The Vacant Throne of the Gods (1)
After much agonizing deliberation, the king knelt before the queen and Asterios, begging for forgiveness. Asterios, flustered by the sight, didn't know what to do.
"To think you'd have the gall to show that shameless face of yours."
The queen showed no intention of forgiving him easily.
"My queen…"
"I told you over and over, but you acted like you didn't hear a word. Do you really think I'd accept your apology now?"
The king was struck dumb, unable to utter a single word—like his mouth was glued shut with honey. If he had even a shred of conscience, he wouldn't be able to speak anyway.
"No, but how was I supposed to know my grandmother was a cow beastkin? My own mother never breathed a word of it."
Hmm. So he has no conscience after all. To speak up even now.
Does sitting on the throne make you this brazen, or is this guy just shameless by nature?
"Even so, to think of me—your wife—as an adulteress! Was I just that kind of woman to you?!"
"At the time, I was so shocked that the child was born with horns…"
"Just now—you were about to call this child a monster again! He's your son! What kind of father calls his own son a monster, you idiot!!!"
The queen's sharp rebuke silenced the king. He really was the type who could rule a kingdom but not his own household.
"Well then, it's about time the third wheel excused themselves."
I grabbed Asterios, who had been fidgeting anxiously while watching the marital spat, and said,
"As promised, I'll be taking Asterios with me."
"What?! What do you mean?!"
"It's the promise you made with your husband. In exchange for resolving the root of the problem, he'd hand over this child."
At my words, the queen looked utterly bewildered and turned to scream at the king again.
"What are you talking about?! Why on earth would you make such a promise?! The boy's only 14 years old!"
"Well, that is… um…"
"Stop stammering! Speak clearly! What the hell does this mean!!"
The queen glared at the king like she wanted to devour him. At this point, he was starting to look a little pitiful, so maybe I should step in.
"Hey, taking him doesn't mean anything extreme. He'll just be my traveling companion while I wander the world. After about one or two years, once he's seen enough, I'll send him back. No need to worry."
"But… we just reunited after so long… Couldn't you give us a little more time?"
I ignored the queen's crestfallen expression and turned to Asterios.
"Your mother says this. What do you think?"
Despite his massive frame, Asterios hemmed and hawed before murmuring in a tiny voice,
"If it's okay… I'd like a little time with Mother. Even just a few days."
Hmm. His body's bigger than an adult's, but inside, he's still a kid. Well, thrown into the labyrinth at 14—or even younger—it's no wonder he'd miss his parents' embrace.
In that case…
"I'll give you seven days. After that, you come with me."
"Seven days…"
Asterios nodded faintly, but the queen seemed dissatisfied.
"We haven't seen each other in years, and only seven days…?"
"If not, we leave right now."
At my rather heartless words, the queen nodded reluctantly.
"It's short for catching up after years apart, but I suppose I should be grateful you pulled him from the labyrinth. Understood."
Only then did the queen nod in acceptance. Complaining more wouldn't change anything anyway.
Well then…
"I'll come back in seven days. Have him ready to leave by then. Oh, and go easy on scolding the king."
The poor fool must have agonized plenty and suffered in his own way. Even if it led to the worst possible outcome.
With that, I left the palace behind, leaving Asterios there.
A week. Short if short, long if long. Having granted that much time to Asterios, I called out,
"Shamash."
"Yeees! Mom! You called?"
Shamash appeared as if she'd been waiting. Like she was always ready to answer at a moment's notice.
"It's been a while."
"About 300 years, right? Not that long."
"Yeah, 300 years. You sure found me quick."
"Of course. It was for you, Mom. And… last year, when you judged the rat beastkin leaders and Maybel's grandfather, I sensed it then."
When judging the rat beastkin? Oh, right—the trial for their leadership and Maybel's grandpa.
Come to think of it… I had issued the verdict under Shamash's name back then.
"I was watching the trial, and I felt your presence nearby. Figured there was a reason you didn't call, so I stayed quiet."
"I see."
Well, Shamash would oversee most trials anyway. If I was nearby, she'd notice right away.
"So, how have you been?"
"Fine. Busy, though. Human numbers keep growing, criminals don't stop popping up, and overseeing trials everywhere is no joke. I wish I had three bodies."
"Everyone fantasizes about that."
Speaking of which, I'd offloaded work by making spirit clones. Otherwise… no hibernation for me.
"How's the Pantheon?"
"Hmm… bad news and worse news. Which first?"
"Bad news and worse news?"
Usually it's good and bad, right?
"Bad news first, then."
"Bad news first… Baal splintered into multiple pieces."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Why would Baal? He should be diligently working as king of the gods.
"Well, it started with spirit clones, right? The method of splitting divinity into multiples."
"And?"
"Baal, overwhelmed managing all the gods, saw your spirit clone working as the Life Goddess and copied it."
Hmm… Does splitting into spirit clones cause problems? Even dividing divinity shouldn't be an issue…
Oh.
"Baal and I are different cases."
"Yes. You were a mighty being even before becoming a god, so splitting your divinity changes nothing. Even a fragment's power is like a single grain of sand in a vast desert compared to your main body."
"But not Baal."
Baal was born from faith directed at the sky. His 'body' is just the vast heavens, holding no power themselves—just expanse.
A god born from faith gathered to such powerless skies would naturally weaken if he split his divinity.
"Baal split his divinity to make spirit clones and sent one to each divine faction."
"Like Olympus and the others?"
"Yes. Olympus, Ennead, Aesir, Rokapala… and more. But he botched the splitting, and the total divinity of the clones ended up equal to what remained in him."
"What?"
Splitting divinity evenly like that…
"If the clones rebel, he can't suppress them."
"Yeah. He thought they wouldn't unite—and they didn't—but another problem blew up, leaving him in a bind."
What an idiot. Another problem? Something else happened?
"Where's Baal now?"
In that situation, whatever the other issue, I'd have to fix it—by force or words. Subdue his clones and merge them back.
"Here's the worse news. Baal… well, his divinity scattered, faith lost, he's just a divine spirit now—a soul."
"What?"
No way. Why him? What the hell happened?!
Did the world nearly end while I slept?! Otherwise—
Why would Baal end up like that?!
"A lot happened while you slept, Mom. One was a massive explosion deep in the ocean."
"In the ocean?"
"Yes. Deep underwater. Thankfully, Baal and Thetis rallied us to contain it, averting disaster…"
Shamash shook her head slightly and continued.
"We held out, but Baal was weakened from the clones, so he couldn't fully endure. We told him to fall back multiple times, but the fool stubbornly refused…"
She sighed.
"'Gotta protect the land Mom lives on,' he said, pushing too hard until he shattered. Barely saved his divine spirit."
"Hoo…"
I could only let out a small sigh.
"The world was saved, and a new continent even rose from the sea by chance… but the cost was huge. The throne of the gods has been vacant ever since."
"An event that big should've reached my ears when I awoke from hibernation."
"Everyone kept it secret. Word of the world nearly ending would've caused panic. And we did stop it."
"At the cost of Baal's sacrifice."
Shamash nodded.
"The poor guy had rotten luck. Weakened just from splitting clones… If he hadn't, he'd have endured fine…"
I sighed again at her words.
