"Leon, you bastard, you actually used the black dragon as a whetstone."
Hearing Leon's explanation, Hephaestus, who was originally worried about Leon's safety, couldn't help but laugh and scold.
The others smiled wryly. They were worried about Leon's battle with the Black Dragon, but Leon told them that he was using the Black Dragon to hone his attributes. Although this was good news, it left them both amused and exasperated.
"There's nothing I can do. My strength is too far beyond what's allowed, and there aren't many left that can help me increase my stats."
"If I don't seize this opportunity, I don't know when I'll be able to raise my attributes."
Ellie relayed Leon's words to everyone without missing a single one.
Loki said with a frown, offering a kind reminder, "Don't let yourself get caught off guard and capsize."
Leon said, "Don't worry, everything is under control."
Demeter said with a smile, "It's good that you know what's going on. If anything changes, take care of the Black Dragon quickly."
"Yes, don't worry, I'm confident."
"Leon, how much longer do you think you'll have to fight?" Hestia was more concerned about how long Leon would have to fight.
"About a few hours. If I don't go all out, the Black Dragon is pretty tough to take a beating." Leon replied.
"If only I hadn't sent my arrow back to Heaven, I could have sent it to you." Artemis said with a smile.
"Uh, stop joking. I can't use your artifact, otherwise it would violate the contract." Leon reminded.
"That's true, we can't interfere." Astraea nodded in agreement.
"Alright, although it sounds like you've already decided the outcome of this battle, let's not get distracted. Let's stop here." Hephaestus spoke up, interrupting everyone's plan to continue talking with Leon.
Although Leon said it was fine, Hephaestus decided not to disturb him, just to be on the safe side.
Everyone agreed with Hephaestus's words and bid farewell to Leon.
Almost everyone in the room exchanged a few words with Leon, including Ais and the others. However, the Freya's Familia didn't say anything.
Ottar and the others weren't very familiar with Leon, and since everyone else was eager to speak, they didn't say anything. Freya was the same.
Freya's mind was now on something else.
'Leon is almost a god. That's wonderful news. Then I can find an opportunity to spend time with him.' She thought to herself, her eyes sparkling with a hint of allure.
Besides Freya, Riveria was also silently pondering something on her own. 'He's almost a god. Then I need to work hard now, hoping to have an heir before Leon becomes a god.'
'It's decided, I'll seize every opportunity before the next expedition.'
—
On the battlefield.
After losing contact with Hestia and the others, Leon began to explore something: the new power that had suddenly appeared in his body.
"This power seems to be the power of faith."
At first, Leon didn't feel anything and didn't know where this newly acquired power came from.
But as time went by, he gradually realized where this power came from. It is a blessing, the blessing of the World's Grace.
Leon was curious about this situation, and this curiosity led him to deepen him exploration of the World's Grace during the battle.
During this exploration, he discovered that he could hear a series of faint sounds. These sounds were numerous, but they did not disturb him. They sounded like a gentle stream in Leon's ears. The content of these voices was mostly different, but they all conveyed the same meaning.
That is the hope that Leon can defeat the Black Dragon and make this scourge disappear from the world completely.
In this situation, Leon instantly understood what was going on.
The people are praying that he can defeat the black dragon.
At the same time, Leon also understood that his battle with the Black Dragon at the end of the world was being broadcast live by the gods using the Mirror of God, making the world aware of it.
Without using the Mirror of God, it would have been impossible for the message to spread so widely in such a short time if it were only spread by other people.
Prayer, in essence, is an expectation of a person. This wasn't really a belief. At most, it was just a hope.
However, the World's Grace is very special. It is meant to nurture the King of Gods.
The power of faith is a power that only deities can wield. In ancient times, the gods had followers in the mortal realm, and these followers provided the gods with the power of faith.
Just like how Artemis's followers in the lower realm sealed Antares away.
However, the gods didn't care much about the power of faith because they already possessed enough divine power to squander, and the power of faith was too troublesome to study.
Afterwards, they sealed away their divine power and descended to the mortal realm to play around, so naturally they would have no chance to explore this power.
Because of the World's Grace, Leon, after obtaining divine power, already possessed the ability to harness the power of faith for his own use.
However, in the past, Leon was just an adventurer in the eyes of outsiders, not a god at all, so it was impossible for them to pray to him.
This time, the gods spread the news of his battle with the Black Dragon, and many who knew about the Black Dragon naturally hoped that it would be destroyed.
This expectation prompted them to pray, hoping that he would fulfill their hopes. And this prayer, after being received by the World's Grace, was irrationally and directly transformed into the power of faith.
As soon as the power of faith was born, it was clearly arranged by the World's Grace to become a power that Leon could use. He didn't need to explore and figure things out on his own like the gods.
Just as Leon, after unlocking divine power, only needed to upgrade to Lv. 10 to naturally become a god.
"The power of faith?"
"When I read novels in my past life, they all said that the power of faith was not a good thing."
"But now it seems that this power is very special. It is no weaker than divine power, and it can even merge with divine power to enhance its power."
"It seems that the novels I read in my previous life were just novels, I can't just believe them."
"That makes sense, a novelist is just a novelist, what power do they know?"
"Moreover, this is a transformation of the World's grace. The World's Grace is my foundation, and it could never bring me any power that is harmful to me."
"However, the prayers of the people outside are really strong. Their faith has not diminished at all, but is instead increasing, and its intensity has not weakened at all."
"In that case, after this battle, I should go back and think carefully about how to obtain the power of faith."
With that thought in mind, Leon no longer paid any attention to anything else and focused entirely on the battle.