Chapter 110: Guardian of Agriculture! [Seeking Recommendation Votes]
August 31, 2016
Author: Zhuseng Futu
The expression of the Agricultural Goddess clearly showed a hint of displeasure.
She had sacrificed a lot for her beliefs, and Soren’s words were evidently a slight negation of all this. If it had been another god with a more volatile temperament, they would have probably turned hostile by now. However, she was, after all, the unique Agricultural Goddess, and at this moment, she merely quietly watched Soren, waiting for him to say what was next.
The Agricultural Goddess thought Soren would speak at length about many things.
But Soren did not do so. He simply smiled slightly and sat on the lounge chair before the Agricultural Goddess, calmly saying, “You must have been to other places, right?”
Hearing this, the Agricultural Goddess slightly furrowed her brows.
Soren looked at the beautiful scenery around, smiling as he said, “This place is really nice. Much more beautiful than my own realm.”
“I have traveled through many places along the way. Some cities have been completely destroyed, countless people have been rendered homeless, many are starving, and beyond the Agate River, you can see piles of bones everywhere, both human and of other creatures.”
“The tranquility and beauty here are merely because the landowners and nobles have kept the refugees at bay.”
“They are kept outside the door, blocked on the other side of the river.”
Soren sighed softly and continued, “I am not negating your ideas. It’s just that what you want to create cannot be achieved with the current civilization foundation of the Material Plane.”
“If it were just a small area, perhaps your ideas could be realized here.”
“But this is just the Southern Duchy, a place of little significance on the entire continent, and an exceedingly minor piece of land in the Material Plane.”
The area of the Southern Duchy is even smaller than the Southern Coast.
This land is about one-thirtieth of the continent’s area and is insignificant within the whole Material Plane; Arendelle is more than three times larger than this place. The influence of the Agricultural Goddess has always been limited to this piece of land. As soon as she leaves this territory, her influence dramatically decreases.
“What are you trying to express?” The Agricultural Goddess spoke with a hint of irritation.
Soren looked up to meet her gaze, seriously stating, “You have the most believers in the Material Plane and have inherited the divine profession of Mother Earth. But have you ever pondered why you have not been able to upgrade to Strong Divine Power until now?”
Indeed.
The Agricultural Goddess has always had Medium Divine Power.
Though she possesses the most believers in the Material Plane, her divine power has still not risen.
If Soren had only a few hundred thousand believers, then the Agricultural Goddess would have at least several million believers; almost all races related to farming have her followers. Yet, such a vast number of believers still cannot elevate her to Strong Divine Power. The reason is quite simple: although the Agricultural Goddess has many followers, their quality is severely lacking.
The majority of her believers are farmers, a very large base, but this base also represents that their faith is not sincere enough.
Each farmer prays to the Agricultural Goddess before sowing and harvesting, but it ends there; the sheer number of general believers is just too high. Ten generic believers cannot possibly compare to one firmer believer. The Agricultural Goddess’s divine profession and the practices of her church do not allow her to cultivate enough zealots, so even with a large base, the number of her zealots is probably less than one-tenth of Soren’s. This is also why the Agricultural Goddess has been unable to advance, as outside the territory of the City of Harvest, her church can hardly hold sway within the Southern Duchy.
Hearing Soren’s words, the Agricultural Goddess fell into deep thought.
Soren continued, “I have traveled through many places and can see that while there are temples dedicated to you everywhere, these landowners and nobles only know to ask for your blessings. They do not truly worship you out of reverence, but because you can bring them bountiful harvests.”
“I heard that several recent revelations from the church have been rejected by the nobles?”
The Agricultural Goddess had issued a revelation — to accept the incoming refugees — but this was openly disregarded and not executed.
The expression of the Agricultural Goddess became somewhat difficult to maintain, and in a cold voice, she said, “What exactly are you here for? Is it just to mock me?”
Soren shook his head.
He stood up and walked over to the Agricultural Goddess, then extended his palm, softly saying, “On the contrary, I am here to seek cooperation and to help you advance to Strong Divine Power.”
Help herself?
The Agricultural Goddess looked at Soren with curiosity. His divine profession was vastly different from hers, and she was unclear how Soren could assist her.
“Civilization.”
Soren seemed to have seen her doubts and slowly continued, “Only a sufficiently strong civilization can change everything. Without enough civilization as a foundation, ignorance and barbarism will forever render your ideals unattainable.”
“And I can help you achieve that.”
The Agricultural Goddess chuckled at this, a hint of mockery in her expression, “Civilization? The civilization of the Arcane Empire?”
“No.” Soren shook his head, “A more rational one. What I want to create is a more harmonious civilization, one where humans coexist peacefully with nature. Though I have not achieved it yet, I can see the degree I can reach in the future.”
The Agricultural Goddess fell into deep thought.
After a long while, she raised her head and softly asked, “What do you want to gain? What are you willing to offer?”
Soren looked into her eyes seriously, “I need you to form a true alliance with me. What I offer is an oath.”
An oath?
The Agricultural Goddess raised her head with interest, asking, “What kind of oath?”
Soren smiled, saying earnestly, “In the name of the True God, I swear to protect agriculture!”
Surprised.
The Agricultural Goddess looked up in astonishment, suddenly chuckling with interest, “Are you planning to swear to fight for me?”
Soren shook his head.
He spoke earnestly, “I swear to protect agriculture. To maintain agricultural civilization. Any existence that threatens agricultural civilization will be my enemy. I will help you promote agriculture, protect agriculture, and develop agriculture.”
“I will be your staunchest ally, fighting for you whenever agriculture is threatened!”
The Agricultural Goddess fell silent.
After a long while, she looked at Soren with hesitant eyes and murmured, “Are you serious?”
It was not that she doubted everything Soren said, but that she found it hard to believe. After all, a Lawful Evil Faction god wielding powers of d*ath and slaughter genuinely recognized agriculture? Soren could not deceive her with lies, yet it was exactly because it was the truth that left her even more shocked.
“Agriculture is the foundation of everything.”
Soren nodded slowly, extending his hand towards the Agricultural Goddess again, calmly stating, “I am serious.”
A hint of a smile appeared.
The Agricultural Goddess quietly regarded Soren before a smile surfaced on her beautiful face. She gently grasped Soren’s hand and said slowly, “Alright. I accept your proposal.”
Until now.
The Agricultural pantheon had not truly had a war deity. Neither the Goddess of Spring and Peace, nor the Goddess of Rivers, nor the Goddess of New Shoots, none among the deities under the Agricultural Goddess’s command were suited for battle. Agricultural civilization is inherently fragile, which exactly necessitates powerful forces for protection. War can destroy agriculture, plunder can destroy agriculture, tyrannies can destroy agriculture; almost every kind of disaster can deeply wound agriculture. This is also why the Agricultural Goddess could only remain in a corner; she did not want to but lacked the ability to expand. The prosperity of agriculture is largely driven by societal order, and when turmoil arrives, agriculture will inevitably weaken.
Soren’s oath signifies that he will fight to protect agricultural civilization!
From now on, all races related to nomadic hunting will harbor hostile feelings towards him, while tyranny, chaos, unrest, and war are the enemies he must contend with, as these will also destroy agriculture.
The oath Soren established almost means he will face all of the Agricultural Goddess’s enemies.
Golden radiance appeared.
The moment Soren and the Agricultural Goddess reached this covenant, golden divine light had already spread out, and almost all gods learned that they had signed an alliance oath. Though neither of the deities revealed the content of the oath, this was at least a pledge sensed by all gods, indicating that only an oath established in the name of a True God could create such a situation.
At the same time.
A short pledge echoed in the ears of other deities.
— “In the true name of Soren, I swear to protect agriculture!”
A very simple sentence.
But the chain reaction it triggered was enormous. Almost instantaneously, in every temple that worships and serves Soren throughout the Material Plane, a wheat ear insignia suddenly appeared. And in all temples related to the Agricultural Goddess, the sign representing Soren also emerged amongst them.
An offensive and defensive alliance!
This is the highest-level oath between deities, signifying that the two deities have become the most steadfast allies.
In the demiplane.
A divine radiance appeared, and soon a woman with waterfall-like beautiful hair appeared before them. She first slightly bowed to the Agricultural Goddess, then smiled and saluted Soren, saying, “Your Excellency, Lord of Shadows.”
— [Goddess of Spring and Peace] – Edis!
A weak-level deity and also a subordinate deity of the Agricultural Goddess, her most hostile deity is the God of the Hunt – Mara. Perhaps because Mara died at Soren’s hands, she looked at Soren very amiably.
Then, the radiance of two other deities appeared.
After Soren and the Agricultural Goddess formed their oath, her three subordinate deities arrived at the first moment.
The Goddesses of Rivers and New Shoots appeared in the demiplane, nodding slightly at Soren, then turning their puzzled expressions towards the Agricultural Goddess.
Everything was completely unexpected!
No one had anticipated that Soren and the Agricultural Goddess would suddenly establish such a high-level offensive and defensive alliance contract!
……………(To be continued ~^~)
