Victor expanded his spiritual sense, instantly covering the entire planet beneath him.
He quickly locked onto the human settlements scattered across the surface.
What surprised him was discovering thirty or forty separate communities, far more than he'd expected.
The sheer number made him think of an old saying, "Bugs have never been truly eradicated."
It was fitting. Compared to the other races of Disboard, humans were as fragile as insects.
Yet their tenacity and survival instinct had allowed them to endure on this harsh, war-torn planet, clinging to life until the very end.
While marveling at humanity's resilience, Victor faced a practical problem.
How could he select a representative everyone would recognize from these thirty or forty scattered settlements?
After a moment's thought, an idea formed.
"I'll gather everyone from these settlements in one place and let them choose for themselves."
It seemed only fair. Better they select their own representative than have an outsider impose one on them.
With his decision made, Victor teleported to the nearest settlement.
His sudden appearance startled the people there. Though the war had ended and violence was now forbidden under the new laws established by the One True God, years of living in fear had left deep scars. Seeing a higher species materialize out of nowhere still triggered instinctive terror.
"Don't be afraid," Victor said gently. "I'm Victor, the one who ended the Great War. Like you, I'm human."
His introduction sent a ripple of shock through the crowd.
The fear drained from their faces, replaced by awe and reverence. They dropped to their knees, gazing up at him with worshipful eyes.
"It's actually the Lord of Humanity!"
"Incredible! The Lord of Humanity has come to our tribe!"
"Welcome, Lord of Humanity!"
Victor froze at their choice of title.
Lord of Humanity?
When did I become that?
The thought of sitting on a golden toilet flashed through his mind, and he had to suppress a smile.
"Everyone, please stand," he said. "I need to speak with your leader."
A middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd. "Sark has met the Lord of Humanity. I am the chief of this settlement."
"Gather everyone in your settlement," Victor instructed. "I'm going to move you all to a safer location."
"As you command!"
Sark left with several men. Less than ten minutes later, all 1,951 residents stood assembled before Victor.
He collected them into a spatial storage and moved on to the next settlement.
Time passed as he visited each community in turn.
Half an hour later, every human scattered across the planet had been gathered into his storage.
Victor then found an ideal location, a feng shui treasure land far from the territories of other races, and released them all.
Looking out at the roughly one hundred thousand survivors, he spoke clearly. "From this day forward, use this place as your foundation to build a new home."
"As you command!"
Victor turned his attention to the thirty-odd people standing at the front, the leaders from each settlement.
Disappointment flickered through him when he didn't recognize any familiar faces.
Perhaps Riku simply hadn't been born in this era.
Pushing the thought aside, he addressed the gathered leaders. "I've brought you all together for an important reason. The alliance meeting of all sixteen races is about to begin. I need you to quickly elect a representative to attend."
The leaders exchanged uncertain glances, murmuring among themselves.
Finally, someone stepped forward. "My lord, you're human too. We would like you to represent us!"
Others quickly nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Lord Victor is the master of humanity. Who better to represent us?"
"Exactly!"
Victor shook his head firmly. "I won't represent any race. You must choose your own representative. I'm giving you half an hour to decide."
Disappointment washed over their faces, but they had no choice. They gathered in clusters to discuss their options.
Half an hour passed quickly.
The results were in.
The chosen representative was a young man who appeared to be in his early thirties. He had short wine-red hair and striking azure eyes, though a horrible scar marred what would otherwise have been a gentle face.
"What's your name?" Victor asked.
"My lord, my name is Scott Dora."
Victor's eyes widened slightly. "Dora? Do you know Couronne Dora?"
Now it was Scott's turn to look surprised. "Couronne is my daughter. My lord, how do you know her?"
He turned toward the crowd, and a little girl with wine-red hair and blue eyes stepped forward. She gazed up at Victor with undisguised admiration and curiosity.
Though young, Victor recognized her immediately, she was the sister of the protagonist from the original timeline.
He returned his attention to Scott and nodded. "You have a remarkable daughter. She'll lead humanity to prosperity one day."
"Really?" Scott's voice trembled with excitement.
To receive such praise from the Lord of Humanity meant his daughter was destined for greatness. He'd have to train her carefully.
"Let's go," Victor said. "We've wasted enough time already. We can't keep the others waiting."
He placed a hand on Scott's shoulder and teleported them both away.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Avant Heim, the floating home of the Flügel.
Jibril sensed Victor's presence immediately and flew over. "Lord Victor, you're finally back! The other races are getting restless."
"As long as they haven't caused trouble."
Jibril smirked. "Haha, they wouldn't dare. After witnessing your power, they wouldn't risk it even if they had a hundred times the courage."
"Then let's meet these representatives."
Now that he thought about it, among the sixteen races, he'd only encountered the Old Deus, Flügel, Ex-Machina, Werebeasts, Elves, Dragonia, and Dhampirs.
The other races remained mysteries, names he'd heard but faces he'd never seen.
They walked through a long, narrow corridor before entering a spacious conference chamber.
Representatives from each race sat around an oval table. As Jibril had mentioned, though clearly impatient, they remained obediently seated.
When the three of them entered, every eye turned in their direction.
The representatives glanced briefly at Jibril and Scott before their gazes settled on Victor.
Is this the human god?