"Now, get up!" Peddler kicked Essencer.
It was as if Essencer was someone else now as he got up instantly, having lost his individuality. He was just Peddler's possession now, nothing more, nothing less.
"That's a fearsome power." Pnolli muttered upon seeing that the battle was done, "So, you can basically purchase anything you wish?"
"Only those that I can afford." Peddler said as he slapped Essencer on the back of his head, "Most of my coffers have been consumed to buy this idiot. There's only so much free money circulating in the market. If I take out anymore, it'll collapse the economy."
"So, you're done for the fight?" Pnolli asked, nudging Peddler from the side, "Don't lie. I know there are lots more from where it came from."
"You can still take care of an Essencer or two."
"It'll be hard." Peddler sighed, "I'm fighting away from my base. So, the expenditure is very high. Had I fought Essencer in my domain, I could have won with barely half the cost."
"The inventory of all your goods is in your domain, right?" Pnolli spoke, "So, fighting there would just end up causing you more collateral damage."
"What about you, then?" Peddler asked him, "There's none living in your domain, right? Can't we just take the fight there next?"
"We can conserve a lot of strength this way."
"Nope, I don't wish to reveal the location of my domain." Pnolli spoke, 'Since if that gets destroyed, I would lose more than half my authority.'
A domain was where the Deity exerted its influence. Even though as the God of Humanity, Compass Carburettor's influence was spread all across the world, the core of that region was where he became a Deity in the first place.
The land there had been soaking up his faith and gradually turned into a place where his faith is naturally amplified.
So, in their home, Deities or Devils were the strongest. It also showed how far outclassed Essencer was before Peddler who defeated him in his own home.
"What are you going to do with him?" Pnolli asked as he stared at Essencer, "He's rapidly losing power, you know? My people are actively eliminating the Essencer Guild members."
"I'll be turning him into a puppet." Peddler said as he took out his weighing scale and placed Essencer on one side and poured gold coins on the other. And once the gold turned into dust, his figure vanished, "I've sent him to my domain. My followers would work on processing his body to create the strongest puppet that would guard my home."
"Well, you were the one that subdued him. So I won't comment on what you plan to do with him next." Saying so, Pnolli spoke, snapping his finger as he transmitted information to a follower under Peddler.
The follower then prayed, transmitting that information to Peddler. This was how they communicated knowledge and information and coordinated with each other.
The information this time pointed at the domain of the Devil Invaderon, surprising Peddler, "You managed to find his location too? How?"
"He's not as weak as Essencer you know." Peddler retorted, "I couldn't even find any information regarding him."
"That's because everywhere he goes, there's no life left behind. The people, the economy, everything collapses." Pnolli said, "So, it's impossible for your influence to reach there."
"Even for me, I only managed to figure out his location based on the prayers of people moments before they were killed and turned into undead." He continued, sighing as he massaged his forehead in irritation, "His followers are the most invasive among all our enemies."
"Wouldn't we expend too much strength fighting him?" Peddler asked, "Essencer was weak, but even he caused most of my surplus funds to dry up. Fighting Invaderon now would force me to sell my assets to gather enough funds to fight. It would halt all my operations and possibly even cripple my hand in the economy."
"With every battle, we're weakening ourselves." He continued, "Even if I were to deal with Invaderon, there's still the Beast God and God King. I won't be able to assist you when you're fighting the God King."
"You'll definitely die in that case. Martial might be sitting on the fence as always, but his strength is enough to tip the scales in Arnark's favour."
"Compass…" He spoke in all seriousness, judging by the way he addressed Compass Carburettor by his original name, "We can't rush this. Or, is there a reason you're hurrying now after taking the backseat all these years?"
"There's only one reason." Pnolli sighed and spoke truthfully, "If I were to fight Arnark now, I'll win."
"But in the future? I can't say for sure. The addition of the Beast God would accelerate the development of the animal kingdom. It would reduce my margin of victory to dangerous levels." He stared at Peddler, "Does that convince you?"
"It does." Peddler sighed, "So, you mean to say Invaderon and Beast God are my headaches to deal with, right?"
"Then, can't you ask that brat for help? The God of Rain seemed rather willing to fight on your behalf." He asked next.
"The natives will fight with the natives. Us outsiders will deal with the outsiders." Pnolli said, "This status quo should remain for my victory."
"After all, the goal isn't to kill Arnark." Pnolli said with a glint, "But it's to make Lore mine once again."
"Faith Grounds have been created as an Arena for us six. So, if I were to win with the help of the natives, sure, I would succeed easily. But, I would lose my only chance at gaining Lore."
"So, that's the actual reason." Peddler nodded in response, "I guess Arnark too is aware of this. So, he must be aiming for the same, right?"
"Yeah," Pnolli nodded, "The reason this conflict started was because I was on the verge of obtaining the Main Character System for myself. So, without stealing my power of Tell-Tale, Arnark would never succeed."
"The case is similar for me too." He uttered, "To face Zaira next, I need both Lore and Tell-Tale."
"Only then can I truly create a safe future for my family."
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