The Oak Father, Silvanus—also known as the Father of the Forest, the Green Father, the God of Wild Nature... Titles were unimportant. What mattered was that Silvanus was a deity of immense divine power.
Anything tied to nature fell within Silvanus's divine portfolio, so the vast majority of nature-revering druids naturally worshipped him.
Silvanus counted many among his allies, such as Chauntea, the Goddess of Agriculture, and Lathander, the Lord of the Dawn, which spoke volumes about his might. Yet despite having numerous allies, Silvanus had never founded a pantheon of his own, and taking on a subordinate deity appeared to be a first for him.
"Lady of the Mists, what on earth is going on here?" Anbaixiu asked inquisitively.
Looking up at Silvanus's statue, Leira sighed with emotion. "You could call it a trade. After all, my remains were fashioned into the Dream Barrier by the druids. Now that I am to be resurrected, under normal circumstances the mist barrier would disperse, leaving the Emerald Dream Forest without its protection.
"The Oak Father made a deal with me. He granted me a portion of his divine power, accepted me as his subordinate deity, and pledged to shield me from Cyric's wrath. In exchange, I will leave my physical body behind to continue sustaining the Dream Barrier."
Anbaixiu stared in astonishment. "Abandoning your physical vessel and ascending purely as a spirit... You will be severely diminished, and your divine power will grow at a snail's pace."
Deities differed from one another. Generally speaking, the broader a divine portfolio and the more worshippers a god had, the greater their divine power. If those factors were roughly equal, then it came down to the innate nature of the deity themselves.
Take Tiamat, for instance. She was merely a lesser deity, but her true form was a five-headed draconic terror—a racial advantage so monstrous that even the God of Alchemy would be no match for her in an outright clash.
By relinquishing her mortal body, Leira had completely discarded that advantage. Had Silvanus not shared a portion of his own divine power with her, she would not even have been able to sustain her status as a deity.
"It does not matter much. I was never a particularly powerful deity to begin with. With the protection of Silvanus, I have nothing to fear from Cyric."
Back then, Cyric had betrayed Leira, usurped her divine portfolio, and nearly snuffed out her existence. To this day, Cyric still masqueraded as the Lady of the Mists to deceive her former flock; only a select few scholars of the divine knew that the Lady of the Mists had perished.
Once Leira reclaimed godhood, the Prince of Lies would surely move to slay her once again. That was indeed a catastrophic threat.
Silvanus's protection... Anbaixiu could not easily weigh the costs and benefits, but it was Leira's choice to make. He was certain the goddess had not waited for him before Silvanus's statue merely to share this piece of news.
Speaking with measured care, Anbaixiu said, "It is not my place to question the judgment of a deity. If you deem it worthwhile, Your Ladyship, I will do my utmost to support you."
Well, moral support, that was.
Asking him to go trade blows with the Prince of Lies was out of the question.
"I knew you would support me." Leira offered a radiant smile and continued, "Still, you have probably guessed that I did not call you here just for this. There are three matters."
"Command me as you wish," Anbaixiu said.
"No, they are not commands." Leira walked up beside Anbaixiu and gently caressed his cheek. "First, you have offended a few too many gods. My divine lord informed me that Tiamat, Shar, Loviatar, and others—all these sinister deities—are preparing to move against you."
Anbaixiu replied calmly, "I am already aware of that. However, I struck a deal with the Elven Gods; they will shoulder the brunt of that enmity for me."
"The Elven Gods... Just as expected of you. But I am not referring to the gods taking action against you in person. It is their worshippers."
"Oh, so that's it." Anbaixiu was hardly afraid of mortals coming to cause him trouble. He was no longer a half-baked legend. Once he swapped into his mithral mecha, even if he could not tear through Ryan single-handedly like Headless Bro, he could still wipe the floor with any challenger.
Even so, Anbaixiu was a modest fellow, so he said to Leira, "That certainly sounds troublesome. Facing thousands upon thousands of cultists on my own would be no easy feat."
Leira said to him, "I understand. That brings me to the second matter: my blessing upon you."
She placed her hand upon Anbaixiu's skull, and her divine power seeped into his soul. Anbaixiu felt countless strands of knowledge instantly weave into his mind, and an ocean of profound insights clicked into place.
The miraculous sensation lasted only a fleeting moment, yet the gain for Anbaixiu was immeasurable.
This was power only deities could wield, knowledge only gods could comprehend. Mortals could scarcely perceive the laws governing the cosmos; such wisdom could not be bought for a billion gold coins.
Withdrawing her palm, Leira said to Anbaixiu, "Within the boundaries permitted by the cosmic laws, I have revealed to you divine knowledge. With your intellect, I trust you will soon take that next step forward."
"Thank you, Your Ladyship," Anbaixiu said with genuine gratitude.
This was the most precious gift he had ever received in his life. More than that, the blessing Leira had bestowed dramatically augmented his illusions.
Originally, Leira's True Illusion could only deceive the senses and craft phantasms; now, it could forcibly induce sleep, dragging targets straight into a dreamscape.
This was an area-of-effect illusion spell, meaning Anbaixiu could plunge an entire crowd into dreams all at once. And before a lich, falling asleep was hardly different from being dead.
Of the three matters, the first was a warning that he was being targeted, and the second was a blessing.
What about the third?
Anbaixiu looked toward Leira, asking with keen anticipation, "Goddess, what might the third matter be?"
This time, Leira reined in her smile and said, "The third matter actually has nothing to do with you directly. Having become the Oak Father's subordinate deity, I have taken on a portion of his domain. I am now the Goddess of Gloomy Nature, overseeing the natural cycles beneath shadowy illusions. Consequently, the druids of the Shadow Circle naturally fall under my flock. But you must have heard of the Shadow Druids' deeds, haven't you?"
The Shadow Druids? Of course Anbaixiu had heard of them.
If ordinary druids were environmentalists constantly protesting against humanity altering nature with alchemy, then Shadow Druids were eco-extremists who spent every waking hour assassinating anyone who dared reshape the wilderness, employing brutal and thoroughly ruthless methods.
Earlier, Gary Watts, the guildmaster of the City of Alchemy, had sent his own great-granddaughter to be raised by Shadow Druids, subjected the poor girl to severe mental torment, and intended to use her as a sacrifice to sever his own humanity.
In return, the Shadow Druids had sought the complete erasure of the City of Alchemy, returning the land to dense, primeval forest, while slaughtering every village outside the city walls and smashing all alchemical apparatus to restore nature's reign.
The Shadow Druids were so extreme that even regular druidic circles kept them at arm's length.
"Goddess, do you mean you want me to wipe out the Shadow Druids entirely?" Anbaixiu asked.
Leira shook her head. "The Oak Father would never permit the extinction of an entire druidic branch. He merely tasked me with guiding those children back onto the proper path. Extremism is not part of nature; their actions have already disrupted balance and cycles, making them no different from the humans of the City of Alchemy.
"Besides, I know you have your own affairs to attend to. I will not ask you to resolve this for me. I only ask that you lend your wisdom to guide my Chosen, showing him how it ought to be done."
As she spoke, Leira waved toward Brandir, who had been standing quietly off to the side.
The druid approached respectfully, bowing to Anbaixiu. "Master Ultraman, please grant me your guidance on how to reclaim the Shadow Druids."
Chapter 365