Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 687: Shadow underneath his feet

One could see it from the look on their faces that these Purist Vampires truly thought that they were doing everything for the betterment of humanity and the world as a whole.

“That’s not… that’s not how you do this,” Fudge said to them, his face overcome by a shadow. He was helpless as he watched the civilians get the blood drained out of their bodies, falling one by one.

“It’s the only way!” the Purist Vampire declared. “Nothing matters except the revival of Gaia! The ends justify the means!”

“No… no…,” Fudge muttered, shaking his head.

“What do you mean no? You’re the one who created this Iron Maiden religion, right? I’ve seen how you guys operate. You control your believers, you influence them, all for the purpose of, as you say, reviving this Iron Maiden that you all believe in! What makes it different from us?”

Fudge stayed silent, unable to refute the Purist Vampire’s words.

When he started the Iron Maiden religion, all he wanted to do was to help his Master spread his ideology to the world, make them believe the same belief that made the Nation of Reborn prosper into the nation that it was now.

And throughout this entire time, Fudge used moves that would be considered less than ethical in a third person perspective. One might even call him evil, for he had brainwashed, manipulated, and even blackmailed people into helping him in his mission.

In other words, Fudge also believed in the nation of ’the ends justify the means’. Hestu and Viperion were prime examples of this, as he had to employ deceitful methods to make them believe in the so-called Great Slime God.

Was he just the same as these Vampires? Was there no difference between them?

“Oh Great Slime! Oh Iron Maiden! Please save us again!”

A Purist Vampire had its fangs sunken into Hestu’s neck, slowly draining the life out of his eyes. Yet even with his strength fading, Hestu still had that look of indignation and hope in his face as he looked at Fudge, at his Great Slime God. He believed.

The Purist Vampires turned to Hestu, feeling an intense bout of faith coming from him. They were shocked. For a brief moment, his devotion was even greater than that of their devotion to Gaia!

They couldn’t understand it as they thought that the Iron Maiden they praised was nothing more than a figment of imagination that the slime used to manipulate his believers.

This wasn’t possible…unless…

“If this is our end, then I am honored to be by your side, Oh Great Slime! I thank you for opening my eyes to the Iron Maiden!”

Viperion’s face was pale as chalk, with his lips devoid of any color as his blood dangerously ran low. He knew that with the Purist Vampires around them, they stood no chance of escaping. So, in his last moments, he could only display his gratefulness at the salvation he was given.

Both of them were saved from a miserable life.

If Fudge hadn’t saved Hestu, he would have still been loyal to the Flarecorp company and suffered the same fate as they had.

The same went for Viperion. If it weren’t for Fudge, he would have still been stuck following the words of Uncle Jack and followed in his execution.

Now, they were dignified believers of the Iron Maiden, given a new purpose in life and given a chance to change the lives of the others just as Fudge did theirs.

“Me too! If this is the end, then I am content knowing that I would become one with the Iron Maiden!”

“I stand with everyone! Praise be to the Iron Maiden! To the Great Slime!”

The rest of the civilians mustered up the last of their strengths and proclaimed their faith.

Suddenly, the Purist Vampires felt a change in the air. The belief of these humans was manifesting as a physical pressure that overwhelmed the Vampires.

“What’s happening?!”

The Vampires felt the ends on their hairs stand up.

“Everyone…,” Fudge muttered. His entire body felt hot hearing their words.

It was at this moment that he felt a pulse inside his body. It was building up in intensity, like an engine about to roar.

If Michael could see this, he would see the GodForge in Fudge’s body start to glow brighter and brighter. The Aubility Power in his core was starting to form, creating small threads that were spooling out of his body and permeating through every crevice of his amorphous form.

The Purist Vampire slammed his foot on the ground. “This can’t be possible! Your God is a mere fraud in front of our Great Gaia!” he denounced. “How are they believing your lies?! You rather believe a slime than us Vampires?!”

Fudge raised his head up. “My Master told me that we should strive to help everyone achieve comfort in their lives. He does that through the Nation of Reborn, helping people, demi-human, and beastfolks alike. He’s the sun in the skies that gives everyone light.

But I can’t do that. That’s not me. I lie, I manipulate, and I influence. I do the things that he cannot do, that he should not do.

I’m the shadow underneath his feet that makes his light grow even brighter!”

The pulsating power in Fudge’s body reached a crescendo, bursting out of his body and manifesting as a violet aura that spread around him.

The Vampires’ shadows that wrapped around his body got shredded into thousands of pieces, freeing him from their constraint.

“Kurgh! What?!”

They looked at Fudge as if they’d just seen a ghost. After all, the only way that their shadow restraints could have been destroyed was if Fudge used an Aubility Power to counteract it.

But that was supposed to be impossible. He was just a slime! He wasn’t a human Maugnetic. He wasn’t even a Beastfolk with a Dao Heart! He was a monster with just about enough intelligence to speak.

He wasn’t supposed to have this power!

“Hehehehe…,” Fudge chuckled. He felt a new power coursing through his veins. “So this is what Master feels.”

“I don’t know how you were able to do that, but it must have been nothing but a fluke,” said the Purist Vampire trying to convince himself. “You do not possess that power. You do not have a Dao Heart, and you do not have that Diva that those humans possess.”

There was a point to his words. After all, even if Fudge was considered a Maugnetic due to the GodForge pieces in his heart, there was no Diva above his head to prove that.

“Hehehehe… oh, you wanna see it?” Fudge asked.

It was at that moment that a huge gust of wind blew from his body, making the Vampires flinch for a brief moment.

And when they opened their eyes, Fudge disappeared from their sights.

They were shocked. A Slime entered stealth while they were paying full attention to him?!

Finally, one of the Purist Vampires saw a dark figure on the corner of his eyes.

He quickly turned around, seeing Fudge’s figure roll away from him before blending into the darkness.

“He’s there!” the Vampire said, drawing everyone’s attention on the dark alleyway.

But unbeknownst to the Vampire, the shape of his shadow morphed into a bulbous figure, with sharp conical ears, white eyes and a full mouth that turned up into a smile.

This was a Diva!