The purge

Ariama woke up with a headache and flipped his brother off for disturbing his rest. Sending a telepathic message for a supreme being like Bolsa was easy but when the recipient is another supreme being, namely Ariama, who cut off all telepathic passages, the message has to be forcefully sent and that causes a rebound. Unfortunately, it was Ariama who suffered it.

"Really Bolsa, you had to cause a headache just to remind me to catch a bratty god? You already know I'm going to torture him once I catch him yet you did this, why?"

"Look into the water brother and you'll see why" a cool voice replied in his head.

Ariama grunted and did what his brother said. His old man disguise had worn off and a handsome looking youth with the silkiest white hair and pretty white eyes was staring back at him.

"Dryad is going to be there two minutes from now. I was just doing you a favour"

"You could've just recast the disguise spell you idiot"

"Well, it's not my fault my brother choses to ignore me all day. Watching you is like watching an interesting drama unfold and the best part is, I get to interject and relate to the man in characters, especially to tell them when they're being stupid, like now"

Ariama raised a brow. "My life is like a drama to you?"

"Of course it is and it's very entertaining. Say brother, why don't you show her your true appearance" another chippy voice interrupted.

"None of your business Simour. Leave me alone you two!"

"You should tell her before she misunderstands and calls us perverts too. No god has the appearance of a child or an aged person. Each and everyone of us have youthful appearances with beauty unparalleled" Simour said proudly.

"It's my choice anyways. You left me in charge of this life seed so she's my responsibility now, not yours. Go away"

"You're being selfish brother. You know us three look alike and she thinks I'm an old man too" Bolsa cried out in injustice.

Ariama rolled his eyes and cut the link. He then realised that Dryad was standing in front of him when he was arguing with his brothers. He subconsciously checked his face and was contented to find wrinkles on it and was happy that she couldn't probe into the telepathic link between head gods. He coughed in embarrassment that Dryad had seen him staring into space with an angry expression.

"Who were you talking to? I tried to check it but I felt a rebound. It wasn't too rough but it was enough to warn me not to intervene" she said with a frown.

"It was Bolsa. He was bothering me about a completely insignificant matter. Don't worry about it" Ariama said with a comforting smile.

A lightning bolt came from outer space, headed straight for Ariama. He sidestepped at the last minute and it landed in the water. He would've flipped his brother off again but he remembered Dryad was there and she was a young tree spirit.

Speaking of Dryad, she was arched over in pain. Bolsa swore and quickly retracted the lightning bolt. If it were a normal bolt of lightning, then it wouldn't bother the god. However, it was a lightning bolt from one of the head gods, it was bound to hurt.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go" He nodded and opened up a portal. Since they knew where they were going, they wouldn't need a boat like last time. Dryad summoned Shadow and it stepped into the portal first, followed by Dryad then Ariama. Once he arrived his destination, the portal closed if its own accord.

They arrived in front of a ten metres tall tree surrounded by a glass covering, resembling a modern glasshouse. The tree was being tended to by the Head Priestess, who was currently gaping at the recently arrived gods.

"Your holiness, our beloved goddess" the Head Priestess and the priests greeted as they saw her. They also greeted Ariama but they couldn't see Shadow. Only those at the Divine level could see it.

"My people, after five long years, I'm back. How did our plans go?"

"My beloved goddess, we have indeed taken full control of the country and three more, expanding our territory to the size of an empire. I'm the one in charge as you requested" Ditoria said and bowed.

"Good, good. We shall name our Empire Amethrita, meaning risen from the earth"

"Yes goddess" they chorused.

"Great. This world has about twenty continents and this is the smallest one. Although this is the smallest, I still want you to take control of the whole continent. I will go and plant more daughter trees and will appoint more Head Priestesses. I'm taking back control of my planet"

"Yes goddess. However, we've encountered a slight problem" Ditoria said warily.

"What is it?" Dryad asked frowning.

"When we were about to conquer the fifth country, we encountered a repelling array which killed off all the plants that got near. It must be an ancient array which was made to perfectly counter the plants. It greatly diminished our powers" Ditoria said bitterly.

"I see. I and Ariama would go and check it out. By tomorrow, you'll begin to see plants. I assume you haven't taken control of the other ten countries because of this same problem"

"Yes goddess"

"Then we'll take care of it. Just do what I told you and you'll be fine. Taking the responsibility of an empire is a very difficult task. Remember to not enslave but take the people's heart with benevolence and charity. I just want the worship from their heart to be pure and not manipulated like Ilerisa's. I want to make up for abandoning my people for a long time"

"Yes goddess, your wish is our command" they chorused with righteous hearts. Dryad smiled genuinely when she heard that while Ariama glowed in pride.

After her briefing, she scanned the place again and created a portal to the border between the fourth country and the fifth country. It was a barren land. Once Dryad stepped in the territory of the fifth country, she felt a faint repelling force.

She deduced that while the array was very ancient, it was being recharged regularly. That's why it was able to kill off small plants. However, to Dryad, such array was useless. It was an instrument of that despicable god who deceived the whole planet to believe that plants were signs of evil.

She stretched out her right hand and a pink glowing seed appeared in her outstretched hand. She smirked as the seed fell to the ground. Once it hit the ground, it started to burrow towards the core of the array and before long, a loud explosion was heard. When the sound and dust faded away, thorns started sprouting from the earth in varying sizes.

"The curse seed. I thought you were never going to use that"

"People who defile me ought to be taught a lesson. Besides, it's a level one curse seed, it won't hurt them much"

"That level one curse seed can kill off a small village"

"Relax Ariama, once I find who I'm looking for, the seed will die off on it's own" Ariama just sighed and left her to do what she wanted.

Few minutes later, a cacophony of screams were heard from from the villages all the way to the cities. Various humans and elementals were pierced by the thorns and they felt pure agony. Before long, the thorns spread to the whole continents as arrays were destroyed and people injured.

Dryad floated gently through the cities, killing those she found with the darkest hearts and freeing people from the thorns. While the bad people served as nutrients for her trees, the thorns grew into beautiful trees and plants which gave immediate comfort to the people.

A projection appeared in all eleven countries showing Dryad's heavenly face and Ariama's noble countenance. According to her logic, a beautiful goddess is more likely to be accepted than an old god. Of course that was just to spite Ariama who decided to ignore her taunts.

"My people, my name is Dryad and I am a god. I have to admit that I was the one responsible for those thorn and for a good reason. They are a result of a spell called curse seed. Once a level one curse seed is released, it burrows to the core and multiples. Then it fishes out evil energy and absorbs it.

This array that you have kept for millions of years has bound to your souls and has left an evil imprint on you. The curse seed absorbed it and that is what caused you pain. If i had forcefully planted trees, you would all have died as the array would self destruct, shattering your souls and kill you all" She explained with a morose expression.

"Your ancestors built these arrays under the false pretence that it would protect you from harm. This was a lie propagated by Ilerisa as these arrays killed plants. Long ago, mana came from plants. These arrays are the reasons why none of you have been able to advance past Saint level.

I know you've all heard of my Head Priest Priestesses who are at Peak Grand Saint level in two years from being mere mortals. This is because of the blessings of nature. If you accept my blessings, I assure you that your lives will be better and you'll have everything you wish for" The people hesitated when she said that. Dryad saw this and smirked. It was time to show her capabilities.

'Found you' she said in her mind and tugged on an invisible string. In front if the large audience, a mid level divine elemental was being pulled by thorns without resistance towards Dryad. Once he got in front of her, the thorns wrapped him up and he was bleeding from all pores. The curse seed withdrew from the countries.

"What is your mission?"

"I was sent by the god Ilerisa to capture the goddess Dryad and bring her to him"

"What did you do to fulfil that mission"

"I forced the countries to activate their arrays by using their souls as nourishment. Whether they lived or died was not important" the man said dazedly.

The people gasped as all he said was true. They had been working on the ancient arrays to not let the newly risen empire to invade them. Never did they know that it was at the cost of their souls. They shuddered at the thought.

Ariama looked at Dryad weirdly as she wasn't manipulating her people or using force but she was using kindness and honesty to win their hearts. She was also deploying strict discipline. A model god indeed.

"You may not believe me but deep down you know I'm saying the truth. People of Ocare continent, let me help you. I'm not lying. I swear on my immortal soul" She said and thunder rumbled. Swearing on ones soul was a big deal, especially when they had the god of soul beside them. Dryad was dead serious.

"As for you, your heart is darker than any I have seen before. You have no regard for the lives of others as you kill, rape and pillage at will. I hereby sentence you to death" She said and touched his forehead. He didn't scream or utter a world as he turned into dust. The people were terrified but quiet. They now believed she was a goddess.

She faced the people once more and flashed a dazzling smile. The people forgot about the merciless execution and began to cheer. She smiled again and plants began erupting from the ground. They spread across the continent in an hour's time. Once the flowers bloomed and the leaves opened, the mana there became more pure and many non-elementals received the powers of the wood elements with paragon level circulation manuals.

These made the people both apprehensive and elated.

"Do you believe me now?"