GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The Celestial Supreme refused to accept the backstabbing betrayal of their entire race. He pointed his hand at the swirling portal and he ordered with the full power of his Authority as the Celestial Supreme. "FREEZE."

Even if a channel is opened, it can still be closed. If a Celestial Authority opened it, another one can close it. Two Authorities were used to open the channel, he has two Authorities too. One as the god of order and another one has the Celestial Supreme, so the portal will close with his command.

His power erupted from within him and into the world. It sought to remake the world according to his will. It came with a potential for change unlike any other and slammed into the portal only for it to be rebuffed. A previously invisible plant spirit appeared beside the portal. It was the one that helped to block the interference from the Celestial Supreme. It turned to ashes leaving behind a green flame. The flames entered the portal and accelerated its opening.

Zernon's eyes shot wide open. "The hidden god is a Celestial too."

He had stated with uttermost certainty that the hidden god cannot be a Celestial because of the unchanged empowerment from the divine plane. He still can't sense the hidden god. If not for what he just saw, he will never believe such a thing. Now he can't destroy the portal. With the Authority of Life added into the mix, it has become 3 vs 2.

"It is too late." He slumped into his thrown and lamented.

The only way to get another Authority is to get another Celestial to help him. It is certain that the sun god won't help him since he granted his son his Authority somehow and because just previously the Celestial Supreme wanted to kill him. It is more certain that the god of fate will not help him because of the contract of non-interference. So he has to watch as demons invade his precious mortal realm.

He thought in regret. 'I should have used that trump card to stop Helios when I had the chance.'

Helios smiled smugly when he sensed the failed attempt of the Celestial Supreme in destroying the channel. This is a plan that they hatched when the tree father finished decrypting the divine will within the Stigmata. Legion was able to fully understand the purpose of the Stigmata and they then discovered Stelios' plan for it and why he placed it on Helios's body.

They all had a good laugh about that plan. It was going to fail because Stelios didn't truly know what he was getting into. He was a rabbit trying to take ownership of a cave from a bear simply because the bear took ownership of the cave from someone else. Innovative as the plan to steal Helios's body is, it lacked the weight of feasibility because Stelios was ignorant of who he was trying to steal the body from. They decided to use his folly to their advantage.

Helios had previously discovered several things from experimenting with Tyke's body. One of which is how to forcefully use someone else's divine power through their runes. So they planned to push Stelios into ascending, take his Authority, and combine it with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme through his son.

They found out about the reclusive child of the Celestial Supreme from a diary written by the poor behemoth's mother. One of the numerous plant spirits roaming the plane found the diary during an investigation into the divine weapon that the tree father heard about from the demigod they kidnapped.

They put two and two together to hatch and execute this plan but it wasn't easy. They could have failed if just one thing didn't work out. His struggle during his breakthrough was not for Celestial divine power. It was for Celestial Authority and to get it, Stelios had to make the decision to ascend.

Stelios couldn't be forced to ascend or he would realize that they needed something from him. He was gently nudged in that direction with the threat of eternal servitude. His knowledge of runes helped to inform him of how bleak his future will be if captured and he chose ascension because he is ambitious.

A lot could have happened to ruin the plan. If he had chosen to fall or accept his fate, then this plan would have failed. If the Celestial Supreme had killed his child at birth or hadn't forced the half-celestial to fight Helios then they would be lacking one more Authority required to resist the Celestial Supreme's attempt at closing the channel.

Of course, there are contingency plans. The channel can still be open with one Celestial Authority. If the Celestial Supreme is preoccupied with something else, he will not be able to close to the channel in time. Legion would have succeeded in bringing Aeternus here anyway. All it needs is enough strength which Helios can acquire in time.

If there is one thing that Legion regrets about this plan, it is the death of the son of the Celestial Supreme. If he is still alive then they will be able to use the Celestial Authority of Order for other things. Unfortunately, he had to die. His death cemented the involvement of the Celestial Authority of Order with the opening of the portal.

If the Behemoth were alive, he could have changed his mind and revoked the Authority when he finds out what it is being used for. It will make the channel collapse under the assault of the Celestial Supreme. The cowardly behemoth might just man up and decide to sacrifice himself to secure the mortal realm from demons. People can behave in surprising ways when it really matters. His death removed the uncertainties and the element of surprise in the outcome but it is still a shame since they don't have any more access to the Authority of Order anymore.

He shrugged and said, "You can't have your cake and eat it."

The Celestial Supreme will probably burst a divine aneurysm in his head if he heard what Helios said. He doesn't have any cake to eat while Helios is mourning the loss of a cake he can't eat forever.