It took only a few moments after that for Frosrahsa to kill the other two, applying her icy touch to the rest with brutal force that would have caused many a person from the various pre-Apocalypse Entertainment Rating Boards to list any media the scene was featured in as being for Adults Only. But then again, let’s be perfectly honest, here. They all fucking deserved it and then some.

With the dead now ‘chilling out’ (pun intended) it was time for the trio of snake-people to make their way elsewhere. There was little doubt in the mind of their ‘Mother’ that they needed more members of their people, and while part of that was due to her wanting to try and finish the damned tutorial that she was still stuck in, another part was because she wanted to have more ‘children’, though not those borne from her own body.

“Come, my daughters.” Lyrhea half-joked. “With this done, we’ll need to find more who can join us.”

Luxnilae nodded to Lyrhea, though she had her own words to say.

“Mother, it must be rather difficult to set up the situations that gave rise to us.” To this, Lyrhea nodded. “We’ll need to find other large snakes and other women for them to eat. At least, that is what I expect should be the case.”

At that second bit, Lyrhea sighed in annoyance and irritation, which got her some looks.

“Mother?” asked Luxnilae, “What is wrong?”

As the trio walked, Lyrhea finally shared how she had been led to the ‘ritual’ that had created the two newest Lyrheans, and how she now fully expected that such a ritual was the only real way to make more. This was a concern for the other two, as it was not a truly self-sufficient way forward, nor was it a quick and/ or easy one. At least not if Lyrhea’s self-admitted track record was anything to go by.

“Perhaps…” Frosrahsa added. “Perhaps it might work if we tried it?”

“Of course.” Lyrhea replied griped. “I mean, why wouldn’t it? With my luck being so shit in going that way, maybe that is just because it only applies to those I made using the other method.”

“Sarcasm is uncalled for, Mother.” Luxnilae added, getting her a stink-eye from Lyrhea.

“Well we might as well try it, I guess,” Lyrhea grumbled. “It would not surprise me anymore, that’s for damn sure.”

And so the trio had a new goal in mind, and they would find out soon enough if that goal was feasible or reachable in due time.

…

Rudy looked out over the tiny congregation that he had gathered. His Goddess, the Primordial Serpent, the given him just enough power to allow him to gather these few people under the banner of the Serpent Cult, a new faith dedicated to the God he served.

It had been slow-going at first, but now he was on a roll, and while his congregation was small, numbering only around 20 people including himself, it was at least five times as large as it had been the week and a half prior. He blamed the other Churches for this, though, and with good reason, too.

The other Gods of the other Churches all were, to put it mildly, control freaks. Sure, you got great boons for serving them, but in exchange, they demanded that you live your life in a certain way 24/7.

Humans, though, never truly liked being so utterly micromanaged. Hell, even before the Apocalypse the many faiths of the Old World had issues keeping their followers on the ‘straight and narrow’ so to speak, as humans tend to view rules merely as suggestions rather than anything they need to obey 100% of the time.

After all, in the Bible, it was a sin against God to work on a Sunday, to cut one’s beard, to wear clothing made of more than one type of material, and even eat shellfish. And how many hard-line, die-hard Christians did all of that and then some? To claim that they followed the rules set out in ANY holy book to the letter was a lie that many had told and still told to this very day.

And now that Gods had an actual impact, and could literally gift and strip away superhuman powers if you did something they liked or did not, well, the authoritarian tendencies of humanity were being brought forth more than ever, and those with more ‘pious’ minds (read slavishly obedient) were using that to its fullest.

As a result of authoritarianism being so prevalent, people wanted to breathe free more than ever before, as humans tend to want to do when they are crushed beneath oppressive and intolerant orders. So, while he only had roughly 19 followers aside from himself, he was expecting more.

Which, after all, was more desirable to a person post the end of the world; oppressive control and order, or the freedom to be who you wanted and think how you wanted? Wasn’t that what so many people dreamed of when they thought of the world after the end; a world of true freedom? And getting superpowers from that deal was just the icing on the cake!

And so, while the other faiths drove more of their members away and into other faiths due to their controlling nature, the Serpent Cult only grew more. Sure, there were only 20 right now, but that would change, in time.

As Rudy looked around, he saw a few people who were not there to convert or pray, but instead to scout out the new Church on the block. He smirked as their eyes locked onto his, and their faces soured and he watched them walk out of the makeshift temple.

He thought to himself how angry and annoyed they must be, to see a new religion grow so quickly as theirs hemorrhaged members. It wasn’t like they could do much, anyway. Now that Gods were a very tangible, powerful, visible thing, it was generally considered downright suicide to try and destroy another faith that wasn’t overtly evil.

He chuckled to himself as they slammed the door on their way out. They would be back, eventually, if only to try and convert back the people who left their faith and came to his.

As he prepared to give a sermon, the voice of his God filled his mind. He now had a new mission, a new great work that needed to be completed. It was time to get a bit more potent with his attempts to spread the word of his God.