With my illusion instantly cracking and disappearing under a single thought of mine, everyone could finally see me standing above the altar rather than being chained to it, with a bloody mess of something in my tightened hand.

"Who…"

While Helia only required a single glance to freeze in place, unable to utter a single word from all the emotions that she must've felt at this very moment, this damned princess didn't even recognise me for the first few moments!

"At first, since you guys consider me to be some kind of deity, why are you still standing rather than hitting your forehead against the floor?"

Instead of instantly turning violent, I still decided to have some fun. After all, with everything that those people have done, there was no way I could let them off as easily, as even forgiving them this awkward moment!

"You…"

At first, the Princess face turned into an expression of fear if not horror, when she realised just from where did this annoying sense of familiarity came from, but before anything else could happen, she recovered her resolve and raised her staff.

"YOU IMPOSTOR! How dare you take up the face of our saviour?!"

With my appearance here, her entire ploy was bound to fall apart, so the only thing she could do was to hope that anyone present in the room would be capable of defeating me, hence her attempt to turn me from the real hero, or rather - the owner and lord of this place - into nothing else than just a fake!

But that was as far as I would let her go.

With just a single swipe of my energy, the staff in her hand crumbled into dust, while her body was lifted into the air, along with the guards that dared to brandish their weapons against me both now, and just a few moments ago, at the portal.

"First thing first, I recall ordering to leave the middle point of this world completely empty, for myself to develop. Would you dare to explain how come there is a big ass, ugly building right outside my doors?"

Letting the force that strangled her go, I waited for a moment, hoping that she would at least attempt to explain herself, yet seeing her hateful gaze, I realised there was no real meaning in it.

"You broke your promise!"

Hearing how she dared to put me at fault here, I choked her with my energy once again, this time finally turning my sight back to Helia.

"Hey, might explain what the fuck has happened here while I was away?"

While still keeping my newly found prisoners high in the air, a simple strand of entropy was enough to get rid of the chains that held the other prisoners at the now useless altar. Looking at Helia, I could see how her face continued to twitch, as her knees gave up, hinting at the fact that she was simply unable to come closer in order to confirm that I have really returned.

With no other choice, I approached her myself, only to pat her head in a silly attempt to calm her down.

As soon as my hand touched her hair though, Helia raised her face, instantly pushing her arms up and holding onto my palm, with her eyes filling with tears.

"Where have you been for all this time?!"

Bursting into tears, Helia convinced everyone around that my appearance wasn't just a stupid ruse aimed to dethrone the princess, but a genuine return of the deified hero! With people falling to their knees like dolls whose strings were cut off, I suddenly felt a wave of awkwardness hitting me up.

I guess that was the dream for most of the immature teenagers, and even quite a sizeable group of adults, to be praised as the god or something, yet when it happened to me, I couldn't really feel anything positive about it, instead filled with uncertainty of what I should do at this very moment.

"Come on guys… I don't know what kind of crap was this bitch feeding you since the last time we meet, but rather than your reverence, I would like to know what the fuck happened in this place? Where is Gabriel?"

With how he was supposed to hold the leading role for this community, I hoped that he could give me the most wholesome answer to my questions, yet despite this important fight happening here, I didn't see him on either side!

Considering how it was his own, old friend with his family that was about to be sacrificed for the sake of creating that joke of a golem, I doubted that he sided with the Princess, but if he didn't do so, how the heck would she take the power from him, if he was already elected as the ruler of this place before the rest of the refugees even came to this place?

"Gabriel…-sob-... is dead."

Still sobbing under the insane weight of all her emotions, Helia barely managed to utter those words, instantly setting a spark to all the fuel for my rage that accumulated as I observed the situation from the side.

Even though I refrained from acting, just like a father had to let his kid touch something hot in order for it to learn what was the pain and why some actions should be avoided, I decided to let them decide what their actions would be, giving me the greatest proof of loyalty. Yet without someone to give me a wholesome report on the situation, without siding with either faction, I couldn't really punish anyone nor change anything!

"Who killed him, then?"

While it pained me to learn about the loss of my very first retainer whose loyalty I never doubted, with all the death that I saw in this life, it wasn't enough to shake me at all. Still high on the events connected to Eve, I might appear a bit cold to the others, but giving in to the grief now wouldn't be productive at all.

"No one. He died of a heart attack barely a few weeks after everyone settled in. It was his death that gave this bitch the chance to start her movement, and unroot anyone who was in connection to you in any way stronger than herself!"