Chapter 86: The God of Half-Orcs – Eugene! [Seeking Recommendation Votes]
2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower
The inevitable has finally arrived.
While Soren was busy in Modo City conducting the trial tests for the War Flag Plane, thousands of Half-Orcs had gathered near the Agate River.
Of course.
This gathering of Half-Orcs was not for war. Following the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm, many lands in the Material Plane had become desolate. Due to Soren’s intervention, the casualties in the Material Plane were only around ten percent, meaning about one-tenth of the population had died. The Half-Orcs were among the unluckier ones, having lost about fifty percent of their population through the battle in Leaffall City and the Saint’s Cataclysm. However, Half-Orcs are known for their resilience; as long as peace is restored, they can double their population in a little over ten years.
As a mixed-blood race, the status of Half-Orcs has always been awkward.
Humans do not look favorably upon them, and pure-blooded Orcs also shun them, leaving them suspended between two races, comparable to the disparity faced by Half-Elves.
And the biggest difference is their appearance!
Due to the disparity in looks, Half-Orcs have always struggled to integrate within other races, and the battle in Leaffall City was once mockingly called the ‘Beauty Battle’ by female Adventurers.
A throng of Half-Orcs gathered together.
In the center of the Half-Orc camp, there stood a magnificent altar over a hundred meters in diameter!
More than ten elderly Shaman priests gathered near the altar, their faces a bit excited as they directed the busy Half-Orcs around them. At the most important spot on the altar stood a lifelike statue of the elderly Eugene, who held a spear and gazed into the distance, adorned with tattoos made from ashes.
The bonfire was dancing.
Night gradually fell.
Large groups of Half-Orcs gathered around the altar, and the Shaman priests of their race became the hosts of the ceremony.
Boom!
As if responding to a command, at around nine o’clock at night, all the Half-Orcs suddenly knelt down, and a low chant of prayer emerged from the center of the altar.
“Lord Eugene!…” (Note: Half-Orc language.)
“Your dominion over Half-Orcs! … You are the protector of the Half-Orcs! …”
“You guide us forward! … You teach us to farm! … You strengthen our kin! … You are our eternal guide! …”
“Lord Eugene! …”
“You shall raise the Divine Kingdom! … Ascend to the heavens! …”
The low chant echoed across the wilderness.
As the prayers of thousands came together, a ray of divine light began to gather in the statue at the altar.
Investiture of the Gods!
Eugene, after enduring for so long, finally decided to ascend at this moment.
Ascendant – Eugene!
This elderly Half-Orc, nearing the end of his life, unexpectedly gained divinity due to the Saint’s Cataclysm and thereby successfully underwent the Investiture.
Unlike Soren’s Investiture ceremony.
Eugene’s prayer was very brief, almost like a standard Half-Orc priesthood, and he similarly chose the time around nine o’clock at night, indicating that he is one of the gods of the Evil Faction. Generally, deities of the Good Faction hold their investiture during the day, while only extremely powerful beings conduct their ceremonies before dawn.
In terms of scale, Eugene’s Investiture ceremony was undoubtedly grander than Soren’s.
However, in terms of the divine light from the altar, Eugene’s power during his Investiture was only about half of what Soren’s had been, and due to the limitations of his race, the level of civilization among Half-Orcs is not high. Thus, Eugene opted for a wild mode of Investiture.
The so-called “wild mode” is just a colloquial term.
It refers to the fact that the deity’s racial civilization level is too low to even establish a temple.
So what to do?
In this case, they can only suffice with an altar.
An altar can often be made up of just a platform and a few large stones, making it easier for savage races to perform prayer and sacrificial ceremonies, but at the same time, it reduces the proportion of absorbed divine power.
Of course.
Using an altar also has its advantages.
For instance, after the initial prayer concluded, a group of Half-Orcs dragged several ground dragons to the altar.
– [Blood Sacrifice]!
This is the oldest sacrificial ceremony.
As the Shaman priest personally ended the lives of these ground dragons, blood flowed along the runes onto the altar, and the divine light condensing on the statue surged, with an additional faint blood glow emerging.
…………
A thousand miles away, in Modo City.
Soren, as if sensing something, appeared outside the door in an instant. He looked up at the sky and then cast an illusion spell.
– “High-level Teleportation Spell!”
Soren’s figure appeared above Leaffall City and quickly made its way to the Agate River.
He saw the tens of thousands of Half-Orcs gathered and realized that Eugene was holding the Investiture ceremony.
“He’s finally ascending!”
Soren shook his head with a sigh, revealing a flicker of golden divine light.
Compared to his Investiture ceremony, Eugene’s ceremony seemed a bit desolate, as no other gods attended to offer congratulations; the only presence in the sky was Soren, his former enemy, now engaging in temporary cooperation. Only Eugene could see Soren; the Half-Orcs were unable to.
Furthermore, neither the deities of the Human pantheon nor those of the Orc pantheon showed up.
The blood sacrifice was underway.
When Soren witnessed the blood sacrifice, he understood the path Eugene had chosen.
This was the ancient Shaman doctrine.
As a Half-Orc, Eugene did not choose the civilizational missionary methods of the divine pantheon because it was difficult for Half-Orcs to establish sufficient civilization like humans. This retro blood sacrifice allowed Eugene to rapidly increase his power, but it also posed a bottleneck for him due to the nature of the blood sacrifice.
Soren had always refused blood sacrifices, even excluding this type from all ceremonies in temples.
To him, such impure power provided no benefits, but Eugene already possessed divinity plundered from the Lesser Demon Lord; his choice of the blood sacrifice wasn’t surprising.
A flicker of golden light emerged.
Eugene, in such a short time, was not sufficient to establish a Divine Kingdom, but the Half-Orcs did have their ancestral land, the realm formed from ancestral sacrifices.
The Ascendant’s task now is to inherit it all.
The entire Investiture ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, of which the blood sacrifice occupied two-thirds of the time.
After Eugene completed the Investiture, he nodded slightly toward Soren, who was observing everything from the sky, and Soren, after returning the nod, turned and vanished.
Also formally becoming a deity, Eugene’s impact on the Material Plane was far less than that of Soren. He basically did not stir any gods nor did many gods pay him much attention; even the Investiture ceremony of the Vampire Son was somewhat grander than his.
This is the limitation!
Because Eugene is just a [Half-Orc], while both Soren and Reinhardt are inheritors of the [Three Death Deities].
…………
(P.S.: Guess who the next deity to ascend will be!) (To be continued ~^~)
