Chương 25: Silver Tide

The Ceremony of Beginnings had gone well at first for Nerez, thanks more to his own instincts than to the High Arbiter's vague explanations. Recalling the sensation of ascending to godhood, he was able to establish a connection with Eryndea, represented by the blue sphere now floating above their heads, and with the Silver Sea. In fact, sensing the river of death and connecting it to the Silver Sea was easier than he had expected, perhaps too easy. It was as though the Silver Sea itself were welcoming him.

Ugh, I honestly want nothing to do with this mass of souls. The only saving grace is that I'm not directly in there... But just when he thought everything was going too well to be true, Lirien's expression turned pained. Across from him, beyond the fountain that reflected the universe, the goddess of life began to falter, as though she might lose her balance at any moment.

Lirien's retinue raised their weapons and were about to lunge at Nerez, but Cerys stopped them, crossing the entire platform in a single leap and standing her ground before them under the astonished gaze of every spectator. The reason for that hostility was obvious. The Silver Sea was consuming Lirien. Under normal circumstances, life and death held equal influence over the cycle of reincarnation.

But the Silver Sea's attachment to this particular god of death was so strong that his opposite, a goddess who ruled over life, was on the verge of being dragged away by the very waves of souls she had connected with spiritually. Nerez had to use all his mental strength to calm the sea through his own connection, preventing the situation from escalating any further. But the stern look Lirien gave him afterward was hardly one of thanks.

"Tch... I thought the party was about to start..." Cerys said under her breath, dismissing her enormous scythe and returning to her position. The goddess's retinue did the same. Watching the whole event from the perimeter of the Genesis Vault, the mediators broke into a cold sweat for a moment, fearing for their lives.

"What just happened?" Dili asked, utterly intrigued.

"The goddess of life was publicly humiliated," High Arbiter Cassian replied, adjusting his glasses.

"It was as though the Silver Sea itself had told her she was nothing compared to the god of death."

"Ugh... I want to find a hole to hide in... ah, right, that's my cave..." Nerez was lying face-down on the bed in the main bedroom of Dusk Manor. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"How long are you planning to stay sprawled there?" Cerys asked, pulling open the curtains Nerez had closed moments earlier.

"Until I forget the ceremony ever existed..."

"What's wrong with the ceremony? Even that stuck-up Selene left laughing, saying something like, 'I never expected it to go that well,' or 'now everyone knows we're the leading power in Empyrean Peaks.'""..."

"Weren't we supposed to head out in search of the underworld now that the ceremony is over? Or are you going to lie there all day?"

"My cave..."

"Yes, the cave, the cave."

"The sooner I get away from this city, the better," Nerez said, sitting up.

"So, are we ready?"

"By the way, didn't you want to go back to your village to get revenge or show them you're a goddess now, or something like that?"

"Why do you keep trying to get rid of me every chance you get?! Wasn't it you who made me your servant?!"

"No, no, it's not that (entirely). It's just that you were so passionate about it back then..."

"Don't you know this world is going to be cut off from the rest until an overgod is crowned? The farthest I can go is Selene's moon, and I don't want to go to that place..."

"Mmm... Do you think Helux lives in the sun, then? The farther away he is, the better... Still, now that you mention it, you're right. I did hear Cassian say that."

"Besides, simply becoming a lesser goddess isn't enough for me. My problem is with a millennia-old spirit, after all."

"But weren't you a spirit yourself before becoming a demigoddess?"

"Yes, but I was a young spirit. A millennia-old spirit has lived... well, for millennia."

"Will there be many like that in Eryndea? (Though, to be honest, millennia don't seem like that much time to me anymore...)""Of course there will, and they definitely won't be happy about the invasion of gods and mortals!"

"Why do you sound so happy about that?"

"The native demigods are going to be formidable opponents too." Cerys's eyes were sparkling with excitement, even more than usual.

"Demigods...? But weren't all those who failed to ascend expelled from Eryndea?"

"No, no, these are the native demigods. Because they're native and connected to this world, they're on a completely different level. There are stories of demigods who have even managed to kill gods!"

"Yay..."

"Speaking of native beings, there are also local deities, and they'll fight to their last breath for their territory."

"Local deities...?"

"Yes, like the lord of a mountain or a lake, the guardian of a valley, and so on... That's actually the most common evolution for spirits. I was basically an exception."

"And here I was thinking our greatest problem would be monsters..."

"Monsters? Haha, those are mortal problems. Mythological creatures, on the other hand... now that's what I'm talking about!" Cerys had balled up her fists, as if she were struggling to contain her excitement. Nerez, on the other hand, was growing paler and paler, living up to his title of "Death Personified."

"And do you think... Do you think there'll be a lot of that in the underworld?"

"Of course. Who do you think's living there right now? Though the gods' main enemies are surely the titans. Those bastards always show up in newborn worlds..."

"Titans..."

"All right, shall we go?"

"You know... living in the city doesn't sound so bad after all."...

"If you don't pay taxes, you won't be able to keep this mansion. You say so yourself."

"You know, that whole taxes thing completely breaks the immersion in this fantasy world..."

"I didn't understand even half of what you said... All I know is that if the city doesn't receive energy, it can't maintain its barriers, artifacts, or a lot of other things, which is why they ask the inhabitants for faith."

"Since when do you know all those concepts? Taxes aren't an enemy you can fight and defeat, you know? I'm surprised you've even kept them in mind."

"What do you take me for?!"

"Mmm... a troublesome and dangerous girl who's also adorable, but not exactly on the brighter end of the spectrum."

"I'm going to...! I'm going to...! I'm going to bite you!"

"Yeah, yeah. That's what I mean. That's more like you."

"Gah!" Chomp"Ouch... my arm... that hurts... But not that much. These clothes really were a good investment."