(3rd Person POV)
Four days had passed since Arthur's dramatic revelation about his divine nature, yet Firfel and Vivienne remained stubbornly skeptical.
Rather than accepting his claim with awe or terror, they had instead dismissed it as an elaborate jest—a reaction that was perhaps more unsettling than outright rejection.
Their skepticism wasn't entirely unreasonable. They had known Arthur for years as a charming filmmaker, not some divine entity.
Even witnessing his miraculous restoration of the battle-torn street hadn't been enough to convince them that their friend was truly divine.
The world's religious framework didn't help his case either. For centuries, only three deities had been acknowledged: the Sun God, the Moon God, and the God of Crafts, with Solarus reigning supreme among them. The concept of a fourth god—especially one who had been masquerading as a mortal filmmaker—seemed absurd to most rational minds.
So instead of fear or reverence, Arthur had received something far more embarrassing: a nickname.
As he stepped out of his sleek black car at Hellfire Park's entrance, Arthur spotted the familiar trio waiting for him. The moment Vivienne caught sight of him, her face lit up with barely contained mirth.
"Good morning, Mr. God!" she called out cheerfully, her tone dripping with playful sarcasm.
Firfel's grin was equally mischievous as she chimed in, "How's your divine morning treating you, Mr. God?"
Only Sylwen maintained her usual respectful silence, though Arthur could detect the faintest hint of amusement in her eyes.
Arthur felt caught between laughter and exasperation. He had initially thought that revealing his identity would create an insurmountable distance between them—that Firfel, especially, would view him as something alien and frightening. Instead, their relationship had somehow grown closer, as if sharing his "joke" had become an intimate bond between them.
"You two persist in calling me Mr. God," Arthur said with mock solemnity as he fell into step beside them. "Is this any way to treat your lord and savior?"
"What's wrong with calling you Mr. God?" Vivienne shot back with a grin. "Isn't that exactly what you wanted when you made that ridiculous claim?"
"But I truly am a deity!" Arthur protested, his voice carrying genuine frustration. "Why won't you believe me?"
"Sure, sure," Vivienne waved dismissively. "We all know you were just trying to impress Firfel with some elaborate show-off routine."
Firfel's soft giggle filled the air as she moved closer to Arthur, her arm slipping through his with comfortable intimacy. The warmth of her body pressed against his side, and he could feel the gentle pressure of her curves against his arm. Her cheeks flushed pink as she spoke, her voice carrying both gratitude and gentle reproach.
"Joking aside, I can never thank you enough for saving us—especially for protecting Sylwen." Her expression shifted to a playful pout. "Though I'm still annoyed that you kept her hidden from me all these years after finding her in Japon. But I understand you were respecting her decision to stay away."
Sylwen nodded in quiet acknowledgment, her eyes reflecting both guilt and gratitude for Arthur's discretion.
Arthur's smile softened as he felt Firfel's warmth against him, her newfound boldness in their physical intimacy not lost on him. 'Perhaps their disbelief isn't entirely unfortunate,' he mused privately. 'At least Firfel has become more open with her affections since that night. Even if they don't believe in my divinity, something fundamental has shifted between us.'
The irony wasn't lost on him—in trying to reveal his true nature, he had inadvertently brought them closer to his human facade than ever before.
'Four days have passed already. I wonder how the extraction process is progressing in Keanu's realm. Have those Skull operatives finally been converted into usable batteries?' Arthur mused as he made his way to his office, his mind focused on practical energy concerns.
Enyalius—now going by Keanu Reeves, a name Arthur had chosen due to his uncanny resemblance to the famous actor from his previous life—had been adapting to mortal existence for nearly a year. After Arthur had liberated him from his imprisonment in the Nether World, where the Three Known Gods had abandoned him, Keanu had been steadily recovering his divine strength.
The progress had been remarkable. Two months ago, Keanu had successfully restored his Divine Realm—a personal dimension where his authority was absolute. Currently, it resembled Arthur's own realm from his demi-god days: a simple space floating in the cosmic void, basic but functional.
What puzzled Arthur was why Keanu's realm hadn't ascended to join the Divine World despite his power level matching Arthur's own. As a Divine King, Arthur possessed his own territory within the Divine World itself—the official realm of the gods.
Regardless of its location, Keanu's realm possessed a fascinating capability: it could drain the life essence from mortals and crystallize it into cores—essentially organic Nether Cores that could serve as powerful energy sources.
Arthur's system inventory currently held 1,982 Nether Cores, down from his original collection of 3,770. The significant reduction was due to the massive energy demands of his Divine Kingdom, which he had designed to replicate modern Tokyo complete with advanced technology and infrastructure.
Even with a relatively small population, maintaining an entire futuristic cityscape required constant power to keep all systems operational.
Despite the drain on his reserves, the energy potential remained impressive. Even the weakest C-Class core contained enough energy to power an entire mortal city for several months.
However, this world's technological limitations meant most of that power would go unused. Beyond the innovations Arthur had introduced—colored televisions, primitive computers, and basic electronics—the general population relied on far simpler technology.
CRT televisions, for instance, were power-hungry devices that most families used sparingly, turning them on only for favorite programs due to energy costs. Arthur's calculations showed that Horn Kingdom consumed approximately 12-15 terawatt-hours annually. In comparison, a region like modern Hong Kong with similar size and population would consume 44 TWh or more.
This vast difference explained why a single C-Class Nether Core could sustain urban infrastructure for months, while B-Class cores might last two decades under current consumption patterns.
The problem was that Arthur desperately needed more cores. His Divine Kingdom infrastructure was a massive energy sink, and while he could power it directly with raw divine energy, the process was highly inefficient and taxing on his divine reserves.
---
While the world remained captivated by Titanic's unprecedented success, the celestial investigator Scarlet had finally agreed to focus seriously on High Arbiter Kaiser's mysterious case of stolen Monetary Faith.
Their search had been exhaustive and swift—divine beings could traverse realms in ways mortals could never comprehend. Within mere days, they had scoured the known world and checked the major secret realms.
"We've searched everywhere," Scarlet said with growing frustration. "The mortal realm, the Draconic Realm, the Hidden Elven Courts, even the Fae's Lost Domains—yet this entity continues to elude us."
Kaiser's expression was troubled as he considered their situation. "The theft continues as we speak. Each day, I feel more of my Monetary Faith being siphoned away. The amount isn't huge, but it's persistent enough to be concerning."
Scarlet studied him with growing skepticism. "Are you absolutely certain your faith is being stolen? Could this be some form of divine confusion or misperception?"
"Impossible," Kaiser replied firmly. "I know my own domain well enough. The thief is sophisticated—they convert my Monetary Faith into divine power so quickly that it disappears from my senses before I can trace it."
Scarlet exhaled slowly, considering their options. "Perhaps we should rest and reconsider our approach. If this entity can process faith energy at such speeds, we might be dealing with someone quite powerful."
Kaiser shook his head with conviction. "I disagree. My instincts tell me this being possesses an extraordinary ability to absorb and convert Monetary Faith, but that doesn't necessarily translate to overwhelming combat power. If they were truly superior to us, they would have dominated the entire monetary sphere by now and usurped my position entirely."
"That's... actually quite logical," Scarlet conceded, her analytical mind appreciating his reasoning. "But if they're not more powerful than us, why can't we detect them?"
"That's what makes this frustrating," Kaiser said. "They're present enough to steal from me, yet invisible to our senses."
The irony of their situation was clear. Unknown to both investigators, the very entity they sought was at that moment sitting in his office, absorbed in outlining his next film project, unaware that two divine beings were searching for him across multiple realms.