TGS - Chapter 168
Chapter 168: The Melee Begins
The barrier shattered above the heads of the Solancian gods, and it shattered before the other two pantheons as well.
The God Power Field, built by the combined efforts of the Solancian gods, naturally required a joint attack from the other gods to be broken. The Sanur gods, who had originally been the most eager, now seemed rather reluctant, dawdling.
"It's too late to back out now," Perseus said with a faint smile. "Even if the Sanur retreat to the wasteland, the Solancian gods won't spare you once they're free."
The Wolf God was of course aware of this. Once a war involving gods began, there was no turning back.
He had never experienced a divine war, but this understanding seemed etched into his consciousness, making him utterly certain.
Yes, the Solancian Princess was hunting down the Sanur Tribe.
Due to the restrictions of the rules, even if they withdrew now, they would be powerless to stop her.
The only way was to defeat the Solancian pantheon before the Sanur Tribe met its complete end. Only when their opponents lost their divine protection could the gods exert their power to the fullest.
Like the humans who believed in him, the Wolf God chose to fight a swift and decisive battle.
As soon as the barrier was breached, the Sanur pantheon flew in without a second thought. The Kasnie pantheon, holding the upper hand, could afford to wait leisurely, but the Sanur could not.
Perseus watched the few gods disappear before her, the curve of her lips unchanging, and turned to her companions, fellow gods of Kasnie.
"Let's all do our part."
The God of Mountains and the God of the Ocean merely nodded and proceeded in silence. The Beast God, however, snorted. "Everyone knows that. But first, I have to find a guy who annoys me."
"As long as you don't delay the important matters."
"Of course not."
When only Perseus remained, she raised her hand. A mass of transparent, gelatinous divine power squirmed in her palm like a living thing. Following some kind of sense, the Goddess of the Mind's figure vanished in an instant. The next moment, she appeared in the wasteland outside Solancia's borders.
However, this was not her destination.
Perseus lowered her head and looked at an inconspicuous mound of earth at her feet. She could sense a wooden box buried there. The box was open, its opening facing down, with a rock placed on top of it.
This was the box that had once fallen into Lotus's hands.
Perseus: "..."
She was somewhat surprised.
The Goddess of the Mind considered herself to understand Lotus. Even after transforming into a human-like god and losing her former memories, her fundamental nature wouldn't change.
With Lotus's personality, she would only choose the most cautious and reliable options: either sealing it permanently with divine power or destroying it with divine power.
Therefore, it would have been fine if the wooden box had not been discovered. But as long as it fell into the River Goddess's hands, Perseus's divine power would attach itself to Lotus's power—either subtly influencing it or adhering to it upon destruction.
It wouldn't have a significant effect; it was merely a mark, a signal, that would allow Perseus to instantly pull Lotus into a separate battle space when the divine war began, seizing the initiative.
...But Perseus had not succeeded.
The wooden box was buried here, in a manner that was almost mocking.
Lotus wouldn't have such a whimsical idea, and even if she did, she wouldn't act on it.
On the contrary, it was Alyuin.
Perhaps other gods had given such advice, but at this moment, Perseus's intuition told her that only Alyuin could have done something like this.
Turning her head to look into the depths of the wasteland, Perseus maintained her unchanging smile and murmured to herself, "Why is it always you?"
No one could answer her. The place was deserted.
And when the Goddess of the Mind asked this question, she wasn't expecting anyone to answer.
In the howling wind of the wasteland, her figure gradually faded away.
Within Solancia's borders, humans were bustling about—those performing rituals performed rituals, and those preparing for war prepared for war.
Everyone's attention was focused on the conflict between the two kingdoms, on the struggle for mortal resources. They could not see that gods, great and small, were now appearing all over this land.
As the major gods of the two pantheons entered the territory, Kasnie's minor gods followed. The goal of these numerous and varied deities was clear: to interfere.
Spreading fear, hatred, anxiety, and terror; amplifying poverty and suffering.
Soldiers were difficult to influence. Those who had been on the battlefield and seen bloodshed were more resolute than ordinary people. Moreover, within the collective known as an army, an individual's will was not so important.
Ordinary people, however, were another matter.
Even if their divine power was weak, when numerous motley gods gathered, they would more or less have some effect on humans.
Upon the earth, a translucent Spider Woman scuttled rapidly. A spider's body was connected to a human's upper torso, covered in fine black down, yet her face was beautiful and captivating—a terrifying and bewitching sight.
She was one of the miscellaneous gods in the Kasnie pantheon. Compared to the Dream Succubus, who was similar to a small sprite, her level of divine power was higher, almost equivalent to an ordinary subordinate god of Solancia.
The eight-legged Spider Woman, who was searching for prey, suddenly stopped. Before her stood Fula, the Goddess of Performing Arts, with golden hair and a harp on her back.
"Finally found one," Fula said cheerfully. "Would you like me to play a song for you?"
The Spider Woman angrily raised her front legs, which clicked as they struck each other. Spider silk shot out from her abdomen, sticking to the side of Fula's harp in an attempt to pull it.
The Goddess of Performing Arts, who thought she was making a friendly greeting: "..."
The—harp—
The enormous harp, as tall as a person, was indeed pulled over as the Spider Woman wished—only to be smashed viciously into her abdomen, crushing her spinnerets and sending blood splattering.
After a struggle, the Spider Woman collapsed from exhaustion, her body covered in dents from the harp. As her godhead shattered, she turned to dust and vanished without a trace.
The Goddess of Performing Arts was also quite exhausted. "I'm a non-combatant! Why did I have to be so crude?"
Once she had rested enough, she wiped the bloodstains from her harp and continued her search for other foreign minor gods.
Such battles were taking place all over Solancia. Some were one-on-one duels, others were chaotic melees between both sides.
The Kasnie gods were more numerous, coming one after another, while the Solancian subordinate gods were more powerful. In one-on-one fights, none of them lost, so the two sides managed to maintain a precarious balance.
Solancia's beast god transformed into a celestial horse, lowered its head, and charged at an enemy god. The single horn on its forehead pierced the minor god's chest, shattering its godhead.
Before it could turn to its next target, the celestial horse suddenly felt a weight on its back, and its neck was seized viciously from behind.
"Neigh—"
The celestial horse struggled and whinnied.
Kasnie's Beast God raised his hand—a sharp, hairy beast's claw.
"I've long been displeased with your title," the Beast God said.
The tip of his claw pierced the celestial horse's neck, pulled out a godhead from within, and crushed it without hesitation. He watched with satisfaction as Solancia's beast god turned to dust, then looked up at the one opposite him.
The Goddess of the Earth's gaze was grave. "Lailuo."
The Beast God waved his claw. "Isn't this the Goddess of the Earth? So sorry for accidentally tearing your subordinate god to shreds."
"But you don't have to use my name. Just call me by my title—don't worry about getting confused, because there's no second Beast God anymore."
The provocation was undisguised.
The Goddess of the Earth, however, once again revealed a benevolent smile. But compared to the warmth she showed her companions, this smile was chilling.
The next moment, a brief distortion suddenly appeared in mid-air—the entrance to a battle space.
The Beast God: "That's more like it! If we're going to fight, let's make it a good one!"
The Beast God strode into the battle space, full of himself. However, Suojia did not follow. She smiled and waved at Nierde, gesturing for him to come over.
Nierde nodded. "Leave him to me."
The Beast God in the battle space didn't get Suojia, but instead got the God of Wisdom, who had the air of an old pedant.
The Beast God was shocked. "Why is it you?"
The God of Wisdom picked up his quill. "I haven't even complained about having to deal with an uncivilized beast. What are you dissatisfied about?"
The Beast God: "..."
He would rather face Suojia than fight against mind-numbing "knowledge." Most importantly, if Nierde was here, who would Suojia, who remained outside, go after?
Outside, Kasnie's God of the Ocean was about to head straight up the Yilu River to find the River Goddess, Lotus. Their divine authorities were similar, so they were bound to have a fight—or so the God of the Ocean thought.
However, just as he was about to plunge into the river, he was blocked by a wall of earth.
He subconsciously looked up and met the gaze of the Goddess of the Earth.
Suojia smiled gently. "Come."
Earth had a restraining effect on water. If one were to ask which Solancian god the God of the Ocean least wanted to encounter, aside from the God-King En, it would be the Goddess of the Earth.
His expression darkened, but he told himself it was nothing.
The Solancian pantheon was very powerful, but their power was divided among eight major gods. He, on the other hand, had only three companions of the same rank; the power he received might even be greater.
The outcome was uncertain. Who was to say the ocean couldn't submerge the land?
The God of the Ocean opened a battle space, and he and Suojia vanished from the air.
At this moment, most of the intruders and the major gods of this land had already found their opponents.
The Vulture God beat its wings under the sun, taking down three or four Solancian subordinate gods in a row. Suriel witnessed this through the sunlight and was about to rush to stop it, but Anmila beat him to it.
The ones who had massacred the Moon Goddess's priestesses in Digebia City were mostly Sanur people who worshipped the Vulture God. Anmila couldn't punish the foreign humans, but she could at least take her anger out on their god.
The Wild Bull God was running across the plains when many ravens suddenly appeared in its path. They circled it, flapping their wings and cawing. The key point was that these ravens could also play harps. The mix of cawing and harp music was irritatingly noisy.
Looking up, it saw the Death God standing silently behind the flock of ravens.
The Wolf God was on his way to Surinia City when his ears suddenly twitched. He dropped low to the ground, dodging a gust of wind as sharp as a blade.
The God of Sky nodded at him. "Huracan."
The Wolf God bared his teeth. "Isn't this the God-King of Solancia? A little doll like you shouldn't participate in something as dangerous as a divine war. Wouldn't it be better to stay in your Kingdom of the Gods?"
The strength of one's divine power had nothing to do with one's appearance. Whether the God of Sky was currently an infant or an old man, the essence of his power would not change. He was still the God-King.
The Wolf God was well aware of this. It wasn't as if he had never seen the God of Sky before; he just wanted to take the opportunity to mock him.
The God of Sky paid him no mind. He opened his hand.
Immediately after, the two figures vanished from the spot.
Perseus entered Solancian territory from the northwestern border. Following her sense of Lotus's divine power, she determined its direction: to the southeast.
But she was unable to head in that direction as she wished, for she was intercepted by a major god.
Above Seaton City, Adia took a step forward, twirling her curly hair as if bored.
"Long time no see, Perseus," Adia said nonchalantly, her jade-green eyes hiding her vigilance. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? As fellow gods who control the mind, let's have a good chat first."
Perseus sighed. "Adia, when I first saw you, you had just been born. It has indeed been a long time. Unfortunately, compared to you, there is someone else I would rather hear those words from."
Adia spread her hands. "Well, that can't be helped. You can't just say hello and leave. That would be too impolite."
The Goddess of the Mind paused, her smile shifting into a thoughtful curve, then she nodded lightly.
"You're right. It's no matter to be delayed here for a little while."
On the outskirts of Surinia City, the Sun God and the God of Mountains had already found a battle space to fight in, but Lotus was still staring at the Sanur's Fox God.
Lotus: "Pardon my asking, but who might you be?"
The Wild Fox God pointed to its fox head. "What do you think?"
Lotus looked for a moment, then asked, half to provoke it and half in genuine curiosity, "You're the Wild Fox God... Are foxes' heads so square?"
Wild Fox God: "I'm a Sanur wasteland fox!"
Lotus: "And your eyes are so narrow."
Wild Fox God: "..."
The Wild Fox God's fur stood on end, making its face look even more square. "Enough nonsense! Are you going to fight or not?"
Having successfully messed with her enemy's mind, Lotus said calmly, "I am."
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