"What… what just happened?"
Gnoll Sovereign Parmar stuttered as he recalled the scene that had taken place a few moments ago.
The sight of Goddess Echidna's manifestation was still clear in his memory.
He felt as if the goddess he had only heard about had finally graced him with her presence. It made him pious and emotional at the same time, making him recall her cosmic manifestation that covered the sky again and again.
"That… that was Goddess Echidna," Orc Sovereign Kayini answered Parmar while looking as stumped as him. She felt goosebumps as well, recalling the moment that had been etched on her mind forever.
As monsters from Anfang, Parmar, and Kayini were really not in touch with their ancestral heritage back from the Continent of Echidna. They still carried on their traditions but there was not much faith in what they practiced.
However, the sight of the goddess Echidna was enough to make them rethink their positions.
There was something inherently divine in goddess Echidna's manifestation that the Children of Echidna could instantly devote themselves to. It was as if they had finally seen the sight of their long-lost mother who they had been wishing to see from the moment they were born.
Of course, reverence was not the only emotion Kayini and Parmar felt when Goddess Echidna revealed herself in the Land of the Faithless. They also felt instinctive fear towards someone who was the origin of their existence.
These Children of Echidna could instinctively feel that the goddess could erase their existence from reality just by mere thought alone. She didn't even have to use an ounce of her powers. After all, the monsters suffered from the Bloodline Shackles as well.
Parmar and Kayini were not alone in feeling such things. All of the Children of Echidna who were alive and breathing had felt the goddess Echidna's presence. They could instinctively know that something big had happened in the Land of the Faithless now that the goddess Echidna had shown herself in it, if only for briefly. Some even had epiphanies when they felt Goddess Echidna's presence, which allowed them to sense where the presence originated from.
These monsters immediately considered Reen to be the incarnation of their goddess Echidna. They started worshiping her in goddess Echidna's stead, as her proxy in the Land of the Faithless. Some of them immediately thought of currying favors just with Eren so that they could be blessed by the goddess.
"Anfang will change drastically in the coming years. The Anfang Alliance will have its hands full dealing with the calamities and protecting the mortal populace from harm. So the Children of Echidna and the half-bloods will make their comeback in Anfang. Without the divine formation's suppression, we will have an easier time as well," Kayini said with an excited tone.
Parmar nodded before adding further.
"The divine formation has deteriorated but it is still working to some extent. It will keep the outsiders at bay for the time being. We have a little more than a hundred years for the divine formation to completely stop working.
We… We need to form strong ties with the City of White Raven from now on. We also need to make sure that we don't give Eren any reason to complain, lest our goddess gets angry at us," Parmar spoke in a grim tone as he looked at Kayini with an admonishing gaze.
Kayini was made to remember the subtle threat she had given to Eren just before he started the Lazarus Project. At that time, she was still plenty doubtful of Eren pulling off what he had promised to her and the remaining three S-Ranked monsters.
After all, who would believe a mortal blindly when he proclaimed that he would shatter the divine formation that nobody was able to put a dent in from the moment it was up and running from the Calamity Era? One could say that Kayani's doubts were justified and the threat she had given to Eren was also a way for her to get the most out of the deal with Eren.
However, not only Eren had done what he had promised but also made himself known as the goddess Echidna's ally. Kayini couldn't help but regret the words she had said to him. If possible, she wanted to go back in time and change her tone and words just so that Eren and the goddess by proxy would not get angry at her.
"Don't worry, Parmar. Things are still in our control. As long as we show enough sincerity to the goddess' champion, she will not get angry at us," Kayini said with a determined voice.
"We still have a head start over other Children of Echidna who are sure to come out of their woodwork and show themselves at the gates of Eren's city. However, we are already inside the city. We allied with him when nobody was willing to. I'm sure Eren would consider that," Kayini reassured Parmar and herself with her rational words.
"Let's get moving then," Parmar looked in the distance before speaking in a low voice.
"We need to act fast. The world of Anfang will never be the same after today. The previous structures and molds have all been broken by Eren. It's time to form a new order.
We must unite the Children of Echidna under one flag and secure a new territory for ourselves. Gone are the days of Children of Echidna living in the Badlands. Let's claim one of the newly forming continents for ourselves– for us," Parmar's ambitions were at their peak as he said this. One could say that the flames of ambitions were clearly seen burning in his eyes.
Kayin and Parmar decided to leave the place, intending to contact their respective monster tribes and allied forces. Eren had completely destroyed the fold and traditions that existed in Anfang to get Reen back. This was the time for the suppressed to make their comeback.
The monsters didn't want to fall behind half-bloods in preparation for their eventual rise in Anfang.
