Chapter 173 What Do We Do?

As Hel looked into the eyes of her fellow god of death, she realized that the seriousness of this matter was greater than she had initially thought.

"For starters, he is living in the world of the mother goddess. That means that his ascent to godhood is imminent."

It was well known that the highest percentage of new immortals arose from Asherah's own realm.

Some had even begun to speculate that she was raising gods for some grander purpose and that a possible war was imminent.

Though against who, no one knew for sure.

"Not only that, but the abyss has somehow gained knowledge of him as well and seeks to make him the next ruler."

A chill suddenly swept through the room.

Among the rulers of death, the mention of the abyss was a particular taboo.

Because the souls of abyss walkers were so volatile and unstable, none of their realms could handle holding them.

As a result, the army of the abyss was essentially immortal since if one of them died, their souls would simply return to the place they were summoned from, awaiting the opportunity to be called again.

The one who controls the lives and deaths of all members of the abyss is the Uma-Sarru.

Without his permission, no one in the abyss is allowed to die permanently.

As a result, even the spirits of the former kings are still active in the form of ghosts that act as advisors to the current king.

Their job also happens to be to seek out certain individuals from all of reality with the promise necessary to become the next ruler.

No one knows when they will stop this, but the oldest gods theorize that it will not come to an end until those old bastards have found who they believe to be the one true king.

"They want him as their overlord? how can you be certain?!" Anubis asked.

"His spells." Helios explained. "The magic he uses is corroded, made unholy by the power of Tehom." This was a telltale sign that one was being looked at as a candidate for the throne and was in possession of at least one blessing.

Regular abyss walkers cannot use magic outside of their home, leaving his potential candidacy as the only viable theory.

"Then do we kill him? A potential as great as his cannot be allowed to fall into their hands."

"How? Even under normal circumstances we would not be allowed to kill a mortal outright but because he is in mother Asherah's realm we do not have any sort of power or influence."

"I believe you lot are forgetting something, if the all father slew him once, he can do it again. Surely he would not allow this beast to rise again if it truly posed such a great danger." Hel raised a valid point and all eyes simultaneously drifted toward the archangel.

Azrael's face became pale and he had a nervous expression. "Father... has retired to the tree of life. He has elected not to interfere in the lives of his creations any longer."

"..."

"..."

"..."

It seemed like none of the gods were going to speak, until Hel finally said the words that they were all thinking.

"WHAT?!"

"HOW CAN HE REST ON HIS LAURELS WHEN A THREAT AS GREAT AS THS LOOMS OVER OUR HEADS?!"

"We're fucked..." Hades muttered as he ran a hand through his messy black hair.

Azrael seemingly expected this reaction and tried to stand resolute in the face of the gods' overwhelming pessimism.

"Father's rest was a surprise to all of us in the white city but it is well deserved. As his children we must trust in his vision and continue to preserve the balance that he has created."

The angel suddenly turned to Hades who looked like he was nursing an awful migraine. "You said you saw him. Am I to take it that you were able to interact with him as well?"

"Something like that."

"What was he like? Did he leave any sort of impression on you?"

"He was..." Hades tried his best to think back on his brief time with Abaddon and come up with the words to best describe him.

"Odd."

After several moments of thinking, that was the only description Hades could find to fit him.

The greek god then went on to explain how he encountered Abaddon in the first place.

The higher beings all listened carefully, Hel became particularly interested when Hades mentioned the mortal's divine beauty that was incomparable to even male gods.

However, all thoughts she may have had about keeping him alive as a pet/ living dildo were dispelled with his next words.

"I don't know how it happened but he has somehow obtained the elements of death, blood, lightning, ice, fire, darkness, and space."

"...You... You're joking... right?" Anubis asked.

When Hades shook his hair in denial, it seemed as though all of the air had been sucked out of the room.

Even gods cannot handle so many opposing elements within their body.

At most, the gods of destruction can only hold fire, earth, water, and wind as a representation of natural disasters.

The knowledge that a mortal had more elements than some of the most powerful gods in existence would spark an endless amount of ire.

It seemed as though the more they learned about this new enemy, the harder it became to fathom how such an entity could have even come into existence in the first place.

"What can we do? Continue hoping that he somehow dies at the hands of one of those gods who have taken up the bounty?"

"No... Any challenge that is thrown at him by those weaklings will only serve to strengthen and agitate him. We need a different approach."

After another moment, Anubis posed a question that had been previously overlooked. "Does he already stand atop his world?"

Hades thought about it for only a moment before shaking his head.

"There are a few mortals down there that are above him. A couple could even kill him relatively easily despite all of the tricks he currently has up his sleeves."

"Then we should contact one of them. You have a dungeon in their world that means you have a foothold."

"As you know, my influence is very limited. I can't rip through the barrier like an abyss walker and send out a message for any random demigod to hear."

The truth of Hades' words caused everyone present to fall into deep contemplation once again.

It seemed like they were continually drawing up blanks, until Hel suggested a shaky idea.

"What if... you didn't rip through and instead slipped through the cracks?"

"What are you talking about?" Hades asked curiously.

"You'll have to follow the same method as the sarras of the abyss. Leave sixty percent of your power behind and travel to the mortal world."

In truth, Hel's idea was rather simple and seemed to be the most obvious solution.

So why had no god done this before? The answer is even more simple.

Gods have LOTS of enemies. Other gods, monsters, and creatures of various horrors are almost always seeking to take from them.

As a result, the thought of voluntarily leaving their power behind is one that almost all gods would never consider in a trillion years.

As soon as Hades heard Hel's proposition, his red eyes glowed vibrantly to indicate his building rage.

"Scheming sow! Do you actually believe that I might fall for your trickery?!"

The norse goddess did not take kindly to insults herself and her eyes also began to glow a sickly green.

"Save your accusations, whelp. If we are to prevent certain disasters before they begin then certain sacrifices are to be made. I have no interest in conquering your wretched realm."

Anubis watched all of this with a neutral gaze.

He was not interested in claiming Hades' territory either, but he understood where the fear was coming from.

"Enough... I will go."

All three pairs of eyes suddenly shifted to the angel of death who had been particularly quiet in the last few minutes.

"Unlike all of you, I have no realm to rule." He reminded. "It will be fine if I venture down to Dola for a day or two."

The death gods finally relaxed, but Hades in particular was giving the angel a suspicious eye. "You do not worry that one of us will try to steal your power while you are away?"

"Of course I do." Azrael scoffed as he began to exit the room now that the meeting was seemingly over.

"That's why I'll be leaving it with the two beings you'll have the hardest time taking it from."

The door closed with a click and Azrael prepared to return to the white city.

Along the way, the archangel could not shake the feeling that he may have been overlooking something.

'Did you know this was going to happen, father? And if so, is this servant interfering in your will?'

For the first time in eons, he was truly stumped as to what his father's plan could be or if he even had one at all.

But considering the identity of the beast, he was having a hard time believing that Yahweh had no knowledge of it's return.

As Azrael exited Hades' palace and stared into the dark red sky above, he prayed now more than ever for any kind of enlightenment.

"My father... Your absence weighs heavier than you could ever imagine."

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