Chapter 162: Falling To One Knee.

He turned to the undead Lich. "Don’t tell me you want to eat him?"

The Lich nodded strongly, its bony head moving with far more enthusiasm than Damien had seen from it in a while.

Damien mused silently, his eyes narrowing as he looked between the Lich and the Divine Priest. The familiar presence he got from the Divine Priest was something he had felt while they were close to the statue of the fallen champion. The feeling wasn’t from the statue itself, but something around it. At the time, Damien had only been able to sense something strange in the area, and he hadn’t been able to figure out exactly what it was.

Now that the Divine Priest was standing in front of him, that same feeling had returned.

It wasn’t a coincidence.

Whatever had changed in the Divine Priest after it consumed the Storm Blizzard God’s flesh was somehow connected to the strange presence around the statue. Damien didn’t know how the two things were related, but the fact that he could recognize the same sensation was enough to make him interested.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to think about it.

Black miasma surged forward from behind him, spreading across the frozen ground like an endless tide. The thick darkness rolled over the ruins, swallowing the area around the two Eidolons until they were completely surrounded by his undead legion.

The silence that followed was broken by the faint movements of countless undead bodies.

They were almost a thousand undead Eidolons, their black fur blending into the darkness of Damien’s miasma, while above them flew over a hundred undead frost-bats. Their wings moved through the cold air as they circled overhead, completely surrounding the remaining Eidolons from every direction.

The Divine Priest’s expression fell.

A moment ago, it had been confident in how strong it had gotten. After consuming the Storm Blizzard God’s flesh, it had gained intelligence and strength, and that power had made it arrogant enough to believe it could challenge any of the humans without immediately being slaughtered.

That confidence disappeared the moment it saw Damien’s undead legion.

The creature stared at the countless undead around it, then at Damien standing calmly in the middle of them. Whatever pride remained within the Divine Priest was crushed under the simple realization that even after becoming stronger, it had barely managed to catch up to a fraction of what Damien now possesses.

The New Eidolon Priest immediately fell to his knees.

"I surrender, oh great Wretched King. Grant me the mercy of being your slave."

The Divine Priest spat in his direction.

"Coward, is this all your pride amounts to?"

That was what it said, but deep down, the Divine Priest was considering it too. It wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the situation in front of it. The difference in numbers alone was absurd, and the Divine Priest had already experienced Damien’s strength directly.

But there was another problem.

The undead Lich was staring at him like he was a rare delicacy.

Every time the Divine Priest glanced towards it, the walking skeleton seemed even more interested in him, and that made the Divine Priest increasingly uncomfortable. It didn’t know what that strange undead wanted to do with it, but after Damien had casually mentioned that it wanted to eat him, the answer was becoming increasingly obvious.

Damien’s amusement and curiosity were reignited as he watched the two Eidolons.

The New Eidolon Priest had surrendered without hesitation, while the Divine Priest was desperately trying to maintain whatever dignity it had left. It was almost funny considering how confidently the creature had declared itself a divine being only moments ago.

"Priest Blue, what about you?" Damien asked, his eyes settling on the Divine Priest. "Submit and become my slave, and I will grant you my mercy."

The Divine Priest was cautious.

"Are you speaking the truth?"

Damien remained silent for a moment.

He deliberately allowed the silence to linger, watching the Divine Priest’s expression while the undead surrounding them remained completely still. He wanted to increase the weight of the Divine Priest’s tension, and it worked splendidly well. The creature stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and hope, clearly trying to determine whether Damien was actually offering it a way out.

For a moment, it seemed like the Divine Priest was actually beginning to believe him.

Then Damien answered and shattered its growing expectations.

"No, you dumbass. Of course I won’t spare your life. You’ve been so much trouble, and lazy bum over here wants to eat you anyway."

The Divine Priest felt like cursing Damien’s ancestors, if only he knew them. But again, he really wished he didn’t. Damien had tortured him enough already.

Its body trembled with anger as it pointed at Damien.

"Then I shall fall with dignity. I will not let the Storm Blizzard God’s name be tarnished by the likes of you, Wretch."

The Divine Priest shot forward, ignoring the undead around him and actually attacked Damien directly. Its body became surrounded by pale blue light as it accelerated, its eyes filled with rage and whatever pride remained within it. It didn’t care about the overwhelming number of undead surrounding it anymore. If it was going to die, then it would at least die while fighting the creature it considered its greatest enemy.

But just as he was about to make contact, the undead priest’s ritual staff smashed into the back of his head, sending him flying in the opposite direction before launching himself after the Divine Priest.

The Divine Priest twisted its body in midair and barely managed to avoid another strike, its pale blue aura flaring as the two undead closed in on it. More undead moved around them, but Damien didn’t pay attention to the battle.

All this while, Damien didn’t even react. He was still lingering around what the Divine Priest had just said.

"Storm Blizzard... that’s the deity Andrea is scheming against, and the one that created the Ruins of Humanity."

Damien glanced around. The Divine Priest was preoccupied fighting the undead priest and his other undead, leaving the New Eidolon Priest standing nearby after already surrendering.

That made things convenient.

Damien turned towards it.

"You there, tell me. Who is the Storm and Blizzard?"