Chapter 1279: The Pantheon's Shock
Chapter 1279: The Pantheon's Shock
Gabriel's face changed greatly, not expecting this sudden change. One moment her man—ptui, her ally she meant!—was berating the entire council as usual, adopting his familiar domineering posture, and the next, all the True Gods looked at him like meat on the chopping board.
However, when the crowd's eyes turned to her, she shivered as she understood that she was the weakest link right now, the path of least resistance. If they were able to control her, Draco would likely cave in to their demands due to their connection—or so they thought… and so she hoped.
Gabriel was not sure if she was as important to Draco as he was to her, so to be honest, she wasn't sure if this would even work. However, a part of her stupidly wished that even if so, he would drop everything for her sake—not because he personally felt threatened but because he couldn't bear to lose her.
Naturally, the Angel Queen was aware that this was unreasonable and immature, but she couldn't help but feel that way. Just as she was about to warn Draco to be careful, the fellow spoke in a snide tone from behind her, his expression arrogant and full of disdain.
"How dare you bunch of ugly fellows look at me that way? Do you know who I am? Do you believe I won't poke out your eyes for such brazenness?!" The fellow bellowed shrilly while pointing a crooked finger at their noses.
Draco's words caused the entire pantheon's council to become silent, looking at him weirdly. They couldn't help but wonder where this arrogant young master had come from and whether he recognized the reality of the situation.
Even Gabriel was a bit speechless, not sure how to word it appropriately for Draco to understand.
"Hmph, still looking? Do you believe I won't drop a moon on your blasted city?!" Draco subsequently roared without any respect, which made the atmosphere tense.
After all, his background and potential, as shared by Kilobar, were intimidating—but not enough to prevent them from acting when it concerned their lives and survival. Yet his current threat was something they had to take seriously. After all, his moon-calling ability was precisely what they sought after, specifically because it was strong and cleared huge areas.
But what could clear swathes of the grey rot could also clear swathes of them and the entire city. In that case, the outcome would be the same: either dying to the attack or being left open to the grey rot without any proper defenses.
Realizing this, the caution in the eyes of the various True Gods increased, but their desire was not fully abated.
Ulido coughed and spoke slowly. "There is no need for such threats, Friend Draco. The various True Gods here are worried and nervous due to the plight of the grey rot bearing down on the city, hence their rude behaviors."
The Fishman True God's eyes suddenly sharpened as his slack body sat slightly more upright. "Rather than that, I would like to know why you visited us at this particular moment. You didn't come to be berated and questioned by us, surely?"
Huh?
Some fellows gasped with shock, realizing that they had completely forgotten this part and had been swept up in the flow of things. That was right—why exactly had this legendary fellow come here today, of all days, and for what purpose?
Draco glanced at Ulido casually. "No wonder this damned pantheon hasn't fallen yet—there are still some smart fellows around. Alright, I won't beat around the bush. I have come for three reasons."
Draco raised his index finger. "Firstly, to give you an update. I have created my own pantheon called the Divine Umbra Pantheon located in the centermost area of the plane. Naturally, with my ability, I have cleared out some land, but my pantheon is only open to Immortal Adventurers who have become True Gods."
This surprised everyone, as they didn't expect this. But soon they understood that this was likely what the fellow had been working on all this time. He had earlier stated that he left because he felt their pantheon was hopeless, but he also said it was not out of cowardice—so this made sense as his solution.
Also, the scent of the plane was far enough from here that they shouldn't have any conflicts. The Divine Realm is vast—not as vast as the main plane, but it is still enough that even at the Supreme Pantheon's peak, they couldn't claim to control the entire realm.
They were just the strongest and most influential, that was all. Otherwise, how would places like Power City, under the Pantheon of Power, or Monster City, under the control of Monster True Gods, have so much power—enough to even influence the modern era?
There was no real conflict of interest, just a pang of loss for a really good ally. However, the eyes of Justicar gleamed as he signaled to Ulido, hoping to breach the topic of collaboration. Clearly, pressure and coercion wouldn't work, so they would have to use softer tactics.
"Secondly, I'm here to give you a warning. You are not the last city in this plane—there are at least two others. One is Monster City, which is likely doing just as well as you since we encountered a roaming Rat God named Ratipreme who was patrolling the realm.
There is also an unidentified city somewhere, probably to the north, where none of us have gone because I had a conflict with an unnamed pantheon of True Gods hiding in the unmapped zones of the main plane, and tricked them into being forcibly teleported here to fight."
This caused instant unrest as many True Gods shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They were simultaneously happy that others were also fighting the good fight with them, but also worried because they didn't know the stances or status of these fellows.
What if they were fresh and had more forces? Putting aside the grey rot, what's to say those fellows wouldn't just march over and subdue them all as frontline cannon fodder to prolong their survival?
"This… Friend Draco, can you confirm this news?" Ulido could no longer act unruffled, his gills trembling slightly.
"It's not a matter of confirming, but a matter of making preparations. Just so you know, the conflict I had on the main plane was with a pantheon that had over 40 Supreme Law True Gods and at least 6 Semi-Origin Gods. Don't ask me how they survived until now or how they were able to maintain their realm—I am just as clueless as you all." Draco revealed with a helpless shrug.
Hiss!
Such power!
Fuck!
The True Gods here felt their hearts clench, realizing that there were probably other dangers in the Divine Realm just as bad, if not worse, than the grey rot. While distance and a common enemy currently kept them from making contact, they couldn't ignore that Draco could walk up and down like he owned the place.
A Semi-Origin God like Kilobar could achieve the same feat with relative ease, and those fellows had at least six of them! If even one of them decided to slowly explore the Divine Realm, they would eventually be discovered.
With only one Semi-Origin God, who was often away to assist the Origin Gods, how would they be able to react if that situation arose?
Suddenly, the idea of cooperation and huddling together for warmth sprang up in everyone's minds, making them realize that now was not the time to cause trouble.
.comvl
Of course, all this was predicated on the fact that what Draco said was true and not a ruse to deflect their greed. With that in mind, despite their apprehension, everyone only half-believed his words—because it was better to take it as fact for now in case it was true, than dismiss it and suffer later.
The Supreme Pantheon had a long history and had seen many crises over time—some self-inflicted and some unwarranted. They had also witnessed countless pantheons rise and fall due to mistakes and misjudgments, so they were careful not to replicate such errors.
"Thirdly and finally, I am here to take my woman away. I know you fellows will make noise about her and her lovely angels belonging to your faction and all that, so I am not only prepared to exchange resources and money for her, but even a favor!" Draco raised his ring finger and smiled.
Gabriel, who stood before him, shook as she turned to regard Draco slowly, not believing what she was hearing. When she first saw him come, she was overjoyed, thinking he was here to help and be with her. When she heard he had opened his own faction, she was disappointed but tried to comfort herself with the thought that she could occasionally pay him a visit.
Now she was hearing that he planned to take her and all the angels away, which was something she never anticipated nor prepared for.