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In the Divine Realm of Zeus, the God of Thunder, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom communicated with Geggoron, the Demon Demigod of Hateful Distrust through the Interdimensional Merchant Shop Skill.
Geggoron was a demigod whose divinity were nightmares and had a distrustful nature, it was hard for him to even trust in 'allies', and often plotted against them to take them out of the picture in the future.
Similar to Megusan, his entire nature was that of a scum. Geggoron saw how Megusan was treated due to his nature, and he had decided to escape the Demon Gods Pantheon before he was next into the Demon Gods' plans to eradicate.
He had schemed, and by pulling several strings, he provoked a war between two beastmen Kingdoms, benefiting from it and gathering a large number of followers. While he fed into the sacrifices given to him.
Like some other gods gain Divine Energy by being worshiped, some Demon Gods are capable of winning Divine Energy from the sacrifices made by their believers. Geggoron and Megusan enjoyed this activity very much.
He grew in strength to the point that not even Marnet or Maeralya, the Beast Gods that protected the two beastmen Kingdoms would stand a chance against him. However, just when he was plotting his next course of action, he got to know about Kireina, and Morpheus, one of the beast gods asking for her help, which ended in the ultimate defeat and death of Megusan once and for all.
Geggoron was extremely cautious with his actions and liked to be several steps ahead of its enemies. He knew that Kireina will be sent for his head.
He couldn't sit around and complain about how a mortal could be so strong to kill gods, he had to just plan ahead of time, setting several traps and schemes to defeat or at least weakened Kireina, for the last battle against her where he would possess a strong mortal vessel, defeat Kireina and eat her soul.
But Geggoron was an impatient god…
Kireina was taking too long, she was just leisurely spending her days in her Empire, completely ignoring the tasks given to her.
Geggoron could not wait any longer, he had spent too many materials and Divine Energy. He decided to at least 'provoke' Kireina by making one of her dear family members insane through nightmares.
And this is when Geggoron got to know how wrong he was and how much he was underestimating Kireina.
Even when he had considered several of her powers and abilities, he was overwhelmed.
Geggoron tried to attack Vudia's dreams, but even Kireina's daughter was strangely strong and capable of using Divine Energy.
Kireina had appeared in that nightmare and helped her daughter. Using powers that defied any logic that Geggoron had comprehended, a large chunk of his soul and divinity was taken away from him…
He had become weakened, and the pain rushed through his entire existence.
As he grimaced about what to do next in his Divine Realm, he was called by Athena, someone that he had never expected to talk with.
"Geggoron. You and I have similar goals, the annihilation of Kireina, a menace to this entire Realm." Said Athena, with a firm voice.
She was talking to him through the Interdimensional Merchant Shop stall made by Geggoron, where he would sell his materials anonymously.
How did Athena know that he was the owner of that stall from all things?
"Athena… From all gods, you, someone in such a high position in the central continent wants to talk with me and offer me some kind of help? How do you expect me to trust you from all things? Do you think I am foolish enough to fall into your schemes, Human Goddess?" muttered Geggoron.
"Schemes? Oh my. Well, I can see from your voice, that you have been quite weakened… I don't think it is convenient for you to reject my offer. Even more when you haven't even heard about it" said Athena.
"Are you threatening me?!" shouted Geggoron.
"Me? How could I bully a little demigod? It is my duty as a Goddess to help and nurture the weaker Demigods. I honestly think that you have a lot of utility and latent talent, Geggoron. I am just trying to make you an ally, and help you out" said Athena. Her voice seemed to be kind, but in fact, she was subtly threatening Geggoron.
"Tsk…"
Geggoron knew that he could not just simply reject someone in such a high authority as Athena, who was the direct children of Zeus. She also had several siblings and a whole pantheon behind her. If he were to infuriate her, she would surely send a few Gods to exterminate him or force him to cooperate.
The moment he answered her call, he had already fallen into her trap.
He was not even strong enough to fight a Goddess such as Athena alone, as he was only a Demigod, the difference in strength was like heaven and earth, he had no chance.
"Athena… Talk! But if your offer is too out of my grasp, don't expect cooperation!" muttered Geggoron.
"Ah, don't worry. It is simple, Geggoron. I will give you a hand, you just need to keep doing what you do best. What you had already planned" said Athena.
"Hm? What?"
"That's what I said… There are not bad intentions here, Geggoron. We have a similar goal, let me give you a hand. If you are capable of defeating Kireina, you can eat her soul if you want, and I will give you a high position in my Pantheon. Sounds good, isn't it?" said Athena.
The benefits seemed outstanding… he was being given all the help we wanted, while also being compensated if he were to triumph? However, it was too good to be true.
"And what if I can't defeat her?"
"Well, you should already expect what will happen to you." Said, Athena.
"Tsk! This bitch! Do I even have an option in here?! Am I just being used as a pawn now?! Hateful!" thought Geggoron. Although he was still a Demigod, he had grown with a superiority complex. Having someone in a higher position than he comes out of nowhere to treat him like a disposable pawn was… a big hit into his ego.
"Well? What do you say? You were going to try and kill her anyway, so there shouldn't be any issues." Said, Athena.
"I'm sure that she has something else behind her sleeves… she's not only using me as a pawn, but she is trying to put me inside of her schemes forcefully…" thought Geggoron, grimacing.
"…"
"Hm? Why so silent? Well, I suppose you do not want to cooperate. What a pity… Perhaps I should call that Dragon Demigod… what was his name? Zudig?" muttered Athena.
"Tsk! Zudig?! That bastard… no! I accept your offer, Athena…!" shouted Geggoron.
"I assure you that it is the best decision that you could have taken, Geggoron," said Athena, as she suddenly sent several artifacts towards Geggoron's Divine Realm through the Interdimensional Merchant Shop.
"Hm?! Artifacts…? What?! This…" muttered Geggoron, the artifacts sent to his way were something that he had not expected.
"With this, even defeating Kireina could be possible!" thought Geggoron.
"Strengthen your army of mortals, Geggoron… We will be watching closely" said Athena, finally leaving Geggoron alone.
"They will be watching…? So not even she… but her whole Pantheon? Even Zeus… or Apollo?!"
Geggoron was suddenly pressured against a wall. He felt like he had no way out, he could only keep going forward and use everything he could to defeat Kireina and emerge triumphantly.
He knew that there were even more schemes waiting for him. The Goddess of Wisdom was someone who thought and plotted a lot. But Geggoron was also incredibly distrustful, and already began to plot something against her if he were to win… or even lose.
"Do you think that I am just a feeble demon that you can use to play around as much as you want? Idiot! Perhaps because I am weak, you thought that it would not matter… but you revealed your exact position by contacting me directly! I will make sure to sell it well to the other Gods! Even the Demon Gods wouldn't deny such an offer!" said Geggoron.
Athena had contacted Geggoron directly by using her Divinity through the Interdimensional Merchant Shop, which Geggoron was able to track easily, revealing the exact position where she currently was… to make things worse, she wasn't even in the central continent, protected by other gods.
It seems that Zeus Divine Realm had moved to the border continent with its children, and was currently stationed above the Azuma Empire.
"Know it all bitch! You do not know how many connections I have! I may be distrustful, but not a fool!"
Geggoron did not waste any time at all, he quickly started to contact with several Gods who could be interested in such valuable information.
Even if Athena and her family were very strong Gods, there were also other very strong gods lurking around. If they were to all come together for a sole cause, they would surely be able to fight in even terms with them. Even more when resources and the tasty divinity of Human Gods could be obtained.
In the world of lone gods, the only way to be strong was by constantly challenging others and putting one's life in danger. The one that came victorious would devour the other, and grow in strength and Ranks exponentially.
Even in a seemingly 'era of peace', there were many gods, and such events were still commonplace outside of Pantheons.
Perhaps Geggoron would be weak alone… but if he were to gather several Lone Gods with the same intentions as him, all of them gathered together for the sole purpose of growing stronger through a once in a lifetime opportunity… there could be a chance.
And Lone Gods would never waste chances.
They would grasp them and use everything they have to their advantage.
Even in such a position where he had suddenly become Athena's pawn, he was grasping chances everywhere, and using them to plot and scheme.
"You will see what's coming for you, Athena! Underestimating a Demon Lone God will be your doom!" said Geggoron, while laughing.
His entire body was made out of dark clouds, which released dark thunder everywhere, thunderous sounds were common on his Divine Realm. For the creatures that he nurtured and raised inside, this was every day, and some even benefitted by such dark thunders, feeding in them.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm of Zeus, a different conversation was being unfolded.
"It was easier than I expected that fool couldn't reject my offer anyways. The moment he answered my call he had become my pawn" said Athena.
"I couldn't expect less from my daughter," said Zeus.
"So the artifacts and the Divine Energy Crystals that you gave him…" muttered Apollos.
"Indeed, brother. They are our mere prototype, but what could be the best way to test it that with a Loner Demon Demigod…" said Athena, laughing as her golden eyes shined brightly.
"The prototype that Hephaestus created… An artifact that could let mortals be completely possessed by a God…" muttered a God.
"It is a power that could let us use our full strength without fearing in destroying our vessels," said another.
"If it fails, then we can analyze where it did and tell Hephaestus, and if it works properly, then we can start the mass production," said Athena, with a mischievous smile, unlikely of a Goddess of Wisdom.
Even Athena had not given any attention to the fact that she used her own Divinity to contact Geggoron, as she had done this to intimidate him.
Only Apollo had… but he… was not the same as before. Though he did not see any changes, his soul was being slowly twisted, having its mind changed, while having new thoughts implanted inside.
Due to these thoughts that he never realized that were not those of himself, he decided not to talk about it.
His Divine Soul, which was bright yellow, was being slowly tainted in black, crimson, and purple colors.
As all of this happened, two Demigods, two siblings that represented Dawns and Eclipses moved their Divine Realms through the border continent.
"We have already blessed Kireina's child, so we should quickly join Agatheina and Morpheus," said Bovdohr, the Demigod of Eclipses. He resembled a young man, but his skin was completely dark on his right side, and completely yellow on his left side. He had no eyes and his head was bald. There was an arc of light and darkness, resembling an eclipse hovering over his bald head.
"Indeed… We cannot keep working with Jupiter-sama or Europa-sama anymore… we have been guided through our dreams…" said Nomera, the Demigoddess of Dawns. She resembled a mature and voluptuous woman in her late forties. Her skin was completely bright gold, and her hair shined brightly like the sun. She had two golden eyes and her head had an arc of light resembling the dawn of the sun over the horizon.
"The Empire of Dark Moon… this is the place where we belong," said Bovdohr, smiling.
"Yes… our home, at last…" said Nomera.
Unknowingly for Kireina… her manipulation of dreams had become even more powerful since she obtained Nightmare Magic. Without her even realizing, the entire dreams of the Realm of Vida were slowly being controlled by her inner thoughts.
As she slept, the people that had an affinity with her would be 'guided' through their dreams, and see her Empire as a utopia. This had caused these two gods, who once served her enemies bless her child and also willingly join the pantheon of gods that protected her.
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