13 Chapter 13: Bloody Battle

Becoming a Prayer was no exception, just like with the traditional old deities, the biggest difference between the new gods and the old gods was the feature of Reincarnation.

All Prayers who died too many times would be integrated into the Divine Realm by the old gods to strengthen it, but the new gods allowed them to reincarnate, to be reborn in the material plane of the Divine Realm, and to live again.

The greatest benefit of this was that after reincarnation, the souls of the Prayers received a brand from the Divine Realm Master, naturally becoming close to the faith of their previous life. As long as they came into contact with the Church's faith, it was very easy for them to accept it and become Devout Believers.

This way, it was very easy to accumulate a large number of Devout Believers in the material plane, and the faith value naturally surged in like flowing water.

Inside Lin Xiao's Divine Realm, there weren't many Prayers left, just a few dozen First Level Fishman warriors accumulated over the years, and all the other deceased Fishman followers had been sent to reincarnate.

In fact, if it wasn't for the need to retain a couple for appearances, he would have sent all these Fishman warriors to reincarnate already.

The strength of the First Level Fishman warriors was too weak. They didn't even qualify as cannon fodder; at the very least, it took a warrior of Level 3 or higher to qualify for cannon fodder, and guardians of the Divine Realm had to be Level 4 or above.

Lin Xiao planned to take the elite route.

Enough talk. The moment he personally took action to guide the souls of these Fishman followers into the Divine Realm, it gave the followers an unprecedented impact, as it was his first time doing this. The effect was simply explosive, and in an instant, over seventy percent of the True Believers became Devout Believers, and a crop of fanatical believers rose up, numbering thirty or forty.

If they could all survive this time, his faith would surge once again.

The Fishman Leader, seeing this scene, timely raised his weapon and shouted:

"Children, the grand Lord of the Grey Mist is watching over us at this moment, kill all the heretics!"

Having spoken, he lowered his gaze toward a Snake Man Priest holding a bone staff, who at the same time raised his staff aloft and cried out:

"The grand Gras has turned His gaze here, He tells me that killing these heretics will bring the pleasure of Gras…"

Before he could finish speaking, a figure had already split the water and charged towards him. The startled Snake Man Priest raised his bone staff and slammed it down fiercely; his mouth just opened when he saw a pair of golden pupils, the terrifying authority in them causing him to stall for a moment. Then he felt a Severe Pain in his chest and a Grand Power rushed toward him, sending his body flying several meters into the air before he crashed heavily back into the sea, where the icy waters quickly overwhelmed his consciousness.

Yanking out the Short Spear and casting it backward into the water, the Fishman Leader glided more than ten meters away before he emerged from the sea, taking a deep breath.

The moment he acted, the fervent Fishmen relentlessly threw themselves at the Snake people.

The Salted Fish Charge Skill granted them exceedingly fast Speed and a killing power up to five times greater. Even though the Snake people were robust and their scales provided a fair defense, they couldn't withstand the impact of the Fine Iron Short Spears with five times kinetic energy.

A Five Star Card-summoned weapon was not to be underestimated; even without the fivefold burst, it could still harm the Snake people.

One Fishman pierced through a Snake person's body with a spear, slicing at incredible Speed, only to be counterattacked and killed by a sword from the same Snake person.

Another Fishman, moving just as quickly, thrust at a robust Snake Man Leader, but the highly reactive Leader twisted away from the Salted Fish Charge and with a backhand slice, bisected him.

The ferocious face sneered as he grabbed the Short Spear, ready to reclaim it, but in the next second, his body violently shifted as a sharp spear tip pierced through him, protruding out his side. The enraged Snake Man Leader counter-attacked, slaying the sneaking Fishman, but at that very moment, two more Fishmen targeted him simultaneously.

Two short spears pierced through the Snake Man Leader, one in the waist and the other in the back, following another fishman's strike, a total of three thrusts passed through his body. Even a Level 2 Snake Man Leader couldn't withstand such critical injuries.

The enraged Snake Man Leader let out a furious roar to the heavens, bloodlust flaring in his pupils. He flipped over and with two swings of his blade, he killed two fishmen who were temporarily exhausted from their outburst.

But the next second, three more fishmen lunged forward, all three spears piercing through simultaneously.

This time the three fishmen were wiser, quickly abandoning their spears and rolling into the water after hitting their target. The bright glint of the blade cut through the sea, touching nothing.

Having been struck by seven spears, all delivering penetrating wounds, the Snake Man Leader could no longer hold on. His towering body swayed for several moments before crashing into the sea with a 'thud', causing waves to ripple, his blood quickly tinting a vast swathe of the water red.

This was just one corner of the battlefield. Fishmen, utterly no match for the Snake People, relied on the extremely rare five-star skill card, Salted Fish Charge, to achieve a burst of power five times their normal in an instant. Although they only had the strength for one strike and after erupting would be left weak and open to counterattack due to the skill's weakness phase and ten-minute cooldown, the Snake Man Leader couldn't withstand even a Level Zero Fishman's burst.

Lin Xiao's true body stood high above the battlefield, overlooking as more of the tall snake people fell. But as each Snake Man fell, at least one fishman would accompany them in death, with many more sustaining injuries.

He was silent for a moment before extending his finger once again, casting a First Level Divine Arts—Seawater Essence—burning and vaporizing a whole ten thousand faith value.

The next second, countless blue sparkles rose in a 100 meter by 100 meter area of the sea below, quickly approaching and merging into the nearby fishmen. The injuries on the fishmen's bodies visibly healed at an observable pace.

This Divine Arts was a healing spell, limited to use in the sea. The base consumption of faith value was ten thousand, with increased faith value consumption significantly enhancing the power of the spell, and the effect was even more pronounced when he used it in his true body.

But it wasn't quite a legitimate healing spell, and moreover, large-scale Divine Arts were never immediately effective, so it could at best alleviate some of the physical exhaustion the fishmen felt after using Salted Fish Charge, without much effectiveness in healing.

But this was enough—it could greatly increase the survival rate during the post-burst weak phase.

More than six hundred fishmen charged forward, one after another, their faces full of frenzy as they burst forth. Each Snake Man had to face two to three fishmen lunging at them.

This sort of ambush was impossible to defend against. Aside from the powerful Snake Man Leader who could foresee and react in advance, ordinary Snake People, even if they anticipated the attack, couldn't intercept it in time. They could only watch helplessly as a dark shadow flashed before their eyes, unable to even dodge.

Though the robust bodies of the Snake People were tough to kill in one blow, their counterattacks were fatal to the fishmen weakened after their outburst.

For every Snake Man that fell, at least one, and often two fishmen, would accompany them in death.

In Lin Xiao's Sea of Gods, the lines of faith representing the believers snapped one after another. Each break represented the death of a believer, signifying the loss of at least one true believer, and most of them devout believers—immense losses for a deity.

But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't possibly join the battle himself.

When he first opened the Divine Realm, whether it was his teachers, predecessors, or parents, they all repeatedly warned him that unless it was an absolute last resort, he must never intervene directly in his true form.

Now that his true body had descended, he could at most use Divine Arts or lend his Superhuman Power from the sidelines, but he could never enter the fray himself.