Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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"I see. That's very clever of you." Cedric replied after hearing the method Deliora used to infiltrate Azure Terra.

"Thanks, I try," Deliora replied, seemingly proud of himself.

"And why build a cult of all things? If you ask me, you could used a different approach if you wanted to destroy us from within."

Deliora's face turned weird upon hearing this question.

"The establishment of the cult wasn't my idea. It's the idiot you just killed who did it." He shook his head in helplessness. "I simply wanted to poison your waters to make it easier for us to finally conquer your race and claim this world. I didn't want him worshipping me and I certainly didn't promise him or them, anything.

They were the ones who gave up themselves in exchange for my favors, who am I to say no to that?"

"Understandable," Cedric replied with a bland expression. "There are a lot of us who have been driven to a corner, one promise of salvation - even though false, is enough to start an upheaval. I'm not surprised at all."

"Though, I am curious about something you just said..."

"What is it?" Deliora's ghost sat down and asked him curiously.

"You said 'finally conquering your race and claiming this world'. Why is your race so fixated on this tiny planet? As far as I know, we don't have anything of value to you. Your race is way too advanced. We're primitives compared to you. I'm sure you've encountered other worlds, realms, or dimensions, that are far more developed and have richer resources than ours, so why come here?

Why us? Why this world?"

"Ah, that..." Deliora trailed off. He wore a smile on his face and said: "It's because your world has an Innate Spirituality."

Cedric's eyes flashed with understanding.

"Acala...you want her."

"Yep! Gosh, I like you more than my previous host. That one's an idiot, you aren't." Deliora giggled, "But yeah, we're after her."

"See, worlds that have an inherent spirituality are extremely rare." He started, "Like one in a billion rare. You're correct, we've been through numerous worlds, realms, dimensions...even straight-up galaxies. But this is the first time in a very long while that we've sensed a world that has Innate Spirituality."

"You people have no idea how to use it because, like you've said, you're primitives. When we arrived here, your kind was so busy destroying yourselves and the world that we actually debated if we even needed to interfere. Honestly, we could've just barricaded your solar system to hide it from other competitors out there and just wait until you people are done destroying yourselves.

By then, all we need to do is to get in, claim the world, revive it, and nurture it until it's mature enough to return our investments."

"With how advanced our civilization is, it wouldn't take us long to get this world up to the standard. It also wouldn't take long before we start benefitting from it and these said benefits? It would span across our entire race, allowing us to advance by leaps and bounds."

"That's why there's no way we're leaving it alone." Deliora smiled and rested his chin on his palms.

"Sadly, waiting out the natural decline and extinction of your race isn't a viable plan. The very same Innate Spirituality of your world would never let you guys go extinct...technically. I'll admit, that we are anxious, especially whenever we think of how many ways we could benefit from your world's innate spirituality.

We are unable to keep our hands to ourselves, that's why we decided to go on the offense."

"Unfortunately, we are a tad bit too late." Deliora sighed in sadness. "The consciousness of your world was already awake and created countermeasures to slow down our task. I really don't understand why she's so fixated on you people but given that you're the locals of this world, I suppose it's understandable."

He shrugged as he got to this point.

"Oh well...' delaying'...that's all she could do really. I'm not trying to brag here but you people are just too far behind in terms of development. Your progress is fast, we won't take that away from you, but that's only because Acala sides with you. Even then, she's been weakened immensely so this resistance isn't gonna last for long."

"If I were you, I'd seek greener pastures." Deliora kindly implored, "I mean, the world out of this one was far too large. Other races out there are just as strong, if not stronger than our race. If they were the ones who found your world, this would've never happened. You all would've ceased to exist at the very moment they saw you."

"So really, don't bind yourself into your flesh and blood. Your innate potential isn't bad, but it's not the best. We have tons of ways to make improvements to you. Hell, if you want, we could even let you see just how big the real world truly is!"

"You're one of the best ones this world has to offer, that much is obvious. But none of them truly understand the full extent of your talent and destiny. We, on the other hand? We know. A world of endless glory, seas of stars, planets to conquer, sights to see, treasures to gain...out there, it's endless! And it's all yours to claim."

Deliora hovered before Cedric with a sincere smile on his face before extending a hand and saying:

"...all you have to do, is to take my hand. I promise, you won't regret it."

Deliora's words were certainly heart-stirring. It caused Cedric to see scenes of himself doing all the things he promised; going out of this world to see the real sea of stars, fighting against stronger creatures and defeating them to establish himself, claiming literal worlds worth of treasures for himself, drowning himself in carnal pleasures, endless feasts and wine...

It was tempting, too tempting that Cedric actually raised his hand and clasped Deliora's hand.

Deliora's sincere smile turned wretched, his fangs appeared and mad glee appeared on his face.

"Wonderful! Ahahaha! How very wonderful! You've certainly made the right choice, Young Man!" He cackled madly, "Now, allow me to—...AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"

He couldn't even finish whatever he wanted to say before flames ignited from Cedric's hand and immediately swallowed him whole. Deliora thrashed in pain and tried to pry his hand away from Cedric's grasp, but the disguised young man held him tightly.

"W-what...is the meaning...of this!! Aarrggghhh!!!" Deliora snarled in between due to the scalding heat scorching him.

"I hope it's not too late for me to tell you that lying doesn't work on me." Cedric calmly said while maintaining a tight grip on Deliora's hand. "It never works and will never work, period."

"Your statement about how you infiltrated this continent, your reason for doing so, the establishment of your cult, Acala and her value, including how huge the universe truly was...those are true." Cedric continued, "As for how advanced your race's civilization was, the riches, glory, rebirth, treasures...even your promise that I won't regret it if I extended my hand to you...all of those are lies."

"Lies that you spouted to tempt me into joining you and making me your next chess piece. You are wary of me, the Sun Sage. You want to nip me in the bud before I turn into your race's mortal enemy. That is a very smart plan...a valid one at that. Sadly, you've severely underestimated me."

"Y-you...? Become a mortal enemy of our...race? H-ha! Don't make me...laugh! Y-you're un...qualified!" Deliora snarled despite the pain.

"Am I?" Cedric smiled in disdain, "When you came to this world and forced your Demon King to swallow our sun, it's because the sun's harmful to you. Back then that was an 'ordinary sun', Superhumans didn't exist back then, yet even that ordinary sun was already enough to threaten your kind."

"I am this generation's Sage. More importantly, the Sun Sage. If I were to...say, create a new Sun for this world, one that contains all my understanding about it. Do you honestly think that your Demon King could swallow it once more?"

"Grrr...kghhh!!" Deliora couldn't retort.

Cedric got him on this part. Actually, Cedric had him right from the very beginning. Deliora never stood a chance.

"D-don't be so...confident, Sun Sage!" Delioran growled angrily at him despite his pain, "D-Do you honestly think that we can't kill you? Don't make me...laugh! Y-you're a hundred years...too early to be...our match."

"Is that so?" Cedric asked in an amused tone. "Well, isn't it just nice that I could live longer than that? By then, I should be old enough to face you right? Alas, you wouldn't be there to see it, how lamentable."

"H-ha! Y-you think...this paltry flames would kill me...? N-naive! This is just a piece of my soul—...!"

"Right, you are," Cedric replied with a wide smile on his face. "This is indeed just a piece of your soul. But you can't deny that it's a part of you, no? Also, how sure are you that the thing you're calling 'paltry flames' is just that?"

"...!" Deliora looked downright horrified at the implications.

"Oops, I might've said too much. That's no good. Anyway, Acala would for sure enjoy eating you so...goodbye. It's been nice knowing you."