Before she could finish, her mother started walking faster toward us.
When she finally stopped in front of me, I realized she was even taller than I’d thought.
I actually had to raise my head slightly to look her in the eyes.
She studied me for a few seconds without saying anything.
"You’re my daughter’s boyfriend?"
I glanced toward Lea, hoping she would say something.
She didn’t.
Oh, great. So now I had to choose between my pride and my life.
"Yes ma’am. I’m Lea’s boyfriend."
Lea’s fingers twitched, making me second-guess my decision.
Her mother’s expression didn’t change. Lea, however, went even paler.
I resisted the urge to look at the bag again, though another red drop hitting the pavement wasn’t making it easy.
What the hell was inside it? Meat? Or something much worse?
"I see."
That was all she said before walking past me.
I tried to check her status, but I got the same response: her level was extremely high.
"Raven, please go for now. I’ll contact you later."
Lea placed both hands against my back and started pushing me away.
"Wait—"
"Just go. Please."
I wanted to ask what was going on, but she clearly wasn’t in the mood to explain.
’Well, that went perfectly.’
By the time I got home, it was already dark.
After everything that happened, I wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything. So I dropped onto the sofa, grabbed the remote, and turned on the television.
Some mindless entertainment sounded perfect right now.
"—authorities have confirmed that this is the eighth case believed to be connected to the recent serial killings."
’Oh, come on.’
Of all the things I could’ve turned on, it had to be the fucking news.
Several bodies lay scattered across what looked like an abandoned building. The footage was heavily blurred, but one detail was impossible to miss.
None of them had heads.
My mind immediately returned to the bloody bag.
’No. There’s no way.’
For all I knew, Lea’s mother just bought some fresh meat and the packaging was shitty.
That was a lot more reasonable than assuming my girlfriend’s mother was going around chopping people’s heads off.
Although...
Lea had gone pale when her mother showed up, and her gangster father had practically run away at the mere mention of his wife.
’I’m overthinking it.’
I’d had enough excitement for one day. Whatever was going on with Lea’s family could wait until tomorrow.
I went to bed, though it took a while to fall asleep.
DING!
[Countdown 00:00:00]
[First Doctrine Complete.]
The notification startled me awake, and before I could even complain, strange memories flooded my mind.
I saw a man sitting upon a throne.
His face remained hidden from me, but countless figures stood before his throne—kings, soldiers, scholars, priests, and commoners.
The man didn’t look pleased.
He looked down on them and asked a single question.
"Why do you pray to gods you have never seen, yet hesitate to worship the one before you?"
Nobody answered.
The man rose from his throne.
"You ask the heavens for wisdom. I give you answers."
"You beg them for protection. My armies keep you safe."
"You pray for prosperity. My rule fills your homes with bread and your streets with gold."
He descended the steps.
"You call their silence mystery, yet demand that I prove myself to you."
"What has your god given you that I have not?"
One of the priests finally spoke.
"Life."
He smiled.
"Then let him come and take mine."
No lightning fell.
No voice answered.
The man slowly spread his arms.
"Your gods have heard every blasphemous word I’ve spoken, yet the heavens remain silent."
"Perhaps they are merciful. Perhaps they are indifferent. Or perhaps there was never anyone listening at all."
No one dared speak.
"But you need not wonder whether I am listening."
His gaze landed on the priest.
"Curse their names, and you may spend the rest of your life wondering whether punishment awaits you."
His smile widened.
"Curse mine, and you will have your answer before the words leave your lips."
One by one, the people fell to their knees.
And this time, they did not kneel before a king.
They knelt before their god.
[First Teaching of the Wisest King]
[The faithful need not search the heavens for their God. He stands before them.]
I was at a loss for words. With a title like the Wisest King, I’d expected some profound philosophical revelation.
But this guy was straight-up an extreme dictator who just wrapped everything in elegant words.
To sum it up, he wanted me to build a cult that saw me as an absolute god, not just some divine proxy.
Which was a hell of a lot harder than simply claiming I was a prophet. Even convincing people I was the son of God sounded easier than this.
[Indoctrinate your cult members with the Wisest King’s Teachings.]
[Successfully imparting a Teaching will increase the Cult’s Influence and reward the Host with Resources.]
[You can now recruit anyone.]
I lay back on my bed. The good news was that I could recruit just about anyone now. The bad news? I had to convince them I was God.
’I’m sure they’ll be thrilled once I start preaching about how even God has nothing on me.’