Chapter 1990: Chapter 1990. The Council of Twenty-four
They ended up waiting for three days. Most spent their time relaxing inside the building. John forbade them to go out, whatever the circumstances. Master could show up any second.
Some, who were bored, played board games brought by Spring Crown. It turned out that the markets nowadays sell a variety of board games. All these board games were produced by players who didn't venture into the wilderness to make their living. When these board games were introduced to the natives, they proved popular. The players who made these board games earned a fortune. They ended up forming a guild and gathered more non-adventuring members. Their production output increased, and they gained more fortune.
After further talks while playing, Spring Crown admitted he was among the players who built the board game business in this new world. He didn't join their guild, though. It was his secret venture even when he was still working under Master. He provided the early capital for these players when they built the business, and he gained a share of revenue each month.
As for other more serious members like Four Winds and Leavemealone, they spent their time training mana manipulation and honing their martial arts.
Jack went all over the building doing a bit of each. Training, sparring, relaxing, and playing board games. He also chatted with the natives inside the building. He spoke with Honuren the most since he was there almost all the time.
He learned from Honuren that this place had a training dungeon where members could enter. He was very interested in trying, but it was in a different building. When Jack expressed his interest in going there, John stopped him. Jack argued that he could disguise himself while going out. John argued back that even if Master did not recognize him, it was still unusual to find a player roaming around this faction. Master might get suspicious and decide to attack without warning. Additionally, they would get separated if Jack went to the other building. If Master did show up, they had to wait for Jack to return before they could activate the Council of Twenty-four. So, Jack reluctantly stayed put.
During the three days, Jack also occasionally put himself under mana awakening. He wanted to get used to the transformation. He didn't stay in the state for long. It would be a problem if he couldn't use it in case Master came and he had exhausted the state.
During his experiment, he learned he could greatly extend his mana awakening state if he combined it with the runic suit from the Runestone of the Devil King. The runic suit stabilized the mana burning inside him during mana awakening. As long as he didn't use too many big skills during the state, he could stay under mana awakening for more than an hour.
Their boredom ended the morning of the fourth day after they arrived at this place. They received a message from Chris via his disc about Master attacking the base of the Council of Hybris. Petunia and a considerable portion of the faction truly stayed. They and their base were wiped out without mercy. Fortunately, she sent out their young members like she told Jeanny, so they still have members who continued their worship.
Everyone expected Master to go to the other divine factions before coming to the Council of Elpo. This faction was number one among the divine factions, after all. However, they heard Master's voice not long after Chris reported Master had left the Council of Hybris.
Little did they know, Master only attacked the divine factions whose Gods had been killed. As for Serenity, Love, Greed, and Wrath, they didn't die. They were turned into statues. Their essences wouldn't return to their shrines even if their worshippers spent thousands of years worshipping them. They would only return once the energies keeping them restrained wore off. Those energies would wear off by themselves unless Master renewed them.
"Members of the Council of Elpo, your new God has arrived."
John sent messages for everyone to gather in the main hall. Though they were in the same building, it was a large building. Everyone was pretty much spread out all over.
Jack happened to be inside the main hall with John and Grace. He took out his Staff of Illios and used its Eye of Surveillance ability to see what was happening outside.
The projection showed Master floating above Sky Haven. Honuren and the others came out to meet him once he announced his arrival. John had predicted this situation. He had told Honuren to advise his members to take their time coming out. Master's ascent to Godhood amplified his narcissistic tendency. He loved showing off. He would let the audience get into place first before taking action.
Still, John couldn't help but get nervous. He messaged everyone madly to hurry up.
"His equipment is different," Grace said.
"Right. It looks more... imposing but fiendish at the same time," Jack remarked.
"Those are set equipment he is wearing, the Devil King's Infernal Armor," Peniel informed. "It's a top-rate legendary-grade set equipment only attainable in the underworld. I daresay that set armor is equal if not slightly more powerful than your God of Courage's Divine Armor."
"So, he truly went to the underworld," Grace said.
"Why the hell does he need legendary equipment? F*ck! He is already unbeatable as he is," Jack cursed.
"He probably has a hunch that we are plotting against him. He is probably making sure that whatever chance we have is reduced to as low as possible," Grace offered her opinion.
Grace was not off the mark. While Master was cooling off his temper inside Thereath Palace two days ago, he also contemplated many things. What filled his mind the most was the fact that Jack was still hiding. If it was only that, he wouldn't care. What brought Jack to his mind was Jack's words before Jack left.
"I will come for you."
If it was anyone, he would just scoff at those words. However, he heard confidence in Jack's voice and eyes when Jack said those words. He couldn't think of anything that could back that confidence. He knew everything about this world. There was nothing anyone could use or do to face him. Other than someone becoming another God, he is undefeatable. Yet, the thought of Jack's unknown skills came back to him. As irritating as it was to admit, there were things in this world hidden from his knowledge. Thus, unbelievable as it was, he must assume that Jack had a plan to face him.
This thought was the reason he went away for three days instead of finishing the rest of the divine factions. Aside from gathering the Devil King's Infernal Armor in the underworld, he also max-leveled his Devil Bloodline. That bloodline consumed the essence of demonic monsters. There was no shortage of those monsters in the underworld.
Master looked at the scene below with a condescending expression. He watched the faction members trickle out one group at a time. After a while, he was losing patience. This so-called number one faction had turned out to be rather undisciplined. How could they take such a long time to gather? If an enemy attacked, most would still be inside the buildings when the fighting started.
Master decided not to wait any longer. He asked Honuren, "Do you know my purpose for coming here?"
"... I have heard what happened to the Council of Virtus, Council of Charites, and the Cult of Phobos," Honuren answered.
"You should know. The Council of Hybris is also no more," Master uttered.
"So, you want to eliminate all the divine factions?" Honuren asked.
"Destroying is not my goal. I am simply a jealous God. No one may worship any God but me. If you are willing to change your allegiance, I don't mind letting your faction live. Of course, letting you live means only the members of your faction. This base has to go. This base is a testament to another God. It must be destroyed."
Honuren was quiet. He made a show like he was contemplating the offer.
After a few seconds, Master said, "Aside from being a jealous God, I'm also an impatient one. You have ten seconds to give me your answer. If I don't get one by the end of these ten
seconds, I'll assume you reject my benevolent offer."
The silence returned. Everyone was counting the time in their minds. Honuren was anxious. Master didn't give him much chance to stall for time.
When the ten-second limit was about to end, Master lifted his hand. As he did, a chant was heard. This chant seemed to come from everywhere. No one could make sure of its source. Even Master was baffled. He looked around, trying to sense if anything was out of the ordinary. His divine sense informed him that everything was out of the ordinary. The chant came from all around, and it sounded closer by the second.
"What is this trickery?!" Master exclaimed. He looked at Honuren below, who seemed just as bewildered by the occurrence.
Despite their confused expressions, Master believed they were involved in whatever this was. He didn't want to take a chance. He aimed his hand at the group of natives below and discharged his divine power.
To his consternation, his divine energy was blocked. It couldn't reach the targets below. While
he was wondering what could have blocked the power of a god, twenty-four golden statues
materialized around him, circling him.
"Wha-What...?"
These golden statues all had different appearances. One showed a person in heavy armor
carrying a tower shield. Another was seen carrying a spear, and so on. After making one circle to look at these twenty-four statues, he realized what they were. They were the representation of the twenty-four elite classes.