“No... my foolish brother.”
Irene lowered her eyes with a heavy heart, and the power of faith accumulated within her body began to diffuse into the surrounding space.
This power was formless and substance-less.
It spread silently,
preparing to completely seal off the entire surrounding area.
A rare trace of sorrow appeared on her cold face as she slowly raised her head, locking her gaze onto Daviel's crimson eyes.
“I am not joking.”
Before her voice could even fade, a dragon tail covered in black scales whipped out from behind her, slamming heavily against the ground. The robes on her back tore open as two pairs of pitch-black dragon wings burst forth.
Menacing, backward-curving dragon horns slowly grew from her head.
Dragon scales hidden beneath her skin began to surface.
Her muscles surged with power.
All of this happened in the span of a single heartbeat.
Irene was clearly preparing to reveal her true form and engage in a brutal struggle to the death with Daviel.
“That's kind of cool,”
a sudden exclamation of awe rang out. “No, wait! That is insanely, incredibly cool!!”
Irene froze.
Her half-dragonized body stopped swelling.
She stared at Daviel.
Following his exclamation, he seemed to fall into a state of self-indulgence. He rubbed his metallic-looking chin with a claw, his eyes drifting upward.
He appeared to be deep in thought.
A moment later.
“I've got it!”
Daviel's gaze suddenly became incredibly sharp. With one claw pointing toward the heavens and the other on his hip, an invisible Dragon Fear swept out in all directions. In an unprecedentedly solemn tone, he declared:
“I want this sky to never again shroud the eyes of Emperor Daviel!”
“I want this earth to never again bury the heart of Emperor Daviel!”
His voice grew even louder, nearly roaring, “I... Emperor Daviel!”
“Shall suppress this generation and reign supreme for all eternity!!!”
As his words fell, echoes bounced and reverberated continuously within the magic barrier.
Only then, as if he had accomplished some monumental feat, did Daviel exhale a satisfied breath. He then bent down with excitement, stretching his neck so low that his massive dragon face was almost touching Irene's.
Excitedly, he snorted two streams of hot white steam from his nostrils, causing the air to warp slightly from the heat.
His two crimson eyes crossed, focusing intently on the tiny figure before him.
“Sis!” Daviel tilted his head slightly to the right, revealing a wise grin that perfectly mirrored a purebred husky. “Look! What do you think of my slogan? Isn't it super loud and awesome?”
In an instant,
the power of faith that had been gradually trying to seal off the surrounding space came to a sudden halt.
“Hmm...” Daviel seemed to ponder, grinning as his eyes drifted to the side. Then, raising his neck, he suddenly stood up on his hind legs, curling his forelimbs inward.
He struck a bodybuilding pose to show off his muscles.
His powerful physique, bound by scales, flexed and swelled.
“Look at these powerful muscles, this magnificent physique, this domineering body!” Daviel spun around to display his back muscles. He twisted his head back to show his profile, giving Irene a wicked, charming eyebrow raise.
“Once we overthrow the gods, I think with my perfect body, I can completely replace Auntie Tiamat and become the new chromatic dragon god!”
“Hmm...”
Daviel turned back around and scratched his itchy head scales, musing, “When the time comes, my divine name shall be...”
“The Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War!”
“No...”
“That's not cool enough.”
“It should be called the Cosmic Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War... No, that's still not cool enough. It doesn't match the grand aura of Emperor Daviel...”
Daviel babbled on and on, completely ignoring Irene, who remained silent throughout.
“Sigh...”
An almost imperceptible sigh suddenly rang out like a gentle breeze, brushing across the magic barrier enveloping the area.
The barrier, which had remained unbroken no matter how violently the wind and sand tore at it, began to ripple like the surface of water.
Wherever the ripples reached, it slowly faded until it vanished entirely.
In an instant, the wind and sand rushed in.
Irene's robes fluttered wildly, and her silky black hair whipped about in the wind.
Yet, a helpless smile appeared on her face.
She took a step forward.
Slowly, she walked toward Daviel.
While he was still immersed in his dreams of becoming a god,
she stomped heavily on his toe.
Daviel's endless babbling came to an abrupt halt.
It was as if his reaction was delayed by half a beat.
Half a second later,
his eyes suddenly went wide, and his pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
“AAAAHHHHH!!!!!”
A blood-curdling shriek erupted from Daviel, echoing for miles around. The scattered wild beasts in the desert were instantly frightened out of their wits and fled in all directions.
The ground began to rumble and shake.
It was Daviel, clutching his foot, hopping up and down in sheer agony.
“Sis! What was that for?!” Daviel complained, his face contorted in a mask of pain as he bared his teeth.
“Lower your head.”
Irene tilted her chin up, hands on her hips, looking thoroughly disgusted. “Hurry up. I'm going to give you a buff.”
“Just for that?” Daviel bared his teeth with a look of deep resentment. “Couldn't you just call me over normally? You're so violent, even if you become a god, no dragon will ever want you...”
As he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer. Seeing the murderous look flashing in his sister's eyes, he quickly shut his mouth. Enduring the pain in his toe, he sprawled flat on all fours.
He muttered under his breath, “Be gentle...”
Smack! Before he could finish, a hand slapped heavily onto his snout. Waves of strange energy continuously diffused from the point of contact.
“Relax your mind. Do not resist me,” Irene said expressionlessly. Her long tail behind her whipped against the ground with a dull thud.
Unable to speak with his snout held shut, Daviel hurriedly raised a claw and made an 'OK' sign.
He then felt an extremely pure energy flood into his body. After circulating once, it rapidly gathered toward his forehead as if it had found its target.
A strange, four-winged holy symbol slowly manifested on the scale between his brows.
Once the holy symbol had completely solidified, Irene lifted her hand.
The holy symbol on Daviel's forehead gradually faded, eventually slipping beneath his scales and vanishing from sight.
“What is this?” Daviel scrambled up from the ground and scratched between his brows, feeling as though nothing had changed at all.
“The Mark of the Chosen.”
Irene explained offhandedly before turning around and walking back the way she came.
In this fantasy world, gods rarely intervened in the world's affairs personally.
Instead, they usually selected devout believers and designated them as their Chosen.
Those lucky enough to be selected as Chosen could borrow a portion of their patron deity's authority.
They were, in the truest sense, the mortal agents of the gods walking the earth.
In return, their every word, action, and thought would be known by the deity they worshiped.
Furthermore, whenever the deity required it, they had to act in their stead to perform tasks that were inconvenient for a god to do directly.
Although Irene had already embarked on the path of godhood, she had not yet ignited her divine fire or mastered the laws to become a true god. Nevertheless, with the empowerment of the power of faith, she could now be barely considered a pseudo-deity.
By consuming some of her power of faith, she could likewise appoint a Chosen.
However, because she had not yet condensed a divine spark or mastered the laws, the appointed Chosen could not borrow any of her power.
Instead, it was a one-way street where their every word and action would simply be known to her.
This was Irene's final insurance policy.
Of course, she had no habit of spying on others' privacy.
She would only sense it if Daviel harbored thoughts that were harmful to her.
At the same time, it was also a layer of protection.
With the Mark of the Chosen, no matter where he went, Irene could track him through the mark. If she sensed any potential danger, she could teleport to him immediately, preventing any misfortune from befalling Daviel.
“Tell me about that fellow,” Irene said as she walked forward slowly, gazing at the elf sitting on the stone chair in the distance. The elf had been looking at her too, but quickly lowered his head when he realized he had been spotted.
“What is the situation between you and her?”
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