Chapter: 210
I was looking over the Square from the Temple of Life alongside Shamash.
Though they couldn’t see us, we had some sort of magical mirror barrier that allowed us to view them without being noticed.
Thanks to that, they were blissfully unaware that Shamash and I were watching the Square.
“How can he just pull out his own heart like that? Doesn’t it hurt…?”
“Right? How does one even manage to pull their own heart out?”
I couldn’t recall any Aztec mythology where anyone just pulled out their heart like that.
Not to mention doing it barehanded, tearing through skin, muscle, and bone to extract it.
There are limits to recklessness.
Watching Indra pulling out his heart and having his body fall apart, I shook my head slightly.
Did he really want to protect the gods that much?
Was such a sacrifice even worth it to them?
I didn’t know. After all, gods are simply beings born from human belief.
They were just weak entities that cannot exist on their own.
Was it worth saving them to this extent?
I watched as Indra’s soul, completely devoid of form, was led away by a little reaper.
Others didn’t notice this little reaper guiding his soul to the Underworld.
Even if he was a fragment of Baal, his soul clearly existed. But if so, was Indra’s soul a part of Baal’s soul?
I wasn’t sure. I thought I had studied souls quite a bit, but there was still so much I didn’t know about the souls of gods.
Hmm. If fragments have souls… do my own fragments have souls too?
I had no idea. Let’s leave that for later.
For now, I set aside my thoughts on the fragments and slowly closed my eyes, watching Indra’s body lose its essence.
I didn’t know why he made such a choice… but I prayed for his soul to be reborn safely.
And then…
“What are you going to do with that…?”
Shamash pointed at the shining heart that Indra left behind, a fragment of Baal.
The other gods just watched from a distance, not daring to approach the shining heart.
I lightly beckoned, and the heart soared towards me.
This heart… is Baal’s heart. Baal’s emotions. A fragment of Baal’s memories.
So that’s it. That’s why the soul of Baal in the Underworld felt so drained. There must be a significant amount of memories contained here.
I briefly placed my hand on Baal’s memories, then withdrew it.
Reading his memories like this… would probably be an insult to him.
So…
I fashioned a small silver box to contain the shining heart.
“Mom, that heart…”
“I was thinking maybe I could return it someday if Baal returns to his place as a god.”
I didn’t know when that might be. But someday… wouldn’t he come back?
If he gets tired of repeating human life, wouldn’t he want to return?
Even if he changes through that repetitive life, if he were to regain this heart… perhaps Baal could become himself again.
So…
“Until then… let’s keep this heart safe.”
For the sake of Indra, who showed such self-sacrifice that he’d pull out his own heart…
I had to uphold my promise.
“And we should fulfill Indra’s last request too.”
“Last request?”
“Yeah.”
He asked that the walls separating the earth from the gods be raised even higher.
Previously, it was merely to prevent indiscriminate interference with humans… but hmm. To the gods, that barrier seemed like nothing, considering how they kept meddling with humans.
Even if I sent a fragment that was restricted in their powers, they were still able to meddle quite a bit. In reality, the barriers were practically meaningless.
“I should prohibit anything beyond delivering oracles, or indirectly influencing through divine power.”
“Huh? Won’t that spark resistance from the gods?”
“Let them try if they want to resist with destruction looming right over them.”
It would only bring them closer to destruction, wouldn’t it?
“Let’s impose restrictions on delivering oracles, granting blessings, and indirectly supporting divine power… hmm. Temporarily descending through the bodies of devout humans could do too, I guess.”
“Wow… I think I might hear the gods groaning about that. But won’t that cause problems for us too?”
“You? You’re already on the ground. It’s merely a restriction to prevent the gods in the Divine Hall from escaping, so it doesn’t matter to you… hmm. Maybe I should just prevent gods from using their powers directly on the earth?”
“If you go that far, the gods might really wither away!”
“That might not be a bad thing, either. But let’s keep it reasonable. Aside from you all, if the main bodies are on the ground… well, the mountain or river gods might have their main bodies down there, but they’re typically weak and have many restrictions, so it should be fine to leave them as is.”
Given that mountain and river gods often maintain close ties with the humans in their vicinity… it would be difficult to forcibly pull them up to the Divine Hall now.
I could just leave them be until I can seize their faith later and make them lose their divine status.
Thinking about it, I feel like I’m the bad guy here. Hmmm… from the gods’ perspective, I might look like a villain.
Anyway…
“That makes one.”
“Are you really going to collect fragments from the others as well?”
“Yeah. I should.”
For now, let’s give the gods about ten years of time.
The rumors have been spread, and Indra sacrificed himself with that thought in mind.
His was a situation of self-sacrifice this time, but the next wouldn’t be.
I looked towards Zeus, who remained standing dumbfounded in the Square.
What will that guy, who once got his head chopped off by me, do?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Three years passed, and a child was born.
A small child, whose existence was prophesied by the gods even before birth, destined to become a great hero.
Many gods rushed forward, eager to bless him, but ultimately, it was the King of Olympus, Zeus’s blessing that the child received.
The child named Raiklen grew up frolicking through the mountains and fields, unaware of his future.
“Well, we’ve successfully added a blessing… and the child’s growth seems smooth.”
Athena said as she watched the child playing down on the ground.
He was just a small boy, yet he played fiercely with wild animals, even killing venomous snakes with a single hand.
Sometimes, his overwhelming strength was a cause for concern.
“I’m worried he’s too strong…”
“Shouldn’t a hero be this capable?”
Zeus nodded as he observed the child.
First, they had succeeded in bestowing blessings upon the child amid fierce competition from many gods.
However, it was indeed a serious problem that gods from the Divine Hall couldn’t descend directly to the human realm… but if that child could be made the king of the gods, it would solve everything.
So…
“First, let’s do what needs to be done.”
With that, Zeus placed a golden laurel crown upon his head.
A laurel crown made of gold, with tiny lightning bolts flashing in between. It was a crown infused with the power of Baal, the king of gods.
The crown, merging with Zeus’s golden hair, appeared as if it were made from lightning itself.
This crown was the authority possessed by the king of gods, a symbol of divinity and the essence of power.
Even Zeus himself, as a fragment bearing this crown, couldn’t wield its full power, but through the golden laurel crown, he managed to use a fraction of its strength.
By wearing this crown, Zeus became one of the gods capable of wielding lightning.
“Now, it’s time for war.”
Zeus muttered quietly, gazing around.
The gods of Olympus, armed with weapons forged by Hephaestus over several years.
And leading them, preparing for charge, was the goddess of war, Athena.
“It’s too bad about Ares,”
“Serves him right.”
Athena said while placing a golden helmet atop her head.
Ares, who would’ve usually charged at the front alongside Athena had not been able to participate in this battle.
Boasting loudly about bringing back the sage from the deep forest, he’d left Olympus, only to return diminished, stripped of most of his faith, unable to maintain his form.
The rather pitiful hunk of faith he returned as was held by Hermes.
If not for the fact that he was slowly recuperating, it would have left Athena as the only god of war in Olympus.
“I don’t think we need a war god who simply rampages without understanding anything.”
“But you cannot deny that his strength is formidable.”
He was the god of war, and he gained power from wars—if given the chance to participate, he’d win effortlessly.
“Well, it is what it is.”
“Then father, please unleash the lightning of declaration. I will charge as you do.”
At Athena’s words, Zeus nodded and pulled a bolt of lightning from the crown on his head, hurling it like a spear.
The lightning tore through the blue sky, striking down on the gods of Ennead opposing Olympus, scorching several gods upon impact.
“Charge!!!”
At the same time, Athena shouted as she drove her chariot into a gallop, followed closely by numerous gods brandishing their weapons.
In response, the gods of Ennead also rushed forward, backed by the storm of the desert to confront the gods of Olympus.
This was a war of gods fighting to survive, a battle to decide the next offering to be dedicated to the goddess of life.
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