From a distance, Aspen and the others could tell it was a sizeable settlement, larger than Vasyti’s. Their dwellings were made from the ashen soil; the people were pale, with some unable to walk without trembling, and others unable to walk at all.
One of the inhabitants noticed the group approaching, raising alarm within them that eventually spread to the rest of the settlement, and by the time they arrived, the inhabitants had already formed a frontline.
In the eyes of the trio, and mine too, it was a pitiful sight, but their caution was commendable.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" The snarl emanated from a youth in the crowd; he was pale, but not as sickly as the others.
"We-" Freya’s raised hand cut Aspen off as he attempted to speak
"Let her handle this; you’re a bit too family-friendly to do this" A hand, Kazel’s, and the one who said it grabbed his shoulder as Freya stepped forward
"My name is Freya" Her head turned to the left "This is Aspen, and beside him is Kazel. We are followers of the divine Lord Astrael, and are here to help you and your settlement by helping you survive"
"And how do you plan to do that?" the youth questioned
"Simple, by leading you back to our village."
"And why would we follow a trio of foreigners into a place with possibly worse conditions than ours"
"Hmm... quite the statement. Look at me, look at my clothes, look at my friends, then look at you, your clothes and all-around situation, and tell me, who appears to be in worse condition, and who can afford to walk away from this conversation"
Stifled, the youth couldn’t help but lower his gaze and let his head hang low. He knew Freya was right; his people, although tough, were the last who remained, the others dead from starvation or sickness. "And what do we benefit from following you, and your ’Lord’?" the initial bite in his voice now subdued
"Good", Freya started, "If you follow us, you are entitled to good health, enough, a proper residence, clean water, and basically everything you don’t have at the moment"
The deal was good, a bit too good, especially in the eyes of someone who has struggled their whole life.
Over the next couple of days, the trio shared the food they had and began to clear the surrounding beasts. The youth also informed everyone of this; as for what he told them to make them all agree and pack on such short notice, that was unknown.
The eventual expedition wasn’t too tiresome, especially with the map Kazel drew out.
Reaching the barrier, they turned to address those following them.
Aspen went first. "Ok, everyone, we’re here. Beyond this barrier lies the Vastyi village, a sanctuary blessed by the great and benevolent Lord Astrael, the God of Shelters", with a toothy grin, clearly proud to be a Vasytri, he gave his address.
"But don’t mistake his benevolence for stupidity or weakness," Freya cut in sharply, serving everyone a cold look, "And I advise that if you bear any ill intent towards us, or this village, be it from greed or sheer stupidity, Lord Astrael will deal with you personally, within this barrier-" Kazel cut her off, with a look that said, ’they will see’, refraining her from saying more than needed.
"Let’s proceed, shall we?" He said—a final address to the crowd before they all crossed over.
From my realm, I silently watched, taking note of every head within the crowd as the restriction on hostile entities crossing the barrier was adjusted temporarily, letting them all pass through.
"August, convene all the members of the village at the barrier", Using my divine energy to project my voice into the mortal plane, I commanded August, and being the fanati—I mean, ever-fervent follower that he is, he immediately did my bidding.
At the edge of the barrier, the 70 individuals successfully crossed over from the cursed lands into my domain. Following their entrance, was a wash of hushed whispers, as series of discussions about a new life, or about the absense of the plague here, with some wondering how a settlement smaller than them managed to find this place dnd, of course, the greedy and wicked nature of humans always shone through at the end, with other hatching hushed plans on how they could take this haven for themselves, and kill or enslave the original inhabitants.
Of course, the trio, as well as Elder August and a few other villagers, who arrived moments ago, noticed what was going on. But before any of them could say anything, a sigh, a sound both bored and pitiful, was heard from above them.
Looking up at the source of the sound, a man was seen, exuding a warm aura, one that felt comforting yet terrifying, with timeless eyes of gold, and cascading hair so pure that the colour white pales in comparison, framing a face so effortlessly beautiful, a face that belonged to a god.
"Greed" My voice, a calm ripple, pulsed through the minds of everyone there. "It’s a powerful thing, so strong that even some gods have once succumbed to it, but unfortunately, I can’t have your greed tainting the purity and sanctity of my domain." Letting the implications sink in, I looked down at the ground as I descended, the ground trembling slightly as my feet touched it. "Consider this a blessing, as you will be the first ones to experience this and will be used as an example for those to come. Barrier Compression", In a calm voice, now carrying an absolute tone of finality, I activated the skill.
In the next moment, 6 people, now encased in golden barriers—constructs of protection, now their potential endings—levitated into the sky above the others, and the barriers began to shrink at a steady rate, as I ensured everyone took in what was going on, because to the mortal eye they were humans, to mine, they were walking embodiments of hostility. As the barriers shrunk, the sickening sounds of bones breaking upon each other crawled through the stunned silence, accompanied by a cacophony of ear-rattling screams, organs squeezed against each other, in stomach-churning squelches before bursting into pulps of blood and bodily matter, all of it being contained by the now-shrunken barrier.
Seeing this, a lot of those present retched, some vomiting at the scene before looking away, finding it unbearable to keep watching as they trembled in fear; the remaining who stood watch were either paralysed by shock or a twisted form of reverence at the brutality I just displayed.
The process didn’t take over two minutes to be over, leaving behind 6 red-filled cubes.
"Let this serve as a lesson to those here, and a tale for those to come", I said as the cubes descended to the ground, and I returned to my realm, with a soft shimmer of light, leaving the people to process all they witnessed, and a now red tainted cubes a lingering reminder of who they chose to follow and what he’s capable of.
Entering my realm, I was greeted with a system notification.
[# Congratulations, host, on gaining 64 followers. Total followers now: 104(40 fanatics/34 devotees/30Casual)#], the system rattled off the numbers in its usual monotone voice, stating my new increase in followers. As soon as I heard the numbers, I began to calculate internally.
"So, 40 by 5000, and carry the 2, add..." I mumbled on for some time, trying to sum up how many faith points I would generate daily. "That’s 218,000 faith points every day, holy..." but before I could complete my statement, another system panel interrupted me
[#Congratulations on gaining over 100 followers, now granting a minor increase in god rank; Minor God(0.3↠0.5).#]