Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 159: A God in Terra?

Chapter 159: A God in Terra?

Vlad and Jormungandr could not help but glance at each other, their faces mirroring their souls’ solemn and grim aura. He had no way to describe the unconscious and tongueless man on the ground other than a religious fanatic, and who knew how many more like him they could find in the Azarin Empire?

Ultimately, the duo gave up on trying to obtain more information from Samuel. The man might not have a tongue, but he could still write. However, if they forced him, he might chew his own fingers to avoid revealing anything from the Goddess. There was no point in wasting more of their time with a person like that.

After placing Samuel to the side in a dark corner and burning the blood on the ground, Vlad opened the door of the interrogation room. He told one of the guards, "Bring me another of the criminals from the isolation confinement cells."

"Yes, Your Highness!" The soldier immediately shouted, adopting a respectful stance before bowing and walking toward one of the cells with the other three guards.

The guards did not take long to bring another man from the Azarin Empire into the interrogation room. They were curious about the fate of the man with the burned arm but knew better than to ask questions and left as soon as the task was completed.

Vlad focused on the man in front of him, who had a blank expression on his face due to the mental exhaustion and trauma of solitary confinement. Just like with Samuel, Vlad gave the man a potion to help him regain lucidity.

After the prisoner’s eyes regained some focus, Vlad began asking questions. He first confirmed the information obtained from Samuel before trying to get more details about the Azarin Empire’s military power and goals.

The man attempted to resist, frowning and showing unwillingness, but he was too tired and exhausted to pose proper resistance. Eventually, he answered all the questions.

The bulk of the military force seemed to remain in the Azarin Capital, with soldiers either gathering survivors or fulfilling other darker and more bloody missions. As for the goal of the Azarin Empire, the man only knew its purpose was to expand and restore Azarin’s people’s former glory.

Vlad also learned the reason why they attacked Mitchell’s group and the refugees. It was to steal their food and anything valuable they might have. They were just soldiers committing thievery under the command of the empire and nothing more.

After learning about the government, logistics, geography, and military aspects of the Azarin Empire, Vlad took a deep breath and addressed the subject he was most interested in, "Talk to me about the Goddess of the Azarin Empire."

With every other question, the man frowned and tried to resist but eventually broke. Yet as the information about the Goddess was preyed upon, immense terror arose in his eyes to the point that he gained clarity.

"Goddess, what have..." Horror arose in the man’s eyes as he realized his action, but before he could do something crazy like Samuel, Vlad had already appeared next to him and knocked him unconscious.

Vlad could not have people biting their own tongues, so he had prepared. The moment the man showed signs of craziness, he immediately knocked him unconscious. However, the frown on his face only grew stronger, as it seemed that it was not just the high-ranking officers under the influence of the Goddess.

Wanting to ensure he obtained every last shred of information from the group, Vlad interrogated all the Azarin Empire’s squad members, learning more details about the empire’s government and military.

However, whenever he tried to pry about the knowledge of the empire’s Goddess, the men would experience such immense horror and terror that they would wake up and regain their focus, forcing Vlad to knock them unconscious to prevent them from doing something crazy.

Vlad glanced at the unconscious criminals with a complicated expression. When it came to their military duty, they were not much different than regular soldiers. Yet, when something related to the Goddess came into play, they transformed into fanatics who would rather chew their own tongues off than reveal anything.

Such a sharp change in behavior suggested a form of powerful mental manipulation and brainwashing, which was in tune with the power and modus operandi of Gods.

"Boss, could a God really have arisen in Terra and taken control over the Azarin Empire?" Jormungandr could not help but ask, his expression full of solemnity and gravity at the dangerous situation in which they found themselves.

Vlad remained silent for a few seconds as he heard the words from the small yellow cat. His knowledge about Gods was not very deep, as he had to rely on the information obtained from Asmael’s memories, the Level 5 angel.

Humans, angels, and even demons and devils could become Gods. However, according to Asmael’s memories, the path to doing so is challenging, and people need to become Legendary before even considering it. Even then, Gods are limited, and unlike in unique realms like Heaven, they cannot visit the terrestrial plane and live in their Divine Kingdoms.

"For a God to have ascended from Terra, that person should have become a Legend in less than a year and gone through the extremely complicated process of ascending to Godhood. The chances of that are so small that it is virtually impossible." Vlad immediately discarded the idea that someone rose to Godhood in the New Plane, but that did not answer the question of where this so-called Goddess came from.

There is no greater danger than the unknown. That phrase has been strong and relevant for thousands of years and applies very well to this scenario.

The Azarin Empire did not really worry Vlad, as even with their superior equipment, his power would soon crush them. However, when the Goddess came into play, everything became much more complicated, as he had no idea of the entity’s power or identity. The only thing he knew was that it could evoke such devotion and fear that people would rather kill themselves than reveal anything about her.

"Ahhh, I need more information." Vlad could not help but sigh as the interrogation revealed valuable knowledge but planted even more critical questions and cast a dark aura over the Azarin Country.

Until he had more information about her, Vlad knew he would have to be very careful when dealing with the warmongering Azarin Empire, as he lacked the strength to challenge the power of a God.

Sharpness and determination soon returned to Vlad’s eyes as his willpower allowed him to regain his focus. He then turned toward the sixteen unconscious soldiers of the Azarin Empire.

"Let’s bring them to the underground level of the Xaos Tower." Vlad’s eyes were cold as he said those words. They would no longer answer his questions, but that did not mean they could no longer be useful.

Jormungandr nodded as he cast several Magic Hands and grabbed some of the men. These people were willing to kill women and children to steal their food, so they deserved to be sent to Hell.

Vlad grabbed four of the criminals himself and left the dungeon with Jormungandr. By the time the duo finished the interrogations, it was already night, so they were able to move across the streets without anyone noticing them.

It took three trips before they placed all the soldiers from the Azarin Empire in the underground level of the Xaos Tower.

Vlad did not waste time as he used the Soulbinder’s Claim’s Runic Formation to mark the souls of the criminals before placing them in the Vengeful Formation. Like before, the flames of the Legendary devil emerged and took all the people marked for Hell and left behind crystal spheres with large drops of blood.

In the end, the sixteen soldiers of the Azarin Empire granted Vlad seven new Mortal Tier Bloodlines and two Champion Tier Bloodlines.

Of course, the A.I. Chip detected the Legendary devil’s spirit mark in all of those bloodlines, but that was where Jormungandr came in. The small yellow cat used his Devil’s Bane Elixir to cleanse those devil bloodlines while improving their power and purity.

Vlad and Jormungandr could not leave the Silent Wind Military Base as they were the one force that ensured its security since the soldiers were either marching toward Nagan Mountain or rescuing people.

However, that did not mean the young man and the small yellow cat would remain idle as they began to work on the runes and magic formations required for the first floor of the Xaos Tower.

Days went by as Vlad and Jormungandr improved the tower. The number of refugees reaching the Silent Wind Military Base kept rising, and soon, it was starting to be packed again with soldiers.

Over the last two months, the forces of the Xaos Kingdom had explored all of Inkmetal City and finally finished the rescue operation.