GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The news impacted the world in various ways. The impact on believers and clergymen is big, to say the least. A demigod is a special thing to them. The news has the least impact on Karak, the husband of Hillo. Karak doesn't blame his wife for her unfaithfulness. He takes it as a compliment that a god also finds her to be beautiful. What matters at the end of the day is that she will be safe.

It also helps that the child will be taken away as soon as it is born. Not that he has anything against the innocent child who is a result of the situation and had no hand in causing it. But he will certainly feel better not to be constantly reminded of the time his wife almost died because a god had sex with her.

As for Hillo, she spent her days blissful and happy. It is a great honor to bear the child of a god. People came far and wide to see her. She can have anything she wants. She ate nothing but elixirs. She was even being fed precious nectar, the drink of the gods. If she wasn't so weak she would have been given ambrosia too.

The nectar of the gods is more than enough. It can make gods drunk and can make a mortal forget their woes or any qualms that they have. So she was put in a state of perpetual intoxication.

She was treated like that until the day of her delivery 40 years after. It came very early instead of the normal 100 years of gestation because of all the good food that they fed her.

Stelios' attention and the attention of numerous gods were on the situation of the pregnancy. The other gods came to see the child of the son god. Demigods are rare and can lead to great changes in the mortal realms. It will affect their games but nothing more, especially since the child is the son of the sun god. That's why no one tried to kill the mother during the pregnancy or sabotage the delivery.

Stelios is paying attention because there is more at stake here. He is more nervous than Karak the real father. Also, unlike the father, he is actually worried about the baby. Karak is only worried about his wife. Giving birth to a demigod is not a safe business for the mother. They didn't need to worry for long because Legion-4 is a punctual person by principle.

He has a lot of reasons to be early. He owes someone for the assistance of divine energy and is very eager to meet his creditor. Of course, he wishes that his creditor will choose to forgo the debt but he knows that the odds of that happening is too low.

A healthy baby boy, more than a meter tall was born. His skin is orange and he is also glowing, radiating light and heat into the environment. He looks the the perfect son of the sun god. Legion-4 was shown to his mother who hugged him tightly and wished him farewell.

Stelios descended to the church to examine the boy up close. 'This child is a splitting image of me. He even has a sun core.' he thought to himself.

Even he is starting to believe that he is the real father which isn't far from the truth. Legion-4 did some remodeling of his body with the available divine energy. It was available, so why not use it to make himself better? He is already in debt. It is better to make use of it to the best of his abilities. So in a way, Stelios contributed something to his existence.

A grand divine voice rang throughout the city, "This is my son. From today henceforth, he shall be called Helios, the son of the sun god."

Then the Cardinal that came from the headquarters took the baby and started the return journey to the headquarters immediately. Those are the sun god's orders. The contingent of soldiers fell into formation and escorted the demigod Helios to the city of the sun. Their bare feet matched on the bricked city grounds before they left the protective barrier of the city and entered the desert. They didn't waste time at all.

The populace of the city watched the procession of soldiers go, all the while cheering and celebrating. The child of a god was born that day in their city. In fact, a ceremony was started to celebrate the events. Karak and Hillo couldn't return to a normal life after that. With the wealth they received from gifts, money will be the last of their concern.

The gods were having a chat above the city with their divine sense.

"Congratulations, Stelios. Your demigod took after you." The goddess of power and might said to Stelios.

"Yes, you will have a bigger influence in the mortal realm now. I'm looking forward to the war games this century." The god of war also came to greet him.

These two gods are his best friends and allies. Coming to congratulate him is normal. His enemies also came.

The god of knowledge took one look at Helios and said, "He is just like you. It isn't such a good thing. He may have your strengths but he will also have your glaring weakness."

The goddess of Agriculture and nature, the god of the sky and tempest also joined in the mocking. They mainly focused on Stelios' weaknesses. The sun god is a very old and ancient god. His age has made him strong, but as the god of knowledge said, he has a glaring weakness. It is why his mates have gone on to become Origin gods while Stelios is stuck being a grand god.

Stelios took everything in stride. The presence of his enemies is normal. They will take any chance they have to mock him. His nemesis also came.

The goddess of the Night said to him, "This changes nothing in our eternal enmity."

Then she left. Her coming isn't odd, and neither is her behavior. She has to come and check out the latest development of her eternal foe and she isn't much of a talker too. She too is an ancient goddess with the same weakness as Stelios.

What is odd is that the Celestial God of Justice and Order came to have a look. The bickering gods became silent when they felt his presence.

"Your son is not bad." He said before leaving.

The gods resumed their boisterous conversation in his absence until things died down a few minutes later. Stelios was anxious in his divine plane. He felt like sweating and asking the celestial god what he meant when he said, "Your son is not bad."

"Did he notice anything? That is unlikely" Stelios questioned himself.

He had inspected Helios to examine him and most importantly to cover him with a layer of his divine might. The layer will prevent anything more than a surface examination of the boy. It is a way to protect the boy and hide any flaws or oddities that may make him look different from a demigod.

Stelios himself couldn't find anything out of place about Helios and he also covered the boy, that doesn't mean a celestial god couldn't find anything wrong. A celestial god might not have any path forward apart from becoming the supreme god because they are true gods, but they are very strong and should not be underestimated. This caution is doubled when the Celestial God of Justice and Order is also the only celestial god in the pantheon. That automatically makes him the supreme god.

"I had the chance to become the supreme, but my weakness stood in my way. I have another chance now and I'll not let anyone take it from me. If I am forced then I can only retaliate." Stelios said with conviction as he looked at his divine kingdom.

He knows something important about the Celestial Supreme that can be used as a weakness. He will only use it if he is forced to because using it means declaring war against a celestial while he is a grand god.

He has been saving this weakness for when he needs it the most. Helios is very important to him and anything that threatens his plan will have to be eliminated, even if that threat is the Celestial Supreme.

He gazed over his divine kingdom as he contemplated his plan and its contingencies.

The mortal city of the sun was modeled after his divine kingdom. His abode is at the center of the divine kingdom while ring structures of various diameters surround him. The rings rotate and revolve around him.

Angels and the spirits of his believers inhabit the rings and worship him. The closer the ring is to him, the better the conditions of living. His divine kingdom might be the paradise for his believers but their different levels of paradise is based on their faith and contribution to their god while they were alive. Even the afterlife for his believers isn't free. The act of saving the life of child must be very costly.