I Hate Systems
chapter-974

Boom!

Kuaaarrr!

A rampaging elephant collapsed at the entrance to a village, being taken down by a middle-aged man with long, flowing hair. His muscles were ripped to the extreme like a bodybuilder but still possessed a river-like fluidity and grace.

"T-That is?" One of the villagers muttered in shock upon staring at the figure standing gallantly atop the elephant.

"Y-Your Lordship!" Three kids panted as they chased after the middle-aged man from the forest behind, arriving at a stop as they stared at him in shock, "W-Why did you have to chase away that elephant just to take it down here?"

"It's not dead, so relax." The middle-aged man said as he got down and gently patted the elephant, watching it get up and shake its head before beginning to return to the forest, "It had just gone berserk. So, I rectified it."

"T-That's our Deity!"

"Such strength and grace!"

"He's beyond what our legends stated."

The villagers began to clamour in shock and surprise as they all kneeled and began to pray immediately.

Even the three children that had awoken the middle-aged man kneeled and offered their prayer, eyes closed while expressing their utmost faith and devotion to the entity.

Swoosh!

Their faith rapidly condensed within the middle-aged man and flowed out, becoming an elephant that uttered a loud cry. It was his Tool of Authority—Beast.

The elephant was entirely formed by a material resembling its tusks, which happened to be influenced by his Symbol of Authority—Tusk.

There were also flexible substances within that almost caused it to possess life, not like an animal but like a tree, a result of his Mode of Bestowal—Wood.

The moment the middle-aged man obtained his three authorities, he combined them to birth his Tool of Authority at its strongest, imprinting the memory within the minds of the people.

And unlike Compass Carburettor or Invader, the middle-aged man actively took action, proclaiming, "Since I've been awakened by the lot of you, I'll protect this village."

"And with my blessing, the village will prosper." Saying so, he gazed at the kid that displayed the strongest devotion, touching him to announce, "You'll be my first Apostle."

Roar!

Immediately, the boy became one and condensed a cat that was almost as big as him on all fours. He took a seat on it and immediately, there was a divine aura surrounding him. He had received ten percent of his Deity's strength as the Apostle after all.

"Your Lordship, Beast God." The kid, Apostle announced, "We welcome your awakening."

"Good, good." The middle-aged man, the Beast God nodded in praise as he roared, "Everyone! Work hard to increase your numbers and prosper the village into a massive country."

"Do you mean we need to invade other villages nearby?" One of the villagers questioned. He was the least influenced by the faith of the village and hence didn't feel disrespectful to directly question their village's Deity.

"Invading only births hatred." The Beast God said casually, "You can recruit those following our beliefs. Beyond that, just focus on increasing your numbers naturally through childbirth."

"That way, this village would one day become a sprawling empire. It might take a few centuries to achieve that, but it's a worthy goal."

'Is something like that worthy?' The villager simply snorted and didn't bother responding.

"It's a worthy goal indeed, Your Lordship." The Apostle said in support while a few others echoed in response.

But, that was it. There was neither an enthusiastic response nor an excited cheer. It was pretty…lackadaisical.

'Seems it won't be easy.' The Beast God thought, 'Well, it makes sense since I became their Deity just by relying upon their village's legend. My sole action is subduing that raging elephant. So, it might take time before their belief in me is reinforced.'

'But still…' He frowned and stared at his Apostle, 'To think even my Apostle feels so little faith towards me. It's embarrassing. There's only greed forming the majority of his feelings.'

He looked around at the villagers before motioning towards his ivory elephant to walk away, 'The case is no different from the rest. They all wish to inherit my powers but hardly feel any faith towards me. Since their desires are prompted by greed, there's little to no faith in them towards me.'

'How long do I need to gain their worship properly?' He sighed at the thought before deciding to retire for the time being.

As for the Apostle, he remained in the village to further the teachings of the Beast God and recruit more followers. As long as the villagers heard his sermons daily, they might be soft-brainwashed eventually, especially the younger generation that had yet to become aware.

The Beast God was confident that by the fourth generation, the majority of the villagers would conform to his faith, brainwashed into his believers from young, with all their thoughts geared solely to his benefit.

The Beast God wasn't an expert in rallying people like Compass Carburettor or Invader, but he was an expert in receiving power through the support of the masses. For, that was the reason his existence came to be in the first place.

The Genre Representative—Martial!

Therefore, his actions were different from the rest. Of course, as to whether or not he would face Compass Carburettor, even he couldn't say with assurance. After all, he had remained on the fence for too long, plus it was in his nature to do so, even while being proactive.

'It seems the only way to leave this world is to ascend or break the framework supporting this world's operations.' He thought as such before sighing in disappointment, 'But, that seems impossible, since this world is gaining foundation by absorbing the power funnelling into me.'

His senses were absolutely sharp, and hence, before he was fully assimilated by the world, he sensed that the power that was originally funnelling into him from all the Murim Worlds continued to exist. But instead of entering him, they were being absorbed by this world—Faith Grounds—instead.

That was why its growth was so alarmingly fast, as it was still being supplied with limitless power from peak individuals that all had unique power sources from the concepts they represented.

This is why, he, Martial, had already resigned himself to his fate, 'A world that has absorbed all six of our foundations cannot be stopped unless someone on the level of Zaira, Mascot or Mystique were to attack with their full power. That means…'

He sighed, "I should get used to this world and focus on surviving here. For that to happen,"

He smiled, "The Beast God is a suitable authority. Nothing too strong but at the same time,"

"It's not weak either."