Lark, his hair swept by the wind, brushed it back with an air of annoyance and said,
"Become my avatar. Then dealing with a deity of Ares's level will be a simple matter."
"Hold on. That's not the problem."
Creed asked a very logical question.
"How can you create an avatar, Duke? That requires a contract with a deity."
Lark clenched his fist.
Golden energy flickered and blossomed around him.
"Well? I think I can just do it. Even though I've retracted my divinity, does being a god once still count? I don't really know."
Creed's lips parted slightly in astonishment at that irresponsible and indifferent answer.
Lark waved his hand dismissively as if such things were of no consequence.
"Anyway, becoming an avatar makes you stronger and that's good, right?"
It was indeed a tempting proposition.
Through this incident, Creed had painfully realized that even as the strongest among humans, he was weak in problems involving divine beings.
He never wanted to feel that powerlessness of being unable to protect Navia again.
"There's no problem, right? Like sanctions from the divine realm?"
"Forget it. I'll win against them all."
Lark approached Creed with one corner of his mouth twisted upwards and playfully poked Creed's smooth cheek.
"So, are you going to do it or not?"
Creed frowned and shook his head, but Lark's teasing was relentless.
'That's why Noona always complains about you…'
Creed stopped his futile resistance as if to let Lark have his way.
"I'll become an avatar."
"Good choice. You didn't really have a choice anyway."
Creed wasn't particularly surprised, knowing full well how capricious his master was.
"But how do we make the avatar contract?"
Lark raised his hand, which had been poking Creed's cheek, and placed it lightly on his head.
"Like this."
Golden divine power then poured down onto Creed.
Creed inhaled sharply in surprise.
He then exhaled a languid breath, feeling a thrilling tingling sensation as the unfamiliar energy thoroughly permeated his body.
This was the power of a god.
It felt like everything that made up his body was being completely transformed.
Soon, the golden energy had fully infused Creed's body.
A golden ring briefly appeared in his blue eyes before fading away.
The avatar contract was completed very simply.
Creed tried to move the magical power within his body. If before it had been like a river breaking its banks, now it was different.
"This is the power of an avatar…"
It was like evolving from an inferior race to a superior one beyond comparison.
He understood why some would be greedy for this power, even risking their lives for it. Being invincible must mean having such power.
"How is it? Your god is impressive, isn't he?"
Creed burst out laughing softly.
"Yes. I can't deny it."
He didn't want to admit it, but Lark was truly remarkable.
Lark added with an extremely smug expression,
"This is your dowry."
"…What?"
"What are you surprised about? Aren't you going to marry my daughter? Is love a joke to you?"
"Uh... Yes... Yes, I must..."
Creed's face turned red at the mention of marriage and he cast his eyes down.
The thought of marrying his noona was so thrilling it was dizzying.
Lark clicked his tongue, looking at Creed who was acting like a clumsy boy.
"Don't start popping champagne yet. I'm not planning to marry you off right now."
"...I know that much."
"Oh? What do you know? You're just a chick who's lived for barely 20 years."
Lark put Creed in a headlock and dragged him away to the prison.
They stood in front of Ares, who was bound in golden energy and trapped in the prison.
Ares still thrashed about with murderous eyes.
"His energy is almost depleted, shall we start the real work?"
Clang!
Lark opened the prison and grabbed Ares by the head.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
The powerful energy that had filled his entire body quickly evaporated.
Ares writhed in agony at the terrible loss.
'No! Stop, stop it! My power is disappearing!'
He realized a god had directly entered his body.
Although it seemed dangerous at first glance, Ares paid no heed.
'If I have this power, everyone will agree with me. I will be fundamentally different from those ordinary humans with this great power!'
But that mighty energy was being sucked away by Lark.
He became increasingly powerless.
'Stop! Stop it! Stop... stop...'
Finally, Ares's eyes returned to their original blue. Niratoinira was completely removed.
Ares realized it was all over and dropped his head, his eyes dead black.
Lark's palm was slightly reddened as if it had suffered a minor burn, he clenched and unclenched his fist.
"That's it."
"Now I'll go to the divine realm and completely erase the Niratoinira that has transferred to me."
Lark turned around as if he had no more business there.
"Let's go to Navia. I have a lot to talk about."
Before Creed could respond, Lark slung an arm around him as if he was his personal armrest and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
They were transported to the annex Navia was using. They were outside the building, not inside.
"Looks like I got the timing right."
Lark spotted Navia in the reception room through the window, looking at some papers with an expressionless face and chuckled.
Her habit of becoming expressionless when focused hadn't changed since she was young, which made him inexplicably happy.
Knock knock.
Lark approached the window and knocked on the glass.
Navia turned her head in surprise and then beamed a bright smile.
Dad. Creed.
The shape of her lips was clear.
Even though her voice was blocked by the glass, it was evident. It must have been filled with happiness and joy.
Bang!
Navia flung the window open and leaned out.
"How did you two end up together?"
Just as he expected, her voice was brimming with joy.
"We met nearby."
Lark spoke those words, then lightly leaped up, grabbing the window frame and entering the reception room.
As Navia stepped back, Creed followed in, just as Lark had done.
‘The two of them, they're subtly similar.’
Navia thought to herself how well they matched, chuckling softly.
Then, Creed approached, asking with a gentle smile, "Did you sleep well, noona?"
"Yeah. I had a good rest. But you, didn’t you stay up all night working with Monica? Are you okay?"
"I’m strong, you know."
"But still... How’s your magic?"
Navia's concern deepened, having witnessed his suffering when his magic went out of control.
Creed, with a slightly strange expression, said, "Ah..."
'It’s true, since becoming an avatar, my magic has completely stabilized.'
That meant, he had one less excuse to have physical contact with Navia.
"Creed?"
As Navia looked at him quizzically, Creed reflexively smiled properly.
He didn’t want her to catch on to his bad thoughts.
"It’s all thanks to the Duke."
"My father?"
Her gaze drifted to Lark, who was sprawling on a long sofa, noisily munching on cookies.
He really looked like a good-for-nothing.
"What’s going on with you two?"
Lark, grumbling about the tasteless cookies, answered nonchalantly, "Oh, yeah. I made him an avatar."
"Your boyfriend is now my avatar."
At the word 'boyfriend,' Navia's face instantly flushed red.
Creed also glanced at Navia awkwardly, his expression turning sheepish.
Both still had things to discuss, their relationship status remaining undefined.
Anyway.
"Tell me more, please."
Lark started from the topic of avatars and continued non-stop with what he heard during his visit to Agnes this morning.
"Does the book from the Pantheon have some special power?"
"Yeah, it’s a book created directly by the Pantheon and sent to the human world. The local gods started pressuring them, so they planned to escape to the human world and engulf it."
And Lark had single-handedly destroyed that plan.
Navia didn’t seem too troubled by the revelation that she was to be a sacrificial offering.
Rather, Creed was the one most enraged.
"I’ll crush them right away..."
His fist clenched tightly, the glove squealing as it gripped.
"No, it’s good."
Navia's brisk words loosened his grip.
"Good? They dare to talk about using you as a sacrifice."
Navia thought that’s why it was good.
Creed, looking at the carefree Navia, sighed softly, resigned. If staying by her side seems dangerous, he'll just have to destroy everything.
'So, that’s why the Duke made me an avatar.'
Lark felt his hand, which had absorbed Niratoinira, burning and stood up.
It seemed it was time to head to the divine realm to deal with this guy.
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!