Riley had always known that faith would eventually become a factor.
Divinity did not exist in a vacuum.
It was sustained, amplified, and shaped by belief—by the collective will of those who looked upward and placed their hopes, fears, and madness onto a higher existence.
It was a factual concept, one even Eris had mentioned to him in passing long ago.
Not as a warning, but as a matter-of-fact truth.
And even back in the game, though the mechanics were never fully expanded upon, Riley had understood it clearly enough.
Gods could grow through fate.
Through belief.
Through followers.
So, for an ascended being like him, it was only a matter of time before that path opened as an option.
He didn't have many routes left to grow stronger—not with Erebil looming ahead like an inevitable calamity.
If faith could become fuel, then logically, it was not something he could afford to ignore.
And it wasn't inherently evil either.
At least… that was what he had always believed.
