An invisible pressure instantly enveloped the entire mist, as the Goddess of Life was already prepared to teleport her true body over at any moment to negotiate—or perhaps fight—with the Mist Will.
She muttered, “I hope the Mist Will’s personality is a bit more normal. I really don’t want to deal with another fanatic. But before I try negotiating, I’d better test its strength first… Hm? Why can’t I sense anything?!”
The Goddess of Life tried to detect the Mist Will’s energy fluctuations, but there was nothing at all. That couldn’t be right.
Normally, energy waves from Second Tier up to Eleventh Tier were incredibly obvious and unique. It was impossible not to pick up on them.
She raised her detection threshold, but even then, she still found nothing. That could only mean one thing.
The Mist Will was hiding its strength and didn’t want to be discovered! Looks like this guy’s anti-detection skills are pretty impressive…
“So cautious. No wonder it’s managed to hide right under my nose for so long!” The Goddess of Life immediately felt tremendous pressure from the Mist Will.
This kind of opponent—patient and cautious—was the most troublesome.
But now wasn’t the time to go picking a fight and make another new enemy.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Goddess of Life decided to try sincerity first.
Now that they were at a level akin to kings, there was no need for petty tricks.
Who knows, maybe being honest could lead to a friendly relationship.
So, the Goddess of Life began to mobilize her true body, planning to descend in person and attempt the first negotiation with the Mist Will.
“There’s just one little problem. Why do I get the feeling this little snake… that is, the Mist Will, doesn’t have the presence a king should?”
Looking at the slender, round, gray-white snake, a hint of doubt appeared in the Goddess of Life’s mind.
Why did this so-called king-level Mist Will have tears at the corners of its eyes and wander its own territory looking utterly dejected?
Moreover, whenever it encountered Adventurers weaker than Second Tier on the way, it would even proactively avoid them and hide behind a tree, giving off an… utterly cowardly impression?
In short, it didn’t have the aura of a master of Disaster at all—more like a little lost pet.
“Could there be another possibility…”
The Goddess of Life tried detecting the Mist Will’s energy again, but this time she set the threshold very low.
Unlike energy above Second Tier, energy below Second Tier was much more chaotic and impure, so normally, such low levels were ignored during detection.
After all, for those skilled in energy detection, existences below Second Tier were hardly worth noting.
Very quickly, the Goddess of Life sensed a very special, but also similar to other low-level creatures, energy fluctuation in the Mist Will. It was extremely faint, which meant…
The Mist Will in front of her might not even be at First Tier?
“So this isn’t an ancient, slumbering king-level Disaster Will, but a newborn will—one that feels lost and utterly weak in the world around it?!”
The Goddess of Life was shocked. This was her first time, since her own birth, seeing a newly born Disaster Will.
Back when she’d just become an Adventurer, the fame of the Four Great Disasters was already known far and wide—they were the pinnacle of power in the world at the time.
Gradually, the Goddess of Life’s emotions grew more and more excited. She had actually discovered a newly born Disaster Will!
What did this mean? It meant she could try to guide and indoctrinate the Mist Will into becoming her own underling, or even attempt to seize the little Disaster Will’s Authority, so that at the right moment, she could control the Mist of Calamity!
Maxed out luck!
According to the gods’ understanding, the existence of a Disaster Will was destined to grow into a king, utterly impossible to ignore—and prone to stirring up trouble.
What’s more, in this era of the gods, Disaster was an unstable element and one of the greatest threats to divine authority.
However, if handled well, Disasters could become very reliable allies.
For example, the Beast God of the North Empire liked cooperating with Disasters—their Authority was undeniably powerful.
But for the Goddess of Life, as one of the Five Great Human Gods, Disaster allies weren’t important, because the Five Great Gods already formed the strongest alliance in the world.
So when facing the Mist Will, her first thought was to eliminate an unstable factor:
“Maybe I could just stomp it to death right now… But what if the Disasters have some special connection and immediately know the Mist of Calamity was killed by me, and come for revenge?”
Besides, even if I stomp it now, in a hundred years a new will would surely be born from the mist, and I could never stomp them all. It would just make things more unstable…
After watching the Mist Will a while longer, the Goddess of Life noticed that the little snake seemed truly naive and ignorant—it had so much to learn about the world.
In that case:
“Maybe I should treat it like the Saintesses—give it some benefits, raise it, and try to earn its trust. Make it my friend, then see if it’ll ‘lend’ the Disaster Authority to a good friend for a while…”
The Goddess of Life had already started plotting.
She planned to have a “chance encounter” with the Mist Will, showing the persona of the Goddess of Life—love and peace—and then guide and help it grow as a mentor, shaping its worldview, gaining its trust, and at the right time having it willingly “lend” her a portion of its Authority.
After all, Disaster Authority was innate to the Disaster Will—impossible to steal, and impossible to transfer completely.
The Goddess of Life had no way to obtain highest-level Authority, but sub-Authority shouldn’t be a problem.
And as long as she got sub-Authority, she could work with the other gods to directly seal the Mist Will.
Then she alone could control the Mist of Calamity!
Anyway, once the Mist Will reached a certain level, it would surely see through her little schemes.
By then, her reputation among the high-level would be impossible to hide, and the Mist Will would definitely find out.
Those missing Saintesses were a huge red flag for the Goddess of Life. So it was best to find an opportune moment to seal it.
As long as the highest-level Mist Will wasn’t unsealed, the Goddess of Life with sub-Authority would be the true master of the Mist in all but name!
“So for now, I’d better just watch and wait—not be too obvious. Wait for the right moment for a chance encounter with this little snake… Oh, and I have to hide its existence. I don’t want it to come into contact with other gods or high-level beings too soon…”
Gradually, the Goddess of Life’s gaze faded away, and at the same time, another strange energy suddenly swept across the entire Dea Plateau…
“Alarm magic? Looks like the Goddess of Life is taking Little Mist’s existence very seriously.”
Within the mist, Truth, who had been observing the Goddess of Life from beginning to end, also realized how interested she was in Little Mist.
It gave the impression of someone with a deep mind, plotting something shady—just with no evidence.
“Forget it. I’ll just assume the Goddess of Life has her eye on Little Mist with bad intentions. I trust my sixth sense. After all, you can’t make it to Twelfth Tier in this world on love alone. Anyone who’s become a god must be a real schemer!”
Soon, ten minutes later, Truth silently appeared behind Little Mist, who was wandering the mist.
Without warning, she suddenly grabbed the frightened Little Mist, pulled its face close to hers, and seriously said:
“Listen, little guy, I know there’s a lot about this world you don’t understand yet, and I’ll allow you to learn it. But on your journey, you’re bound to meet all sorts of weird people, so I’m warning you now—most of the people in this world are a bunch of bastards, got it!
They’re all a bunch of suddenly revived Binary Lifeforms. Adventuring and fighting are written in their base code, and you are the treasure they dream of. They’ll catch you and display you in the Rare Collection Hall, or chop off your head to hang on the Trophy Rack, or even steal your Disaster Authority so you’ll never control the mist again!
But there are good people too. Like me… Hm? What’s with that face—what, am I not good enough for you! Don’t you realize I might be the only one in this world willing to share Authority with you? Do you know I might be the only one in this world willing to accept you? Do you know? Nod for me!
Mm, good, nodding is fine, but why do you look so unwilling? What does that mean!
Forget it, I guess you won’t understand my good intentions for a while yet. Let me put it simply—listen up…
You’re not allowed to be friends with them, you can only be friends with me! I’m the one who treats you best in this whole world, understand!”