A Catastrophic Start

Noven watched this group of "believers" through the Eye of God, his feelings complicated.

He felt that the mortals of this world seemed to have some kind of misunderstanding about him.

Through the power of faith provided by the black-robed people's prayers, Noven figured out the divine authority he possessed.

The "Hunger Power of Hada" requested by the black-robed people was actually a powerful spell called [Hada's Hunger], cast by constructing a spell model.

After turning his gaze upon them and receiving his believers' prayers, Noven instantly mastered all knowledge related to the spell without any instruction. From its origins and development to its various current variants, optimizations, and advanced forms, everything was crystal clear and entirely within his grasp. Both his understanding and proficiency directly reached the pinnacle of the world.

And as long as he expended a portion of his divine power, he could swiftly impart that knowledge and power directly to his believers.

Even if a believer was a complete novice who had never attempted spellcasting, they could immediately become a master who wielded the spell with perfect proficiency through this god-given power.

Noven pondered that his divine authority was absurdly powerful. To ordinary mortals, this was equivalent to skipping the originally lengthy process of research, study, and practice. It could even disregard restrictions such as talent and other external conditions. So long as a god bestowed power, a mortal could directly and completely master the relevant skill.

But that was precisely the problem.

By all reason, such godly power, practically like cheating, should have been sought after by countless mortals.

Yet in Noven's divine senses, apart from the "prayers" he received only because someone might have casually mentioned information related to him, the only people currently offering him clearly directed prayers were this group of black-robed figures beneath the gaze of his Eye of God, who looked every bit like cultists.

Where there was something abnormal, there had to be something suspicious. Noven vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he could not put his finger on it.

At the ritual site within the underground cavern, the leading black-robed man sensed a fluctuation of divine power unlike anything they had felt during their usual prayers and sacrifices. He was instantly ecstatic and cried out:

"Brothers and sisters! The great Father of Omniscience! He has finally answered us! I can feel it! I can feel His gaze!"

"For our great Lord, we are willing to offer everything! We shall obey the Lord's guidance! Please lead us, and let us witness the truth of this world!"

Seeing how devout these black-robed people were, Noven made his decision.

Cultists or not, at least these people can provide me with the power of faith! Only with more sources of faith can I expand my church.

Besides, cultists can still be guided toward good. Power itself has no distinction between good and evil. What matters is how it is used!

In this world where gods existed, the relationship between believers and gods was mutual.

Gods needed faith to sustain their existence, while mortals needed the power bestowed by gods.

Mortals could choose to offer faith to different gods. Through devout prayers or rituals, they had a chance of receiving a god's blessing.

At the same time, mortals had to follow a god's guidance or commandments. Otherwise, the god could choose to reclaim the divine power he had granted at any time and no longer accept that mortal's faith.

Of course, in this relationship of mutual choice, gods undoubtedly held far more initiative.

If a believer's actions failed to meet a god's requirements, the god could unilaterally "blacklist" them at any time. The god would merely lose one source of faith, while the believer might immediately lose most of their power.

Noven held a similar thought at that moment.

If the mortals of this world truly misunderstood his image, then he could start by accepting these black-robed people, granting them power, and then gradually improving Noven's reputation by guiding their actions!

I'll start with the one in the lead and see what happens when I bestow divine power.

Noven tried to establish a channel of divine power between himself and the believer. After a ripple of illusory fluctuations, Noven poured his power into the leading black-robed man's body.

"I have seen it! The truth of this world! Yes, I witnessed everything with my own eyes... urgh... argh...!"

Just as the black-robed man received the god's power with wild joy in his voice, a sudden mutation occurred.

His body beneath the black robe swelled without warning. His originally somewhat thin frame expanded to a full four or five meters tall within mere seconds. Countless rotting clots of blood and hideous tumors rapidly formed out of thin air, bursting through the black robe. Amid agonized screams, layers of flesh piled upon one another, while countless eyeballs, maws, and tentacles grew from its horrifying body.

At that moment, Noven's silence was deafening.

He finally realized what had felt wrong earlier:

Damn it. It wasn't that this world misunderstood me. It was that I seemed to have misunderstood myself.

No wonder only these people were willing to offer me faith. So I'm the evil god himself!

His divine authority over knowledge and enlightenment could indeed allow him to instantly understand and master knowledge or learn skills whenever he received a relevant request from a believer. But along with the transmission of divine power, Noven could clearly sense an aura of chaos and disorder within his power!

As a god, Noven would not be affected by it. But for mortals, the impact of that chaotic aura was enough to instantly destroy their minds, causing severe mutations and turning them into irrational monsters!

The black-robed people at the ritual site witnessed their leader transform into a monster, and they reacted in two completely different ways.

The few members closer to the altar grew even more frenzied and began shouting fanatically:

"The great Lord has finally awakened!"

"Return to the embrace of the Father God!"

"All futures shall open their gates to us!"

Several black-robed people screamed themselves hoarse while fanatically kneeling before the hideous mutant that had just completed its transformation.

Some who had completely lost their minds even charged willingly into the mutant's "embrace."

A spine-chilling sound rang out as bones and flesh were crushed and chewed together. Fresh human bodies were absorbed into it, and the mutant monster's body grew even larger. More tentacles continuously sprouted from within it and lashed out in every direction. Having tasted sweetness, it eagerly began searching for new ingredients.

As for the black-robed people farther from the center, they wailed and shrieked in terror, trembling violently. A few of the more timid ones even had suspicious wet stains visible on their black robes.

This scene practically contained every element an evil god of villains should have.

Those fighting to become monsters, willing to sacrifice even their own lives to their god, were clearly hopelessly deranged fanatics.

Those nearly scared out of their wits were most likely a group of unfortunate fools who knew nothing, tricked into coming here and prepared to be sacrificed to Noven along with the rest.

Noven's missionary endeavor had gotten off to a standard catastrophic start!

Updates were released punctually at 18:00. Before the status change, there would be one update per day; after the status change, there would be two daily public chapters. Once it went premium, stable mass updates would begin.