GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Legion was certain that the foundation of the power of the gods was in authority. But they were wrong. The foundation of their power is both divinity and Authority.

Those on the path of perfection also gain authority, but it is granted to them by the universe due to their comprehension of laws. Gods gain authority from the world too, but it is due to the recommendations of their believers.

Not only is Authority common to both paths, but there are other things that they have in common too. Gods have divine kingdoms, while Origin gods have their Origin domains. Gods have domains while those on the path of perfection have laws. If there is anything fundamentally different about their power, it is divinity.

Those on the path of perfection can't use the domains of gods or their divine kingdom, but they can use divinity, and it is beneficial to them. Divinity increases the stats of those on the path of perfection. If not for the fact that divinity makes those on the path of perfection insensitive to laws, then they would use it without limit.

Those on the path of perfection are not the only ones who covet divinity. Demons also covet divinity. They use it to evolve and strengthen themselves. It shows that divinity is something beneficial to every living thing, including demons. But only gods can make it.

Divinity is the uniqueness of gods. If one considers where it comes from, one might have a clue as to why it is special.

They performed some last checks, and Soverick delved into their future one last time to make sure he hadn't omitted anything. He still can't see through the large darkness in their future, but he doesn't think they have anything to fear because he can tell that the Tree Father will be happy in their future.

Then the Tree Father said, "Let us begin."

And so it began. This breakthrough is not something with a small, localized effect. It is not something that people wouldn't know about.

Aeternus broke through silently in a single plane. No one apart from Legion, Mother High Heaven, and the Realm Lord knew of his breakthrough. The Tree Father, on the other hand, has numerous avatars in numerous planes. He started the breakthrough by withdrawing all of them, so many planes were affected simultaneously.

Each avatar is a towering and powerful tree. They have leaves that represent the domains and authorities they currently possess. Some have only one type of leaf, while others have up to four. But regardless of the number of leaves, each one is beautiful to look at and majestic. Even those who don't believe in the Tree Father admire the beauty and majesty of his avatars.

This is not surprising since each avatar is at the Celestial level with at least a level one Authority. Celestials are powerful beings and are the true gods, so their forms are majestic. But their physical forms are rarely seen by mortals, unlike the Tree Father's avatars, who hold up the sky in a show of strength.

No one on the plane the avatars are on is ignorant of their existence. After all, all they have to do to see such a powerful Celestial is to look up. So it is not a wonder why many people noticed that the great celestial tree was shrinking. Even the blind noticed the change because the ground of the plane was shaking.

The roots of the tree, which had embedded themselves deeply into the plane, have shrunk. They left large empty spaces in the ground because of their shrinkage. These large tunnels created by the roots couldn't bear the weight of tons of soil around them, so they began to collapse, which caused the whole plane to shake.

The shaking stopped after a while, but the effect of the disappearance of the Celestial tree was obvious to everyone. There was a large pit where there was once a large mountain range made of roots.

Fortunately, the tree hadn't spread its roots throughout the plane, or the whole plane would have suffered catastrophic losses to lives and properties. Things would be worse than earthquakes and the resulting damage.

There was panic all over the plane over the disappearance of the Celestial tree. Many thought that the plane was being attacked. This panic was not alleviated by the increase in sunlight due to the absence of tree branches blocking out the sun. Only the believers and clergymen of the Celestial Tree were at peace.

Their god had said to them, "Be not afraid. I am gone to ascend to greater places. I will return stronger, and I will bless you."

They had faith in their Celestial, so they held on. They held on for the 1,523 years that they didn't hear from their Celestial. Their faith was strong, and it wasn't misplaced. Their Celestial did return, and he returned much stronger.

The breakthrough took more than 1,500 years before it could be completed. The problem wasn't in withdrawing his avatars. That was easy to do. Even the divine kingdom in the Zargoth plane was successfully absorbed too. But he had to fuse the domains, which took time. Especially since he bit more than he should by trying to fuse 20 domains instead of just 10.

The domains are permissions from the Supreme law of order. They are similar to laws in that way. So in a way, he is trying to create a concept with 20 laws.

It would have been easier and less dangerous to make if it were a concept because Legion-7 and Legion-2 would be able to assist him. They can't help him with this, so he is facing the immense difficulty on his own.

He stopped being alone when a particularly powerful Will manifested itself in the realm of high heaven. Its manifestation was very short, as it only appeared to communicate with Legion-9 for an instant. But even so, almost everyone felt the appearance of the Will and was shaken to the core.