Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 882: Guidance

While the preparations for the holy war were underway, Athenia sat on her throne observing everything. Already, she had deterred quite a few attempts at infiltrating her domains by the other gods. Some soldiers choked from vegetation that tore through their heels or moss that suddenly took over their lungs and flooded them with the dark miasma of death. Others weren’t so fortunate to be granted death; instead, their bodies were now being processed by Mono’s automatons to craft an automaton vessel worthy enough to host Athenia herself.

Most of their flesh, of course, was discarded, but their organs, and more specifically their hearts and their lungs, were being stitched together with Ditsy’s help. A total of three hearts were required to hold a morsel of Athenia’s soul, and the lungs were there to provide enough oxygen to the hearts so that they could sustain themselves within their ironcore. A body of flesh and metal was far inferior to Mono’s own self; however, unlike her, the binds of pure metal could rust and dust trying to contain a true immortal.

Thus, flesh–something that could repair itself was required, for not even magical regeneration could keep the automaton in one piece by itself. Assuming the worst, in fact, Mono had already assigned a dozen teams for the continuous production of such metal bodies. Only once could they be used by Athenia, but that one time would surely burn it to the limits.

Alas, such trivial details were of no less importance to the goddess of life and death. She had greater matters to attend to, like making room in her death ledger for the names of the gods whom she would soon write down under Batimos. Elenaria was still in possession of the soul of the god of rot, and if the rest of the crowd followed suit, then she needed to kill them in a way that their souls remain intact, while at the same time, did not cause issues like Pathfinder or Nerva.

”Busy, are we?” A sudden male voice pulled Athenia out of her attentive state. Looking down at the heel of her throne, she noticed Razor sitting comfortably on a wooden chair. With a smile and a wave, he greeted her. ”I suppose I forgot to tell you, and it doesn’t seem like Helga or Markus relayed this information, so allow me to present the rules of a holy war and the importance of ’The Guidance’.”

”Rules?” Raising an eyebrow, Athenia almost burst into a fit of laughter. ”And what god in the council will follow these rules? Or do you intend to make me follow them while they can do whatever it is that they wish! Already, I have to sift through the grains and cull the infiltrators from my lands. I doubt they will be convinced, so consider me uninterested in these ’rules’.”

”Unfortunately for you,” reaching into a dimensional pocket, Razor pulled out a thick tome and placed it at the foot of Athenia’s throne. ”These rulers aren’t in my purview, nor am I allowed to participate as a full-fledged god. My only duty is to inform you of these rules as they had been set by the Creator long before the times of Nerva or the elder gods.”

”Again, this Creator...” Having heard the name many times before, a distasteful grimace took over Athenia’s face. Lowering her gaze to the tome, she gestured to her clone to fetch it for her, and while she did just that, the goddess’s attention turned back to the god of time. ”Who is this deity exactly? And why must I adhere to his decree of war? Don’t expect me to comply without answers, Razor–I’ve already been burned enough from following your rules while the others trample all over them!”

Her anger and frustration were thundering down on Razor. And yet, neither angered nor concerned, he took a deep breath and looked up at her again.

”That tome explains the details of a holy war in depth. You must follow the rules dictated within it, and as a god of death, especially, you are not to abuse your power to kill other celestial beings without a direct confrontation.” Pointing a finger at the ledge in her hand, Razor added. ”Even when you killed Batimos, I had issues with the death, but now if you break those rulers, what happens next would be a fate worse than death–one that even your father feared and so did the rest of the elders. Unfortunately, I myself, anointed after most of them had passed, wasn’t made aware of the details of the punishment.”

Taking the book in her hand, Athenia set it on top of her ledger while keeping her eye on Razor. Placing a hand on top of it, she felt the microscopic grooves over the cover and spelled out different words in Archaic. As a goddess, she was learned in the language, but deciphering the words was proving difficult.

”I will look through the book soon enough. Tell me about this guidance you spoke of first.”

Producing a ceremonious, unlit torch of gold, Razor held it horizontally in his hands. Staring at it for a minute, his shoulders dropped, and he looked up again.

”When I killed the god of time, I took his ’Guidance’, that is to say, this torch made from his golden blood.” Putting the torch away, he closed his eyes for a moment and reminisced over the past. ”All gods participating in a holy war had one; it elevated the strength of their followers beyond measure. Gave them the ability to use magic and even rival the strength of rival gods. How exactly?”

Opening his eyes, a faint smile appeared on his face.

”With the help of their guidance for as long as the god isn’t dead and this torch remains lit and its light grants their follower the ability to draw strength from their deity themselves.” Athenia’s eyes narrowed to the declaration, and she shifted forward in her seat as Razor continued. ”Of course, how much they can borrow and how much you can give depends on your generosity as well as the scope of your domain and your territory as well as the number of people serving you. In the end, if the god dies and the torch loses its splendor, the followers will know from within themselves that their fight is lost. What they do with that information, however, remains within them.”

”So I can strengthen my followers, and the more people that serve me, the stronger I shall become? A cycle of give and take, terribly generous for the elders to have gone through.” Taking a moment to think, however, Athenia’s mood lifted a little. Then, as her eyes met Razor again, she proudly declared. ”Then I shall send my guidance to my people, and they will know my generosity. You’ve convinced me in this matter, Razor, but the rest of the tome remains to be seen.”

Getting off his chair, Razor politely bowed.

”That should be enough.” Lifting his head, he quickly turned around and started walking towards the darkness. ”I will go and warn the rest of the gods, but I bid you well, Athenia–unfortunately, this mess caused by your mother, it has to be cleaned by your hand. Her lonesome child in this prison.”

Fanning her hand in a dismissive way, helped Razor by opening a portal back to Atlarian soil.

”I’ve grown over sympathy, Razor. I do not need it, but your help in all of this is appreciated. May one day we meet in a time most prosperous and converse over trivial matters of life rather than the chaos of today.”

Laughing at the suggestion, Razor shrugged his shoulders and walked through the portal with some final words.

”If only that could ever happen.” His voice echoed inside the prison, and his words lingered in the goddess’s mind.

’I know, it won’t be so easy. But one can hope.’ Shifting her attention to the tome, the goddess decided that it was time for a lengthy lesson in reading practice, all twenty thousand pages of it.