The [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] was pretty helpful because it was like heaven's gift for creating Religion and farming the Faith from the worshippers. Because the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] had the ability to refine the Faith safely and without any side effects.
Such ability was scarce among the Gods because not many could directly refine the Faith of the worshippers.
Generally speaking, the Gods were using their very own Divine Realms to absorb the Faith from the worshippers because not many Gods dared to absorb the Faith from the worshippers directly.
The faith poisoning was rather severe, and across the very long history of the Draconic Deus, many Gods have succumbed to the side effects of the absorption of the Faith.
Yhwah has never directly absorbed any Faith because he was strongly forbidden by his father. It was not like his father was absorbing the Faith; he never did it in his life because it was very dangerous and had severe consequences.
The most notable hidden danger of absorbing the Faith and progressing with the Faith was the dependence on the Faith for future progress.
Yes, it was generally accepted that using Faith would tremendously increase one's Divine Rank and deepen the comprehension of the Divinity to a certain degree, but at the same time, that also came with a price.
And it was pretty severe.
Once a God has started doing this, he will not be able to increase his power normally without the use of Faith. Their progress will start to be hindered, and they could even decline over time if they don't gain more Faith.
Still, one could be just smart and use the Faith in a more controlled and refined manner, like most of the current Gods were doing, like the Nordic Pantheon since the times of immemorial, because Odin would never use something that dangerous for a short gain.
So, technically speaking, Yhwach was very grateful that another Divine Authority that he had obtained was the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] because with it, he could utilize the Faith more effectively.
After many tests, he found out that the loss of power when the Faith was refined with the usage of the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] was only around 50%, which was a staggering effect considering the loss of power when the same process was done through the Divine Realm was around 80%.
Due to their large number of followers, the Gods constantly competed for the greatest number, as they needed both quality and quantity. Yhwach admired Yahweh's genius, who created Heaven's System, which automates the entire process with fewer losses.
If Yhwach's predictions were correct, then the loss of power from using the Heaven's System was also around 50%. It was no wonder that the Heaven of the Biblical Pantheon was considered the strongest Divine Realm in the entire Draconic Deus.
He would need to train more with the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] and try to comprehend as much as possible of the new Divinity that he had obtained. He had a certain feeling that was telling him that this was just the superficial level of the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] capabilities and that the Divine Authority was much stronger than it seemed.
"I should take a break... for the past three months, I wasn't doing anything else aside from training to control my newfound power."
He made a mental note to check on Valiana, who was for sure training her ass off, because she told him that she would reach the Level 4 Ultimate-Class as soon as possible to catch up to him, which he knew that was a lie...
She agreed to undergo his proposed Devil Draconification Process when they talked about it the last time together. Albion and Yhwach were working very hard on the procedure to make it as safe as possible for Valiana.
He studied it a few times when Albion tried turning on some test subjects, as they had plenty of devils.
During the time he was in seclusion to acclimate himself to his new power, he was notified by his father that the negotiations with the Celestial Court, Asgard, Shinto, and a few minor factions had gone well, and they agreed to sell them their Devil prisoners for a low price.
So right now, they had several hundred devils in their custody, not to mention, around one month ago, Hades delivered around one thousand Pure-Blooded Devils of the Old Satan Faction to the Hindu Pantheon that were captured near his Underworld.
Apparently, the Hindu Pantheon has also established some sort of alliance with Hades, which wasn't that surprising as the God of the Underworld and Dead of the Greek Pantheon was one of the strongest Gods in the Draconic Deus and had a spot among the Top Ten Strongest Beings.
Even before, Yhwach overheard that Indra and Shiva were scheming together with Hades to overthrow Zeus and place Hades as the God King of the Greek Pantheon for several reasons.
One of the most notable ones was that, as long as Zeus was the God King of the Greek Pantheon, then almost nobody else wanted to be in alliance with him.
Especially the Pantheons that had some very powerful Goddesses that had a strong pull over the politics of the Pantheon, like the Nordic Pantheon, Celestial Court, Shinto, or the Hindu Pantheon, outright refused to have any relationship with the Greeks.
But on the other hand, the reputation of the Greeks was terrible all over because most of the male Gods from that Pantheon were forbidden to enter most of the areas around the Earth that were under the influence of the different Pantheon, especially due to their reputation as a bunch of moral degenerates and rapists.
Hades would certainly be a much better ally compared to Zeus. In fact, while many of the Pantheons and Factions across the Draconic Deus had rather bad relationships with the Greek Pantheon.
Yet they certainly had some dealings with Haded because he was one of the few trustworthy Gods in their Pantheon, not to mention he was also the strongest Greek God with a spot in the Top 10 Strong Beings of the Draconic Deus.
And as the ruler of the Greek Underworld and someone who had Divine Authority of the Dead, Death, and the Underworld, he also ruled a good chunk of the Underworld itself. Less is said about the armies of the Grim Reapers that Hades has cultivated from scratch.
Yhwach has decided to cut his training short for the time being, as he went to check on Valiana to see what she was doing. However, most probably, she was once again training because that was what she had been doing most of her time.
Valiana constantly trained, and since she had broken through to Level 4, her training regime increased severalfold. She was prepared to reach the Level 4 Umtrilate Class as well and, at the same time, undergo the Devil Draconification Procedure that he was developing together with Albion.
In fact, she could undergo the process relatively soon, in the upcoming days, because he had already figured out the major hurdles and the entire procedure together with Albion. Once they gathered all the necessary items, they would proceed with the procedure.
***
Obviously, he found Valiana at the training ground because she was once again training...
According to his suggestions, she was practicing the Demonic Energy Control because Yhwach told her to succeed at the Devil Draconification Procedure perfectly, she would need to have superb control over her Demonic Energy.
That was of paramount importance because, during the procedure, the Demonic Energy will start mutating and going haywire. If not adequately controlled, she could suffer some severe side effects, while at the same time, it could also lead to the failure of the process as a whole.
For Valiana, this kind of training was nothing short of torture because she was forced to stay still and meditate. The exercises that he had given her were very hard because controlling Demonic Energy wasn't her forte.
One could say because she was born with very high and extremely potent Demonic Energy due to her being of the direct lineage of the Original Lucifer, the Helel, the Lightbringer, and one of the most powerful beings in the world...
She had problems with this.
Mainly because her Demonic Energy, on top of everything, underwent some sort of mutation as it became even stronger and even more potent. Her Demonic Energy was indeed very unique; Yhwach even speculated that it was being influenced by the presence of the Longinus-Tier Sacred Gear Divine Dividing to a certain extent, but at the same time, that also wasn't enough.
He did some tests on the Demonic Energy and the effects of the Draconic Aura and Draconic Properties from the Heavenly Dragon that was within the Longinus-Tier Sacred Gear Divine Dividing.
While the Draconic Aura did indeed have certain effects on the Demonic Energy and its subsequent mutations, it wasn't enough, and in the first place, the effects were entirely different and represented around 30% of the changes compared to the standard Demonic Energy.
Thus, the only logical conclusion was that her mother's lineage must have been somehow special.
Which was the most unusual thing.
In the Draconic Deus, the Human Race was at the bottom of the bottom.
They were the weakest species of all the species in the Draconic Deus. Their aptitude for Magic overall was almost non-existent and very low. They were weak, their physiques were average, and even some of the weakest Monsters and Level 1 Beings could easily overwhelm even the strongest of the ordinary humans.
What made things worse for the humans was that, even when they managed to get their hands on some power, it wasn't theirs in the first place.
Most of the humans who made their mark in history were those who received either Divine Blessings from the Gods or Divine Blessings from the entire Pantheon, which allowed the most talented among them to reach even the heights of Level 4.
Alternatively, there were humans with the Sacred Gears.
The Sacred Gears, especially the Longinuses, were the most prized possession for the humans, which allowed the most talented and strongest among them to reach even Level 6 or Level 7.
Yet, that was the case only for an extremely tiny minority of humans.
The rest, approximately 99,99% of them, were as weak and worthless as they could get.
He understood why most, if not all, of the supernatural races looked down on humanity, because they were weak, and yet they were so arrogant due to their meager achievements.
What the humans didn't know... was that their illusions of superiority and rulers of this world would crumble very soon.
Still, seeing her sitting cross-legged in an enormous training ground while huge waves of Demonic Energy were swirling around her as she was controlling them with grace and precision.
Yhwach remained looking at Valiana, who was training, before she dispersed her Demonic Energy, when she noticed that Yhwach had come to check on her. From time to time, he was often checking up on her progress during her training, something that Valiana deeply valued, even though she would never say it out loud.
Everyone who watched their interactions found it rather hilarious because to everyone, it was clear that Yhwach was clueless about Valiana's affection for him, while she was too proud and, at the same time, too shy to say something.
"I see that you are practicing my Energy Control Exercises, and actually, you are doing them very well."
Yhwach said as he observed Valiana, who finished her training, because he was the one who created the Demonic Energy Control Exercises with the help of the [Unique Skill Great Sage], based on his own observations of the Demonic Energy and his own training with the Holy Power.
With that and some insights from his parents and Albion, Yhwach managed to create a rather comprehensive set of exercises that were aimed at helping Valiana refine and polish her control over the Demonic Energy, which was rather lagging behind.
Now, after she had spent practicing these exercises for the past two months, she could clearly tell that her control over the Demonic Energy had gotten categorically better than before, and she felt more confident in the Devil Draconification Process.
At the same time, another effect of the higher control over the Demonic Energy was a rather high increase in the combat prowess because he was right now wasting far less Demonic Energy in her attacks and could remain active in combat for much longer.
"Ts, how could you spend doing this kind of thing for many hours per day? It's driving me insane already..."
Valiana wanted to scoff because, for her, this was the most boring thing she could do, because these kinds of exercises were rather lengthy and they were rooted in repeating the same thing several times over and over.
"I am telling you that for whole years, but you really need to be more patient already. You certainly don't have patience..."
They were completely different personalities, while Yhwach was rather quiet, silent, patient, and studious... Valiana was the complete opposite of him, as she was always super-energic, very active and was someone who constantly wanted to do something.
"Shut up Mr. I am going to meditate for half a day after spending a week int he library... You are behaving like an old man..."
Valiana immediately returned when they started arguing. Valiana gave up and sat down on the ground.
Afterward, they started talking about other things.
"So... have you finished your acclimatization?"
She asked after some time because she knew that she couldn't really advance to the Level 4 Ultimate-Class and needed to wait for him to finish his thing, before she would go for the Devil Draconification Process.
Yhwach, as the main architect of the entire idea, was needed to control the Magic Formation that would be refining the Pure-Blooded Devils into the pure and untapped Devil Essence and then supplementing the Devil Essence into Valianna's body while Albion was doing the Draconification on her.
It was a very risky and troublesome process, and there was nobody who could handle it perfectly aside from Yhwwach, who came up with the idea.
Not to mention, the Hindu Pantheon actually invested a lot of resources and money into the procedure because they were buying some of the captured Pure-Blooded Devils at exorbitant prices from the other factions and Pantheons.
Valiana was aware of this investment from the Hindu Pantheon in her because she was already considered part of the Hindu Pantheon. The Devil Draconification Process would greatly increase her power and potential and extend her lifespan.
Because she was half-devil, her lifespan was only a small fraction of that of the true Pure-Blooded Devil, as she would maximally live up to around a few centuries. Most of the half-devils lived up to 300 years or so...
And even though she was still very young, it was something that weighed on her because obtaining agelessness was very hard, even in a world like the Draconic Deus. With the upcoming Devil Draconication, her issue with the lifespan would be entirely resolved, and that was another bonus of joining the Hindu Pantheon.
"Yes, and soon we could start your own breakthrough to the Ultimate-Class and evolution."
Yhwach stated neutrally because it was time for him to finish what he had started, because this project had already been something that he had been working on for a long time.
Everything was already prepared, and Valiana was already too eager to become the Ultimate-Class being. She trained whole days and nights for this sole occasion and was rather eager to ascend to the new Level.
At the same time, for the Hindu Pantheon, it would finally be a great payoff, because they were investing a lot of resources into Valiana. Because she was the holder of the Longinus-Tier Sacred Gear Divine Dividing, she represented the immense potential for the Hindu Pantheon.
As someone who had the Soul of the Heavenly Dragon at Level 8 at her disposition, she was a true heavy hitter among the heavy hitters. Not to mention, the Heavenly Dragons also had some particular abilities that made them very dangerous.
"Also... when you reach Ultimate-Class, I think that mother will finally let me out of the Mount Kailash. Sometimes I wonder if she liked you more than me... certainly she thinks that you are more responsible than me, which is truly mind-boggling."
Yhwach muttered as he really sometimes wondered why his mother liked Valiana more than him because Valiana was like a daughter to his mother. Aside from this, his mother and father didn't have any more children because it was hard for powerful people like them to conceive any more children.
Valiana was like a daughter that Tashamal never had, and she was certainly showing it very much at every single opportunity she had. Simultaneously, for whatever reason, she even trusted her to be more responsible, much more than him.
This was something that he never truly understood, and he also didn't think that he would be able to understand it because Valiana was probably one of the most reckless people that he had ever known.
Probably because they had such a good relationship, and Valiana was always that good girl who was basically dragging her son out of the lab and bringing him to eat?
"Where do you want to go?"
Valiana asked, as she was probably the one that was most eager to leave Mount Kailash and venture to the outside world, probably far more than him. In fact, Yhwach was far more than enough content to remain locked in his laboratory and research there various things.
Because he was one of the most advanced laboratories in the entire Draconic Deus, something that was rivaling the heights of the technology of the Ajuka Beelzebub or Azazel, with whom, in fact, Yhwach was in regular contact.
There were not many people who could rival him in the intellectual aspect, and Ajuka Beelzebub and Azazel were very rare cases of people who had the same drive and passion for research and science as him.
They had been communicating with each other for a few years already; fortunately enough, Devils were smart enough to figure out the creation of the Supernatural version of the internet, and then, it was rather easy to contact someone.
He often exchanged ideas with Ajuka Beelzebub, as Satan was rather an approachable person who didn't care a bit about politics or anything even remotely connected to it.
Which was rather unusual, considering the political power that the position of Satan commanded and especially the fact that he was one of the Level 8 True Form Super Devils of the Devil Race.
"Don't know... maybe travel the world a bit and take a look at the Dimensions of the other Pantheons and factions. I would also like to return to the Underworld and explore it a bit; till now, it remains the largest unexplored Dimension in the Draconic Deus."
Yhwach didn't really know how to answer her question, but he really wanted to travel through the world. This world was far more interesting, bigger, and more fascinating than that his past world, and he wanted to explore it.
He didn't really think that he had a sense of adventure, yet at the same time, he was curious about the world he was living in. Aside from that, during the travels, he could gather many precious things, new forms of Magic, and other similar things that would pique his interest.
"We could go out and take on Mercenary Requests from the other factions and Pantheon. Aside from getting some money and precious things, we could see the world and even be allowed in the territory of most of the factions across the Draconic Deus rather easily."
Hearing what Valiana said made Yhwach turn around and look at her intensely, as he almost thought that this wasn't Valiana.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking something rude, right?"
Her eyes squinted when she looked at him, as he shook his head in denial, which made Valiana frown.
"No, no... I am just surprised that how something this smart came from you."
At that moment, he said that Valiana frowned even more as she shot a blast of Demonic Energy towards his head in an instantaneous moment because he had already predicted her reaction early on.
Despite everything, Valiana was rather predictable in this aspect; because she was angry, she tended to attack people or just shoot a Demonc Energy at them in an attempt to injure them, though he knew that it was still rather manageable because she didn't use the Divine Dividing.
"Idiot."
She muttered while dispersing the Demonic Energy that around them in the training room.
Valiana made a mental note to give him a good beating during the next spar, where they would be using only the close-quarter abilities and their Senjutsu and Martial Arts as that was the Yhwach's weakest area.
Of course, she was going to execute her plan only after she reached the Ultimate-Class because without reaching Level 4, she would maximally achieve a few broken bones... her own ones, because Yhwach's physique was right now tremendously powerful.
"So, why did you come to spar or what? I still have a busy schedule."
Yhwach knew that her busy schedule meant more and more training, as if she was doing anything else. Or, she would be going around the army camps across Mount Kailash and bothering the Asuras and Devas for a fight.
Obviously, when it came to the Asuras, especially, there was no one who would say no to a good fight because they loved fighting, and fighting was in their very own blood as the top-notch battle race in the entire Draconic Deus.
"Can't I go and check on you?"
He asked the rhetorical question as he looked at her, which caused Valiana to look down at the ground for a moment as she nodded her head quietly.
[If I could have a say something about this, it's that the mating customs of the non-dragon species are really complicated. When it comes to us, the dragons, everything is much easier as you only need to defeat the female in a fight and take her as a mate...]
Suddenly, as they were sitting in the training ground, the Divine Dividing Longinus materialized from behind Valiana's back, as Albion's voice echoed through the silence of the training grounds to the point where it became pretty much uncomfortable.
Especially to Valiana, who flushed red in a moment as she looked at the blue, glowing wings in announce because she hated it when Albion was meddling in her personal things, and sometimes she really hoped to resurrect the old annoying dragon as soon as possible and kick him out.
He was like a meddlesome old man who was constantly putting his nose into things that had nothing to do with him. Both of them could understand that because Albion, as someone who was locked in the Sacred Gear, which was essentially just an over-glorified prison, was bored as hell.
Not to mention, for a dragon like him, Heavenly Dragon that was used to a free and roam the skies as they wished. Being locked in the Sacred Gears for many centuries, there were not really many things to do aside from observing what was happening in the outside and meddling into the people's affairs.
"Shut up, you stupid lizard!"
Hearing what Albion said made Valiana rather shameful as she immediately shot at the Heavenly Dragon, the White Dragon Emperor of Supremacy, and dispersed the Divine Dividing.
This time, though, it was clear that Albion was hinting at something, and even Yhwach was able to sense the tension between the two of them, especially as they were getting older.
Valiana also hated how almost all female Asuras and Devas were seducing Yhwach at any opportunity they had.
Not only due to his looks that had a certain charm, with his crimson-red eyes and abyssal-black colored hair with golden streaks that made him look very appealing. There was also the fact that he was considered as the strongest member of the younger generation among the young generation of the Hindu Pantheon and his heritage.
This, coupled together, made him quite a catch, something that Valiana didn't really like, and she often felt insecure. Even thogubh she was spending most, if not all, of her time fighting and training, she wasn't as clueless as she appeared.
She knew very well that she appeared a tomboy and didn't have such a high sex appeal as many other women and Goddesses that were often hitting on Yhwach, though she had to admit that she had never seen him reciprocate anything, as he was mostly ignoring them all.
Yhwach, meanwhile, looked at Valaina, who was a bit down because she was looking down at the ground without saying anything for several minutes, as he pondered what to do. The topic of relationships wasn't something that he was really proficient in and, especially when it came to romantic relationships.
He also didn't really know what to do right now, because he wasn't the most comfortable right now.
[You should try to comfort her... even though Valiana acts tough on the outside, she actually likes you very much, even though she is unable to express her feelings, and I can tell that she is now very sad.]
Suddenly, he heard Albion's voice in his head as he looked intensely at Valiana, who was still crestfallen and looking at the ground. Even though the White Dragon Emperor of Supremacy was most often aloof and above everything else, he still cared very much about Valiana.
She was a host that he had seen to grow up, which was rather uncommon because she was one of the very few hosts that managed to awaken the Divine Dividing at a very young age when she was only six years old.
He was there for her when she was going through some of the hardest parts of her life when she was still living in the Old Satan Faction with her father and grandfather, which wasn't really the best environment for her.
Especially when she was a hybrid of Devil and Human.
In the end, he didn't like seeing his host sad like this, because Valiana was always someone brimming with energy and eagerness, especially the eagerness to fight.
After hearing what Albion had said to him, even though he wasn't most apt in this topic, he was rather smart and figured out that she must be sad about something related to their relationship.
Not knowing what exactly, at least he knew that something was wrong. Yhwach himself was very fond of Valiana, and he couldn't really deny that he looked at her as if she were a potential romantic partner.
She was someone very beautiful and a very pleasant person to be around, and he was actually fond of her eagerness and drive to become stronger and more powerful. Her drive to train and fight was something that certainly had his admiration because she was training at every moment she got, and she also had a drive that he had never seen before in any other person.
Valiana was indeed someone that Yhwach really admired her for her conviction and drive.
He came to her and gently hugged her from behind as she raised her head and looked at him with surprise while she struggled a bit in his hug, but his physical strength was much higher than her own, so in the end, it was futile, and the only thing she could do was to give up.
For several moments, they were just sitting there in silence, as neither one of them said anything aside from enjoying each other's presence and warmth. Yhwach wanted to say something but didn't know what to say; Valiana wasn't going to say anything because she was feeling too shy to say something.
It was a problematic situation for them, but they also understood each other very well and knew that neither of them would make the first move or anything. In fact, Valiana was rather surprised that Yhwach had to take a step forward to comfort her because she knew that it was something that was out of his comfort zone rather a lot.
He wasn't a very emotional person or someone who was showcasing his emotions on the outside; that wasn't really for him at all. And Valiana wasn't much better than him, because her emotional language was a violence and throwing punches right and left, so it wasn't the domain of either of them.
"..."
As Yhwach prepared to say something, he realized that the words stuck in his throat and he couldn't say anything at all. Aside from looking at Valiana who was resting her head over his chest right now, he just patted her head gently.
Though what has surprised him, in almost a moment and faster than he could react, Valiana raised her head and kissed him on the lips as she gathered all of her courage and everything she had.
It also most probably helped that Albion was bothering and provoking her in her mind almost costly, and in the end, she just did what she felt was the best decision of now. They had been kissing for several minutes already, and Yhwach reciprocated her kiss with the same eagerness that matched her own.
When they have separated, Valiana blushed heavily because of what she had done, but she was also smiling and giggling like a little girl.
"This was indeed unexpected but a very pleasant surprise."