Chapter 193: Khaos... Begins To Brew (2)
To the words of the other rulers, the Supreme God of One Book remained silent, merely observing as he always had.
Then, without warning, a strange pressure pressed against the Supreme Goddess of Hollow Thorn’s mind, unsettling in its suddenness.
The voice that came next was one she knew all too well—one she wasn’t happy to hear yet had been anticipating the moment it would reach out.
’Supreme Goddess... I, along with the rest of the Noxara branch, have returned from...’
She hesitated, unwilling to speak of the tragedy that had befallen the Dark Thorn Branch, once the conquerors of the world of Noxara.
Even for her, the events were utterly shocking.
One moment, she had been on the verge of draining Jovian of everything he held dear, and the next, she found herself revived, far from the Orin Star System, within the Pantheon’s main stronghold.
Taking a breath, she continued her report.
’...The Supreme Divinity involved in the matter... has already begun to regenerate.’
The voice was unmistakable—this woman was Lane, the High Apostle of the Dark Thorn.
As often stated, Pantheons were in a league of their own compared to any other faction.
Forming a Pantheon wasn’t just creating a group or alliance—it was embedding one’s ideals directly into the very fabric of the World, Star System, or whatever realm they ruled.
With that came Supreme Divinity, which, in simpler terms, was essentially Plot Armor.
Yet, as powerful and vital as it was, generating it was an even greater challenge.
For example, the Dark Thorn—a Pantheon standing strong for eight eras—spent over 80% of its Supreme Divinity to revive a single High Apostle and a branch of its forces, making all the effort and time invested in Noxara practically meaningless.
The Supreme Goddess of Hollow Thorn’s fingers came to a halt on her throne, hearing the voice.
’Tsk,’ She scoffed at Lane’s report, as nothing Lane could say would make up for her mistake of not only losing an entire world, but forcing her to waste such a precious source of power.
’Oh, Lane, you will work for every drop of that divinity,’ She continued coldly.
’Begin by going to Kalpa. You need to begin putting pressure on the World’s Barrier... slowly push the deadline forward.
And... I want progress, not another corpse!’
At nearly the same moment, a small black bird formed in the air before the Supreme God of Endless Hunger.
It flew straight into the center of his forehead and dissolved.
In that moment, as the information immediately assimilated into his mind, his expression warped into both a frown and a weird smile.
The shadows around his throne coiled tighter as he received the Child of Consumption’s report.
Just as the Child of Consumption had expected, the Supreme God wasted no time in granting permission to advance toward Kalpa.
Yet, much like the Supreme Goddess of Hollow Thorn, he made it clear that the barrier was not to be broken—this was strictly a reconnaissance mission.
Observing the scene and catching the slight change in the Supreme Goddess of Hollow Thorn’s expression, the Goddess of Unbroken Law frowned.
"Once again, you prove my point. The chaos you spread is inevitable... even as we sit here," she said sharply, unable to pinpoint exactly what was unfolding, though she suspected it would be far from anything resembling order.
The Emperor of Loria rested both hands on the carved arms of his throne.
He said nothing, his dark brown eyes moving from face to face with the patience of a man who had long practiced the art of listening while deciding which throats would eventually need cutting.
Beside him, the Supreme God of One Book remained nearly motionless, only the slow turn of a single ring on his right hand betraying that he had noticed the same subtle currents.
For a while, a long silence settled.
Then the God of One Book leaned forward, the soft creak of his throne the only sound for a moment.
He leaned back, resting both hands on the chair’s arms, and spoke with a calm, almost detached tone—the voice of someone who’d seen countless empires rise and fall.
"Let’s keep this simple," he said, his words measured and dry. "In ten years, there’ll be a tournament. Each pantheon sends a disciple or chosen champion, and the winner claims this star system.
That’s it. No more arguing. Return to your own systems and prepare. No open war until the result is decided."
In truth, his word was all that was ever needed for this meeting to end... because in that moment, whatever arguments had been circling for millennia ceased.
The authority behind the words did not come from personal strength alone; it came from the quiet, unbroken presence of the Academic Pantheon itself.
Every ruler present understood the truth that had never needed to be stated aloud.
The God of One Book and the forces under him had never once sought ownership of the Orin Star System.
They appeared at gatherings such as this across the wider cosmology for a single purpose—to ensure that the ambitions of pantheons did not tear holes in the surrounding order of existence.
No matter the star system, no matter which hungry powers gathered to divide it, the Academic Pantheon was always there, watching, recording, and, when necessary, drawing a line that others had learned not to cross.
This time, however, he intentionally allowed events to unfold far longer than they should have.
’The Accord of Assimilation is detrimental to the greater Galaxy,’ he reflected inwardly, his gaze fixed on three of the five rulers who comprised it.
The Pantheon of Dark Thorns, the Pantheon of Endless Hunger, and the Pantheon of Bloody Thirst—he knew all too well that their ambitions reached far beyond the confines of their current Star System.
’And this Emperor... he is even more dangerous,’ he thought, noting the man’s attempt to conceal his presence behind the grandeur of the other titles.
Yet nothing could escape the scrutiny of the God of One Book.
’The wisest choice... would be the Pantheon of Unbroken Law,’ he decided, observing the rulers exchange fleeting glances.
One by one, they nodded silently in agreement, offering no rebuttal, before vanishing from their places—and from the world of Loreua itself.