Things have been tense recently. The war on the main plane had escalated. The gods were losing, and they were losing hard. They were losing so much that people were coming to kick them when they are down. That's how to know when you are at your lowest.
The enemies the gods had made across their history of divine wars and people with various slights and grievances came in droves. These people couldn't do anything significant to the gods before, but things have changed now. A single straw can break a camel's back in the right amount, a lesser amount if that camel is sickly and weakened. These loathers that came to join in the fiasco that is the war are the straws. The gods were already finding it difficult to deal with the blocks of stone that is burdening them, but instead of getting assistance, they got retribution.
Some had even made it a game to hunt down clerics, paladins, clergymen, and anything related to the divine. The heads of priests award high points while the head of the pope is awarded the highest. It is an act of complete sacrilege and blasphemy, something that will usually be met with swift wrath of the entire pantheon but there is nothing he could do about that now.
He had been monitoring that origin god's movement since their last encounter so that they can deploy their resistance where it will actually matter. The good news is that no new Origin gods have come to join the war against them. The bad news is that the Origin god was beginning to get restless without anything to do down there. Chances that the restless trouble maker will make his way here in no time are rising. Ode had to be prepared for such an eventuality. He couldn't on good luck because when bad things happen, they come in waves. So he had tried to put some things in place to deal with that unpleasant eventuality.
The pantheon had pooled their wealth and tried to employ an origin god powerhouse of their own but most had refused for many reasons. They didn't want to go against the racial council of an entire plane, it would only end badly if they dared. They were also discouraged by the fact that the battlefield will be on a fragile plane. It is too much of a risk to fight in such a precarious situation. One wrong move and they are screwed. The ones that agreed only promised to send clones to fight in the plane while they will only go all out in the divine plane.
Ode didn't want origin gods duking it out in the divine plane, that is practically a recipe for disaster. He wanted them to stall the origin god trouble maker from coming here, not to entertain him. He could only accept even with the express statement by the origin gods that they were not fighting to help them win. So even though the pantheon spent fortunes to hire Origin gods, the ones they succeeded in hiring didn't believe they will win. They were only going to stall some powerhouses and they were going to leave if they see that the gods could win, by even the smallest chance. Their excuse is that they didn't want to aggravate the racial council too much. If they interfered a little, they will get a warning, at most a fine. But things will be very bad for them if they actually have a significant impact on the war.
All in all, it was an unfavorable arrangement. It is a good thing he wasn't counting on them to bring the gods out of this slump they are in. He had been putting most of his effort into cultivating more celestial gods. His announcement to reinstate battles for progress had gone well. But things started going south when some gods started to complain that the battles were unfair and one-sided. They were disgruntled because grand gods that are weak in battle are paired with strong ones. It had led to some refusing to do battle and basically rebellion. The battle going on in the divine plane right now is because a grand god refused to honor what he called a "Ploy to get rid of the weak ones".
They are right of course. That's exactly what he is doing. He is trying to create a strong force of celestials and he had the opportunity to determine who gets to fight who. There is no way he would allow the weak grand gods to become weak celestial gods. Over his dead body, which is something he is trying to avoid.
Not all grand gods are strong, for example, the sinner that is the god of food and cooking. That domain is only good for cooking and eating. What use is that in a war for the very survival of the way of the gods? Maybe he will be able to cook a fine meal that will make the armies of the main plane reconsider their opinion of the gods.
That brings us to this group of death row grand gods, the new grand gods. They aren't the first batch and will probably not be the last. Their ascension is due to a lot of factors. Most of them are replacements for the grand gods that died at the border confrontation. The unprecedented deaths created a large void in the divine ranks. Others became gods because some grand gods chose to fall either due to them giving up or their unwillingness to partake in the unfair challenges.
More and more gods are ascending at the moment but he called grand gods here not because of any special treatment or good intentions. This batch of new grand gods will serve as fodder to create more celestials. They just ascended, so they are at their weakest. They don't even have the full strength of grand gods nor do they have the wealth or influence of one. They will be better put to use as fertilizer for other stronger, more capable gods. It will also be much easier to carry out. Unlike other grand gods that have accumulated their strength and forces for years, these can't put up much resistance. They can only come here, eat his good food, be resentful about it, and then be sacrificed for the good of the gods.
"We have eaten your food. What is your plan for us?" Kroft asked impatiently.
"I will be honest with you even though you were not honest with me about the fish. I'll be the bigger god. It is a pity that you became gods. As you might have suspected, a lot of gods died. We are at war with the racial council of the Virut plane. They don't want us anymore. They want to put an end to us. So a lot of gods died. You are not the first batch. We are at war and we need to pool all our resources together. We plan to create more celestial gods. You lucky few are going to be useful for that plan. I must thank you for bringing the scattered Godhood back to us."
"Lucky my ass. You must be joking. How can you treat us like this?" Kroft screamed. He wasn't done yet. As much as he hated to do so, he used his family card. "You don't know who I am on the main plane. My father is Kroft Ghastorix of the Ghastorix family. I am his one and only son. You can't treat me like this or you will experience the full wrath of my very wealthy and influential father."
He was joined by the other panicked grand gods. But Ode didn't even flinch no matter how much they cursed or threatened him.
"I have heard about Kroft Ghastorix. But if he is your father, why are you a god? Lying to me won't change my mind. I still won't care even if you are speaking the truth. I'm that desperate."
Kroft felt immense regret. He thought his life had changed for the better but it was all a lie. Kroft. He shouldn't have become a god when he found that Godhood. He had disregarded the reason for the availability of Godhood when he found it because he thought the consequences of becoming a god couldn't be worse than his current life.
The things he saw in his short time as a god made him suspect that the gods were at war. He didn't think things would be so bad that their opponent would be the racial council. He had thought that maybe the demons had renewed their assault on the gods. A war with the demons goes back and forth, push and pull, it was normal. A war with the racial council means certain defeat.
Kroft didn't know much about the history of Virut plane, but he knows enough to predict the outcome of a clash with the racial council. It is futility in itself to go against the racial council.
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