Village Head's Debauchery

"Come on! Don't you all agree?" His expression turned ashen as he glanced at Cy'lakai and the remaining injured Spirit Beasts behind him.

"I agree with Duke Kafla. We don't need them anymore!" Cy'lakai said loudly, bowing respectfully toward Orion.

"We can naturally heal by ourselves..."

After the others showed their support, Kafla saw that Orion still remained silent. He realised that Orion truly intended to handle this matter himself.

Kafla sighed in defeat and said, "I can sense that two of them have gathered before the floating island. The rest are still in hiding, observing the situation. We might be able to deal with the former easily, but to handle the latter, we'll need to split into groups and strike swiftly before they escape."

"Split into a group of eighteen composed of the three of you," Orion said, turning to look at Greta. "Since they love ganging up on others, we'll do the same."

The spirit beasts were confused by Orion's order, but quickly turned their gazes to the woman he was addressing. Under their astonished eyes, the woman stretched out her hand, and several structures emerged from thin air before them.

There were eighteen of them, each dressed in a flowery patterned dress, feet covered in sandals, and adorned with jewellery that beautified their entire forms. As the structures took shape, the gathered Spirit Beasts realised they were exact replicas of the three women.

Once the clones had fully formed, Celeste and Gina flicked their hands forward, imprinting their consciousness and the unique essence of their gifts into them. Instantly, the clones' eyes sparked with a distinct life, eerily similar to their originals.

Witnessing the scene, the spirit beasts were stunned once more. They could sense that each of the clones exuded the exact same pressure as the original three before it was swiftly retracted.

They were aware that divine beings from the Material Realm could freely create clones; however, creating ones of comparable strength and presence required time, effort, and mastery of the law of the universe.

Seeing it done so quickly and effortlessly made their bodies tremble.

Didn't that mean just one of them was enough to overpower them, to force them to submit?

Unbeknownst to them, Greta's gift was not initially meant for clone creation, but for healing. As her strength grew, her range of potential expanded to the point she could resurrect any organic being as long as they still held a breath of life, or entirely reconstruct their physical form from a single drop of blood or a genetic imprint.

She could even alter them, creating distinct or monstrous lifeforms that followed her will. And as a true goddess, the potential of her gift had amplified even further.

To other divine-level beings, Greta's ability stood on equal footing with a true god's manifestation of omnipotence.

Though her power was currently suppressed to that of a divine being on the threshold of ascension to true godhood, the essence of her gift, containing such potential, remained intact, along with the strength boost they had received from the Iyria energy, which could still be used even without Primordial energy.

The only limitation to her gift was if they encountered a true god. Due to the tri-omni traits, the only way she could gain the upper hand was by fusing her gift with the essence of another gift of equal level, or with a law of the universe.

Then, even an ordinary true god wouldn't stand a chance against her.

Currently, Greta was doing her best to master a Law to fuse with her gift, just like the rest of Orion's wives, and was also storing the essence of each household member's gift for personal use. This included those of other humans who had awakened gifts.

The household supported her because not only would it make her stronger, but she could also assist the new human settlements, just as she had during her time as the village's top healer. Moreover, she could help other humans affected by Naka's experiments to awaken their gifts.

However, while consciousness could be duplicated freely, a gift's essence was not unlimited. It could only be used to empower a limited number of clones before it would no longer function.

As for how many times it could be utilised… any divine being would find such a power incomprehensible. Only an ancient divine being or a true god could begin to comprehend it.

As for Gina, even without mastering a law, it would still be difficult for a true god to break through her barrier to harm her.

Orion was sure of this because he had tested it with his lightning. Her shield was the most durable defence a true god could ever ask for.

He dared say that with some practice, she could learn to shield the entirety of Paradise within her barrier. So if they were ever attacked by an outside force trying to break into Paradise, Gina would be their first line of defence. ThischapterisfromthecollectionatM-VL-EM-PYR.

As for his mother, her gift, which had evolved to allow her to create both inanimate and animate objects from clay, could achieve feats similar to Greta's, albeit with more limitations, but greater versatility.

If she, too, could study other laws and fuse them with her gift, then even two ordinary true gods would not be enough to threaten her.

Without the threat of another true god-level being, the only things that could oppose them were the Mysteries themselves and the consciousness of the cosmic structure.

Nonetheless, as long as they didn't encounter a true god, they could walk freely and remain untouched. This was one of the reasons Orion had chosen to bring her along on this mission.

Still, assigning them to groups to eliminate the spirit beasts was simply a precautionary measure. After all, a Duke-ranked Spirit Beast can master two or more spirit laws depending on their circumstances before ascending to Royal Prince rank.

He also couldn't take the risk that they might have hidden their strength to be underestimated.

Orion saw their astonished expressions, which they couldn't hide.

"Each of you will lead a group to their locations," he said, looking at the rest of the injured spirit beasts, who snapped back to attention upon hearing his words.

"You, however, will confirm the locations of the others who have gathered here," he added, looking at Kafla.

They nodded their heads.

"I will go first," Kafla said, stepping forward and bowing respectfully to the group. He glanced at the three women and realised that he wasn't sure that he could handle them by himself.

Along with the group, they soared into the sky, swiftly vanishing into the distance. Their auras faded along with their presence, as though they had never been there.

Cy'lakai stepped forward. "I will lead the way. Please follow me closely," he said. Then he and the group vanished into the distance. Observing the two, the others followed suit, walking toward their assigned groups.

After they were gone, only a single spirit beast remained.

It was a woman resembling a humanoid raccoon, but with a fiery red tail, reminiscent of a horse's. She was dressed in tight-fitting armoured attire. Her name was Viki'ma, a Marquis-ranked Spirit Beast.

Seeing that she was the last one left, Viki'ma swiftly approached Orion and asked, "What do I do, Supreme Leader?"

"You will accompany us to meet the other guests waiting outside. We'll need someone who can identify the remaining, if they are brave enough to face us head-on," Orion responded.

Viki'ma swiftly nodded in understanding. She raised her head and stood slightly to the side.

"Follow me," Orion said, looking at the assembled spirit beasts before rising into the air, with the women accompanying him.

The others followed from behind.

...

They reached the immense fortress gates of the floating island within seconds.

J'garin, Iy'yra, and the members of the White-Winged Gryphons gulped, feeling a chill crawl up their skin, as they looked at the spirit beasts gathered in the distance.

An unknown number of spirit beasts stood there like an indomitable fortress. Their formation cast an enormous shadow over the icy plains and forests below.

The moment they appeared, countless gazes locked onto them.

Despite the distance, Orion knew they could reach him within seconds. He understood this was their way of showing they had no intention of being his enemy, but that didn't mean they would leave without getting what they came for.

With the group behind him, Orion soared forward with the women and Viki'ma until they were a short distance from the floating island.

"I am Orion, Supreme Leader of this territory and the one in possession of the information regarding the King's aura, which you all desire!" Orion introduced himself, his voice resonating across the distance, reaching all of them.

Suddenly, countless pressures bore down on Orion. Each wave was more powerful than the last. Unlike the previous assembly, this was not something he could easily dismiss.

Viki'ma trembled and swayed weakly, almost as though she could collapse at any second.