’How should I clear up the poison in this well? I don’t think using the rest of my medicine would be very useful. I will need something stronger than this-’
"Put me inside the well. I can purify it using my powers. Once it’s done, I will come back to you as well."
Goddess Apophis instructed Aiden, which made him hesitate.
He did not want to doubt his goddess, but was she even powerful enough to purify the well? She could not even maintain her human form-
"Are you doubting your goddess? Don’t worry! The medicine you handed out to the villagers has started working and they have started to wake up. I have enough energy to pull something like this off now."
The snake goddess promised and before Aiden could say anything to stop her, she leapt off his arm and into the well.
Aiden felt too stunned to do anything. But because he could not do anything for his goddess, he decided to place his trust in her and wait for her outside the well.
But he soon noticed that he was not alone.
"Who are you? You better come out and show yourselves."
Aiden calmly called out to his stalkers and he noticed that they were hesitating. But they soon stepped out from their hiding spot and Aiden noticed the temple’s presence around them.
"Are you both representatives of the local temple? May I know which god you serve?"
His question made the two priests uncomfortable and instead of answering him, they decided to get angry at him instead.
"Why do you care about which god we serve? You just need to know that you are interfering in our territory and get out of here. This will be your last warning."
"That’s right! We saw you poisoning the well, so if you still want to have some dignity left, you better leave-"
"So you do know that the water here is poisoned? How did you know about it even when the other villagers did not? After all, doesn’t the temple have a different water supply?"
Aiden spoke with confidence, but he was not actually confident about his claim. But the flinch the pair gave him validated his suspicion.
These two were responsible for what was happening in this village.
"Tsk, you performed a trick or two and suddenly you feel like a big shot? Kid, don’t involve yourself in things you know nothing about. And leave that water supply alone-"
"I don’t think I will. I will purify this water as per my goddess’s wishes and that will cure this village. Don’t you have the same goal? If so, then why are you stopping me?"
Aiden asked, stalling for time. But his words only served to make the two priests angrier.
"Ugh, that’s enough! We are not going to warn you anymore. If you are not going to leave, then we will force you. This water supply is our resource and we won’t allow outside interference!"
The priests took a step forward to fight Aiden. But little did they know that Aiden was ready to fight them as well.
He had taken all kinds of specialized fighting courses to prepare for the future, so despite his body not being well-built, he knew he could defend himself pretty well. He immediately grabbed the arm the first priest used to throw a punch and tossed the man over his shoulder.
The second one immediately attacked him, trying to catch him off guard, but he failed and joined the first one on the ground.
"It looks like neither of you is anything special. It would be better if you voluntarily chose to stay down. I am not in the mood to deal with you."
Aiden warned, but the priests only got angrier.
"Tsk, I did not want to use my secret weapon on a kid like you, but I guess I have no choice. I will show you what true power is."
The first priest took out a bangle and put it on. It instantly made the pressure around Aiden increase and he found it hard to breathe.
This pressure felt different from the one emitted by the temple. This one was far stronger and more ancient.
"Hey-! Why do you still have that? Don’t tell me... you stole it? And the fact that you can still draw power from it? Did you not abandon your faith?"
The second priest looked shocked at what was happening, but his partner scoffed at his surprised expression.
"Don’t look so shocked. I gave twenty years to that god. There is no way I would lose my faith so quickly. And now, it is finally time to show my power."
The first priest’s body started to absorb the divine power and he began to transform into a solid mass that changed his body into something non-human.
The creature locked eyes with Aiden and attacked him, but he dodged. The creature continued to chase after him.
"Hey, finish this quickly so that we can-"
The second priest started to yell, only to be beheaded by the first priest without any warning. And then, the first priest came after Aiden again.
His attacks had no rhyme or reason, which made Aiden question whether he was even conscious of what he was doing.
[Warning: The Priest has lost his senses after absorbing the divine energy of a foreign god.]
[Conclusion: The Priest is no longer able to maintain his consciousness. Please get rid of the source of his power in order to return him to normal.]
What Aiden needed to do here was simple, but that did not mean it would be easy. He was fighting a battle where he was at a disadvantage.
"Alright, so I need to separate that bangle from this thing? Now, how do I do that?"
Aiden questioned as he kept trying to dodge. But simply dodging was not enough. He also needed to make sure the creature stayed away from the well where his goddess was working her magic.
As a result, Aiden was soon cornered by the creature. He had hidden inside a house and the creature was smashing the roof in an attempt to break inside.
"Tsk, it looks like I have no choice. I need to look for a gun-"
There was a sudden loud noise outside and the repeated banging on the roof stopped. It made Aiden risk his life to look through the window and see what was happening.