I chanced a look behind me and everyone was arranged to be prepared to leave the rift.
The miners and all the mined Mana Crystals had already been transported out so the only people remaining are the Vanguards and myself.
The Gatekeeper was tied up by the side of the gate and everyone was waiting for me to deliver the finishing blow.
I pulled back my fist and punched at the Gatekeeper with all of my strength.
The Gatekeeper let out a wail before its body shattered and the bulbous head burst open before it flopped onto the ground.
The air changed and the ground shook slightly while the portal seemed to shift colours a little.
I then turned back to the portal and started leading the way through with everyone else following behind me.
As soon as I stepped through, a loud cheer rang out and once again, I was bombarded with the flashes from cameras.
Not only had the number of media crews increased, it almost felt like half the city was gathered here.
I also need to mention this but this place was supposed to be a cemetery to begin with so it was definitely an odd sight to see a whole bunch of people cheering while standing amongst the tombstones.
Is this really ok?
Then again… I suppose that it's none of my business.
Anyway, Olivia already warned me about the fact that there would definitely be a big crowd when we complete the expedition so I was prepared for this.
Since this would be the first successful clearing expedition of our country's Mortal God, it would definitely be made into a big deal and knowing our people, they would definitely not want to miss out on the event.
I raised my hand to wave at them as the rest of the Vanguards stepped through the portal behind me, drawing a bigger cheer from the crowd.
Someone behind me whispered, "Why got so many people here?"
Another guy whispered back, "You stupid ah? This is the first clearing expedition of our Mortal God. Of course there's going to be a lot of people here."
"Oh… You think we can use this to become famous?"
"Are you kidding me? I already intend to put this on my resume! 'Accompanied our country's Mortal God on his first expedition'! Do you know how big of a deal it's going to be?"
"Wah… You're pretty smart, ah?"
I decided to just ignore the conversation behind me and headed down the path towards the waiting convoy of cars that were being watched by men in suits.
Thankfully, I didn't need to do an interview this time so we could just ignore the reporters and leave the place.
I entered the car with Olivia and our convoy sped off under the escort of several police vehicles.
I guess they were already expecting a lot of people to be here so they had to up the security too. Very efficient.
Finally being able to relax a little, I let out a sigh inside my mask.
Olivia turned to me, "Thank you for your hard work, my Lord."
"I would say you worked even harder than I did for this expedition. The only time I actually did anything was during the initial fight. After that, everyone was working hard in keeping the camp and mining area safe while I just sat around."
"That is not true, my Lord. Your presence itself is important to this entire operation. Without you, none of this would have happened."
"Yeah but well… I suppose."
I decided to just accept it instead of arguing since I don't really see a point anyway.
Besides, my core belief is that things happen for a reason so the fact that I had awakened as a Mortal God should have also happened for a reason. Right now, I believe that reason is to help and protect the people that I care about from these Anomalies so I will gladly take up this role.
"So what are the future plans?" I asked, already thinking about what I might need to do in the future.
Olivia pulled out her phone, "We would first need to review the first batch of Guardians, my Lord. Once we have cleared them, would you like to meet them to do a final check?"
I nodded, "I might as well. Since we would be living together anyway, right?"
"That would be for the best. Yes."
"Then we can schedule a meeting once you have cleared them."
"Understood, my Lord. Once they have been confirmed, we intend to start accepting commissions from other countries to have you clear out the rifts that have appeared in the surrounding area. Ah, even though I say you, what I mean is having your Guardians do it of course. Since they would be carrying your blessing with them to protect others from the miasma. There is no need for you to personally fly out to those locations."
I shook my head, "It's fine. I will also participate in some of them since I still need to get used to my newly awakened abilities as well."
"Understood. In that case, I will send the commissions to my Lord and you can decide which ones you would like to personally deal with."
"Just checking… How many Guardians do we intend to hire?"
"As many as my Lord wishes to. If you want more, we will get more."
"What's stopping me from just grabbing a hundred random people and give them my blessing before sending them out to the rest of the world to deal with the rifts?"
"Ah… My Lord might not know this but… Are you aware about the rumour where the Guardians are intimate with the Mortal Gods they serve?"
I nodded, "But I thought that was just a rumour and sensational pieces meant to look down on the Guardians or something?"
"There is a semblance of truth to it. The power of the blessing depends on how close the Guardian and Mortal God is. We aren't exactly sure why but some theorise that it might be the possibility that Mortal Gods bestow a small part of their divinity in the people they blessed so someone you don't trust would cause you to subconsciously hold back… So they would not get a blessing that would allow them to protect others from the miasma."
"So… When you say how close the Guardian and Mortal God is… I assume that even friendships count?"
"That's correct, my Lord. While it is true that most Mortal Gods would end up becoming… Intimate… With their Guardians which would also increase the strength of the blessing… It is not a necessity. There are Guardians with purely platonic relationships with the Mortal Gods they serve and they still receive blessings that are on par with the Guardians who are lovers with the Mortal God."
"Is there a limit to how many people I can grant this to?"
"Unfortunately… There is. And it depends on the Mortal God themselves as they might not be able to hold multiple relationships effectively and the blessings will wane faster with people that they aren't close with. So a Mortal God who is… Forgive my wording… A recluse, might find it hard to maintain more than a handful of relationships and thus only be able to support a handful of Guardians."
That's good to know…
"So I suppose I should get to know my Guardians first and then learn to trust them before they can be sent out to the field on their own?"
"Yes, my Lord. We intend to arrange activities that will help facilitate the bonding between you and your Guardians once they have been formally accepted."
"One question though… I believe polygamy is not allowed in this country, right?"
Olivia smiled at me, "My Lord… You do not need to concern yourself with the laws. You are a Mortal God, someone who has awakened divinity. The laws of mortals do not apply to you."
"That sounds really dangerous… You're telling me that a Mortal God can just go out and kill a bunch of people for fun and no one will do anything about it?"
"Who will be able to tell them off aside from another Mortal God, my Lord? Even as a newly awakened Mortal God, you would already be able to take on several experienced Vanguards on your own. Who would be able to take down a Mortal God who has fully awakened and knows their own myth?"
That is true… It's not like you can expect a Mortal God who is already killing people for fun to just surrender when the police try to arrest them or something.
But I guess since every country basically do their best to accommodate their Mortal God, there should be no reason for the Mortal God to think about committing crimes unless they are a psychopath anyway.
I was still lost in my thoughts when the car came to a stop and the door opened, signifying we had reached our destination.
As I stepped out, a guy in a suit was walking towards us while holding what appeared to be a large box in his hands.
"Miss Olivia? We received a package that was sent to the Mortal God."
Olivia narrowed her eyes before she suddenly grabbed me and jumped behind the car.
I didn't get to question her before the box exploded in the guy's hands, the shockwave throwing even the car flying to flip through the air and slam into Olivia.
The next thing I knew, there was a loud crashing sound from above and everything went black.