Chapter 1449: Early
The first thing Abel did after he heard the news that the Wizard Union President was returning was to check on the World Stone Heart’s growth. To his disappointment, it still had a long way to go.
It was not likely that it would do much in the near future.
Although Abel had two dozen God Rank Summons, twenty-five including Doff’s avatar, he still did not stop worrying. He heard too much about the Wizard Union President’s power!
He was at least as powerful as the Dragon God. Although Abel didn’t know how powerful the Dragon God was, he could imagine it after seeing Dragon Island.
It was a completely artificial dimension created for intelligent beings. The actual World of the Dragon God would definitely be much stronger!
He wouldn’t have much advantage, even if he had greater numbers. After all, the Wizard Union still had nineteen God Rank Wizards!
For now, all he could hope for was to take a big leap forward after killing the final boss in the Throne of Destruction. That way, he would be able to discover the mysteries behind the World Stone.
Up to this point, he returned to the Golden Castle’s training room and entered the Dark World through the portal.
No one knew what he had been through during the past year. Each time he entered the Dark World, he was basically fighting for ten days in a row without taking a break.
If the God Rank Wizards had not sent him so many requests, he might not even have returned at all.
The news about the President’s return was only making him more tense!
——
Just like that, another year passed. One day, the peaceful Guardian Wings suddenly began to shake and their Faith began to drain.
All the holy knights and the Saint turned to the sky.
The Saint’s face was red as he yelled, “The Lord is regaining consciousness! The Lord will lead us to defeat the enemy. The time of glory has arrived!”
“Your Grace, is there anything you want us to do?” Knight Marco asked excitedly. There was not much those holy knights could do, but they still asked.
The Saint calmed himself down a moment and replied with slight worry, “The Lord is using Faith to recover his awareness, but we might not have enough, so I need the entire Holy Kingdom to stop and pray!”
It would have been handy if their holy crystals had not been stolen, but all they could do now was start praying crazily.
“Your Grace, don’t worry, I will instruct every knight and follower in every city pray!” Knight Marco swore fervently.
The God Rank Knights scattered quickly. None of them would slack off for the Demon from Beyond’s reawakening!
—
Soon, every person in the Holy Kingdom, regardless of age or gender, was gathered in chapels and began praying.
Of course, one-fifth of the Faith was actually drawn away to a golden statue under the Golden Castle, but that did not stop the Guardian Wings from growing!
As long as it kept shaking, the people in the Holy Kingdom had to pray!
——
During the next two days, the prayers continued without stopping, and some of the faithful began to die from exhaustion.
Therefore, besides the most fanatical followers, Faith in the Holy Kingdom actually began to drop!
—
“Your Grace, some followers can not handle it anymore!” Knight Marco reported.
“People are the sacrifices of god, they have to continue even if they can’t handle it!” the Saint replied grimly.
He sensed a strand of consciousness coming from the Demon from Beyond, which meant the lives of the people no longer mattered.
“Ye, Your Grace!” Knight Marco bowed.
When it came to managing Faith, the God Rank Knights had no choice but to obey the Saint, even if they didn’t like him!
—–
Three more days passed, and more followers fell. This number only grew larger on the fourth day.
At first the holy knights had stayed around and provided them with water and some simple food, but by the fourth day they stopped.
It was not because the Holy Kingdom was running out of food, but because their Faith was running through the Guardian Wings. If any of them took a break, the Guardian Wings might break apart!
A week went by, and the number of deaths was cataclysmic!
But finally, the Guardian Wings stopped shaking and the holy knights were filled with excitement.
The Demon from Beyond’s body and soul still needed some time to recover after being in slumber for thousands of years, but his consciousness had recovered!
———–
At that moment…
Abel was battling in the Throne of Destruction. He suddenly sensed something through his crystal angel statue.
He quickly pulled away from the incoming Hell creatures.
His angel statue had never alerted him to anything after he got it, so he knew something big must be happening. Therefore, he immediately stopped his fighting.
He would have to return to the Holy Continent to clearly sense what was happening.
He took out a Scroll of Town Portal and appeared in the Golden Castle.
He was promptly stunned. Not only did his followers not grow, a hundred thousand of them had died!
Although it wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, his number of followers had always been growing steadily!
“What’s happening?” he wondered as he looked through his angel statue.
For the past week, his followers had been praying without stopping. It had been four days where no food or drink were provided, so the weaker ones had perished!
What could be happening, why is the Holy Kingdom making their people pray for seven days straight all of a sudden?
It was at that moment, the Magic Circle Spirit called out, “Master, the dragons have an urgent report!”
“Quick, accept it!” Abel ordered.
A few messages quickly arrived, and his face sank.
The dragons and the dwarves had both sent him same news. The Holy Kingdom’s Guardian Wings had been shaking for a week straight, and its Faith had been used up like crazy.
“What? The Demon from Beyond is reawakening?” Abel gasped.
He had always thought the Demon from Beyond still had some time to go. After all, the Wizard Union speculated that it had at least ten more years!
He immediately thought of his followers in the Holy Kingdom. The Demon from Beyond would be furious if he realized what was happening.
After all, death was the only way to treat a traitor, and stealing followers was the cause of many wars during the Era of Gods!
Therefore, even though Abel didn’t have much sympathy for those hundred million followers he had in the Holy Kingdom, he still didn’t want to lose them!
“Let’s do something big before the Demon from Beyond is truly reawakened!”
His gaze was determined. Although it had been many years since he came to this world, he had never killed a soul for no reason.
He just couldn’t stand by and watch a hundred million innocent souls die. After all, those souls were no longer a part of the Cult of the Demon from Beyond.
His original plan was to free them from the Holy Kingdom before the Demon from Beyond awoke, but it seemed he could no longer do so!
Therefore, it was now time to do something big. After all, it was impossible for the Wizard Union to know what was happening within the Holy Kingdom.
He quickly gathered all his God Rank forces. With seventeen gods and seven God Rank professionals, he was ready to go.
—–
There was one thing Abel didn’t know. The reason why the Demon from Beyond had decided to awaken early was because of him!
When he was taking the Demon from Beyond’s gear from the holy portal bag, he had triggered the Demon from Beyond’s slumbering soul.
At first it would only have sped up the awakening progress for a few years, but Abel had just done way too much. He had stolen the Divine Armor it had left over in the Lance Continent and forced it to recognize him as the new owner.
Later on, he had also stolen the Angel Sword and Angel Shield from the central temple. Even the Angel Wings were forced to merge with Abel’s angel avatar!.
After so many shocks, the Demon from Beyond had no choice but to respond.
At the same time as he had done all that, Abel did not care about the Demon from Beyond’s statues, and he had stolen two of them at once!
Since they all had its Power of the Will, it was a huge insult!