Cthulhu Gonfalon

"I'm a little depressed," said the God of Aristocracy, who was watching all the cheering going on in Golden Tower City from amidst the clouds. There wasn't a trace of a smile on his face. On the contrary, he was feeling more distressed than happy. "I can't help getting an inexplicable feeling, like I have just received a blow on behalf of the Church of the Void Mask."

"Your feeling is quite accurate," said the God of Protection with a smile. "The moment Golden Tower City gains its independence, a large area of the western and northern parts of the Mifata Federation will be considered substantially independent. But in this area, the various gods from the Church of the Void Mask God System will be in the dominating position, while your church will, at most, only have one or two strongholds."

"In the first place, it was obvious that the best of all things had been taken by them; as a result of that, my followers were left with no choice but to fight a losing battle that would bleed them dry. How loathsome!" said the God of Aristocracy furiously. "Those guys from the Mifata Federation are really bastards! It was clearly Grey Tower City that first declared that it would be seceding from the Federation, so why are they attacking Golden Tower City instead? I have specially instructed and reminded my followers to stay low and not do anything that would attract unnecessary attention to them. Yet in the end, the arrow is still directed at us!"

"You can't blame them," the God of Diplomacy explained. "Grey Tower City came into existence at least a century ago. By then, it had already been regarded as a private plot of land set aside for the God of Scholars, so it has long been the equivalent of a semi-independent city. Over the years, the Mifata Federation had been suppressing the progress of Grey Tower City's development. The Federation was also mentally prepared for Grey Tower City eventually wanting control over its own independence, especially when it was surrounded by a massive area of fertile land. But its geographical location was relatively remote at best, and the city could support and feed a larger population. It will not have a great influence in the commercial and political sectors, but most certainly, it is capable of going independent.

"By contrast, Golden Tower City's geographical location is more prominent, and it certainly deserves the description of a commercial hub district. If it breaks away from the Mifata Federation, the business of the entire Federation will be affected—albeit a small impact. Compared to the Grey Tower City, which is not as indispensable of course, Golden Tower City will receive more attention." As compared to the other gods, the God of Diplomacy had a more acute sense and clearer understanding of politics. He knew that in addition to its engagement in research on spells, the Mifata Federation was also a commercialized country where business was its true foundation. This was why the Federation had left Grey Tower City untouched, even though it was the first city to initiate a secession from the Federation, and instead focused on attacking Golden Tower City, whose decision to secede would affect it to a varying degree. The God of Diplomacy was best able to understand why the Mifata Federation had decided to attack Golden Tower City and not Grey Tower City.

"Not only that, Golden Tower City has a geographically pivotal position that concerns traffic over a large area from the western and northern parts of the Mifata Federation. So as you all can see, the moment the Federation Army fails to suppress Golden Tower City, cities within that area will start to demand independence because they know that since the Federation was unable to bring down Golden Tower City, then all of them would naturally be safe from the Federation. It would be highly unlikely for the Federation Army to make a detour around Golden Tower City just to attack them."

"Hearing what you just said makes me even more depressed!" the God of Aristocracy heaved a deep sigh and said. "Doesn't that mean that if I choose not to fight this battle, the Void God System will only be able to seize as much as Grey Tower City?"

"More or less… yes."

"Now I shall get my followers to negotiate with those from the Federation, and also, I am going to support them in their crusade against those independent areas. What do you all think of this?"

The human gods kept silent; then after a while, the God of Heroes whispered, "Are you ready to put all dignity aside?"

Now, it was the God of Aristocracy's turn to fall into silence. After a long time, he replied dejectedly, "No, I don't think I can."

Since he was not ready to lose face, then he would have to face up to such a suffocating loss.

Fortunately, in any case, this war of independence that Golden Tower City fought, greatly boosted the morale of the followers of the God of Aristocracy, forged stronger bonds among followers of the entire church, and found an opportunity for further development for the Church of the God or Aristocracy. This thus opened the gap.

Now, aristocrats from all over the world were watching Golden Tower City. They wanted to see if the Church of the God of Aristocracy had the confidence and capability to govern the city well, as well as whether the church could become a reliable ally.

On the other side, within the Sanctuary of Void God System, Sui Xiong and his followers were discussing this matter.

"Up to the end of this battle between the Church of the God of Aristocracy and the Mifata Federation, we are the ones who stood to gain some unexpected advantages. How delightful!" said Wall, amidst laughter. He continued to say, "Originally, when the Hart Family talked about wanting to leave the Mifata Federation to join the Republic of Northwest, I felt they were being a little too hasty. Now it seems like they must have figured this out long before—these guys are really people who have been semi-independent for a long time. They are not just your average, old cons trying to gain something to their advantage!"

"That's right. Previously, I was still a tad bit worried. I was even prepared to send some Oracles over. In the end, none were required," said Sui Xiong with a smile. "No wonder those fellows are all so calm. Even that young guy can show a look that says, 'Rest assured, everything is in place…' Wall, your followers are indeed remarkable!"

Wall nodded and said, "Yes, they are remarkable. The moment they joined my church, their status shot up the ranks rapidly. Presently, a few old people from Hart Family could almost be considered to be at the level of figures such as elders or brains of the church. Frankly speaking, if not for Olian's presence, perhaps the core of my church might have really shifted from Gerteeng Hill to Grey Tower City!"

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Sui Xiong, "since walking on two legs is much more stable than hopping on one leg. Also, with the two churches being thousands of miles apart, even if there is competition, things will not get too carried away. So after all, it is a good thing."

Having said so, he looked towards Arcaian and Three Nothingness and said, "This time around, the both of you must seize the opportunity to develop your Church Union. Although the development will be limited, you can at least break free from the status of a grassroots unit. This is something worthy of congratulations and celebrations!"

Arcaian smiled wryly in return. Speaking of which, his church was quite an uncommon one. Though he might be the God of Healing, his followers were mainly from the Elven Race. In fact, many elves saw him as a symbol for the rise of a new beginning for their own Elven Race. Whether or not they truly could understand his principles and ideals, they did not hesitate to worship and follow in his stead. This created a tremendous amount of pressure on him.

Until recently, following the large-scale preaching activity that the Mifata Federation carried out, the God of Healing was finally able to form a group of followers who identified with the same fundamental principles as he did. They truly followed him down along his path of beliefs. They were not just a group of followers who simply believed in him as a god.

However, there was still another matter that bothered him a little… He had put in a great deal of effort for this joint preaching activity, but within the entire Void God System, his achievements were sadly still the worst of them all. He was not even on par with Three Nothingness.

Oh, what a sight I condemned! Three Nothingness did absolutely nothing at all!

The God of Healing had not been pleased with the uneven distribution of efforts they both put in. Often, he would mutter under his breath, "This world truly does not know what it means to be reasonable."

Although having not done anything, Three Nothingness was still unable to bear the impact from the strong foundation of the others. Besides, the God of Healing was, anyhow, a most reliable and well-established name among the good gods, with friends all over the world and followers across vast seas. Although he had later met with a disaster where his church dissipated, and his followers were forced out of their safe haven and left to wander the vast world—so long as there were still spellcasters from the Healing System surviving in this world, he was not worried that there would be a problem with belief.

Besides, out of all the clergymen, those from the Healing System were most likely to be respected and followed by people at large.

So even if he, as a god, did not do anything, as long as he gave his followers sufficient Divine Power as a reciprocation of their belief in him, it would be enough to allow his church to flourish and develop.

In short, making use of this opportunity, the Void God System ushered in a fruitful period of great development.

Not only that, about half a year later, while the Mifata Federation was still kept busy in the North and the West by those who declared independence, during the time when there was a matter of disputes over trifles, another major event occurred.

A follower of the Void Mask, a mage named Damwade who was dubbed the "Old Farmer" because he had been studying agriculture tirelessly for many years, had succeeded in being sealed as a god. He hence became the God of Agriculture.