Chapter 304: The Goddess’s Mediation (Part 1)

With the temperament of a true god, Bassetto knew that even if some true gods were displeased after this human mage died, they likely wouldn’t turn against him over a dead pawn. He could simply apologize sincerely, sacrificing a bit of his pride—after all, he was considered low-ranking among the true gods. Apologizing to a more powerful higher god wouldn’t undermine his dignity as a true god.
It was with such calculations that he took action today. Yet, he never expected this human kid to be so clever, managing to escape and take refuge in the Temple of the Agricultural Goddess, leading to the current stalemate.
The man and the goddess confronted each other for over an hour. Many pedestrians gathered on the streets in front of the temple, curious about Bassetto standing there. The Sea God, surrounded by onlookers, had no choice but to use his ignoring spell to avoid being treated like a panda.
Although true gods theoretically had endless time, Bassetto was in a critical phase of establishing his divine kingdom and clearly didn’t want to waste too much time here. Impatiently, he said, “This situation benefits no one. How about you become my parish, and the dragons under your control also submit to me? I’ll give you these advantages. What do you say?”
Bassetto truly admired this human mage, Donald, for having built such a foundation and reached such a level of strength at just under twenty-one years old. Even with the help of three powerful true gods, it had taken him over a decade to become a golden powerhouse. He then gradually ascended to become a true god by hunting down ocean lords.
Seeing that he couldn’t deal with Donald for now, Bassetto changed his initial plan. A genius like him might reach great heights in the future, so it would be better to bring him under his control now to gain an advantage in the future. With great ambitions, Bassetto didn’t want to remain controlled by those three behind him forever, becoming their tool. Even though they had helped him become a true god, the fact that he had become one showed strong independence, meaning he wouldn’t willingly be exploited indefinitely—even by more powerful true gods.
Donald remained silent upon hearing this. To be honest, for a true god to rush to grant a mortal the status of a chosen one was a dream many mortals could only dream of.

But for him who had already embarked on a brighter path, becoming a voter would actually cut off his way forward, which seemed rather unwise. This wasn’t Donald bluffing—backed by the Book of Truth, he was likely more promising than a talent carefully nurtured by a supreme god! After all, the Book of Truth wasn’t just a high-tier artifact; it contained a supreme divine entity, one whose rank and power far surpassed those of ordinary high-tier artifacts. It was a path crafted by a top-tier supreme god from another world to eventually ascend to the position of supreme god!

So Donald would never agree to such a foolish deal where he gave up something valuable to gain something trivial.

Bassedo thought that as a true god, he could achieve such things, only to find that the other party didn’t even react, as if dismissing his sincere invitation as worthless. This made the usually calm Sea God somewhat annoyed.

“Do you really think Princess Eilien will protect you? If I capture you now, the most likely outcome is that Princess Eilien will be displeased but won’t come to save you—she might even ignore your fate!”

As a true god himself, Bassedo could accurately guess the behavior of true gods. If Donald’s status in the Agricultural Goddess’s eyes was truly as superficial as it seemed, then that was indeed the most likely scenario.

But Donald was betting that the goddess’s attitude toward him would be different. He had deduced this from his previous journey to the Dark Lands and its outcome, as well as her subsequent care for him. Back then, he hadn’t asked for much, yet her attitude seemed somewhat different. If not for Donald’s own certainty that he had nothing to do with the Agricultural Goddess, he might have thought his ancestors were her illegitimate children!

Even if Princess Eilien treated him no differently from other mortals, the attitude of Princess Lauren, the Elf Goddess of Night and Moonlight whom he had met before, had been quite special. Though Princess Lauren was cold and reserved, Donald could tell from the way she looked at him that it was probably due to his high elf bloodline and divine heritage.

Therefore, Eilien would surely consider the feelings of her friend. Even if reluctant, she would still come to his aid.

Donald was over 99% certain of this, which was why he dared to confront even a true god with such an attitude. Even though this true god could only wander in the main world in his true form at the moment, having not yet ascended to a throne to elevate his own realm to a higher dimension and firmly grasp his power, he was still a newly risen divine being whose strength surpassed that of ordinary demigods. Without such confidence, Donald would have long had to bow and consider accepting the other party’s proposal.

“Hehe!”

Donald dismissed the verbal threats from the Sea God as if they were just a gentle breeze, leaving no trace.

He even brought out a coffee table and chairs in front of the temple and began leisurely making tea and enjoying snacks. This attitude made the Sea God, Basedo, extremely annoyed, wishing he could rush in and tear him apart.

“Have you truly given up all hope and decided to oppose me?”

Donald found this both amusing and ridiculous.

“Your delusional determination, Your Highness Basedo, is truly admirable even among the gods! It’s clearly you who came looking for trouble with this humble mortal. I’ve never done anything to harm you or the interests of your church. How can you say I’m opposing you?”

“You…”

In fact, that was indeed the case. Basedo was momentarily speechless. He certainly couldn’t say, “You’ve hindered the expansion of my power, so I must get rid of you!” While that made sense, saying it out loud would likely lead to an argument. If the other party truly had a true god backing them, they could use this as an excuse to attack his weaknesses.

In reality, when the two had a confrontation in front of the Temple of the Agricultural Goddess, although the problem of onlookers was resolved by the Sea God’s magic, the church clergy and devout believers who had finished their morning prayers inside the temple had already noticed what was happening.

But before the temple’s guards and priests could rush in, Donald took out the honor badge given to him by Sod, the former representative of the Agricultural Goddess Church in Celt, and showed it to them from behind, explaining telepathically that this situation was beyond their control.

The white-robed archbishop in charge of the temple was also sharp-witted. He immediately ordered that all defenses be activated, with all clergy and believers retreating behind the temple. Only a few high-level experts above silver rank stayed ahead to observe the situation. After all, this was the goddess’s temple, and it must not be desecrated by outsiders.

Seeing that Donald was utterly unyielding, Basedo became truly furious. If that was the case, he couldn’t blame anyone but himself!

Bassedo’s heart turned cold as he raised his hand and sent out a divine beam, aiming at Donald, who was under the illumination of the temple. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered other methods, such as ordering his followers to capture Donald in the Temple of Agriculture. But the problem was that, since he had become a demi-god just ten years ago, only two of the priests he had initially trained were Golden Strengthers—one of them was nearby, while the other was stationed at the church’s headquarters. With just one of them, facing off directly might not even be enough to match that human mage. Moreover, if a priest from his church rushed into the Temple of the Goddess of Agriculture to capture someone, whether successful or not, it would undoubtedly be an insult to the Goddess of Agriculture. Even if she didn’t intervene, under the pressure, he would have to hand over that follower for whatever punishment they deemed fit. These were his only two bishop-level followers, who would eventually become leaders of the church and, after death, could become entities of the Holy Spirit. He couldn’t afford to waste them here uselessly. So he had to act personally. Even though it might be somewhat offensive, considering the backing of the three figures behind him, Princess Eilien should not make things too difficult for him. With that thought, Bassedo swiftly reached out toward Donald, who was sitting leisurely in front of the temple. Faced with Bassedo’s divine hand, Donald appeared indifferent on the surface, as if it weren’t he who was being attacked by a true god. In reality, he was already prepared. The moment Bassedo’s attack reached him, close to his body, he would immediately activate his divine shield, disregarding the risk of revealing the Book of Truth, to block the strike. Although the Book of Truth indicated that the divine shield could currently withstand a full-force attack from a demi-god, the opponent was still a true god. If Donald hadn’t seen that Bassedo’s intent seemed more like capture than killing, he might have assumed it would just be a casual strike without much force, which the shield should be able to withstand. He really didn’t dare sit there and face the sea god’s attack directly. As Bassedo’s divine hand approached the temple’s boundaries, it encountered the temple’s defensive system, which immediately activated, creating a floating screen of runes. Yet, though this defense was powerful, it was only effective against mortals. No force of equal magnitude could stop Bassedo’s assault. With a slight push, his divine hand broke through the temple’s defenses and reached for Donald, who was ten steps away.