Logout Error: My NPCs Now Worship Me

While the city of Oakhaven buzzed with the seeds of a terrifying new legend, Kaelus sat upon his throne, deep in the silent heart of his domain. The physical world outside—the wind, the sun, the terrified whispers of mortals—was a distant echo. His attention was turned inward, focused entirely on the new, impossible interface glowing in his vision.

[Divine Power System]

[Current DP: 2]

[Available Actions:]

[Create Follower (Lesser)] - Cost: 10 DP

[Create Item (Mundane)] - Cost: 1 DP per kg

[Domain Awareness (Minor)] - Cost: 1 DP per hour

[???] - Locked

[???] - Locked

It was a pitifully small amount of power, but the implications were earth-shattering. This was a system of creation, a developer tool. The faith of mortals was a literal currency he could use to shape reality. A slow, cold ambition, separate from his desire to find a way home, began to crystallize in Ravi's mind. If he was trapped here, he wouldn't just survive. He would rule.

To gain more power, I need more followers, he mused, the logic cold and simple. To gain followers, I need to project power. To project power effectively, I need information.

His train of thought was interrupted by a subtle ripple in the shadows near the base of his throne. A figure coalesced from the darkness, kneeling on the polished obsidian floor. It was a woman, though her form was difficult to discern, wrapped head to toe in tight, dark leather that absorbed the light. A featureless white mask covered her face, marked only with the crimson, spider-like insignia of Kaelus's guild.

She was one of the Shadow Assassins, the elite intelligence-gathering unit of the Great Tomb of Nexus, under the direct command of Rose, the Head Maid.

"Report," Kaelus's voice commanded, not a hint of surprise in his tone. To his servants, his omniscience was a given.

The assassin bowed her head so low her masked face nearly touched the floor. Her voice was a trained, emotionless whisper, devoid of personality. "Lord Kaelus. As commanded by the Head Maid Rose, initial reconnaissance of the local human settlement has been completed."

"Proceed."

"The settlement is a trade city named 'Oakhaven'. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Elysia, a mid-sized human monarchy. The city is governed by a Baron loyal to the Elysian crown. Its primary military strength consists of a local garrison of two hundred soldiers and a chapter of the Adventurer's Guild." The assassin delivered the information in concise, perfect bursts.

"Their gods?" Kaelus asked, the question sharp.

"The dominant religion is the 'Church of the Sacred Light', which worships a solar deity known as 'Luminara'. Their doctrine preaches the sanctity of life and the purging of all 'unholy' creatures, such as the undead and other beings they deem 'of the darkness'."

Ravi felt a grim irony. By their definition, he and every single inhabitant of the Great Tomb of Nexus were the ultimate heretics, beings to be purged without question. War with this church wasn't a possibility; it was an inevitability.

"Continue," he rumbled.

"Our observers within the city have noted a significant… anomaly in the social atmosphere," the assassin reported, a hint of something—perhaps confusion—entering her monotone voice for the first time. "A myth is spreading at an incredible rate. It speaks of a 'Silent God' or a 'Shadow Sovereign' who appeared on the plains to the east."

Kaelus remained perfectly still, but his focus intensified.

"The myth's source is a woman and child, survivors of a goblin attack. They claim this entity annihilated the goblin pack without effort before destroying the peak of Mount Cinderhorn with a single bolt of lightning from a clear sky." The assassin paused. "Lord Kaelus… the description of this 'god' precisely matches your own."

The throne room was silent for a long moment.

It's spreading already, Ravi thought. Faster than I expected. The woman and child were more effective than a thousand bards. Raw, genuine belief was a powerful contagion.

"The reactions?" he asked.

"Mixed, my Lord. The common folk are consumed by fear and awe. The Adventurer's Guild is treating it as a high-level monster or anomaly to be investigated. The Baron has locked down the city gates and sent a priority dispatch rider to the capital. But the most significant reaction is from the local chapter of the Church of the Sacred Light."

"And that is?"

"They have declared it the manifestation of a 'Demon God of Extinction'," the assassin stated. "The High Priest has called for a holy crusade to investigate and 'cleanse' the plains. They are gathering paladins and battle-clerics as we speak."

A crusade. It was almost laughably predictable. These mortals saw a power they couldn't comprehend and immediately labeled it as demonic. It was the natural response of the fearful and the dogmatic.

"Let them come," Kaelus said, his voice laced with a cold, almost bored indifference. "Their faith will be… tested."

He could feel it then, a tiny, almost imperceptible trickle. He focused on the [Divine Power] interface.

[Faith Energy Detected.]

[Source: Multiple Humans (Oakhaven City).]

[Quality: Corrupted (Fear/Dread).]

[Conversion Rate: 1000:1]

[DP Gained: 0.01]

Ravi's non-existent eyebrows shot up. So, fear worked too. But it was incredibly inefficient. The pure, awe-filled reverence of the mother and child had been worth a thousand times more than the terrified whispers of an entire city. It was a crucial piece of data. He didn't just need people to fear him; he needed them to worship him.

"Is that all?" Kaelus asked the assassin.

"One more thing, my Lord." A second figure shimmered into existence beside the first. It was Spidy. She had returned.

She stretched languidly, her movements like a cat's. The featureless assassin didn't even flinch at the sudden appearance of one of the Supreme Guardians.

"My Lord, you wound me!" Spidy purred, stepping forward and shooting a playful glare at the kneeling assassin. "Sending out the little bats when you have your most devoted spider right here. I've been a very busy girl for you."

She sashayed towards the throne, her hips swaying. Unlike the formal assassin, Spidy treated the throne room like her personal lounge. She stopped a few feet from Kaelus, eight crimson eyes scanning his impassive form with a heated intensity.

"While your maid's pet was listening to gossip in taverns," she began, pointedly ignoring the assassin, "I took a more… hands-on approach. I thought you might like a welcome gift from this new world."

She reached behind her back and then tossed something onto the floor at the foot of the throne.

It was a man. He was alive, but barely. He was dressed in the fine clothes of a nobleman, now torn and dirty. He was bound head to toe in shimmering, impossibly strong spider silk, with a thick wad of it gagging him. His eyes were wide with a terror so profound it seemed to have bleached all other thoughts from his mind. He trembled uncontrollably, staring up at the titanic, shadowy figure on the throne.

Kaelus recognized him instantly from the scrying image. It was the Baron of Oakhaven.

The kneeling assassin stiffened. Spidy had bypassed the city's entire security, infiltrated the Baron's own manor, and abducted him without anyone in the city even realizing he was gone. It was a display of skill so far beyond the assassin's own that it was humbling.

"I overheard him giving orders to his captain of the guard," Spidy explained, tapping a sharp fingernail against her chin. "He was planning to send a 'scouting party' of his best knights to our doorstep. Not to worship, I'm afraid. He called you a 'threat to the stability of the Kingdom' that needed to be 'quantified and, if possible, eliminated'. So rude."

She nudged the gagged Baron with the toe of her boot. "I thought you might want to… question him yourself. I find that men often become very talkative when their skin starts to peel."

Her offer was casual, drenched in a playful sadism that was utterly genuine.

Ravi's mind worked furiously. This was an escalation. He hadn't ordered an abduction. His servants were taking initiative based on their programmed personalities. Spidy's core function was espionage and elimination of threats. She had identified one and dealt with it with terrifying efficiency.

He looked down at the pathetic, trembling Baron. Killing him was easy. But it was also… crude. He had a better use for him.

"Your initiative is commendable, Spidy," Kaelus's voice was calm, but a hint of approval in it made the arachnid rogue's smile widen with triumph.

He then turned his shadowed gaze to the kneeling assassin. "You. Return to Rose. Tell her the situation has evolved. Tell her to prepare a… guest room."

The assassin blinked behind her mask, the one sign of her confusion. A guest room? For a prisoner?

But hers was not to question. "At once, my Lord." She bowed and melted back into the shadows, vanishing as silently as she had come.

Now, only Kaelus, Spidy, and the captive Baron remained.

"What are your plans for him, my Lord?" Spidy asked, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Shall I have some fun? I have so many new venoms I'm just dying to try out…"

Kaelus raised a hand, silencing her. He stood from his throne and descended the few steps, his immense form looming over the terrified nobleman. He reached down, and with one finger, he effortlessly broke the silk gagging the man's mouth.

The Baron gasped, sucking in a ragged breath. "Demon! What are you?! By the light of Luminara, you will be struck down!" he spat, his voice trembling but filled with a desperate, misplaced piety.

Kaelus tilted his head, the gesture making the shadows on his helm swirl. He ignored the man's blustering and spoke, his voice not a shout, but a low, penetrating rumble that vibrated in the Baron's very soul.

"You wished to quantify me," Kaelus stated. "You wished to eliminate me."

He leaned down, the featureless void of his helmet mere inches from the Baron's face.

"I am going to give you a front-row seat. You will be my envoy. You will return to your people and tell them what you have seen. You will tell them that their choices are simple: servitude… or annihilation."

He then reached out and placed his obsidian gauntlet on the Baron's forehead.

[Tier 7 Spell: Mark of the Sovereign.]

The Baron screamed. It was a raw, blood-curdling sound as a complex, glowing crimson rune, the spider-like symbol of Kaelus's guild, burned itself into his skin. It was not a spell of pain, but of observation. Through that mark, Kaelus could now see what the Baron saw, hear what he heard, and know what he felt.

The Baron of Oakhaven had just become Kaelus's first, unwilling spy.

"Go," Kaelus commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Tell your king a new power has arrived. Tell him… Kaelus is here."