GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The gods watched the fight with rapt attention so they couldn't help but notice that no warrior has been eliminated since the battle started. It is not that the Shadow of Despair can't kill them but he can't kill them while surrounded with enemies and outnumbered. He surely can't kill them with one attack.

It is the resilience of the Warriors that made them form craters on the plane. No other class can smash into the ground like that without suffering but instead made the ground suffer in their place.

This unnatural resilience is why the Shadow of Despair is avoiding warriors. Other classes are the focus of his attention. They are teleported away with a single hit from the Shadow of Despair.

So the Supreme beasts are reducing in number as the fight went on but they are not comforted by that because it is the warriors who are also the main class of Supreme beasts that can maintain their strength in the divine plane.

The Celestials are powerful themselves. They are confident that each of their blows can shatter mountains but those warriors can take blows that are strong enough to shatter mountains.

There are also certain supreme beasts with abilities that are unreasonable. Two of them can even wound them. The strange disease and the annihilation cannon are things that they dread. All the Celestials are currently resisting the disease with all their might. If they fail to prevent the annihilation cannon from entering the divine plane, then they are doomed.

This is the predicament that they are envisioning of their future. It has made them more open to the suggestion of betrayal.

The Celestial Supreme spoke up. "I hope we can all come to an agreement this time. What this fight means for us is that the supreme beasts will be able to ground us down and eventually kill us."

The Celestial Supreme is in agreement with betraying the supreme alliance. It is not because the shadow of Despair killed his favorite son the grand god of fire. It is mostly because he doesn't like the supreme alliance and doesn't want to be under their thumb.

He can still remember when the young Shadow of Despair was brought into the plane by his mentor. At that time, the young Supreme Beast had to hide behind his mentor for protection when he attacked. That will not happen again.

At this point, it is the Celestial Supreme that might need to hide from the Shadow of Despair. He wasn't willing to cut ties with them before but he is very much willing to do so now that his hope is gone.

Another Celestial spoke up in agreement. "I the Celestial Of Light And Justice believe that we should work with our guests here to see freedom. But what freedom will we get? After all, we can't leave the plane. Trouble will always be able to find us here."

He made a good point. The situation is not good for them no matter the choice. The reason why they don't have any chance against the supreme beasts is because they are weak.

There are 7 Celestials but most of them have level-1 authority. There are three of them with level 2 authority like the Celestial of Light and Justice who is also as strong as their Celestial Supreme. As it is, the shadow of Despair can kill the remaining four comfortably. It is only a matter of time before he is strong enough to kill the level 2 Celestials.

If they were strong, then the problem of the young supreme beasts would not exist. At least not at this stage. But if they can't handle some young supreme beasts, how will they handle the adults who fought against the whole plane and forced them to participate in the rite of passage in the first place?

There were just three Supreme beasts back then and yet, they were defeated. What are they to do when the anger of the whole supreme alliance falls on them?

What's worse is their enemies are immortal while they are not and they can't even run away or fall to the main plane as mortals. So while they are open to betrayal, it won't solve their problems.

Other Celestials echoed this sentiment. "The Origin god ancestors of the Stellos failed to regain the plane from the Supreme Alliance. They are powerful and also immortal but they still failed. How do you expect us to resist against the Supreme Alliance?"

"What exactly will you give us for our betrayal that will make up for angering the supreme alliance?"

"You have to give us a good reason or you can forget about our assistance."

The red feathered Phoenix replied calmly. "I am willing to share the method of rebirth of the Phoenix race with you. You will become immortal with it."

That shocked the Celestials. They have heard about phoenixes and have witnessed their rebirth. That's how they confirmed the identity of this guest when she claimed to be a phoenix. They asked for her to let them kill her. They killed her and saw her rise from the ashes of her corpse immediately after her death.

The Celestial Supreme asked, "Your Rebirth divine ability can be shared?"

The Phoenix preened. Her bright red and sparkling feathers shimmered as she shifted her body. Her single eye regarded them before she answered confidently.

"Yes, our divine ability can be shared. It can be acquired by assimilating the egg of a phoenix. That can only occur if you have the permission of the Phoenix so it is not a method that can be forced."

"Is the rebirth permanent?"

The phoenix replied, "It is as long as you have divine power."

"Divine power? How does divine power influence your divine ability?"

"The flames of rebirth is very compatible with divinity and godhood. Your godfire will not reject it. Instead, they will fuse and you will gain rebirth."

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A/N: Why is divine power compatible with the flames of rebirth of the Phoenix race?