Chapter 98: Ch 97: All Praise Goddess Apophis

"Aeloria, what did you do outside? I can feel that the people are recovering."

Goddess Paphelia looked weaker than Aiden had last seen her. She still looked strong, but the aura around her felt much weaker.

She was in a state where Aiden could easily crush her and run away. But Aeloria was the real problem here... as well as the artifacts that bore divine authority that was locking Aiden in.

’Darn it! If not for those artifacts, I would have run back home a long time ago.’

For now, all Aiden could do was sit and wait to be rescued... or for Goddess Paphelia to fade away.

"Goddess Paphelia, please don’t move around too much. You are far too weak right now. You will collapse if you continue to use your powers and protect your village. Please, pull your power back."

Aeloria begged her goddess while keeping her upright at the same time. She looked concerned, and for good cause.

"I am fine. I will remain fine as long as my people are fine and continue to worship me. But recently, I can feel my power being drained much faster. Do you think it is because my people are dying?"

She asked in a nervous voice, which made even Aiden feel a little guilty.

But then he recalled that this was the same goddess that had kidnapped him and refused to listen to him and all his concern flew out of the window in an instant.

"I am sure it will be alright, Goddess Paphelia. Things will go back to normal pretty soon. I—"

Just as Aeloria finished reassuring her goddess, another dizzy spell hit Aeloria, causing her to fall down on her knees. She panted as she looked up, but it was hard for her to control herself.

"I..."

But the bad news was not finished.

As soon as Goddess Paphelia went down, chaos erupted around the village. Aiden could feel the demonic power trying to open a rift and hitting Goddess Paphelia’s barrier. But the goddess was too weak to repel it.

"Shit! Is this a demon attack? Why now of all times?"

The villagers were already not in a great condition. If they were attacked by a demon, then they would die for sure.

But this time, Aiden decided to act as well. He stood up, and Aeloria looked conflicted between following him and helping her goddess.

"What are you doing?"

She finally asked, causing the weakened Goddess Paphelia to look his way as well.

"I am heading out to help the people. Can you open the barrier for me? I will take care of the demon for you—"

"No way! You have already made us lose all support of the people with that medicine. Anymore and I—"

"So, are you going to watch your people die? Either you lose all your followers to the demon or to my goddess, the choice is yours to make. But you know which one will be gentler on your goddess, right?"

Aiden asked, and Aeloria sighed before she nodded and opened the barrier.

Now Aiden could walk out on his own... only to have his pants grabbed by Goddess Paphelia.

"I... can’t... let you... go. You... need... to worship... me... with the... same intensity—"

"Why do you even want me to worship you when you already have a priestess who won’t leave your side, even in this situation? Being selfish might be in your nature as a goddess, but you also need to wake up and realize the truth before you lose what you have."

Aeloria was too loyal to her goddess, to the point where she was even willing to take people’s contempt if it meant that her goddess got to live a happy life.

This type of commitment was something Aiden seldom saw in his life.

But what was worse was the fact that Goddess Paphelia acknowledged this and yet sought Aiden out. She even talked about abandoning Aeloria.

If Aiden had been in the priestess’s place, he might have broken apart.

’But if Goddess Apophis does decide to exchange me someday, I will follow her words.’

Anyway, Aiden would lend this village and Goddess Paphelia his aid this time. He would even let her have some credit so that she did not lose her godhood completely.

But she was on her own beyond that.

...

Aiden headed outside to where the demon was trying to rip the barrier apart. There were a few villagers that were behind the barrier, frozen in place due to the demon’s influence.

But the fact that the demonic aura could seep through the barrier itself indicated how thin it was in the first place.

"What a hassle. But I guess this falls under the guidelines of my goddess as well. In the name of Goddess Apophis, I will clear all the demons."

Aiden’s voice echoed across the village, and he took out his gun and started shooting the demons.

The first shot pierced through the demonic creature’s body, causing it to let out a distorted scream before another bullet followed.

Aiden did not stop shooting. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He had no intention of allowing even a single demon to get past him and reach the villagers.

"Stay back! I will handle this."

The villagers who had been frozen by fear slowly snapped out of their daze and started running toward the safety of the village.

The demon continued trying to tear apart the barrier, but Aiden focused on each of its movements and shot it whenever it attempted to move closer.

His bullets were not ordinary anymore.

After receiving the blessing of Goddess Apophis, even his weapons had been enhanced by divine power. The bullets tore through the demonic aura as if it were nothing.

"This is surprisingly easy."

Aiden muttered as he watched the demon struggle.

He raised his gun one final time and fired directly at its head.

The demon collapsed instantly.

[Target eliminated.]

Aiden lowered his gun and looked around.

There were no other demons in sight.

"Looks like that was the last one."