TGS - Chapter 134
Chapter 134: “Fading”
Faced with a single main god of Solancia, the Dream Succubus could just barely suppress her terror, blustering as she fiercely threatened the Princess.
However, when all the enemy main gods gathered together, forming a circle around her, each with a distinctly different expression—
The Dream Succubus's eyes widened instinctively, and she found herself unable to make another move.
The intimidation—the intimidation of main gods—cast a silent shadow from all directions. It carried a natural suppression, along with the unique characteristics of their divine powers, making the Dream Succubus feel a suffocating fear. Even the feathers on her wings bristled slightly.
Lotus was the closest to her. "Dream God of Kasnie," she said calmly, "who sent you to Akhet? Was it Perseus?"
In terms of divine power affiliation, the Dream Succubus belonged to Kasnie's Mind Faction, making her a subordinate of the Goddess of the Mind.
Considering the shadow Perseus had once placed in the royal city, Lotus wouldn't have believed for a moment that this operation wasn't under her command.
But afraid as the Dream Succubus was, she kept her mouth tightly shut, refusing to say a word.
She secretly released a sliver of divine power, attempting to send a distress signal to her pantheon, but the moment that imperceptible power touched the Death God's "field," it dissipated like smoke.
Seeing the Dream Succubus's lack of cooperation, Lotus was just considering how to make her talk when Adia stepped forward gracefully. She smiled with great interest. "Allow me."
Before her voice had even faded, the main gods of Solancia took a unanimous step back.
Seeing this, Lotus followed suit, moving away from the river's surface and leaving the center of the divine power field to Adia and the Dream Succubus.
The Goddess of Love looked back, complaining with a wide smile, "Why has everyone backed away? I certainly won't use my full power on a mere spirit. It won't affect you."
The God of Wisdom snorted. "You have no credibility with us, Adia."
The Goddess of Love dabbed the corner of her eye with a finger, feigning sorrow. "For you to say such a thing... you truly wound your mother..."
Lotus understood.
The Goddess of Love's power, when used here, must have some effect on the other gods of her pantheon.
Although Adia looked deeply hurt, as if she had been misunderstood, Lotus recalled her past mischief and decisively released her own divine power as a shield around herself.
The next moment, the Goddess of Love turned to the Dream Succubus, who was hovering over the river. A halo of light swirled within her emerald eyes.
A light scarlet, smoke-like divine power spread out from her. It was intangible, yet it seemed to carry a fervent and exquisite fragrance.
This was not lust.
Adia's domain was love and desire, but the nature of her divine power was not so simple. As one of Solancia's eight primary divine powers, it stood in opposition to the light of human wisdom and reason, symbolizing the impulse, instinct, and all the desires that stemmed from the instincts of living creatures.
Effortlessly, the Dream Succubus's reason was breached. Her pupils dilated, and her expression slackened.
Adia asked, "Did Perseus send you?"
The Dream Succubus replied, "Yes. Lady Perseus gave me the mission of disturbing the dreams of the Solancian princess."
"What were her words?"
"—Go to Akhet. No god will stop you there," the Dream Succubus recalled, mimicking the Goddess of the Mind's tone. "The Princess of Solancia is there. She has a weakness she cannot escape. Find it. Reinforce it. Riddle the princess's dreams with holes, then return and report your success."
Lotus's gaze darkened. A strange sense of dissonance welled up within her.
She didn't interrupt Adia's "interrogation," but continued to listen in silence like the other main gods.
"Besides you, what other moves is the Kasnie pantheon making? Have any other gods infiltrated the barrier?" Adia continued.
This time, a look of struggle crossed the Dream Succubus's face, but she was unable to maintain her reason before Adia. She answered haltingly, "Yes... a few others, those related to emotions... Lady Perseus sent them to different cities... to influence... to incite..."
"Incite what?"
"To incite the emotions of the slaves, to help our humans achieve their goals more quickly."
"It seems you have indeed been preparing for some time."
"That's right! We may have to share the new territory with the barbarian gods of the Sanur, but it doesn't matter. Lady Perseus said we will be the final victors!"
Adia raised an eyebrow, about to say something with a smile, when the God of the Sky behind her suddenly spoke. "Adia, ask her why the Goddess of the Mind is so certain."
It wouldn't be strange for other gods to be so confident, but Perseus... he had seen her, he knew her, and she had nearly faded away thousands of years ago.
Even if she were confident, given Perseus's usual disposition, she shouldn't have been so certain when speaking to an unimportant subordinate deity.
Or was it merely a way to boost her subordinate's morale, like humans shouting "Victory is ours!" before a battle?
Adia repeated En's question.
A look of confusion appeared on the Dream Succubus's avian face. She had clearly never considered the question, and in the end, could only say, "Because... we are going to win."
After that, Adia tried to ask for more information.
For instance, the Kasnie pantheon's next moves, other things Perseus might have said, what the other three crowned gods had done...
Unfortunately, the Dream Succubus knew nothing about any of these matters.
Confirming that no more information could be extracted, Adia sighed and glanced around. "Does anyone else have a use for her?"
After her companions shook their heads, she said cordially, "Thank you, Dream God. Where is your divine core?"
The Dream Succubus's face was filled with horror, but her mouth spoke irresistibly, "—In my forehead."
"Excellent," Adia said with a wicked smile. "Now, for my sake, destroy it."
The will to live and the will to die, though complete opposites, are both forms of biological instinct.
Under the Goddess of Love's unhurried gaze, the Dream Succubus tremblingly brought her claws toward her forehead. It was as if she were fighting against herself; her movements were slow, but her claws eventually rested on her brow.
The sharp talons broke the skin, pierced the bone, and plucked out a tiny gray crystal, small as a butterfly's eye.
Stripped of reason, her will was consumed by instinct. The instinct to escape pain gave rise to a desire for death. Her claws tightened.
The divine core was crushed by her own hand.
The Dream Succubus let out a short shriek, as if only then realizing what she had just done.
The next moment, the gray, scale-like powder on the Dream God's body scattered wildly. Her form, like her divine core, began to break apart, dissolving into a wisp of smoke.
Lotus watched this scene, her brow furrowed. "She's dead?"
"It's 'fading.' It's actually quite similar to the death of a mortal creature," Adia said, clapping her hands. She returned to her original spot, taking the opportunity to enlighten her youngest companion.
"However, after a god fades, as long as their worship continues, an identical deity will eventually be born to take their place."
Lotus understood. Even if reborn, it would no longer be the same individual.
This was the first time Lotus had witnessed a god fading, yet she felt no particular emotion. Perhaps it was because the other was a foreign deity, and the spectacle of her fading was so mundane that it lacked a sense of reality.
Still...
Lotus took the one useful piece of information the Dream Succubus had provided and quickly connected it to another report she had received in the past.
It was from four years ago, in the northern city of Senna.
The slave leader, Shalu, had told them that before the slave rebellion erupted, people had infiltrated the city to stir up the slaves' emotions. Although it was unclear how much of an effect they had, it had indeed happened.
So, were these people connected to the "our humans" the Dream Succubus had mentioned?
Beside her, the main gods began discussing the infiltrating foreign deities. Their tones were casual, as if they were talking about mosquitoes that had flown into their home.
The deities who could sneak in at a time like this generally had very weak divine power, much like the Dream Succubus.
But if their domains were tied to emotions and they were sent to influence the slaves within Solancia, the effect they could have would far exceed the limits of their own divine power.
Regardless of whether they succeeded, they would create hidden troubles. If these were to erupt in the future, it would be Solancia's military strength that would be consumed.
Therefore, it was necessary to root these pests out.
The question was: how to find them, and who should do the finding?
These deities were weak and difficult to perceive. Even if myths portrayed the main gods as omniscient—claiming that everything the sun and moon touched was within their sight, or that nothing happening along the river could escape their eyes—finding them would still be a troublesome affair.
A wide field of vision didn't mean one could precisely spot every gnat within it.
In fact, the wider the view, the harder they were to catch.
As the discussion continued, the River Goddess herself was still on the road.
That morning, Alyuin had led her army out of the royal city, marching swiftly toward the northwestern border.
Lotus, however, was not riding a gray horse by her side in the guise of a black-haired lady-in-waiting, as she had in the past.
For one, appearing like that would be too abrupt. For another, floating along as a spirit was far more comfortable than marching on horseback.
Before they departed, Alyuin had proposed what seemed to be a rather constructive idea. "Lotus, can you turn invisible?"
Lotus: "?"
"For instance, you could still have a physical body, just one that others can't see. That way, you could sit on my horse—"
Lotus: "That won't be necessary, thank you."
Absolutely not, even if it were possible!
Still, she could converse with the Princess even in her spirit form, simply by transmitting her voice with divine power.
At that moment, Lotus's consciousness was split. She was listening to the main gods' discussion while simultaneously relaying the information from the Dream Succubus to Alyuin.
Alyuin's eyes darkened as she listened.
For her, Senna City was a place that held no good memories. Even with the goddess now by her side again, that feeling hadn't faded; if anything, it had only grown more profound.
But as for the suspicious points from that time...
"The people they described back then did have southern features, which is consistent with some people from Kasnie," Alyuin said. "After that incident, I had Shalu and her people investigate secretly. The poor and the slaves in several other cities also showed signs of being incited. For instance..."
The Princess rattled off the names of several cities without pausing.
Even as she rode swiftly on horseback, her breathing remained perfectly steady.
Lotus acted as a relay, passing the names of these cities on to the other main gods.
"We should search those places first."
The Sun God nodded and closed his eyes. At that moment, the sunlight became his eyes, an extension of his divine power, probing the human cities for any trace of a divine presence.
Before long, he opened his eyes. "I've found one. In Shabul City."
"Who will go and catch them?"
"It's not appropriate for a main god to go. It would be a troublesome waste of power. Let the subordinate gods handle it."
After a brief discussion, several of Lotus's and the God of Wisdom's subordinate gods were added to the list for the task—against deities who incited emotion, the powers of water and reason would be most effective.
After reporting the first one, the Sun God closed his eyes to continue his search.
Lotus lowered her gaze, suddenly feeling a pair of eyes on her.
She looked up and met Suojia's amiable smile.
"Lotus... have you ever been in a fight?"
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