Chapter 1892: Hatred

Watching Lin An nod, the unicorn maiden took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and tore out a chunk of flesh from her own chest:

"Lord Lin! You should know, we actually managed to hold on in the instance until now, not just by stealing instance energy, but more by relying on Faith Power!"

"But you might not know, we need Faith Power not to use as energy, but for disguise! After merging Faith Power into flesh, this power can act like a second identity, helping us evade system tasks!"

He raised his hand to hold up the extracted flesh; a strange pink hue instantly caught Lin An's attention.

"Faith Power isn't actually power! It's another form of life! Many escapees don't know this; they just go through the motions!"

"Huh?"

Lin An's eyes flickered slightly; he listened, somewhat surprised, to the unicorn maiden's information.

Even Number 77 had never mentioned this to him.

"But it seems he did mention this point? Just the concept differs?"

"Continue."

Lin An nodded, indicating the unicorn maiden could elaborate.

"Lord Lin! This information is something we figured out after countless years, realizing it only after paying a huge price!"

"Faith Power, or what you call a true god, is essentially a lifeform co-'incubated' by believers and the deity believed in! Its mind is formed from shared beliefs and thoughts, and its body from an unknowable power!"

"Once faith condenses successfully, this faith embryo attaches to the believer, granting them power and even a second life!"

"As long as faith does not perish, the believer can even rely on the embryo to continually resurrect!"

Before the unicorn maiden finished speaking, Lin An suddenly interjected:

"So, does this embryo compete with the believer for control? Like a dual soul, with split thoughts?"

"The more complex the source of faith, the more problems arise. Without purification, it cannot condense."

Lin An frowned, relaying the warning Number 77 had given him; although the first part was somewhat useful, he already knew the latter content.

However, contrary to Lin An's expectation, the unicorn that had transformed into a Nordic maiden blinked slightly, then hurriedly shook its head and nodded.

"Lin... Lord Lin. What you said isn't wrong, but that point refers to after condensation!"

"You want to condense, right? At the start of condensation there's no such problem. How could the embryo possibly overpower you? The issue is something else!"

As the words fell, Lin An was first startled, then suddenly realized he had fallen into a misconception!

Damn it! During this period he's been expending great effort thinking about what kind of belief he needs to condense in order to condense perfect faith!

Although thinking this way isn't wrong, he's obviously added too much difficulty for himself!

Faith embryo!

Number 77 just wanted him to produce an embryo, not a complete body!

"Continue!"

"Lord Lin, the biggest problem at the start is choosing the direction of your condensation, and you absolutely must not over‑condense, to avoid exceeding the critical point!"

"You may have noticed, although we've been secretly condensing faith, we haven't even reached embryo stage. It's not that we don't want to condense; we dare not, and we can't."

The unicorn maiden couldn't help but wryly laugh, as if recalling the past.

"Let me give you an example: if I wanted to condense war faith, we just need to spread militant ideas to the believers. It's simple; even ordinary people could do it!"

"But! If we violate the very ideology we spread—for instance, if we don't want to fight a certain enemy—then the moment we do so, we'll immediately suffer a backlash from faith!"

"Therefore, if too much faith is condensed, the believer will be bound to a war chariot and can only rush endlessly toward the Abyss!"

"Rather than saying gods control humans, it's more accurate to say humans control gods."

After a brief pause, the unicorn maiden glanced timidly at Lin An before daring to continue speaking.

"Simple ideas spread easily, but most are negative—like fear, war, sex, greed, and all desires. Destruction is simpler than creation; killing is easier than redemption."

"And higher‑level thoughts, such as benevolence, greatness, universal love, redemption... these are too hard. We aren't true gods; we couldn't possibly achieve them."

"So, if you want to condense faith, you'd better start with the simple stuff."

"Otherwise, before becoming a god, you would have to be like.."

"a true god."

Three minutes later.

"Lin An! You'll die horribly!! I'll wait for you in hell! You'll definitely become a monster! Definitely!"

"You're not even worthy of condensing faith! Humanity's already been destroyed! You have no idea just how much...!"

"Ahhhhh!!"

The shrill wail echoed throughout heaven.

Bone‑cutting, marrow‑drawing.

The two survivors left by Lin An all trembled as they watched him massacre the last of their kin.

Just like utilizing waste, after hearing her message Lin An merely fell silent for a moment, then began killing with a blank expression.

Relieved yet frightened, the unicorn maiden lowered her head in terror, thinking Lin An was just venting his anger.

The difficulty of condensing faith is too high—so high it's basically impossible for humans.

It's like a paradox.

Simple faith is easy to condense, but in the end they all die from backlash by the believers.

Either they lose their sanity, or they go completely mad, becoming a divine spirit meme.

Pure, positive‑emotion faith, however, demands that the believer be 'great' like a god even before attaining divinity. In the apocalypse, who could manage that?

Any being that manages to reach the point of condensing faith is none other than a monster carved out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood—cold, unfeeling, cruel and deceitful; this is the true portrait of most top‑tier powerhouses.

Quite evidently, in her eyes Lin An resembles a monster even more than they do.

She had no doubt that if Lin An dared to condense the so‑called salvation and benevolence, he would surely suffer the fiercest backlash!

The so‑called path of faith, rather than being faith in gods, is more like faith in oneself.

The wailing ceased.

Standing above a silent mountain of corpses, Lin An silently looked at his own hands.

The god-slaying was over; logically he should feel happy, but at this moment his heart had not a ripple, only an extremely complex feeling that he himself could not put into words.

He understood the implied meaning that the one-horned fugitive dared not say outright, yet could not avoid saying.

"I cannot walk the path of faith, can I?"

"That's right, I cannot condense benevolence and kindness, nor can I condense salvation and light."

"I cannot avoid being influenced by negative emotions, nor can I lose my reason and merge into madness."

"In my heart, the deepest obsession in the depths of my soul, the deepest belief..."

"It is hatred."

Lin An raised his head, silently gazing at the temple that he would destroy, at this heavenly dungeon once filled with gods.

"However."

"It seems I have hated the right target."

Lin An slowly removed the mask on his face, looking at the blurred face reflected on it.

Only at this moment did he truly understand why Chu An had chosen him.

Not the superior Second Will.

At the same time, Overseer Yin Xin.

Tentacles waved, No. 77 slowly shut the light screen before him, and in the eyeball behind him, a faint satisfaction flashed.

"It seems I don't need to do anything more...."

"If we can come out alive... perhaps there really is hope."