Chapter 102: Ch 101: Taking over command

Aiden felt relieved, but he knew better than to let his guard down. Goddess Apophis was in a good mood right now, and he needed to keep it like this.

Goddess Apophis then turned her attention toward Aeloria and the small butterfly resting on her shoulder.

"Fine. I will allow you and your goddess to live because my dear Aiden wants you to live. But you better live like you are no longer alive. Never let me see the hair on your skin. Do you understand?"

Aeloria looked up in surprise at the fact that she was being allowed to live. Moreover, her goddess was being allowed to live.

"Thank you-"

"But remember this. From this day onward, your goddess no longer has any claim over Aiden. And do not speak to me unless I ask for it."

Aeloria hesitated before nodding.

"I understand."

"Good. At least one of you is intelligent enough to not cross me."

Goddess Apophis smiled, but there was still a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"If either of you tries to take him away from me again, I will not show the same mercy twice."

Aeloria hugged the butterfly closer to her chest to protect her, and she nodded fervently. She had no intention of provoking this terrifying goddess again.

As for Aiden, he simply let out a quiet sigh.

’Well, at least I managed to prevent another death today.’

But he also knew that things were far from over.

Goddess Paphelia had lost her followers, her power, and almost everything she had built.

And now, Aiden had a new problem.

He needed to figure out what to do with a weakened goddess who was technically his enemy.

After all, he could not bring her back to their territory, but leaving her here was also a problem. The people of this domain would need time to get to know their new goddess, and having the previous one here would only make things more awkward.

’The best thing to do would be to exile them. But then they won’t survive, and I don’t want that either.’

In the end, he decided to send Aeloria and her goddess to Lord Rain. He was an ex-god, so he was the best person to take care of an ex-goddess and her followers.

At least, they both could act as messengers against each other and keep the others on their toes.

...

Aiden ended up sending Aeloria and her goddess with Caelion once he arrived.

The reason he went to do this task himself was because Goddess Apophis was still sulking a little, and Aiden did not want to worsen her mood any more than it had already worsened.

Once that situation was taken care of, Aiden immediately went down to the village to finish distributing the yellow-fever medicine.

This time, his goddess accompanied him under his clothes, and her presence made Aiden’s presence feel divine as well.

The people noticed this and looked at him in awe.

"M-My lord...did something happen? You feel different-"

"My goddess’s blessing is with me, and her presence has finally reached this village. I am sure her protection will ensure many happy days ahead."

These words made people smile in relief, and they started to accept Goddess Apophis even more. This village was quick at adapting.

Once the villagers had accepted Goddess Apophis, it was time to start developing this area. But before that, he needed to inform the villagers and get their permission.

Or rather, Aiden needed to manipulate them into accepting the developments he was proposing.

So he called for the villagers to come and express their opinions to him while he addressed them at the same time.

Because Aiden was their savior, anyone who could come decided to attend. And the people believed in his goodwill, so they did not protest much either.

This was how Aiden ended up sending a letter back home.

Because this village was near enough, the dwarfs arrived within a day and started renovating the temple first.

Aiden intended to use this as his Goddess’s base even if she looked annoyed by this...mainly because this was the best place in the village to be seen from all sides.

The dwarfs worked hard and restored the main chamber within a day along with a secure vault where Aiden put the portal to be able to connect to his village and other places.

It made going back and forth easier, and Aiden quickly headed back to assure the main village that both he and his goddess were alright.

Along with this, he also made sure to check up on the demon attack and got to know what happened to Lumi and Sasha.

Luckily, they were both fine after being saved by Caelion, and Lumi had even awakened her inner power.

Still, the fact that this all happened was eye-opening.

They needed to tighten their security, and fast. This time, it was a small-scale invasion. But they were becoming significant enough for the other religious organizations to start paying attention soon.

Aiden understood that this was only the beginning. The attack had exposed too many weaknesses in their current defenses, and he could not afford to ignore them anymore.

The first thing he needed was a proper defensive system around the village.

He also needed more people capable of fighting.

The dwarfs were useful for construction, while the half-phoenixes had their own abilities, but neither group was enough to protect everyone if another attack happened.

’I need to start training the villagers as well. Even if they cannot become powerful, they should at least know how to protect themselves.’

Aiden knew that Goddess Apophis would probably support this idea.

After all, she was just as protective of her followers as he was.

He also needed to figure out what had happened with Lumi’s awakening. If she had awakened some kind of inner power because of the attack, then there was a chance that others could do the same.

There was still a lot of work to be done.