TGS - Chapter 152
Chapter 152: On the Difficulty of Creating a God
The God of the Sky sat cross-legged in the wind, silent for a long time. His baby-fat face was wrinkled in thought, as if he were hesitating over how to respond.
Then he asked, “Why?”
Lotus said, “This is my selfish wish.”
“Alright.” En didn’t press the point. He turned his head and saw Adia humming a tune not far away, as if she weren’t the least bit curious about the conversation between the two gods.
“It seems you’ve already spoken with Adia. Is this an idea, or a plan?”
Lotus lowered her gaze. “An immature plan, I suppose. As long as Alyuin emerges as the final victor in this war with Kasnie and the Sanur, her prestige might be enough for her to ascend as a god related to war.”
“War—if that is the divine office you envision for the human princess, I can only say it is nearly impossible. It is destined to be a domineering authority, and once formed, it would inevitably make her a major god.”
“It is not so easy for a human to become a god, Lotus. In Solancia’s several thousand years, fewer than ten have awakened, and you are the only one among them to become a major god.”
“The fact that I exist proves it is not entirely impossible.”
“The possibility is remote, and you are an absolute exception,” En stated firmly. “As Suojia once said, you could control divine power even when you were human. Can the human princess do the same?”
Lotus paused for a moment.
The Sky God continued, “To be worshipped by people, to be woven into myths and legends, to have temples built in your honor… these are indeed necessary conditions for a human to become a god, but they are not guarantees of godhood.”
“Among the past kings of Solancia, there have been many who achieved great deeds and were worshipped as if they were sons of gods. People built temples for them and offered sacrifices, like the king who conquered Gaibola. But none of them awakened. Their souls have long since been reincarnated by Emute, who knows how many times.”
En was like an old scholar poring over historical texts, tirelessly trying to show Lotus how difficult her plan was to achieve.
Finally, he let out a long sigh, but the effect was strangely comical due to his distinctly infantile voice.
“I can understand not wanting to watch the human you raised return to the cycle of reincarnation.”
No, from the sound of it, you don’t understand at all.
“I can also understand a human’s desire to avoid death and oblivion.”
No, Alyuin doesn’t even know about this.
“But even if you succeed and the Solancian princess ultimately becomes a god, she will not escape the finality of death in her mortal life.”
“When she reawakens, she will be just as you once were, remembering nothing, left with only the instincts of a new god. Even so, you think it doesn’t matter?”
Lotus was suddenly taken aback. She turned her head to meet En’s eyes.
A child’s eyes always seem large, and En’s were no exception. His cerulean eyes were clear and proper, showing that he was obviously not entirely oblivious.
So En knew…
Lotus collected her thoughts and said faintly, “Adia has already told me all of this.”
No matter how unreliable the Goddess of Love could be, she wouldn’t knowingly conceal the risks or go along with such a wild scheme without a second thought.
Upon hearing the words “human god” from Lotus’s lips, Adia’s first reaction had been much the same as En’s: to explain the difficulty and lay out the stakes.
“It sounds interesting, but if it doesn’t succeed in the end, it’s better not to have thought of it from the start. That’s my suggestion.”
However, once Lotus made it clear she would not give up, Adia immediately changed her tune, cheerfully declaring that she was available anytime if help was needed.
“Participating in creating a god, just thinking about it sounds fun,” Adia had said.
Only after reaching an accord with the Goddess of Love did Lotus have this conversation with the God of the Sky.
“Yes, I need Alyuin.”
“The Solancian pantheon also needs a god related to war. If this succeeds, the eight-pointed star on the stone dais in the Kingdom of the Gods will gain another point, will it not?”
Nine—as the final number in each series of ordinals, it seemed to hold a special significance in every civilization. At least when it came to the number of major gods, “nine” seemed to have a more mystical effect than “eight.”
En was somewhat surprised. “To have thought it through this far, it seems you’ve already made up your mind?”
Lotus nodded lightly.
The Sky God shrugged his small shoulders. He could only offer his support.
Even if it didn’t succeed, there would be no loss. Besides, what was wrong with having a new colleague?
Like Adia, En promised he would help.
But he gave a special reminder: “To achieve this goal, victory in the war is a necessary prerequisite. The Solancian princess cannot make a single misstep. Her own brilliance must outshine the splendor of the throne.”
“At the very least, the people of Solancia must believe in the Princess herself, not in the person who sits on the throne.”
Lotus pondered this for a moment and expressed her agreement. The conversation thus concluded.
Before the god war began, these gods rarely came to the mortal realm. Now that they were here, they couldn’t sit still and usually didn’t stay in one place for long.
Just as after their meeting with Alyuin, every single one of the seven gods had run off somewhere. In any case, besides Lotus, not one major god remained in Seaton City.
Now, with nothing else to discuss, the God of the Sky and the Goddess of Love drifted off in their own directions. The next time she sensed their divine power, they would likely be far away again.
Lotus thought for a moment and extended a warm invitation. “Would you like to stay for something to eat first?”
Adia said, “But mortal food is terrible, isn’t it?”
Lotus: “?”
Adia fell into a memory. “I was bored once, so I sent a human avatar to the mortal realm to play. The food I had was very coarse, dry and tasteless. It was probably the ingredients.”
Lotus: “The last time was… a few hundred years ago?”
Adia: “It was fifteen hundred years ago.”
Lotus: “…”
Lotus smiled. “Stay and eat.”
Adia: “Alright!”
En was always easygoing about such small matters. Although he too felt that mortal food was not worth trying, he graciously stayed.
And so, that afternoon, Alyuin participated in the strangest meal of her life.
Beside her sat the cool and aloof, silver-haired Lotus. Across from her were the languid and carefree, beautiful Goddess of Love and a… a baby God-King dressed in solemn robes.
In front of each person—or rather, each god—was a plate of roasted meat and honey fruit tarts.
The plate before En was clearly special. To accommodate his baby teeth, which may or may not have existed, an extra bowl of minced meat porridge had been added.
As for the honey fruit tart, while others had honey sandwiched between pastry, his was a tart soaked in honey.
En looked down at the plate full of honey, at the tart completely submerged at the bottom, his chubby little face seemingly expressionless, as if his mind were wandering in the heavens.
“I remember En likes the pastries Suojia makes. This should be closer in taste,” Lotus said, finding it perfectly reasonable. “Besides, gods don’t have to worry about cavities.”
Alyuin was silent for two seconds. “Yes, you’re right.”
If the Alyuin of the past held no special reverence for gods other than Lotus, but was still influenced by conventional ideas and viewed these major gods through a slightly mysterious filter—
Then now, that filter was completely shattered.
Indeed, only Lotus is my god.
Alyuin thought with solemn satisfaction, completely ignoring the fact that this entire meal had been arranged by Lotus herself.
As En had said, the most important thing right now was victory in the war.
Although they could begin planning for Alyuin’s apotheosis now, it still had to take a backseat to the war effort.
With the Sanur King dead, it was the perfect opportunity to attack the enemy and retake Digebia City. However, just as Alyuin was preparing to dispatch her troops, news arrived from the coast.
The Kasnie navy had attacked Bananna City, engaging in a ramming battle outside the harbor. Taz, the Lord of Bananna, had been defeated and retreated into the city, sealing the gates.
As of the time the message was sent, the Kasnie army had surrounded Bananna.
Upon receiving the dispatch, the generals present were stunned, their expressions varied, but none of them looked pleased.
“To send out a fleet of that size, they must have been preparing for a long time!”
“Can Bananna hold out?”
“But… Bananna is still in… his hands right now. It’s probably fine if we don’t do anything.”
Everyone knew the name that had been omitted.
Horst, who had murdered the former king and occupied the throne for over a decade, was also the enemy of the princess standing here.
Alyuin had already anticipated Kasnie’s move. Her expression was calm and composed as she motioned for everyone to be quiet.
“We do not have the spare forces to reinforce Bananna right now.”
“The moment Seaton’s army withdraws, even with the Sanur in disarray, they will immediately rally to attack Seaton City. The cavalry and legions here cannot be moved.”
“The legions garrisoning the royal city cannot leave either. The other cities have small garrisons to begin with. If they were sent to reinforce Bananna, not only would they be ineffective, but the cities they left behind, now without a military presence, could easily fall into chaos. The loss would far outweigh the gain.”
The only cities that could reinforce Bananna were the other coastal cities.
There was no other way.
The generals sighed one after another. Even though a usurper controlled Bananna, it was still Solancian territory. To watch it be occupied by the Kasnians, who would then advance inland, was an unavoidably bleak prospect.
“Alright, everyone, look at the map,” Alyuin said. Her voice, deep and beautiful like the strings of a cello, broke the heavy atmosphere that was gradually spreading through the council chamber.
“Once we’ve driven the Sanur back to their wastelands and made them never dare to cross the border again, we can free up our hands to deal with Kasnie.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The reality of the situation was, of course, not as simple as words made it sound.
Compared to their well-prepared enemy, Solancia’s military reserves were a serious problem.
Manpower was one aspect.
Solancia had a large population, but compared to the other two nations, its percentage of citizens in the military was the lowest. Only a minority could truly serve as warriors.
And in many cities closer to the center of the kingdom, which hadn’t experienced war for nearly a century, the combat effectiveness of their armies was questionable.
Then there was military equipment… war supplies were incredibly expensive. Even for a prosperous nation like Solancia, it was a terrifying expenditure. Add to that the nobles who had lived carefree lives for centuries, skimming a little here and taking a little there—it was uncertain if the treasury could even sustain it.
Alyuin’s gaze rested on the map.
To the northwest of the kingdom was the territory of the Sanur Tribe, marked as a blank space.
The Sanur, huh.
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