TGS - Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Seeking the Key

In the human garden, flowering trees flourished, their branches and leaves layered and intertwined.

Several major gods stood before the tall, diamond-shaped crystal, looking listless. Their divine power had not yet fully recovered, leaving them drained of vitality.

Add to that the infant-like God of the Sky sandwiched in the middle, and it gave off the distinct impression of having worked a full week without being able to sleep in, only to be forced to take a child out to see the sights on the weekend.

And the reality was indeed quite similar.

The Solancian gods were originally a group of leisurely deities who spent their days in idleness, gathering only occasionally and often sleeping for eighty or a hundred years at a time. But throughout the divine war, they had been busy rushing about, and the later stages had been fraught with peril.

They had finally sealed Perseus, and after a short sleep to recover some of their divine power, they had to force themselves to stay alert and search for a way to deal with the Creator God.

They had some clues, but no idea where to start.

Facing a Creator God of a higher order, perhaps only another Creator God could contend with her.

However, setting aside the low success rate of so-called "god creation," they were already out of time.

Perseus's ascension was not replicable. Suojia guessed that the former Goddess of the Mind had conceived the idea as far back as her defeat a thousand years ago.

She migrated with the survivors of the Nibet City-State to a peninsula that had not yet developed its own mythological system. She adopted a low profile, integrated into the local tribes, and entered the Kasnie pantheon through cultural fusion—this was what Perseus had done on the surface.

In truth, there was more. The birth of Kasnie's supreme god, Klotho, occurred after Perseus's arrival.

Such a father god, who possessed a name yet had not faded away in the creation myth, who retained his power yet could only be confined to an island—he was like a perfect vessel to borrow.

When the powerful members of a pantheon fell one after another, could the Creator God break free from his shackles and participate in a divine war?

Obviously not, but he did so.

Perseus took his place. She was both the Creator God Klotho and the Goddess of the Mind who could move freely. The prison meant for the original Klotho could not hold her.

Rather than deceiving the rules, it was more like exploiting a loophole. Even if the rules discovered it, there was no way to drag Perseus back. After all, she was already outside the rules, so what use was patching the gap?

Thus, the new "Klotho" became the sole exception among the creators of the many civilizations.

If nothing unexpected happened, she was powerful enough to destroy the Solancian pantheon, which had dominated the continent's civilization for a millennium, without any suspense.

This required long years, meticulous planning, and immense patience. If not for the fact that they were on opposing sides and the Goddess of the Mind was truly unlikable, Lotus might have felt a sense of awe for this series of maneuvers.

But now, as one of the members of the pantheon about to be destroyed by the new Creator God, Lotus only found it troublesome.

After some discussion, the Solancian gods finally decided to split up.

En and the Sun and Moon Gods would clear out the minor Kasnie gods along the way that hadn't been dealt with by their subordinates. Afterward, they would head to Kasnie's territorial waters and wreak havoc on the sacred island of myth, to see if they could weaken the Creator God's power.

Nierde, the God of Wisdom, would clear out the miscellaneous gods from another direction. At the same time, high hopes were placed on him; his colleagues hoped he could clear the field while also thinking of a way to deal with the Creator God. "You're the wise one, after all," Suojia encouraged him amiably.

Suojia and Emute would take the sealing crystal and store it in the netherworld ruled by the Death God. After all, they couldn't just leave it in the Princess's courtyard forever.

They could try to destroy the sealed Creator God, though success was almost impossible. They would have to be extremely careful, for if they damaged the seal from the outside, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Lotus, on the other hand, was more mobile. Her two avatars were highly versatile and could be deployed wherever needed, advancing by land, sea, and air.

As the River Goddess's partner and a future new member of the Solancian pantheon, Alyuin's mission was much more straightforward: win the war.

...There was a persistent feeling that Alyuin's path had the highest chance of success.

Before departing, Emute commanded his ravens to form a dark cloud, which lifted the sealing crystal into the air.

One of the ravens flew to his ear and cawed a few times with a distinct cadence.

Emute clearly understood the raven's language. He pulled up his hood slightly, turned to Lotus, and asked, "Do you and Alyuin have any message for the former king of Solancia?"

A message for the former king and queen?

Lotus paused for a moment. Her first thought was that, according to Solancian custom, exchanging flower letters to pledge one's love was something one should tell the parents about, right?

But even if she were to tell them, having someone else pass on the message was far too informal and bordered on disrespectful.

Now was not a good time to explain, either. The crisis had not yet passed, and idly discussing an engagement felt somewhat inappropriate... It would be better to wait until this ordeal was over.

If they could get through it.

Lotus casually sent a blue heron avatar flying into the house to ask Alyuin. The reply she received was merely a simple greeting.

It was unclear whether Alyuin shared Lotus's sentiment or simply didn't think a major event like an engagement required parental approval.

Emute nodded and left with Suojia.

Lotus watched them fly toward the Kingdom of the Gods. The ravens carrying the large crystal were exceptionally conspicuous.

Lotus thought of the Princess's parents, who were inhabiting raven bodies, and smiled to herself. Suddenly, she remembered why the two of them had come to see Alyuin before.

It was for the secret passed down through the direct royal line for generations.

"The key is hidden within the symbol of royal authority."

"In times of crisis, let it reappear in the world. Perhaps it will bring a turn of fate—"

Lotus's eyelashes suddenly lifted.

---

Before today, Lotus had never taken the royal secret mentioned by the former king seriously.

For one thing, the one who was rumored to have given the key to the first king of Solancia was, coincidentally, herself.

Lotus felt she understood her past self well enough. She didn't know any prophecies. In the distant era when Solancia was first established, Lotus was merely a human who could use divine power.

As for the so-called key, Lotus strongly suspected it was one of the keychains she used to carry with her back in the modern museum. It had no real significance; it was only because of the special nature of being left behind by a "god" that it had been distorted by rumors into a royal heirloom.

On the other hand, Solancia had endured countless trials and tribulations over the millennium. For humans, there had been who knows how many moments of crisis.

If the key hidden within the symbol of royal authority truly existed, or if it was truly useful, it should have been taken out and used by their predecessors long ago. How could it have remained until now?

Or was it a master key, effective against all sorts of crises the kingdom might face?

There were too many legends about gods. Apart from the parts that truly constituted the deities, the rest were just legends.

But now, faced with this situation, even a desperate patient will try any doctor. The existence of that key was worth a try. In any case, it would only take one of her avatars a trip back and forth, costing little time or energy.

Most importantly, 【Time】.

The current predicament, the reason for her journey across spacetime, the so-called key left from a past life, the Sheep God who had joined their side... Although it was a bit of a stretch, all these things seemed to have some connection to time.

The threads intertwined, the mystery hidden in a deep fog.

At the other end of the ball of yarn, it was as if a silhouette of 【Spacetime】 sat, the golden Ouroboros turning, every second of every minute of every hour.

Facing the empty space where the crystal had been, Lotus half-lowered her eyes, knowing that this trip was one she had to make.

The Princess's pleasant, slightly magnetic voice sounded beside her.

"Were you waiting for me?"

Lotus turned her head and saw Alyuin looking at her, her gaze steeped in a smile, her golden eyes as clear as honey.

"Your official duties—"

"All approved," Alyuin said. "It's my break time now, and I wanted to see you."

The Princess had thought she had been a bit too forward earlier. Given the goddess's usual temperament, she probably wouldn't show much emotion, but would feel inwardly embarrassed and then offer a gentle, light-hearted jab.

Alyuin thought this was wonderful and was even secretly looking forward to it, as it would give her a natural opportunity to act spoiled.

Lotus: "Oh."

Alyuin: "Hm?"

Lotus seemed to be thinking about something. After a moment, she said seriously, "Would you mind if I dismantled the throne in Akhet? The one with the names of all the past kings carved on it."

Alyuin: "..."

The change of topic was so abrupt that even the Princess didn't understand what the goddess meant. She paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Are you displeased?"

Lotus chuckled. "It has nothing to do with that. It's about the key."

With that keyword, Alyuin quickly made the connection to the royal secret her father had so solemnly entrusted to her.

It seemed the situation in the divine war was indeed grim and very dangerous. Or perhaps Lotus had thought of something, a reason why the key must be used. After all, it was something she had left behind.

—In that past life where she herself had not been present.

Alyuin dismissed her extraneous thoughts and said with a light laugh, "That throne is my property, which means it's yours as well. Do with it as you please."

Lotus hesitated for a second, then chose to say it all at once. "If it's not in the throne, we might have to move on to the crown and scepter." There were a few other candidates, as the phrase "symbol of royal authority" was rather broad and more than just these items fit the description, but these three were the most likely.

She could summon a subordinate god to accompany her. Before starting to dismantle anything, she could have them scan it with divine power. If they couldn't sense anything, then they could proceed with taking things apart one by one.

So thought Lotus, who had been deprived of her ability to sense with divine power.

Alyuin showed no reluctance. "Anything that belongs to the king is yours to do with as you wish."

A throne could be dismantled and reforged. The most important thing was that it be useful for the divine war. Otherwise, if they lost and the mortal world was affected, even the most luxurious and precious symbols of royalty would just become spoils for the Kasniens.

Lotus, in turn, stated solemnly, "We will be responsible for reforging it."

To be precise, the Goddess of Raging Fire and Forging would be solely responsible. A truly god-given throne.

The two of them hit it off immediately.

Meanwhile, the Goddess of Fire, still far away searching for traces of minor Kasnie gods, remained completely unaware.

There was no time to lose. That very evening, the silver mermaid avatar plunged into the Yilu River and swam swiftly toward the royal city.

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