Old Yoss fell to the ground as the purple light enveloped him and Helena shrieked as she felt something horrific flow through her bond to him. And that was nothing compared to how the other Acolytes took it, all around her the rest of the Acolytes collapsed to the ground with muted screams. Yorich took it the worst as blood literally ruptured out of his nose as he sank to his knees and then fell face forward into the bloody dirt.

The entire Town saw their most cherished ancestor fall to the soil after having saved them all. Heraclius was the first one to get back their senses and he began ordering the forces to sort through the dead and injured, as well as hunt down any remaining monsters lurking in Hor.

Everyone seemed to have collectively decided to ignore the god that lay stunned on the ground after some monster had the temerity to reach out and...brand him, like a piece of cattle.

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He was too old for this shit. Oh, Old Yoss was young by the standards of most deities but he was still too old for this. But this was his only domain so what could he do but answer their call when the darkest hour came? The last time he had to actually be summoned into this plane it had been a massive wheat famine that threatened to shatter the entire community. That had been about...300 years ago.

The people had sacrificed 12 of each of their most valuable farm animals. 12 for each of his grandchildren out of 4 animals for his 4 children. It had been such a moving gesture that he had to come down to help, and before he knew it suddenly he had a priesthood and organized rituals in his name.

As he lay in the bloody dirt and felt it stick to his back he wondered if it had been a good thing to get that. In his first days, there had been no Priests or Acolytes dedicated to him. Just family heads and other people wise in his ways that did the rituals at each farm.

Not this...city and the growing number of Acolytes that he had felt connected to him over the years. He had picked that newest one, what was it? Helena, yes, Helena. He had picked her mostly to annoy them into stopping being so...formalized. And yet that Yorich kept going and even focused on her specifically to make her more "worthy" of his blessings.

Like he hadn't been a prodigious napper back when he was a lad. Old Yoss remembered that quite well and could still remember the canings that his mistress, Priestess Ura, had given him for slacking off when helping in the fields. Oh, youth is wasted on the young, and wisdom is wasted on the old.

Ura was the last one he had seen in his domain when the call came. She had worried for him due to the nature of the service that his Acolytes prayed for, but he had not listened to her. Combat was not something he was used to, as the most dangerous thing he had ever fought back in the day had been an angry hog. But he was a god after all and it was his duty to protect Hor and its environs.

It had gone so well until he felt that foreign power smash through his natural defenses and...touched him. After it had overwhelmed him it had left something behind on his face, and something in front of his vision.

* Warning: You have been branded as property of the █████████ █████

* Effect: You cannot escape into other planes, you are vulnerable to the power of your future owner, all who see the mark will know its meaning, and your general location is sensed by the one who marked you.

He had never seen anything like that strange text before, and it truly concerned him as he wondered if he had made a mistake in coming here.

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* Congratulations: Your Potency has increased from 6 to 9

* Congratulations: You have reached Tier 4, all of your traits and powers will be enhanced accordingly.

* New Trait: Ranged Units: Soldiers and other combat Units will naturally be created with an innate ranged attack. The nature of the attack varies depending on the Unit.: Has been Gained

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"How does one fight a god?"

Mar was consulting with the most experienced Collectives, Ysandra, and Henry who had survived being smashed into a hill. If only because his plating cushioned the blow enough for his regeneration to make him recover. The nature of the wind being that had smacked Henry around like a volleyball was interesting, but overall unimportant compared to the delicious morsel that they desired.

"Numbers, numbers, and armies that is the way. I can summon forth my termite and ant warriors, they will never falter or give up!"

"My magics are not inconsiderable, but faith is a difficult power to fight against. And I am not strong enough to defeat a god."

"Erm, I don't think one...can do that."

Ant-Termite General was the most experienced War Collective that Mar possessed, even if they were a tad one-note with their suggestions. Ysandra sounded ashamed of her lacking powers, and Henry on his end was terrified.

"Faith...explain that to us."

"Faith is a fundamentally different force from conventional magic. Magic relies on learning or drawing power from existing forces or entities in the world. Through such learning and boons, you can imitate the target and how it works and circumvents the laws of reality. Powering that magic comes with the natural mana of the world around you. Faith...faith is entirely different."

Ysandra slipped into an almost lecturing tone as she explained to the listening Swarm and Mar casually ordered the Logistics-Collective to further analyze the information later and look through the stored memories that they possessed to learn more.

"It is both a real and unreal force in the world at the same time. Belief is gathered in areas where people live, what they believe becomes more real given time. Gods are born or become gods through saturating in that belief. In time those who get the position as their most ardent worshipers become Priests and Acolytes, and the groups' belief in them makes them able to draw blessings from their god."

"So, gods do not pick their servants?"

"Yes and no. Gods can pick who becomes their Acolytes but it is up to the worshipers to believe in that choice. If a Priest loses the faith of the congregation then their powers will leave them soon enough. The same goes for sacred places and objects, they are saturated in faith until they become such. If something happens to shake that faith then the power disappears or is twisted into something else. Holy rituals only work as long as people believe that they work and they only begin to work in the first place because the god in question decided that they worked."

Mar noticed that Henry had mostly checked out of the conversation as he focused on walking back to rejoin their forces. Ant-Termite General was fascinated, however, and Mar could sense that other Collectives wanted to partake in the discussion. But over-focusing on a single issue was a mistake that past Mar had made, they did learn after all.

"There is something in that, to topple a queen sometimes the best way is through her soldiers. Infiltration, sabotage, and subversion are tools that can be used against the ancient enemy."

Ant-Termite General was "ancient" by the reckoning of most of the Collectives and kept the time perspective of their drones. But there was wisdom in what they said and it made a memory flash through Mar.

"The Romans used the ritual of Evocatio."

"What?"

"Huh?"

Henry finally paid attention again as Mar spoke and Ysandra seemed intensely curious on her end and Mar could feel how she practically lapped up her words.

"In the world that we come from, an ancient empire known as the Roman Empire. Had a ritual where a General would invite the gods of their enemies to come to Rome and get better temples and treatment there. Essentially a ritualized form of bribery. If it worked then their enemies would lose their divine protection."

Mar stopped for a moment as a plan began to form and their mind. The clues were there and Ysandra would know this because of her nature as an ancient dryad. Mortal people, whose very belief flowed through the world and shaped it? Mar sincerely doubted that they knew and a quick glance through Ysandras memories confirmed that this was a secret usually reserved for the most ardent scholars and wise immortals.

This...this was going to be fun.