Vivian could not fully understand as the words came intermittently.
But even without hearing everything, she felt a chilling terror.
It was undoubtedly a very ominous and dreadful name.
Vivian stumbled backwards and fell. She was paralyzed with an overwhelming fear that consumed her entire body.
"Please, save me...!"
"Don't worry, Vivian. I am a benevolent ruler who cherishes the livestock I govern."
But those who do not listen must be severely punished.
He grabbed Vivian by the hair. Vivian screamed and flailed, desperately trying to crawl away.
But suddenly, her movements ceased.
Her eyes turned pitch black. Then, Vivian began to utter something bizarre.
"All hail Emperor Ares, long may he reign."
Her mind was corrupted.
Ares looked down at her and began with a small shrug of his shoulders, which gradually turned into a loud laughter.
"Ha ha!"
This was power! This was the true, absolute power, and he was its master! He gazed somewhere intently.
"It seems that they have now moved the Emperor to his bedroom."
Earlier, he had scattered the monsters from another world, ensuring that no one could leave the castle. Those in the imperial palace would be under mental control, just like Vivian.
The next emperor of the empire can only be His Highness Prince Ares.
We must follow His greatness.
This was not mere mind control. It was instilling fear in their minds through divine power.
Once all the work is completed, they will be confused as if nothing had happened, thinking it was just a result of heavy drinking. Deep in their consciousness, the thought 'Ares must become the emperor' will be embedded.
Ares smacked his lips as if he was regretting something.
"The most regrettable thing is that I cannot use this power to its fullest."
The foreign god did not belong here and was in opposition to the indigenous gods. Using this level of power was quite a strain.
'But even so, there's no way I'll get caught.'
If his power were to be discovered by the indigenous gods, that would be troublesome.
Then, he would have to find another body to switch into.
"Urgh-?!"
Ares clutched his head, emitting a painful groan.
'What was I just thinking?'
He felt as if a strange thought, not his own, had suddenly intruded his mind.
He couldn't remember what he had thought, only a peculiar feeling lingered in his mind.
"…Did I release power suddenly, causing this confusion?"
Such incidents happened occasionally, so Ares didn't take it too seriously. After these episodes, his powers seemed to increase, as if rewarded.
It must be something like growing pains.
The headache quickly subsided, and his divine aura became even clearer.
Ares exhaled a long breath and murmured with satisfaction.
"Shall I head to the banquet hall now?"
His eyes were becoming increasingly turbid.
* * *
Before entering the Emperor's bedroom, Navia abruptly scrunched her eyes shut, covering her nose and mouth, repulsed by a sudden foul smell.
'Noona?'
Creed looked down at her with a worried expression.
Navia felt nauseated by the disgusting odor. Creed, however, seemed unaffected by the smell, appearing calm.
"Is this sensation only perceivable to me? Why?"
It wasn't the smell of garbage... Yes, it was the smell of a decaying corpse.
She knew the smell of a decaying corpse. It was a smell she had been sick of when she was sold to the barbarians as a living sacrifice in her sixth life.
But, why would such a smell be here?
Navia looked up with a deeply furrowed brow towards the Emperor's bedroom. The bedroom door was wide open.
"It's nothing."
Navia shook her head and pulled on his hand, signaling they should go inside.
Creed, still unable to shake off his worry, was led by her into the room.
Inside the bedroom, there was no one else except for the Emperor and Diana.
That was strange. The Emperor was in critical condition, and yet there were neither doctors nor ministers, not even a knight to guard his safety? Navia's eyes narrowed.
"It seems like things are unfolding in an unexpected direction."
Entering the bedroom, the stench of the decaying corpse grew stronger. Yet, there was no corpse to be found.
She glanced at Yulrich, just in case.
He was with his eyes open. But they were lifeless, like those of a dead fish. Nonetheless, he was not dead yet.
"When the Emperor recovers, we'll be able to step on the tail."
It was obvious that the core of that tail would be Diana.
Navia approached the Emperor and placed her hand on his body.
The White Moon did not react.
"What's going on?"
Navia tried again to draw out the power of the White Moon.
So far, there had been no illness the White Moon couldn't heal. There must have been some mistake this time. But the White Moon still did not respond to Yulrich.
Then there were two possibilities.
One was that there was no need to use the White Moon, meaning either he was dead or there was no illness.
The other was that he was suffering from a power related to a god.
Yulrich was clearly losing his vitality. So there was definitely a problem.
"Then, as expected..."
Navia slowly raised her head.
Her gaze met Diana's.
She was smiling.
"Having trouble?"
Whoosh! As soon as she finished speaking, Creed created a powerful protective barrier.
Through the translucent, milky barrier, the Empress was staring directly at Navia.
'How can she see me when I'm hidden with invisibility magic?'
Diana was not a magician either.
They realized that invisibility magic was futile and revealed themselves to avoid unnecessary waste of magical power.
Navia released her hand from the Emperor.
"…You've made a pact with a god."
The Emperor had not succumbed to some ordinary poison.
Diana smiled faintly.
"Indeed, I had suspected you had something. You really are a special child in many ways."
Her gaze then shifted to Creed, who was openly displaying his hostility.
"That child is not an incarnation, but seeing him unharmed now, you must have done something. Which god did you make a pact with? It must be one of the native gods."
From these words, Navia was able to make an inference.
The god the opponent had made a pact with must be an external god. Otherwise, they wouldn't use the term 'native god.'
'Almost no one knows about the existence of external gods. Even if they do, they don't refer to the gods of this world as native gods.'
Navia's whole body tensed up, knowing the immense power that external gods possessed.
Of course, there were ranks among them.
For instance, the external god that Lark had contracted with was one that resided at the very top of the pantheon.
It seemed unlikely that one could easily make a contract with a being of such a high position, so it was probably a lower-tier god.
"What does it mean that Creed is fine because of me? Does that mean people who aren't incarnations are in danger right now?"
Navia's expression hardened.
Today's victory banquet was being held on an unprecedentedly grand scale, with all sorts of nobles gathered.
What was the purpose of arranging such an event, especially with the nobles waiting for news at the banquet hall?
‘But if that's the case, there's no reason for the Empress to be guarding this place, right?’
It was then that Navia realized.
"So, Prince Ares is an incarnation."
"Hmm, it seems you have a mind that works quite uselessly well."
Creed, as if to protect Navia, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. His eyes were ablaze with hostility.
"So, you're saying you're just an ordinary person, not an incarnation?"
Ping!
Creed summoned a magic spear, charged with a sharp foreboding.
Despite facing the menacing weapon, Diana showed no fear.
Instead, she burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! How foolish."
A chilling aura emanated from her entire being.
Navia realized that the source of the revolting smell was Diana.
"Why do I smell the stench of rotting corpses coming from you...?"
At those words, Diana's eyes flickered with madness.
Her smile, once enchanting, now resembled that of a deranged person.
"I have made a pact with a god, at the cost of a thousand lives!"
"A thousand? Are you saying you sacrificed people?"
Why would a divine contract require the lives of a thousand people?
And why was it Diana, not Ares, who had made this pact with the gods? Nothing made sense.
This situation was undeniably strange. The quickest way to understand would be to read Diana's memories.
'Let's use mind control magic.'
As I gathered my magic power, it resonated with the Empress's mind. Fortunately, her memories were smoothly accessible.
Diana sacrificed 1,000 humans as offerings, sprinkling their blood on the deity's statue, and thereby summoned an external god.
In doing so, she gained the ability to use curses with the power of the god.
The target of the curse was Yulrich.
"Slowly wither until the time comes. And on the day of the final battle, I shall take your life."
But that was not the end.
The contract Ares made was unusual.
'This isn't an incarnation contract. An external god has directly entered Ares' body!'
"What have you done!"
Navia, having read all the memories, shouted fiercely.
Reading Diana's memories, Navia knew exactly what she was going to do today.
Ares, or rather the external god within Ares, was going to infiltrate the minds of humans today, feeding on their fear and growing in size.
Their intention was to plunge the world into chaos.
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 5 advance chapters with the Agnes of Water Tier ($8) or 10 advance chapters with Duffman of Dominion Tier ($15) For every $25 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter. Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Join our discord server for latest release updates and novel discussions. Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters on reaching milestones. Happy reading!