Inferno (Play to Live: Book # 4) Read Online Free Page B

them with. One word to those mine-diggers and they'd come running, losing their picks on the way!
    The Fallen One. Furious at the sheer memory, the Sun God gasped, breathing fire. The Patriarch's exposed skin turned red and blistered as he poured water onto his divine master's hands. The sun glistened through the pink droplets. Taken by the sight, the Sun God immediately desired to immortalize it. He snapped his fingers, turning blood into rubies. The Patriarch staggered, wheezing, as the spell grazed him, immediately dwarfing his sunburns into insignificance. Any human surgeon would have fainted at the sight of an autopsied body whose arteries were clogged with rubies; any jeweler would have been more than happy to lay his hands on them.
    Noticing his faithful servant's sorry state, the Sun God snapped his fingers again, generating the Revitalizing Wave. Instinctively the Patriarch pulled at the collar of his robe, gasping for air, as everything around him sprang to life. The wilting flowers in a vase perked up; back in the temple's kitchen the already-plucked chickens quivered back to life. The God never bothered to pace his power, preferring to awe into submission everyone who beheld his divine might. His type isn't uncommon among humans, either, like those who proffer a bone-crushing handshake to their potential opponent.
    "I thank thee, O Great One," the Patriarch lowered his head, hiding his reddened eyes blotted with burst blood vessels. He hadn't profited much from the healing overdose. In the past, people had been known to explode in a fountain of blood from a surfeit of mana.
    The Sun God gave him a benign nod. "Enjoy a new lease of life, you maggot. What do we have on our army that combats so much evil? How many followers of Light do you think you can raise to mop up the Dead Lands?"
    The question seemed to surprise the Patriarch. "As many as you wish! To my estimation, we have well over forty million Immortals in our ranks. Thirty million of them are active, meaning they've prayed at least once in the past month. Plus all the locals and the numerous creatures of Light indigenous to this world. Your one word would be enough — with enough Faith points offered to the Immortals and just a drop of Divine Power for everybody else."
    The Sun God winced. He hated sharing his mana resources with anyone. The moment his inner reserves dropped a notch, he felt vulnerable: this could be the difference between life and death in the case of a surprise attack. You could say what you want, but twenty-seven reincarnations could make anyone paranoid.
    Faith points weren't so easy to come by, either. They were well and truly limited, by far not enough to go round a million-strong army. True, he'd managed to save quite a few by allowing his priests to spend their own resources. This stash should be enough to get two hundred priests to the Tenth Circle — the highest one.
    And this was a trump card indeed, especially while it was still secreted up his sleeve and not lying on the table for everyone to see. Oh no, he wasn't going to waste this wealth by spreading it thinly over a hundred thousand Immortals. They'd have to do without. Immortal animals! The world had gone mad! In his previous incarnations, his one sidelong glance had been enough to send entire cities onto funeral pyres to willingly burn themselves alive with a song and a blissful smile on their lips. Here though, you had to pay for everything — even worse, they'd study your gift all over, using some weird, what's-the-name, stats calcu... calcal... cal-cu-lators, only to toss it aside and move on, browsing through the market's best offers.
    Never mind. One day death would sort 'em all out.
    The Patriarch had patiently waited for the pensive shadow to leave his God's brow before going on,
    "The numbers of the Dark followers are a fraction of ours. However, the local creatures they've recruited are indeed legion. Little wonder: this is a new world crawling with all sorts