The priest had never heard of a power that could bring the dead back to life as well as granting youth in minutes. He wished to bathe in the soothing black fire for just another moment and look like he was in his twenties instead of his forties, but could not dare ask for a second miracle. He kept his forehead on the floor praying that the traveler would grace the island with his protection.

Faith power could give youthful looks to astral Gods as well as half-Astrals, but it could not bring the dead back to life. It seemed that there was a limit to such power in the world of faith.

Even one of the most powerful gods, the God of death, he could only prolong the lives of his followers same as the God of life.

At the moment of death, an astral double was created or stayed in the astral planes if your body died while in the astral planes. The immortal astral doubles always chose to join the paradise of a god they believed in. The gods created those paradises to attract more astral doubles for their faith. Demons created hells to torture and create as much faith power from fear as possible from the captured wandering astral doubles.

An astral double could be granted an astral body by an astral God and become a half-Astral. It was akin to living again but your new body was fueled by the faith the God accumulated. If the God died, those who had started off as Astral doubles would revert back to their original form and choose whether to follow another God or wander around in the dangerous astral planes with their frail immortality.

The power to truly bring back the dead and grant youth would surely fare well in the world of faith. The priest only hoped that this new traveler could perform other such miracles. His people would be safe forever. The whole island would soon have a new god.

He then heard a youthful voice coming out of the crystal-like cloak.

“What kind of good stuff can one do around here? You’re the one that called me, you better not bore me to death.” Said an amused Alwyn.

It was like a huge boulder was removed from the priest's shoulders: “He even speaks our language. Gods!...My prayers were heard. At least, this time I am the one who has to talk to him instead of my unfilial sons.” Thought the priest before he said: ” This humble one’s name is Randall Jehlfeld. It would be my honor to show you around Ô Almighty One.” He offered bowed.

“Haha... Almighty one. That’s a good title.” Devinn laughing voice sounded in Alwyn’s head.

“Just call me Alwyn. There is no need for titles.” An embarrassed Alwyn said. As a former slave, he could not let people treat him with so much courtesy. He preferred to see himself as an equal.

“I would not dare your highness.” Said the priest.

“How a bout the Netherwyrm god?” Alwyn gave his bloodline’s name.

The priest was out of words and thought: “ There is no difference between your highness and a God title. Maybe he doesn’t know how this world works yet. Then, how does he know our language if he hadn’t been here before?” he ignored his thoughts and acquiesced: “Yes, Netherwyrm God.”

“You know that you can choose something else as a name that is not related to your ancestor.” Devinn advised.

“There is no change with our evolution since transforming into a Nether dragon is one of our powers thanks to you.” Said a gloomy Alwyn as he followed the priest into the endless stairs down the pyramid. He had no choice but to walk since the priest chose to pass through the crowd.

“Maybe we can find a way to separate our souls with the power of faith. Even if we are successful, I’d be the strongest once again. Your body’s immeasurable power will be lost because you hate transforming into a dragon which boosts that strength even further.” Devinn said.

“Let’s find a way to separate our souls at least.” Alwyn suggested.

“A soul that can produce unlimited mana and a body made of faith power. I wonder if the body would still be around outside of this place. They will eventually forget me. If that happens we will have to fuse back… unless...” Devinn mused to himself before he said: ” Sounds like a good thing will come out of this place.”

As they walked into the cheering crowd, a steady amount of faith was being channeled into them.

“My face is quite known around here. They are now seeing your miracle. I am sure that you can feel the faith around us. Even I am benefiting. My thanks, Netherwyrm God.” The priest expressed his thanks with a nod.

As they reached the end of the crowd, Alwyn’s nerves were on the verge of breaking from walking such a short distance so slowly. It was nerve wracking for someone who could teleport to short distances millions of times away.

“I read his mind, he is bringing you to his palace to rest. It is the most luxurious place on the island. He is also planning to build a church in your name as well as a bigger palace. He is just worried that one of his sons will spoil everything.” Devinn said.

“Aragil’s power really was something. He was never worried that his plan would fail as he knew everything.” Alwyn reminisced.

“Hehe…He could’ve been in our shoes. If my guess is correct, that unknown spell could have targeted him as well and just like us, he would’ve never seen it coming.” Devinn said.

Alwyn then asked Randall, the priest, if he could teleport them to the palace. Randall was scared for a moment before he told himself that this Netherwyrm God could not read his mind but merely guessed their destination.

Teleportation was not unheard of but reading minds was something that even demons could not do.

As they instantly arrived at the palace, Randall showed a solemn face. News of his success had yet to reach the palace and even if he had succeeded, he would have been part of the sacrificial ceremony. Dead.

His sons were most likely celebrating and selling the island out to another god who only had eyes for the potential faith that could be gathered from the island’s inhabitants.

He had gone through the ceremony because he had been cornered by his own sons who colluded with the priests of the mainland who constantly came over to tempt them into selling away their people.

Randall had tried to become an astral god on his own for a long time and had almost succeeded if not for his sons being in his way all the time.

If the island was to fall in the hands of a demon or a god who only cares about faith, he would rather see it in the hands of a traveler who did not care about the struggle for power that happened in the high planes.

He convinced some of his followers as he informed them of his plan to call on a traveler and even bet his own life that the new arrival would truly take care of his people rather than being mere subjects for generations under a demon. Faith hungry gods were called demons as they always got what they wanted one way or another.

His followers followed him at the pyramid and they all witnessed a miracle.

Fortunately, Randall had chanced upon Alwyn even if both had no choice in the matter. The former was resurrected to see his dream come true while the latter found himself imprisoned in a new land but coincidently wanted to live in peace for the first time after ascending to godhood.

In the next days, his followers would have enough time to spread the news of the arrival of the three-eyed violet god to the entire island.

As they entered the palace, voices of joy and laughter could be heard. The frown on Randall’s face accentuated.

“His own sons are colluding with the enemy while their father is supposed to be dead. And even funnier, one of his sons now looks older than the new Randall.” Devinn was laughing as he saw and read everything.

“Can’t you stop using that damn power? It's creeping me out.” Complained Alwyn.

“If you used it yourself, you would understand. It is like a drug. Besides, what is creepier? A voice inside your head? Or reading minds? Or both?” Devinn asked.

“…”

On the way, they passed by maids and servants who were all scared by the new faces. They did not know what to be scared about. The violet man shrouded in a mysterious scintillating cloak or their master who appeared fifty years younger. Most immediately understood what had transpired and were already on their knees praying towards the violet man under the astounded gazes of others who immediately did the same.

Randall gave orders left and right and immediately went to see what his sons were up to.

As they arrived in the great room, he found that there was unusual faith undulation.

“A half-astral.” He immediately thought.

Devinn was almost surprised as he said: “I could not see that guy as well. Unless I see them with my own eyes, this power of the all-seeing third eye is now limited with our advancement toward the astral god level when it comes to the detection of astral gods. This one seems weaker though. He should be a half-astral.”

“ Fa…Father?” The eldest son Lukas Jehlfeld asked with a pale face. What he saw before him was another representation of his father from when he was just a little kid. He could not believe what he was seeing but was no fool. The moment Lukas realized what had happened, he looked towards Alwyn with hatred. He was telling himself that if his father did not back down he was going to kill him to pave the way for his ascension to the half-astral level through the God(Demon) of Malice, Jurgen, as the overseer of the Island.

The rest inside the room also understood. They had been laughing at the mediocrity of Randall’s dreams. They thought of him as a crazy old man who was going to sacrifice himself for a God that did not even exist.

His second son Osric was already shaking from head to toe as the younger one, Volkin, was inwardly sighing.

The emissary of the God of Malice, a half-astral, Frediger Machholt, was dispatched to personally convince the sons to join his God’s grace as soon as possible before any other emissary got the news of Randall’s demise. He had succeeded in securing the island for his church and even appointed Lukas as the new overseer with his brothers as assistants.

What was happening was out of everybody’s plans. Seeing a dead man coming back even younger than before was a huge mental blow to everybody who was already envisioning a bright future.

Devinn who was already laughing as he read their thoughts said: “Watch out for the eldest son, he is planning on killing his father already. The God of Malice really chose well…. No wait…he is thinking about letting the emissary do it…”

Lukas gave a deep look to Frediger who nodded in turn.

Frediger then advanced towards Randall saying: “We did not expect your return but since you came back you may as well go back to where you planned on spending this afternoon with your violet flashy friend.” He was walking slowly at first then disappeared into nothingness. He reappeared right next to Randall who was already madly laughing as he saw a hand materializing inside his mangled heart and chest.

Frediger had just used his ability to disappear into the astral world to reappear as his hand was inside Randall’s chest.

Randall’s laughed until he fainted and then died.

“Wow. This guy really has an undying faith. Unwavering until he died. We should keep this kind of people around us in the future.” Devinn said.

Frediger only thought that the old man had lost his mind and did not mind the annoying laughter.

What Frediger was more interested about was the violet man who almost ignored him and just blew a black fire onto the dead body of Randall.

Frediger immediately retreated from the black fire as he asked himself many questions inside his head.

“Is he planning on turning Randall to ash? But who doesn’t run in the face of death?”Frediger asked himself before he saw a silhouette standing up as the fire retreated back into the mouth of the violet man.

Randall was fine and even looked a few years younger.

Frediger’s mind was reeling.

“My thanks to the Netherwyrm God for the timely revival.” Said Randall as he slowly stood up.

“Sorry, Randall, I just wanted to see how astral gods fight.” Said a laughing Alwyn.

“I thought so as well.” Randall nodded.

It was now time for fear to assail Frediger’s heart. His two enemies were having a normal conversation as if what had happened was normal.

Even the three sons were now trembling with fear.

“What heresy is this?” Frediger managed to say as he backed up even more.

Alwyn was infuriated: “Heresy? Is bringing people back from death heresy? Or is killing for nothing heresy?” He then asked Devinn: “Can we eat his faith power?”

“Of course not. The faith if formless yet gives birth to your imagination and represents it in reality. It has nothing to do with our evolution. The power of faith comes from the people who were born in this world and we are only the object, the idea, the target of their faith. That is why we can use it.” Devinn explained.

“Then how do we deal with a man who can enter the astral world at will. Look he is too scared to even stay around.” Said Alwyn as he witnessed the Frediger fading into nothingness.

“He can sense you’re not an astral god or half-astral like he is. He is baiting you to follow him so he can kill you there. Just let him go. If he reappears just shred the space he's in. That should kill him.” Devinn said before he realized something: “So this is fear…it results in demonization even if your deed was not so evil…”

“Will I start turning into a demon if more people know about my power?” Alwyn asked.

“Yes. If they are scared enough to fear you for generations, but do not fret, I can direct the faith power generated from fear to me. I will be the only one to turn into a demon.” Devinn reassured.

It was in fact Devinn’s first plan in splitting from Alwyn. He had to become an independent life form like before and for that to happen he could only start by becoming an astral god or demon.