Chapter 144: Ch 144 : An irresistible Offer
"Oh?" Medusa’s voice echoed in Ragnok’s mind, a sound as smooth and dangerous as a serpent gliding over polished stone. "And what is this grand plan of yours, little king?"
Ragnok did not answer immediately. Instead, he took a moment to truly look at the Gorgon territory, at the dark, damp caves that served as their homes.
"I see the strength of your race, Demigod Medusa," he began, his voice respectful but firm. "You could easily be the masters of an entire empire. So why do you choose to live in these few caves, hidden away from the world?"
A low, amused hiss was her reply. "It is peaceful here. Why would I wish to go anywhere else?"
"Is it peace, or is it a cage?" Ragnok countered gently. "Do you truly believe your people wish to spend their entire lives in darkness? Do they not dream of seeing the open sky, of building cities of their own?" He raised his hand, and a system screen, visible only to the two of them, materialized in the air. It showed a vibrant, bustling world.
"This was my previous home, Solara. A world destroyed by the very God who was meant to protect it."
Medusa’s serpentine hair stilled as she gazed at the before-and-after images—a thriving planet reduced to a dead, silent rock. "How does one offend a God so deeply?" she mused, her tone one of cold curiosity. To her, the fall of a mortal world was not a tragedy; it was simply an event.
"We did not offend him," Ragnok explained, a flicker of old pain in his eyes. "We simply chose to leave a home where he allowed demons to slaughter our people without lifting a finger."
"And destroying an entire world seems like a reasonable response... So why are you showing me this?" Medusa asked, her golden, reptilian eyes narrowing, trying to discern his true motive.
"I am showing you that even the strongest can fall," Ragnok said, his voice ringing with a hard-won truth. "You can protect your tribe from me, from other mortals. But what if a God stands against you? What if the enemy is one you cannot possibly defeat? Strength alone is not enough to survive in this cosmos."
Medusa chuckled, a dry, rustling sound. "Mortal, you seem to be forgetting where we are. This is the Realm of Advancement. Even if you have a God at your back, his power is unreachable here. Your God who destroyed your world cannot save you now."
"I serve another God now," Ragnok stated calmly. "A God who does not forget his people when they are in danger. He connected our fledgling kingdom with the grand empire of his own lifeforms. He has traded with us, armed us, and given us the strength to defeat every demon that has crossed our path."
"Aren’t you... blasphemous?" Medusa’s voice was laced with a mocking superiority. "Leaving your creator for a new master. Is that not why your old world was destroyed? And even if this new God is better, his only goal is to harvest faith from you. That is the nature of Gods, little king."
A fire ignited in Ragnok’s eyes. He stood tall, the kingly authority that had been tempered by diplomacy now blazing forth. "I am not blasphemous," he declared, his voice raw with an emotion that transcended the simple politics of gods and mortals.
The memories flooded his mind; of being a half-orc whelp, treated like dirt, traded like cattle, left to starve in a forgotten wasteland.
"I was born without the help of any God," he said, his voice cracking slightly before hardening into unbreakable steel. "I would have died in that wasteland if not for the grace of God Cosmos. This life I have, this kingdom I have built, was a gift from a God who saw worth in a dying half-orc when no one else did." He looked Medusa directly in her psychic eyes, his conviction an unshakeable force.
"So yes, he may have his ulterior motives. All great beings do. He could be listening to us right now. But I will say this: this life of mine was given by him, and I will fight anyone and anything to protect his dignity and the lives of my people."
From his throne, Sunny couldn’t help but laugh. "Damn," he said to the empty God space. "Saying your God has an ulterior motive right to his face. This boy is truly a reincarnation of someone from Endor." He watched the 3D projection of the scene with a growing sense of pride.
He saw Medusa, her beauty as legendary as the myths of his home world, her hair a writhing mass of living serpents, her expression for the first time showing something other than arrogance: respect.
"And I do not know about faith," Ragnok continued, "but I know about this." He let the aura of his two SS-Grade artifacts flare for a single, breathtaking moment.
The pendant on his neck hummed with a power that seemed to warp the very mana in the air, and his greatsword radiated a pressure so immense that the snakes on Medusa’s head recoiled, hissing in alarm. "I think these gifts are worth more than any faith my kingdom’s people could ever provide him"
The snakes on Medusa’s head, which had been hissing with suspicion, fell silent. Her golden eyes widened, the ancient arrogance within them replaced by a single, burning emotion: hunger. Not for food or territory, but for a possibility she had long believed impossible.
"You have gained my interest, mortal," she hissed, her voice now stripped of its mocking tone. "Now, tell me. What is your offer?"
"My God," Ragnok said simply. "That is my offer. Join my kingdom, and through us, join the Cosmic Empire. The treatment you receive from my God will surely not disappoint you. If there is anyone in this universe who can give you and your people the strength you truly desire, it is him, and only him."
"How can anyone give strength?" Medusa asked, the concept alien to her. "Is strength not something one must take for themselves?"
"He can gift talents," Ragnok said calmly, delivering his final, irresistible blow. "I was born with only two talents. I now possess more than ten. He can bestow new talents upon his followers. And more than that, his lifeforms can learn new talents, simply by putting their heart and hard work into a craft. A single talent can change the fate of a world, Demigod Medusa. You should know that better than anyone."
Medusa was silent. Her mind, which had been a fortress of pride and isolation for millennia, was now reeling.
The promise of growth, of evolution, of becoming more than what she was, was a temptation she could not resist. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was not that of a demigod, but of a hopeful supplicant.
"Can... can I speak with your God?"