Chapter 58: Ch 58: Freeing the Slaves

The reason the god was not able to block Aiden’s gunshot was simple—he had no followers left. And the reason behind it was his own son, who betrayed him.

Ethan River, who had come home after being humiliated by Aiden, had expected his father to comfort him. But when he got only insults from that side as well, he had made his decision.

"I am going to make sure they both suffer. My father will kill that proud priest as soon as he becomes a god, and then I am going to kill my father and take his place."

But killing a god was not easy, and Ethan did not have special powers. But that was why he was going to use trickery.

A god was nothing without his followers, and his father was forcing the people to pray to him after locking them up in dungeons to ensure they wouldn’t be able to run away.

Honey was taken there as well, so Ethan quickly headed down there to save them.

The holding cells were dirty and mouldy. This was no place for a human being to stay in, much less one’s cherished followers.

Not that Ethan cared beyond his own goal.

He reached the final holding cell where his father had kept all of the slaves together, and he looked at them with a look of superiority.

"S-Sir Ethan..."

The slaves looked starved, and it was a given since there was not even a drop of water, much less food, down here.

"You all don’t need to worry. I am here to save you. But once I do, you all need to swear your loyalty to me, alright?"

He asked, and once the people nodded, he finally opened the gate.

The slaves looked thankful for his help, so Ethan instantly tried to establish his authority over them.

"From today onwards, your master will be me and no one else. Dedicate your life to me and—"

"B-But why do we have to do that? We might be slaves, but we have a right to live as well. I-I saw how those slaves from the Kensen family were living after going to Goddess Apophis’s side, and I want that as well."

"M-Me too! I want freedom!"

"I want it as well."

Once one slave had said it, the others quickly joined in as well. Their cries grew louder and louder until all Ethan could hear were Goddess Apophis and Priest Aiden’s names.

It made him irrationally angry to hear all this.

"This is not fair! I am the one who saved you and freed you. So why are you praising someone else? If you want to praise someone, then praise me—"

"But you only acted because you got desperate. And that is thanks to Priest Aiden as well. I want to serve a person like that."

The slaves rushed out, pushing Ethan aside, and for the first time, he realized how powerless he was to stop them.

"Hey! Stop! I command you to stop—!"

But it was of no use. None of his command spells worked, causing him to let out a curse. He could see his future slipping away from his hands.

He was busy drowning in self-pity when someone placed their hand on his shoulder, and he looked at Honey’s familiar and warm eyes. At least she looked happy to see him.

"Master, you came to save me? I-I am so glad and honored! I promise I will always follow you."

Honey promised, and the irritation Ethan was feeling went away.

He might have lost everything right now, but at least he still had Honey. And as long as he had her, it was going to be alright.

"I am so glad I still have you. But we still need to work hard. Most of our slaves have left, but I have no intention of sitting back. We can get them—"

"Master, how about we change as well? I know you grew up with slaves, but maybe it is time to put that life behind you and start fresh? We should surrender ourselves to Goddess Apophis and that priest as well."

Honey’s words filled Ethan with rage. He refused to even hear her anymore, but she was not one to give up.

She grabbed Ethan’s arm as soon as he tried to stand up, and she pulled him back down.

"Sir Ethan, the reason we were left alone until now was because these lands had nothing left to take from. But I have a feeling that Priest Aiden is going to take these lands over. And if he does, you truly won’t have anything left. So we need to make our move before that happens. We are going to take this religion over from the inside."

Honey told Ethan, and he suddenly looked interested.

"You are right! We can do that...in fact, we should do that."

He agreed with her, and Honey let out a sigh at her master’s gullible nature. She had no intention of doing any of the stuff she just said.

The reason she wanted to join Priest Aiden’s side was because she saw the freedom he provided, and she wanted that. So she lied to her master to make him agree.

And once some time had passed, she was sure he would forget about everything.

’Hmm, as for me? I will seduce my way around to get us the best life possible. After all, it was a fluke that my charms got rejected last time. This time, I will make sure to show them my best side.’

Unknown to the pair, they had just given Aiden the best joining gift—a chance to kill the newly ascended god because he had lost all his followers.

...

"H-How can it be? My power...why is it like this?"

The newly ascended River family head looked shaken by the sudden loss of his power. However, it was a given.

After all, he had lost all his followers immediately.

[New update: River family god has no followers. He shall be demoted from the ranks of gods and return to being a human.]