Cynthia’s suggestion that Susan establish a nation was not a spur-of-the-moment idea. More and more humans were coming to seek refuge with them, but only a fraction could become Light Believers or join the knights. A large portion of them remained wanderers. Even though they now had a relatively stable place to live, they felt no real sense of belonging in their hearts.

They couldn’t become Light Believers or knights; they were still the same weak humans who could be abandoned at any moment, always ready to flee. With this mindset, no matter how many humans came to them, they would remain nothing more than scattered sand.

To rid these humans of such thoughts, they needed to be given a new “identity,” just like the Light Believers or the knights.

To gather scattered sand, you must put it in a bottle.

Establishing a nation was undoubtedly the best choice. Besides, the Sitatul Continent was vast, and for humans to rebuild their homes, they had to rely on themselves.

After the God Race settled in Manden City, Darcy had been busy with territorial expansion and developing their influence, while Chloe’s attention was entirely focused on supervising her people’s practice of Light Magic.

Now that they no longer had to live as fugitives, the population of the God Race was growing. Chloe had ordered the demolition of many buildings in the city that she deemed useless, turning them into plazas for practicing Light Magic.

Among them was the castle that Darcy had been using as a conference room.

The once spacious, bright, and magnificent conference room had been transformed into a small, simple, and tidy room where a square table took up a quarter of the space. Darcy had no complaints about the downgrade; after all, they had often held discussions in the wilderness before.

A dozen or so people were gathered in the not-so-small room. It wasn’t crowded, but the atmosphere felt somewhat somber.

Susan, the only human present, was relatively calm. She was quite familiar with Darcy, and they had a good relationship, often joking with each other. The reason the atmosphere had turned strange was because of Chloe.

The relationship between humans and the God Race had grown closer, but Chloe’s attitude toward humans remained unchanged.

“What on earth does Cynthia want to talk about?” Darcy asked, propping her chin on her hand and looking curiously at Susan. “Do you know?”

Before going to see Chelsea, Cynthia had sent someone to summon them here, saying she had something to discuss.

“I’m not entirely sure. It might be about the territory,” Susan said, feigning ignorance even though she already knew what Cynthia wanted to discuss with Darcy and the others.

A beautiful God Race woman with her silver hair braided into two pigtails walked in from outside carrying a teapot. She placed cups in front of everyone and filled them one by one. When she reached Susan, she even greeted her with a friendly hello.

Susan reached out, took the cup, and gave her a slight nod.

“Doris.” Chloe, who was sipping tea on the other side, called the beautiful God Race woman over with a stern face. “Come sit over here.”

Doris turned to look at Chloe, smiled at her, and then obediently walked over to sit beside her, placing the teapot on the table.

The room fell silent again, chilled by the cold air emanating from Chloe. Susan lowered her gaze to the cup in her hands, quietly waiting for Cynthia to arrive.

Fortunately, Cynthia didn’t keep her waiting long. Before she could even finish a cup of tea, footsteps were heard outside the door.

Susan and Darcy turned their heads toward the entrance simultaneously. Even Chloe put down her cup and straightened her back slightly, her perpetually stern expression softening a fraction.

But when she saw the person who entered with Cynthia, her face instantly darkened again.

Chelsea, following behind Cynthia, quickly noticed the strange gazes from the God Race. Her steps faltered, and she hesitated, unsure if she should enter.

“What’s wrong?” Cynthia blinked at Chelsea and said softly, “Don’t you know all these people?”

When the Morgan witches helped the God Race craft their staves, they had dealt exclusively with the God Race’s upper echelons. Chelsea recognized two-thirds of the God Race members in the room.

Darcy gave a nearby God Race member a look, and that person stood up to make room.

Cynthia led Chelsea to sit beside Darcy. She glanced around at the other God Race members, smiled, and said, “It’s been a while. It seems you’ve all become a bit unfamiliar with Chelsea.”

Chloe looked up at Cynthia, her expression impassive. “This is a God Race discussion. Why bring a witch here?”

As she spoke, she also glanced at Susan. Her displeasure was not directed solely at Chelsea.

“Of course they’re here because the discussion concerns them,” Cynthia said, taking the teapot from the table and pouring a cup for Chelsea. She then turned to Chloe and said gently, “Chloe, Dark Magic is just a type of magic. The Morgan and the Anderson are two different families.”

Chloe’s brow furrowed, and she looked as if she was about to say something. But when her peripheral vision caught Chelsea’s downcast expression, she hesitated. In the end, she said nothing and simply turned her face away expressionlessly.

Darcy noted Chloe’s expression and quickly stepped in to ease the atmosphere. “Susan is here, and Chelsea is here. I’m starting to get curious about what you’re going to say.”

Before Cynthia could speak, Susan put down her cup and suddenly stood up. She cleared her throat and said in a serious tone, “Let me be the one to say it.”

“I want to establish a nation, and I need the help of the God Race.”

An imperceptible smile touched Cynthia’s lips, and her golden eyes held a faint hint of amusement as she looked at Susan.

Susan’s declaration startled Darcy. She instinctively turned to see Cynthia’s reaction. Seeing no surprise, she knew this must have been Cynthia’s suggestion, and her brow slowly furrowed.

Even Chelsea looked up at Susan.

“Establish a nation… isn’t it a bit too soon?” Darcy mused for a moment. “If a nation is established, the Vampires will likely start targeting humans.”

And at present, humans were not yet capable of defending their own territory.

Moreover, if they were to establish a nation, where would the territory be?

Darcy began to seriously consider the feasibility of the proposal.

“The Vampires won’t target the humans,” Cynthia said flatly. “Right now, they are completely focused on destroying the temples.”

To the Vampires, humans were the least threatening race. And if the Vampires’ plan to destroy the temples succeeded, humans would be unable to adapt to the Sitatul Continent being turned into a Blood Domain. At that point, the Vampires wouldn’t even need to lift a finger; the humans would walk the path to extinction on their own.

Having dealt with the Vampires so many times, Cynthia had come to understand their temperament. They wouldn’t do anything superfluous.

Therefore, this was actually an opportunity for the humans.

Chloe rarely involved herself in matters outside the God Race, so the room was filled almost entirely with the sounds of Cynthia and Darcy’s discussion.

Darcy and Cynthia’s ways of thinking often aligned. Furthermore, she was no timid person; her ambition was no smaller than Susan’s. So when she realized what the God Race could gain from this “nation,” she agreed to the proposal almost immediately.

It wasn’t just Cynthia who felt the God Race’s influence was developing too slowly; Darcy was also dissatisfied with their rate of progress.

But the question remained: where would they choose the territory?

Darcy looked up at Cynthia and voiced this question.

Hearing Darcy’s question, Susan also looked up at Cynthia.

Under the watchful eyes of the others, Cynthia took out a map and spread it on the table. “Here,” she said nonchalantly, drawing a circle on the map with her hand.

A member of the God Race leaned over to look, their eyes widening slightly in surprise. “Here? Then where will we go?”

The area Cynthia had circled not only included their current location in the Slade Sea Region and Ochester but also expanded outward to nearly three times that size.

Chloe, who had been listening quietly, glanced down at the map and spoke. “The God Race will not share a territory with humans.”

Their current relationship was an alliance, and they each had their own areas of activity. But if it became a nation, the land beneath their feet would bear the name of a human country, a thought that made her uncomfortable.

“This place will be given to the humans.” Cynthia lowered her gaze to the map, her eyes fixed on a particular area as she said in a low voice, “We will go find the territory that should belong to us.”

The God Race members looked at each other in confusion, none of them understanding what Cynthia meant. Darcy frowned slightly and asked, “Where?”

Cynthia lifted her gaze from the map, a beautiful smile gracing her red lips. Her tone was soft and gentle as she said, “The Temple of Light.”

The vision she had glimpsed in the Giant God’s temple, though brief, had been packed with information. The intricate connection between her body and the Goddess of Light, and the mystery of why the gods had withdrawn from the Sitatul Continent—the answers could likely only be found in the Temple of Light.

Cynthia’s desire to seize the Temple of Light from the Vampires wasn’t just because she had promised to help Olivia find the Sacred River. She had long had plans for the Temple of Light; learning about the poor condition of the Elves’ Tree of Life had simply prompted her to move her plans forward.

The God Race was created by the Goddess of Light. It was only natural that the Temple of Light should return to their hands.

Cynthia’s answer sent Darcy and Chloe into deep thought. They used the Goddess of Light’s name to gather believers, but they also held a deep reverence for the Goddess herself. The Power of Light was the source of the Goddess of Light’s divine power. Although they hadn’t seen the proof in the Giant God’s temple that the God Race was indeed created by the Goddess of Light as Cynthia had, in their hearts, they were already quite certain of it.

The Temple of Light… there was truly no place on the Sitatul Continent more suitable to be the territory of their God Race.

However, the location of the Temple of Light and how to seize it from the Vampires were matters that required slow and careful deliberation. A few decisions began to form in Darcy’s mind. She glanced at the others and naturally changed the subject. “Let’s put this aside for now. First, let’s talk about why you brought Chelsea here.”

Although she trusted Susan and Chelsea, changing territories was, after all, an internal matter for the God Race.

Hearing her name, Chelsea’s expression tensed, and she instinctively turned to look at Cynthia.

Cynthia reached out and patted her shoulder reassuringly. “I want the Morgan Family to stay in the city for a while. I have some matters regarding formations that I need to discuss with them.”

In the Giant God’s temple, she had specifically recorded the dark formation the Sethite wizards had used to destroy the temple. The witches of the Morgan Family had a more thorough understanding of formations.

Darcy had no objection to this and turned to look at Chloe.

Chloe was silent for a moment before saying coolly, “If you’re staying, go to the city where the witches originally lived. Manden City has no extra space for you to experiment with formations.”

Her words were cold, but they were not a refusal.

Chelsea stared at Chloe, her tense expression slowly relaxing. She lowered her eyes, her gaze becoming somewhat complicated.

She had only just learned from Cynthia that the city where the witches had lived had been left vacant since their departure. Even as more and more humans came seeking refuge, that city had never been assigned to new residents.

And the order… had been given personally by this very God Race leader, who had always been cold and had never once shown them a pleasant face.