He came to the same conclusions as the priests except he is very certain of it because there is only one person stronger than him in the entire plane.
He feels like shouting out in anger but he held himself back. The celestial supreme isn't Stelios. He can't say whatever he wants to say and get away with a painful slap on his wrist. He can't be rash. He hasn't even seen what will happen. Maybe he shouldn't accuse the celestial god when he hasn't done something bad yet. Surely the celestial supreme didn't add something crazy to the heroic quest.
"Maybe he has a plan." He struggled to say and sat back in his seat.
He didn't question whether it was the celestial god of order and justice. He definitely felt a greater divine power override his. And the only celestial god in the plane is the celestial supreme. No grand god has ascended to become a celestial god recently. Such a development wouldn't escape the notice of the gods. Plus, it is the celestial supreme that planned the heroic quest. There's no way a god will interfere with it without the permission of the celestial supreme.
Even if a grand god ascends to become a celestial, the celestial supreme will have them killed. He has been known to kill new celestials as soon as they finish their ascension so there is no other Celestial apart from him in the entire Zargoth plane. Such a guy that can't share his power is not a guy to be bad-mouthed without a care in the world. Harkam still cherishes his life. So he reasoned himself to calmness.
That calmness was seriously threatened when Tanya lost an arm but he remained calm and tried to find a reason why the royal guards are stronger than they should be. His patience went on to be tested again and again when the royal guard spoke and as he watched his priests being butchered by the royal guards.
"My priests. Those are my priests." He said through gritted teeth.
He felt pain as he watched his priests die. Their cries of pain and suffering didn't get to him. What he is concerned about is the fact that he is losing good priests when he only recently recovered from that devastating loss that he incurred in the divine war with Stelios but won't admit to.
"I can get other priests." He said to calm himself down.
Never before has Harkam's patience been tested like this. He is not a patient god but he has to keep his calm since this involves the Celestial Supreme. His patience was tested by the brutality that occurred. He watched members of the strike team become playthings to the royal guards.
All he could think of as he saw the massacre is that it occurred because the royal guards are stronger than usual. Their power hasn't reached the transcendent stage yet but they are strong enough to take on ancient giants of order. If he had known, he would never have allowed Tanya to go. She might be a demigod but she is just a young giant and is in no way fit to fight against something like that.
"It seems he hid their strength from us. What else did he hide?" He asked while pacing about.
He tried to remain calm but it is only a facade. He is not happy. His mood is getting worse and so the lightning in the divine kingdom responded with lightning storms. He is on his way to becoming angry. Things will get worse then. He usually becomes violent after anger. But he can't stop now because he feels he has a right to be angry.
The royal guards aren't supposed to be this strong. And most importantly, a god shouldn't be helping them. Worst of all, the god that is helping them is also the one that called for the heroic quests. It stinks of a plot by the Celestial Supreme to delay the changing of gods for a couple of origin cycles by killing off demigods.
"If the celestial god of order and justice hadn't sensed the fluctuations of divine power in the ant mound, they wouldn't be sent there in the first place. There has to be a reason for it. It doesn't even need to be good, but Tanya has to be safe."
He tried to rationalize and prevent himself from raging out. The situation is yet to fully play out. It might not be a betrayal of the highest order after all. It was then that the royal guard made their intentions of kidnapping the demigods known. He sighed in relief. So the demigods aren't in danger. The Celestial Supreme might just be trying out something new that he didn't inform them about. In that case, there's probably nothing to worry about.
He sat back down in his sit with relief. "He almost had me. The God of Order is becoming fun. I just wish he had told me about it before. But what fun will that be?" He began to laugh after dispelling his worries.
The celestial supreme usually informs them of such things because he doesn't like confusion. But this spontaneity is good too because it will add more tension to the entertainment. He was still laughing when his screen suddenly went dark.
He grumbled uneasily. "What is going on now?"
His eyes search for the cause of the blackout but he didn't find anything wrong on his side. Next, he tried to recover the vision of the tunnels but he couldn't get anything no matter how much or what he tried. Then he switched his vision to the front lines. The screen lit up and he saw the confused army without any living ants in sight.
"Where are the ants?" He asked totally baffled.
He was looking at the battlefield which has been littered with the carcass of ants. The ant mound has also become visible on the screen. It stood tall like a looming mountain. Something else that wasn't there before also appeared on the screen. A cover of divine power is surrounding the ant mound. He can see it as a film of divine influence covering the ant mound. It is what is preventing him from seeing into the ant mound.
"What bullshit is this?" He cursed out loud.
The major reason why they don't want the ant queen to become a demigod is that she will be able to wield divine power. She can use that divine power to obscure her ant mound and block their divine vision. The gods won't be able to know what is going on within the tunnels that way.
He yelled at the top of his non-existent lungs, "I have had it already. He has to tell me what is going on now. Or I will raise a lot of chaos."
His voice shook the divine kingdom. Lightning strikes increased and so did the heavy sound of thunder that they made. The divine kingdom lit up again and again due to the flashing light of lightning. The wind picked up speed and a storm began brewing. If he remains angry, all these changes will start to happen in the mortal realm.
He lost his grip on his anger. He chose to ignore the fact that the celestial god didn't inform them of this situation which is unlike him. The odd thing is that even if the ant queen succeeded in becoming a demigod, she will need a lot of divine energy to cover an ant mound that large. Which means she got divine energy from somewhere else. Someone is helping her with resources. Probably from the same god that helped the ants, which is the Celestial Supreme.
Harkam doesn't care about the games that the Celestial Supreme is playing. It is the fact that he can't see what's going on in the ant mound that finally made him snap. He can lose priests but he mustn't lose Tanya. She is his last remaining option after losing Tyke.
He was about to fly and leave his divine kingdom so that he can have a serious conversation with the celestial supreme when he received a notification for an emergency divine council.
He nodded his head in satisfaction. "So he has decided to inform us of what he is doing. I shouldn't have doubted him. I'm sure he has everything planned right."
He took a moment to straighten himself and calm down before he crushed the flashing rune in front of him. A portal opened up in front of him. It is a large hole with Smooth edges and a calm surface. The entire portal resembles a large glass panel. He can see his destination through the portal. He didn't bother to admire it. He stepped through it swiftly, impatient to get to the bottom of the Celestial supreme's plan.
He doesn't plan to be nice about it. He will get to the bottom of it and will have his demigod safe or there will be hell to pay. If this is a betrayal, then it will be met with the highest retribution possible.
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