TGS - Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Creator God

The nature of this round of the god war was vastly different from before. After all, with a numerical advantage, who would bother with one-on-one duels?

Thus, the battlefield was quite chaotic, a massive brawl at first glance. Rings of water and arrows of light flew in tandem, sand and stone mingled with an aura of death, and waves of divine power shook the entire dimension of the battlefield.

The heavens turned upside down, the earth quaked, and monstrous waves surged.

However, upon closer inspection, one could discern the matchups. Lotus and the Death God joined forces against the Beast God; the twin Sun and Moon Gods, along with the God of Wisdom, focused on the Mountain God; while the God of Sky and the Goddess of the Earth faced the Goddess of the Mind.

Occasionally, they would launch an attack at one of the other skirmishes, sowing confusion and catching the outnumbered Kasnie gods off guard.

Finally, the Kasnie Beast God was trapped in a water prison with no escape. Emute's deathly aura seized the opportunity, pouring into the Beast God's wide-open, howling mouth. It swiftly corroded his divine core, reducing it to grim, black dust.

In the final moment before his divine core vanished, the Beast God seemed to realize something. A look of disbelief and terror flashed across his face, his expression freezing as he disintegrated into ash.

Almost simultaneously, the Mountain God was pierced through the chest by an arrow of condensed sunlight. He didn't meet the gaze of the Sun God, whom he had once nearly defeated, but instead whipped his head around to look at Perseus.

She offered no response.

Driven by some premonition, Lotus also looked toward Perseus. Amidst the chaotic flurry of multicolored divine attacks, she saw the Goddess of the Mind slowly draw her lips into a wide smile.

In the dim light, it looked as red as if stained with blood.

Alarm bells rang in Lotus's mind.

"Trap her—"

The God of Sky had clearly been watching Perseus. He, too, sensed something was amiss. Even before Lotus cried out, he had raised his hand, conjuring a wall of stagnant air that sealed the Goddess of the Mind within an airtight field of divine power.

Lotus's water prison followed, adding another layer of restraint.

It all happened in a flash. The next moment, the Mountain God's divine core shattered completely. Wearing the same look of disbelief as the Beast God before him, he followed his companion's fate, his ashes scattering to the winds.

Now, the gods of Solancia could have surrounded the Goddess of the Mind without any further concerns. No matter how she might struggle, the outcome should have been certain.

Yet Perseus seemed to have abandoned all resistance. There was no sign of her using her signature ability of sensory deprivation. Facing Lotus, she quietly parted her lips.

The wall of wind and the prison of water blocked all sound, but her words could be read on her lips.

Perseus said, My declaration is still valid.

As the gods watched, Perseus vanished.

Seven pairs of divine eyes witnessed her fade away from within her prison, taking her divine power with her.

She had completely escaped the battlefield dimension.

After returning from that dimension to the outside world, the Solancian gods extended their divine senses in every direction.

The feedback clearly indicated that Perseus was no longer within the borders of Solancia.

Of course, she could have been using some other means to block their divine senses, her true form still hidden within the kingdom.

But it made little difference. Either way, they couldn't find her.

The feeling of unease flickered through her again. Lotus lowered her gaze to the human battlefield.

Under the night sky, the Yilu River had long lost its former tranquility. Flames raged upon the wreckage of ships, dyeing half the sky red and illuminating the faint tinge of blood on the water's surface.

The Kasnie warships that could retreat had all fled. Most of the Kasnie sailors who were good swimmers and had luck on their side had also escaped the wide expanse of water, scrambling aboard their comrades' ships, having survived the ordeal.

The Solancian soldiers, who had been waiting at a distance, finally emerged. They patiently extinguished the nearby flames, steering small boats to search for surviving prisoners and spoils of war, cleaning up the aftermath.

On a small slope three or four hundred meters away, the supply of stone ammunition was nearly depleted. The giant catapults had served their purpose.

These catapults could handle a heavy payload and had a long range, but their greatest weakness was their cumbersome size, making them difficult to move. They were too large to be placed on city walls and too slow for skirmishes, rendering them useless in most situations.

But tonight, they had played a crucial role, their contribution to crippling the enemy fleet undeniable.

The black-haired princess stood beside a catapult and took a step forward. The night wind whipped at the dark cloak that signified her command. She looked up at the sky, her golden eyes clear and bright in the moonlight.

Despite the lingering worry in her heart, Lotus offered Alyuin a gentle smile.

From such a distance, and at night, Lotus couldn't be sure if the princess had seen it.

But soon, Alyuin raised her right arm and gave a slight shake—a wave, it seemed. Then she brought her hand back to her shoulder in a divine salute.

"Victory for the great Goddess Lotus."

The princess's voice was beautiful, steady, and solemn, with a penetrating quality that echoed through the night. She spoke to the soldiers beside her, and to the goddess high above.

Lotus's gaze lingered on her for a long time before she turned away.

The human battle had gone exceptionally well.

So that couldn't be the source of her unease.

What was it, then? How could a single, fleeing Goddess of the Mind possibly turn the tide of the war?

Lotus first thought of the wooden box containing Perseus's divine power. Could that be some kind of secret weapon?

But she quickly dismissed the idea. It contained nothing but divine power. No matter how it was used, it couldn't become a decisive weapon against seven major gods.

Or perhaps Perseus planned to use her teleportation ability for a sneak attack?

It was difficult to destroy a divine core in an instant, and besides, if she attacked one Solancian god, the others would not stand idly by.

As long as they maintained a defensive field of divine power around themselves at all times, a sneak attack would be futile.

Lotus couldn't make sense of it. She looked at her companions; aside from the Sun God, who was beaming with excitement, everyone else looked grave.

But if asked for the reason for their solemnity, they, like Lotus, couldn't put a finger on it.

It was just that irrational divine intuition...

Lotus closed her eyes, lightly pressing her temples before looking up.

"Is there a concept of gods having a sudden, explosive surge of power?" she asked gravely.

The Moon Goddess, her expression as cool as ever, asked curiously, "What's that?"

"A sudden awakening in battle, a dramatic and unconventional surge in power, one god wiping out the entire enemy side, that sort of thing," Lotus explained. "Or a god finding some lost secret art and awakening an extraordinary ability, enough to ignore the disparity in numbers and strength—are such things possible?"

The gods fell into thought, their gazes unanimously turning to the God of Sky.

The infant in solemn divine robes looked back innocently.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

The God of Wisdom, while meticulously straightening his hair and collar, said calmly, "Because you've existed the longest. It feels like only you would know about such peculiar things."

En sighed. "Though unconfirmed, there are tales of an absolute power capable of destroying an entire pantheon single-handedly. But even if it's true, it's impossible for Perseus."

Lotus was silent.

There it was, the legendary law of narrative inevitability.

There is such a thing, but it's impossible for it to happen. Whenever she heard that kind of phrasing, it was a sure sign that the impossible was about to happen.

"What is this power?" Lotus asked, her face impassive.

En's expression turned solemn. "A Creator God. Not a deity who reshapes the world or controls the forces of nature, but a true 'Primordial' who carves a world from the void."

"Take Solancian mythology, for example. Humans believe that I, Suojia, Adia, and Emute were born from the chaotic Primordial Water and together created all things in the world."

En waved his hand, and an azure current of air formed four small figures before him. The figures moved about, seemingly busy reshaping the world, while the chaotic Primordial Water coiled silently below them, still as a stagnant pool.

"But the Creator God acknowledged in the myths isn't us. It's the nameless, unconscious Primordial, which can therefore never truly be born into reality."

Lotus frowned. "Then what about the Creator Gods of other pantheons—"

"The Creator Gods of human myth never appear in reality. Even if one were born, it couldn't wield its power. Because deep within their legends, humanity has already placed limitations upon them."

"Some have no consciousness from the start; they are merely a chaotic substance from which the world, and the first gods, are born."

En manipulated the air into a gray mass. The grayness gradually split apart, revealing a hollow world with a round heaven and a square earth. A small figure lay on the ground, then rose to its feet and stretched.

"Some break through the chaos on their own, their bodies becoming all of creation. Once the world is formed, they weaken, retreat into hiding, or even vanish, never to be seen again."

The air current again formed a small figure, which lay in the void and slowly transformed, its body becoming lands and oceans of all sizes.

"Still others create the world and once held supreme authority, only to be killed by their own descendants, their lives used to complete the world... in other words, they were forced to become all of creation."

A small figure sat high above, only to be beheaded by another. Its head rolled down, becoming everything in the world.

En retracted the air currents and shrugged his small shoulders.

"Every pantheon is like this. A true Creator God never appears, perhaps for the sake of balance, or due to humanity's subconscious... Maybe that's why it's said that a Creator God's power surpasses all other deities."

Lotus's brow remained furrowed. "I've studied Kasnie mythology. They have a Creator God: Klotho, the Father of Creation."

En was unconcerned. "The former Nibet and Gaibola pantheons also had Creator Gods in their myths. But one could never take form, and the other was bound to its place of birth. When the other gods of their pantheons perished, they vanished as well."

To put it bluntly, a being like a Creator God either doesn't exist or is nothing more than a figurehead in a god war.

And aside from a Creator God, no other deity could possibly wipe out an entire pantheon single-handedly.

As for the descriptions of power in human mythology, they are largely unreliable.

Otherwise, a civilization could simply describe its gods as incomparably powerful, capable of destroying and remaking thousands of worlds at a whim. Wouldn't that make the will of that civilization invincible?

What would be the point of their enemies fighting? They might as well lie down and await their doom.

"There are rules in place. Perseus can't cause too much trouble."

En was certain of this.

Lotus was not so optimistic.

However, without knowing the actual situation, any speculation was futile.

All they could do was remain on guard, or perhaps prepare to take the offensive and attack the mythological island of Kasnie, wherever it was hidden.

---

Near the scattered islands of Kasnie, in a mythological land between existence and non-existence, lay a small island floating on the sea.

Four sacred pillars stood upon the island, the light from three of them already dim.

A translucent crown of waves, a beast-headed crown, and a mountain crown rested at the foot of these three pillars. From each object symbolizing its respective god, a path of colored light extended, connecting to the center of the open space between the pillars.

Notably, the paths of light for the Sea God and the Beast God had stopped flickering. Only the Mountain God's path still pulsed with light.

Finally, the light froze, becoming still.

The three paths of light converged in the center of the clearing, forming a four-pointed rhombus of pure white brilliance.

Above, Klotho, the Father of All Things, sat suspended in midair, his body shrouded in a luminous mist that also veiled his face, obscuring his features and expression.

Suddenly, he turned his head toward the one sacred pillar that remained lit.

On top of the pillar, where once only an unremarkable wooden box had rested, now sat a goddess.

Perseus was sitting atop the pillar, though when she had appeared was a mystery. Her pale gold hair cascaded down like a waterfall, nearly reaching the ground. Her pale legs dangled in the air, just as they had for the many years she had sat there in the past.

Klotho's voice was heavy. "You escaped."

Perseus smiled. "I've returned."

Klotho shook his head. "Seeing this arrangement, you should understand. You couldn't defeat the Solancian gods. You were supposed to be killed by them so that I could be freed."

Perseus said softly, "You were very thorough in your planning."

"I just didn't expect you to return," Klotho said evenly. "But it's not too late."

Klotho raised a hand formed of luminous mist.

At the same time, a wooden box suddenly appeared beneath him, right in the center of the white rhombus where the paths of light converged.

In the next instant, their positions swapped.

Perseus now stood above the rhombus, while Klotho was on top of the Goddess of the Mind's sacred pillar.

The luminous mist around the Kasnie Creator God's face surged violently. The mist covering his body began to flow slowly toward Perseus, revealing the simple white robe beneath.

"What have you done—?"

Perseus was still smiling as the luminous mist gradually enveloped her.

"Father God, have you ever wondered where this ritual for sacrificing a pantheon to release its creator came from?"

"Or how the Creator God of Kasnie myth—deeply worshipped, yet never appearing—came to be?"

"Thank you, Father God. Your name is a fine one."

Perseus's voice grew quiet.

"It's mine now."

Her rising hair pierced the space where the Creator God's forehead would be, like a sharp blade.

The luminous mist was still surging. Before Klotho's face could be revealed, his body had already scattered to the wind.

The light of the sacred pillar dimmed.

At her feet, a crown of light smoke took shape, extending the final path of light, which surged toward the central rhombus.

Before long, this path of light also stopped flickering.

A cloud-like light enveloped the Goddess of the Mind—or rather, the new Creator God—weaving itself into a shuttle-shaped cocoon of pure white light.

The heart of the cocoon pulsed rhythmically, a beat like a heart thumping across the island.

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