TGS - Chapter 127
Chapter 127: The Beginning of the War
It was truly a profound and mysterious feeling.
It was as if a leisurely bell chimed by her ear, and a vision of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers stained with blood unfolded before her. The kingdom of the gods was overturned, the waterways were severed, and everything fell into an eternal, dark slumber—
The illusory images vanished in an instant. Before her was still the quiet, distant map of the river systems on the temple's dome.
Lotus floated up from the bottom of the pool and sat up, her expression a mixture of contemplation and a subtle, complex emotion.
She had just experienced something akin to pulling an all-nighter writing a thesis as a student, only to open her eyes before she could even process anything and discover that a civilizational crisis had arrived… Anyone in this situation would feel a bit strange.
Yes, this was a war predicated on the very survival of a civilization.
Now, Lotus finally understood what the Sky God had meant by "enlightenment." It was a kind of natural, intuitive knowledge, as if she had known from the very beginning that the period determining the life or death of their civilization would commence at this very moment.
Two sides were in opposition. One was destined to fall into decline, and eventually, perish.
Without further delay, Lotus decided to hurry to the stone dais at the center of the Kingdom of the Gods.
The water on her body dried the instant she stepped out of the pool. She walked briskly out of the temple. The usual chirping of birds and insects in the forest had vanished, lending the air an inexplicable solemnity.
On the way to the stone dais, all sorts of thoughts raced through Lotus’s mind.
How long had she slept? What was Alyuin’s situation now? Her slumber had been so abrupt that Lotus didn’t even know how Adia had delivered the message.
It wasn't that she didn't trust the Goddess of Love, but the difference in thinking between gods and humans was a fact. What if Adia had inadvertently made things worse? And then there were all those messy affairs in the royal city; none of it was reassuring.
Of course, the most important thing was the present crisis.
Which brought the question back to the very beginning—
How long had she been asleep? Could it be that a hundred years had passed in a dream, for her to suddenly jump to the theater of a civilization's end?
Taking the opportunity to sense the flow of time as she walked, Lotus finally breathed a sigh of relief. It had only been a little over four years.
Wait, that didn't seem worthy of relief either.
…Hadn't there been a few too many changes in these four years?
Setting aside the matter of time for a moment, which civilization had brought on this crisis warning?
Given the strength Solancia had displayed, only two parties could pose a threat of annihilation: the Sanur Tribe and the Kasnie Kingdom. Or, in a worse scenario, the two had reached an agreement.
The records of the Kasnie pantheon flashed through her mind, every word clear.
Lotus pressed her lips together and quickened her pace.
The central stone dais, the birthplace of the gods, was now surrounded by subordinate gods and countless spirits, packed in layers. They wore varied expressions, and upon seeing Lotus arrive, they all froze for a moment before parting to form a path.
Atop the circular stone dais, the other seven main gods were all present, reinforcing a barrier with their divine power.
The commotion from the subordinate gods caught the Sun God's attention. He looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Lotus? Why are you awake now?"
"There was no need to continue sleeping once the healing was complete. However, I didn't expect to wake up at this exact moment."
As she spoke, Lotus quickly walked to her designated position and released her divine power, joining the effort to stabilize the barrier.
The Sun God looked conflicted. "No, I mean, even if you're healed, isn't this a bit too…" Too fast!
For a god to fall into a slumber due to injury—a "heavy injury" where divine power had begun to dissipate, no less—they should have slept for at least a century or so.
"Alright, it's good that you're awake," Adia, the Goddess of Love, interrupted the Sun God's unfinished sentence. She looked at Lotus and asked with rare seriousness, "Are you alright?"
Lotus nodded, indicating that everything was fine.
Seeing this, the few main gods who hadn't spoken also relaxed and refocused their primary attention on the barrier.
Lotus followed their line of sight to the eight-pointed star at the center of the dais. The ground enclosed by the lines of converged divine power had changed, now resembling a water mirror that displayed a scene from the mortal world.
It was Solancia's northwestern border.
A transparent, iridescent barrier, visible only to gods, stood before Solancia's territory along the border, like the surface of a soap bubble in the sun.
A foreign god with the head of a wolf and the body of a man hovered in the air outside the barrier. He raised a sharp claw, as if sizing something up. Suddenly, he grinned and swiped down viciously!
Voom—
The barrier trembled, emitting a muffled, low hum as the iridescent colors rippled and swayed.
The wolf-headed god seemed dissatisfied with this result. He let out a howl and swiped two more times before ceasing his attack.
Surrounding him were several other deities with beast heads. Their expressions varied, but there was a commonality in their eyes.
Savagery.
Lotus said softly, "The Wolf God Huracan."
"It's him," the God of Wisdom replied. "A troublesome fellow."
Lotus had studied the mythology of the Sanur Tribe.
In truth, the Sanur people did not have a complete and comprehensive mythological system, nor did they have a complex pantheon of gods. The deities they worshipped had evolved from the totems of various tribes; they were all primitive and wild gods with the heads of beasts and the bodies of men.
Before this, the Sanur Tribe had been just a loose alliance of tribes. Logically, there should be no hierarchy among their gods, only differences in strength.
But… watching the Wolf God take the lead among the several beast-headed gods, Lotus instantly realized, "The Sanur Tribe has unified?"
The Goddess of Love mused, "It must have happened recently. I saw that little wolf over a hundred years ago, and he was nowhere near this strong back then."
Within a hundred years was indeed "recently" for a god, but Lotus was certain that just a few years ago, when Alyuin had just left the border army, the Sanur Tribe was still in a state of scattered, individual tribes.
The tribes had unified within five years.
Was this the basis for their declaration of war on Solancia?
Her frost-blue eyes shifted, looking past the barrier to the city of Digebia. Not a single Solancian soldier could be seen on the towering walls of this vital border city. Shattered remains of flesh and blood hung between the crenellations.
The Sanur people rummaged through the gore for spoils of war, slaughtering any soldiers who still resisted. They swarmed the city walls, the streets, the lord's manor. Like locusts.
—This wasn't a declaration of war. It was an ongoing invasion.
Just then, four more figures appeared silently outside the barrier on the ground.
One of the deities, wearing a beast-headed crown, began speaking with the Sanur Wolf God. He was equally tall, burly, and rugged. If not for the gray wolf head, one might have thought them brothers.
A beast head, coral, a mountain, and light smoke—the crowns these deities wore symbolized their identities. They were the four gods of the Kasnie pantheon.
"...As expected, the Kasnie pantheon is also involved."
The Sky God, who had been silent all this time, let out a long sigh. His expression, however, remained unchanged, still that of a tender-faced infant.
An invasion launched against Solancia by two nations, two civilizations, in unison.
It was also a war between their pantheons and the Solancian pantheon.
The gods of Solancia looked at one another. Gone was their usual peace and leisure; the atmosphere was frozen and tense.
The sound of strings, suppressed, was as dull and urgent as a drumbeat, as if a storm was about to break under dark, gloomy clouds.
The sound of strings?
Lotus followed the sound and saw the flock of pitch-black ravens beside the Death God, Emute, passionately playing their harps. They were even dutifully providing a fitting background score, completely engrossed in their performance.
Noticing her gaze, Emute nudged the hood on his head up a little. His dark, heavy eyes glanced at Lotus for only a second before quickly looking away.
"It has nothing to do with me."
The Death God disavowed any connection amidst the performance of his raven orchestra.
At that moment, the Sun God was busy explaining the forgotten details of divine wars to the Moon Goddess. The infant-like Sky God stood on the ground, not even reaching an adult's knee. And Suojia was, even now, still carrying a basket of desserts.
Lotus: "..."
I'm sorry, but I have a very bad feeling about the Solancian pantheon's chances.
The feeling was especially pronounced when compared to the other two pantheons. Lotus stared at the image reflected in the center of the eight-pointed star. Gradually, her gaze came to rest on the only goddess in the Kasnie pantheon.
Her pale gold hair was excessively long, folded several times by her smoke-like crown just to keep it from dragging on the ground. She was half-turned away, her face angled to the other side, so it couldn't be seen in the image.
Just then, the Goddess of the Mind, known as Perseus in Kasnie mythology, paused. She slowly turned her face toward the barrier surrounding Solancia, and thus, toward the image the Solancian gods were watching.
She wore a faint, subtle smile. Beneath her crown of pale smoke, her eyes were as dark blue as a starless night sky.
Lotus frowned.
That eye color was rare. She searched her memory for it, and suddenly, her brow twitched.
She had indeed seen such eyes before, in the mortal world, in the royal city of Solancia.
…The stage actress, Asilu.
Almost at the instant that name surfaced, the divine barrier chimed softly. The eight lines of power controlled by the main gods extinguished one by one, and the divine power flowed back to the gods' feet.
"The barrier is now in its optimal state." The Sky God withdrew his hand. An invisible wind formed a supportive force, allowing him to float in mid-air. "Let's go. It's time we went to meet them."
Lotus spoke up, "En, the barrier can block gods from other pantheons from invading, unless they break through with divine power… is that correct?"
"That's right."
"Are there any exceptions?"
En thought for a moment. "Strictly speaking, yes. For example, our mortal avatars who possess no divine power, or at the very beginning of a divine war, extremely weak individuals could also attempt to sneak in."
However, that level of weakness was probably on par with the little spirits of the Kingdom of the Gods, especially since the war had just begun.
Not every pantheon had the concept of an "avatar," but Kasnie clearly did. In Kasnie mythology, a deity could come to the mortal world by means of their own "shadow."
In other words, Asilu was very likely the Goddess of the Mind from the opposing side.
Lotus's mind raced, and she made a decision in an instant.
"I'm going to find Alyuin first."
The main gods turned their heads to look at her. They didn't immediately voice their disapproval, but waited for her reason.
Lotus spoke quickly, "The shadow of Kasnie's Goddess of the Mind may have gone to Akhet long ago. I've seen her, and she has been paying attention to me. She should know that I haven't made an appearance in the last few years."
Moreover, if those strange venomous snakes were related to the Kasnie pantheon, Perseus might have some guesses about her previous condition.
Such as guessing that the Goddess of the Yilu River had violated the rules and fallen into a slumber…
Leaving that unsaid for now, Lotus continued, "My absence at this time might be more deceptive. And in the royal city, her shadow might ally with weaker gods who have infiltrated to influence the capital. I have to warn Alyuin."
The main gods exchanged glances.
The Death God had just opened his mouth to speak.
But the Goddess of Love spoke first, tapping her cheek with a slightly odd tone. "Do you know how your little princess is doing right now?"
Lotus's heart tightened. "What happened?"
"Hmm—it's a good thing," the Goddess of Love shrugged. "You'll know when you get there."
The Sky God also nodded. "Go, Lotus. We'll keep an eye on those two pantheons."
The River Goddess departed hastily, shrouded in doubt.
In her hurry, she didn't notice the Death God Emute's hesitant expression, nor the two ravens by his side that were unusually quiet and aloof.
—They weren't even playing their harps.
A dark shadow flitted across the sky above Akhet.
It was a woman with a figure similar to a human's, but with a pair of large bat wings on her back. She was draped in a pale gray robe, her skin possessing a strange, grayish-white luster, and her ears were pointed.
In Kasnie mythology, she was called the God of Dreams, but more commonly known as the Dream Succubus.
In terms of power, the Dream Succubus was indeed comparable to the little spirits who served the gods in Solancian mythology, perhaps a little stronger, like a chief spirit attendant.
Even so, she possessed divine power—a unique power belonging to the Dream Succubus.
The Dream Succubus flew toward the royal palace. In this state, no one could see her, but she could search for her target within the solemn atmosphere of the palace.
Finally, the Dream Succubus's gaze fell upon the royal court.
She curled her dark lips into a smile.
Ah, found her.
The human Lord Perseus mentioned, the one with a "weakness."
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