Tide of the Heart

"Dark Dragon God?" Ronan blinked. "What's that?"

"One of the water gods in Ban City's traditional mythology..."

"Does Ban City actually have supernatural deities? I remember the conversion rate for religions across civilizations after the Deformation Era was pretty dismal... Ah, put a little more pressure on my spine."

Snake Language said nothing. She simply pressed harder, determined to satisfy Ronan. At the same time, she quietly observed him. This was her first extended contact with him in the Real World. Up close, the man himself felt very different from the oppressive Dominator of the Cloud Top World. She needed to experience that difference, reconcile it, and revise her understanding.

Ronan could sense her covert scrutiny, but he let her look. He enjoyed Snake Language's service, but that did not mean he had to put on the airs of someone above her. He liked what he liked, and comfort was comfort. By the same token, when it came to information, he either knew it or he didn't, and something either interested him or it didn't.

Ronan's attitude drew Yin Le into the role of lecturer before she realized it. She had prepared thoroughly, after all. She opened the Virtual Work Area, displayed the material she had collected, and highlighted the key points:

"This concerns the source of Extraordinary Power among Ban City's modern cults and shrines. According to Ban City's Shinto tradition, the Osawa Shrine isn't the main shrine dedicated to the Dark Dragon God. They say they worship his 'rough spirit,' invited from the main shrine. It represents the deity's violent, powerful aspect—something like a malevolent incarnation.

"So, strictly speaking, it's the 'Dark Dragon God's Rough Spirit.' His appearance and divine power differ from those of the Dark Dragon God in myth... And that difference is crucial."

Ban City's