In the darkness, two points of firefly light looked especially eerie.
A low voice rang out. "—I sense ill fortune and evil in you. Welcome."
The Eternal Thought-Seizer and Crow both looked over.
A giant lizard crawled out from behind the bushes.
It transformed into a tall, burly man wearing a black tank top, his body covered in all sorts of strange tattoos.
"Who are you?" Crow asked.
"You can call me Poison. I'm the God of Malice and Deceit." The man grinned.
The Eternal Thought-Seizer had remained silent until now. At last, he said thoughtfully, "A god... No, you're not an ordinary god..."
"Of course not. The gods you know are merely beings of law, or entities with certain authority within the One Person, Ten Thousand Lives Art. I am a true god," said the man named Poison.
The Eternal Thought-Seizer fell silent briefly. His form gradually shrank and changed into a shrewd-looking man.
"God of Malice, what do you want with us?" he asked.
"We gods will help you gain power as quickly as possible so you can defeat your enemies," Poison said.
"And what's the price?" the Eternal Thought-Seizer asked.
"The price is that you join our side," Poison said.
Crow folded his arms. "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Poison smiled. "In this world, gods who cannot gain faith grow weak, and eventually become mortals."
"Some gods only need all living beings to live in peace to gain an endless supply of power. The God of Life, for example, is praised whenever someone is born. But—"
"For a God of Malice like me to gain faith, I don't need a peaceful, boring world. I need an age of war. That's what gives me a great deal of power."
"This is the fundamental conflict between gods.