Leonidas followed the ogre for what felt like an eternity, but they eventually made it to the next clearing, a body of water shaped into a teardrop appearing along with a vast shore of greenery.
The ogre’s steps came to a pause. Turning around, he faced Leonidas with a light smile on his face.
Leonidas’ first observation was that this man was old.
His grey skin carried hints of wrinkles at the edges of his eyes and his hair and beard had long since turned white.
Despite this, the ogre was in fantastic shape. His torso, arms, legs and even neck all seemed chiseled out of stone.
He was tall, at least a half meter taller than Leonidas, and he was heavy. Just standing in place, the ground sunk beneath the pressure, crushing the damp soil.
The waning rays of the sun shone far brighter here without the trees looming overhead, making Leonidas feel as though he could see a metallic sheen shimmering across this ogre’s skin.
But, what was maybe the most shocking part was that this man wasn’t the Apostle Leonidas had been expecting at all.
This man was a Paladin.
A Level 4 Paladin.
Leonidas’ grip on his twin sabers loosened slightly, exhaling a breath.
A Paladin’s Level couldn’t exceed the Level of the Apostle they worked under. That meant that there was only one explanation for this ogre’s Level.
This was the personal Paladin of Deacon Ezor.
“When Lord Ezor told me that one of our own was in the enemy camp and that he was quite a talent at that, I didn’t quite believe him. But now it seems I have no choice.
“If you can follow the rhythm of my steps without falling asleep, it can only mean that your mind is quite sharp and alert.”
Leonidas’ gaze narrowed, but he didn’t say anything in response.
“My name is Urog. I am the personal Paladin of his Lordship, Deacon Ezor. My human tongue is quite crude, so I hope that you can understand me well.
“I’ve been given a task by my Lord to give you a small test. If you should pass, my Lord would like to extend you an invitation. If you fail, it will unfortunately mean your death.
“As much as I would like to give you choice to refuse, I cannot. I hope you understand.”
“An invitation for what?” Leonidas asked.
“An invitation to join us, of course,” Urog said with a smile.
“How can I join you if we worship different Gods? Are you asking me to cripple myself?”
Swallowing Tusk worshiped God Atticus, a God they usually called The Mighty or The Mighty Atticus.
Atticus and Yves couldn’t have been more different. But, even if they were nearly identical, Gods didn’t take betrayal lightly.
Leonidas was especially sure that Goddess Yves would make his betrayal quite painful considering she had taken an interest in him.
Urog chuckled. “Of course not. What use would you have as a cripple?
“You are young and ignorant, so you are likely unaware that the Apostles of different Gods work together all of the time.
“Both Atticus and Yves are Level 3 Lower Gods looking to make a push toward becoming Level 4 Middle Gods, so our cooperation wouldn’t be shamed by them. In fact, they would be very happy to support our endeavors as we bring their glory to the wider world.”
Leonidas wasn’t surprised to hear that Gods had Levels as he had long since been aware.
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While Apostles had 20 potential Levels, Gods had 11.
The Level of a God dictated how many Shrines and Sub-Shrines they could have along with how many Apostles of each Level they could have as well.
The Tiers of Gods were separated into Level 1 to 3 Lower Gods, Level 4 to 6 Middle Gods, Level 7 to 9 Higher Gods, Level 10 Perfect Gods, and finally World Deities.
A Level 3 Lower God like Yves or Atticus could have three Shrines and six Sub-Shrines.
In addition, they can have 3000 Missionaries, 300 Deacons, 30 Priests and 3 Bishops.
Of course, the number of Shrines was dictated by the number of highest-Level Apostles a God had. Since Yves could have three Bishops, she could also have three Shrines.
As for the difference between Shrines and Sub-Shrines, there were many. But, one of the main ones was in the sheer number of Apostles they could hold.
Violet Waters’ Sub-Shrine could only have 11 total Apostles, but a Shrine housed hundreds with ease.
Much like Apostles wanted to reach higher Levels, so too did Gods. This was the main reason why they shared their Blessings with commoners, so that their Apostles could fight on their behalf.
What most others didn’t know, that Leonidas did know as a Fallen Disciple, was that the world of Gods was even more violent than this one.
It was easier for a God to slowly gather a following using Apostles by proxies than it was for them to fight in their world. Ultimately, they were cowards.
Still, this was the first time that Leonidas was hearing that Yves was so close to the Middle God levels, this wouldn’t be a small change by any stretch.
If Yves made this breakthrough, the Level Cap of her Apostles would increase from Level 12 Bishop to Level 15 Archbishop. This would be a huge change.
And, if Leonidas played a key role, once one of her Bishops was promoted to Archbishop, he might be able to snatch a Bishop position for himself.
Leonidas knew that Yves wouldn’t waste her only Archbishop position on him, she would definitely invest in her strongest Class: the Healer.
‘If I play this right, I might be able to get Eve the Archbishop position…’
Leonidas shook his head, he was getting ahead of himself. He wasn’t even a Deacon yet, but he was dreaming of an Archbishop being his woman.
“It looks like you’re interested,” Urog said, his smile still not having faded.
“If you’re interested in cooperation, then why have you declared war?” Leonidas feigned ignorance. “I might be young and ignorant as you say, but I do know that conquering one of only six Sub-Shrines would give your God a huge boon.
“If your God is as close to Middle Godhood as you say, then any cooperation would be impossible.”
Slaying an Apostle was among the best ways to boost a God’s prestige and gather Blessings. However, that paled in comparison to conquering a Sub-Shrine, which further paled in comparison to conquering a Main Shrine.
Why should Leonidas trust them when he was guarding what was a juicy piece of meat in their eyes?
“The main issue with your Violet Waters town is that it’s being run into the ground.
“Your noble families have monopolized the Apostle quotas rather than allowing for fair competition. It’s made most of you weak.
“You, yourself, are a perfect example. You grew up a commoner but you have the greatest talent in your town. If you didn’t fight and claw for the position yourself, Violet Waters would have buried yet another genius like they have been doing so for decades.”
“And your Swallowing Tusk town is different?”
Leonidas pretended not to see the curiosity in Urog’s eyes. But, he slotted this in the back of his mind.
The fact Urog made such an expression meant that either Ezor didn’t know how Leonidas had managed to become an Apostle either, or he had kept it from Urog.
It was unlikely to be the latter, so this was good news for him.
“Of course. When an Apostle dies in Swallowing Tusk, we hold a Blood Tournament to decide his successor.
“In this tournament, all those who have passed their coming-of-age ceremonies can participate. In fact, even Paladins can participate if they strip themselves of their Blessings.”
Leonidas’ brows raised.
This was just a small peek, but he could see Ezor’s genius just from these words alone. It made him all the more certain of his previous deductions.
“And how do you plan on fixing this issue?”
“Simple.” Urog loosened his shoulders. “We will kill the useless Apostles of your town and allow you to pick worthy successors.”
“Will there really be worthy successors to find? How are you so sure?”
Urog’s smile became deeper and far more meaningful.
“It seems that you’re unaware. Do you believe that the locations of Shrines are chosen at random? Do you believe that a Goddess would invest in a town of normal humans? Even a Level 3 Lower God only has six Sub-Shrines, how could they go to waste?
“There’s a reason your town is called Violet Waters, even if your nobles have made you forget.”
Leonidas’ gaze flashed, suddenly thinking about Anabel’s Water Body Bloodline Talent Fragment.
Could it be?
“There’s something special about Violet Waters?”
Now that he thought about it, would the location of a Fallen Apostle hideout be random as well? There was something he was missing.
However, even as he asked the question, Urog’s demeanor had completely shifted.
“That’s enough talk, boy. Pass this test and maybe we can discuss things further. Fail, and I’ll be reaping the rewards of your corpse.”
Faster than Leonidas’ eyes could track, Urog unsheathed two of his five rusted bronze axes, whipping his arm forward before unsheathing two more.
Even as he did so, he leapt backward, his feet gliding onto the surface of the water like he was walking on solid ground.
The warning sirens of danger blared in Leonidas’ mind, but his heart had already sunk.
He had every intention of killing Urog even though this was supposedly ‘just a test’. But, how would he kill him if he couldn’t walk on water?
Leonidas didn’t get a chance to think about it any harder. The first two axes had already appeared before him and their momentum was even fiercer than the one he had faced just a week earlier.