Divinity.
This one, mysterious energy that could be felt in every temple dedicated to a God. This energy was a general term for the power wielded directly by the Gods. It was a generally accepted term, even though the forms of Divinity differed between the Gods in the same way these divine beings differed from each other.
In a more understandable manner, the same way Holy and Unholy energy existed and coexisted with one another, that was also the same in the case of Divinity. There was a higher form of Holy energy, which was the Divinity of some Gods, while there was a higher form of Unholy energy that acted as the Divinity of other Gods. The knowledge of these types of energies were however lost on the mortals of the world, as no God would divulge such information to mortals.
Right now, Leon felt that same energy flow through his body. He also felt something unlock within him, and the Divinity of Michael, which had been rather harmful to his body once upon a time, was now flowing through him as if it was nothing. With a start, Leon realized that this was a perk of the Title, <God’s Disciple>, that he had gotten before being teleported away to Fort Bender’s territory by Michael.
“I wonder what I can do with this.” Leon hummed before raising his head to take a look around the town. Unlike before he left, there were no collapsed buildings. The place was immaculately kept, with not a single thing out of place. It looked very much like a normal town, with wide streets and many houses and shops. The only difference was that there were no people to populate the town. In fact, Leon could not even see any more of the evolved millipedes.
“You,” Leon pointed at the evolved millipede with the streak of black hair among his white hair and called for him. Immediately, the man rushed over and dropped to one knee.
“My Lord, what do you wish for?” He asked with utmost respect in his voice.
As Leon looked at him, he could feel a faint trace of Divinity running through his body, and he was shocked, but he quickly remembered why he had called this one before him. “What is your name?”
“I go by Rakon, my Lord.” Rakon said eagerly. It was as if being acknowledged by Leon and known by name by their master was something that they had yearned for.
Leon nodded and expressed his thoughts, “Rakon, where are the others. I know there were hundreds of your kin when I left here.”
“My brothers and sisters reside within the underground fortress that we have built beneath this town.” Rakon answered deftly. Leon did not even try to understand how these evolved millipedes were not only able to speak in the common language, but also knew how to compose their speech so well.
‘Maybe it has something to do with the Divinity in the air?’ Nedra replied mentally as she looked around.
‘Probably.’ Leon agreed with her. Until he knew more about Divinity, he could only accept some things as they were. Hopefully, that would soon change.
“Lead Nedra there. I have to get these people settled in for now.” Leon decided to hand over things to Nedra while he handled the merchants and the former soldiers of the Empire of Light that had defected to his side.
“Mother, welcome back. Please follow me.” Rakon turned to Nedra and bowed with the same respect that he had shown Leon. Although Nedra had only branded them and had been present for a short time after some of them had hatched from their eggs, they still recognized her as their mother. She was a millipede queen, and she had branded them before they had been born, so that knowledge was branded onto their very souls and existences.
“Oho! I like this name!” Nedra grinned at being called a mother. She had indeed birthed a lot of creatures in the past, but they had betrayed her as soon as she began declining. It had been a while since she was first referred to as such.
Rakon soon led her away from Leon, while Leon himself returned to the caravan. They had arrived in the town square, led by some of the evolved millipedes, and they now stopped, looking hesitantly at the white haired soldiers. They had seen the earlier display of subservience to Leon before, so they knew he was their master.
When Leon arrived in the town square, they were all visibly relieved.
“My Lord.” Eric greeted Leon as he arrived beside him and Balder. Balder did not speak, but looked at Leon strangely. Through his skills, he could tell that these people were certainly not humans. They were monsters with human forms.
“Let’s start unloading the wagons.” Leon nodded at the two of them to acknowledge them and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
Seeing that Leon was still with them, the minds of those who had begun doubting again were calmed, and they did as he said, and started unpacking.
“Err, excuse me, Sir Leon.” While the others were busy offloading all the materials and other things, Balder approached Leon with a hesitant look.
“Oh! Mister Balder!” Leon turned to the wealthy merchant with a wide smile on his face. Things were going just how he had planned them to go. He had wanted as many merchants to come with him as possible so that when they saw this place, a few ideas would bloom in their minds.
This was a very risky move to make, and he had thought carefully about the pros and cons. The merchants could leak information about this place to others, and he would get ambushed, or they could see him as a potential partner and want to work together. It would benefit both sides greatly, especially them, as this would be a fresh, new market that would be opening to them. But it would also be a risky endeavor for them.
To put it short, this was a risky gamble for both sides!