Chapter 206

“Is there… any other way?”

“Another way… hmm…”

The sage paused briefly to choose his words before speaking.

“If she were to reinstate the King of Gods onto the Divine Throne, it might quell her wrath.”

“King of Gods? But Baal is already…”

“Yes. Baal has already been split into many pieces, and his soul has flowed to the Underworld. However, that doesn’t mean complete annihilation.”

The sage tapped on the table, and a faint glowing image appeared on it—a snake biting its own tail.

“The cycle representing the circulation of life and death.”

“All souls die and are reborn, repeating this process. Even divine souls cannot escape this law.”

“So… Baal’s soul too?”

“Yes. The soul of the King of Gods, Baal, will be reborn as a human in three years. Losing all memories of being a god, it will become an ordinary person. If we teach and train that human properly, guiding them to become a hero, then ascend them back to godhood as the King of Gods…”

“That would count as Baal’s soul returning to where it should be, possibly calming her anger?”

The sage nodded slightly.

“But remember, this is only a possibility. Among the countless futures I see, this outcome is extremely rare.”

“A possibility…”

“Yes. A possible future we might reach. And there’s one more thing. To delay her wrath, there’s something we must do.”

At the sage’s words, Hermes perked up his ears.

“Something we must do? What is it?”

“Raising a human from birth, through growth, and achieving heroic deeds takes time, but the Goddess of Life might judge all gods at any moment. We need to delay her judgment. Otherwise, the Age of Gods will end before Baal’s soul, reborn as human, can become a hero.”

“Delay the judgment? How?”

The sage tapped the table again, and another image appeared—a circle divided into four sections.

“With Baal’s disappearance, some gods obtained fragments of Baal.”

The sage pointed at each section with his finger.

“Heavenly wisdom. Heavenly power and authority. Heavenly emotion. Heavenly body—fragments of Baal, originally the Sky God.”

“Huh?”

“I know that those who obtained these fragments were the main deities of various factions, originally fragments of Baal. They gained individuality, resisted Baal, and became separate entities using the fragments.”

“Hold on, main deities being fragments of Baal? That’s news to me!”

“Oh, is that so? My apologies. But since you’ll find out sooner or later, consider it early knowledge.”

“Not really understanding what you’re talking about…”

Ignoring Hermes’ attempt to speak, the sage continued.

“Anyway, if we return even some of these fragments to the Goddess of Life, it could delay her anger.”

Hermes hesitated.

If what the sage said was true, “Heavenly Power and Authority” belonged to his father, Zeus, the leader of Olympus.

Returning it would be like cutting away a major component of Zeus—what would happen to Zeus without such an essential part?

That much was easy to imagine.

“Could there be another way?”

“There isn’t. This is the only option.”

With the sage’s firm reply, Hermes sighed.

“I see…”

Though it sounded far-fetched, one thing was certain:

The gods were being forced to make a choice.

Sacrifice the main deities to buy time, ensuring the survival of the gods.

Or face total ruin together.

Of course, they had to choose the former, but it wouldn’t be easy.

While the main deities weren’t as strong as the ancient gods, they possessed a different level of power compared to other gods.

Four main deities—if they had to sacrifice them…

“Hold on. You said that giving back even a fragment of Baal could buy us time?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How much time could we gain by returning just one fragment?”

After pondering for a moment, the sage replied.

“It depends on which fragment, but I’d say around ten years.”

“Ten years… Then… Does it matter whose fragment it is?”

“No, it shouldn’t. All she cares about are Baal’s fragments. Whose they belong to doesn’t matter.”

Hermes nodded slightly.

“In that case… Did anyone from other factions, like the Aesir or Ennead, come here looking for you? I heard Odin visited…”

“Yes, Odin himself came. Though I can’t tell you what we discussed. Additionally, Thoth from the Ennead came as their representative.”

“Thoth… That ibis-headed guy…?”

Hermes clicked his tongue. Every time there was trouble between Olympus and the Ennead, that overly intelligent ibis-head showed up to meddle in everything.

Hermes didn’t like that deity at all.

“Did anyone else visit from other places?”

“Many gods came seeking to know their own futures, but none seemed concerned about the fate of all gods. Aside from Odin and Thoth, I haven’t shared this story with anyone.”

Hermes nodded at the sage’s words. If that was the situation… No, if Odin and Thoth were already involved, it was quite problematic.

At least it hadn’t reached Lokapala yet.

“Thank you for explaining. I think I see a clue now.”

“Before you go, let me give you one piece of advice.”

“Advice?”

The sage nodded slightly and spoke.

“Make sure no innocent lives are sacrificed. Avoid provoking the Goddess of Life’s anger. Please keep that in mind.”

“Innocent lives… Right. Thanks for the advice. I almost overlooked something important. Well, I’ll take my leave then.”

“Yes. Farewell.”

Hermes left the humble stone house and hurried toward the Divine Hall.

Preparations needed to begin immediately—for the war of the gods.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Phew. Did I spread all the seeds?

After Hermes left, I cut off the remote connection with the sage I had been controlling.

A remotely operated golem carved from black rock—that was the sage’s true identity.

Creating the deep forest where the sage lived required help from Yggdrasil, while crafting the sage’s golem and home was aided by Sagarmatha.

I received assistance from others as well, but currently, these two were helping with various tasks.

“If we had to do all this troublesome work, was it necessary?”

“Yeah, it’s annoying.”

Creating the sage’s secluded forest was helped by Yggdrasil, and making the sage’s golem and home was assisted by Sagarmatha.

Even though I could handle everything myself, it was better to avoid unnecessary harm to other lives.

Even if I could bring complete despair, cornered rats fight back.

It’s better to push them down a narrow, perilous path rather than a dead-end.

“Should we let them kill each other now?”

“More or less, yeah.”

Zeus, Odin, Amun, and Indra—four holders of Baal’s fragments.

Indra, whom I met during my travels, was the leader of Lokapala who blessed Asterios. He likely wouldn’t resist the end of the Age of Gods.

Odin visited the sage in the guise of an old man and understood that everything the sage said was a trap to bring down the gods. He realized there was no future for the gods and left, fully aware of the truth while everyone else remained deceived.

Word has it he’s holed up somewhere in Aesir territory… Let’s set that aside for now.

Amun and Zeus might engage in a destructive battle against each other.

In 3 years, the human carrying Baal’s soul will be born. Raising that child into a proper hero will require about 30 years.

Just teaching would take 20 years, and becoming widely known as a hero would need extra time. Likely, three of Baal’s fragments will be offered to me.

Since Olympus and the Ennead are close to each other and have long seen each other as rivals, they won’t hesitate to fight if given a reason.

“Do we really need all this hassle to make a human into a god? Mom could just share her divinity, like she did with Sirius.”

“That’s because mom is powerful enough. Regular gods would never do that.”

Faith is incredibly important for gods—it’s like HP, MP, experience points, and currency all rolled into one.

Gods need faith to exist, consume it to perform miracles and exert power, grow stronger by accumulating it, and even use it as currency in transactions between gods.

“They might be able to share their faith in truly urgent situations, but why would they when there’s another option?”

If there were no other options, maybe. But with alternative leads provided, the gods would never choose that path.

Well then, let’s wait until the time is right.

Until the moment the poison of loneliness among the gods reaches completion.