gods didn't harbor freeloaders. Though a Divine Kingdom was vast, not just anyone was permitted inside.
The pittance of divine power provided by shallow believers was pitifully small—even a dog would shake its head at it, let alone a true god.
Disgusted, true gods simply barred shallow believers from entering their Divine Kingdoms altogether.
As for nominal believers whose faith was even lower than shallow believers...
That went without saying.
Of course, Iluvia was an exception. She desperately needed these ordinary believers right now.
Ahem...
Anyway, back to the point.
The outcome of Her intervention was exceptionally gratifying. Iluvia hadn't expected Her actions to yield such massive gains.
Her divine power had increased by a whole ten points!
Don't underestimate these ten points. Iluvia's theatrical sequence earlier—sending the trolls to the afterlife, summoning phantom angels, grand hymn effects, and healing the three of them—had cost less than two points of divine power in total, excluding Her incarnation's descent.
“Not bad, not bad at all. If I can do this a few hundred more times, returning to Lesser Divine Power—let alone Greater Divine Power—is just around the corner.”
Iluvia sighed in admiration.
On top of that, the vitality harvested from killing the trolls had provided Her with roughly two additional points of divine power.
Although it wasn't much, considering their weak strength, it was quite decent.
“It seems that besides recovering through the power of faith provided by believers, I can also convert absorbed vitality into divine power.”
Iluvia pondered.
The reason She could convert divine power in this manner was precisely due to the authority of Her Life Divine Authority.
“Still, I can't just go around killing random people, can I? Wouldn't that make me an evil god? I really should start with the previous owner's enemies.”
“However... I certainly can't take action personally every single time. That would be far too beneath my dignity, and it's not conducive to the development of my believers.”
Iluvia complained softly to Herself.
As for sending Her own believers...
No way. They are Her precious treasures. What if they die? After all, She has so few believers.
Besides, even if She sent them into battle, they probably couldn't eliminate many enemies anyway. They were simply too weak.
“Sigh, it's a long and arduous road ahead...”
Iluvia sighed. Setting aside what She didn't know how to handle for now, She decided to check on Her three believers and ask what had happened over the past thousand years.
Rate on N.U.
