Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill glanced at Lansendel, who had returned to his seat, then swept his eyes over Shaer and Celene, unsure of what to say.

Lansendel was straightforward: ”If you want to ask, just ask. There’s no need to guard against them. I just don’t want them to leverage me to do something to Amanata.

Heh heh~ let’s not talk about Shaer, and Celene... she...”

”What about me?” Celene seemed extremely sensitive to having her name mentioned.

”If I were to reveal some secrets there, would you... rush out to ask Amanata, whom I’ve been suppressing, for more information?” Lansendel’s expression was quite subtle.

”Why can’t I ask?” Celene countered without hesitation.

Lansendel looked at Celene with an expression that said, ’I knew you would say that’: ”But, I am the one suppressing Amanata. Why should I offend him for your curiosity?”

”Hmm?” Celene looked puzzled, ”Haven’t you already offended him? Why worry about doing it a bit more or less...”

”I... heh~” Lansendel swallowed the words he initially wanted to say, let out a light laugh, and chose a response he thought Celene could understand, ”I don’t like to gratuitously pay a little bit for the joy of others. Can you understand this?”

Although still a bit dissatisfied, Celene could comprehend this explanation.

So she pursed her lips: ”You’re so guarded against me, it must be something I’m interested in... Recently, what I most want to know are stories related to the Greek Gods.

Hmm?

Could it be that the matter with Amanata also relates to the Greek Gods?

He... he, having mingled with deities in Toril for so long, hasn’t found one he can trust... an Exterior God?

Has Amanata gone insane?”

”Can’t you use a bit of your brain when you speak?” Shaer’s voice drifted lazily, ”Have you ever seen a Sun God go crazy?”

Hill silently completed the thought in his mind: Once he goes insane, he is no longer the Sun God.

In that case, given Amanata’s usual connections, he would certainly end up dead without a burial place.

And his only ally, Kashus, even if he has been on good terms with him, would undoubtedly abandon him when he no longer exudes heat... that isn’t abandonment.

The one who deserves blame is not Kashus, who distanced himself from Amanata for such a reason, but rather Amanata, who abandoned his original principles and allowed debauchery to invade his Divine Soul.

The one who crosses the line is the sinner.

Thus, the choice by AO to resurrect Amanata is related to this... this Sun God will certainly not do anything outrageous again.

For example, defying AO’s will or harming Toril.

Amanata’s intent to devour this world’s sun was because it was ownerless and had been invaded by the nine layers of hell.

Though it crossed the line somewhat, it stayed near enough to the edge.

In matters like these that are borderline, which don’t harm Toril, AO usually pretends not to see... of course, this harm is what AO considers harm.

Therefore, Amanata was so brazen, and also somewhat perplexed by Lansendel’s obstruction.

However, having been in Toril for many years and having witnessed several restarts of Toril, he understood some of AO’s ways of doing things... Amanata surely guessed he was the prepared scapegoat.

After all, Shaer and Celene here are AO’s favorites... whether or not they are hollow, they are his.

Therefore, Hill never brought up... Apollo’s appearance was clearly AO preparing for both possibilities.

If this dual sun truly caused significant negative effects, then Amanata, as the Sun God who once again dragged Toril to a dead end, would surely be past the possibility of another resurrection.

Even though Toril would need to restart again, many of Toril’s strong ones would not reincarnate with it.

Even though everyone knew that the fault lay upon Amanata’s head by another’s hand... but he took on this burden himself, right?

Everyone also knew well... they could only blame Amanata’s foolishness, not hold AO accountable.

And then, they’d have to watch Celene once more seek an Eternal Flame to ignite another unfortunate planet.

While others might not know, Hill was very clear in his heart... originally, Toril’s Sun was already at risk of being replaced.

The prophecy of the sun-extinguishing crisis possibly caused by Dandell, the great serpent of Chult, had existed.

Though that crisis had been averted, Toril’s sun being in danger does not mean the threat wouldn’t reappear later.

Lansendel likely understood earlier than he did the threat Apollo posed to Amanata... so when he chatted with Amanata, he shared some knowledge of battles on the Heavenly Mountain.

Only, Amanata didn’t immediately grasp the Lord of Dawn’s words, so he could only stall for time with nonsensical bureaucratic language... he clearly knew what Lansendel wanted to know, but whether or not to tell Lansendel depended on what return he could get.

For Amanata, his scheme against Lansendel indeed failed, and it wasn’t that he couldn’t reveal the individual scheming in the shadows... the person didn’t have the authority to demand his silence.

However, if Lansendel thought he could force him to disclose this with a little pressure, that was never going to happen.

At the very least, it would have to be a transaction he deemed fair.

So, Lansendel gave Amanata a direct blow to the head... and made him not dare to play games anymore.

Otherwise, Amanata, who was just babbling nonsense, wouldn’t suddenly get to the point.

Although Hill still didn’t understand how the two of them communicated with each other.

Could it be that their words are like beams of light, a light to the left, a light to the right?

Hill felt that the true form of the Lord of Dawn was definitely nearby watching Zeus get torn to pieces.

Then Shaer enlightened him, straightening up and staring unblinkingly at Lansendel: ”You really can’t hide it from me.” Her tone, although it sounded flat, was actually quite forceful, ”If you hadn’t been by my side all the time, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see everything from beginning to end and carefully observe Apollo.

You were able to persuade Amanata only because of that Greek God’s Sun God, right?”

Lansendel raised an eyebrow: ”I’m not surprised you thought of that, but I’m surprised by why you’re so interested in this matter?

Unless you’re sure that the appearance of these two Sun Gods could lead to Toril being restored to silence, you wouldn’t care if Amanata, who’s already determined not to make a dual-core sun, could find another competitor, would you?”

Shaer furrowed her brow slightly: ”Are you asking the obvious?”

”Is it because that William is very concerned about this matter?” Celene suddenly interjected between those two who were having a battle of wits, ”Then hurry up and say something, Lansendel.

What are you playing dumb over there for?”

Sometimes, having someone like Celene around is quite good... Hill silently thought, unable to get a word in edgewise while sitting in the middle.

Sigh~

He really didn’t know when he might have his mouth sealed now.

Although this could indeed avoid some troubles, sometimes it hurt his curiosity too much!

Wanting to ask questions but being unable to speak, it’s really... so frustrating!

Lansendel glanced at Hill, who was sitting there calmly and had completely ceded the stage, and shook his head slightly... This kid was too considerate, to be able to sit so still at such a time.

He sat there, his eyes watching Athena and Apollo who had already charged into the Thunder... Artemis did not go; she was standing on the outskirts of the battlefield, her eyes fixed on the place where other deities slept within the mountains, and she was tightly holding her longbow.

Lansendel sneered: ”Yes, Hermes.”

Hill turned his head to give him a look.

On the Toril side, they generally called that one Hermes... Hill originally thought it might have been because a softer intonation was used in translation.

He could understand this point... after all, in his original country, his name had also been translated to Hermes once.

Of course, there’s another possibility, that Hermes deliberately omitted a letter when introducing himself.

This guy would definitely do that, and those who knew him wouldn’t be surprised by his wariness.

To be able to mix in the Greek Gods like he did, he probably had more brains than all the Toril Gods combined.

”Hermes?” Celene couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

”Hermes!” Lansendel repeated with certainty.

”Ah... why doesn’t that guy use his real name?” Celene was a bit puzzled, ”Didn’t he leave Toril after asking Tai Ji about the Greek Gods’ fate?

If he’s not in Toril, even if the name is real, it wouldn’t do anything to him, right?”

”Are you truly stupid or just pretending to be?” It was Shaer who reacted quickly, ”If there’s a flaw in the name, then any prophecy involving him might skip over him!

A small mistake leading to a huge discrepancy, don’t you understand this principle?”

”You’ve been quite knowledgeable recently!” Celene’s response was still so absurd.

Shaer took a light breath: ”How would Amanata believe him?

Was there any content related to this in Tai Ji’s prophecy?

But Tai Ji... Why would she reveal things related to you?”

”At that time, Tai Ji hadn’t yet agreed to be with me!” Lansendel answered irrelevantly.

”You’ve already spoken, so make it clear!” Shaer frowned unhappily, ”How could Tai Ji, who could see the fate lines, not know that she would have ties with you in the future?

Even if she hadn’t planned to be with you at that time, according to her personality, she definitely wouldn’t do anything to your detriment!

Unless this matter would have some impact on your future together!”

Lansendel laughed: ”How would I know what Tai Ji was thinking.”

”It seems that this matter is beneficial to you, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to laugh.” Celene said, tilting her head.