Cthulhu Gonfalon

"I really don't understand why you want your followers to fight the followers of the Goddess of Wealth," the God of Diplomacy asked. They were in a pavilion next to the terrifying black pool that could ablate Divine Power, hidden deep in the God's Kingdom of the human gods.

In the middle of the black pool, the place where the God of Diplomacy sat had turned into a thin piece of ice. He himself was sealed within the solid piece of ice. Golden Divine Power was seeping out from the ice in a continuous stream where it was ablated by the black pool, becoming a grayish-white vapor.

Amidst the vapor, a slow voice said, "This is… purifying… belief… necessary."

"Purifying belief? Hasn't your belief already been greatly purified?

"Not enough."

"This is still not enough?" asked the God of Diplomacy as he looked at that black pool. The pitch-black water that looked like ink had clearly dropped significantly.

This was magic water made using advanced devils as its raw material. It was refined via a complex technological process that consumed a large number of resources and could effectively ablate the impure Divine Power that had accumulated on the gods' bodies. This would prepare them well for the impact of becoming a Great Divine Power.

No one knew how much time and effort was put into creating this pool. Back then, there was even a god from the Human God System who had lost his life in the abyss…

But all this was worth it.

Whether it was the God of Protection and the God of Heroes of the past, or even the God of Aristocracy of the present, they had all relied on this pool of magic water to purify their Divine Power. This would allow them to once again, activate the divinity that had been kept confined by belief. This would greatly increase the possibility of them becoming Great Divine Powers.

Why were the gods of the Human God System able to achieve success on several occasions to become Great Divine Powers, even when they were in a situation where they clearly had not accumulated enough power? This had always been a huge mystery. And the answer to this mystery was this pool of magic water.

Not only that, but previously, the God of Light had also depended on its help to sever all relations with the Mother of Sea. He was thus able to obtain complete freedom, and with a single strike, he killed the Mother of Sea in one fell swoop.

The other gods might not be aware, but the God of Diplomacy was his confidant, so of course, he would know. For a long time, the existence of the Mother of Sea had been the God of Light's greatest worry. This creator of humans had an absolute superiority over mankind, though she was not very powerful in her own right. She had always been a lackadaisical character who did nothing at all, but if she decided to turn her back on them one fine day, even if it was not utter destruction to mankind, at least a good half of the Human God System would have been finished off.

To the Human God System, which had so many enemies like the uncountable clouds in the sky, this was no different from death.

It was precisely this reason that the God of Light had wanted to find a way to kill the Mother of Sea. Eventually, he succeeded and killed the most dangerous existence for mankind.

This was undoubtedly an evil act of aggression, but that did not matter to the God of Light. The God of Diplomacy did not think much of it too.

Even if it was an evil thing to do, did it really matter if one had to kill for the sake of survival?

Very few gods knew of this plan. Other than the God of Light and the God of Diplomacy, there was only the God of Knights and the God of Aristocracy who knew. The God of Knights was a first-generation God King of the Human God System. He was also the founder of the Human God System. There was no bypassing him if anyone wanted to accomplish a great deed. As for the God of Aristocracy… the God of Diplomacy looked at the bewitching god sealed within the ice and sighed inwardly.

His Majesty has given the clear-cut order that if there comes a day where he meets with misfortune, the seat of the God King of the Human God System will be inherited by them. However, can the God of Aristocracy really lead and support the entire Human God System?

He had little confidence.

The power of the God of Aristocracy was strong enough. Their way of thinking, as well as their means, were also worthy of recognition. However, when compared to the God of Knights and the God of Revenge—who was now the God of Light—they lacked two very important qualities: responsibility, as well as the preparedness to sacrifice for the humans.

Whether it was the God of Knights or the God of Revenge, both were filled with a sense of responsibility for the whole of mankind. In their hearts, humans held the greatest importance. They were more important than any other interests, even more important than their own principles. So when the God of Protection realized that the God of Revenge had such unscrupulous means that he himself could not match up to, he gave up his place as the God King without regret. And after he handed it over to the other party, he assumed the role of the God of Knights and in turn pledged service to the other party.

When the God of Revenge realized that his priesthood was not suitable for him to serve as the God of Human Beings, he did not hesitate to seal up his priesthood. He would rather endure a pain that made him feel like his soul was perpetually being torn apart to ensure that he would not be influenced by his priesthood. This way, he could keep his mind clear enough to consider problems.

Such a great sacrifice and such a strong sense of responsibility that could make them so oblivious of himself—these were all qualities that the God of Aristocracy did not have.

Without such spirit and attitude, would they be able to shoulder the responsibility of carrying the burden of the entire Human God System and all of mankind at the most critical moments?

The God of Diplomacy remained silent with his heart filled with doubt.

To ensure the success of her promotion, the God of Aristocracy instigated a war without any concern. If nothing else, just the mere act of inciting their followers to get involved in an open fight with the followers of the Goddess of Wealth made him deeply doubtful of whether the God of Aristocracy would be truly reliable when the time came.

But none of this could change the mind of the God of Light. The God of Diplomacy had once again reminded the God of Light about the unreliability of the God of Aristocracy upon his return, but the latter remained obstinate about his decision. He made the God of Aristocracy the foremost candidate in succeeding as God King of the Human God System in case of emergency.

Watching the God of Diplomacy walk out amidst sighs, Wuther Rang, who was seated on his icy-cold throne, broke into a smile that lacked warmth.

There were some matters that were only known to him. There were certain secrets that no confidants of his could know, secrets that he had to bury deep within him.

If the so-called "emergency situations" truly occurred, the God of Diplomacy would naturally come to know why he had to make such a decision.

The considerations of gods did not really have much to do with mortals.

The mortals had their own considerations.

"What did you say? Make peace with the merchant party?!" an earl exclaimed as he jumped to his feet in shock at the meeting of the aristocratic party.

This suggestion was made by one of the two marquises, Marquis Yug, who was also called the "Marquis of Gemstones." He was a follower of the Goddess of Fortune, but his oldest son was a follower of the God of Aristocracy and had even funded the construction of the temple of the God of Aristocracy. Within the aristocratic party, he was more or less inclined towards the core party of the God of Aristocracy and had always been on bad terms Marquis Gordon, also known as the "Marquis of Gold," who had always been inclined towards the God of Fortune.

No one would have expected that it was not Marquis Gordon but he who suggested making peace with the merchant party!

After all, in previous negotiations with the merchant party, he was the one with the most aggressive attitude, so much to the extent of practically refusing to yield an inch. At that time, he even shouted out intense words like, "I have four sons and five grandchildren. At most, we'll all just fight till we're all wasted. No one in the Yug family is afraid of death." On the contrary, Marquis Gordon's attitude was milder, and he was willing to be a little more accommodating.

Yet it had only been a year and a half; how could there be such a major turnabout in his attitude?

The aristocrats looked at each other and could not help but cry out in unison, "This does not make sense."