Evolution was magic’s endgame, and even gods were on the path of evolution. Who wouldn’t crave it? Even sacrificing everything would be worth it in exchange for evolution.

The Goddess of Darkness craved evolution, but she was used to being in a place of power and could not tolerate Wayne’s arrogant tone. She considered inviting him to a meal, cutting off his head, and taking him in as Her dog. After that, she would tame Wayne into a subordinate god.

It was ambitious of Her to want to convert an ancient god’s vassal into a subordinate god.

It made sense for everyone who was struggling on their path to evolution to harbor a strong desire and resistance to mediocrity, be it a legendary mage or a demigod. The Goddess of Darkness was no exception.

Set aside the esoteric ancient gods, the Heavenly Father had stood at the top, and later the Goddess of Nature had overtaken the Goddess of Darkness. Pressure drove her to yearn for progress and for surpassing Nature.

The Heavenly Father had blocked off one path, while the Goddess of Nature had blocked off another. There weren’t many options left for the Goddess of Darkness.

She cursed inwardly and politely issued her invitation. “Wayne, I’m willing to work with you and exchange opinions on evolution. I’ve shown my goodwill to you.”

“In what way?”

“Anastasia.”

...You’re giving what’s mine to me and calling it your goodwill?

Wayne smothered a huff, nodding instead. “You’re right. You’ve shown me a great deal of goodwill.”

They both took the crooked olive branches offered, hoping that the good start would lead to a good end.

Wayne wasn’t greedy. He only hoped to buy himself as much time as possible. Every dog had its days, and one day, with the Book of Greed in his possession, he would catch up with the Goddess of Darkness as an underdog. He would get his payback.

Once he became stronger than Her, he could determine Her survival and conception with his tentacles.

The Goddess of Darkness faced greater urgency but also wanted more. “Wayne, you’ve demonstrated your evolution. I’m willing to keep the secret from other gods for you. To prove that I’m genuine, I’ll point you to a shortcut.”

Really? You’re that generous?

Wayne raised an eyebrow. Reserving his judgment, he said solemnly, “Please point me in the right direction, Goddess. What should I do?”

“You must know that your strength and foundation do not match your existence. You could’ve been stronger, but unfortunately, the resources in the Chosen Land are limited, not enough to support your quick growth.”

That struck a chord in Wayne. He had indeed acquired a wealth of resources. A small part of it could’ve raised a mage to Legendary rank. However, the Book of Greed was such a strange artifact with such an unusual appetite that it was always starving for more.

The book spoke up about its difficulties. Since it began to follow Wayne, it had been forced to skip meals and never got to satisfy its appetite. It was leading a life worse than Little Wayne!

What was Little Wayne but an extraneous bit on Wayne’s body? The book felt wronged to be treated worse than it!

That was the negativity brought about by evolution, and Wayne had always neglected it. This time was no exception. He was loyal and dedicated to Little Wayne. He could starve, but not his brother. That was the principle he adhered to.

“The resources in the Chosen Land had long since been divided,” the Goddess of Darkness said slowly. “You came too late and could only pick up the scraps. If you want to quickly strengthen your foundation, you have no choice but to go for the plundering route.”

Treasure in the world went to the worthy, and resources were given to the strong first. That wasn’t theft but a manifestation of survival of the fittest. It was a cruel truth, but practical and straightforward.

Those who fell behind wouldn’t necessarily get ganged up on, but those who fell behind while possessing a treasure trove? Sorry, they were just inviting a beating, no justification needed. Just claim that your subordinates were lost and blow up the door.

Reality was drastically different for the strong, on the other hand. No justification would go uncontested, be it missing soldiers, dead generals, or people falling into the sea.

It was a simple truth that Wayne had witnessed at play. Take Windsor as an example: why was the Queen trying to get Auston’s attention in black stockings? Because of love? No, it was because the Lando family had more chosen knights and raw power.

“Goddess, I understand all that, so just be upfront with me. Where should I get more resources?”

“There is such a place in Windsor, and the Church of Darkness has a decent reserve of resources, too. I can give both to you for free.”

“Forget giving it to me for free. Since we’re allies, I can’t possibly take advantage of you.” Wayne shook his head. “What’s your price?”

“Let my thoughts go.”

Wayne fell silent, and so did the Goddess of Darkness. They reached an impasse.

After a moment, Wayne said, “I can let the thoughts in my body go, but not now. I’m under too much pressure from you, Goddess, and ours is not an equal relationship to build an alliance on. I cannot negotiate with you on equal footing.”

“You know we’re not on equal footing, yet you’re trying to negotiate a better deal?”

“With scarcity comes value. I’m valuable right now, but who knows if I’ll still be valuable in the future?”

“In the future...”

The Goddess of Darkness disagreed. Wayne was all rebellious bones and proved to be more difficult to tame than Auston by more than a hundred times. If She didn’t subdue him now, She would have no way to do that in the future.

After they both made compromises, they realized that they didn’t want to make more compromises. They reached another impasse. Thus, after further negotiation, they each made half a compromise.

Wayne would divide the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts in half. One half would remain in his body as leverage, while the other half would be returned to the Goddess of Darkness.

The latter was put into Anastasia’s body to merge with the Goddess of Darkness’s newly descended thoughts, and corruption was completed in an instant, leaving the goddess surprised and pleased. If She immediately returned to the Divine Realm to study it, She believed the research would bear fruit.

Once She got what She wanted, the Goddess of Darkness pointed Wayne to where he could find more resources without dawdling. “Seek out my knight. Where he acquired Twilight Despair was where you would find what you want...”

“I’ll have Anastasia arrange the transfer of the Church of Darkness’s resources. She’s my Holy Maiden. No matter what impact her action has on the church, no one will criticize her.”

She assertively emphasized Anastasia’s status and Her attitude toward the church: She did not care about Her followers!

“Moreover, my relationship with Anastasia is far better than that between the other goddesses and their Holy Maidens. Every time I descend, I can sense her desire for her faith. I only did what I did to make her dream come true. Please don’t misinterpret my intention.”

The Goddess of Darkness continued to coax him, “You may be able to correct her thoughts and reshape her reason again and again, but with her core desire unsated, the effectiveness of your treatment will decrease every time. In the end, she’ll only veer closer to madness.”

“If you truly care about her, you should satisfy her needs in appropriate doses for her sake rather than suppressing them every time, leaving her lost and fearful.”

Wayne listened with an impassive expression, labeling the Goddess of Darkness as a pimp. She definitely wasn’t meddling in Her subordinate’s private life because She was bored; She had to be up to something.

She wasn’t after his genetic information, was She? That would be absurd.

Wayne raised an eyebrow. “You’re right, Goddess. I’ll be communicating with Anastasia from a close distance in the foreseeable future, so you should avoid descending without warning in case something embarrassing happens.”

He suggested that the goddess stop meddling so much, or he would not stop after She took over. He would only play ignorant and go harder!

The Goddess of Darkness didn’t object to that. She knew that Wayne was unlikely to make a move without provocation, so She decided to work on Anastasia. She didn’t believe that he would be able to resist the temptation of such a beautiful and pure Holy Maiden.

I’ve got this in the bag!

After the Goddess of Darkness departed, Anastasia stood frozen in fright, her eyes looking everywhere but at her faith. She had heard their earlier conversation. She hoped that her faith would control himself and not make any inappropriate orders to her, or...

Or she would have to follow the order.

“Don’t worry. I’ll honor my promise to you. I’ll first operate on you and check why she was able to descend through you every time.”

Wayne dragged Anastasia into the Pale Nest, assembling and reassembling her thoughts and body for a thorough examination. However, he couldn’t find any mark left by the Goddess of Darkness.

It had nothing to do with the strength of their evolutions and everything to do with the gap between their powers. If he wanted to find the mark and remove it, the underdog would have to have its day first.

Wayne felt sorry for Anastasia when he saw the pitiful look on her face. “It must be difficult for you, stuck between the Goddess of Darkness and me. You don’t deserve such retribution.”

Moved, Anastasia hesitantly said, “My faith, the Goddess of Darkness will not give up until She gets what She wants. Rather than letting Her succeed, perhaps we should just flip the table altogether.”

What? So to prevent the kidnapper from killing the hostage, we should shoot the hostage first? That’s way too...

Well, you are from the Rus Federation.

Wayne didn’t even know where to begin. He rejected her with a wave and said that he would continue to keep the goddess at bay. Anastasia would only have to stay strong.

Anastasia smothered a sigh. She had finally mustered the courage to make the offer, but she was shot down ruthlessly. While she was happy that her faith was kind and compassionate to her, she was also disappointed about her lack of charisma. She had made a clown of herself by being overconfident.

Wayne made a strange face when he heard her thoughts. Lack of charisma? What she lacked was self-awareness.

“Rest well tonight,” he said. “I’ll be leaving. Contact the church’s headquarters as soon as possible and have the resources I want sent to Londan.”

Anastasia nodded. Gritting her teeth, she tried again, “My faith, wouldn’t you stay the night here?”

Wayne took her hand and pressed a gentlemanly kiss to it. “Lady Holy Maiden, it’s my honor to receive your recognition, but I’m not a good man. If I stay, I’ll only hurt you.”

With that, he took his leave.