Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1672: Weaponising Faith

<It's beyond your scope of understanding, I'm aware, but just hold on. All you need to do is weaken it. Mortals can do a great many things when armed with the right knowledge – yes, even against Deities.>

That was the last message Aingor had received from Suzamete.

He, the Faction Leaders, and the Mages were to go up against a Doom Knight – a Deity warped into oblivion by Undeath – and weaken it. The Herald had been armed with the knowledge to perform this feat. It was rather… straightforward, but in execution, it was easier said than done. Could it be done?

Well, that depended entirely on how well everyone performed, especially…

"Now you value the faith I have been trying so hard to convey for so many years? Tsk, tsk. Typical of heathens! It takes a calamity decked in armour to make you all repent?!" cried the Mad Bishop as she stood before the Doom Knight. Its feet were still sinking in the swirls of darkness that had manifested under its feet.

"Focus!" Aingor told her. He had already informed the Faction Leaders what they needed to do. Divine energy was rupturing through him. The Doom Knight groaned, annoyed by the way the energy around its feet – the Chaos – was attempting to pull it in like quicksand.

It made a move. Undeath energy fired from it like a geyser, blasting into the skies.

Everyone dashed back, afraid of getting caught in it. Unlike the other higher-level fighters and Apostles, meeting the torrent of Undeath meant instant death.

…But Suzamete realized then what would follow was death anyway.

She puppeteered Aingor before he could even realize what was going on. The Divine energy he had received was distributed among everyone left around the Doom Knight – indeed, even the Mages. Right after that was done… the Doom Knight cast an Andori.

Hangman, was its name, and fittingly so.

…!!!

Everyone felt something wrap around their neck and jerk upwards. It was an instant death sentence. The Andori hung and decapitated everyone deemed an enemy to the user with an invisible force that was impossible to trace or interact with.

Suzamete's energy reinforced the bodies of the combatants to the limit, bringing their durability above the Divine threshold, even to a detriment. It was imperative that everyone stay alive for her plan to work.

…But three Mages died instantly, despite her reinforcement.

Indeed, strengthening a mortal's body with Divine power had its limits, especially if their body wasn't already tempered to be strong enough to wield high-level powers. Mages, who mostly consolidated their understanding in Magecraft, sometimes forgoing their Stage progression, were prime weak links, while hardened warriors and chosen vessels like the Faction Leaders and the Herald were sturdier.

Eaniss gritted her teeth. She felt her blood flow get restricted from the neck up. She reinforced her own body with Nitros as much as she could to further her chances of survival, as did the grinning Mad Bishop and Em-Sul.

Five seconds later, Hangman's duration ceased.

The Doom Knight grunted. How were these measly mortals still alive? Its eyes fell on the Fruit Bearer Suzamete was inhabiting at once. There was no other explanation. Its attention locked onto the Deitess with sublime hostility.

Suzamete brought her hands forth in a fighting stance. She had no choice now.

<How much do you have left in the tank, Luserus?>

<Not much.> replied the Deity from somewhere that wasn't Edagon.

<Grab a vessel from my Sky domain and get down here. I can't fight this thing alone with all the energy I've expended.> 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

<…Quack no! I'm not even that good of a fighter!>

Suzamete cursed. <Useless fool.>

The Doom Knight lunged towards her in that instant.

<Aingor!> Suzamete cried before a single blow from the creature sent her flying, her vessel battered gruesomely.

"Eaniss! Em-Sul!" the Herald cried in turn.

The Faction Leaders groaned. Ultimately, they followed the plan despite how much they hated the first phase.

"I pledge myself to your faith," they said in unison, directing their allegiance… to the Mad Bishop.

The crazy Incandescent Stager grinned.

"Finally! After all these years…!" she cried. "You are all mine! We shall break bread together!"

A great cathedral materialized behind her, vast and beautiful. It suddenly looked much, much larger than it had been when it was last used. Skullius would have attested. A song began playing, filtering from the cathedral. There was no one inside it, but the hymn played all the same, going:

Listen to the collective,

The collective of pure thought,

This indeed is collective,

The collective of lull thought,

The fire burning in the senses,

Let it cool and simmer down,

The fire raging to the sword,

Let it cool, let it simmer down,

The collective thought, the collective,

Come together quiet just as one,

The collective thought, the su-um,

Come together, lay hate down~

Donning angry looks, Eaniss and Em-Sul rose into the sky, towards the cathedral. It wasn't their doing. Having joined the Mad Bishop's faith now, they had access to her cathedral as followers. The old woman couldn't have been happier. She was stronger just from the two joining just now.

…But then the Mages joined too, as they were commanded by Aingor.

They floated into the cathedral, and the hymn resounding from behind its beautiful windows grew louder.

The Mad Bishop's abilities, as a high-level Priest, all revolved around the faith she had created. Every soul that joined made her stronger and granted her Creeds. According to the system developed by the Deities of Aigas, performing god-like feats was one of the ways to earn Creeds after all (other than levelling and rising up the Stages), and creating a whole religion counted as just that.

The quality of those joining her faith affected her abilities tremendously, sometimes even exponentially. But the followers also got boons for joining. Right then, the Mages and the Faction Leaders felt their powers growing disgustingly.

…But that was not the purpose of the plan Suzamete had concocted.

Deities were slaves to faith and fate.

Boron was a perfect example of this. Quintess, Listafelle, and even Suzamete herself painted him as a Traitor since Aigas' creation. The mortals they made told nighttime horrors to their children about Boron of the Under and steered his powers and destiny for thousands of years until ultimately, he freed himself.

Powerful Deities could see and control their fate – their Direction – as long as they remained ripe with ambition, but Doom Knights were different. Doom Knights were tempered Deities, diluted by Undeath. They possessed Broader Existences, Fated Reefs, and all other deific powers, but they couldn't make worlds and enrich themselves. They were sterile. They lost the essence of godhood.

Suzamete meant to exploit that, and in more than one way. Kenno was the key to the final process, but first…

Listen to the collective,

The collective of pure thought,

This indeed is collective,

The collective of lull thought,

The fire burning in the senses,

Let it cool and simmer down,

The fire raging to the sword,

Let it cool, let it simmer down,

The collective thought, the collective,

Come together quiet just as one,

The collective thought, the su-um,

Come together, lay hate down~

The Doom Knight turned towards the Bishop, who was standing at the very top of her cathedral, waving her hands as though conducting an orchestra. It sensed the powerful faith bleeding from the Mad Bishop. It was unlike anything it had ever felt… from a mortal.

There was a threat in that.

It turned on its heel and zoomed towards the cathedral to dismantle the mortals before anything could be done.

…But a significant obstacle fell from the skies, from beyond the great void.

It fell with all the grace of a fallen angel, carrying enough power to crush even a Deity to oblivion. When it met the Doom Knight, it exploded into a flood of mercury and latched onto its prey without letting go!