Shaking his head just as he had done in the past, Coeus once again refused his wife's request. Phoebe, standing by his side, finally seemed to be losing her patience.
"So this is what you want, to stay here forever, praying that no ancient deity notices you and to live an eternal life as if you were dead?"
Her voice was sharp. Phoebe could not understand why her husband, with such favorable conditions and a power second only to the Great Divine Power, had no other ambitions and only wished to stay in the cold and silent cosmos.
Even Oceanus knew to try and unify the sea, yet an aeon had passed, and Coeus had done nothing.
"No matter what you say, Phoebe, I will stay here. The world as it is now offers us no chance..."
"If you don't want to stay, then leave on your own, I've never stopped you. That's that, I'm going back."
Calmly, Coeus looked at the expanse of stars one last time. He didn't say much else, only turning and walking away.
"You!"
Phoebe's arm trembled from intense emotion as she pointed at her departing husband.
It was always the same, Coeus had never been swayed by her words, but when it came to leaving on her own, Phoebe felt somewhat hesitant.
But setting aside the difficulty of achieving that, even if it were reached, Laine would then have to face another issue. The world restrained the Great Divine Power, even doing so subtly before the Third Epoch, and the fundamental reason for this is easy to understand.
The world itself is only slightly higher than Greatness, and it naturally suppresses those ancient gods who walk the Earth yet have thoughts of their own.
Any being would be wary of anything that could potentially threaten itself, and the best way is to make sure that threat no longer exists. In contrast, the reason why the external realms do not have similar behaviors is due to Chaos being the dominant factor. This is why the stronger worlds often have order playing a dominant role – it might be rigid, but it indeed helps maintain stability.
It is the same with the kingdoms of mortals. The more rigid the laws, the more unreasonable they seem, but conversely, they allow a certain order to extend and be implemented better.
So, the coming question becomes clear. If the Spirit Realm grows to a certain limit, truly reaching a state of equivalence with the world, whether Chaos, being just 'half a tier' higher than the Spirit Realm of that time, might have some very direct reactions, is a difficult thing to predict.
Therefore, Laine had always tried to use roundabout methods to change the fate of the world. Before, he had even contemplated actively controlling his power at the peak of the Great Divine Power in the future, avoiding any further increase, and then accumulating extra force through methods like investing in Hell, in order to one day reunite and make the ultimate leap.
But looking at it now, this idea seems too optimistic; perhaps for a well-running 'program', the only real resolution to its core is through violence.
It can be violence from the outside, from within, or both. In any case, those peripheral methods are pointless endeavors.
"So if there's nothing else, I'm going back, do you have anything else to say?"
Between different trains of thought colliding, Laine stepped into the Underworld. But feeling the presence that still followed him, he couldn't help but speak up and ask.