Chapter 34: Chapter 32: Negotiations of the Gods

In the western region of the Enzo continent, there stood the Grand Temple, the headquarters of the Justice Church, in an area called Gate Rich. The temple was built using pure white stones and not a speck of dirt could be found on it. The surrounding gardens were meticulously maintained in every corner.

This was both the heart of the church and the residence of the god of justice, Andrew Marius. Inside the beautiful temple, the air was filled with a peaceful atmosphere, and devout followers knelt down to offer their prayers. While other temples had altars with stone statues, in the Grand Temple, the God of Justice sat and meditated.

A carriage approached the temple. The carriage was not ornately decorated, but it was heavily armored and sturdy enough to be used as a tank on the battlefield. The carriage was pulled by four huge horses with eight legs and twisted horns growing from between their ears.

The rugged carriage boldly entered the temple grounds and stopped in front of the entrance. Two men and a woman emerged from inside.

One of the men stood out as a muscular giant, with only a piece of cloth covering his private parts. His wild, curly blond hair and untrimmed beard added to his savage appearance, but his perfectly sculpted physique was beyond what any artist could express. Even in his natural stance, he emanated an overwhelming sense of intimidation, with no hint of vulnerability.

The big man snorted as he looked up at the temple, disdain written all over his face. He spoke with disgust, “So, this is the brat’s temple? It’s bigger than I thought.”

“The temple encourages donations, unlike your place. They must be making a fortune,” the other man responded with a laugh.

The other man was averagely built, with a handsome face but no distinguishing features. He wore his black hair long and straight down to his waist, and he twirled his cane playfully while dressed in a long-tailed coat and a silk top hat.

As the two exchanged brief words, the woman behind them coughed lightly. She, like the big man, wore nothing but a scanty cloth, and her lustrous, chestnut hair fluttered in the wind.

Despite her provocative attire, her commanding gaze and dignified bearing prevented her from being objectified. Rather, her otherworldly beauty and undeniable authority were so imposing that anyone in her presence would be compelled to bow down in worship.

“Ahem. Enough with the small talk. My love, I hope you haven’t forgotten our purpose for coming here today?”

“Of course not, my dear. That crazy brat lounging around here with an air of superiority has gotten on my nerves too.”

“Then everything is settled; shall we go?”

Guided by the man in the silk hat, the trio strolled through the Grand Temple with a confident and leisurely pace. Despite their eccentric clothing and nearly naked, attractive appearance, they stood out remarkably, but strangely, no passersby seemed to give them a second look. In fact, not a single person appeared to have noticed their presence.

The man in the silk hat, who was leading the group, hummed a tune while twirling his cane and tapping his shoes’ metal tips against the floor, creating a lively rhythm. But still, no one took notice of the trio. The other two were amazed by how skilled their companion was at going unnoticed.

“He-llooo! Andrew! Let’s play!”

The man in the silk hat, who had entered the sanctuary of the Great Temple, shouted loudly. Despite his booming voice echoing throughout the entire sanctuary, none of the praying worshipers seemed to notice.

However, the god they had called upon, Andrew Marius, the “God of Justice,” had indeed heard them.

The young man with pure white hair, who had been meditating on the altar, slowly opened his eyelids, revealing his golden eyes. He was the one and only Andrew Marius, God of Justice.

“Minnea, have you finally come to become my wife?”

“Shut that unpleasant mouth of yours, kid. The one I love, loved in the past, and will love in the future is my husband alone.”

Although Andrew, the God of Justice, had been called upon by the man in the silk hat, he only had eyes for the woman among the uninvited guests. He seemed to ignore the other two guests entirely, and the big man grew increasingly angry, while the man in the silk hat continued to chuckle.

However, the woman named Minnea coldly rejected him. She gently snuggled up to the thick arm of the large man that was beyond her waist. Andrew furrowed his brows slightly, looking somewhat displeased, and the big man happily widened his nostrils, cheered up, and puffed out his chest.

“You still don’t understand, ‘Goddess of Victory’. It is I, the ‘God of Justice’, who is suitable for your husband.”

“You’ve got some nerve trying to seduce my wife in front of me… I’ll kill you.”

Andrew shook his head in disbelief. As he said, the true identity of the beautiful woman with flaxen hair was Minnea of Sarnay, the ‘Goddess of Victory’ and her husband, the large man, was Solga of Yukitos, the ‘God of War’. They were both bona fide gods.

The couple were members of the human race who reached godhood fairly early on after life was born on this world. Solga was a hero who, single-handedly and with only his bare hands, defeated a dragon that had matured on this planet. Minnea was a warrior who had won a single, but still the only, victory in a one-on-one fight with Solga.

Andrew was still trying to persuade Minnea, but Solga directed an intense killing intent towards him and spoke. Finally, Andrew turned his gaze towards Solga. However, what came out of his mouth was an outrageous argument.

“You should also withdraw from Minnea and persuade her. Victory should always be on the side of justice.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. And stop using that commanding tone. I have no obligation to obey you.”

“What are you saying? War and struggle are for the sake of justice. A war without justice is meaningless. Solga, you should become my subordinate.”

Solga was speechless at Andrew’s words and opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Solga had reached the realm of gods long before Andrew did. In terms of experience, power, and the number of believers, Solga was overwhelmingly superior to Andrew in every aspect. He was astonished at the insolence of Andrew’s assertion that he should be subordinate to him.

Solga let out a big sigh and shook his head. Then, he raised his fighting spirit, spiritual power, and the divine power that only a god could handle, along with his killing intent. He was now in a complete combat stance and began cracking his fists, which could now even kill a god with one blow.

“War is something that will always follow you as long as you’re alive, but you’re an idiot… hey, let’s just kill this guy already,” Solga said

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea. Maybe it could work if we were living 500 years from now, but for the time being, let’s exercise some patience. Engaging in godly warfare puts an enormous burden on this planet. Do you recall the turmoil that took place on this continent a mere 3000 years ago? In the end, Solga had to take matters into his own hands and kill both parties, didn’t he?”

“Well, I remember that, but…”

The man in the silk hat tapped Solga’s shoulder to dissuade him, as the latter was overflowing with killing intent and seemed to want to say something. Solga sighed and released his combat stance. Minnea breathed a sigh of relief, as if knowing that if her husband went on a rampage, not only the Grand Temple but also the entire region could be razed to the ground.

“Aren’t you coming? It’s pathetic if you get scared off.” Andrew taunted.

“This da*ned brat…!”

“Alright, that’s enough. I told you fighting is not allowed. But, little Andrew, you’re getting a little too carried away, don’t you think?”

Andrew taunted Solga, causing him to abandon his fighting stance. Solga was on the brink of exploding once more, but the man in the silk hat managed to restrain him. Even so, the man retained a smile on his face while gazing at Andrew, although his eyes betrayed no hint of amusement.

“Just because something is old, doesn’t mean it’s great, you know? But, as gods, we should set an example for our followers, right? So, isn’t it important to respect each other?”

“Silence, you embodiment of evil! I refuse to recognize you as a god.”

“Evil, huh? Is that what you’re going to say? Well, whatever. We won’t be able to have a conversation, so let’s leave it to little Minnea to handle the real issue.”

The man in the silk hat shrugged his shoulders and pulled Solga’s arm, moving back. In his place, Minnea stepped forward and brought up the reason why they had come to the Grand Temple.

“We understand. So, listen, fool. Stop letting your believers spread that we are subservient to you.” She said

The reason why the three of them had come this far was because of the lies spread by the Justice Church. The followers of the said church believed that the teachings of the “God of Justice” were the only correct ones and that all other gods were wrong. If it were only the followers who thought this way, it would have been tolerable, but the Justice Church had started spreading lies that could not be overlooked, perhaps due to their arrogance since they had not received divine punishment.

The lie was that the other gods had started to follow the “God of Justice”. The angry gods, who had no intention of being subservient, came to represent themselves and confronted him.

“Why? My followers are only spreading what should be spread,” Andrew Marius said

“Whether it should be or not is not the issue. We are telling you to stop spreading lies. Put an end to it immediately,” Minnea replied.

“If you become my wife, I could consider it,” he retorted.

“…That’s not even a condition, you brat. Let’s go,” she said.

“Yeah, let’s do that. Don’t regret it, kid,”

“Well, well, we seem to have angered them. I guess I had nothing to do with it,” Andrew said, showing no sign of remorse.

Realizing that they were dealing with someone who couldn’t be reasoned with, they left with no parting words. The negotiations amongst the gods had failed.

The followers never even realized what had happened in front of them from start to finish. The three gods reached their carriage unnoticed and left the Grand Temple grounds without being noticed.

“So, what are you two going to do?”

“First, we’ll send a divine message to all the followers around the world, making it clear that we aren’t following that brat. From there, we’ll leave it to them.”

“Whether to fight or not is up to each individual to decide. And if we do fight, we’ll give it our all to ensure victory. That’s our teaching.”

The “God of War” and the “Goddess of Victory” answered that they leave the decision to their followers. Although they were gods of battle, they do not demand their followers to fight in any situation. It is up to the individual to decide whether to fight, come up with a strategy, or run away. They respect their followers’ decisions and do not take away their freedom of choice.

At first glance, it may seem like a leave it alone approach, but the two gods believed in their followers to make the right choice. If they were heading towards certain destruction, they will counsel and guide them based on reason. This was the role of the gods for the two deities.

“So, what are you going to do then? Are you going to embark on another journey, wandering across the stars?” asked Solga.

“No, I’m going to stay here for a little while longer. Probably… around a hundred years,” replied the man in the silk hat.

Solga asked the question without thinking, but he was surprised by the man’s answer, as was his wife, Minnea. The man seemed to find their reactions amusing and continued to chuckle as he spoke.

“There’s a child who has caught my interest after thousands of years. I plan to watch over them from various places. So please bear with me and don’t bring me any souvenirs or letters for other gods from other planets.”

“Hahaha! I see! It must be tough being in the spotlight!” said Solga.

“To be noticed by the ‘Ancient god of trickery’… he’s either lucky or unlucky. I sympathize,”Minnea said amused

“So, what kind of person is this child? Do we know them too?” asked Solga.

“You certainly do. It’s this child here,”

The man in the silk hat, one of the six ancient gods who directly originated from the ‘”Nameless Almighty Faceless God” that created the world, known as the ‘Ancient god of trickery’, chuckled mischievously as he pulled something out of nowhere. It was an intricate scorpion-shaped object made of a shiny material.