I Have Become A Demon God. Did You Just Ask Me To Be A Minor Villain? - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: More terrible speculations! The Blessing Ceremony begins!

Su Mo’s villainous actions were exposed in the arena, causing the protagonists to become agitated. Early on, the protagonists had more advantages as compared to the villains. The villains, for instance, did not have any value to their name, whereas each protagonist had a value of 1. This value helped them determine the level of any nearby villain. Usually, the protagonists used it sparingly since they each had only one chance.

Although, if a protagonist had a silver level, they would be granted one more chance, bringing their total to two. Likewise, a gold-level protagonist would start with three points and an additional chance. Nevertheless, the number of chances would be irrelevant if any protagonist were to eliminate a villain in the early stages and earn 100 protagonist points. The group of protagonists had become quite animated.

“After hearing what you’ve said, I’ve decided not to go to the capital. The New Moon Kingdom is so vast, I can settle down wherever I want and thrive,” remarked one of the group’s protagonists.

“I’m not going either,” chimed in another protagonist who hadn’t yet arrived in the capital.

As for himself, he immediately headed home. “I still can’t understand how an Earl could be a silver-level villain. Typically, silver-level villains are at the duke level, and marquis-level villains are few and far between,” I said, trying to make sense of the situation.

“This world is a strictly hierarchical society. Regardless of how wealthy an Earl may be, they can’t surpass the Duke regarding raw power. Even surpassing a Marquis is rare. To do so would be to violate the established rules, and the King and other nobles wouldn’t stand for it,” explained one of the group’s more knowledgeable members.

“He must have some hidden strength,” another member suggested. “I’ve been saying it for a while now – there’s something off about the Earl of the Blackstone Territory. He invented those things far too early,” added another member.

“…”

Several protagonists were discussing a matter when others joined in. “Do you think he rose to silver rank by killing the protagonist?” one of them asked.

Upon hearing this, the group fell silent for a moment. “Impossible!” exclaimed one of the protagonists. “To upgrade from bronze to silver, you must kill five protagonists. It’s only been ten days, and the protagonists are scattered. How could he have killed five in such a short time?”

“That’s right,” added another protagonist. “And even if the villain uses cheats, he still needs to spend villain points to acquire our cheats, and the upgrade process is slower.”

All the protagonists denied the possibility of the villain achieving silver rank by killing the protagonists. They knew that the strength of their identity determined the initial rank of the villain after time travel. While there were several Duke-level villains in the capital, there were few with silver-rank strength initially.

Even after more than ten days, Duke-level villains had only managed to eliminate a few careless protagonists, and many villains were still left. If one or two protagonists had been killed in the past ten days, it was not enough to account for the rise of a silver-rank villain. Therefore, the protagonists were not afraid of silver-rank villains as long as they remained vigilant.

……..

What if the Earl of Blackstone Territory started as a low-level villain but managed to kill a higher-ranked villain, advancing to the silver level? To make matters worse, he also took down four or five protagonists within days, earning himself a fearsome reputation.

Some of the surviving protagonists found it hard to believe that this could happen so quickly, as it was difficult for a silver-level villain to achieve such a feat in such a short time, especially since the Earl had been based in the capital and had only dealt with a single provocation at the beginning. This led to speculation that the Earl had been concealing his true strength all along.

The contradiction was puzzling. If the Earl was so powerful, why was he originally considered to be a bronze-level villain? However, one protagonist offered a possible explanation: “Perhaps the Earl had been holding back his strength and couldn’t reveal it until he had the chance to strike.”

Regardless of the reason, the situation was dire. The Earl’s swift rise to power had left many protagonists reeling and unsure of how to proceed. “It doesn’t matter,” one said, “I’ll take advantage of the chaos and escape the capital while I still can.”

In any case, it was clear that the Earl of Blackstone Territory was a force to be reckoned with, and the surviving protagonists would have to work together if they wanted to stand any chance of defeating him.

Some of the protagonists had yet to have the intention to continue discussing. They were not afraid of other silver-rank villains, but the Earl of Blackstone Territory somehow made them flustered. The protagonist was uneasy and had a terrible feeling that his guess was accurate. He feared that the Earl of Blackstone Territory had upgraded by killing him.

He was no longer interested in discussing it, and neither did some other protagonists in the square. They had lost interest in discussing and closed the protagonist panel one after another. They were also uneasy. Originally, they were most wary of the duke-level villains, but now the Earl of Blackstone Territory had become the biggest threat in their hearts.

They began to realise that the Earl of Blackstone Territory, who had been doing nothing since he came to the capital and settled as a protagonist, was probably planning an unimaginable attack. Why else would he deliberately hint at them? These protagonists were not stupid. After understanding these key points individually, their faces became increasingly gloomy. This formed a sharp contrast with the surrounding people who cheered the name of “Earl of Blackstone Territory”.

……..

As the protagonists were worried, several duke-level villains saw things from a different angle. They couldn’t verify Su Mo’s villain level, so they condescendingly discussed the matter from the perspective of being the overall controller. These duke-level villains had big ambitions, and their plan involved dealing with all the protagonists in the capital at once. Once done, they would divide up the protagonists’ golden fingers and villain points and use their resources to enhance their strength further.

Their second step was to eliminate the protagonists in the Crescent Moon Kingdom. This would enable them to gain more villain points, increase their level of golden fingers, and remove threats to their control.

The internal threat to the kingdom was relatively significant. Even if protagonists from other kingdoms grew to a certain level, it would be challenging for them to cause trouble in other kingdoms. This was similar to before crossing over. Even if one possessed extraordinary abilities in the Dragon Kingdom, they could still be crushed if they were not careful in northern Burma.

Perhaps they were the type that did not use anesthesia unless their strength was strong enough to make a kingdom afraid of them or if they only dealt with minor characters. Their third step was, of course, to overtly or covertly control the entire Crescent Kingdom. After gaining control of the Crescent Kingdom, they could carry out the fourth step, entering the world of the gods. These individuals had very detailed plans, so they were so formidable.

The Earl of the Blackstone Territory was a thorn in their side, mainly due to his reputation in the Crescent Kingdom and his favour with the Queen. Although, the Earl of the Blackstone Territory had never intended to join them. Not only did he refuse to join, but it seemed that he wanted to start anew.

…….

“The Earl of the Blackstone Territory!” The people in the square continued to shout. A villain of duke-level status snorted softly and spoke, viewing the people’s behaviour as an ignorant group frenzy.

Meanwhile, on the carriage, Queen Crescent Moon tightly held Su Mo’s hand and made a bold decision. She raised Su Mo’s hand high, causing the cheers of the people to become even louder. The sound waves soared into the sky, blowing away even the clouds.

Finally, the carriage carrying Su Mo and the Crescent Queen arrived at the cathedral below the temple, where a large platform had been set up for those eligible to be blessed by the Goddess. Cardinal Fellen and other bishops and higher-ranking members of the Holy See were already waiting there.

When Bishop Fellen saw the actions of the Crescent Queen, his eyelids twitched, and the other bishops behind him coughed lightly. After all, the current Crescent Queen was still a saint, even if she was in the process of resigning, and her actions were out of order.

“Do not cough. I am not blind. The Earl of Blackstone Territory is the one whom the Goddess told me to grant the holy order to, so let it be,” Bishop Fellen revealed the matter in a single sentence. There was nothing else he could say. They might have been dissatisfied if it were someone else, but Su Mo was different. The Crescent Goddess had emphatically explained her choice. According to Bishop Fellen’s guess, Su Mo might become the Son of God. The Holy Son was holding hands with the Holy Maiden… It made sense.

Bishop Fellen comforted himself with this thought. The carriage arrived, and a few maids helped Queen Crescent and Su Mo out of the car. The cheers in the square finally subsided. “Queen, Earl, please,” Bishop Fellen gestured for them to follow him. The Crescent Queen went in to change her clothes, and Bishop Fellen couldn’t leave Su Mo outside.

After entering the cathedral with several maids, the Crescent Queen went to a special dressing room while Bishop Fellen accompanied Su Mo. “The Earl is in good spirits. For today’s blessing ceremony, the Goddess will certainly pay attention to the Earl,” Bishop Fellen chatted casually with Su Mo.

About half an hour later, the Queen of the Crescent Moon emerged wearing a simple yet refreshing and holy maiden costume. Accompanied by some nuns, she stepped up to the middle of the high platform and prayed there. With her arrival, the light in the temple gradually changed. There seemed to be music in the sky, and many flowers fell from the sky. The blessing ceremony had officially begun!