Chapter 493: Pure Conspiracy, Pure Evil
Chapter 493: Pure Conspiracy, Pure Evil
Gods were far above mortals. To mortals, the thoughts of the gods were supposed to be unfathomable.
But in truth, gods shared much in common with mortals. Only by setting aside the reverence owed to divinity, and treating the gods like ordinary people, could one ever hope to deduce anything about them.
But under the weight of long-standing social and cultural influence, the gods had always been placed so far beyond reach that even the idea of treating them as equals was considered blasphemous.
"Perhaps that's exactly why the gods have grown so arrogant, so much so as to be led around in circles by mortals. Wouldn't you agree, Shara?"
A pointed voice echoed through the dim temple.
Shara, who had only just recovered a fraction of her strength, opened her eyes, startled, to find that another god had intruded upon her divine realm.
It wasn't quite a direct incursion into the realm. Rather, the other god's divine power had seeped in in sufficient quantity to carry the god's voice straight to Shara's ears.
Shara sneered. "You! Since you've found my realm, why not come in and sit a while?"
The eerie voice let out a peal of strange laughter. "However weak the Dark Goddess may be, within her own realm, she remains formidable beyond measure. I merely sensed the scent of conspiracy and came to exchange a few words with you."
"Conspiracy? What a laughable excuse."
As the Dark Goddess, Shara plotted every waking moment to kill Selene and the Goddess of Magic and seize their places for herself. One could say that, ever since her divine power had waned, she had never once stepped away from scheming.
Conspiracy ran through every inch of her being. That it would only be discovered now was laughable.
"No, it's different this time around. Shara, every calculation you've made in the past, every scheme you've woven, was to seize power from other gods in service of your revenge. But this time? This time, you're not acting for your own gain. You simply want to harm him, and whether you win or lose no longer matters.
"Oh, what a pure strain of malice. It excites me just to sense it."
Shara's expression twisted with distaste. "Dealing with that lich was nothing more than revenge on my part. You've come all this way to find me. Don't tell me you're hoping I'll join forces with you?"
"Of course. You know how fond I am of this sort of scheming. But it's still not enough—Karsas's Ascension alone falls far short."
Hearing this, Shara felt a flicker of curiosity. "Are you going to get involved?"
"Naturally, and I'm not the only one. Shara, you're hardly the only god who bears him a grudge. There are more gods than you'd think who'd love nothing more than to see that lich dead."
But Shara shot back, "And what business is that of yours? Do you have some feud with this mortal? You should know perfectly well that everyone who's tangled with him has come away badly beaten, gods included."
"That's precisely why I intend to take part. As I just said, the reason you've all lost so badly is that your schemes were never pure enough. A scheme need only cause harm. That's sufficient in itself. The moment you start considering personal gain, you introduce more openings for failure.
"Shara, once you stop trying to profit from your schemes, you'll never lose. Not ever. The same holds for lies. When you deceive someone without wanting anything from it, you never need fear exposure. Because even if you're exposed, it doesn't matter. You can simply move on to the next lie, the next scheme.
"And the moment you succeed even once, you win. We are gods. This is how gods ought to be. We should not lose utterly at mere wagers with mortals."
Shara said coldly, "Others say you've gone mad. I used to think it was just a rumor, but now I see it's true. Do you even understand what that lich has gotten entangled in? The domain of death is about to change hands. Are you trying to hand Cranvor an excuse to kill you?"
"Before you point fingers at me, have you considered what you yourself have done? That was Karsas's Ascension, was it not? Aren't you the one stirring up conflict between the Goddess of Magic and the God of Death? If that's the case, what difference would I make?"
Shara's displeasure only deepened. "Fine, then. Why tell me any of this at all? Do whatever you like. I stopped caring about this long ago. The dark Weft is the last card I have left to play. Whatever you intend to do, you don't owe me an explanation."
A burst of shrill, harsh laughter rose from the darkness.
"Haha! Shara, you truly haven't listened to a word I said, have you? I never needed your permission to begin with, nor do I need you as a partner. I only wanted to tell you, plainly, that I'm arranging my own plans as well. A pure conspiracy needs no profit, only an audience.
"And you are one of my audience members. I do hope you enjoy the show that follows."
The venomous voice slowly faded away, as though it truly had come only to chat with Shara, to give her advance notice that a performance was about to begin.
Shara checked carefully to confirm that the foreign presence had vanished entirely before sneering. "No gain? Scheming purely for scheming's sake? Keep telling yourself that if it helps. If you don't act soon, that lich will have stolen your domain out from under you.
"I've already handed over everything I know about the dark Weft to Poet. If he wants to make his move, he'll inevitably clash with Yeger. Ah, this whole affair is just like the days before Cranvor became the God of Death."
Shara suddenly felt an urge to laugh. Ever since accepting her own defeat, she had withdrawn from the game entirely. That was the privilege of being a god: once you admitted defeat, you could hide away in your own realm and let the world proceed as though nothing had happened. This was what set gods above mortals. Mortals could never simply step back. Like it or not, they were always swept up by the world's changes, carried forward by the tides of the age.
On the other hand, a god, so long as she exercised enough restraint, could simply sit back and watch the show unfold.
Especially a god like Shara, who had never had many believers to begin with. The only real constraints on her now were her own lingering resentment and greed. Shara found herself genuinely curious whether that claim would hold true: that conspiracies carried out in this state would never fail, and would never wound her.
She almost looked forward to watching Loss and Levitra, her "sisters," get stirred up by this schemer and be pitted against the lich once more, only to be cast down from their thrones one by one, just like the gods who had fallen during the Age of Upheaval.
And yet, Shara was wrong about how it would unfold.
After leaving Shara's realm, the mysterious figure did not go seeking out other gods who bore a grudge against Ambrose. Instead, it took the form of a pale, sharp-featured elf and slipped quietly into the capital of the Lyon Empire.
The faith that had accumulated over millennia should have crystallized into holy light, eternally watching over every corner of the capital and barring any evil from entering. And yet that power proved utterly incapable of sensing this god's avatar. The avatar walked unchallenged into the deepest chambers of the palace, where it found the emperor of Lyon himself, poring over battle reports.
The moment he sensed this uninvited guest, the Dragon Tyrant instantly flooded the surroundings with the power of time. But just as he prepared to use that power to teach the intruder a lesson, he found that his power had no effect on the avatar at all.
The Dragon Tyrant spoke warily. "Which god's avatar dares descend upon Lyon? You should know this land lies under the Lord of Dawn's protection."
The pale man smiled. "Don't try to frighten me with that. If the Lord of Dawn ever moved to act, you'd be the first thing his holy light purified. Am I wrong, Atros the Eternal, former sovereign of the time dragons?"