Divine power is often referred to as a universal panacea, but it is not omnipotent.
For example, using divine power to wish for an upgrade in godhood levels is impossible. Or rather, it might just be impossible with the level of divine power currently available. However, using it to expand and solidify a divine kingdom is feasible.
Souta had discovered this a long time ago.
But due to his extravagant nature, his divine power never accumulated. Every time he replenished it, he would use it up quickly, leaving him unable to expand his divine kingdom.
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Souta, if you successfully collect faith from five years, shouldn't that be enough to cultivate a divine authority?"
Souta: "No, far from enough. I asked the system before and estimated the amount of divine power required to cultivate a divine authority. Based on the 200,000 believers in the Akame ga Kill world, it would take thousands of years of continuous faith collection to be sufficient."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "...Thousands of years of faith!? Why does it require so much?"
Souta: "Because divine authority is something that typically emerges within specific worldviews, like Dungeons & Dragons. Now, I have to manually achieve what an entire worldview naturally enables, so the consumption is outrageous."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "In that case, the only way to accelerate the process is by expanding the scale of believers. If we consider the current era of the Akame ga Kill world, there should still be tens of millions of people within the Empire. If they all become believers, the time required should shorten by over a hundredfold."
Altair: "Converting tens of millions of believers? That itself would take a long time, wouldn't it?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "If we conquer the Empire and make Anning Dao the state religion, it should be possible, right?"
Chelsea: "I don't think it's that simple. Even if Path of Peace becomes the state religion, forcing people to believe is meaningless. If faith isn't born naturally, it won't generate divine power. This process needs believers to join voluntarily, so it definitely won't be quick."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Alright, I was oversimplifying it."
Souta: "Actually, there is a shortcut."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "A shortcut?"
Souta: "I asked the system before. It told me that when the number of members in our friend group reaches ten, the system will unlock an ability to help members deepen their comprehension. With this, I can continuously push my understanding of rules, which will drastically reduce the divine power needed to cultivate divine authority."
Rin Tohsaka: "Wait—there's such a benefit!?"
Souta: "Huh? Why are you so excited? You can't afford a divine spark anyway."
Rin Tohsaka: "I'm not talking about divine sparks and divine authority! Think about it—our world's magic is essentially about understanding and mastering rules, right? This auxiliary function should apply to us too! That means I might be able to master a form of True magic!"
Souta: "Your development path should be the Second Magic, right? By the way, in your world, can two people possess the same type of magic simultaneously?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "This auxiliary function... it must be a welfare feature provided by the system to help members of our group grow stronger."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "@Souta. How about this? I'll transfer my points to you. If we combine them with yours, we should be able to scrape together 10,000 points and buy an invitation letter. Then you can invite someone into the group and unlock the auxiliary function."
Souta was a little touched when he saw this message.
Kurumi was really kind.
However, he couldn't rely on others to this extent.
Souta: "Kurumi, I appreciate the thought, but I suspect that this auxiliary function will be a major points drain. You should keep your points for yourself. Don't you still need to deal with Mio Takamiya? This is your chance to get stronger."
Souta: "Also, if we buy an invitation letter and unlock the auxiliary function but don't have points left to use it, that would be putting the cart before the horse. Let's wait a little longer—sooner or later, the system will invite people on its own."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Alright, I didn't think that far. If you're not in a hurry, then it's fine."
Shiroyasha: "@Souta. Hey, kid, are you giving up on faith development in Little Garden?"
Souta: "Little Garden? Pretty much. After all, Arcadia's community only has a handful of people. Developing believers there wouldn't be very effective."
Shiroyasha: "Oh? You might want to rethink that."
Souta: "What do you mean?"
Shiroyasha: "I don't fully understand your divine system, but from what I can tell, believers should also have tiers. Have you ever considered that different species—or souls and spiritual strengths—might provide faith of varying quantity and quality?"
Souta didn't respond immediately. He was lost in thought.
Faith quality... it did exist.
Faith in the Date A Live world was relatively weak since it wasn't born from true worship of a god. It was diluted significantly compared to the Akame ga Kill world.
However, he had never been worshiped by powerful beings before, so he couldn't determine if faith differed based on the strength of the believer.
Souta: "Alright, Byakuyasha. After I finish what I'm working on, I'll go to your world and test it."
Shiroyasha: "It's a deal then."
Altair: "Souta, don't forget about my 'Birdcage' plan."
Souta: "Got it. Playing the villain role—I'm looking forward to it."
Rin Tohsaka: "@Souta. You can also try the Holy Church in my world. If you impersonate their god and steal their identity, you should gain a huge number of believers."
Souta: "No, I'll pass on the Fate world. The existence of the Holy Church's god is questionable, and the Counter Force probably wouldn't allow a petition-based divine system to exist. There's no way Alaya would share human souls."
Shinobu: "@Souta. I have a hypothesis that might help you."
Souta: "Oh? You're here too, Kiss-shot?"
Shinobu: "Fine, I won't argue about how you address me. I'll just share my idea—The supernatural beings in my world are essentially manifestations of faith. If you consume them, you might be able to absorb large amounts of faith directly."
Souta: "I'm not going to eat you."
Shinobu: "I wasn't talking about myself. I'm no longer a supernatural being. Here's an example—take Hitagi Senjougahara, for instance. She's bound by a supernatural crab. If you consume that crab, you might be able to collect faith."
Souta's eye twitched. That suggestion sounded... weird.
So, eating crabs makes you stronger?