Chapter 88: Chapter 86 Deity and Epics_2 Chapter 88: Chapter 86 Deity and Epics_2 “After the war ended, my Subordinate Army was utterly decimated. As a sign of gratitude and to compensate for my loss, the Ya Heng civilization went all out, building this Sky Mechanical City for me and even imparted to me all their core knowledge and technology.”

“…” Muria, upon hearing the Mechanism Emperor Osiris’s casual remarks, could discern the cruelty of that war. An entire Subordinate Army, owned by an Epic Titan, was completely annihilated. Considering the number of Monster Legion that his grandfather had, one could only imagine the severity of that war.

“Hmm?” Muria noticed something off while envisaging the grand scene. “Your Highness, Mechanism Emperor, shouldn’t the Evil Gods own Believers, not Subordinates?”

“It’s just a term. Although those beings call themselves Evil Gods, they are entirely different from the deities of our world. They are beings similar to me who do not rely on faith, are not bound by the world, and wander in the Void with their Subordinates. When they find a suitable world, they invade with their Subordinate Army and then destroy it.”

“Beings similar to you!” Muria felt a chill run down his spine, and a feeling of fear emerged. “Your Excellency, Mechanism Emperor, how many of these world-destroying Evil Gods are there in the endless Void?”

“In my thousand-year voyage in the Void, I’ve encountered only about ten Evil Gods. However, based on the recorded data of several civilizations, I know that more than thirty Evil Gods exist.”

“So many Evil Gods?” Muria went white, instinctively looking upwards. Above him was a metal ceiling filled with Magic Patterns. “Would they come and invade our world? Destroy Elasia?”

“You never have to worry about this issue.” Muria’s father, Ansol, spoke up. “Not a single Evil God in the Void dares to peep into our world.”

“Why?”

“Because our world has too many deities. Though some might be reluctant to admit it, the existence of numerous deities deters many beings in the Void from harboring thoughts about our world.”

“Your Highness, Mechanism Emperor.” Muria thought for a moment and then asked another question, puzzled. “Why do those Evil Gods want to destroy worlds? Is it just a hobby?”

Extinguishing all living creatures of a world, destroying all habitable environments would inevitably provoke the creatures of that world to resist with all their might. If it’s merely a hobby, the price paid to satisfy this hobby seems too high.

“The destruction of worlds makes Evil Gods stronger. It’s their Path to Epic,” the Mechanism Emperor, Osiris, told Muria in a voice that made his heart palpitate.

“Path to Epic.” Muria murmured. Then, looking up at the towering Mechanism Emperor Osiris, who was far taller than his grandfather, he had a premonition he was about to hear something life-changing.

“Muria, do you know the difference between an Epic and a deity?”

Muria shook his head honestly. All he knew now was that Epics were powerful, not inferior to deities. To some extent, Epics had a higher status than deities. But he didn’t know why this was the case.

“The fundamental difference between a deity and an Epic lies in the source power — the World’s Origin Power. It’s a universal power. Master it and you will have the power, almost commensurate to that of a creator.”

Upon saying this, Mechanism Emperor Osiris picked up a metal ingot. To Muria’s astonishment, the metal block emanated a dazzling spirit light, quickly splitting and changing form, transformed into individual metal parts and then recombined. In just a few moments, a mechanically realistic Griffin appeared.

“Squawk!” Just as it appeared, this lifelike metal Griffin let out a long cry and one after another, concentric circles of Soul Intent that seemed to be cast in metallic grey appeared on it.

“Soul Intent Circles! How is this possible?” The scene before his eyes delivered a shock to Muria unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Soul Intent Level meant the comprehension of one’s soul and the realization of the true essence of one’s power. Only intelligent life forms possessing a soul could display Soul Intent Circles.

“Tweeet!” With a simple palm gesture from Mechanism Emperor Osiris, the metallic griffin, which was merely a lifeless metal ingot moments before, sprang to life, flying over to Muria’s side and gazing at him with a pair of steel grey eyes.

“It has a soul?” Muria put down the egg in his hand and couldn’t resist extending a hand to touch the Soul Intent Level mechanical griffin. Its touch was still metal, but it undeniably possessed a soul now, he could feel it. “This is the creation of life!”

“One of the basic powers held by an epic is the command of source power.” Seeing Muria constantly observing and touching the mechanical Griffin, Mechanism Emperor Osiris blandly explained, “The deities had a similar power, but not as powerful as our Epics.”

“Why is it not as powerful?” Muria was particularly curious.

“Deities rely on faith to reign from their divine thrones, to gather religious authority and to hold the world’s power. They were granted the usage of the World Origin Power, their power derived from the world. However, they are bound by the world’s rules, they couldn’t even leave the world.

Whereas, the source power of Epics entirely belongs to themselves and can be used freely without any restrictions.”

“If the source power of deities comes from the world, where does the source power of Epics come from?”

“The source power of Epics also comes from the world, but unlike the way deities ascended by relying on faith, consolidating their divine position and gaining the use of source power, there are generally two ways for Epics to acquire source power.”

“Which two ways?” Muria’s eyes sparkled, radiating flecks of golden light. He had some understanding of how to ascend to deity status, but he didn’t know how to become an Epic.

“Salvation, or destruction. These are the ways for Epics to acquire source power, and also the ways for a legend to advance to an Epic.”

“Salvation! Destruction!” Muria looked utterly baffled. This sounded like a promotion method of hellish difficulty.

“Saving a world on the verge of destruction, the World Will would reward the savior with source power that is entirely free from the influence of the World Will. They can freely control and use it.”

“So, did you help the Ya Heng civilization defend the invasion by the Evil God in order to gain the source power of the Ya Heng world?” Muria asked, feeling inexplicably apprehensive.

“Of course, why else would I help a civilization I’ve never met before?” stated the Mechanism Emperor matter-of-factly “In the endless Void, there is no right or wrong, only survival and development, strength is the only truth.”

“So, is the Evil God invading the Ya Heng civilization and destroying their world for source power too?”

“That’s right, the moment a world is destroyed, a huge amount of source power is released. However, this kind of source power is too violent and filled with the despair of the world, making it very difficult to integrate.”

Upon hearing the Mechanism Emperor’s description, Muria’s heart skipped a beat. It sounded as if Mechanism Emperor Osiris had once destroyed a world and tried to absorb and refine the source power obtained from its destruction.

“Mechanism Emperor, have you ever destroyed a world for source power?” Muria asked, his smile stiff, his voice trembling slightly.

“No.” Mechanism Emperor Osiris, looking at the visibly agitated Muria, touched his nose, wondering if the younger man had misunderstood something: “I chose the path of salvation. I happened to run into an Evil God destroying a small world. When the world was destroyed and the source power started to dissipate, I simply took a piece of the pie.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read