As Raiden gazed at the bustling streets of New York and everything around him, a wild desire began to grow uncontrollably within him.
He felt an overwhelming urge to possess everything in sight.
Just as Raiden was on the verge of losing himself, the sudden ring of his phone snapped him back to reality. He pulled out his phone and saw that it was a call from Yinsen.
"Yinsen, what's up?" Raiden answered the call, curiosity evident in his voice.
"Nothing much, just wanted to ask if you'd like to have dinner together" Yinsen inquired.
"Dinner? Nah, I'm a bit busy right now" Raiden flatly refused.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before Yinsen asked. "Raiden, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Alright, that's it for now. I've got things to do. Bye!" Raiden abruptly hung up the phone, as if he had spotted something intriguing.
"Hey, hey! Raiden!" Yinsen shouted into the phone, but Raiden had already ended the call.
Holding the phone, Yinsen turned to Tony and said with uncertainty.
"Raiden will be fine, right? Tony."
Tony nodded, looking at Yinsen, and replied.
"Yeah, Raiden will be fine. But I'm not so sure about everyone else."
...
After hanging up on Yinsen, Raiden suddenly noticed something interesting on the street. A group of people dressed in bizarre outfits were dancing in the middle of New York, seemingly performing some kind of ritual.
Watching them leap around like frogs, a faint smile crept onto Raiden lips. He walked over with a playful expression.
"The world is about to be destroyed! The apocalypse has begun! All shall fall into darkness! You need faith, you need salvation from the gods! Join us, and you shall be protected!" A solemn-faced man in the middle of the group shouted fervently.
'Isn't this just a scam in broad daylight?'
Raiden sneered at the man who was spouting such nonsense with such seriousness.
Sure enough, the police arrived quickly and arrested the chaotic group of cultists, taking them away.
As they were being led away, the leader of the group continued to raise his arms and shout.
"Join us!"
Watching the cultists being taken away, Raiden shook his head and continued walking forward. But before he could take more than a few steps, another group of people appeared out of nowhere, preaching their own doctrine.
Although it was clear they weren't from the same cult as the previous group, their message was eerily similar: the world was ending, and joining them would bring divine protection.
"Gods? Where are all these gods coming from?" Raiden scoffed and walked on.
But as he went, he noticed more and more cultists along the way, each preaching their own doctrines. In the face of this sudden wave of revelations, there were all sorts of chaotic cults popping up.
Raiden couldn't help but scratch his head.
Were there really this many cults in the world?
At that moment, he looked up and noticed that all the billboards in Times Square had been replaced with advertisements for various major cults.
"WTF, what's going on?"
The last time Raiden had been to Times Square, it was nothing like this. What on earth had happened?
Just then, the TV displayed in the window of an electronics store nearby were broadcasting the news—major cults around the world were officially claiming responsibility for the divine miracles that had appeared in the Middle East.
Miracles in the Middle East?
No way!
Raiden looked at the news on TV, both amused and exasperated.
It turned out that when Raiden actions in the Middle East were first reported by some media outlets, they didn't cause much of a stir. Everyone just treated it as a joke.
The disappearance of terrorist organizations and the strange weather phenomena were attributed to the peacekeeping forces by the public. Meanwhile, various experts jumped in to analyze the bizarre weather patterns that had recently appeared in the Middle East.
However, some cults and miscellaneous religious groups took notice.
They saw an opportunity and began to take to the streets, loudly proclaiming that Raiden deeds were miracles performed by the deities of their own sects.
This caused some commotion at the time, but it was just that—a commotion.
The police quickly dealt with it, and the farce seemed to come to a quiet end.
Amid the chaos stirred up by cultist, some media outlets saw a business opportunity. They conducted a thorough investigation of the border between Iran and Afghanistan, and the results were quite intriguing.
Superhero Tony Stark? The legendary werewolf? And those miraculous occurrences—yes, they must be the work of a deity! Even if they weren't, they had to be... because in the face of profit, they had to be.
So, the media "slightly embellished" their reports.
The disappearance of terrorist organizations along the Iran-Afghanistan border, the deities witnessed by civilians, and the strange weather phenomena—all were declared as miracles!
After the media sensational coverage, smaller, obscure cult immediately claimed that it was their deity at work.
As for the larger, more established religions, while they didn't outright announce it like those cultist, they subtly hinted to their followers, encouraging them to spread the word.
Finally, led by Catholicism, major religions convened a religious conference in Vatican City. Every religion with any significant history sent representatives.
In the Vatican Palace, the Pope addressed the delegates from various religions.
"God is our faith. We should revere God, cherish God, and follow in His footsteps. When God comes to this world, we should patiently await His call, not blindly search for His traces. This is a pasture, but we do not know which shepherd has arrived."
In plain terms, the Pope was telling the representatives of the major religions.
"It's not even certain if it's God yet. Look at how restless you all are, like a bunch of inexperienced folks. Sit the hell down! Besides, do you even know whose God it is? Just stay put—if it's your God, no one going to snatch Him away from you."
At the meeting, various religious groups also made their statements, promising to guide their followers to remain rational and quietly await the divine arrival.
However, the very next day, the Catholic Church issued a declaration claiming responsibility for the miracle that had occurred in the Middle East. They stated that the Archangel Michael had descended upon the world, wielding absolute justice to annihilate all terrorist organizations in the regions of Iran and Afghanistan.
With the Catholic Church active promotion, the presence of Tony and Yinsen was significantly downplayed, while Raiden image was magnified endlessly. Except for the initial few reports, all other newspapers only carried accounts of Raiden's deeds.
This was also the reason why Tony and Yinsen had looked at Raiden so strangely at the time. Compared to Raiden, they had not been exposed much to the public eye.
Of course, apart from the public, there were many others watching all of this unfold.
A god? Tony Stark? A werewolf?
Most people did not connect them together, except for Hydra... They had assisted the bald man, so they knew that Raiden was likely the so-called god, and the werewolf naturally had to be Yinsen.
Hydra wanted to capture Yinsen! Because in their last encounter, the deaths of the bald man and the Mandarin had already made Hydra realize that Raiden was not an easy opponent.
Therefore, they now turned their attention to Yinsen... The power of the werewolf, its genes, would surely be fascinating.
Besides Hydra, countless other organizations also sought to obtain Yinsen, especially the U.S. military.
Compared to the recently escaped monster, Yinsen equally monstrous form intrigued them greatly.
------------------------------
Please read my new book : Demon Slayer : Breath of The Forest
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator