CH 631-632: Petty gods

somewhere, in a space filled with unsettling gray fog, a castle floated quietly amid the eerie fog and the silent surroundings.

The castle's interior was desolate, but at the same time imposing and magnificent.

Directly under the towering ceiling of the immaculate white castle lay a golden table with fifteen high-blue chairs on either side in a symmetrical arrangement. 7 on the right, 7 on the left, and 1 on the helm that represented the leading seat of the assortment— the seat of Order.

The back of each chair dazzled and shone faintly with visible golden light, drawing the outlines of abstract constellations that differed from reality yet were somehow very much real.

Sitting around either side of the table were fourteen women whose features were shrouded in veils of darkness.

In the middle of the table, a large chessboard was placed and a game seemed to be ongoing for who knew how long.

A heavy silence shrouded the gathering of women, sky-high tension floating in the air. A few of them gazed between Luxuria and Invidia, not knowing what they should say or do.

As always, Diligentia opened the discussion between the assortment of sisters. She was one of the twin goddesses responsible for the Angels, representing the virtue of Diligence.

“We need to talk.” Diligentia cleared her throat and looked at the chess pieces placed on the board. The pieces represented the current generation of Blessed still alive and active in the Mortal realm and obviously, many changes had transpired to the pieces in an extremely short amount of time, enough to astound the assortment of sisters.

Camelia’s piece broke down and shimmered out of existence in motes of dying light, the same happened to Lupus’ piece. Lastly, Sol’s piece changed appearances and was thus promoted, becoming a full-fledged King.

“We lost one Blessed to the force of Chaos. This has not happened in years. Not since the incident with Michael’s daughter, Dahlia.” Diligentia shook her head in disappointment and sadness, “Ira, what do you have to say about this?”

Ira had a serious expression on her face, far more than her usual nonchalance, “I have nothing to say. I do not even know when he met this man and decided to betray me.”

Ira, as befitting her name, was writhing in anger at the way things panned out. It was a source of immense shame for the goddess of wrath. However, more than anger, she felt a deep sense of fear take over her. Ira had freely admitted to Sol that she was a coward under all her godly exterior, and cowards were always scared of the unknown. Ira had found herself pitted into a situation that went beyond her understanding, and it scared her to her very core.

“From the very moment he started nourishing the divine weapon, I have been keeping an eye on him, and yet I am unable to remember when they made this pact. Worse, I do not even remember when exactly Lupus was able to receive the energy of Chaos.”

This entire situation made no sense to her, and she hated this.

Worried expressions manifested on the other goddesses as well, everyone was perturbed by this scenario. While they were in no way omniscient, their godly powers did give them much freedom. It could have been one thing if the power of chaos was used to obscure their gaze, but even that did not happen and thus everything pointed to a single event.

“This man, Eins, has a power equal to us. No. Since he was able to hide from our gaze, his concept may be superior to ours.” Luxuria spoke, breaking the silence that once again settled between the sisters. She revealed the bitter truth that everyone present had been dreading but did not want to accept.

To be able to hide from their eyes without using the power of a dimension mage would mean that they had mastered a concept that was superior to them in all aspects.

It wasn’t an impossibility per se. History showed them many such instances of something similar, Anubis being the most ideal example of this phenomenon. Few goddesses could say with confidence that they could beat Anubis without relying on their vast stores of godly powers for a battle of attrition.

A new False God was certainly worrying but nothing worth much discussion. Their current predicament however was vastly different for many reasons.

“I was not going crazy, right? You all felt the familiarity in his power, right?” Gula, the goddess of Gluttony asked. Since she had already made a deal with Sol, her eyes were always observing the battlefield. She was immediately drawn to the fight between Eins and Camelia among other things and she could not help but feel something strange.

“Castitas, you were the closest during this fight. What do you think?” Gula addressed Castitas, the goddess of chastity. Since Castitas’ Blessed, Camelia had fought directly against Eins and even used goddess descent to allow Castitas’ powers and perception to flow through her, no one here had a better understanding of the situation than her.

“I… I am not sure.” Castitas spoke with clear hesitation. It was hard to put what she felt in words but, “What I can say with certainty though is that Camelia’s opponent used a concept very similar to the power of Dreams. The same concept as Hypnos.”

“Ugh…” A few goddesses groaned. Superbia, the goddess of Pride, spoke out loud, “Do you think this is a case of a mortal finding an artifact belonging to them? Like Anubis?”

One of the many, many reasons Anubis was so strong, contending against some goddesses in sheer might, was due to his soul housing the Divine Weapon of Death in its depths. The Book of the Dead was the ultimate treasure of the concept of Death and allowed its wielder nigh-endless authority over death itself. In the same vein, they also knew that Mars Luxuria had managed to find something belonging to Dawn which explained his rapid rise to power.

“My sisters, you are too optimistic. We must always consider the worst-case scenario in this kind of situation.” Invidia, the goddess of envy, stopped the chatter that was definitely going nowhere. It had been a long time since the goddess had spoken to her sisters, however, her siblings did not have the mood to tease her for it.

Invidia stood up and leaned forward as she placed her hands on the table, “This case is different from Anubis. You are all aware of it, right? We should all consider this carefully. Rather than a simple inheritor of Hypnos’ power, what if… what if it was Hypnos himself.”

“…”

“…”

They all gazed at her, unable to speak, the words getting caught in their throat due to the implications her words contained. Many wanted to contest the idea, saying that it was impossible. That there was no way it was the case.

But deep down, they could all feel it. Something was screaming at them that Invidia was right.

“If it’s him … How? And why now?” Caritas, the Goddess of Charity, spoke in a gentle voice and looked up at the vast territory of the Divine realm. There she could see the crumbling divine kingdoms still floating in space. “Father killed him, right? How did he survive?”

Invidia waved her hand dismissively. “For starters, do not call that thing father. He is at most our creator. But that is all. Secondly, the why and the how do not matter at the moment. What we need to ask ourselves is…” She looked at her sisters and raised three fingers. “One— Is he the only one who came back? Two— Does he or do they plan to fight us for control over Heaven? Finally…”

She looked down at the chessboard and pointed at Sol’s piece, “Is he one of them?”

“Invidia…” Luxuria spoke in a tired voice but Invidia raised her hands with her palms outstretched, gesturing her to stop and let her finish.

“Don’t tell me he is not suspicious. You should have all sensed this, right? Even if it was only for an instant… We were unable to see him.”

Invidia grinned, “This happened once, right? All the way back during his ascension to the Duke realm. For a short instant, we felt as if he was equal to us and his Fate became something none of us could observe. What about now?”

All her siblings could feel the jubilation in her words, “This happening once was negligible at best, but a second time in quick succession? What is his realm? Nothing but a mere King!”

She shouted. “A small worthless King rank. A mere mortal who has yet to cast away his shell managed to do such a thing. Do you truly think this is normal? Not even Anubis was such a monster at this level.”

She took a deep breath, “I have been racking my brain. Wondering how this was possible. How can a simple mortal constantly accomplish such miracles again and again? But if he was a reincarnated god all along, it would make perfect sense!”

She placed her hand on the piece representing Sol, “I will make my proposal once again. I suggest a swift and immediate execution or…” She continued “I suggest we apprehend him and imprison him until his identity is proven.”

Invidia was sure of her victory this time around but Gula raised her hand in protest, “I believe we should not act in haste. Your deduction seems sound but you forgot one important fact. What is his concept?”

Invidia showed no surprise when Gula intervened. Indeed, all the gods who died on that day had a specific concept. Even Hypnos could not hide the power related to dreams but as for Sol.

“It’s an entirely new power. Do you truly think if he was a god, he would give up on a power cultivated for eons, all to bet on a new concept that was never threaded upon?” Gula gave a reason few could disprove. Becoming a God was already nearly impossible with the way things are. One would need to be a complete madman to risk it all and thread on a path never walked.

Even if Invidia could argue that it wasn’t impossible since many mortals did the same, she knew that all her arguments would just fall on deaf ears. As things were now, Luxuria had too many goddesses on her side so whatever she said would not be considered.

But it wasn’t as if she hadn’t already anticipated such responses from her siblings. That was the very reason she could afford a smile at this moment.

“You are right. Why don’t we talk about something else then?” Invidia's smile changed into a grin, “You remember the abomination… what was her name again? Lilith, right?”

“Oh…” Gula’s eyes narrowed. She did not like where things were going.

“If I remember well…You girls told me she was an undead, right? That no matter how ridiculous this statement was, I had no way of proving that she wasn’t one. You told me I should just accept my loss.”

The goddesses looked at each other and Temperatia spoke, “That was the final decision we have reached. Do you want to contest it?”

“Oh, not at all. Far from me to contest the wisdom of all my dear sisters.” Her tone was dripping with undisguised sarcasm, “It’s just… Hum. I seem to recall that the Mortal realm had a rule about war. What was it again? Diligentia, could you help me remember?”

Luxuria closed her eyes and Castitas sighed.

Diligentia knew what Invidia was doing but there was not much she could do in the current situation. After all, “Necromancy and the use of any undead is strictly forbidden during a war opposing two kingdoms.” She gave the rule.

“And… What is Lilith Luxuria at the moment?” Invidia asked again.

“… An Undead.”

“Well, dear sisters. It seems like we are at a crossroads.”

Invidia sat down and placed her chin on the palm of her hand,

“Either Lilith is not an undead. In this case, Sol will not face judgment by the angels. But he will be a criminal who defied Divine Laws. Or Lilith is indeed an undead, and he will face Mortal Laws.”

She laughed, “It’s going to be an interesting event, don’t you think dear sisters?”

Invidia knew it was but a small victory for her but a victory was still a victory and she was willing to take it. It didn’t matter how strong Sol was at the moment.

The stronger he was, the better it would be for her. After all, once the angels judged that Sol was too dangerous… the Mortal realm would be at risk of complete annihilation.

So, what will you do for my sister of mine? Will you watch as the world burns or will you give up on your favorite mortal?

The feeling of anticipation was too great.

As for the return of the gods? Invidia was not scared. Those gods may have been stronger than them back then, but things were quite different now.

This world belonged to the Fourteen of them and no one else.

µµµ

[Nihil’s Dimension]

In a world filled with crimson light coming from a looming blood moon of ominous proportions, Hypnos was standing in front of Nihil’s cocoon, observing her current state.

She had been healing inside the cocoon since her deadly bout in the Astral realm. However, for some odd reason, her healing speed seemed to have progressed significantly, like a rapid shift in gears.

Still, the state of her recovery was hardly of importance for the reincarnated god.

What bothered him at the moment was something of far higher importance than Nihil's well-being.

“I lost contact with my avatar,” Hypnos muttered as he adjusted his monocle. His expression was still calm but it was hard to hide the tumultuous waves that were visibly shifting in his head, fueling his unease and apprehension.

“So, I was not the only one.” A feminine voice resounded behind him.

“Zwei. Did you finish your task?” Hypnos asked but Zwei simply shook her head.

“I tried establishing my territory in Nihil’s dimension as you suggested but it was a failure. This dimension is not stable enough to contain a territory.”

“A failure, huh…” Hypnos released a sigh. He wasn't disappointed by the outcome. It was something he already expected. Dimension under the control of a Dimensional mage where nothing but Minor space orbiting around the main realms.

The rules and laws inside were incomplete and for that reason, they couldn't support the creation and growth of a new Territory.

Still, it was quite a shame. After all,

“If you try to establish your Territory in the Astral realm, the goddesses will immediately find you.” He said.

Zwei was different from the other believers of Chaos. Titans and the Chaos spawns did not create a territory when they reached the equivalent of the Demigod realm.

This was why they could flee and hide in the abyss with no fear.

But Zwei belonged to the forces of Order initially, and as such was beholden by its law. Unless she established her territory, she would always be considered an incomplete demigod.

“This is troublesome but shouldn't we worry more about the loss of our avatars? Honestly, I am quite surprised by this outcome.” Zwei grinned as she cleaned her ear with her pinky.

She didn't care much about Hypnos' goals and machinations. Truthfully, she didn't care much about becoming a demigod either.

She had already planned to visit the abyss later on and establish a territory there if necessary.

Fighting against the horrors hidden there would be quite a novel experience.

What she cared about at the moment was, “Despite you berating Nihil for her failure, it seems like your grand master plan faced quite the unexpected setback wouldn't you say?”

She cackled out loud like the delinquent she was, “You sacrificed the precious essence of Chaos to convert a Blessed in its entirety but the man is dead for good. We have no divine weapons in our hands. Our Avatar died mysteriously and we do not have the slightest bit of information or clue as to what happened at all.”

She looked at Nihil, “Meanwhile, the goddesses by now should be more or less aware of your presence and the Mortal realm will be more careful about our approach. Creating another functional Avatar at the demigod level will take a few months and plenty of divine power. Divinity is pretty scarce since no one worships you any longer. A King rank Avatar might do but well, it seems like fodder at this point with what happened to our avatars.”

Hypnos gazed expressionlessly at Zwei. He could see the madness in her eyes. Despite everything she seemed to genuinely enjoy the current situation.

Truly, “You are really a crazy bitch.” He spat with clear distaste.

“I will take this as a compliment coming from you.” Zwei showed no care despite being insulted.

“Say, how do you think our Avatar died? Surely it must have been in an epic way? Besieged by enemies on all fronts, fighting against traps we could not have imagined. Squeezing every last drop of blood and energy until inevitably falling at the end by the endless assault of our enemies. A battle like no other. One worth to be remembered for decades to come.”

The more she spoke, the more excited she became. Hypnos closed his eyes. It seemed like he was only surrounded by dumb and crazy maniacs.

Honorable death? What could be honorable in dying?

Only someone who never died could say something so stupid and distasteful.

He caressed his throat with a determined expression.

He would not die again. He would rise back to the throne of gods and reach true immortality this time around.

But for that, they needed a stronger power. Something that could face even the all-extinguishing power of the End in all its glory.

Otherwise, they would forever live with a shadow of death looming over their lives at every turn. Never knowing if or when Adam would awaken and start his slaughter all over.

“I will send a Duke-level Avatar. I should be able to condense one in a week or so and let it roam the mortal world for some time. We need information. We need to know what happened in this forsaken battlefield and more importantly— we need to decide on our next course of action.”

He gazed at Nihil, still sleeping in her cocoon.

This naive woman was essential in the many plans he had. She was one of the cornerstones he could not afford to let go.

Ideally, he would have preferred to use the seven divine weapons instead but it did not matter.

They would make do with what they had.

“I have no other choice.”

The number of sacrifices necessary to replace the missing divine weapons would be… staggering, to say the least. So much that even if they sacrificed the entire mortal realm, it still might not be close enough.

They needed something more. They needed….

Hum?

A grin split his face as he realized just where they needed to go to find what they required.

The body closest to godhood if the reincarnated gods were not added. The nearly perfect being, created with the image of Chaos in a body that belonged to the forces of Order.

The Mother of Thousands of Monsters.

“We need to unseal Echidna’s body.” He said.

It would take some time, yes.

However, time was hardly a problem for them. They simply had to sink in the shadows while they prepared for what was to come.

You won the first round.

Hypnos thought of the prince of Lustburg. He did not know what the prince had done to annihilate their avatars, but whatever it was, victory was theirs at the moment.

This was something Hypnos had no choice but to accept.

Even so,

“We will be the last ones to laugh.”

He would make sure of it. He would not let a mortal humiliate him a second time.