For the entirety of his oath, he begged to make the pain stop.
"Master, master, please... I beg you, please..."
"Oh no," Darren said as he averted his gaze and scratched his head. "I don't know how to remove this itch!"
Hearing his honest confession, Murphy was left stunned as he peered into his eyes.
When the guard heard this, he continued to weep, growing anxious by the second. He only wished they would grant him the sweet release of death.
"What do you mean? Let me give it a try."
Murphy unsheathed his sword and launched his sword intent. Soon the guard's flesh and blood were wiped clean.
"Come on. Let's patch him up with our god's power."
Darren nodded in agreement. Both of them coordinated with their god's power to fix the guard's distorted body.
Two hours later, the flesh and blood that escaped the anatomy of the guard grew right back and reunited with his limbs.
"Oh, my!"
Exhausted from the entire ordeal, the guard lay on the ground to steady his frantic breathing.
"I feel as though I've been reborn! Thank you for healing me, sir." After collecting his breath, the guard knelt down on the ground obediently and kowtowed.
"It worked! How'd you come up with this idea, Master Murphy?" Darren asked out of curiosity.
"When I felt an unbearable itch take over my body, I summoned the sword intent and slashed at my flesh and blood to be rid of it. It helped alleviate it enough to become tolerable. To be precise, this kind of poison restricts the itch on one part of the body and it won't spread," Murphy explained as he stared at the guard.
"Oh, so that's what it is," Darren said, nodding to his explanation.
"Your name is Abbot, right?" Darren addressed the guard, who remained knelt on the ground with his head lowered.
Without waiting for the guard to respond, he added, "I have a question for you. The Gambling King, Maxwell Tang, took a girl back to the castle. Do you know where she's being kept?"
"No, sir. I'm afraid I don't know. We're only ordered to keep our eyes and ears open while on duty. If we locate cultivators at the low-level Celestial God Realm, we're expected to report back immediately," Abbot answered, still keeping his head lowered in respect.
"That's right. I'm assigning you on your first task as my believer. Go back and gather information for me about what's going on inside," Darren ordered.
"I'm sorry, sir. But I can't do that. As a low-level guard, I'm not allowed inside the castle," Abbot said with a solemn expression.
"What?" Darren raised his brows, frustrated at his reply.
"So, you're telling me that all my efforts were in vain?"
But on the other hand, Murphy felt more anxious than Darren for every minute they wasted. Consumed by his helpless self, Murphy balled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw.
"Three thousand in total, sir. But there are one hundred and fifty of them on duty today," one of his believers spoke up.
"What is the highest level of the guards?"
"There are two leaders at the low-level of the Celestial God Realm, sir. They're assigned to be next to the Gambling King at all times, and they won't show themselves so easily."
"I see. All of you, head back to your positions and bring more guards to me," Darren ordered with his hands behind his back.
"Yes, sir."
In synchronization, each of the believers flew away to get to their respective spots.
Executing this process in a loop, Darren continued to add more numbers in his ranks. Soon, he had enrolled a hundred and forty guards as his believers.
Simultaneously eight of them were killed accidentally by Murphy failing to suppress his strength or them resisting too much and giving into the pain inflicted upon them.
The remaining two were servants of the Gambling King, and they were both at the Celestial God Realm. Darren wasn't sure whether he could convince them and gave up the idea.
After appointing all these believers, whose cultivation levels were at the top level of the Star God Realm, Darren's black god's power upgraded substantially.
"It's time. Let's go, Master Murphy!"
With over a hundred helpers following their tracks, Darren and Murphy marched confidently towards the castle, without the fear of being spotted.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Nobilis of War