Free Web NovelChapter 366 (1): Divine Fire
It was February 1940.
Six months had passed since Wayne reached the Gold rank. He had filled the life and void components of his Golden Triangle with a vast reserve of four elements and knowledge, and even more remarkable was his self component. The quantity and quality of his thoughts far exceeded even those of legendary mages, let alone other Gold-ranked mages.
He had invested an incredible amount of resources in Gold rank, including five divine artifacts x2, Oath Sword x2, obelisks x4, demon investors xN, and other gifts from nature.
Talent came with its pros and cons. Use Wayne as an example; if not for his foundation being way too broad, the amount of resources he had invested would’ve been enough to make him a demigod. Moreover, if he had relied solely on meditation rather than devoting days and nights to research, it would’ve taken another six months for him to fill up his Golden Triangle.
Half a year was enough for Prussia to become the three-year reigning champion of the Tour de Franc tank competition!
Wayne was one step away from becoming a legendary mage. He needed a push to move past that threshold.
Legendary mages were essentially Gold-ranked mages plus. At their core, their balance was still in the form of the Golden Triangle. It wouldn’t be shattered during rank-up, only life, void, and self would become more harmonious and stable, unbreakable like they had been welded together.
According to Darienne, once a Gold-ranked mage reached Legendary rank, the evolution would allow them to expand their life barrier into a life field and enter the Astral Plane freely while rejecting unwanted knowledge and corruption. Thus, they wouldn’t go mad so easily.
Not only could they reject knowledge, but they could also reject changes to their life essence!
Of course, legendary mages could also choose to accept knowledge and corruption. Both led to evolution, and if they rejected everything, they would lose the chance to evolve.
After all the hard work they had put in, no legendary mages would choose to stop advancing. Just push a little further. What if they succeeded? If they did, they would become demigods.
Darienne said that demigods were in another league of their own, and they no longer had a Golden Triangle since life, void, and self would crumble under their transcendent power and become one entity. Their self would become perfect. Mona, for example, no longer had a Golden Triangle.
Legendary mages could reject changes, while demigods could enforce changes on the outside world.
Vitality fields would evolve into vitality domains. They were no longer fake worlds, and demigods could bestow their knowledge to others to change their thoughts, beliefs, and even life essence.
Wayne often did that, which was essentially the making of vassals.
The difference was that the vassals he created were more stable. A demigod’s vassals would experience changes to their appearances and personalities according to the Laws they were subject to. Their twisted life essence would become incredibly volatile.
A good example was what Enguema had done on Dragonheart Island, when they stole the faith of the Sea God and transformed the followers into crocodile people. The Thousand-eyed Demon’s corruption of their followers was another example.
Demigodhood wasn’t clearly defined and covered a large scope of individuals with different levels of power. The strong ones could conquer lands in Hell and become demon lords, while the weak ones could only watch as their territories were taken away. The great disparity of power often led to instant kills.
The key lay in one’s reserve of knowledge. Knowledge was literally power. Whoever was more well-read would possess absolute power.
Darienne said that all of the Seven Demon Lords of Hell were demigods, and so were the subordinate gods of the major gods, as well as the four Śārim. They were the cream of the demigod crop and could become new deities at any time.
Of course, that was on the premise that the demigods’ power had come from their own training rather than being bestowed upon them by a greater existence.
To illustrate, demon familiars could be categorized into those who had climbed up the ladder from the bottom and those that the demon lords had created with their vitality domains. Both being familiars, the latter had gained great power at the moment of their birth, but they could not evolve further—not of their own volition. They would have to wait for their master to get stronger, which would make them stronger.
Wayne’s vengeful spirits were in the same camp; the stronger he was, the stronger they became.
There was a ceiling to strength, though. While power could grow indefinitely, demigodhood was the ceiling for regular existence. To break through the ceiling and become a god, what was known as ‘divine fire’ would have to be ignited.
That was beyond Darienne’s knowledge. She couldn’t tell Wayne anything about it.
All of the above was information that he had won from her in card games. She had put everything on the card table. If he wanted something, he would have to win it.
Which wasn’t difficult at all.
***
Living room, High Reverend’s manor.
From behind a pile of chips, Wayne said, “I won nine times in a row again. I don’t get it. Why is it so hard to lose?”
He lamented the lack of competition and expressed his yearning for someone who could beat him, a gambling freak. Darienne gnashed her teeth together furiously in response.
Sister Moonlight Knight was a seasoned card player who wouldn’t tolerate such humiliation without utilizing the table-flipping technique she had honed over the years. With a thunderous rumble, the chips vanished from Wayne’s sight, and the table returned to its rightful place in the ceiling.
“What’s so impressive about winning nine games in a row? I’ve lost nine games in a row. Have you seen me getting a big head?”
Darienne pointed an accusing finger at Wayne and condemned his mockery, once again emphasizing that she wasn’t a sore loser; as an honorable knight, she simply couldn’t bear the sight of degenerates winning.
“Yeah, yeah. You can’t bear seeing degenerates winning. I’m a degenerate, and you’re a knight.” Wayne continued his sarcastic remarks. “That begs the question, how did the honorable knight see the degenerate when the degenerate was hidden behind chips?”
“Insolent brat, I’m going to kill you today!”
Darienne raged, drawing White Night Creed to turn Wayne into a beehive, but she didn’t manage to summon the weapon since she had lost it to Wayne in the previous game.
According to their bet, she had to call him father from now on.
Men coveted neither money nor beauty. They just wanted to father their opponents[1].
“Ugh, I’m so done!”
Darienne’s rage was short-lived. She summoned the table and chips back with a wave and decided to pick herself up where she had fallen. She would take back everything at the gambling table.
Then she collapsed where she had fallen.
0(¦3)～('､3」∠)_
“If I were playing any other woman, she would be spending the night with me,” Wayne huffed.
Exploiting Darienne’s bad luck, he had won another nine games while rattling off more mockeries at her. Auston had told Wayne to win Darienne over and make her one of his own, planting an informant for more confidential information. That turned out unnecessary. Wayne could win the information he wanted in card games.
He had learned about the abomination in the inner world from her. She had informed the Goddess of Moonlight, who had called a meeting with Her close friends, the Goddess of Nature and the Goddess of Sun.
Darienne wasn’t privy to the goddesses’ conclusions, but according to her, the Goddess of Moonlight didn’t know the origin of the abomination, either.
“Wayne, why hasn’t William come?”
Aside from the successor she had a love and hate relationship with, Darienne’s current card buddies included only the master-student pair, Filomina and Kristen.
“I’ve made the call.” Wayne glanced at his watch. “It’s about time.”
“Really? It’s been so many rounds. Why hasn’t he arrived?”
“Because you lost too quickly.” Wayne shrugged, taking his jacket from the chair to put it on. “I’m going to the headquarters of the Ministry of Magic for a meeting. I can’t keep you company. Once William’s here, you can start another game.”
“Why do you have so many meetings to go to?”
Wayne sighed. “I have to go to the smaller meetings, or someone else will speak for me. I can’t skip the bigger meetings, or there will be no meeting at all. That’s the price of rebelling.”
“Fine. Finish it quickly. Many are waiting for you!” Darienne waved him away. She perked up when she heard footsteps from the door.
Here’s William!
She was curious about how Wayne and William interacted in the surface world and how Wayne’s girlfriends reacted to them. Today would be a good chance to see that.
Then she saw a blonde girl with twin tails skipping her way over.
“Who are you?”
“Vera.”
“???”
Where’s my old friend William?
***
Headquarters of the Ministry of Magic.
Since it was a smaller meeting, everyone in attendance was a high-ranking member with a leadership role, and naturally, the meeting was important.
A bigger meeting would follow to announce the decisions they made here.
The conveners included the Minister of Magic, Queen Sophelia, as well as Vice Minister Yvette, the Lando father and son, and Winston Churchwell, the current First Lord of the Admiralty. Winston had already created his cabinet and would take office at an opportune time.
The current prime minister was an excellent talent in every aspect, making him the best choice for wartime and peaceful times. Unfortunately, he faced a mustached man with a penchant for giving speeches at bars.
The mustached man was like a god of war!
Due to the messy international landscape, Windsor’s economy fell into a harsh winter. The nation stocked up on all strategic goods and could not ensure the supply of basic consumer goods, thus necessitating a rationing system.
Hams, eggs, sugar, and margarine were rationed and given to registered citizens, and even clothes could only be acquired with clothing coupons[2]">https://youtu.be/t4S4Yx7p3NI?si=N9br7o26HB3crKub[/ref].
Interestingly, the general public of Windsor strongly supported the policy because, in wartime, the rationing system actually improved their quality of life.
What's wrong with this land? The people always bear the cost. I thought long and hard. The system must be lost. Oh, it's Windsor. Never mind then![3]
The quality of life of the troublesome commoners improved, and money drained from the coffers of the nobles. The divide between the upper class and the lower class blurred, and the established pecking order crumbled. The prime minister had no choice but to shoulder the blame when the country experienced such a great upheaval.
The matter was decided last year, with two running candidates: Winston from the Churchwell family and Rupert from the Wilson family.
The two families were significant players in politics and the military, with similar influence and no clear superior. Winston had won the race not because of his own merits, but because Rupert had chosen the wrong side.
On that fateful night of the regime change, Rupert had haughtily unleashed a barrage of attacks at Auston while Auston acted like a pathetic loser. But then Auston stopped pretending and brandished the army of chosen knights supporting his family. After multiple attempts to reject power, Auston accepted Queen Sophelia’s difficult request for his support as regent.
Once Auston rose in power, Rupert’s downfall was already set in stone. Winston was chosen as the next prime minister because he knew the virtue of staying silent.
That was how Winston was scheduled to enter office and had already entered the onboarding process, attending important meetings and taking over the mess left by the previous cabinet.
He was thus invited to today’s small meeting.
“Prussia has deployed a greater force to the small northern countries in the Chosen Land. After dealing with the potential threats in her neighborhood, she would launch an attack on our alliance. It’ll happen sooner rather than later...”
“Since last year, we’ve sent more than a hundred thousand soldiers to our ally, Franc, in several deployments...”
“The defense line remains unbreakable!”
“It’s three million against three million. Prussia owns limited resources in her territory and cannot sustain a war of attrition...”
“We have the upper hand!”
The Queen remained quiet as the organizer of the meeting, while Auston and Winston took turns addressing the participants.
Wayne stayed silent, too. He glanced at the famous defense line on the map and flipped through a book. It was titled Mein Kampf.
Know thy enemy, and thou shalt secure a hundred victories. It was imperative to learn everything about one’s enemies, no matter the time or occasion.
Wayne had read the book twice and learned something each time. Aside from the fact that the author was obsessed with giving speeches, the iron will and fighting spirit woven into the text were worth committing to mind.
History, whether good or bad, always served as a good frame of reference and a source of inspiration. Reading history was a good habit for both learning and avoiding mistakes.
1. As explained before, in Mandarin and especially in China, calling someone father/grandfather is considered a humiliating thing, and son/grandson are often used as insults. If you’re into e-sports, you’ll see father/son being used in the same way in English communities quite a lot. ☜
2. In the U.K., clothing rationing followed food rationing a year later during the Second World War. If you’re interested in the details, here’s a short introductory video from that time. ☜
3. The original meme is written like a Chinese poem and has “Oh, it’s America” as the punchline. ☜
