Could It Be That Bamer?

"Who am I?"

"Where am I?"

"What should I do?"

Though he had been born billions of years ago,

Hermes had only been conscious for a relatively short time. He had never experienced anything like this.

"Take the weapon, accept the warrior's offer to follow you, and then both of you swear the sacred Supreme God Oath."

Brittany was in a terrible hurry!

She had never seen a follower of such low status as Hermes.

But, driven by her need to witness the sacred ritual, she still guided Hermes through it step by step.

"May the Supreme God of Destiny bear witness. I, Bamer Salif, swear to follow Lord Hermes to the death. From this day forward, I will make my lord's interests my own and pursue what my lord pursues!"

After quietly listening to Salif finish his Supreme God Oath, Hermes suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Fortunately, Brittany was there to help, a fervent supporter of sacred rituals.

He was stunned for only an instant, so the people witnessing everything weren't worried.

However, most of them were still completely bewildered.

"May the Supreme God of Destiny bear witness. I, Hermes, accept Bamer Salif's allegiance. From this day forward, I will regard him as a brother and companion!"

After ceremoniously accepting the High-grade Divine Artifact Long Saber from Salif, Hermes finally completed the sacred ritual.

"Rumble!"

Thunder suddenly boomed in the sky. A faint, intangible feeling arose in the souls of both Hermes and Salif.

Only they knew that the sacred ritual had been completed.

"How did it go?" Brittany quickly asked. "Did your Follower Ritual succeed?"

Excitement shone in her eyes. She had no idea that she had just created and witnessed history.

A Five-star Demon following a Middle God who had only just completed the Demon Assessment was practically unprecedented in Hell.

"It worked!"

Salif said with a smile.

He had decided on the spur of the moment to follow Hermes. Worried that Hermes might refuse, he had gone straight for the decisive move.

There was still a risk of rejection, but it was small. Salif had gambled that everyone would be willing to witness the Follower Ritual.

That was an exceedingly rare opportunity.

The follower had to be completely willing, and the ritual had to be initiated of their own free will. The very birth of such a sacred ritual was full of surprises.

Things had turned out just as he'd expected.

Hermes hadn't refused.

Hermes didn't understand the ritual, but the Demon Castle had Brittany, a fervent supporter of sacred rituals, so Salif hadn't even needed to guide him himself.

"It worked!"

Hermes nodded. He knew about the Supreme God Oath, but he hadn't known about the Follower Ritual.

"So there's something like this in the Coiling Dragon World?"

What one gained from books was ultimately superficial; true understanding came from putting it into practice. Reading about something and experiencing it firsthand were completely different.

History books recorded the rise and fall of dozens, or at most hundreds, of people, while history was the real experience of billions.

There was no comparison.

"Wait a moment. What did you say your name was? Bamer Salif?" Hermes asked as he came back to his senses.

"That's right, my lord!"

Whatever anyone else thought, Salif immediately slipped into his role and began acting like a follower.

"Bamer? Bamer?"

"That can't be right!"

Hermes murmured to himself.

"Bamer. That should be a powerful figure from the Fire Element God Plane, shouldn't it?"

He wasn't asking anyone. He was trying to find a long-faded memory. Hundreds of thousands of years had passed, and back then he'd been an ordinary person from Blue Star.

The fact that he still remembered the name Bamer already hinted that it was no ordinary name.

"That's right. How did you know I came from the Fire Element God Plane, my lord?"

Salif—or rather, Bamer—was extremely surprised.

Bamer was his given name, while Salif was his family name.

But in Hell, he had never revealed his given name. He always went by his family name, Salif.

"I was born in a Material Plane and went to the Fire Element God Plane first. But I couldn't find the thrill of risking my life in adventures there. Back then, the cost of traveling wasn't too high, so I spent all my savings to come straight to Hell."

Hermes nodded.

Compared with the Supreme Planes, the Elemental God Realm still lacked a deep foundation.

Hadn't he come to Hell, too?

"I just don't know if this Bamer is the one I remember!"

Hermes thought.

So he didn't ask any more questions.

He would find out eventually.

A mere Five-star Demon wasn't valuable enough to recruit, but if he really was that Bamer, then everything would be different.

This was the most sacred Follower Ritual in the Supreme Planes, performed under the witness of the Supreme God of Destiny.

There had been no coercion and no inducements. Bamer had initiated everything himself.

You can't blame Old Black for this!

"Salif, you still haven't told me what exactly happened to you."

Everything had happened too quickly. The white-haired middle-aged man was completely bewildered.

I'd only asked a question. How did all this happen at once? Did any of it have anything to do with what I asked?

Was I even involved?

He was speechless.

"Haha, Aiken, wasn't I just about to tell you? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Bamer Salif said with a smile.

"A Middle God can already kill a Five-star Demon, and one who cultivates the Laws of Death, no less.

"His Material Attack is stronger than mine. How could I not follow someone like that?"

Bamer thought he'd gotten a good deal.

Hermes thought he hadn't lost out, either. He'd gained a follower and, on top of that, encountered a possibility so fantastical it was almost unbelievable.

A huge win, right?

"Didn't you ask me whether I'd failed the mission?"

"Right!"

The white-haired middle-aged man nodded.

"You also said you'd succeeded."

"I did fail, but my lord succeeded!"

Fear flickered in Bamer's eyes. Without Hermes, he might have been trapped under Basim's Soul Control forever.

"Huh?"

The white-haired middle-aged man was astonished.

"Your lord succeeded?"

"So Fort Master Zhe Lan was killed by Hermes?"

Aiken froze, feeling as if someone were messing with him.

"So Fort Master Zhe Lan was killed by Hermes. Isn't he just a Middle God?"

Aiken was so excited that his voice rang out through the Metal Life's cabin. Everyone inside heard him.

After all, there wasn't much room.

It had originally held over a thousand people and was divided into a front and rear cabin, but that was no longer necessary.

The two cabins had been joined, and the Metal Life had shrunk in size to fly faster.

"Do you think we should follow that Hermes?"

"Everyone seems to think a lot of that ritual. If we latch onto someone that powerful, passing the Demon Assessment should be easy from now on, right?"

They started discussing it.

The Purple-haired Youth who had bought the Blocking Gold Saber was not among them.

Not only did he refuse to join the discussion, but a faint trace of mockery also flickered in his purple eyes.

"What kind of worthless rabble would entertain such ridiculous fantasies?"

They put the thought into action. More than ten Middle Gods who had barely survived and hadn't obtained the Blocking Gold Saber suddenly ran from the back of the cabin to stand before Hermes.

Since this was the Demon Castle's Metal Life, and the Demon Assessment was already over, Hermes had no reason to stop anyone from approaching.

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

More than ten Middle Gods knelt on one knee before Hermes and said almost in unison:

"Hermes, we're willing to follow you. We only ask that you help us complete the Demon Assessment!"