GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Their prayers and supplications would have killed him or made him mad if he let them. He had to cut his believers off or risk loss of mental integrity.

"Mortals can be very stupid sometimes." Stelios shook his head and thought to himself.

That is his first pain-free thought and it is about his remaining believers. The mortals that left him made the best decision to leave. It was either they stick with an unresponsive god and face Helios' anger or switch to another religion that can actually help them. The smart decision is obvious. He would have made the same decision if he were a mortal too. So the ones that decided to be faithful to him are stupid.

On one side is life and salvation, on the other side is neglect and death. They chose death and neglect. Helios killed most of them for their stupid choice. The ones that survived were lucky to survive. He appreciates what they did for him just like a farmer will appreciate pigs that didn't escape through the breach in their exposure. But that doesn't mean that he won't slaughter those faithful pigs. They are pigs raised for their meat. The only thing that has changed is the revelation that they are very stupid.

"Where will I be without stupid mortals?" He said as he flexed his body.

His body looks similar to Helios' Celestial form except for the white runes and the six arms. He only has 1 pair of arms because he was a Colossus as a transcendent before he became a god. The Celestial Supreme was a Behemoth so he has 4 arms. He moved his body about to see how well he is physically.

He said to himself. "All in all, things are not so great. At least I'm not in pain anymore. I can finally reactivate my divine kingdom and answer prayers. I also have a Celestial Authority now."

He didn't choose to shut down his divine kingdom solely because of safety. He just didn't have the power, resources, and wellness of mind to listen to prayers and maintain the activities of the divine kingdom. Deactivating the divine kingdom is a risky move. It is something that you only do when you don't have a choice. It is a desperate move but it isn't really helpful. You either survive whatever made you deactivate your divine kingdom or you die.

You don't magically become better after deactivating your divine kingdom. It removes some features that expend your divine power in hopes that the reduction in the strain on your Godhood will allow it to recover. All hope is lost if you don't manage to recover after deactivating your divine kingdom. He didn't have much of a choice because if his injury didn't kill him then the Celestial Supreme will finish what Helios started. That's how far he was pushed.

But that has ended for him now. He chose to look on the bright side now that things have changed for the better. Dwelling on the fact that the boy he took for a fool swindled him and ripped a part of him is not good for his mental and physical health. It brings a whole new meaning to being ripped off. It is better to think about good things like the lack of chronic pain and the fact that he has a Celestial Authority now. He is sharing that Authority with someone else against his will but it is still good.

He muttered to himself, "I need to recover my church. A Celestial without a church is not in a good state. A crippled Celestial like me without a church is in a very dangerous state. My situation won't change until the demons are gone."

He has become a Celestial now and as such doesn't have any future aside from it. Being able to answer prayers will definitely come in handy in doing a good job as a Celestial. Answering prayers won't do much for him unless he actually performs a miracle. The miracle his believers need right now is the elimination of the demons. He will be able to build up a church and recover his believers as soon as the demons have been eliminated.

The thought of the demon invasion brought Helios back into his thoughts. It was Helios that opened the channel for the demons and it was Helios that caused his current predicament.

He muttered angrily as he activated his divine kingdom, "I should have just let that stupid boy die in his mother's womb. That day that I saved him is the most unfortunate day of my life."

It is understandable that he abhors feelings of resentment and regret towards his kind act of saving Helios in the womb. Now Helios took his power, his sharing his Authority, split his church, and besmirched his good name.

"And to believe that this all happened under my nose. What is he anyway?" He asked in confusion as the rings in his divine kingdom began to light up.

Helios had grown under his careful supervision. The boy was never allowed to leave the sun city. He had the boy monitored day as night, and yet all of this happened without him being aware of it. He wasn't even suspicious of it until it happened. Helios was the sweet boy that he raised from the day he was born. What Helios has done has been totally unexpected and unthinkable.

Stelios lamented. "Everything went to shit because of that heroic quest that the hidden god started. If only I fought harder and rescued Helios when he was given to the ants in exchange for the other demigods. The hidden god must have talked him into doing what he did."

There's no use crying over spilled milk but Stelios is feeling immense regret because this entire situation is more than split milk and it could have been avoided if he didn't allow Helios to become an item in the negotiation. He doesn't think Helios was in on the demon invasion from the start. The hidden god must have convinced him after he became disillusioned when the gods deserted him and his father didn't rescue him.