Chapter 166: Divine Bestowal
May 5, 2015
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
On the Southern Coast, Snake Island.
The Dragon Head Battleship docked near Soren’s former stronghold. From a distance, the remnants of fire can be seen on Snake Island; the entire encampment has turned to ashes. Close to the pier, several masts stood erect, seemingly hanging something that fluttered in the howling sea breeze. Large flocks of seabirds gathered near the pier, immediately startled to scatter in all directions as the warship approached, revealing the corpses hanging from the masts.
All of them were Soren’s subordinates.
Having fallen, these individuals became captives, then hanged by the Pirate King Asrold.
This was not only a show of power but also a provocation aimed at Soren.
“Your Grace Throat Cutter!”
Upon seeing the bodies of his subordinates hanging from the masts, Scarface’s expression turned frantic. His face twisted in rage, and his bloodshot eyes reflected a murderous intent.
Soren patted his shoulder to calm him, then said in a low voice, “Send a team to bring down the bodies for burial. They will pay the price.”
“!”
“Set course for Taro Port.”
Just when Soren prepared to lead the fleet to Taro Port, a strange, eerie m*an suddenly came from the depths of the nearby sea.
Soren seemed to sense something!
It was as if something was calling out to him; he immediately waved his hand to signal the others to stop, then with a splash, jumped into the sea.
Beneath the azure water lay many things.
Due to a great battle, several shipwrecks could be seen on the seabed. However, the thing calling out to Soren was deep in the depths, and it felt somewhat familiar.
“It’s it!”
Soren finally saw the creature calling to him: the mutated orca he had tamed and commanded. Its body showed signs of decay; there were numerous wounds across its abdomen. The rotting flesh had attracted many marine creatures, and a long spear was even lodged near its chest.
With such injuries, it should have been dead long ago!
Soren noticed a large part of its side had been stripped of flesh, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to mutation or something else; it still retained remarkable regenerative abilities. Despite the considerable rot, it still displayed faint signs of life. Many vessels had sunk nearby, including a medium-sized warship, indicating that Pirate King Asrold had paid dearly in his attempts to deal with it. Killing such a marine behemoth in the ocean wasn’t an easy task.
As Soren drew closer, the call weakened.
The orca’s body was mostly submerged in sand, covered in various marine parasites, some of which had even burrowed into its flesh.
The injuries were too severe!
Unless a high-level priest performed a restoration spell, saving it was nearly impossible.
Soren quickly approached the orca. He drew his curved blade to cut through the arrows, then gritting his teeth, he pulled out the spear near its chest and immediately started pouring several bottles of healing potions into its mouth. The effects of the healing potions were far too weak; as a mutated marine creature, the orca had astonishing vitality, making the amount of recovery required to treat it staggering.
“d*mn it!”
As Soren pulled out the fatal spear, torrents of fresh bl**d gushed forth, and the orca’s breath grew weaker.
Without a high-level priest, such injuries were beyond anyone’s ability to heal!
It had already held on for a long time, and under these circumstances, healing it was impossible. Even with its gargantuan size, Soren couldn’t carry it back to Taro Port. Any slight movement could cost its life.
“d*mn you, Asrold!”
A fierce killing intent flickered in Soren’s eyes as he slowly withdrew his curved blade, expressionless, and stepped in front of the mutated orca. The underwater world was dark; Icebane faintly glimmered due to the cold temperature. Soren crouched and gently stroked its head, then quietly said, “Rest in peace!…”
Such injuries.
For it to endure would be torture; giving it relief now was better.
Clang!
Soren raised his curved blade but didn’t bring it down, instead hovering ten centimeters above.
Before him, a line of information appeared.
“Divine activation!…”
“Target creature’s attitude towards you is fervent (Loyal), triggering the conditions for divine bestowal, automatically mastering a new ability: [Divine Bestowal]!…”
“Weakened divinity activated!…”
“Partial divinization data attributes transforming!…. Target has no divine rank!…. Divinity data transformation failed!….”
…
A peculiar data prompt appeared.
Soren instantly halted his blade and opened the data page to inspect this strange information that had suddenly appeared.
“Divine Bestowal [Talented Ability]: You can bestow a portion of your divinity to a target, greatly enhancing the target’s power and transforming it into a divine being. Upon completion of divine bestowal, the target will establish a mental connection with you, with effects at least equivalent to a suggestion, allowing you to influence or even control the target’s will. In the case of divine bestowal, you can use the target as a temporary vessel, as your divine incarnation in the mortal realm [Requires divine form].”
[Note: As you are not in divine form, you can only bestow divinity to fervently devoted targets!]
…
Divine?!
A hint of shock crossed Soren’s expression; then he seemed to recall something and showed a contemplative look.
“Elect? Saint?”
Soren glanced at the nearly lifeless mutated orca, his expression wavering slightly. However, he placed his hand on its forehead without hesitation. Divine power was an extraordinary force; deities could bestow a portion of their divinity and divine power to their believers. Those who wielded divine powers were the legendary elect and saints. This bestowal didn’t have to occur among believers, as Gloria’s mother suddenly advancing to legendary witch status was due to receiving the Succubus Queen’s divine bestowal.
This was an imposing ability!
Once one accepted power from a deity, it was akin to being marked.
This could be seen with the Demon Son of Fear, as they did not actively obtain divine bestowal, yet the influence of the Demon God of Fear’s will over them was immense. If one actively received divine power, the likely outcome would be becoming a maniacal follower of the deity!
—”Divine Bestowal!”
A strange glow appeared in Soren’s eyes, and the surrounding space showed traces of distortion as if he was cloaked in the power of divinity, resembling a deity overlooking the mortal realm. As his palm pressed against the mutated orca, a wisp of divine power seeped into its body and soul, followed by a faint mental connection forming. It felt like a mental transmission, allowing him to switch his consciousness to the mutated orca at any moment.
If he wished, he could even temporarily use its sight!
—”The saint is the eye of the deity!”
As Soren infused 1 point of divinity into the mutated orca, a remarkable change began. Its weak heartbeat gradually grew strong, and its withered body began to glow with astonishing vitality. Some of its injuries began to regenerate; the mutated orca, previously on the brink of d*ath, struggled to swim as if rekindled, then opened its mouth to swallow a portion of nearby marine life attracted by its flesh.
1 point of divinity.
The Swamp King probably only had one or two points of divinity.
After battling so many times, Soren had only accumulated 12 points of divinity. After bestowing 1 point to the mutated orca, his divinity reduced to 11 points. However, this single point had a tremendous effect, awakening the orca’s appetite as it frantically consumed fish in the nearby waters, simultaneously expressing a kind of newfound joy through the mental connection created by divine bestowal!
As a non-intelligent creature, the mutated orca had minimal resistance upon receiving divinity.
Soren could even control its consciousness!
The mutated orca devoured madly; its enormous body swirled through the sea like a shadow, opening its huge maw to swallow numerous fish.
Divine bestowal seemed to inject a factor of qualitative change into the quantitative accumulation.
Soren could sense that this mutated orca was gradually evolving toward becoming a marine giant; as a divine being, it skipped past the mutation threshold and now merely needed to accumulate numbers.
This feeding spree would require several days!
Soren could feel its desperate hunger; 1 point of divinity had fundamentally changed it. Before further evolving into a marine giant, this hunger would engulf it.
A figure emerged from the depths.
Soren lightly leaped onto the deck of the Dragon Head Battleship. He cast a glance at the massive shadow beneath the sea and said sternly, “Set sail! Head for Taro Port!”
1 point of divinity had completely altered the fate of that mutated orca.
At the same time, it allowed Soren to touch upon a more mysterious domain, one that belonged to deities. Although possessing weakened divinity, he could not bestow divine power like a deity, he could, akin to high-level demons from the Bottomless Abyss or Hell of Bartok, bestow a portion of his divinity to a target and influence or even control its will.
…
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(PS: The next chapter will conclude this volume.) (To be continued ~^~)
