[Your lifeform has been tremendously elevated and is progressing toward transcending the material. You have acquired the demigod abilities: Divine Sense, Faith Prayer, and Divine Bestowal.]
Divine Sense: Using believers as a medium, a demigod can perceive all observable events occurring around them.
Faith Prayer: Demigods are often hailed as "gods" by ignorant mortals. In the Second Era, many demigods walking the earth received offerings and devotion from believers, for you can receive your followers' prayers, draw the power of faith from them, and grant responses in kind.
Divine Bestowal: Using faith as a conduit, you can expend divine power to bestow divine spells and blessings up to the 2nd circle upon your believers.
"As expected of merely a demigod—I can only grant spells up to the second circle..."
Cassius gazed at the information on the panel and could not help grumbling.
Second-circle spells were already a distant memory to him. In the clashes Cassius engaged in now, against demigods with Challenge Ratings above 30, let alone second-circle spells, even high-tier spells of the eighth or ninth circle were not guaranteed to have any effect.
Yet for ordinary mortals, whose foes were primarily common bandits, wild beasts, and harsh natural environments, a second-circle spell was more than enough to save their lives in a crisis, or even alter the course of their destinies.
"Well, let's give it a try..."
Cassius calmed his mind, focused his concentration, and attempted to employ these three demigod abilities.
In an instant, countless shimmering, threadlike bonds of faith appeared in his mind, dangling like willow branches across all corners of the Empire. Some were brilliant, others dim, their luster determined by the strength of faith and emotion, with a living believer at the other end of every single tether.
Cassius casually picked out an intensely glowing, constantly flickering thread of faith and attached his will to it. Immediately, urgent cries and prayers rushed into his ears—
...
Meanwhile, in the eastern Northlands of the Great Anzetta Waste.
"By Cassius!"
The northern gale whipped up snowflakes like freezing blades, scraping viciously across the man's exposed skin and carving sharp, knife-like pain.
"Damn this hellish weather! If His Majesty Cassius were here, he could surely dispel this blizzard!" Having no alternative, the man could only bow his head and pray to that omnipotent Emperor, begging to survive this disaster.
His name was Benny. He was a merchant from northern Anzeta who made his living selling coal to factories in the cities. But after a raging blizzard, his caravan had been nearly wiped out, leaving only this single carriage.
Benny huddled on the leeward side of the carriage, his fingers long numb from the frost, barely able to hold his whip. He poked his head out trembling, eyes wide with terror, breathing raggedly as puffs of white vapor billowed from his lips.
On the distant snowy slope, pairs of eerie green eyes stared unblinkingly at him. Piercing howls converged, and a thick, foul stench seemed to pierce through the veil of wind and snow, assailing his senses.
The horse suddenly reared, letting out a terrified whinny. Those were frost wolves—monsters that accompanied blizzards! To the people of the Northlands, these frost wolves were nothing less than reapers in the storm.
Benny's heart stopped dead, and his blood felt as though it froze in an instant. He straightened violently, pressing his spine firmly against the carriage's cold, rigid wooden planks, as if that were the only bastion that could afford him shelter.
"No... I can't die here..."
Benny's throat bobbed, his voice hoarse and dry. Despair intensified within him, threatening to swallow his mind whole.
On the distant snowy slope, the burliest frost wolf threw back its head and let out a long howl. As if receiving an order, the other wolves sprinted across the snow, encircling the man and horse and closing in step by step. Greed and hunger gleamed ominously in those triangular eyes.
Benny knew that if this continued, he would sooner or later end up as food in the wolves' bellies.
Yet what could he do now?
Flee?
The wheels were mired deep, the frozen earth hard as iron, and the blizzard blinding. Where could he run?
Fight the pack?
His guards were buried in the snow, and he had nothing left in hand but a horsewhip. How could he fend off a savage pack of frost wolves?
All he could do now... was pray.
Benny was a devout believer of the Cinder Emperor. In a small town in the Northlands, he had witnessed with his own eyes the Emperor perform a miracle, banishing darkness and bitter cold to grant them a winter night warmer than any they had ever known.
Before every journey, he would visit the city's Dragon Oath Sanctuary to pray to the Emperor, begging for the protection of this patron of trade.
At this moment, Benny knelt on the ground with all the strength in his body. Ignoring the freezing snow, he pressed his palms together, squeezed his eyes shut, and cried out in a voice as hoarse as a dying beast, laced with reckless desperation.
"Praise the Cinder Emperor!"
He threw his arms wide open toward the firmament ruled by howling winds and snow, releasing one final, despairing plea to the god-like Emperor who commanded the northern wastes:
"O great Red Dragon, supreme Emperor! I am willing to sacrifice everything I have, if only you will grant me a way out! A path to survival!"
The frigid gale roared on, drowning out his cries. The frost wolves abandoned all pretense, baring their fangs and lunging at Benny with guttural snarls.
Plunged into despair, Benny braced himself for death. The smiling faces of his wife and child surfaced in his mind, filling him with bitter regret.
Perhaps... he shouldn't have taken this risk.
He offered a self-deprecating smile. His Majesty Cassius was the supreme Emperor, a sovereign over tens of millions of subjects. Why would he ever spare a glance for a lowly, insignificant commoner like him?
Yet right at that moment—
A miracle.
No, more accurately, a divine miracle occurred!
From the unseen depths, an invisible will descended upon Benny, sending a surge of warmth flowing through his body. Even the frost and snow blanketing him melted away in an instant.
Benny slowly opened his eyes. He felt the wind and snow halt, and time itself seemed to freeze.
Looking up, he saw a colossal, indistinct crimson silhouette take shape in the sky. Its slit pupils held boundless majesty, like two spheres of golden flame dispersing the howling gale that filled the air.
He looked around again. The pack of wolves, which had been agitated and advancing with low growls, was frozen in place, preserved in the postures of the previous second—baring fangs, crouching to pounce, throwing heads back in mid-howl—locked motionless into statues coated in frost and snow.
A miracle!
This was a true miracle!
The thought detonated like thunder in Benny's mind. In an instant, overwhelming exhilaration swept away all his previous terror and despair. Deep within his chest, a flame of faith was suddenly ignited!
*It must be His Majesty Cassius!* Benny cried out in his heart.
Immediately after, the wind and snow resumed, and the frost wolves snarled as they charged ferociously toward him. Benny's heart pounded wildly. He could feel that the Emperor had bestowed a certain power upon him; a warm current flowed through his fingertips.
Subconsciously, he pointed his finger.
*Bang!*
Beams of searing light erupted from his fingertips, incinerating through the fur of several frost wolves in an instant and piercing clean through their bodies, eliciting agonized yelps.
It was a second-circle divine spell—Scorching Ray!
The alpha wolf had the worst luck of all: struck square in the skull by a Scorching Ray, a charred hole was blasted through the crown of its head. Dark smoke poured from the wound, and its muscular body toppled sideways to the snow.
Staring at his trembling fingers, Benny shouted with wild fervor, "You damned monsters! Do you see? His Majesty Cassius protects me! Don't you dare think of making me your dinner!"
"Awoo!"
The frost wolves exchanged glances, terror and panic gleaming in their eyes. After facing off against Benny for a brief moment, they turned one after another and fled without looking back, their figures gradually vanishing into the blizzard.
Benny collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, continuously murmuring, "His Majesty Cassius bless me... Thank you, Your Majesty..."
Soon, the storm subsided completely, and a rift split across the dense clouds.
A beam of pale yet extraordinarily crisp morning light pierced through the lead-gray sky like a spear cast down by a deity, spilling over the ravaged snowfield. Wherever the light reached, the frozen mud began to soften, and the snow reflected a dazzling white glare.
In the distance, the low outline of a ridge emerged in the dawn light.
Bathed in this morning glow, Benny slowly rose to his feet. He turned toward the south with utter piety in his expression, firmly resolved to spread word of this miracle far and wide so that more people might experience the grace of His Majesty Cassius.
"Praise the great Red Dragon, the supreme Emperor, the patron deity of industry and trade—Cassius!"
...
Great Anzetta Waste, Dragonblood Mountain.
Cassius noticed one of the threads of faith turn exceptionally bright, radiating a red glow characteristic of a fanatic and transmitting an even stronger power of faith. He nodded slightly, a pleased smile spreading across his face.
"Not bad. It seems this Divine Bestowal ability is of some use after all."
Through these demigod abilities, Cassius could gain a deeper appreciation of divine authority, continuously cultivating his faith until he could achieve true godhood in the not-too-distant future.
After a moment of thought, Cassius selected another thread of faith representing an anointed follower—at its opposite end was the Imperial Prime Minister, the dragon-blooded ogre Langpu.
Upon a high platform in the City of Akalia within the Thracian Governorate, Langpu felt a sudden resonance and rose to his feet with a solemn expression.
"This is..."
For some reason, the ogre seemed to hear a familiar voice echoing from afar. Yet looking around and glancing high and low, he found no trace of the Red Dragon Emperor, nor did he detect any magical fluctuations.
Soon, however, Langpu felt a supreme, irresistible power descend upon him.
Almost in an instant, he recognized the nature of that power—divine power! Moreover, it emanated an aura that felt intimately familiar and close to him.
"Master?"
Langpu's pupils dilated abruptly, and excitement rushed across his face. In a trembling voice, he asked, "You... you can communicate with me in this manner? Have you already transcended the shackles of the Material Plane—"
Cassius's voice sounded once more: "I remain at the demigod tier. However... what I plundered from Tiamat has yielded considerable gains. Continue to cultivate faith across the Empire and expand my church without cease."
"Yes, Master! I will devote myself heart and soul to forging the Empire into your divine realm of faith. It seems the realization of our grand blueprint is not far off!"
Langpu nodded with immense fervor, his tone ringing with excitement, as if he could already envision the glorious future of the Cinder Emperor attaining godhood and the Empire ascending.
To his surprise, Cassius let out a soft chuckle and continued, "By the way, Langpu, would you be interested in fashioning a quasi-deity's soul into magical equipment?"
"What?"
The dragon-blooded ogre stood frozen in place, momentarily at a loss. Only after a long while did he recover his wits, murmuring in disbelief, "You mean... the soul of a quasi-deity?"
"Indeed. I will send the remainder of Gorazdla's soul to the Arcane Research Institute. You should know what to do."
At once, a greedy, covetous gleam erupted in Langpu's eyes. To use a quasi-deity as an experimental subject was a dream shared by countless spellcasters throughout history. Forcing down the wild excitement and exhilaration in his chest, he said in a deep voice:
"Of course, Master! The scholars of the Imperial Arcane Research Institute and I will spare no effort in developing it, striving to help you unlock the mysteries of divinity. We will never fail your trust!"
"Good. I look forward to your results."
...
Severing the faith communication with Langpu, Cassius refocused his attention onto his panel. Aside from these demigod abilities, his control over the elements seemed to have improved considerably as well.
After all, Cassius had devoured the Horn of Tiamat and seized the power of Gorazdla the Lightning Tyrant. The horrific might of that ancient blue dragon's Lightning Breath still left him with lingering trepidation when he recalled it.
And now, he possessed a similar capability.
Cassius clenched his dragon claws. With a single thought, dense storm clouds roiled and surged, condensing into a colossal, terrifying vortex that blotted out the sky.
*Boom!*
Accompanied by a deafening roar, a breathtakingly thick bolt of lightning erupted from the vortex's core, striking the earth like a furious colossus brandishing a sword.
The Red Dragon Emperor's wings snapped open amidst the flash of lightning. Energetic arcs danced across the surface of every scale, crackling and shimmering with blue light, while pale white lightning intertwined around him to form a terrifying forest of thunder.
Dozens more lines of text refreshed across the light screen.
[You have plundered the divine qualities of the Lightning Tyrant, Gorazdla. You will command the devastating thunder and storm powers unique to ancient blue dragons.]
[Your feat Storm Giant's Strength has ascended to the legendary feat: Dominion of the Storm Sovereign.]
Dominion of the Storm Sovereign
Spear of Lightning: Any spear-type weapon or javelin in your hands transforms into a thundering weapon. Simultaneously, you can gather lightning into pure elemental weapons to unleash devastating strikes.
Riding the Storm: As sovereign of the storm, you can summon a tempest of immense scale and power (up to fifty kilometers in diameter) and control its movement.
Stormwalker: You can fly and move freely through storms, completely unaffected by any form of strong winds, precipitation, or surging waves. Thunder, lightning, or any natural manifestations wrought by the wrath of storm gods cannot harm you.
Thunderous Purgatory: You can create a purgatory forged of lightning within a three-hundred-meter radius around your body; any creature entering this area will be killed or severely wounded by lightning.
Electromagnetic Tyrant: As sovereign of the storm, you can manipulate high-voltage electrical current, electromagnetic waves, and magnetic force at will.
Lightning Breath: You can exhale powerful lightning from your maw, carrying destructive force equivalent to the full-power breath of Gorazdla the Lightning Tyrant, an ancient blue dragon.
Chapter 827