Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

With a helpless smile, Laine really hadn’t expected that Themis not only guessed the answer immediately but also provided such a reason.

But then again, it made sense. Among the gods of Chaos, it was Cronus and Themis he interacted with the most, and it was from them that Laine often heard some truer assessments of himself, unlike with Liana, who always considered whatever he did as correct.

For instance, the ‘arrogance’ that Cronus had pointed out, Laine felt that he had been somewhat alerted at that time.

“It seems that Cronus is doing well after abdicating, at least not like our Father God.”

Nodding, Themis looked at the humans on the earth, especially those two who claimed to be priests of the Temple of Law, whose faith in her was so weak as to be almost non-existent, and suddenly asked:

“Ordinary people don’t know the reason why deities offer them protection, so they waver because of that person’s speech, which I can understand. But looking at it now, these priests seem to know.”

“I have never demanded their worship of me, so I don’t care whether they believe in me or not. At most, because of their actions, I might from today onwards destroy all temples erected in my name by humans and forbid those so-called priests from acting in my name anymore. But my nephew is different.”

“They clearly know the importance of faith to a god, and they were even just arguing about this with that unbeliever. If they are clear about the stakes, then why don’t they believe in the gods?”

On this matter, Themis really couldn’t understand, or rather, not many of the current gods of Chaos understood it either.

They were still groping their way through the concept of faith; otherwise, there wouldn’t be such cases of blessings being almost explicitly priced for humans.

This is primal faith, and without experiencing one or two failures, the gods wouldn’t understand how to maximize mortals’ belief in them. But to the gods, these one or two failures would cost time, while to the mortals, it would cost lives.

In the future, it might just be the lives of a few individuals, but right now, it means everyone.

“Because that is human nature, Themis. Fear and awe come from the unknown; desire stems from never having possessed. Yearning is the farthest from the truth, but conversely, it is the closest to faith.”

“That is why the priests would rather be rendered speechless by Mephisto’s words than admit ‘gods created mortals just to receive their faith.’ Because they only need to look at themselves to know that if everyone learned the truth, what would come would not be more devout worship of the gods, but like them, no matter how pious their words, they can’t hide the shallowness of their faith.”

“After all, faith is not something one can have simply by saying ‘I will believe, I should believe.’ People can deceive others, but they can’t deceive themselves.”

With a slight shake of his head, this was the importance of humanity in godhood. However, a keen intuition about fate made Laine feel a premonition that perhaps the Divine King would soon become aware of all this.

Of course, that was not the reason for his appearance here today. In fact, Laine had been feeling a bit restless lately.

This could be feedback from the origin of spirituality, or perhaps a premonition given by the power of fate; in any case, something unexpected had probably happened. Initially, he thought it was some special change among humans, the core of the next era, but now it seemed that the problem did not lie there.

If not there, then it could only be in …

“What are you thinking about?”

Seemingly sensing the change in Laine’s mood, Themis turned her head to ask.

“Nothing much.”

Without a conclusion, Laine didn’t plan to say too much, so he simply responded with a smile:

“I’m planning a trip to the sea soon, and I might also visit your elder brother on the way.”

“My elder brother… you mean Oceanus?”

“Yes, him.”

Nodding, Laine softly confirmed.

He did indeed plan to visit the God of the Ocean, even if just en route, since it was more or less on the way to the other’s doorstep.

The main body of the current world of Chaos was enveloped by the Circumterrestrial River around the ocean, which in turn enveloped the earth. At the far end of the East, the Ocean Deity Sovereign, who had been seriously injured a century ago, remained in his Divine Palace, uncertain of his current state.

However, Laine’s destination was even more distant.

He had made up his mind, and very soon, he would personally embark on the journey. But what made him hesitate was whether or not to find someone to accompany him.

After all, whatever was causing such a strong yet vague premonition surely wouldn’t be something simple.

…

At this time, as the two deities conversed in the high Sky above, on the earth below, the towering flames had completely engulfed Mephisto.

His face was becoming indistinct, but everyone knew that, at the center of the fire, he must still be smiling, looking at everyone just as he had been at the beginning.

The atmosphere at the scene was somewhat oppressive; Devos could feel the questioning in the gazes cast upon him. Ordinary Humans dared not question the gods, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t question him. But at this point, he could not turn back anymore.

“The result of the judgment is clear,” said Devos, trying to sound righteous and stern, “clearly, God has proven through the actual outcome who is right and who is wrong. The words of Mephisto are nothing but laughable lies.”

Devos tried to come across strongly, but the watching crowd paid no attention to his performance. They merely stood in silence, gazing at the burning pyre.

Even those who did not acknowledge Mephisto’s views were merely watching silently now. If the condemned had screamed in agony or begged loudly for mercy amidst the flames, perhaps they could have felt some sense of victorious joy. But at this moment, all they felt was confusion.

Were the actions of the priests really just?

“Cohen, do you think what he said makes sense?”

Standing on a large stone, Evans had lost the eager expression of a spectator he had had at the beginning. He did not know who was right or who was wrong, but he felt that his goddess Hestia would not have meted out the punishment of burning at the stake to an unbeliever like this.

If the goddess would not do this, then the fault must lie with the person carrying out these acts.

“Right and wrong are relative, that’s one of the few truths I’ve learned over the years,” Cohen said slowly:

“If, to you, whether or not the flames before your eyes are God’s will, your faith in God remains unchanged, then he makes no sense, after all, you have proved with your actions that your faith in God is irrelevant to what kind of goddess she is.”

“What if I think this isn’t what the goddess intends, but rather the personal thoughts of these priests?”

Looking at everything on the stage, Evans ultimately felt that the goddess would not do this. She must be as the creator said—kind and gentle, extending tolerance to all the weak.

If this really was the will of the goddess… he felt he could not accept this reality.

“Then it just proves that, to you, at least one thing the unbeliever said was right…”

“At least you truly believe in her because you recognize the goddess’s thoughts and actions, not just for the blessings she bestows on you.”

Cohen responded calmly, but his feelings were a bit complicated. Unlike Evans, he knew how terrifying Mephisto was. Since the fire imbued with a hint of divine essence was useless against him, it would be no different for this dangerous individual.

But the words of the condemned had indeed given Cohen much to ponder. At least he felt one point was very true: faith is a spiritual conversion, not merely gratitude.

In the past, the Golden Humanity worshiped gods like that. They believed gods were perfect, omnipotent, and could be attributed with all the goodness in the world. Because the gods were so perfect, they devoutly worshiped the deities and tried their best to draw closer to the gods’ image.

It was for this reason that when Cohen discovered the real gods were so different from what he imagined, a sense of having been deceived naturally arose. The disappearance of the Golden Humanity’s corpses was merely what triggered this suppressed emotion.

“What’s that?!”

“—Cohen, look quickly!”

“Hmm?”

Aroused from his memories by the shouting of Evans next to him, Cohen followed the sound. On the platform, Devos continued to make futile speeches, trying to salvage his image; and the flames kept burning, thick smoke rising and spreading into the high air.

But right in the center of the flames, behind Devos, a burst of golden light suddenly emerged. It grew from small to large, from faint to bright, enveloping an ethereal figure that slowly ascended towards the sky.

“That is—”

“No, it’s just an illusion,” Cohen almost instantly saw through the true nature of the golden light, but amongst the mortals present, he was probably the only one who could see the truth.

At this moment, the crowd had erupted into excited murmurs, for they knew that the creator had told them of humanity’s three ages, where the Golden Humanity ascended to the heavens for their noble virtues, and the Silver Humanity was buried underground for their disrespect towards the gods.

And now, right before their eyes, the legendary myth seemed to unfold.

“Impossible!”

Alarmed by the crowd’s tumult, Devos couldn’t help but turn around. Seeing everything before him, he could hardly believe that the ascension of a Heroic Spirit from the legends was happening right in front of him, and that he was playing the role of the villain who killed this noble being.

And what was most frightening was, since Mephisto had ascended, did it mean that the gods were about to descend upon the Mortal Realm?

“…Prepare the carriage; I must go see High Priest Ossen.”

By now, the crowd had started to press closer to the platform. The ascension of a Holy Spirit was unfolding before their very eyes, and everyone felt that this was the will of the deities.

The priests on the platform had already stepped aside, and after a brief moment of panic, Devos quickly made up his mind. He decided to head to the expanding Aurora City, to meet with his former good friend, now the High Priest Ossen.

As one of the two students most trusted by the creator, only he could provide Devos with some solace now.

As for meeting with the creator directly, that was impossible. Devos now, was not quite brave enough to face him.