Cayden

While Mason found the inn, paid the fees for 2 nights, and went to bed after the long and exhausting journey, Jack was doing his own thing. After spending roughly a few hours trying to locate a country which did not have any god, he found several such nations.

However, most of them were too underpopulated to even be called a nation, which reduced the nation's appeal for the all gods, since divinity for them was gained through the long term 'faith' of the people under them. However, among all of these nations, there was a single one which was different, it had a sufficient population to occupy the space it currently occupied, and some more, however, the problem was that the nation itself was too poor.

The pathetically poor economic status of the people caused many to devolve into stealing and robbery, and such petty crimes could be seen everywhere. Furthermore, the nobles themselves were not that much better off either, with the King himself living a life similar to the lowest of nobles in other established countries like Bard and Leon.

The country itself was located in the central continent, which was the largest of all the 4 continents, and had a bit too much space. In fact, it had so much space that nations hardly ever got into conflicts over land, and just used as much as they pleased, since the amount of land between each nation was extremely huge.

This also made it rather difficult to conquer other kingdoms, even if they let down their gates and welcomes the invaders like guests, since the invaders would have to return to their own kingdom sooner or later, and the knights of the kingdoms were not bandits which only invaded for wealth. They invaded for wealth and land!

However, this particular kingdom had none of the above. It was small enough to be considered a minor noble's fief in Bard, which was one of the largest kingdoms in the central continent. And its people were piss-poor. Everyone just maintained their distance from this dump of a nation called, "Cayden".

Betraying its name, the nation itself was basically on the verge of collapse, especially now that the king was on the verge of death from some unknown poison.

The country itself did not have any gods supporting it. Normal priests of other gods would not be able to cure the poison, and hiring a high priest or higher used too much money, which they did not poses. Not to mention that people of such standing would not stain their shoes to come all the way to the dump called "Cayden."

Jack finally came to a decision, and a plan rolled out in his head.

Late at night, when the moon was high in the sky, the bedroom of the king was occupied by 2 children, one of 14 years of age, and the other 12 years old. Both their faces were drawn, with marks of unwhipped tears lingering on their cheeks as they sat on chairs next to a large bed with s single man on it. This was the current king of Cayden, Ken August.

At 31 years old, he was considered at the prime of his life. However, some sort of poison had injured him a few months ago, and the nation itself was not rich enough for the treatment of their king. Furthermore, no noble would waste their precious money on a dying person, and would rather much hold onto it until the next king was decided.

At this moment, the children suddenly fell asleep, and the king's eyes opened, but only to reveal faint light coming out of them.

The king himself was looking at something completely different. He was in a land above land itself, in the sky! Surrounded by clouds, a gentle radiance emitted from the clear sky above, with no glaring sun in his face.

[So, you are Ken?]

A voice reverberated throughout the entire heavens, making Ken tremble slightly.

Looking around, Keon saw nobody. However, all of a sudden, the clouds pulled together to form an ethereal being, not a man, nor a beast.

Ken realised something at this moment,

'This place is not my kingdom, but the kingdom of a god!'

[Very perceptive of you. But I did not pull you here to waste time. I will get straight to the point. I have taken a liking to you and your kingdom. I will be building my church out from your nation, with the headquarters remaining there.]

[However, I cannot do that when the king is about to die. I'll be sending my pope to you soon, and he is able to directly communicate with me if the need arises. Don't bother me with useless stuff. My pope will handle everything.]

'Huh~' Ken's mind was blank for a while before he realised what was happening. The mighty god in front of him was going to save his life, and was planning on building their church in his kingdom.

Although this could have been some devil, or fallen god, it did not seem like that for now, and even if it was, what did that matter. He was already on death's door, what more could happen to him?! And if it was truly a mighty god, then he would be blessed, and be forever remembered as the one who ushered in a god's faith into the decaying nation of Cayden.

[Before you ask, I am the god of Systems. Alright, if that is al, I will send you back now.]

"Wait! I mean, may I have the opportunity to ask a question?"

[One]

"Yes! Mighty god of Systems, might I ask why you fancy our nation?"

[Tch. Such nonsense. My pope will answer it for you. Leave now!]

Suddenly, Ken felt the world around him collapse, and his ability to move his limbs was once again taken away from him as the light in his eyes faded.

His children woke up slowly and he felt no change. He was once again stuck in the body of a dying man with no changes.

'Was I hallucinating?'

However, at this moment, an enormous pillar of bright blue light descended from the sky punching a hole straight through the castle until it reached the floor with the king in it.

This frightened all the guards, well at least the handful present, and they immediately entered the room to find a perfectly cylindrical hole through all the floor starting from the ceiling, which was quickly closing up as the floor healed themselves?

At the centre of the entire drama was a figure dressed in white robes that would even be used in combat.

The figure slowly stood up from his landing position on kneeling on the ground with one knee in the famous superhero landing, and spoke in a monotone voice.

"I am the pope of the God of Systems. SPU."