Chapter 210

I was gazing at the Square of the Divine Hall together with Shamash from the Temple of Life.

From the other side, they can’t peek in here, but from here we can see through their side… It’s like some kind of magic mirror barrier wrapped around.

Thanks to this, they probably haven’t noticed that Shamash and I are observing the square.

“Pulling that thing out alive like that… doesn’t it hurt him at all…?”

“That’s what I’m wondering too. How does he rip his own heart out like that?”

Even the Aztec myths wouldn’t have done a self-heart extraction like this.

And to think he tore through his skin, pierced his muscles, and shattered his bones to pull it out himself…

There’s such a thing as reckless behavior, you know.

I shook my head slightly as I watched Indra’s body disintegrate after pulling out his heart.

Was he trying to protect the gods to this extent?

Even with such sacrifices… Do they hold value to him?

I don’t know. Aren’t gods merely beings born from human belief?

Fragile beings who cannot exist alone…

Was it worth saving them to this extent?

I saw Indra’s form completely dissipate, his soul being led away by a small Grim Reaper.

Other gods hadn’t noticed yet as the small Reaper guided Indra’s soul to the Underworld.

Though Baal’s fragment, did he truly possess a soul? If so, is Indra’s soul part of Baal’s soul?

I don’t know. Though I’ve investigated souls quite extensively, there’s still much I don’t understand about divine souls.

Hmm… If fragments have souls, do my fragments also have souls?

I don’t know. Hmm… Let me put that thought aside for now.

For now, setting aside thoughts about fragments, I slowly closed my eyes while watching Indra’s body lose its soul and disperse.

Though I don’t fully understand why he made such a choice… let’s pray his soul can be reborn safely.

And…

“What will you do about that?”

Shamash spoke, looking at the glowing heart Indra left behind — Baal’s fragment.

The other gods just watch, not daring to approach the shining heart.

With a light gesture, I summoned the heart toward me.

This heart… Baal’s heart. Baal’s emotions. A shard of Baal’s memories.

Indeed, that’s how it is. That’s why the soul of Baal in the Underworld felt so drained. A considerable amount of memory was contained within this.

I lightly touched Baal’s memories before withdrawing my hand.

To read his memories like this… would be disrespectful to him.

Thus…

I created a small silver box and placed the glowing heart inside.

“Mom. What about that heart…?”

“I thought that if Baal ever returns to his divine seat, we might return it.”

Who knows when that will be? But someday… won’t he come back?

If humans endlessly repeat life until it becomes tiresome, won’t they eventually yearn to return?

And if they change while repeating such lives, having this heart again might allow Baal to become Baal once more.

So…

“Until then… let’s keep this heart safe.”

At least for the sake of Indra, who sacrificed himself to this extent.

We must honor our promises.

“And we must grant Indra’s final request.”

“Final request?”

“Yes.”

He asked to build an even higher wall between the land and the gods.

Previously, it only prevented gods from interfering with humans through uncontrolled descents… but apparently, gods treated this obstacle as nothing and interfered anyway.

By sending restricted avatars, they were still heavily meddling with humanity. The barrier was practically meaningless.

“Just forbid anything other than delivering oracles or using divine power indirectly.”

“Huh? Won’t the gods rebel against that?”

“If destruction looms right before their eyes, let them try to rebel.”

Won’t it bring them closer to doom?

“Hmm. Allow oracles, blessings, indirect divine support… maybe temporary descensions into faithful humans’ bodies. That should suffice.”

“Woah… the gods will surely complain. And won’t this inconvenience us too?”

“You? Your main forms are already on Earth, aren’t they? This restriction applies to the gods in the Divine Hall, so it won’t affect you… Hmm. No, perhaps we should prevent direct use of divine power on Earth entirely?”

“If you go that far, the gods will really dry up!”

“That might not be bad either. Anyway, let’s handle it moderately. Except for you, most divine main bodies aren’t on Earth… though Mountain Gods and River Gods, whose forms are weak due to many restrictions, should be fine left alone.”

Since Mountain and River Gods often maintain close relationships with nearby humans… forcibly dragging them back to the Divine Hall now would be tough.

Letting things slide for now… later we can confiscate enough faith to make them cease being gods altogether.

Feels like I’m sounding evil. Hmm… From the perspective of the gods, am I playing the villain?

Anyway…

“One down.”

“Are you really planning to gather all the remaining fragments?”

“Yeah. We have to.”

First, give the gods ten years.

Rumors have been spread, and Indra sacrificed himself believing this timeline.

Initially, it was voluntary sacrifice… next time, it won’t be.

I looked at Zeus standing alone in the square.

That guy, who lost his head once before… I wonder what action he plans to take?

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

Three years passed, and a child was born.

A child prophesied by the gods before birth, destined to become a great hero.

Many gods rushed to bestow blessings upon the child, but ultimately, the child received the blessing of Zeus, King of Olympus.

The child named Rychlen grew up unaware of his future, running wild across mountains and fields like they were his living room.

“For now, the blessing worked, and the child’s growth seems smooth.”

Athena observed the child playing on Earth.

Despite being small, the child tamed fierce beasts effortlessly.

Even venomous snakes met their end crushed in the child’s hand.

Sometimes his immense strength worried everyone.

“I worry about him being too strong…”

“He must be this powerful to be called a hero, don’t you think?”

Zeus nodded, watching the child.

First, we succeeded in competing among countless gods to bless the child.

Although preventing divine descent directly to the mortal realm became problematic… making this child the King of Gods could resolve everything.

Thus…

“Let’s proceed with what we need to do.”

Saying this, Zeus placed a golden laurel crown adorned with tiny flashes of lightning on his head.

It was the crown holding the authority of Baal, King of the Gods.

A symbol and crystallization of divine power.

Even Zeus, as a fragment, couldn’t fully wield this power, so he used the gold crown to regulate the output, allowing partial use.

With this crown on his head, Zeus became one of the few gods capable of wielding the power of lightning.

“The time for war has come.”

Zeus murmured quietly and surveyed his surroundings.

Hephaestus had armed the Olympian gods with weapons over several years.

In front stood Athena, prepared to charge forward on her chariot.

“Pity about Ares.”

“It’s his own fault though.”

Athena adjusted her golden helmet as she spoke.

Originally, Ares would have charged alongside Athena, but he had failed spectacularly.

Claiming he’d bring back a sage from the Deep Forest, Ares left Olympus boastfully.

When he returned, carried by Hermes, almost all his faith had vanished, leaving him unable to maintain his form properly.

Reduced to a lump barely clinging to existence, Ares became a weakened god who couldn’t act for decades.

Thankfully, he’s showing slight signs of recovery; otherwise, Athena would have been the sole war goddess of Olympus.

“We don’t need a war god who rampages without discernment anyway.”

“Still, his strength in battle cannot be denied.”

Being a god of war, Ares gained power from battles and, if allowed to fight, would achieve victory every time.

“Well, we can’t help what’s missing.”

“Father, please launch the opening lightning bolt. We shall charge simultaneously.”

At Athena’s words, Zeus nodded and drew a streak of lightning from his crown, hurling it like a javelin.

Splitting the azure sky, the bolt struck the enemy gods of Ennead, charring several of them black where it landed.

“Charge!!!”

Simultaneously, Athena shouted loudly as she drove her chariot forward, followed by numerous gods wielding their weapons.

The opposing Ennead gods, backed by desert storms, began charging toward the Olympians.

This was the war of gods struggling to survive and also the war to decide the next offering to the Goddess of Life.

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