Hermes, the God of Commerce and Thieves. In the future storyline, it was this first deity to return to the mortal realm who reopened the pat

  Hermes, the God of Commerce and Thieves.

  In the future storyline, it was this first deity to return to the mortal realm who reopened the path between the divine realm and the human world.

  After the gods returned to the mortal world, believers arose everywhere.

  They were like grasslands reborn from beneath the ashes, unearthing their dormant faith once more, praying again for the return of their deities.

  Although believers varied, similarly, there were differences among the gods as well.

  Despite Hermes being considered a god.

  Clearly, as a deity protecting commerce and thieves, he didn't possess much combat power.

  After all, he was merely a divine messenger guiding the way for other gods.

  If this deity had truly arrived in the mortal world first...

  Viktor pondered for a moment.

  If he were to face this god in combat, it wouldn't be a one-sided battle.

  At the very least, he definitely wouldn't be at a disadvantage against the opponent.

  But the problem was that Viktor currently had no way to temporarily detain any deity.

  Even for gods like Hermes who seemed to lack combat power, as long as they carried the "god" tag, dealing with them remained troublesome.

  Because they inherently had unique mechanisms, making individual boss-type gods somewhat difficult to defeat.

  Even if he could barely handle it, if the opponent had no intention of fighting to the death.

  Once the opponent returned to the heavens, Viktor could only watch helplessly as Hermes departed.

  However, he found it somewhat surprising.

  If Lipoaute was truly Hermes, why would he appear here in advance?

  According to Duke Levi's description, this deity had apparently been wandering the mortal world under the name Lipoaute for a very long time.

  In a situation where all deities had left the world, why could he alone remain in the mortal realm?

  These were all beyond the game's storyline, parts that players couldn't explore.

  "Nevermind, as long as he doesn't provoke me."

  Viktor had not the slightest reverence for the gods of this world.

  It wasn't that he didn't respect deities, but he simply had no interest in revering these old timers whom he had defeated countless times.

  At this moment, Vega raised his head and glanced at Viktor.

  "You just thought of an interesting name."

  "Was it Hermes?"

  As mentioned before, there were differences even among gods.

  For eldritch gods like Vega, who had never appeared in the game and only existed briefly in the background lore,

  These were the ones Viktor was most wary of.

  After all, he had never fought them.

  Fortunately, this one was on his side.

  "You don't recognize him?"

  Viktor silently conversed with Vega in his mind.

  The crow closed its deep, black single eye again, gently shaking its feathers, and elegantly settled down.

  "I have no need to remember the names of deities who only engage in petty thievery."

  That made sense.

  When someone was already dabbling in commerce and protecting thieves, why bother remembering them?

  Even the name of the Goddess of Justice didn't initially leave much impression on Vega.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  However, after careful consideration for a while, Viktor felt he should first notify the Mage Council.

  After all, they were the ones who least wanted to see the return of the gods.

  But for now, he should focus on completing the matters at hand.

  "I understand."

  "When you go back tonight, you can mention this to your father."

  Viktor stood up, his mysterious and profound eyes confidently gazing at Erica.

  Like a giant rock in the ocean, steadfast and immovable.

  "I will handle everything."

  Hearing these words, Erica sat dazed in her chair.

  She felt a series of clear pulsations emanating from the left side of her chest.

  A sense of reassurance rose from her heart, gradually spreading through her limbs to her entire body.

  It was only long after Viktor had turned away that Erica regained her senses and hurriedly said:

  "I, I understand, I will convey your message to my father."

  She pursed her lips, her gaze drifting to one side, unstable, as she stammered in response to Viktor:

  "I... I'll leave now."

  Erica quickly stood up and walked briskly to the teleportation array in one corner of the space.

  Simultaneously, she activated the magic power within her, awakening the formation beneath her.

  Blue waves surged, colliding with the surrounding space, flowing back to the center, submerging Erica's body.

  In the blink of an eye, the turbulent waves gradually subsided, and Erica disappeared from the place.

  After Erica had completely left, Viktor's gaze turned towards Henie in the distance:

  "It seems you also have something to tell me?"

  Seeing Erica's departure, Henie finally returned to Viktor's side.

  Some things obviously couldn't be said in Erica's presence.

  Her expression carried a hint of seriousness as she spoke to Viktor:

  "Professor, regarding the matter you mentioned to me earlier, I've made some progress."

  That night, Viktor had brought up Sapphirose.

  After all, he had called Sapphirose back to make contact with Henie.

  When Sapphirose appeared before Henie, she was very surprised.

  Although she didn't quite understand why the wings behind Sapphirose had disappeared.

  But it was a good thing, at least Henie didn't have to worry about Sapphirose continuing to be viewed with those strange gazes.

  And Viktor had provided an explanation for her.

  "Sapphirose is not human."

  Sapphirose's body contained a bunch of monster genes, which allowed her to even use those monsters' instinctive abilities.

  That is, their 'skills'.

  Most importantly, Sapphirose achieved this condition by devouring various magical beasts.

  Hearing this, Henie was completely stunned.

  To be honest, anyone would find it incredible.

  Growing stronger by eating magical beasts and gaining their abilities?

  Wasn't this somewhat against biology?

  In the end, Professor Viktor's request completely puzzled Henie.

  "I need you to help me figure out why Sapphirose can fuse with magical beast genes."

  Although he had tried to replicate this.

  Through Vega's operation, he had merged the 'Lurking Magic Corpse' genes with the little cat girl Vanilla.

  But that was relying on the power of an eldritch god.

  While Sapphirose could achieve this just by eating.

  This ability, which completely violated biological principles, what was its underlying mechanism?

  This was what Viktor had been curious about all along.

  Of course, not just Viktor, even Henie herself had never seen such a phenomenon.

  If eating magical beasts could grant their abilities, probably all the magical beasts in the world would be extinct by now.

  Out of curiosity about this point, and because it was Professor Viktor's request, Henie naturally did her best.

  And in doing so, a new result emerged.

  Henie very seriously said to Viktor:

  "Basic fusion alone cannot fully blend the blood of two magical beasts; they can only remain in a separated state."

  "Whether they are of the same attribute or different attributes, fusion is not possible."

  But...

  Thinking of her research findings, Henie quickly said:

  "When I was drawing blood from Mr. Crocodile and the others, I discovered that the powers between demons can fuse with each other."

  Perhaps it was because demons shared a common origin.

  And Henie's report continued:

  "Most importantly, I tried blending the blood of two different magical beasts with a demon's 'blood'."

  "In the end, they successfully merged together."

  Hearing Henie's words, Viktor pondered slightly.

  Initially, Viktor just wanted to give Henie something to do.

  But in the end, Henie actually researched and discovered something, which was unexpected to him.

  And after considering the characteristics of demons, Viktor found it reasonable.

  The reason demons could grant power to others was that they didn't care about any compatibility issues.

  They used desires and emotions as mediums to directly transfer their power to hosts.

  They had always been indiscriminate, like the wrathful Leighton.

  He could consume the anger emotions produced by any creature and convert them into his own power.

  This rampant and boundless inclusivity was probably the reason.

  Viktor thought about it and slightly raised his eyebrows.

  It was just mentioned earlier that the main reason Sapphirose could incorporate a large number of magical beast genes was through 'eating'.

  At this moment, he had some clues.

  The Reiser family might have used demonic powers to create human gene weapons like Sapphirose.

  Of course, the Reiser family itself didn't have the ability to control demons.

  It's just that their head was no ordinary person.

  'Lipoaute—'

  With the conclusion basically confirmed, Viktor nodded to Henie and praised:

  "Well done."

  "You can continue your research to ensure you understand all of this."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Viktor's figure gradually transformed into waves of azure blue.

  Like water flows gently blown by the breeze, slowly shattering in the garden, rising towards the sky.

  With his disappearance, that calm voice resonated melodiously:

  "This space will last for a long time, you can continue to rest here."

  "No need to close the door when leaving; this place will disappear on its own after the last person leaves."

  Henie nodded, watching as Viktor, who had turned into a sky full of azure blue, slowly departed.

  Until the last streak of blue starlight disappeared, a small red crocodile, dragging its long tail, crawled out from Henie's shoulder.

  "How about it, are we going to welcome a new companion?"

  "Not necessarily, but this has given me some ideas."

  If Viktor could think of this, Henie certainly could too.

  She turned around, looking at Sapphirose behind her, who appeared somewhat bewildered, earnestly trying to form a fireball in her hands.

  Behind Henie, four fox tails silently rose, accompanied by her soft self-mutter:

  "Still three more to go."

  """

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  patreon.com/BZDXG - Unlock a HUGE stash of advance chapters now!

  Dive deeper into the story ahead of everyone else!