The moon hanging in the night sky looked like a round face with baby fat.
While organizing various magical texts, Viserys suddenly heard someone calling his name.
'Viserys, I'm waiting for you at the river mouth.'
'The old turtle?'
Viserys recognized the voice immediately.
Previously, he had always been the one seeking him out. This time, the old fellow had come to him personally!
Having dragons really does make a difference.
The thought amused him.
He threw on a coat and headed toward the river mouth with Arthur and a group of guards.
The so-called river mouth was where the Upper Rhoyne and the Little Rhoyne met.
It was about an hour south of the city.
Before long, they spotted the enormous figure.
The River Elder, whose body was nearly half the size of a warship, was resting atop a massive rock, waiting for him.
The soldiers accompanying Viserys, especially Arthur, had already seen the River Elder several times before.
Their surprise lasted only a moment before they stopped at a distance.
Viserys approached alone.
Before he could even ask a question, he spoke first.
"Why did you say that day that you knew I wouldn't die? After all, the one who killed me was R'hllor."
"Because you might be the reincarnation of a god. Someone like that doesn't die so easily."
"If R'hllor had truly wanted you dead, he would never have acted so hastily," the River Elder replied.
Even now, the River Elder still believed Viserys was the reincarnation of some divine being.
When Viserys had claimed as much before, it had largely been because he couldn't beat the old turtle and was trying to stay alive.
Things were different now.
He was confident he possessed enough power to stand against him.
"What if I told you I wasn't any kind of reincarnation? Would you believe me?"
Viserys asked with an amused smile.
The enormous head lowered toward him.
A long horn protruded from its brow, and its turquoise eyes, each the size of a clenched fist, stared directly at him.
"What difference does it make?
Whether you're the reincarnation of some existence or not, our agreement has already been made.
You still have to help me become a true god."
In the past, the River Elder had valued Viserys because of his identity. Now he valued him because of his ability.
As expected of an ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years.
His way of thinking was remarkably practical.
Having figured that out, Viserys stopped dwelling on the issue and instead brought up the matter that truly concerned him.
He wanted the power to stand against R'hllor.
"Only a god can oppose a god. If you wish to fight R'hllor, you must become something equal to him."
The River Elder continued, "R'hllor is the God of Fate. If you want to oppose fate itself, then the divine spark you forge cannot be an ordinary one."
"Then what should I do?"
"R'hllor is the God of Fate. Every person has their own fate.
If you wish to create your own divine spark, you must influence the fate of more than half the people in this world.
Influence the fate of more than half the world..."
Viserys thought about it.
Who made up more than half the world's population? The answer was obvious.
Slaves.
Did that mean he should become some kind of God of Liberation or God of Freedom?
The idea immediately reminded him of Daenerys in the original timeline and her attempts to free the slaves of Slaver's Bay.
She had faced resistance from nearly the entire region.
Not only Slaver's Bay.
Several cities to the west had opposed her. Even Volantis had sent forces against her.
Gohor sat in the center of the Free Cities.
At present, Viserys merely prohibited slavery within his own territory. What happened elsewhere was beyond his concern.
But the moment he raised the banner of slave emancipation, the entire Free Cities region would unite against him.
Robert would seize the opportunity as well.
The slave masters of Astapor might even send Unsullied and gladiators to fight for free simply to protect their interests.
Daenerys had fought against perhaps half the world. He would be fighting most of it.
And there was another major problem. His own followers might not support him.
Take the Golden Company, for example.
Their primary reason for joining him was the dream of returning to Westeros and ending their lives as exiles.
The moment he announced a crusade to free all slaves, they would probably distance themselves from him immediately.
Many of his generals were the same.
A large portion of them followed him because they wanted to conquer Westeros, not because they wished to dedicate themselves to a grand mission of universal liberation.
If he announced a campaign against Braavos, most of them would probably support it.
If he announced a campaign to free slaves, his authority might allow him to push it through, but the number of problems it created would be endless.
"You've been thinking about obtaining a divine spark through the liberation of slaves, haven't you?"
The old turtle suddenly asked after observing Viserys's prolonged silence.
"Yes. Do you have any suggestions?"
The River Elder's turquoise eyes flickered.
"There isn't much I need to explain. With your intelligence, you already understand what that would mean.
But there's something else you need to remember.
Liberating slaves isn't as simple as removing the label of 'slave' from them.
Take the lords of Westeros, for example. How do they treat their smallfolk?
Those people aren't technically slaves, but are their lives truly much better?
If you're planning to obtain a divine spark through slave emancipation, my advice is to abandon that idea and find another path."
The River Elder was absolutely right.
The difference between the smallfolk of Westeros and the slaves of the Free Cities was often surprisingly small.
Lords could take the lives of their subjects at will.
They could violate their wives and daughters. They could burn homes and destroy fields.
There was no effective law or force capable of protecting ordinary people from such abuses.
In many ways, they were slaves in all but name.
"Fine. I understand.
I'll think carefully about the issue of slave liberation.
Last time you said that R'hllor suffered severe losses after forcibly changing my fate. Have you figured out how long it will take him to recover?"
"Perhaps a hundred years..."
"A hundred years?"
The number immediately energized Viserys.
Forget a hundred years.
Given thirty years at most, he was confident he could wipe out the worship of the Red God entirely.
But the old turtle immediately poured cold water on his optimism.
"Or perhaps two or three months."
Viserys stared at him.
"Isn't that range a little ridiculous? That's like saying someone's height is somewhere between one and two meters."
The old turtle seemed to read his thoughts and explained, "When I say a hundred years, that's how long recovery would normally take."
"And the two or three months?"
"By devouring the divine sparks and divine authorities of other gods he could dramatically accelerate his recovery."
___________
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/BloodAncestor