Indra's Sacrifice
Indra. The leader of the Lokapala among the gods' factions, and one who possessed a fragment of the sky god Baal.
The god stood motionless in the grand plaza of the Pantheon, surveying his surroundings. Countless gods filled the space. In the old days, he had mingled among them, believing himself master of the world, rampaging to seize it all in his grasp.
But he had been wrong. Gods could not be the world's true masters. They could not rule it. A god that could not exist in perfect solitude, one dependent on other lives, was no true god.
Indra had only realized this after acquiring one of the fragments left by the sky god. Only after learning of a true god's existence had he awakened to the truth—that most gods today were mere pretenders borrowing a name.
"What in the world is this about, Indra?"
A familiar voice called from behind him. Zeus. Ruler of Olympus. The god closest to the sky god. And once a rival who had competed endlessly with Indra—a fool flailing toward what he could never grasp.
"I thought you'd finally emerged from Lokapala territory after so long, only to show up in the Pantheon's plaza. What's on your mind?"
"My mind..."
Indra stared blankly at the temple before him. The temple built by the Life Goddess. A temple for all life. A temple belonging to the god who could claim the entire world yet chose not to—who held the power to seal it away at any moment.
He had learned of such things only after obtaining Baal's fragment.
"I'm simply doing what must be done."
All things were destined to cycle. Even gods could not escape it. Though forms might shatter and change, their essence endured. The ring of birth, life, decline, and death never broke.
Knowing this so well, Indra had resolved to restore the fragment of Baal's emotion—and the shards of memory—nestled in his heart.
"That's not like you. The old you brimmed with audacity."
"Just the stubbornness of my foolish youth."
The past when he had been a mere soul-shard of Baal, merely managing the gods. The era when he had suppressed their bloated egos with force, consolidating them into the stable force of Lokapala.
"Looking back now, that was all wrong."
Yet as one of those gods himself, he had proclaimed himself supreme over heaven and earth, aspiring to rise above them all.
After Baal fragmented, it was inevitable that the soul-shards would wage war over the remaining pieces. Foolish beyond measure, in hindsight.
"So, you came here regretting the past?"
"Regret... perhaps."
If he could turn back time, he would. For he, a mere shard of Baal, had been consumed after claiming the emotion and memory fragments.
He had fallen in love with a god he had never even met.
"Emotions are truly mysterious. Even knowing a choice is irrational, you can't let it go."
"What nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
"Just words you'll never understand."
No point explaining to someone who chased only power and authority. Better to show through action.
"Gods gathered here! Gods of the Pantheon! I am Indra! Leader of Lokapala, standing tall above the heavens! One who wields the thunderbolt!"
Indra bellowed.
"You've all heard the rumors swirling through the Pantheon lately! That the gods' king, Baal, has vanished, and the age of gods draws to a close!"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd at his cry. Every god in the Pantheon had heard it at least once.
"Many gods will lose their divinity. Those responsible for Baal's death will not be permitted to exist! The rumors spread by the Deep Forest Sage have reached countless gods!"
"Indra, you bastard..."
"The rumors are true. Inevitable doom approaches us all. Baal abandoned his throne as king of gods because of our collective fault."
Roars of outrage erupted from some gods.
"Why is it our fault?! It was the chief gods who divided up Baal's fragments!"
"Right! We've done nothing wrong!"
"Think being a faction leader makes you special?!"
The clamor grew rowdy. Indra gazed at them calmly.
"Enough. Do not deny your own wrongs. It's self-evident that every god shares blame for Baal forsaking his throne and vanishing."
Many gods boiled with fury at his words.
"Is that why you're denying your faults? Why you can't see doom approaching?"
His cold words silenced most. "Face reality. What lies before us is unavoidable extinction."
"Then we just accept our doom lying down?!"
Someone shouted. Indra shook his head.
"No. Though extinction is inevitable, a way to halt it remains."
"Indra, what are you—"
"If the gods' king vanished and brought doom, then raise a new king of gods. Restore Baal to his throne!"
Whispers spread among the gods.
"How do we revive a vanished Baal?!"
"There is a way."
Indra addressed them, revealing Baal's soul had reincarnated as a human. Deify that soul as king of gods, and delay the gods' doom. To buy time for that, return Baal's fragments to the Life Goddess.
He recounted the same tale Hermes had heard from the Deep Forest Sage, now broadcast in the plaza.
"Is the Life Goddess really that strong? Hasn't she hidden away for 300 years?"
"No, as the goddess of life itself... she can't be weak. All life falls under her domain... humans included."
"I never knew the Life Goddess was so terrifying... She used to kindly name us back in the day..."
"If we can't handle her... then we must return Baal's fragments?"
"But will the chief gods agree? Those fragments are fused with them."
"Force them, then..."
"How? Even all of us together couldn't touch a chief god. And many gods belong to factions."
"Which means..."
The murmurs showed no sign of stopping.
"But a key issue remains. Time—for the reborn human to grow into a hero. To solve this, we must return Baal's fragments."
Indra placed a hand over his left chest.
"Fortunately, one resides here."
"Indra?! What are you—!"
Zeus tried to speak, but Indra continued undeterred.
"This only buys time—a mere decade at best. But by returning my fragment, I intend to make one request of her."
The tips of his right fingers tore into his skin, burrowing inward.
"I, Indra, leader of Lokapala and inheritor of Baal's emotion, beseech the Life Goddess."
His empowered fingers ripped flesh, shoved aside bone, shredded muscle. Beneath pulsed a heart at his fingertips.
"I return the fragment of Baal I possess. In exchange, please delay the gods' destruction just a little."
Godly blood—or rather, the faith composing his body—flowed like liquid from the intruding fingers.
"Grant a little time for the human bearing Baal's soul to reclaim the divine throne."
Through the mangled wound, his ceaselessly beating heart emerged. Not his own, but one infused with Baal's emotion.
A heart of dazzling light.
"Indra, do you know what you're doing?"
"Yes. I know well—even that extracting this fragment ends my existence as the god Indra."
"You know, and still do this?!"
Indra scowled at the noisy Zeus. Not even willing to offer his own fragment, yet interfering at every turn. These were why she despised gods.
"If you're not offering your fragment, then shut up."
Zeus fell silent. He lacked the guts, after all. Selfish gods like him were legion—enough to make her shudder at divinity itself.
Thus.
"And make it so gods can no longer directly touch earthly beings."
"Indra?!"
"Raise the existing barrier between earth and gods even higher, preventing reckless rampages. So countless lives suffer no more at divine hands."
'May she not grow more disillusioned with our tyranny. May she not abandon all in despair, bringing the world's end.'
The plea from their last meeting. He repeated it in his heart. The worry Baal had held until his final shattering.
If she was the gentle one spoken of by Baal's emotions and memories, she would not betray a request made at the cost of his very being.
"I, Indra, offer everything to beg you. Please, do not forsake this world."
Indra's hand gripped the glowing heart within his chest and turned to Zeus beside him.
"Zeus."
"You mad bastard...!"
"You're next."
With that, Indra yanked his hand free, heart in grasp.
